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

Chapter 195 Understanding Applause
Pei Yuan calmed down his bad mood.

I thought of getting rid of Sun Fu first so that I could deal with the real business.

His eyes swept over the Huai'an Guard Cavalry who were running around and showing off their might, and he couldn't help but feel moved.

He instructed Sun Fu, "Tell those merchants that I have sent troops from Huai'an to protect them. Tell them to just follow me. If anyone comes to cause trouble, just mention my name."

I will allow those who have taken advantage of me to take advantage of me even more.

Understand the applause.

Upon hearing this, Sun Fu hurriedly said, "I will go and tell the merchants right away."

After finishing the miscellaneous matters, Pei Yuan asked several of his subordinates indirectly about what had happened in the past few days.

The reason for not asking directly was that he was afraid that if he asked something contradictory, he would reveal the details of Han Qianhu's secret actions.

Fortunately, Captain Han was very meticulous in his work. Pei Yuan took a brief look at it and did not find anything that needed to be corrected.

Cui Bohou was far away just now and did not hear the exchange between Pei Yuan and Zhou Chao. He came over and asked, "Captain, are the people from Huai'an Guard reliable? They are a little close now. This distance is not safe enough."

Pei Yuan didn't know what Cui Bohou meant, so he didn't answer and looked at him inquiringly.

Cui Bohou hinted, "Although these cavalrymen are capable of fighting, they are still inferior to ours. If the captain has an idea, it won't take much time."

Pei Yuan understood.

This was because Cui Bohou saw that Pei Qianhu looked unhappy after meeting Zhou Chao and suspected that he was threatened, so he came to give Pei Qianhu courage.

But what's the point of saying this now?

If you had come over here just now and acted so openly, I could have raised your daily reward.

Pei Yuan knew that Cui Bohou had good intentions, so he didn't think much of it and just said, "Don't worry, I know what's going on."

On the way back to Shanyang, Pei Yuan thought of many ways to break the impasse.

However, it all comes down to one thing, that is, the rebel force of Bazhou must be defeated before there can be any hope.

It seems like an impossible task to capture the rebels in Bazhou, but it is actually not without a chance.

The rebels in Bazhou are struggling to hold on now, don’t they know that the situation has become extremely unfavorable?
Just from the fact that they would rather stay in the north and suffer the cold than run to Huainan where there are many water networks, it can be seen that these guys have a clear understanding of their situation.

Now they are not aggressive enough and only seek to protect themselves.

Even in the eyes of people like Pei Yuan and Huai'an Wei Commander He Huan, he has become a useful bargaining chip.

So in this desperate situation, what is the biggest demand of the rebel leaders of Bazhou who are struggling to hold on?
Of course alive.

And live comfortably.

In addition to living comfortably, we must also try our best to retain the army so that we can be ready to resist at any time.

It can be said that as long as these demands can be met, it will be enough to control the rebels in Bazhou.

But Pei Yuan could not meet these demands.

Captain Pei was riding on his horse with a worried look on his face.

Faced with this rebel army that shook half of the Ming Dynasty, Captain Pei fell into deep thought.

"How can I convince these rebels to be my dogs?"

The convoy swayed slowly and soon arrived at Shanyang County.

The Huai'an Guards really treated the 80,000 taels as their own silver. Large groups of infantrymen left the city and guarded the troops on both sides.

Some people saw many merchants following the silver transport team and wanted to drive them away. However, when they heard the merchants report Pei Yuan's name, they went to find Zhou Chao, who was in charge of the matter, in confusion.

When Zhou Chao saw that it was Pei Yuan's order, he was immediately overjoyed, thinking that they had reached a certain understanding.

So the soldiers politely protected the merchants.

Many Yangzhou businessmen also talked about it when they saw this.

If Pei Yuan's method works so well in Huai'an, even if they only take the route from Yangzhou to Huai'an, it can still be a way to make money with small profits but quick turnover.

Many people have been secretly inquiring, hoping to deepen their relationship with Captain Pei.

In the evening, Zhou Chao took the initiative to treat Pei Yuan and several of his trusted subordinates to a drink at Deyue Tower, the largest building in Huai'an.

Pei Yuan thought about the things he had been thinking about during the day, and felt that some things might have to be done by himself in order to be done efficiently. He also wanted to introduce several of his centurions to Zhou Chao to avoid any unpleasant incidents between the two sides when he was away.

Pei Yuan appointed Sikong Sui, Tantai Fangtu and Cui Bohou, three centurions, to accompany him, and also called Cheng Leixiang and Chen Toutie to accompany him.

Zhou Chao himself brought two thousand-household officers from Huai'an Guard to accompany him. When setting the table, he heard that Cheng Leixiang and Chen Toutie, the two generals, were followers of Pei before he became famous, and he immediately urged the two to drink together.

The two thousand-household officials who came with them wanted to please the guests and had no objection to this.

Sikong Sui, Tantai Fangtu and Cui Bohou, the three centurions, saw that the three thousand households did not care about the two men's status as general flags. Naturally, since they were familiar with each other, they would not embarrass Cheng and Chen.

As soon as the banquet started, the atmosphere was very good, and soon singing and dancing came up, and beautiful girls crowded around to warm up the atmosphere. No one present was polite and refined, and they just enjoyed their meals.

Seeing that he had drunk enough wine, Zhou Chao dismissed the maidservants who were serving him and gave Pei Yuan a wink.

Pei Yuan also asked the maid next to him to leave first, and Zhou Chao took a wine glass and moved closer to Pei Yuan.

Then he whispered, "Captain Pei works for the Jinyiwei, so he must be very well-informed. In Captain Pei's opinion, when will those Bazhou rebels be able to move south?"

Pei Yuan heard this and said in embarrassment, "It's hard to say. Such important military affairs are beyond the reach of a mere thousand households like me."

Zhou Chao whispered, "Just chatting."

As he said this, he casually handed something to Pei Yuan's sleeve.

Pei Yuan reacted and took it calmly. The thing was not big but had some weight.

For people of their status, it would be degrading if they gave bribes in person with gold, silver or something like that.

It is probably a jade pendant.

Pei Yuan didn't even look at it, he just put the thing into his sleeve and said, "Okay, if I have this thing, I can ask someone to ask about it."

Pei Yuan naturally couldn't let people pay for nothing, so he pondered for a while and said, "The Bazhou rebels should have capable people. The court drove the Bazhou rebels south, just to take advantage of the false impression of freezing everywhere and give the Bazhou rebels a false sense of security."

"After we drive them south, we can wait until spring when the rivers here start to thaw. The Bazhou rebels will be like being tied up by ropes. No matter how aggressively their cavalry marches, they will be helpless in this densely networked Huai River Basin."

"Now the rebels in Bazhou would rather endure the cold than go south. Can you guess what their intention is?"

Seeing that Pei Yuan's analysis was clear, Zhou Chao hurriedly said, "Please speak frankly, brother."

Pei Yuan said directly, "They are betting that the imperial army's defenses will collapse before theirs."

Zhou Chao was stunned. "Is this possible?"

Pei Yuan wanted to intimidate Zhou Chao and disrupt their plan, so he said, "How is it impossible? The rebels in Bazhou are not the only ones. Before they left, they also split off a group to go to Henan, and now they are preparing to march into Huguang."

"The miners in Huguang are digging mountains wantonly, flooding the land, and even privately making ironware and selling it everywhere. I heard that the court asked the Right Censor-in-Chief Peng Ze to supervise military affairs and increase the number of border troops from Datong and other places and soldiers from Huguang to prepare to attack the Bazhou rebels coming south from Henan."

"If someone takes advantage of the situation and claims that the imperial court is gathering troops in Huguang to investigate the mines, coupled with the fact that there are rebel troops from Bazhou outside, I'm afraid that overnight, Huguang will no longer belong to the imperial court."

"By then, do you think Lu Wan can still afford to play? Even if Lu Wan has the patience to continue the siege, I'm afraid the emperor won't have that patience."

Zhou Chao felt uneasy after hearing what Pei Yuan said. He forced a smile and said, "That's not the case."

Pei Yuan shook his head and said, "It's hard to say."

Zhou Chao looked around and moved closer to Pei Yuan again, his voice becoming even softer.

"Then do you think Commander He's plan has any hope of success?"

Pei Yuan put his hands in his sleeves and shook his head, "It's hard to say, it's hard to say."

Zhou Chao heard this, thought about it, took out something and handed it over.

Pei Yuan refused this time, "Isn't this inappropriate?"

Zhou Chao smiled and said, "Let's make friends."

This time it was a cloth bag and the contents were very light, which made Pei Yuan a little confused.

Pei Yuan thought about the things he had planned during the day and thought to himself, this is a good opportunity.

So he whispered to Zhou Chao, "Just because the Bazhou rebels don't dare to march south with their entire army doesn't mean that they won't dare to come at all. As long as a small group of troops attacks places like Suqian and Shuyang, wouldn't it be possible to create the fact that the Bazhou rebels are marching south?"

"As long as there is this little movement, Commander He can submit a letter to the court, right?"

After hearing this, Zhou Chao suddenly realized something and slapped his head hard.

Or else we can say that these Jinyiwei are a bunch of bad guys with smart brains?
The things that had been worrying them before suddenly became clear after a few words of guidance from Captain Pei.

Their plan was just to use the excuse of the Bazhou rebels moving south to ask for permission from the court to divide the commercial tax money.

So, why must we focus on the main force of the Bazhou rebels and what are their movements?

As long as a small group of rebel troops could create the fact that the Bazhou army attacked the heartland of Huai'an, wouldn't their goal be achieved?
Zhou Chao hurriedly continued to ask Pei Yuan, "I wonder if Brother Pei has any way to help us?"

Pei Yuan heard this and half-jokingly said, "Fifty taels of silver a day, isn't it comfortable for me to take it? Why do you have to cause yourself this trouble?"

Zhou Chao felt a little contempt for Pei Yuan, a guy who was greedy for petty gains, but he smiled and said, "Don't worry, brother. We Huai'an Guard will never treat our friends unfairly. That little bit of silver is nothing. If we really want to accomplish this, we will avoid more troubles. Commander He will definitely repay you."

Pei Yuan still had a joking look on his face after hearing this, "Brother Zhou, you are overthinking. I am just using myself as an example."

"Oh? How do you mean?" Zhou Chao asked.

Pei Yuan looked at Zhou Chao meaningfully and said, "When fishing, you have to be willing to use bait."

(End of this chapter)