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

Chapter 250 Dividing the spoils
As a person with a flexible stance, Pei Yuan had no difficulty understanding Ding Hong's current thoughts.

He was not in a hurry to do anything. He just took the bowl and ate, trying to recover his strength as soon as possible.

At this time, the Xuzhou soldiers who had gone out to look for Xiao Tong came back with their war horses.

When Xiao Tong saw the tragic situation in the camp, his face changed several times with shock.

Pei Yuan was worried that there might be some enemy remnants in the camp that had not been cleared out, and that this guy might get into an accident, so he called him to sit next to him.

Xiao Tong was trembling with fear and fidgeting.

After a long while, he finally overcame his fear and said to Pei Yuan, "Today I know the power of Captain Pei. I was the one who offended you before."

"Oh?" Pei Yuan was a little surprised that Xiao Tong was so tactful.

Then he reacted and smiled, "Could it be that those people said something to you on the way?"

Pei Yuan didn't mind a brief reconciliation with the Xiao father and son.

When you don't have enough strength, some meaningless toughness will seem ridiculous.

When the day comes when I overthrow Xiao Jing, there will naturally be sensible subordinates to help me sort things out.

Pei Yuan had made up his mind, so he said lightly, "It's okay, just a little contradiction."

Seeing Pei Yuan's casual tone, Xiao Tong couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Little did he know that when Pei Yuan looked at his attitude, the hatred in his heart became even more difficult to calm down.

——They really didn’t take the lives of their subordinates seriously.

Unfortunately, Pei Yuan, who was not taken seriously, did not think so...

These people from Xuzhou Guard had been running for most of the day and fighting hard, and were already extremely hungry.

They just packed up the camp hastily, then went to their armory and ate some food.

Everyone had managed to survive with great difficulty, so Pei Yuan didn't blame them for anything.

Pei Yuan ate quickly. After finishing his meal, he took up the Bazhou sword and made a quick inspection in the camp.

Upon seeing this, Ding Hong threw away his bowl of rice in a servile manner, and followed Pei Yuan on patrol with two short bayonets in hand.

Pei Yuan didn't say much about this.

If I were in Ding Hong's situation, I would act better than him.

Judging from the layout of this camp, the guards can stay here tonight, which can save a lot of camping time.

The only thing you need to pay attention to is to avoid any hidden dangers.

Pei Yuan opened the tattered tents one by one and looked inside, but did not find any hidden enemies.

When he accidentally opened a tent, Pei Yuan unexpectedly saw several neatly arranged boxes.

He had some guesses in his mind and hesitated for a moment, then stepped aside to let Ding Hong behind him take a look.

Ding Hong also saw a few boxes.

If we really want to break it down, the Xuzhou Guards were a purely technical branch of the military and did not do much work in clearing out bandits.

Ding Hong was stunned for a moment and didn't think about it carefully.

When he saw Pei Yuan looking at him meaningfully, he finally came to his senses.

He saw Pei Yuan raise his chin and gesture to him, so he immediately went into the tent and opened the boxes.

What caught my eye were boxes of copper coins, occasionally mixed with some loose silver.

The Bazhou bandits this time were part of the defeated rear army and did not dare to attack the fortified city. Most of their gains came from the rural gentry.

These prefectures in Shandong had been looted several times before by the Bazhou Army, and the rural gentry were very experienced in hiding their money.

"Little Wu Song" and his group wreaked havoc in Juye, and mostly robbed copper coins, with only limited silver.

Pei Yuan was somewhat interested in this, but not much.

Ding Hong looked at the money and was stunned for a moment, then he flattered, "If it weren't for Qian Hu's bravery, we wouldn't be able to take this camp. The money should belong to Qian Hu."

Pei Yuan shook his head and said to Ding Hong, "Let's take one portion each, and then share the rest with the brothers from Xuzhou Guard who are here this time."

When Ding Hong heard Pei Yuan's plan to divide the money, he couldn't help but be overjoyed.

Then he said tactfully, "The thousand households will naturally take the lion's share, and I know how to divide it."

Pei Yuan laughed and said, "No, I don't even like these things."

Then he explained to Ding Hong, "This money looks like a lot, but it won't be much if we divide it up. If the 500 soldiers of Xuzhou Guards, 500 auxiliary soldiers, plus Eunuch Gu and Captain Xiao also share some, there will be nothing left."

"So for those who come this time, just divide the money among yourselves. When other people come, there is no need to mention it again."

"I took a copy just to give you peace of mind."

"If something really happens, won't I still have to take the lead?"

Ding Hong now understood what Pei Yuan meant.

Pei Yuan is planning to let this small group of people have the whole thing to themselves.

With interests at stake, Ding Hong's heart suddenly became wild.

The bandits in this camp escaped quickly and didn't have time to pack up many things.

If there is a harvest in this tent, there may be harvest in other tents.

Moreover, many bandits like to take away their hidden belongings with them after the looting. The bandits we just killed have not had time to be searched, and there may be some loot left after cleaning up the battlefield.

It would be wonderful if we could let these people have this treat all to ourselves.

Immediately, Ding Hong remembered something and hesitantly said, "Xiao Tong is also here, I'm afraid it's hard to hide it."

Pei Yuan listened and was very understanding and helped to make arrangements. "I'll try to get him out of the way. You can talk to the brothers about the rest."

Ding Hong immediately said positively, "Okay, I understand!"

The two men left the tent and continued searching backwards.

Just as they expected, they found a lot of good things in a tent at the back.

There are some gold and silver objects stored here, including gold hairpins, silver bracelets, gold pots, and silver cups...

There are all kinds of things, but the quantity is still considerable.

Pei Yuan picked up a golden pot and looked at it. Seeing that its quality was just average, he threw it back.

The wealthy hid their gold and silver carefully, but many of their clothing and other items were also valuable.

After Pei Yuan came out, he saw that the remaining tents were rather shabby. He estimated that even if there were some gains, there would not be much, so he went straight back to the campfire.

As soon as they sat down, Xiao Tong greeted them flatteringly, "Did the captain gain anything?"

Pei Yuan knew that Xiao Tong was just chatting him up unintentionally, but Ding Hong, who was following behind him, couldn't help but become nervous.

Pei Yuan said casually, "We didn't find any hidden thieves. It looks safe. We can stay here tonight and save the trouble of setting up tents."

Xiao Tong listened and followed up, "Our front team has horses, and their speed is much faster than the team behind us. Before nightfall, the people behind us may not be able to catch up."

Pei Yuan frowned upon hearing this and muttered to himself, "How can we be so slow? What if those bandits come back to attack us? How can we resist with just these few people?"

Pei Yuan seemed to be in deep thought after he finished speaking.

After a while, he raised his head and said decisively to Xiao Tong, "How about this, you ride a fast horse to greet them on the way and ask them to come as soon as possible."

Before Xiao Tong could answer, Pei Yuan lied again, "The enemy army may come back at any time. Captain Xiao entrusted you to me. If I leave you in this dangerous place, it will be difficult for you to meet him in the future. Wait a minute, you go first." When Xiao Tong heard what Pei Yuan said, he immediately felt that he understood.

He said gratefully, "Xiao Tong will remember Qian Hu's kindness in his heart. When I see my father, I will tell him the truth about this matter."

After Xiao Tong finished speaking, he also felt like a deserter.

He didn't even bother to look at the crowd's expressions, he just stood up and rode away.

The soldiers of Xuzhou Guard who were sitting around eating looked at each other with disdain.

However, the person who made this decision was the ruthless Pei Qianhu, so no one dared to speak out and say anything.

Pei Yuan watched Xiao Tong riding away on his horse, glanced around, and said calmly to the Xuzhou guards, "Deputy Captain Ding, I have something to say to you."

After saying this, he left the scene amid everyone's astonished gazes.

Pei Yuan deliberately moved away and sat by the woods, giving Ding Hong room to perform.

Then a cheer was heard from the camp.

Pei Yuan turned his head and saw Ding Hong leading those people to check the two tents.

Then there was another round of cheers.

Relying on the captured spoils of war, Pei Yuan has artificially created a group.

Now that they have a common secret and common interests, in order to protect these interests and secrets, Pei Yuan will slowly change from an outsider to someone they can rely on.

Pei Yuan clearly felt that the soldiers in the camp were becoming excited.

They talked loudly for a while, then, as if forgetting their tiredness, they began to disperse and roughly check each tent.

The dead bandits were also searched by them, trying to find spoils.

The noise in the camp lasted for a long time before it subsided.

Those people gathered together again, seemingly discussing something intensely.

Pei Yuan waited slowly for the result.

After a while, Ding Hong ran out and found Pei Yuan, then he said respectfully with a smile on his face, "Captain, the things have been divided up. Please come and take a look."

Pei Yuan did not hesitate and followed Ding Hong into the camp.

As soon as Pei Yuan appeared, he attracted the attention of the Xuzhou guards.

Many people looked at Pei Yuan with extremely complicated expressions.

Ding Hong led Pei Yuan to the crowd, pointed at the pile of wealth on the ground as if to show off his merits, and said to Pei Yuan, "Captain, this portion is yours."

Pei Yuan took a look and saw three boxes on the ground with their lids ajar.

Pei Yuan did not appreciate this attempt to cover up his true intentions.

Things are shared by everyone, which doesn't make any sense.

Pei Yuan opened the lid in front of everyone and saw that the first box was filled with half a box of copper coins, covered with a thick layer of loose silver.

In the second chest were various gold articles, and in the third chest were various silver articles.

Pei Yuan smiled and immediately saw through Ding Hong's cleverness.

Those gold and silver items looked beautiful and were large in size. They filled the box to the brim. However, many of the items were not heavy. Perhaps their total value was not as valuable as the small pieces of silver that were in the first box.

However, these are not what Pei Yuan wants.

If Pei Yuan gets too much, when others get into trouble and Pei Yuan takes over, they will take it for granted.

Once things don't go as expected, people will feel resentful for no reason.

Why would Pei Yuan covet this little bit of money?
Pei Yuan then glanced at Ding Hong, and in the face of Ding Hong's anxious gaze, he directly scolded him, "I said I only want one copy, how many copies did you give me?"

Ding Hong was stunned and wanted to explain something.

Pei Yuan had already kicked over the box of silver and copper coins, and then spoke bluntly.

"Re-divide."

"One portion for each person, no more and no less!"

Pei Yuan's words immediately made the soldiers of Xuzhou Guard look strange. Many of them exchanged glances with each other, and some discussed in a low voice.

The share that Captain Pei took accounted for almost half of all the harvest.

If he was willing to redistribute it, everyone could get a lot more.

Everyone was impressed by Pei Yuan's bravery, and although they did not dare to say anything about his taking more money, Pei Yuan's generosity in redistributing such a large sum of money immediately won him the favor of many people.

The most embarrassed person on the scene was Ding Hong.

Because the entire distribution plan was completed under his intervention.

It was also for the purpose of pleasing Pei Yuan that he came up with this plan that was both substantial and prestigious.

Pei Yuan's refusal was not originally that devastating, it was just a matter of everyone redistributing.

The key point is... Ding Hong also took too much!

Originally, if Pei Yuan took more, then Ding Hong, as the deputy captain, would also take more, which was a kind of unspoken understanding.

But now, Pei Yuan, as an outsider, suddenly did this. Ding Hong, who had been close to his brothers, was in a difficult situation.

He could only awkwardly redistribute the property as quickly as possible before he had to bite the bullet and ask Pei Yuan to take his share.

This time, Ding Hong divided the money more realistically. Pei Yuan's share was about twenty or thirty taels, and it was all in small change.

Pei Yuan wrapped it up with cloth without any hesitation, and became a fellow traveler with these people.

When the soldiers of Xuzhou Guard saw Pei Yuan took the money, they remembered what Ding Hong had said when he persuaded them before, such as "If the sky falls, there will be someone tall to hold it up", and their stance towards Pei Yuan changed a lot.

Many people have begun to regard Pei Yuan as their accomplice.

Pei Yuan saw that everyone had taken the silver. He glanced around and said with a warning, "There is a saying that wealth should not be revealed. You'd better be smart and don't let anyone find out."

Pei Yuan gave a slight hint.

"There are still nearly a thousand people who didn't get any advantage. Don't do anything stupid."

When the Xuzhou guards heard this, they smiled knowingly.

Pei Yuan added, "If there is really an idiot who causes trouble, don't implicate others. We are all brothers. If anyone dares to betray other brothers without regard for their feelings, I will kill him together with you!"

The soldiers of Xuzhou Guard had just received their money and were in a very excited mood.

As soldiers of the garrison, even these elite cavalrymen, many of them could only afford to have a full meal for their family on weekdays, and had almost no chance to receive salary.

At this moment, with dozens of taels of money in his arms, he felt very warm in his heart.

So, after hearing Pei Yuan's very inspiring words, he couldn't help but shout, "Let's kill him together! Let's kill him together!"

Pei Yuan felt relieved when he saw the somewhat excited Xuzhou soldiers.

He struck while the iron was hot and spoke to everyone.

"Of course, no one in this world has foresight, so it's inevitable that some brothers will accidentally show off their wealth. If there are really problems that cannot be solved, just say that this money is a reward from me."

"If anyone disagrees, they can come and confront me."

Pei Yuan looked at these low-level soldiers who had suddenly made a fortune, and gave them a reassurance in an inciting manner, "I will protect you!"

(End of this chapter)