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

Chapter 211 The Bitterest Part in Pei Qianhu's Heart

In order to witness this major event, Pei Yuan decided to follow along.

Naturally, the chief leaders of the Bazhou Army had no objections.

After all, if Pei Yuan was present, emergency coordination could be facilitated in case of any accidents on the scene.

Zhao Sui also specially asked the three leaders "Kan Potian", "Dajang" and "Liu Bei Guan Yu Zhang Yide" to each lead a team to protect Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan knew Zhao Sui's intention very well, but he didn't take it seriously.

When the team was approaching Taoyuan, they began to split up.

Zhao Sui asked Pei Yuan which side he wanted to follow. Pei Yuan just came to feel a sense of participation and had no intention of going through the hard march, so he chose to follow Liu Qi's support troops.

Pei Yuan observed and found that these so-called support troops had almost no strong combat effectiveness. It was estimated that if the front army was really ambushed, the role they could play would be limited.

But the problem is that the Ming army’s garrison soldiers are just as bad.

The result of the fight between the weaklings will greatly benefit the Bazhou Army.

Because the Bazhou Army really has 50,000 people...

Pei Yuan looked at them for a long time and estimated that these auxiliary soldiers with lax military discipline should be the targets that Lu Ting wanted to deal with when he stabbed them in the back.

Although Pei Yuan had told Lu Ting that if he really couldn't win, he could team up with the governor and the deputy governor Bai Yu to forge the evidence, but if Eunuch Lu could be more motivated and give them a tough time, it would be very beneficial to Pei Yuan's subsequent plans.

So how can I help them?

Pei Yuan couldn't help but fall into deep thought on the horse.

The army arrived at the ambush site before nightfall.

The large force led by Liu Qi does not need to participate in the operation, they just need to keep the situation under control.

So Liu Qi asked each leader to lead his own team, in a more dispersed formation, and rest in place.

In this way, even if there is any sudden change, the entire army will not be in chaos and the situation can be controlled in time.

Liu Qi came over and spoke briefly to Pei Yuan. Both of them were very concerned about tonight's operations and were absent-minded.

Not long after nightfall, the sound of gongs and drums was heard in the distance. Qi Yanming had already led his 10,000 men and began shouting to besiege the city.

Liu Qi and Pei Yuan both went to a high place to watch.

But outside Taoyuan County, clusters of torches were coming and going like the wind, and the sounds of drums and gongs were heard one after another.

The people on the city wall were fully prepared to defend against the enemy army.

The two looked at each other for a while, and Liu Qi slowly asked, "What do you think, if we really continue to attack the city, can we take Taoyuan in one fell swoop?"

Pei Yuan said calmly, "It's meaningless. Those who don't consider the overall situation are not qualified to consider a specific area. If you only care about the gains and losses of a city or a place, you will become someone else's prey sooner or later."

"Besides, there are at least 30000 to 5000 selected retainers in this city, plus some miscellaneous auxiliary troops. Without 30000 to 50000 people, there is no hope of breaking through the city."

"Even if you are willing to pay the price to capture this place, the losses will definitely cause great damage to the Bazhou Army."

"Why bother?"

Even though there are only 3,000 servants in Taoyuan County now, they are the elite forces gathered from more than a dozen garrisons.

Almost every soldier had cotton armor, carried a sharp sword, and was strong and well-trained.

Even Liu Qi's most elite Hebei bandits might not be able to win if they dismounted.

What's more, when defending a city, they can give full play to their advantages.

It will take at least ten days to defeat the enemy if we only rely on the people we have now.

Liu Qi was just talking casually, but seeing Pei Yuan's logical thinking, he couldn't help but praise, "Brother Pei, you're right. If Deputy Commander Zhao had your insight, our Bazhou Army would have grown stronger long ago."

The two chatted for a few more words, and then they saw many fires burning in the government army camp outside the city in the distance.

With the wind fanning the flames, it soon turned half the sky red.

Zhao Sui had previously told Liu Qi that he was worried that the imperial court had set an ambush in the camp, but this worry completely disappeared as the fire started.

After about half an hour, Zhao Sui and his troops retreated.

Right now, only Qi Yanming's harassing team was left, still clamoring outside Taoyuan County.

The battle that night basically met Pei Yuan's previous ideas. Seeing that the general situation was determined, he directly said to Liu Qi, "Put some more pressure on Qi Yanming, and he will be back later. It is not good for marching at night, so let him come here to rest for a while. We will go back tomorrow morning."

Upon hearing this, Liu Qi immediately asked "Kan Potian" to pass on the message.

Pei Yuan added, "Zhao Sui's men just came back. Tell them not to disband yet, but to stir up more fires outside to make the situation more stable. Otherwise, some people in the city might think that we are going to withdraw our troops overnight, and some fools might come out to try their luck."

"Things that have already been discussed should be handled in a friendly manner. This will be good for everyone."

Upon hearing this, Liu Qi nodded continuously and asked "Big King Kong" to go and pass on the order.

"Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Yide" standing aside felt a little strange in their hearts, always feeling that something was wrong.

The Bazhou Army were originally bandits, so they didn't have to be so particular. They just lit a lot of fires and rested for the night wrapped in blankets.

Pei Yuan hadn't been cold for some days, and he stayed by the fire all night but couldn't fall asleep.

After daybreak, the Bazhou army broke camp and began to retreat towards Suqian.

Pei Yuan followed in a daze. When he was almost there, Liu Qi came excitedly to say that the entire city of Suqian had surrendered.

Pei Yuan said "Oh", didn't take it seriously, and continued to be confused on the horse.

This made Liu Qi a little depressed, and he rode away unhappily.

By the time the army arrived at the city of Suqian, it was almost afternoon.

Several leaders discussed it and decided to move directly into Suqian City.

Pei Yuan, whose identity and status were unknown, unexpectedly enjoyed the housing allocation treatment of a big leader and got a very nice house to live in temporarily.

Of course, the three leaders, "Kan Potian", "Dajkong" and "Liu Bei Guan Yu Zhang Yide", were still assigned to Pei Yuan to be on duty.

"King Kong" was more perceptive. Seeing Pei Yuan was shaking on his horse, he jumped off his horse and came over to hold the horse for him.

Pei Yuan looked at him sleepily and asked, "Who are you from? Qi Yanming or Zhao Sui?"

King Kong was stunned for a while before he understood what Pei Yuan meant. He then said self-deprecatingly, "Well, I belong to no one. I just follow a few generals to make a living."

"What do you mean?" Pei Yuan didn't quite understand.

Da Jin Gang quickly explained that the organization of the Bazhou rebels was very disorganized, and the responsibilities of the upper and lower levels were not so clear.

When Liu Liu and Liu Qi started the rebellion, many people followed the custom of the grassroots and swore an oath of blood alliance to unite the people in the form of sworn brothers.

Later, the rebels in Bazhou gradually expanded. Several big leaders recruited soldiers and became stronger and stronger. Many small leaders began to fall behind.

But after all, it was an early uprising, and it would not be easy to recruit them out of thin air because they were brothers who had sworn blood oaths.

As a result, many small leaders existed in the Bazhou army in an awkward manner.

Famous ones include Yang Hu, Widow Yang, and Xing Lao Hu.

Of course, the three of them count too.

Pei Yuan said "Oh" and thought of Cheng Leixiang who stayed in the camp, and the beautiful Jiao.

He said to Kanpotian, "Go find the people who are looking for me and bring them here as well."

He then said to Chen Toutie who was guarding silently, "You go with him." Kan Potian was a little unhappy with the "living Jiang Gan"'s bullying behavior, but after all, he had Liu Qi's order, so he could only go reluctantly.

Pei Yuan felt a little less sleepy at this moment and looked around the city.

The entire city of Suqian surrendered, so there was no damage on the streets.

However, there was no reason for the Bazhou army to live in the open air with such a city nearby.

So just now, several big leaders discussed it and divided into several directions to occupy in batches.

As for whether the urban areas that have been divided up will be looted, it goes without saying.

Didn’t Pei Yuan get a pretty nice house?

When Pei Yuan arrived at his residence, he found it was indeed a large mansion with several entrances. The chief guarding the mansion gave Pei Yuan a brief introduction.

The objects inside were almost intact, and the servants were the same as before.

But the owner of the house has disappeared.

Pei Yuan was too lazy to pay too much attention to it. He went to the main hall and saw a ready-made bed and quilt in the side room, so he just went to sleep.

The trembling butler was surprised but finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the bandit leader was so indifferent to everything.

Not long after, the two younger brothers and Jiao Xiaomei arrived at the new house.

Chen Toutie and Cheng Leixiang consciously started to busy themselves with various things. One started to check the layout of the house, while the other watched the servants prepare dinner for Pei Yuan.

This was the first time that Miss Jiao had lived in the city in some time, so her reaction was extremely strong.

She is the daughter of a noble family and is very adaptable to the current environment.

After calling the housekeeper to ask, Miss Jiao personally took people to the storehouse to find some new clothes for herself, and then arranged for people to prepare hot water for bathing.

When the housekeeper saw Miss Jiao's temperament, she knew that this was not something that those rebellious peasants could have brought up.

It was speculated that she was most likely an official or noble lady who had met with misfortune from somewhere and ended up in the hands of bandits.

They did not dare to be perfunctory and agreed to the young beautiful lady Jiao as if they were serving their own master.

Miss Jiao was not deeply involved in the matter and regarded Pei Yuan's previous dislike for her as an act of "knowing etiquette and observing courtesy."

In addition, Pei Yuan was a captain of the Jinyiwei and served in the same dynasty as her father and grandfather, which gave her the illusion that he was reliable.

So, she went to wash herself without any precautions and made herself smell nice.

Pei Yuan slept until midnight.

He lay on the bed with his eyes open, and it took him a while to realize where he was.

I felt a little hungry and wanted to get up.

As soon as there was a little noise, Chen Toutie's voice came from the main hall, "Is the captain awake?"

"Yeah." Pei Yuan responded, and his slightly uneasy mood immediately calmed down.

He slept with his clothes on, so after getting up and putting on his shoes, he lifted the door curtain and walked into the main hall.

Chen Toutie was blowing out the lighter to light the oil lamp.

After a while, the oil lamp lit up, illuminating the room.

Chen Toutie looked at the food piled on the table and said, "I'll go heat it up for Qianhu."

Pei Yuan went over and opened the bowls and plates. He saw a lot of chopped cooked meat, smoked fish, dried meat, etc., so he said, "No need. Just go get me some hot soup."

Chen Toutie got up and left.

After a while, Cheng Leixiang came in from outside, brought in a brazier and placed it next to Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan came over and rubbed his hands, and asked in surprise, "Why don't you rest in the house?"

Cheng Leixiang said, "The young lady is next door. Chen Toutie and I are worried about those Bazhou thieves, so we left Chen Toutie to watch over the adults while I warmed myself by the fire in the yard."

Pei Yuan suddenly remembered that he had mentioned to Cheng Leixiang before that the beautiful Jiao was his concubine.

No wonder there is the term "little lady".

Pei Yuan had just come out of bed and felt a little cold. He asked Cheng Leixiang by the fire, "How many Bazhou soldiers are staying here?"

Cheng Leixiang said, "Those three leaders and their soldiers have occupied all the nearby courtyards. I was just worried that some ignorant people would disturb the young lady."

"Well done." Pei Yuan praised.

It’s a pity that Cheng Leixiang’s ability is just there, otherwise Pei Qianhu would have said to him, he is truly our Dian Wei!
Pei Yuan didn't care at all about the Bazhou troops guarding him.

——I’m waiting for Prince Ning to make an offer.

——What are you waiting for?
Pei Yuan ate a few bites in a hurry, and Chen Toutie came in with a few white porcelain wine jugs in his hand.

Then he placed the white porcelain wine jugs one by one beside the brazier.

Pei Yuan smelled the aroma of wine and couldn't help but smile, "This is good, let's sit down and eat together."

The three of them sat together, moved the cold dishes on the table around, ate the already cold meat, and drank the boiling hot wine.

After a while, the meat was eaten and the wine jug in the brazier was empty.

Pei Yuan exhaled and said drunkenly, "After I finish this mission, I will go back to Beijing and enjoy myself."

Pei Yuan thought of his impoverished family, the neighbors who came to collect debts from him, and the days when he ate noodles in the courtyard and listened to free songs performed by the Jiaofangsi.

I felt quite emotional for a moment.

Now I, Pei Yuan, am no longer the same as before!

How did he recruit the second-rank Nanjing Minister of War as his lackey? How did he make the fourth-rank Suzhou prefect obey his orders? How did he make many third-rank commanders of the Southern Zhili region gather to respond? How did he kill a garrison over a disagreement? How did he manipulate the Bazhou thieves who had disrupted half of the Ming Dynasty? How did he encourage Lu Ting to stab Gu Dayong in the back with just a few words and disrupt the inner palace structure...

In Captain Pei’s mind, that was nothing.

Only by getting the recognition of the old neighbors can Pei Qianhu make up for the bitterness in his heart.

Thinking of this, Pei Yuan, under the influence of alcohol, felt a little excited for a moment.

Now that the God of War has returned, the only thing missing is a sister who lives in a doghouse.

It's a bit lacking.

Thinking of this, Pei Yuan naturally thought of the beautiful Jiao again.

By the way, I have to bring the beautiful Jiao back this time.

Pei Yuan was planning silently.

Apart from anything else, she is Jiao Fang's granddaughter.

Regardless of whether Jiao Fang was a traitor or not, or whether Jiao Fang was down and out now, she was definitely the granddaughter of the former Grand Secretary.

Even if Yang Tinghe and Li Dongyang came, they would have to admit that this was the granddaughter of the former grand secretary.

This card, tsk.

Not to mention what expressions the old neighbors at home would have, if her best friend knew about this, Pei Yuan would make her kneel down.

(End of this chapter)