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

Chapter 206 0205 Never Force
Salt is an extremely important commodity that can be exchanged for food, meat, and cotton cloth, but you cannot eat too much of it yourself.

Most of the supplies needed by the Bazhou rebels were obtained through looting, but those things that were out of their reach could not be obtained by looting.

Only by relying on exchange can the things needed by the Bazhou rebels be transported from distant places.

But which businessman would dare to do business with the Bazhou rebels?

Therefore, during their subsequent escape, they could only rely on Pei Yuan to cash in the salt.

Pei Yuan's exchange with Henan, Huguang and the Bazhou rebels certainly provided great convenience to the Bazhou rebels, but in a sense, wasn't it that Pei Yuan used the Bazhou rebels to rob the salt from Yancheng, and then helped them transport the salt to Henan and Huguang, and finally he used grain, cotton cloth and other commodities to get the salt at a low price?

Throughout the whole process, Pei Yuan appeared like a savior, making the Bazhou rebels obey his orders.

However, the final result was that the rebels in Bazhou worked like slaves for him and were grateful to him.

That’s fucking outrageous!
Thinking of this, Zhao Sui was filled with grief and anger.

If I had known that I would encounter such frustrating things after rebelling, why would I rebel?

Tired.

But in fact, Pei Yuan was not doing this.

There are two main reasons why he got involved in this matter. One is to ensure that Han Qianhu's speculation of nuts is completed smoothly. That is his money, no, it is his and Han Qianhu's money!
The other was to ensure that the eunuch Lu Ting could successfully seize power from Gu Dayong.

As for why Pei Yuan suddenly proposed that Qi Yanming go to Yancheng to seize salt, it was entirely due to an extremely trivial reason.

——When Captain Zhou of Huai'an Guard bribed Pei Yuan, he handed over several salt permits.

These salt permits were actually nothing. During Liu Jin's new policy, there were 1.16 million "reformed salt permits" seized from the Lianghuai Transport Bureau alone.

To Captain Pei today, the value of these salt permits is almost insignificant.

But it is a pass to enter the field of salt sales.

If we combine the bad policy that Liu Jin abolished, "prohibiting empty salt permits" (a salt permit could be reused an unlimited number of times), and another bad policy, "prohibiting smuggling" (officials on business trips were not allowed to transport goods), isn't this a very mature approach?
And Liu Jin is dead now because of rebellion!
The glove economy is active again.

Pei Yuan did not have the slightest moral obsession and wanted to directly join the army digging the walls of the Ming Dynasty, but now there was a problem.

With his connections and relationships, it was difficult to remove the "scrap salt" from the Lianghuai Salt Field.

If you want to make this money, you have to rely on Huai'an Wei's methods.

For someone who is used to having more, how could he allow Huai'an Wei to control his vital points?

This time, when dealing with the rebels in Bazhou, Pei Yuan took advantage of the situation and made a special meal of dumplings to add to the vinegar.

He Huan, the commander of Huai'an Guard, thought he had thrown out the bait and was not afraid that Pei Yuan would not take the bait.

However, he had no idea what kind of bloody storm would be brought about when Pei Yuan, who had taken the bait, slowly surfaced.

Pei Yuan patted Zhao Sui, who was distracted, and asked, "Are you more relieved now?"

Zhao Sui came back to his senses and suddenly felt that what Pei Yuan said was actually not wrong. When both parties have huge common interests, he will naturally feel more at ease.

"Wait a moment." Zhao Sui said.

Then he went over and had a brief conversation with the other three generals who hadn't figured it out yet.

When the three men suddenly realized what was going on, instead of getting angry, they were filled with admiration for Pei Yuan.

After all, the Bazhou rebels did not suffer any loss in this matter, and it was also through this incident that the two sides were deeply bound together.

Liu Qi immediately made a generous decision, "If there is really a gain, then we will only trade with Brother Pei."

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "Just make your own decisions. I never force you."

Without waiting for Liu Qi to be polite again, Pei Yuan said calmly, "It's always others who ask me for help."

Liu Liu and Liu Qi were both strong men, but faced with these intimidating words, they inexplicably lost their temper.

Liu Qi clapped his hands, "That's settled! We'll move camp tomorrow and head south to Suqian!"

Pei Yuan emphasized, "In order not to waste time, I need my subordinates to pass the message on my behalf and bring the silver back."

"No problem." Liu Qi said, "I'll have someone prepare fast horses and bring a team of elite soldiers to help him transport the silver back."

Since Pei Yuan is willing to stay here as a hostage, that silver is nothing compared to Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan quietly gave Cheng Leixiang some instructions, asking him to deliver messages to each of them.

Pei Yuan thought about it roughly.

That old fellow Wang Chang is the Minister of War, so he has some organizational skills.

If he was willing to help settle the accounts, the commanders of the various garrisons would all beg to participate.

Let Wang Chang take the lead and it shouldn't be a problem to drag those scum to Taoyuan County.

The main reason why Cheng Leixiang was sent to deliver the message this time was because the Bazhou rebels would retreat north sooner or later. If Wang Chang could seize the opportunity to "command calmly" and "repel" the Bazhou rebels, then Wang Chang's position as the Right Censor-in-Chief would be a sure thing.

Once Eunuch Lu has secured his position, he can be asked to help get Wang Chang to the position of Governor of the River.

Wang Chang’s presence in Jining is much more intimidating than a Portuguese cannon.

In addition, Wang Chang had to keep a close eye on Huai'an Wei and Dahe Wei to prevent them from having the time to covet the tax silver.

Then, let Cheng Leixiang truthfully report to Song Chunniang what happened here, and send all the 12,000 taels of silver to her.

Because Pei Yuan often had to fight in battles, he always asked his best friend to help him keep his private money.

Therefore, Cheng Leixiang also understood the decision to give the money to Song Chunniang for safekeeping.

However, Pei Yuan's purpose this time was to rely on Song Chunniang to pass the message, tell Han Qianhu about the matter, and increase the investment of the 10,000 taels of silver.

I believe that after Han Qianhu understands Pei Yuan’s situation and intentions, he will be able to make better use of this opportunity.

Pei Yuan also planned to create opportunities for Han Qianhu. When Qi Yanming raided Yancheng, Pei Yuan would suggest that the Bazhou Army also send out a force to launch a feint attack on Shanyang County, helping Han Qianhu create panic among the merchants.

The other order was given to Chen Toutie.

Cheng Leixiang has to pass on the message everywhere, especially to contact Wang Chang in Yangzhou, which is estimated to take a lot of time, so Pei Yuan needs someone reliable to do things for him.

Now we can only transfer Chen Toutie over urgently.

After Cheng Leixiang left, Pei Yuan wandered around the camp for a while out of boredom.

Perhaps it was because they were going to break up camp tomorrow, or perhaps it was because they felt the atmosphere was about to storm, everyone in the camp was in a hurry.

Pei Yuan was still very interested in the organizational form of these bandits.

After watching for a while, I saw that everything was in chaos, with women and children shouting and cursing from time to time.

Pei Yuan shook his head and simply returned to the tent. These bandits were too numerous and their organization was too scattered. As the elite, they were arrogant and difficult to tame.

This Bazhou rebel army was wiped out by Pei Yuan and then sold off as a whole, so there is no longer much value to be squeezed out of it.

Even if there is some room for maneuver, the benefits and risks are completely disproportionate.

What Pei Yuan is most concerned about now is Eunuch Lu.

He had already cleared the battlefield for Lu Ting, and even drove the Bazhou rebels according to the original deduction, taking the agreed escape route to the north.

Lu Ting and Bai Yu must do their best this time and put together a decent army!
As long as Han Qianhu succeeded in speculating on the goods, Pei Yuan would immediately find a way to exchange the silver in the Huai'an government office.

Then he tried his best to encourage Huai'an Wei and Dahe Wei to write a letter to the emperor to divide the silver.

As long as the tax money to the court was handed over reasonably, Pei Yuan would take his men back to the capital to take over the power that was rightfully his.

Afterwards, as a captain of the Northern Bureau, he would have to rectify the Taoist priests in the north while carefully dealing with the storm at the core of power.

It just so happened that these two years were the time when the struggles within the palace were the most intense and when Zhu Houzhao was the most restless.

Thinking of this, Pei Yuan sighed.

There is still a lack of talent.

In a few years, Emperor Zhengde should be easily soluble in water.

But now, Pei Yuan has no one trustworthy or available except a few people.

If Pei Yuan missed this major power reshuffle, he would have missed the biggest opportunity in years.

As Pei Yuan thought about it, he couldn't help but think of what Song Chunniang mentioned.

My good friend is now a seventh-rank commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. After getting ashore, his first move is to kill the person he loves with his sword.

So she wanted Pei Yuan to help her take over the daughter of the censor Zhang Lian.

Pei Yuan didn't have a deep impression of Zhang Lian, but the fact that he was instigated to cause trouble for Marquis Shouning showed that he was not a smart guy either.

This smelly, hard and stupid thing actually has some good uses.

Unfortunately, Pei Yuan is now loyal to Han Qianhu and does not want to marry Song Chunniang openly and eat the leftovers.

If that woman were allowed to be a concubine, I'm afraid even the censor would not be able to bring himself to do so.

It seems that if I want to find a good entry point in the court, I have to wait and see after returning to the capital.

Just as I was thinking about it, Qi Yanming came outside.

This time, Qi Yanming generously arranged a row of beautiful girls for Pei Yuan. They seemed to be even more beautiful than those brought to Pei Yuan at the last dinner.

Pei Yuan was bored to begin with, but considering that he had just been thinking of Han Qianhu, how could he change his mind at this moment?

So he politely refused, "A gentleman does not take away what others like. Marshal Qi, there is no need to do this."

Qi Yanming didn't know whether Pei Yuan was sincere or not. Seeing that Pei Yuan's refusal was not very firm, he smiled and said, "Brother Pei, if you say so, there is indeed someone who should be sent to you."

Pei Yuan couldn't help but become curious, "What's so special about that person?"

Qi Yanming smiled and said, "That girl is very beautiful, but some leaders want to kill her, while others want to protect her, and they are always unhappy with each other. She is a virgin from an official family, so it's perfect to give her to Brother Pei."

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "From what Marshal Qi said, could it be that there is still a character like Daji or Baosi who can still make the marshals unhappy?"

Qi Yanming thought about the beauty of Daji and Baosi in the legend and shook his head repeatedly, "That's not the case, it's just that her identity is a bit special."

"Oh?" Pei Yuan actually became interested. "Who is she?"

Qi Yanming said, "She is the granddaughter of Jiao Fang, the traitor of the eunuch party. Deputy Commander Zhao Sui said that Jiao Fang was a traitor to the country and his granddaughter was not a good thing either, so he must kill her to vent his anger. There was no one in the Sixth Master's room, and seeing that Jiao Fang's granddaughter was pretty, he wanted to marry her as his wife. Zhao Sui was furious and refused to allow it. The two quarreled several times, and it was only after the Seventh Brother mediated that the Sixth Master endured it and married someone else."

"This Jiao stays in the army temporarily, and many people are worried about her, but firstly they are worried about Sixth Master, and secondly they are also afraid that Deputy Commander Zhao will cause trouble, so there is nothing to worry about for the time being."

"I think Brother Pei is very bored, how about sending her to you?"

When Pei Yuan heard that she was Jiao Fang's granddaughter, he was stunned.

This Jiao Fang is no easy task. He was the former Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion.

In terms of political color, Jiao Fang belongs to the eunuch party.

Moreover, as a grand secretary, he was considered a leading figure in the eunuch party.

However, as luck would have it, Jiao Fang, who always flattered Liu Jin, somehow offended Liu Jin.

In the fifth year of Zhengde, he retired in disgrace under the suppression of Liu Jin.

As luck would have it, two or three months later, Eunuch Liu was cut into pieces.

As a top figure in the eunuch party, it is truly unbelievable that he could be safely removed from office in such a way.

Historically, this guy lived to be eighty-three years old before he died peacefully.

Pei Yuan asked in surprise, "How did Jiao Fang's granddaughter end up in your hands?"

Qi Yanming said, "Oh! When we passed by Biyang last time, Deputy Commander Zhao heard that this was the hometown of the traitor Jiao Fang, so he led his troops to kill him. Not only did he kill many of the Jiao family, young and old, he also dug up Jiao Fang's ancestral grave and ground his bones to dust."

"It's just that the old thief Jiao Fang happened to be away from Biyang, so he wasn't caught."

"The granddaughter of Jiao Fang was captured at that time. Because of the disagreement among several leaders, she has been imprisoned with Widow Yang."

Qi Yanming added, "The widow Yang is also a leader of our Bazhou Army. She is mainly responsible for the female relatives and rarely appears in public. These women are all kept by her."

Pei Yuan was thinking about Jiao Fang's matter and did not respond for a while.

Seeing Pei Yuan didn't say anything, Qi Yanming thought that Pei Yuan was moved by his words, so he smiled and said, "Wait, my dear brother, I will go to ask for the widow Yang again! If I give her to you, Sixth Brother will have nothing to say, and Crazy Zhao will have nothing to say either. This is just the right way to avoid hurting the brothers' feelings."

Qi Yanming left for a while and brought back a girl who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old.

She has a pretty face, which is indeed quite remarkable. No wonder Liu Liu can't forget her.

The woman looked at Pei Yuan warily, with fear and hatred in her eyes.

Qi Yanming seemed to want to make this matter a fact, so he left Jiao Fang's granddaughter behind and ran away on his own.

Pei Yuan was unable to sort out his thoughts for a while, and he didn't understand whether it was a good thing or a bad thing to appear in the rebel army in such an identity and meet Jiao Fang's granddaughter.

He hurriedly wanted to call Qi Yanming, "General Qi, wait a minute!"

Qi Yanming thought Pei Yuan was just being polite, so he turned around and walked away with a laugh, "What's the big deal? Why are you being so polite? My dear brother, play with it first, and talk to me later if you don't want it anymore."

(End of this chapter)