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

Chapter 147 0146 Half Brother

Then, Pei Yuan reacted.

My eyes subconsciously began to look around.

In the distance, he saw an old man in gorgeous clothes, surrounded by a crowd of people, staring at him in amazement.

Wang Chang?

How did this old guy come to Yangzhou?

Then Pei Yuan subconsciously looked at Wang Chang a few more times.

A Minister of War who was frustrated in politics and submitted his resignation seven times but was rejected; a member of the eunuch party who could be sacrificed at any time because of Liu Jin's downfall; a Sima of the Southern Dynasties who was willing to compromise with a mere centurion because of his fear of death!
Pei Yuan's expression changed as he watched.

No, it's not the old stuff!
This is my half brother!

Captain Pei's emotions were aroused all of a sudden. He took a few quick steps forward and held Wang Chang's hand.

"Great Sima, I didn't expect that I would have the honor to meet you here."

The people around Wang Chang all frowned slightly. How could this guy be so ignorant?
Didn’t you see that everyone was out having fun in simple clothes?

What will the common people think of you making such a big fuss? What if the Imperial Guards find out?
Wang Chang's face didn't look very good.

But he had been manipulated by Pei Yuan so many times that he had lost his temper. He could only hum and wanted to look away, and go his separate ways.

Then Pei Yuan's young and handsome face suddenly appeared from the side, filling Wang Chang's vision.

Wang Chang subconsciously took a step back, and the Yangzhou officials who were dressed in plain clothes behind him quickly supported him.

It turned out that Pei Yuan actually started to chase after Wang Chang and mark him without any hesitation, wanting to continue communicating with him.

Some of the followers who couldn't stand it shouted, "How dare you! Who are you to be so presumptuous in front of the old man?"

Pei Yuan was not angry either, and said to Wang Chang eagerly, "Grand Marshal, I have something good to tell you."

Wang Chang replied in a friendly manner, "No need for that. You and I have nothing to do with each other."

When Wang Chang was still serving as the Southern Grand Marshal, he was unwilling to provoke such desperate criminals who dared to rush into the post station and hack people indiscriminately. Now that he has made up his mind to step down, he has no reason to offend Pei Yuan.

He is the second-rank Nanjing Minister of War. Although everyone is now calling for his death, if you can't afford to offend him, you can always avoid him.

But what he didn't know was.

It was his second-rank official rank that attracted Pei Yuan's covetousness.

The same great achievements would result in completely different results when performed by seventh-rank officials like Sun Keding and Wang Shouren and by a second-rank official like Wang Chang.

If Wang Chang had made contributions at the critical moment when the Bazhou rebels came south, then this egg that was about to rot would very likely hatch a golden phoenix.

Pei Yuan did not expect a loser like Wang Chang to enter the cabinet, because entering the cabinet was not a personal matter for Wang Chang. He must be able to represent and influence a large number of officials with the same qualities.

So what are Wang Chang’s characteristics?
——The spineless eunuch party, the remaining poison of Liu Jin’s new policies.

This is a cabinet candidate that the current court absolutely cannot accept.

Pei Yuan did not expect Wang Chang to be promoted to a first-rank or secondary-rank civil official.

Military officers of the first or second rank were nothing at all. After the rebellion in Bazhou was quelled, several military officers of the first and second rank appeared.

But it’s different for civil servants!

The first rank is extremely rare, and there were only a handful of civil servants who had ever held the first rank while alive in the entire Ming Dynasty.

The first rank is a lifelong dream that many people cannot even dream of. Even many famous officials in history wanted to get the first rank, but they only achieved it by being conferred the title after their death.

Considering Wang Chang’s current life experience, the second rank is already the upper limit.

However, the fact that the grade cannot be upgraded does not mean that Wang Chang has no room for improvement.

He still has one small step to take, and as long as he takes it, the world will open up to him.

This small step led to the position of Chief Censor of the Censorate.

For example, Lu Wan, as a third-rank assistant minister of the Ministry of War, led the army to quell the rebellion in the early stages. The legal basis for him to command the army was not his third-rank assistant minister of the Ministry of War, but his fourth-rank title of Right Censor-in-Chief.

Later, when Lu Wan made repeated contributions in suppressing the rebels and causing the Bazhou rebels to retreat step by step, the court promoted Lu Wan. However, he did not promote him from the position of Vice Minister of War, but instead promoted him from the fourth rank Right Censor-in-Chief within the Censorate system to the second rank Right Censor-in-Chief.

That is to say, in the early stage when Lu Wan led the army to quell the rebellion, his status was the third-rank assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and the fourth-rank right assistant censor-in-chief.

In the later stage of suppressing the Bazhou rebellion, he was the third-rank assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and the second-rank right censor-in-chief.

What Pei Yuan wanted was the additional title of Right Censor-in-Chief, which was also of the second rank!

In the Ming Dynasty's court system, the Censorate played an extremely important role.

There were Left and Right Censors-in-Chief in the Censorate.

Generally speaking, the Left Censor-in-Chief is a fixed number of people who are responsible for the daily work of the Censorate, while the Right Censor-in-Chief is an irregular number of people who are mainly used as an additional title and are responsible for official business trips.

If one wants to become a true provincial governor or governor-general, one must obtain the status of Right Censor-in-Chief.

This is a very important part of the political checks and balances in the Ming Dynasty.

Because in the Ming Dynasty, although the position of the censor was not high, the power was extremely great. Even a small censor, when traveling around the country, acted on behalf of the emperor.

For example, there are the famous Censors Inspecting Salt, Censors Inspecting Grain Transport, Censors Inspecting Rivers, Censors Inspecting Cities, Censors Inspecting Warehouses, etc. It can be said that the entire civil service system of the Ming Dynasty was under the supervision and control of the Censors.

However, if a local official is given the position of Right Censor-in-Chief, it means that the supervision of various censors over this local official will be completely ineffective.

Because the Right Censor-in-Chief is the immediate superior of all the censors!
The imperial court gave him an opening in the system, completely letting him go and allowing him to act arbitrarily.

This is the real frontier governor!

With Wang Chang's status as the second-rank Nanjing Minister of War, as long as he made contributions that the court had to recognize, his rewards could only be divided into two types.

One possibility is to transfer Wang Chang from the Minister of War in Nanjing to Beijing.

But this caused a lot of trouble.

Although the Nanjing Minister of War and the Beijing Minister of War have equal status and each holds military power, the Beijing Minister of War is located in the capital and can sit at the table when the emperor holds meetings.

The Nanjing Minister of War could only stare blankly, waiting for the meeting to be over and the spirit to be conveyed.

Once Wang Chang was allowed to return to Beijing, he would be qualified to sit at the table at meetings. During the court recommendation, whether he raised his hand or not would have a significant impact on the world.

As for whether Wang Chang himself could enter the cabinet, regardless of whether he could do so, he had opened the way to the cabinet.

In addition, there is another trouble. That is, after the rebellion in Bazhou is pacified, Lu Wan will definitely be appointed as the Minister of War.

But if Wang Chang also had merits, Wang Chang, the Nanjing Minister of War, would obviously be more suitable to take over the position of Beijing Minister of War than Lu Wan, the Beijing Vice Minister of War.

But Lu Wan’s contribution must be rewarded, so he can only get a position from somewhere else.

There are only a few positions above the second rank in the six ministries, so where will they be squeezed in? This will once again have an impact on the court situation.

Then the court’s only choice is the second possibility.

Appoint Wang Chang as the Right Censor-in-Chief, and then send him to a local government as a frontier governor. Let him enjoy his life for a few years, and then wait for him to retire.

After deducing these two possibilities in his mind, Pei Yuan even planned where Wang Chang would go next.

Didn’t Jining’s river governor just fall from grace?
Pei Yuan can also help his elder brother get the position of Governor of Huai'an Canal Transport!

In this era, controlling the Grand Canal was equivalent to controlling the flow of silver.

Even if you only control half of it, it is enough to control huge benefits.

At such a critical moment, how could Pei Yuan tolerate Wang Chang, an old loser who had no ambition to make progress, to destroy his own plans?

He said threateningly, "The great Sima is too full of himself. Sometimes the well water will also affect the river water."

When Wang Chang heard what Pei Yuan said, he was choked.

He was so embarrassed that his face turned red. He wanted to save face in front of a bunch of old friends, but then he remembered the scene where that damn guy rode his horse and trampled on him.

Wang Chang could not help but swallow his anger and said, "Oh, then I wonder what Captain Pei has to say to stop me?"

Wang Chang had the mentality of a complete loser, and had no intention of struggling at all.

However, those who followed Wang Chang couldn't help but change their expressions slightly.

They looked at Pei Yuan in surprise, then at Wang Chang, wondering if someone had caught this Grand Marshal in some way.

Pei Yuan's face changed instantly, from gloomy and unpredictable to a warm smile.

He pulled Wang Chang aside and said, "That's good, that's good."

Wang Chang felt somewhat resistant in his heart, but when he thought that this was after all the prosperous city of Yangzhou, and there were so many old colleagues witnessing it, was he still afraid that he would beat him?

So he half-heartedly let Pei Yuan drag him to a dead end.

Pei Yuan had just observed that there was a cloth shop on one side of this short alley and furs were sold on the other side.

There are doors on both sides of the short alley at the end. It should be where the two shops transport materials to the backyard. Usually there are almost no people there.

Pei Yuan signaled Cheng Leixiang to help him keep watch, and then he smiled and said to the frightened Wang Chang, "Why did the Grand Marshal appear in Yangzhou City?"

Wang Chang didn't know what attitude to use towards Pei Yuan for a moment, and wanted to respond in silence.

Pei Yuan was not polite and felt that it was time for Wang Chang to recall his past experiences.

So he raised his right hand, and the Bazhou knife in his hand mercilessly swept off the tall hat on Wang Chang's head.

Wang Chang suddenly became quiet.

Pei Yuan was the first to be startled.

He has always liked to bully the weak and fear the strong. He was a little worried that he might have gone too far just now and completely angered this second-rank Sima of the Southern Empire.

A skinny camel is bigger than a horse.

Even if Wang Chang could not interfere with the factory security system, he might be able to cause himself some trouble from other places.

Just when Pei Yuan was undecided, he heard Wang Chang sigh and say, "I have submitted resignation petitions many times, but the court refused. Now the rebels in Bazhou may invade Southern Zhili. Since I am in this position, I can't just hide south of the Yangtze River and turn a blind eye."

After saying this, Wang Chang slowly picked up his tall hat from the ground and put it on.

Pei Yuan looked at Wang Chang's face carefully and suddenly smiled.

Wang Chang frowned and watched without saying much.

Pei Yuan looked at Wang Chang and said seriously, "If your actions just now were because you chose to forbear, I would be very happy."

"You are a smart person. A stupid person would not be able to defeat all enemies and climb to the high position of the second rank."

"You probably think it's not worth it to fight to the death with a small character like me, right?"

Wang Chang sighed and said nothing.

Pei Yuan looked at Wang Chang, and his face lost its previous exaggeration and showed a bit of sincerity.

"I like to work with smart people. Even if your forbearance may become a hidden danger to me one day, we now have the opportunity to achieve mutual success. Why not seize the day?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Chang looked at Pei Yuan strangely.

He already knew how cunning the guy in front of him was.

Just look at the fact that Pei Yuan had the courage to come back after the massacre in the post station, and interrogate everyone one by one to see if there were any loopholes, and even leave each person's confession to make it into solid evidence.

I knew that he was a man of great courage, meticulous mind, decisiveness and no one who would leave any trouble behind.

Wang Chang's subconscious pause just now was indeed his reaction to anger.

However, this response is accompanied by countless pros and cons.

But what would a desperado like Pei Yuan think of such a reaction?
Is it a lurking snake, a cunning fox, or an old wolf?

With the character of people like Pei Yuan, no matter what their opinion is, they would probably regard Wang Chang as some kind of disturbing threat that needs to be eliminated as soon as possible.

But he never expected that the desperado in front of him could be so courageous.

Wang Chang did not want to provoke Pei Yuan and planned to quickly withdraw from the previous confrontation, so he asked, "Then I would like to ask Captain Pei, what is the opportunity for mutual achievement?"

Pei Yuan's mood immediately improved. He was about to tell Wang Chang about his plans for his future work when he heard some noise outside.

Pei Yuan tilted his head and saw that it was the people who had accompanied Wang Chang out for a stroll before. Seeing that Pei Yuan had taken Wang Chang away and had not returned for a long time, they all came up to him and started to make a fuss.

Pei Yuan saw that Cheng Leixiang and his men were guarding, so he didn't bother to pay attention. He turned around and asked Wang Chang, "Who are these people? How dare they get involved with you?"

Wang Chang was also a veteran in the officialdom. After hearing what Pei Yuan said, he knew that the Jinyiwei in front of him was a sensible man and it was useless to try to save face in front of him.

So he said frankly, "They are all officials from Yangzhou, and they are all related to the eunuch party. They share the same fate with me."

"Oh." Pei Yuan said, and turned his head to look outside.

At this moment, he suddenly realized a problem.

Liu Jin did indeed collapse, and his remnants did indeed become the rats crossing the street that everyone wanted to kill.

But the remnants of Liu Jin's power still exist for sure!
These remnants of Liu Jin who are facing purge, no matter how troublesome the situation they are facing, no matter how bleak the future prospects are, these residual forces still exist now!

Even if it is about to exit the stage of history, isn’t it still there now?

(End of this chapter)