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

Chapter 234 Attacking the Heart
Pei Yuan coughed lightly and talked about the ins and outs of this trip south.

As Gu Dayong was one of the people at the core of the court struggle, he understood the core of the matter after just listening to a few words.

Commercial tax silver.

No, we cannot simply say commercial tax silver, but the right to distribute this silver.

Is taxation what the court officials care about?
totally not.

Just like Liang Chu, the Qingliu Grand Secretary who loved the people the most and opposed taxation, according to the land tax of the six departments, "If there is no reserve, the tax revenue of the whole country can be reduced by half."

This seems very inconsistent.

Then is it possible that there is no Grand Secretary Liang Chu who is both rich and kind-hearted?
This has to be considered in conjunction with the incident in which Liang Chu's son Liang Ci'ou, a Grand Secretary, set fire at night and massacred more than 200 people in order to seize land.

Gu Dayong was certainly not a naive person, he just listened to all this calmly.

Then I heard Pei Yuan say, "Since I accepted the mission, I have been constantly hunted by various groups of people. Before I went to Suzhou to get the tax silver, I had fought with ambushes and assassins several times. I led the charge and luckily repelled the attackers."

Gu Dayong was originally a little distracted, but when he heard Pei Yuan's sudden words, he almost laughed out loud.

He chose the top spot in the martial arts examination himself, how could he not know?

Pei Yuan looked at Gu Dayong's sudden strange expression and could roughly guess what Gu Dayong was thinking.

He paused for a moment, waiting for Gu Dayong to finish his music, before continuing, "Then, sir, do you know who attacked me?"

Gu Dayong said casually, "It's nothing more than those noble families who don't want to pay taxes, and those bureaucrats who embezzled the tax revenue."

Pei Yuan said, "Eunuch is wrong."

"Oh?" Gu Dayong was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

After a little probing, I found that Gu Dayong's personality was not that strong.

Pei Yuan collected his thoughts and told Gu Dayong about the situation at that time. "The people who were sent to ambush and assassinate me were from the imperial court. Not only the Northern Pacification Office was involved, but also several surrounding guard posts."

Things that Gu Dayong had originally thought were very clear became a little confusing again.

"Why are the people from the court chasing you? Aren't you working for them?"

Pei Yuan took the opportunity to explain to Gu Dayong, "That's because the Jiangnan scholars and officials intend to use the Suzhou weavers to cause a civil uprising, and then link the court's tax collection with this matter. By then, the court will be in a passive position, and it will be easy for the Jiangnan officials in the court to put this matter on hold indefinitely."

"At this time, someone proposed to the court the plan of 'giving first before taking', intending to eliminate us before the silver transport team got the tax silver, and then guide public opinion with thunder and lightning."

Pei Yuan deliberately spoke slowly so that Gu Dayong could understand the intention of frame-up and counter-frame-up.

Gu Dayong's intelligence level was indeed sufficient. After listening to it, he gave accurate comments.

"If we don't collect taxes from the literati in Jiangnan, we can only collect taxes from the common people in Jiangnan. The common people in Jiangnan are also encouraged to protect the literati. It's really a bit difficult to deal with."

"However, this trick of framing someone is insidious enough."

Pei Yuan asked at the right moment, "Does the eunuch Gu know who was the person who tried to assassinate me?"

Gu Dayong said unhappily, "It's so confusing. How can I guess?"

But he was also curious, "Did you figure it out?"

"Yes." Pei Yuan immediately said a name that made Gu Dayong's face change drastically, "It's the eunuch Lu Ting who is currently in charge of the military affairs to suppress the rebellion."

Gu Dayong frowned and asked, "Why is it him? Why would he go to Jiangnan?"

Then he was confused again.

Since this guy went to Jiangnan to hunt down Pei Yuan, why did he come back and snatch his military command?

Pei Yuan explained, "I have learned about this matter from the side."

"It was Eunuch Xiao Jing's idea that Lu Ting could come back from the border town. Xiao Jing wanted to arrange for Lu Ting to work as a eunuch in the Imperial Household Department, but it didn't go smoothly, so he temporarily wasted time in the palace."

Gu Dayong also knew about this matter.

The main enemy of the Seven Tigers was not the civil officials or the nobles, but the eunuchs.

What should I do if I start fantasizing about eunuchs persecuting me as soon as I wake up?
He persecutes me, he persecutes me!

That's really overthinking.

In Liu Jin's battle for power, the fight was so fierce that Liu Jin targeted three people: Wang Yue, Fan Heng and Xu Zhi.

These three are eunuchs.

The Eight Tigers of Zhengde were all playmates of Zhu Houzhao and their own abilities were very limited.

So when Lu Ting, the eunuch with the "talent to command troops" and "the power to restore the country", returned from the battle at the Xuanfu border, the invisible sense of oppression almost made the Eight Tigers autistic.

In the end, the seemingly powerful eunuch Lu was left idle.

Gu Dayong originally thought that Lu Ting was coming directly from the top to replace him, but he didn't expect that there seemed to be other inside stories.

Pei Yuan then replied to Gu Dayong, "This plan of 'giving before taking' was the work of Eunuch Xiao Jing. Eunuch Xiao wanted to promote his sons and nephews, and in order to give them the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, he pushed for the implementation of this matter with all his strength."

"And because Xiao Jing was indebted to Lu Ting, Lu Ting asked to leave the palace to handle this matter for Eunuch Xiao."

Gu Dayong heard this and thought about it. Suddenly he asked, "You said, the one who plotted against us and let Lu Ting take away our military power was Xiao Jing, right?"

Pei Yuan was stunned when he heard this. How should I answer you?

He could only calmly say, "It's probably groundless."

Seeing that Gu Dayong was lost in thought again, Pei Yuan had to interrupt him and said, "Eunuch Gu, those are things to consider later. There is another urgent matter to be resolved."

"Oh?" Gu Dayong asked, "Then tell me about it."

Pei Yuan looked around and confirmed that there was no one around, so he whispered to Gu Dayong, "Aren't you worried, eunuch, that Lu Ting will secretly harm you?"

Gu Dayong laughed loudly and shook his hands confidently, "He wouldn't dare. Although I, Gu Dayong, have lost my power now, if I die here, I don't believe Lu Ting can bear the consequences."

As he spoke, the old eunuch put his hands in his pockets and said proudly, as if to demonstrate, "The emperor and I still have feelings for each other."

Hearing this, Pei Yuan whispered, "Then... Eunuch Gu, aren't you afraid that someone will say to you, 'If you want to take something, you must first give it'?"

After listening to Pei Yuan's trip to the south of the Yangtze River, Gu Dayong was just sighing that these people have really dirty hearts.

In the blink of an eye, he heard Pei Yuan putting these words on him.

Gu Dayong couldn't help but shudder, and then asked in a sharp voice, "What are you talking about?"

Pei Yuan didn't give Gu Dayong time to think, and said in a deep voice, "Although the enemy's knife is scary, we must also guard against the knife behind us."

Gu Dayong's face turned pale, and then, as if to dispel his fear, he asked sternly, "Who are you talking about? Zhang Yong? Qiu Ju? Or Wei Bin?"

Pei Yuan said hurriedly, "Eight, no, seven eunuchs are of the same blood and share weal and woe. How dare I think so?"

Gu Dayong's face darkened. Pei Yuan's unintentional mistake just now made him suddenly realize something.

Not long before he left Beijing, they had just teamed up with Yang Yiqing to kill Liu Jin.

If eight can become seven, they may become six in the future.

Just when Gu Dayong's mind began to get confused, he heard Pei Yuan carefully hint, "Those knives behind your back may not be aimed at your back."

Gu Dayong frowned, "What do you mean?"

Captain Pei said calmly, "Who knows if the knife behind this is from Eunuch Gu or Eunuch Lu?"

"Lu Ting?" Gu Dayong was a little confused. "Someone wants to deal with Lu Ting?"

Pei Yuan said, "Just now, the eunuch himself said that you and the emperor have a relationship. So if you were to die unexpectedly in Lu Ting's army, what do you think the current emperor would think?"

I rely on.

Gu Dayong was not at all calm about this assumption.

If he died here, the emperor would definitely hate Lu Ting.

Even if Lu Ting's position is not taken away without permission, there will be no chance for Lu Ting to come to the fore in the future.

Anyone who wants to deal with Lu Ting can easily achieve their goal by killing Gu Dayong.

Pei Yuan continued, "It is precisely because I have experienced such a thing that I thought of Eunuch Gu's situation and immediately came to see him anxiously, because I was afraid that he would make a wrong move and regret it too late."

"Please think carefully, sir. Don't you have an enemy? Then doesn't Lu Ting have an enemy?"

"Or, when the father-in-law returns this time, does he need others to make room for him? Or has Lu Ting's promotion blocked the way for others?"

The more Gu Dayong thought about it, the more confused he became.

These... are all possible!
Pei Yuan observed Gu Dayong's expression and continued to put pressure on him. "Eunuch, do you understand? Whether they want to deal with you or Lu Ting, or even if they just want to keep their position, they may attack you."

"And even if they do something to you, the risk is not that great, because in the end, Lu Ting will be the one who will be blamed. Who knows, there may be many people who would do this."

"Don't you realize, father-in-law, that your life has now become a shortcut for many people to achieve their goals?"

Gu Dayong was obviously a little panicked. He stared at Pei Yuan and shouted in a shrill voice, "How dare you lie to me!"

His eyes were sharp and his thick brows were furrowed. He released without reservation the murderous aura he had developed after serving in the army for more than a year.

Gu Dayong's attitude seemed to force Pei Yuan to take back his words, as if that would allow him to be safe.

Pei Yuan showed no fear at all.

The more ferocious Gu Dayong appears now, the more the words just now have affected him.

Pei Yuan sighed and said to Gu Dayong.

"Let's not talk about that."

"This Xuzhou city was conquered by the Bazhou army before, and was briefly occupied. Now the city is full of broken bricks and tiles, and there are many displaced people. Among these displaced people, no one can tell whether there are Bazhou bandits hiding among them."

"Now that you have lost your military power and your position, you can only live in this City God Temple for the time being. You only have two or three followers and five or six guards."

"If someone harbors ill will towards you, wouldn't it be easy to take your head?"

Gu Dayong was shocked by what he said, "You mean the Bazhou thieves?"

Gu Dayong had been fighting the Bazhou bandits for more than a year, and the hatred between the two sides was as deep as the sea. If the Bazhou bandits hiding in the city knew where Gu Dayong was, someone might really take the risk for the sake of his reputation.

Pei Yuan said, "The one who came to assassinate you may not be the Bazhou thieves, but if they have the chance, the Bazhou thieves will not let it go."

Gu Dayong's forced momentum just now was beginning to fail.

Both he and Lu Ting may be plotted against.

Gu Dayong still had some hope regarding these conspiracies and intrigues.

I secretly thought that I might not be so unlucky to be remembered by others.

But what Pei Yuan just said was different.

He and the Bazhou bandits are real enemies.

During the year that Gu Dayong suppressed the rebellion, countless leaders of the Bazhou bandits died at the hands of the government troops.

Many of the leaders of these Bazhou thieves are gangsters. When they are hot-blooded, they don't care about the benefits. Moreover, they are already traitors, so would they care whether the emperor is happy or not?
Gu Dayong felt a little scared as he thought about it.

In other words, he felt a little ashamed and had not shown up in Xuzhou City for several days. Otherwise, he might have been targeted by now.

Then Gu Dayong thought of the "may not be the Bazhou thief".

My heart also feels heavy.

If someone assassinates Lu Ting in the name of Bazhou thief and frames him, how should he respond?
Lu Ting now controls the imperial army to suppress the rebellion, and must have become a thorn in the eyes and flesh of the six tigers in the palace. If they were to replace Lu Ting with themselves, what would Zhang Yong and the others choose?
Lu Ting's rise to power squeezed out the already limited opportunities available to the eunuchs during the Hongzhi reign, and those behind Lu Ting also had the possibility of stabbing him in the back.

Moreover, are there any outsiders who simply want to watch the two sides fight to the death and use themselves as the victim?

Gu Dayong's heart was in a mess for a moment.

Just now, he was still waiting for the emperor's reply with confidence. Even the Jinyiwei who had delivered the order did not dare to forcefully demand that he return to Beijing immediately.

Who would have thought that in just a short while, he had reached the point where he had made a wrong step and was now regretting it too late.

Pei Yuan saw Gu Dayong looking at the ground with lifeless eyes, the flesh on his face was sagging, and he looked very old.

He called out softly, "Father-in-law, father-in-law?"

Gu Dayong was stunned for a moment, then raised his head and looked at Pei Yuan.

Then he murmured subconsciously, "Things haven't reached that point yet..."

Pei Yuan looked at Gu Dayong calmly and asked softly, "Then, sir, are you willing to leave this possibility in my humble assumption, or are you willing to try it yourself?"

This……

Gu Dayong understood what Pei Yuan meant.

Pei Yuan was asking whether Gu Dayong was willing to trust Pei Yuan and avoid the risks he had assumed, or whether he was unwilling to trust Pei Yuan and conduct the experiment himself.

Gu Dayong is not stupid. He only has one life, so why would he be willing to take risks?

Even if all the assumptions do not exist, the current chaos in Xuzhou City cannot be fake.

Gu Dayong immediately grabbed Pei Yuan's hand as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw. He was choking up a little when he said this.

"Pei Yuan, this time, we are relying on you!"

(End of this chapter)