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

Chapter 252 I Love Beauty
Pei Yuan looked at Ding Hong's attitude with satisfaction, and then said to Gu Dayong, "Don't worry, this is my man."

Gu Dayong was somewhat skeptical about this.

I still remember that this morning, you two were arguing with each other, how come I have become your person now?

But Gu Dayong couldn't insist too much at this moment.

Pei Yuan then explained, "I brought him here this time to help him get an official position."

Pei Yuan helped Ding Hong up and looked at him in hesitation.

Ding Hong felt uneasy, not knowing what the person in front of him was thinking.

After a while, Pei Yuan said, "Let's give you a commander, from the fifth rank to the third rank, it's not too much of an eyesore."

After hearing this, Ding Hong could hardly believe his ears.

How could a mere captain like me be appointed as a commander?

You have to know that the promotion of military officers in the Ming Dynasty was based on bloodline. For someone like Ding Hong, the ceiling was the promotion to a thousand households.

Even this thousand households was an opportunity that he stumbled upon unexpectedly after the accumulation of several generations of hundred households.

His family is not a founding military hero, and he doesn't have the bloodline of the Jingnan Rebellion. What can he use to be a commander?

You mean military exploits?

Isn't it the person who writes the military achievements who has the final say?

What does this have to do with the battlefield?
But now, such an opportunity to skip four levels has appeared!
Ding Hong felt a little confused.

——Is this kind of thing legal?

Seeing that Ding Hong was somewhat at a loss, Pei Yuan assured Gu Dayong, "Help me find a vacancy for a third-rank commander. It shouldn't be a problem, right?"

After Pei Yuan's counseling, Gu Dayong has regained some of his former confidence.

"He is just a third-rank commander. We can easily bring him down!"

With the defeats that Gu Dayong had suffered over the past year, just a few sprinkles of water could cause a commander to have his family confiscated and his property destroyed.

"It's just that..." Gu Dayong changed the subject, "I can pull him down, but I can't send him up."

Pei Yuan's mind flashed with Lu Ting's image, and he couldn't help but smile and said, "It's okay, I have another way to deal with this."

Gu Dayong pondered the meaning of Pei Yuan's words, and felt a complicated feeling in his heart that was difficult to describe.

Just last year, this was done to fill a vacancy for a centurion, and he was desperately begging for his own man.

As a result, now a commander can be appointed in the midst of laughter and conversation.

Gu Dayong thought about the methods Pei Yuan demonstrated, and for a moment he felt that it was not surprising that Pei Yuan could get to this point.

Pei Yuan and Gu Dayong finished their communication and finally sought Ding Hong's opinion as a procedural step.

"How is it? Are you satisfied with this arrangement?"

At this moment, Ding Hong nodded his head like a chick pecking at rice.

Now he has completely understood that Captain Pei is not just making empty promises, but is really making arrangements for him.

Now even Gu Dayong has started to prepare to drag others into the water, so what is there to hesitate about?

Every moment of hesitation on his part now is irresponsible to future generations.

From today on, I am also a bloodline person!
Pei Yuan saw that Ding Hong was happy, so he was happy too, and by the way, he also gave him a small convenience, "Do you have any personal requests?"

"Personal request?" Ding Hong was stunned and asked carefully, "What does Qian Hu mean by personal request?"

"Oh, I mean which garrison commander do you want to be? If you have your eyes on someone, we will help you get him off the garrison."

Ding Hong received another small shock.

Can it still be like this?

Doesn't this mean that the fate of many of the chief officers of the garrisons has been left to his own devices, and can be said to be decided by a single word?
Ding Hong looked at Gu Dayong, who was being investigated by the court because of "the army was humiliated, the soldiers were exhausted, and the people were exhausted but achieved nothing", and he instantly felt that this statement was very powerful.

For a moment, Ding Hong's heart was filled with surges of emotion and he was extremely excited.

He looked at the man in front of him who calmly arranged his own destiny, and an idea arose in his mind.

This is what a man should do!

Peko, Peko...

Ding Hong suddenly felt a little scared and didn't dare to think any further.

Seeing Ding Hong didn't say anything, Pei Yuan thought he was so happy that he lost his mind, so he asked, "What about your Xuzhou Guard? You are familiar with the people in Xuzhou Guard. The current commander of your Xuzhou Guard is surnamed Guo, right?"

After hearing this, Ding Hong looked a little hesitant.

Pei Yuan saw it and asked, "What's the matter? What's the problem?"

Ding Hong said cautiously, "Commander Guo of Xuzhou Guard was quite good to me, and I feel a little sorry for him."

"Oh, I see." Pei Yuan didn't care. After thinking for a while, he asked, "What about Xuzhou Zuowei?"

Pei Yuan's two options are not groundless.

Xuzhou Wei and Xuzhou Zuowei were good at shipbuilding. They could not only build "shallow boats" for use in the canal, but also "ocean-covering ships" for sea transportation.

During the Ming Dynasty, there was an enclave in Shandong, which is now Liaoning Province.

Some of the "ocean-covering ships" used for material supplies and trade between Shandong and Liaoning came from Xuzhou Wei and Xuzhou Zuowei.

Therefore, Pei Yuan attached great importance to Xuzhou Wei and Xuzhou Zuo Wei, two technical troops that were good at shipbuilding.

If Pei Yuan remembered correctly, after the rebellion in Bazhou was quelled, in order to replenish transportation capacity as soon as possible, the court temporarily relocated Xuzhou Wei and Xuzhou Zuowei to assist Qingjiang Tizhusi in shipbuilding.

First get Xuzhou Wei or Xuzhou Zuowei, and then rely on the superficial friendly relationship with Huai'an Wei to seize Qingjiang Tizhusi.

Pei Yuan’s Grand Canal strategy would be greatly enhanced if he could obtain a steady supply of various types of ships.

In this way, when Wang Chang was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief and then transferred to the Governor-General of the Rivers, he had a real focus.

Then there are the local administrative arrangements.

It is difficult to arrange the fourth-rank prefect of Yanzhou, but it is still possible to arrange the fifth-rank prefect of Jining.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of suitable talent.

Just when Pei Yuan was letting his thoughts fly and taking care of state affairs, he heard Ding Hong mutter, "Captain, Xuzhou Zuowei is not suitable, right?"

"Xuzhou Zuowei was formed by Shi Yu, the son of the hereditary commander of Jeju Wei. It has been in charge of the army for three consecutive generations and has deep roots in Xuzhou Zuowei."

"The current commander of Xuzhou's Left Guard is called Shi Yong, and he has many supporters. If we arrest him on some pretext, I'm afraid..."

Seeing Pei Yuan's look, Ding Hong said with a stiff face, "I'm afraid it's difficult for me to control the Xuzhou Left Guard. How about changing someone else for me..."

Shi Yu is a person of super bloodline! How dare Ding Hong covet her?

Pei Yuan almost blurted out "Then what use do I have for you?"

However, since Ding Hong has this concern, Pei Yuan cannot ignore this trouble.

What Pei Yuan wanted was a Xuzhou Left Guard that would obey his orders, not a loose Xuzhou Left Guard that was only in name only.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and asked Gu Dayong, "Is there a vacancy in the Shandong Defense Command?"

There was a thud, and Ding Hong behind him knelt down hurriedly, his face pale as he said, "No, no!"

The second-rank commander-in-chief is a bloodline among bloodline people, and Ding Hong would never dare to dream of it.

Coincidentally, Pei Yuan didn’t think so.

Pei Yuan looked indifferent, "You think too much." As Ding Hong was embarrassed, Gu Dayong also sighed, "You think too much. The soldiers of the Beiwodusi were not under my command at all. How can I accuse them of fighting poorly?"

Pei Yuan did not back down and argued, "Apart from the facts, wasn't there a Japanese pirate collusion in the rebellion in Bazhou?"

Gu Dayong was stunned.

Pei Yuan, do you know what you are talking about?

Pei Yuan has already started laying out the logic.

"Last autumn and winter, Yang Hu's troops attacked Dengzhou and Laizhou. The headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the defense against Japanese aggression is in Dengzhou. Why did they turn a blind eye to this?"

The troops in Shandong were divided into two divisions for management.

The garrisons close to the inland were under the jurisdiction of the Shandong Commandery, while the three camps and twenty-four guards along the coast were under the jurisdiction of the Shandong Anti-Japanese Commandery.

The two are not subordinate to each other and are both under the management of the Five Ministries and the Ministry of War.

The difference is that the Shandong Regional Military Commission was in charge of the military and political affairs of Shandong and had certain local attributes.

The nominal level of the Beiwodusi was "Xingdusi", a central agency specifically responsible for dealing with Japanese pirates.

So after the Bazhou bandits invaded Shandong, the Shandong Dusi was busy, but the Beiwo Dusi was not affected.

Gu Dayong knew a lot about the inside story and carefully suggested, "Is it possible that the troops of Dengzhou and Laizhou are mainly naval forces and are not suitable for land warfare? Moreover, Yang Hu was deterred from attacking the Dengzhou water city and did not harass it much."

Pei Yuan shook his head and said seriously, "You can't arbitrarily assume that the Japanese pirates were not involved just because they didn't send troops. Taking a step back, even if the Japanese pirates didn't invade the border, doesn't the Japanese Defense Command have the responsibility to protect the border?"

After listening to Pei Yuan's nonsense and looking at his righteous look, Gu Dayong was really confused.

Could it be that this great rebellion was not only the fault of Kunin, but also the fault of the Japanese pirates?
Gu Dayong thought about it and said helplessly, "Be honest, there are no outsiders here."

Pei Yuan then revealed, "The Jinyiwei has some connections. I can get a joint letter from all the bandit commanders of the Bazhou Army to prove that they do have close contacts with the Japanese pirates. At least I can absolve the Japanese governor of a crime of negligence."

He also said, "Zhao Sui, the deputy commander of the Bazhou Army, once wrote a letter to the emperor, and the handwriting can be verified to be authentic."

Gu Dayong was immediately shocked.

I rely on!

The Jinyiwei are so powerful, why is he still busy leading troops?
Pei Yuan also felt that some things were difficult to explain.

After all, the Bazhou Army, Lu Ting, and the Nanjing Military Department teamed up to kill Gu Dayong.

He could only express it in a tactful way, "Some things are not black and white. Those rebels, well, some details..."

Pei Yuan could only say dryly, "I will report this matter to my father-in-law later."

Pei Yuan said vaguely, and quickly diverted Gu Dayong's attention. "The most important thing now is to save the eunuch from the court's accountability, and then let the eunuch rebuild the West Factory."

When it came to Gu Dayong's own affairs, Gu Dayong immediately came to his senses.

Regardless of anything else, the two things Pei Yuan mentioned are imminent, and they also involve his personal interests.

Judging from Pei Yuan’s previous plans, as long as he actually did it, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to escape punishment from the court.

However, what Gu Dayong wanted was not to escape punishment but to regain his power.

As a criminal, he certainly had no right to snatch the seal of the Imperial Household Department from Zhang Yong and the East Factory from Qiu Ju. The best outcome would be to take back his own West Factory.

To take back the Western Factory means for the emperor to overthrow the will of the entire court.

Although this matter is not a big deal, is it worth it for the emperor to do this?

Gu Dayong came up with the answer in a flash.

We still have to rely on Pei Yuan!

He is a second-rank commander-in-chief and was convicted of negligence, which is not a big deal.

With Gu Dayong as the premise, the eunuch in charge of military affairs reporting the case, and high-ranking rebels in Bazhou testifying, who would not be confused when trying this case?
The commander-in-chief of Shandong's defense against Japanese aggression will certainly not be able to continue his job.

Gu Dayong repeated to Pei Yuan, "I can help you pull him down, but whether you can get him up depends on you."

Pei Yuan said calmly, "Okay."

After listening to this, Gu Dayong remained silent and his understanding of Pei Yuan deepened.

Even though there is only a two-level difference between the third rank and the second rank, there are hundreds of guard commanders in the Ming Dynasty, but only a few of them are in charge of the dusi?

The value here is completely different.

Pei Yuan did not notice Gu Dayong's mood changes, and said to Ding Hong, who had experienced the storm of high-level political struggles, "I will recommend the commander of Xuzhou Zuowei to Shandong Beiwodusi to help you get rid of him. Is this good enough?"

"You can give Shi Yong some advice and sell him this huge favor. Ask him to bring all his trusted aides with him when he takes office, so that he can leave a clean guard post for you."

Recommending Shi Yong to be the commander of the Beiwodusi may not be a bad thing. It is hard to say anything else, but at least Shi Yong knows about warships.

The Beiwodusi relied heavily on the navy, and the navy relied heavily on warships!
Let this shipbuilding expert be used to prepare for the Wodusi, maybe he will be able to gain real success.

If Pei Yuan remembers correctly, Japanese pirates began to proliferate on a large scale during the Jiajing period.

I hope this thing will come in handy when the time comes.

As for Shi Yong himself, he was promoted directly from a third-rank commander to a second-rank commander-in-chief, and went from being in charge of a shipbuilding engineering garrison to directly controlling three battalions and twenty-four guards along the coast. It can be said that he completed a great leap in his career with a confused look on his face.

Both publicly and privately, Pei Yuan did nothing wrong.

Well, probably the former commander-in-chief of the Beiwodu would be a little angry.

Small causes and effects are nothing to worry about.

After seeing Pei Yuan's unpredictable tactics, Gu Dayong became more and more puzzled by his actions.

"Pei Yuan, you can easily replace a second-rank commander and change the leadership of the three battalions and twenty-four guards. Why do you have to settle for a small captain?"

"Although I, Gu Dayong, have lost my power now, it is not difficult for me to recommend you to the emperor."

Then Gu Dayong asked further, "Pei Yuan, what do you think?"

Pei Yuan didn't know how to respond after hearing this.

How should I say it?
They complain that the current emperor died early and left no son.

He said that he was worried that he would be purged during the change of dynasty before he could gain power, so he deliberately concealed his incompetence?
If the emperor cannot die once, he can die again.

Even if the prince is born, he may die of natural causes.

The general trend is overwhelming him. What's the point of affecting his skin without touching his foundation?
Pei Yuan had no way to explain.

But since it was so unclear, it was inevitable that the old eunuch would think that he had ulterior motives.

Pei Yuan could only bite the bullet and explain, "I love beauty, and I love Han Qianhu of the Evil Suppression Thousand Households Office very much, so I don't want to be promoted. Eunuch Gu... you should understand, right?"

Gu Dayong looked at Pei Yuan with gritted teeth, his angry eyes almost wanted to cut Pei Yuan into pieces!

He tried to be calm and said, "Get out!"

Pei Yuan also realized that what he had just said seemed to hurt the old man a little.

Pei Yuan was also a man with some moral margins. He waved his hand and motioned Ding Hong to follow him and leave.

Before leaving the tent, Pei Yuan had an idea in his mind and asked Gu Dayong, "Eunuch Gu is familiar with military affairs, do you know who the current commander of Shandong's defense against Japanese aggression is?"

Get to know the victim so you can make amends later.

Gu Dayong glanced at Pei Yuan coldly and ignored him.

Pei Yuan walked out of the tent embarrassedly.

Before Pei Yuan walked away, Gu Dayong seemed to have changed his mind. A voice came faintly, "Qi Jingtong."

(End of this chapter)