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

Chapter 156 You dictate, I'll seal

Listening to Pei Yuan's words that were filled with strong will, everyone inexplicably felt a sense of awe.

This has nothing to do with Pei Yuan’s power or strength. What resonates so strongly with them is Pei Yuan’s fearless, brave and unyielding attitude.

He is like a lion emitting strong hormones, making everyone under him subconsciously want to follow him.

Sikong Sui felt even more subverted.

I still remember that when Han Qianhu came back from Beijing, he happily told him to find a genius in accounting and see if there was any way to keep him.

The situation today.

Is there something wrong?

After Pei Yuan finished speaking, he still asked Cheng Leixiang to follow him.

He also selected six people from the personal guards who had gone to the Suzhou prefectural government office before.

Then the eight of them rode quickly back to Jiangdu City.

This time they went around in a circle and entered through a different door.

After entering the city, Pei Yuan took Cheng Leixiang and others to find the person at the core of this revenge plan.

——Wang Chang, Minister of War of Nanjing.

A few people found a quiet teahouse not far from the inn where Wang Chang was staying, and then asked Cheng Leixiang to take Pei Yuan's badge to invite people.

Wang Chang had just met Pei Yuan yesterday and wanted to discuss many details with Pei Yuan. He readily agreed and followed Cheng Leixiang to the quiet room of the teahouse.

After Wang Chang entered the quiet room in the teahouse, Pei Yuan gave Cheng Leixiang an inquiring look.

Cheng Leixiang immediately said, "We have also booked several rooms around here. My brothers and I will be guarding outside."

Wang Chang was a little surprised that someone was so meticulous in his work.

He thought about it and felt that there was nothing strange about it. After all, none of the plans they were going to discuss could be easily shown to others.

When the two met again, Wang Chang felt a little awkward.

He was no longer as angry as he was yesterday. Although he still admired Pei Yuan's methods, he was a second-rank civil servant and could not let go of his pride in front of a fifth-rank military officer.

Pei Yuan was easy-going and took the initiative to stand up and said, "The Grand Marshal is here, please sit down."

Wang Chang felt a lot more relieved.

Captain Pei was such a good person, at least he saved his face.

Pei Yuan naturally didn't know about the change in Wang Chang's heart. Ever since the two of them talked things out yesterday, the debt of favor between him and Wang Chang had been wiped out.

The relationship between the two has begun to normalize.

But Wang Chang looked very happy, which made Pei Yuan feel more confident about what would happen next.

So Pei Yuan went straight to the point and said, "There is something I need the Grand Marshal's help with."

Wang Chang heard this and said with rare pride, "We are no different from outsiders. Captain Pei, if you have any instructions, just tell me."

"Yeah." Pei Yuan responded, and said in a casual tone, "I wonder how much the Grand Marshal knows about the Tiger Guards?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Chang casually asked, "The one from Nanjing?"

After saying that, he felt that the question was redundant, so he said directly, "The current commander of the Huben Zuowei is called Yang Lin. This guy is uneducated and unskillful, and is really useless. Fortunately, his ancestors were very ruthless, leaving him a solid foundation, which is enough for him to live a life of debauchery and pleasure."

"There are about 400 people in the entire Huben Zuowei now, and most of them were brought to Yangzhou by him to do business. Some work as thugs for gambling houses and brothels, while others do some unknown jobs."

Wang Chang finished speaking and added, "Most of the garrisons in Nanjing are like this now. However, some are in Suzhou, some in Hangzhou, and some in Huai'an, Huzhou and other places. The court doesn't need them now, and they don't make much money at ordinary times, so they can only find their own way."

Pei Yuan listened carefully, and then he revealed his true intention and said to Wang Chang, "I need this Tiger Guards' Left Guards. Can you use the official document of the Ministry of War to gather them and transfer them out of the city?"

Wang Chang was a little puzzled when he heard this. "These people are good at doing dirty work, but as for other things, I'm afraid they are useless, right?"

Pei Yuan looked at Wang Chang without further explanation.

A kind of silence and depression permeated between the two people.

Wang Chang then realized that something was wrong.

Pei Yuan asked for Huben Zuowei by name right away, I'm afraid there is some other secret behind this matter.

He hurriedly said, "What exactly is the matter, Qian Hu? Please explain it clearly. Otherwise, I will be confused and don't know what to do."

Pei Yuan looked at Wang Chang and said directly, "It is indeed a small matter."

Before Wang Chang could breathe a sigh of relief, Pei Yuan continued, "It doesn't matter if this matter is right or wrong, or the process, it only matters the stance."

Pei Yuan looked directly at Wang Chang.

"Can you help me?"

Wang Chang was confused when he heard this. What does it mean not caring about right or wrong, and not asking about the process?
This sounds like a scam.

But combined with Pei Yuan's subsequent sentence "only look at the stance", it became roughly understood that Pei Yuan wanted to see his attitude.

Do it or not? Do it or not?
Wang Chang was thinking frantically in his mind, hesitating constantly, and paused every time he wanted to speak.

After a while, he asked with difficulty, "Is it really a small matter?"

Pei Yuan said frankly, "It won't be any trouble. You can come with me and take charge."

Wang Chang felt briefly relieved.

Then the horrific memories came back.

The last time he rejected Pei Yuan’s request, it seemed like this bastard went crazy and rode his horse to trample on him.

Wang Chang said decisively, "Captain Pei can tell me how to write this document. I will go back and use the seal."

Wang Chang came to Jiangdu under the pretext of a northern defense tour.

Therefore, he always carried the seal of the Ministry of War with him in case of emergency.

Pei Yuan had never come into contact with official documents of the Ministry of War. Even though he is doing well now, he is still a complete rookie in the officialdom.

There were only two official documents that he had touched. One was a transfer order for him to go to the Zhenxie Qianhu Office to assist in handling a case, and the other was a document for escorting tax silver to the Neichengyunku.

Pei Yuan coughed lightly to hide his embarrassment.

"You can come up with your own ideas. The gist of it is that the rebels in Bazhou are approaching Huai'an, and the imperial court wants Nanzhi to strengthen its military preparations. Let him move the people of Huben Zuowei to station at the Grand Canal Ferry instead."

Wang Chang thought to himself, if that's the case, then this order is reasonable.

Even if something happens in the future, it won't have much to do with me.

When the bandits approached, giving priority to protecting the Grand Canal was indeed the basic operation of the Nanjing Military Department.

However, Wang Chang asked for safety, "Does this document need to be filed?"

Only then did Pei Yuan realize that this thing needed a backup.

However, this order was quite normal, so he said, "Whatever you want."

Then, as if remembering something, he emphasized, "But this matter is of great importance. I have to send one of my men to follow and make sure that Yang Lin, the commander of the Tiger Guard Left Guard, gets the document."

As he said that, he called Cheng Leixiang in. Wang Chang naturally would not dwell on such a trivial matter. He looked at Cheng Leixiang and arranged, "I will let Jiao Kun, the deputy minister of the Ministry of War, handle this matter. When the time comes, I will say that this person is my follower and let him go with me."

Wang Chang asked again, "When will this document be written?"

Pei Yuan said, "The sooner the better."

Wang Chang stood up and said, "I will go back and write a transfer order to the Tiger Guard Left Guard. In a quarter of an hour, you can ask this warrior to come to the inn to find me. I will introduce him to Jiao Kun."

Pei Yuan stood up and walked two steps forward, watching Wang Chang go downstairs.

This place is very close to the post station. For an old bureaucrat like Wang Chang, a quarter of an hour is more than enough to write an official document and stamp it.

After Wang Chang left, Pei Yuan walked to the window, looked at the inn, and ordered without turning his head, "Did you hear him just now? The identity assigned to you is his follower."

Cheng Leixiang knew that Pei Yuan had something else to say, so he said, "Please give me your instructions, sir."

Pei Yuan said, "His arrangement makes me less worried. When you meet Yang Lin, try to get Jiao Kun, the deputy minister of the Ministry of War, to introduce your identity to Yang Lin."

Cheng Leixiang continued listening.

Then Pei Yuan said, "After Jiao Kun leaves, find an excuse to leave and go back to see Yang Lin. Tell him that there is another hidden story. The court wants the Southern Zhili to strengthen its military and has a sum of money to be transferred. These people are going to protect the envoys from the north."

"We can let him bring more people with him, and then he can cry poor and make a scene to demand the salary. That way everyone, from top to bottom, can get a share."

"Given Yang Lin's greedy character, he will definitely not refuse. Come to me when you're done."

Cheng Leixiang repeated it again and left in a hurry.

Pei Yuan also changed his plan and sent people to intercept Sun Keding's convoy carrying crossbows halfway and find another place to hide.

Pei Yuan watched from the teahouse and saw Cheng Leixiang enter the inn.

Soon, a fifth-rank official wearing a white pheasant patch came out hurriedly with a group of soldiers, and Cheng Leixiang was among them.

Pei Yuan smacked his lips.

It turns out that a fifth-rank official is only capable of running errands for Wang Chang. I still have to give him some respect in the future.

Pei Yuan returned to the building and slowly drank his tea.

It was almost noon when Cheng Leixiang came back and said to Pei Yuan, "Sir, it's done."

Pei Yuan became interested, "Oh, tell me about it."

Cheng Leixiang said, "The 100-household residence where we stayed yesterday was indeed the headquarters of the Tiger Guard Left Guard Commander. It was there that I met Yang Lin."

"When we went there, the door of the Hundred Households Office was tightly closed and they were packing up their things."

"Later, Jiao Kun opened the door, and Yang Lin let us in."

"I took a special look and found that I had no idea where the bodies had gone. However, many of the destroyed houses were still in the same condition, and there were still arrows everywhere that had not been cleaned up."

Pei Yuan asked calmly, "Are there many people in the Hundred Households Office?"

Cheng Leixiang replied, "A lot. We estimated that there were more than 200 people present. In the short time we were there, more than ten people came back."

Pei Yuan nodded.
This is consistent with his judgment.

Pei Yuan left the mess behind and left without saying a word.

This will definitely make Yang Lin, the commander of the Huben Zuowei, feel a little unsure.

In order to prevent retaliation, he would inevitably choose to shrink his defense and recall all available personnel.

This is also Pei Yuan’s purpose.

Either don't do it at all, or do it thoroughly.

How can we threaten those who are taking chances if we don't eradicate the problem completely?

Seeing that Pei Yuan did not continue to ask, Cheng Leixiang continued, "Jiao Kun also saw what happened at the Hundred Households Office, but he acted as if he did not see it and did not bother about it. I followed the adults' instructions and deliberately asked about it."

"Then Jiao Kun didn't want to get involved, so he took the initiative to mention it. I am the follower of the Minister of War, Wang Da Sima."

"Yeah." Pei Yuan was very satisfied with Cheng Leixiang's response.

Officials like Jiao Kun, who do not care about anything related to the matter and keep aloof, are most afraid of getting into trouble.

Seeing that Cheng Leixiang was meddling in other people's business, he would definitely pass on the blame immediately and reveal Cheng Leixiang's identity to indicate that it had nothing to do with him.

In this way, even after the incident, Jiao Kun would not realize that Cheng Leixiang deliberately revealed his identity through his mouth.

"Yang Lin was a little unhappy when he heard that he was going to move his troops to the ferry, but he still accepted the order."

"Later, I followed the adults' instructions and went back to find him and told him about the riot. He immediately became interested."

Soldiers rioting over pay was an extremely common phenomenon in this era.

It’s just that no one usually pays attention to it, and the military officers from all over the country are also very guilty and can’t do anything.

When the imperial court needs to use troops like this, they become very excited.

There are so many items to choose from, such as making up for unpaid wages, travel expenses, weapons repairs, and clothing and armor replenishment.

In particular, Cheng Leixiang specifically emphasized that this time the imperial court had allocated money to guard against the bandits in Bazhou, so why not make a fuss about such a promising pay.

Moreover, this time, the Minister of War Wang Chang also sent his followers to convey private messages.

It was obvious that the military officers in the entire Jiangnan region had reached a consensus and were ready to extort a large sum of money from the imperial court, and were ready to use the Huben Zuowei as the vanguard.

As for Yang Lin.

I am so happy to be the pioneer.

The court's finances are tight now, and those who depend on the court for support know this all too well.

Those who are close to the water get the moon first. No matter what others do, they, the Huben Zuowei, will definitely not lose out if they get a taste of it first.

"Then Yang Lin asked me to pass a message to Wang Chang, saying that he would definitely handle this matter. Yang Lin asked me to tell Wang Chang that he plans to gather some more soldiers today and will set out early tomorrow morning. He wanted to know if this would delay things."

Pei Yuan got this critical time.

Then he said to Cheng Leixiang, "Go to Wang Chang and ask him to give a formal reply, saying that you agree to let him leave tomorrow, and it would be best if he can use the seal. This is not a big deal, Wang Chang will not be suspicious, just do it yourself."

"After you deliver the letter to Yang Lin, leave two people there to watch over their every move."

"I will have someone stay at Sun Keding's residence to contact him. If there is any major change, someone will go over and pass on the message to me."

"If I send you a message, I will send it there too."

"From now on, the affairs in Jiangdu will be left to you. Tomorrow morning, as soon as the troops of the Huben Zuowei move, you will pick up Wang Chang and meet up with me as soon as possible."

Cheng Leixiang listened carefully and wrote down everything.

Pei Yuan thought of something and whispered, "If possible, try to search the Hundred Households Office and try to get the official document from Wang Chang. If Wang Chang really didn't keep a record, haha, this matter can't be explained."

"I will send you a few more people to assist you in this matter. Then you can go to Sun Keding to pick them up."

Cheng Leixiang's eyes lit up and he said, "I understand."

(End of this chapter)