Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 120 Brother, You Know Me
When Pei Yuan heard that it was his good brother Lu Dahua who came, he hurriedly ordered, "Quick, quick, hide my falconet!"

Song Chunniang was more familiar with the complicated relationship between Pei Yuan and Lu Dahua, so she said, "I'll go take a look."

Pei Yuan heaved a sigh of relief and hurried out to greet them.

After a while, Lu Dahua came over with a hundred people.

Pei Yuan only brought Chen Toutie and Cheng Leixiang forward, and said with a little excitement, "I didn't expect that big brother would really bring people here. I am very grateful for your hospitality."

Lu Dahua laughed, rode his horse up to him, and then jumped off.

He patted Pei Yuan on the shoulder and said meaningfully, "I'm right, aren't I? You can't be too honest. Were you sold out by your superiors?"

He looked very proud, as if he was praising me.

Pei Yuan said, "Yes, yes, yes."

Then, Pei Yuan led Lu Dahua towards the baggage train. When they were still far away, Lu Dahua smelled a strange odor.

He was used to doing things for others, so he immediately smelled something wrong and hesitated.

Pei Yuan observed the man's expression and stopped, motioning Cheng Leixiang to tear away the straw mats on the supply carts.

"What is this?" Lu Dahua's face changed slightly when he saw the truckloads of corpses covered with lime powder.

Pei Yuan leaned his head closer to Lu Dahua and said in a low voice, "People from the Northern Pacification Office. Big brother may not know that during the two days you were away, people came over there again, and I gave them a hard time."

After hearing this, Lu Dahua no longer cared.

He turned around and shouted.

After a while, two people came over on fast horses.

When they arrived, both of them dismounted from their horses.

Lu Dahua introduced the tall, thin, dark-faced man to Pei Yuan. His name was Zhang Kexian, the leader of the Tiedan Gang. The short, fat man was the deputy leader of the Haisha Gang, named Xiao Fu.

Pei Yuan silently complained about what the hell was going on, then reluctantly greeted the two of them with a fist salute.

The two men looked at Pei Yuan, responded indifferently, and then went to check the bodies in the car.

Pei Yuan was somewhat puzzled by the two men and looked at Lu Dahua inquiringly.

Lu Dahua smiled awkwardly and said unnaturally, "I'm not familiar with them either."

He added, "Brother should get along with them."

Seeing Pei Yuan still puzzled, Lu Dahua whispered, "These two are not from our Jianghu. One is the deputy commander of the Jinxiang Guard Command, and the other is the governor of the Dacheng Defense Command."

Pei Yuan took a breath when he heard this.

When Pei Yuan was living in the city, he had heard that the wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River would raise martial arts sects as thugs.

However, no one expected that military officers and soldiers in the garrison would directly play such a role.

So who can Lu Ting mobilize?

Zhang Kexian and Xiao Fu went forward to look at the corpses, peeled off their clothes with a knife, checked the conditions of their hands and feet, and had a rough idea in their minds.

When he met Pei Yuan again, his tone was a little softer, "I didn't expect that Captain Pei had such a strong army under his command. How much did you lose?"

Pei Yuan said calmly, "Captain Pei. I once fought with Liu Qi in Jining and was lucky enough to take his sword. The court has promoted me to the rank of captain in order to reward my merits."

After saying that, he smiled at Lu Dahua in a shy manner, "Not many people know about what happened some time ago."

If he were facing a gangster, Pei Yuan wouldn't care about the difference in status.

Anyway, he is an official and the other side is a bandit, and the two sides have no common language to communicate.

But with these two people, one is a deputy captain of the fifth rank, and the other is a guard of the fifth rank, Pei Yuan can't be polite.

When a man goes out, his identity is given by himself.

Zhang Kexian and Xiao Fu's attitudes became noticeably polite. "That's our fault."

Pei Yuan already knew that Lu Ting was not someone he was going to mess with, so he naturally wouldn't try to be brave at this time and immediately began to sigh.

"What a heavy loss!"

He held Lu Dahua's hand.

"Brother, you know me."

Lu Dahua: “???”

Pei Yuan said with a sad face, "Brother, my family has been poor since I was a child, and I basically grew up in a hard life. Later, I became a military officer of the Jinyiwei by borrowing money at high interest and currying favor with Shanggu Dayong, but I was ostracized and went to the East Factory."

"Not long after I went to the East Factory, I was raped and raped, and lost my job. That's why I was hired by the Suppressing Evil Thousand Households to make a living."

"But, brother, I've only been seconded to Nanzhi for a few days, and I've already encountered such a thing."

As Pei Yuan spoke, his eyes became moist with grievance.

Cheng Leixiang, who was standing aside, looked up at the sky in grief and anger, while Chen Toutie also wiped his eyes.

Lu Dahua didn't know how to comfort him for a moment, and he was a little at a loss. "Hey, look at what my brother said. What does the old saying say? It's not a shame to be born in a humble family. Only a man can bend and stretch. "

Pei Yuan said gratefully, "The last time big brother came to make friends with me, it was like seeing the blue sky through the clouds. Naturally, I was secretly impressed. Big brother also deliberately reminded me at that time to be careful of the people above. I have been secretly vigilant. Sure enough, I found out that these guys wanted to take the opportunity to eliminate me!"

"That's right! Brother, I..." Lu Dahua patted his chest and wanted to say something.

Pei Yuan said angrily, "So I got carried away and fought them without caring about anything. Although there were heavy casualties in the end, at least they paid a price."

Lu Dahua looked at this young man who was being beaten by society and felt a little bit sorry for him, so he revealed a little bit of information.

"This matter is quite complicated. Those people may not just be targeting you. Your current position is very critical. Some people want to use this to make some trouble."

As he spoke, Lu Dahua went on to talk about the people behind the scenes.

Finally, he concluded, "So my brother will definitely send you to Suzhou safely and will not let those people succeed in their evil plot."

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and asked, "If I go to Suzhou and get the tax money, won't that ruin your business? How can I do such an unkind and unjust thing?"

Lu Dahua said carelessly, "Hey, brother, don't worry about this. If you really have difficulties, then try to report to the court and transport the silver back to Suzhou. Who can make things difficult for you?"

Lu Dahua emphasized the words "there are indeed difficulties".

Pei Yuan didn't need to think too much to guess that this was the best result the southern bureaucratic group could expect without breaking off relations.

In this way, both sides can still save face and fight without breaking each other.

But by then, Pei Yuan himself would inevitably be regarded as incompetent. And the internal guards of the factory would definitely bring up the past.

At that time, all I have to ask is, "Why are you, Pei Qianhu, so fierce when you fight against the Northern Pacification Division, but so vulnerable when you fight against those local groups?"

Then Pei Yuan would be speechless.

such a pity.

While both sides were fighting fiercely over the 80,000 taels of silver, they had no idea that Pei Laoliu, whom they regarded as a chess piece, was also eyeing the money.

Once he can turn the 80,000 taels of silver into hundreds of thousands of taels of silver like a magic trick in Huai'an, then even if the two sides fight over it, Captain Pei will be able to sit back and enjoy the benefits.

Pei Yuan could even be so shameless as to take all the money away, then ride quickly to northern Zhili and use the 80,000 taels collected by the Taoist monks of Zhenji to hand over to the Neichengyunku.

As long as Han Qianhu is smart enough, the two sides can cooperate seamlessly.

Pei Yuan thought about it and gave Lu Dahua a hint with his eyes.

Lu Dahua knew that if he wanted to convince this young man to disobey orders, he couldn't just rely on empty words.

The two of them came to the side.

As expected, Pei Yuan's first question hit the nail on the head. "The current situation is still under the table. If it is exposed, it will not look good on anyone. But the order I received is to escort the commercial taxes. What if the matter fails and the court punishes me?"

Seeing Pei Yuan was so straightforward, Lu Dahua no longer needed to fool him with empty words.

While paying attention to the movements of Zhang Kexian and Xiao Fu, he said in a whisper, "It's easy. Whether your plan can succeed this time depends not only on whether you can transport the silver to the inner transport warehouse, but also on whether you can make the cost paid by the court exceed the benefits."

"When the time comes, you just need to let them go and let more people die along the way. Then I will find some more people to give you merits, and I guarantee that the court will be speechless."

Pei Yuan began to understand Lu Dahua's thinking.

Whether the imperial court's silver transport mission is considered successful depends on the achievement of two indicators.

The first is to ensure that the silver is transported to the internal transportation warehouse, and the second is that the cost along the way should not be too high, ensuring that the process can be replicated and that the transportation of silver can be normalized.

Violating one of these two conditions would be enough to make the court's goal fail.

If the first item was violated and the silver was robbed directly, the one who would be unlucky would definitely be Pei Yuan, the captain of the Jinyi Guards who was in charge of escorting it.

If the second item is violated, Pei Yuan will have a chance to escape unscathed, because that would not be a crime committed in war.

In fact, even if Lu Dahua had not done the favor, the southern bureaucratic group would have preferred the second option.

Because directly robbing tax silver is too radical, if it angers the imperial court, the imperial court may no longer weigh the pros and cons.

The last robbery and murder of the tax inspector of the Eastern Depot was a humiliation. This time the imperial court was ruthless and took immediate action, which was a sign of overturning the table in advance.

This change has also given rise to different voices within the southern bureaucracy.

If you choose the second option, it will be much more realistic.

Not touching the silver would save the court's face.

Too many casualties would also allow the imperial court to see our determination to resist.

If the imperial court gave up and stopped raising taxes on commerce, that would be great! Perhaps on this basis, the southern nobles would still have room to make concessions in other areas.

For example, if we make farmers suffer a little more...

Pei Yuan knew that Lu Dahua's black gloves were actually very peripheral, but he still wanted to convey some information, "Brother, I actually have a little secret, I don't know if I should tell it or not."

Lu Dahua was moved when he heard this, but he didn't say anything final. "We are brothers, right... You speak first."

Pei Yuan lowered his voice and said, "In fact, I have secretly bribed two centurions. Well, I spent some money. We have already made an agreement privately. As long as the tax silver is transported to Huai'an and the situation can be explained, we will find an excuse to return it."

Lu Dahua was overjoyed when he heard this, "Really?"

Pei Yuan vowed, "It really cost some money."

"No." Lu Dahua felt that this guy missed the point. "Have you really bribed everyone here? Will you come back after you get to Huai'an?"

Pei Yuan also nodded confidently, "How can this be false? However, when the silver is transported back, big brother has to help me take care of it. If the money cannot be returned to the Suhang Manufacturing Office, I'm afraid the court will not let it go."

Lu Dahua was extremely happy to hear this, and immediately took the responsibility, saying, "Don't worry, they also understand the importance of this matter. If anyone dares to touch your money, we will never let him suffer any consequences."

Afraid that Pei Yuan would not believe him, he spoke frankly, "To be honest, those people are not worried about the business tax. They are afraid that once the matter starts, it will be unstoppable in the future."

Seeing that Lu Dahua was so easy to talk to, Pei Yuan changed his mind and told him his main purpose.

"Brother, we suffered a lot in dealing with the Northern Pacification Office this time. I have less than a hundred Jinyiwei under my command. We only managed to gather enough men by recruiting able-bodied men from Yixing."

"I don't care about their lives, but I'm afraid that if their numbers are too high, the court may temporarily change the generals and appoint someone else to escort them. Brother, what do you think?"

When Lu Dahua was reminded by Pei Yuanyi, he felt it made sense. It was impossible for him to finally sort out things here, only to have the court replace someone else.

Then wouldn't they have worked in vain?
Lu Dahua pondered for a while, as if he had made up his mind, and said to Pei Yuan, "Don't worry, brother. I will discuss it with them later."

After Lu Dahua finished speaking, he went to find Zhang Kexian and Xiao Fu. He pulled the three of them aside and started a heated discussion.

Finally, Lu Dahua took out something and showed it to the two men, and they fell silent.

But the two of them looked quite unhappy, and they didn't even say hello to Pei Yuan, and just went back on their own.

Lu Dahua felt a little embarrassed. Facing Pei Yuan's question, he reluctantly said, "Don't worry. I also wanted to fight with the Northern Pacification Division."

Pei Yuan originally wanted to ask if he could help repay the money he used to bribe the two centurions, but in the end he couldn't bear it.

That night, the people brought by Zhang Kexian and Xiao Fu camped on the outskirts, and the Jinyiwei rested relatively well.

When it was daybreak, the Jinyiwei began to make a fire and cook.

Pei Yuan briefly mentioned what happened on Lu Dahua's side to Tan Tai Fangtu and Si Kong Sui who were sitting around the fire.

Many things that will happen next will involve cooperation between the two parties. If there is no prior communication, various misunderstandings are inevitable.

Pei Yuan was talking to the two men when he saw Zhang Kexian riding a horse coming from somewhere.

A Jinyiwei soldier wanted to go up to him and ask him questions, but Pei Yuan shouted from a distance, "Don't bother with him."

Zhang Kexian was not polite either. He rode his horse to the fire where Pei Yuan was sitting, threw down a long string of heads, and rode away.

Tan Tai Fang Tu immediately got angry and stood up and yelled, "What a bastard! How dare you be so arrogant?"

Pei Yuan stared at the head on the ground, then switched to the small map and took a look, then stood up and patted Tan Tai Fang Tu, "Forget it, I'm busy today."

——Lu Ting is here.

(End of this chapter)