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

Chapter 225: Clearing the Court and Supporting the Wise King

Pei Yuan also commented on Song Chunniang's character.

Jiao Yan'er was still skeptical.

Pei Yuan then continued, "Not only that, there was another woman named Su Xiaowan on the Qinhuai River who was also slept with by her. And strangely enough, because the women she slept with were all very famous, later when a beauty was slept with by her, her value increased greatly."

Considering that Tiezi was his own after all, Pei Yuan did not tell anyone about her disfigurement.

Seeing Pei Yuan's solemn assurance, Jiao Yan'er began to believe it about 80%.

Then, Jiao Yan'er frowned and looked at Pei Yuan again.

"If she is this kind of person, then what was the meaning of you showing off me to her when you came to pick me up?"

Pei Yuan was a little dumbfounded when he heard this.

You can't tell Jiao Yan'er that you are Song Chunniang's favorite.

I did this just to tempt her.

Then what do I think of Jiao Yaner?

Pei Yuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and said to Jiao Yan'er, "She and I used to treat each other like brothers. So, out of a man's vanity, just... "

Jiao Yaner pursed her lips when she heard this and didn't continue to dwell on the matter.

Although Pei Yuan's words were infuriating, it was obvious that he loved her so much that he couldn't help showing off to others.

Can be forgiven.

She asked Pei Yuan tentatively, "Since this person is so despicable, even if my husband doesn't bring her to justice, he should at least expel her."

How should Pei Yuan respond to this?

Do I have to tell Jiao Yaner clearly that your husband is not a good person either?

There aren't many people with good character under your husband's command.

Pei Yuan could only bite the bullet and try to make peace.

"You only see her evil deeds. Think about it, if someone else had taken over Zhang Heling's mission, what would have happened to the daughter of Censor Zhang Lian now?"

Upon hearing this, Jiao Yan'er remained silent.

If it were someone else, they might say, "Reputation is a big deal. No matter what the truth is, once your reputation is ruined, you can't survive in this world."

But what about Jiao Yaner?

After she was captured by the Bazhou army, she did not commit suicide immediately, but insisted on living on, and finally waited for hope in life.

So Jiao Yaner just sighed and said, "Yeah."

This matter may not make any difference to other people in the world, but it is different for the censor's daughter.

The two of them chatted while eating.

Jiao Yan'er wanted to test whether her husband had any unclear dealings with this female subordinate.

But Pei Yuan said flatly, "How is that possible? She likes women, and I am not a woman."

It seems to make some sense, and Song Chunniang does always target women.

Looking at the look in Song Chunniang's eyes before, Jiao Yaner even felt that if she were given a choice at the same time, Song Chunniang might like her more.

After they finished eating, Pei Yuan didn't want to be shameless and pester Jiao Yan'er.

Besides, since I have already made up my mind to patiently enjoy this delicious meal, there is no need to rush to do such a thing in the place where I am staying.

If you really want to, you can talk about your troubles with your friends.

It’s just that this kind of thing just happened today, so Pei Yuan didn’t dare to go out and cause trouble in the middle of the night.

Pei Yuan thought about Tiezi's new version again. It seemed that due to being wrapped for a long time, it was soft and far less solid than Qin Lingbo's.

When it comes to Qin Lingbo, Pei Yuan is not so concerned.

When Qin Lingbo was captured, Song Chunniang was in charge of him because they were worried that Mei Qinniang would come back.

Pei Yuan didn't believe that Song Chunniang would be the kind of cat that wouldn't steal fish.

But Pei Yuan didn't worry too much.

When a woman has a price tag, no matter how good she is, it is difficult for Pei Yuan to cherish her too much.

Early the next morning, Chen Toutie reported hurriedly.

Before nightfall yesterday, he rushed to Taoyuan County and told Wang Chang about the matter.

When Wang Chang heard that the silver was to be divided, he knew that this was what Pei Yuan had planned earlier.

No matter how you fight for the credit, it will not be less.

As the Minister of War of Nanjing, couldn't he bypass Lu Wan and report his achievements to his superiors himself?

If the matter of money is delayed, it will be a different matter.

Moreover, the imperial army that was sent to attack Bazhou was stationed in Suqian and Xuzhou respectively. If these people got wind of the news, they might come and demand the 80,000 taels of silver.

With Nanzhili's tiny arms, how can it challenge the other side's big thighs?

So Wang Chang immediately summoned the commanders of all the guards and told them about this matter.

The commanders didn't understand at first.

When Wang Chang explained to them the origin of the 80,000 taels of silver, they were all very excited.

Before, they had come here enthusiastically to make up for this defeat. Filling the gap in manpower was only secondary. The real problem was filling the gap in armaments.

Those miners in Jiangxi fought the imperial court vigorously. Where did they get their weapons?

Were they not all taken from them in exchange for gold, silver, and copper?
What's more, some of the equipment might have fallen into the hands of a certain vassal king. These commanders were aware of this but turned a blind eye to it.

The most important thing now is to fill these armament gaps reasonably.

In this way, even if weapons without numbers were found on the battlefield in Jiangxi, it could be explained that they were stolen from the camp by the Bazhou rebels, and how they were circulated afterwards was naturally none of their business.

That is why these commanders are willing to provide both manpower and money.

Now, Sima Wang, who had "set up the empty city plan and retreated to Bazhou alone", actually told them that he had secretly written to the court and obtained a sum of money for them.

And the amount of silver was as high as 80,000 taels.

In addition, Wang Dasima also took out the list of people who had paid the money at the time and blatantly stated that the money would be distributed according to the proportion of the money paid at the time.

Some commanders who had paid less before couldn't help feeling unhappy after hearing this.

But the reason why Dasima Wang distributed money according to this list was obviously to repay them for the original money.

You are dissatisfied, why do you pay less? Why do others pay more?

The closeness of a person's relationship to you is reflected in money, and you deserve it.

Moreover, for most commanders, the 80,000 taels of silver was already several times more than what they had given Wang Chang. They didn't care about the difference when it was free money. Just give it.

So all the commanders warmly embraced Wang Chang and kept saying good things to him.

While Wang Chang was feeling elated, he thought to himself that being the Minister of War in Nanjing was a rewarding job.

pity.

He also understood that these garrisons in the south were completely unsightly.

Now is the time to leave and retreat while the going gets tough.

So Wang Chang made an agreement with these commanders to break camp early the next morning and lead the troops to Shanyang County to divide the money as soon as possible.

When Chen Toutie heard the conclusion, he didn't even take a rest and rushed back overnight.

Pei Yuan was basically satisfied with this. In fact, there was not much difference whether he brought soldiers or not.

If we bring the troops here, it will take a lot of time on the road. It is far better to let Wang Chang bring the commanders to divide the money directly.

No matter how cruel and ruthless He Huan, the commander of Huai'an Guard, was, he would not dare to turn against so many commanders.

Fortunately, the journey was not far, and the commanders brought with them selected servants, who were very elite.

Even if they brought troops here, it would only take half a day at most.

Pei Yuan asked Chen Toutie to go down and rest, knowing that it was time to leave Huai'an.

He asked Jiao Yan'er to pack up and get ready to leave.

Ever since yesterday's incident, Pei Yuan has begun to care about Miss Jiao's feelings.

So he asked Song Chunniang for his belongings and gave them to Jiao Yan'er to manage.

The spare clothes and such were fine, but the seven thousand taels of silver that filled the boxes made it hard for Jiao Yan'er not to doubt her husband's official rank.

In the afternoon, a large group of soldiers appeared outside the city.

The troops of Huai'an Guard were originally stationed outside the city. He Huan went forward to inquire and was surprised to learn that it was the Minister of War Wang Chang who had brought many colleagues from Southern Zhili to Shanyang.

He didn't dare to put on airs and quickly stepped forward to greet him in person.

When his eyes swept over the more than 3,000 elite servants, the strange feeling in his heart became stronger.

The official news now is that the Bazhou Army has fled to Henan, but this statement is not complete.

In fact, thanks to the eunuch Lu Ting and the governor-general Bai Yu, the rear army of the Bazhou Army was completely separated from the main force of the Bazhou Army after it was defeated.

This part of the scattered troops was afraid that they would be killed directly by the 200,000-strong army who were eagerly waiting for military merit, so they did not dare to surrender and could only find their own way out.

At this time, for some reason, someone suddenly remembered the idea of ​​"clearing the emperor's side and supporting the virtuous king".

Isn’t that wise king in Shandong?
So this group of bandits gathered together, and under the leadership of the two leaders "Big Tiger" and "Starry Sky", they went to Shandong to seek refuge with King De.

Originally this was a good opportunity to divide the troops and pursue the enemy, but at this moment, the court issued an order to have Lu Ting replace Gu Dayong as governor of military affairs.

As a result, everything now needs to be reorganized.

Lu Ting needs time to understand the military situation, and also needs time to connect with various provincial governments for food and fodder.

So the rhythm was slowed down.

Eunuch Lu Ting's theory was very simple. This army included border troops, Beijing camps, and local garrisons, and was extremely disorganized. If they could not unify their thoughts and make the generals fear them, the army would be dispersed within a month just by marching. How could they attack the Bazhou army, which was fighting a desperate battle?
And there is also the issue of connecting food and supplies!
Because it was difficult to transport food and fodder, in order to quell the rebellion in Bazhou, the imperial court used a large amount of transfer payments, requiring the prefectures and cities around the battlefield to pay money and food, which were then deducted from the imperial court's taxes.

Due to the limited transportation capacity of that era, it took a lot of time to collect and transport food.

In order not to affect the march and combat, it was necessary to clarify with the local authorities in advance, "How much food should be transported to a certain place at a certain time."

In the previous strategic planning, Lu Wan’s preset battlefields were all in the Huaihe River Basin.

Therefore, a lot of supplies are now converging to Huai'an Prefecture from all over the place like streams.

But now the Bazhou army broke through the encirclement and fled. The imperial army wanted to chase them. Even if there were no organizational problems, food would still be a problem.

How much food can an army of 200,000 people eat?

Therefore, eunuch Lu Ting and Right Censor-in-Chief Lu Wan were busy integrating the huge army while re-examining the battle plan and allocating food and fodder.

And Lu Ting also has his own opinion on this matter.

He has just taken over military affairs. Even if he is a little slow, the court can't replace him immediately, right?

But if he fights hastily and suffers a loss, he will definitely suffer the consequences.

With this in mind, Lu Ting naturally had to make all the necessary preparations.

This is also where the strange thing about He Huan comes from.

Seeing that the Bazhou Army was no longer a force to be reckoned with, the Shuanglu combination was likely to successfully suppress the rebellion like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

Why are these soldiers from Nanzhili retreating instead of rushing over to Lu Ting and Lu Wan to curry their favor?
Don’t you want the favors and credits you get for free?
If He Huan didn't have his own plans, he might have wanted to join in and get a piece of the pie.

When Wang Chang saw He Huan, he remembered Pei Yuan's instructions that he should not be too ruthless, so he said to the commanders, "This is the territory of Huai'an Guard and Dahe Guard. These two families control the key points of the canal, and we can't offend them."

"Besides, the imperial edict ordered that the silver be distributed to the front-line soldiers, but the wording was vague. When the Bazhou army was bluffing later, they also marched towards Qinghe and Shanyang. When we distribute the silver, it will be difficult to exclude these two guards."

Many commanders were not happy about this, but after counting the number of people, there were more than ten people present. It would only take two more people, so how much would they get?
Now is the time when the nights are long and dreams are many.

If the 200,000-strong army knew that there was such a large sum of money so close to them, the consequences would be disastrous.

So many commanders said, "In that case, we are willing to obey the Grand Marshal's orders."

Wang Chang and many commanders worked together and then called He Huan forward.

He Huan was of medium height, with fair skin and short beard, and looked quite elegant.

After He Huan finished the greetings, he asked about the purpose of the Grand Marshal and the many commanders' visits.

Wang Changcai smiled and handed the imperial edict he had obtained earlier to He Huan, "Commander He, please read this. The court knows that it is not easy for us to deal with the Bazhou army and that we have suffered heavy losses, so it specially granted us a reward."

When He Huan heard that the court had a reward, a smile immediately appeared on his face.

He quickly took the imperial edict with both hands and read it in his hands.

After reading the imperial edict, he kept smiling, but he was not as happy as the other commanders. Instead, he asked, "Who suggested to the court that there should be such a generous reward?"

Wang Chang stroked his beard and smiled, "It was my suggestion."

When he mentioned this matter before, he was flattered by those commanders. Naturally, he said to He Huan with some pride, "Originally, the court intended to reward those of us who fought the enemy troops in Taoyuan. However, I value friendship. After all, Huai'an Prefecture is the territory of your Huai'an Guard and Dahe Guard. How can we share the silver and leave you out?"

"So I'm going to suggest to the commanders that when the money is divided, your two families should be included in the share."

He Huan smiled again after hearing this, "I see."

He looked at Wang Chang for a few times, but his expression remained unchanged. "You may not know that the money is now in our Huai'an Guard's base, the original Huai'an government office. We are..."

"——divide the silver!" All the soldiers laughed.

He Huan also started laughing.

(End of this chapter)