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

Chapter 291 I was careless

After what happened, Pei Yuan was no longer in the mood to go back for dinner.

Since he had already arrived at Zhihua Temple and met Zhu Houzhao, Pei Yuan was no longer worried about exposing his whereabouts.

I simply went straight into the temple and replanned the place.

The Zhihua Temple is actually a large building complex with matching courtyards on both sides.

The courtyard in the middle of the east side was requisitioned by Pei Yuan as an official office, where he worked and stored archives and documents. The side rooms next to it were reserved for the pacification officer He Ru.

The front yard was where some personal guards were stationed, and the back yard was where Pei Yuan rested.

The several courtyards on the west side of Zhihua Temple were originally where monks lived and some supplies were stored.

At present, all of them have been requisitioned to temporarily provide accommodation for the soldiers of Xuzhou Guard.

As for the original monks, since Pei Yuan had already planned to use this place as a base, they certainly couldn't just stay there.

Pei Yuan was deeply impressed by the receptionist and planned to keep him as a receptionist.

The remaining monks, those who were young and strong and willing to join the Qianhu Suo, were directly recruited on the spot. These monks were temporarily managed by Daigo Monk. They usually took turns to train martial arts and protect Zhihua Temple. If someone came, they would still chant sutras.

Pei Yuan planned to move the remaining monks to other temples with more popular incense.

Pei Yuan called the monks to the Tathagata Hall and asked them to state which temple they would like to go to.

There were no more than thirty monks with official ordination certificates in the Zhihua Temple. Seeing that the temple property was about to be robbed, they were angry but dared not say anything.

After all, this is a temple, and no one dares to say with confidence that it belongs to him.

And from what the Taoist leader Zhenji said, he was willing to make amends.

Then each monk said the names of the surrounding temples based on his previous experiences.

Pei Yuan called Sikong Sui to ask him.

Sikong Sui was arranging the Jinyiwei personnel to move into the temples actually controlled by the Qianhu Suo. After taking a look at the list, he could easily see which ones were still in the hands of the Qianhu Suo and which ones had already escaped its control.

After listening to the general report, Pei Yuan crossed out those temples that were still under the jurisdiction of the Qianhu and asked the monks of Zhihua Temple to report again.

So again and again.

The monks of Zhihua Temple were also confused about what this little leader of the Zhenji Taoist sect meant.

If it weren't for the fact that every time he reported something, someone would have approved it, they would have even thought that Captain Pei was trying to deny the matter.

At the end, Pei Yuan put the list away with satisfaction.

Then he said to the monks, "You can stay in Zhihua Temple for a few days and review the scriptures. I can gather some manpower to dismiss the abbots of these temples."

"It may take ten days at the shortest, or a month at the longest. The Qianhu Office will recommend you to the Monks' Office to be the abbot. Then someone from the Monks' Office will invite you to the Ministry of Rites for assessment."

"If you have affinity with Buddhism, you can preside over a temple in the future. If you don't have affinity with Buddhism and can't pass the assessment, you can also seek refuge with your fellow disciples and go to the same temple together."

When the monks heard Pei Yuan's words, they were first shocked and then overjoyed.

What is shocking is that the words "clear out" mentioned by this little leader sounded quite murderous.

The great joy was that after the little leader was cleared out, there was a position left for them.

Thinking that anyone could become an abbot, the monks in Zhihua Temple were so happy that they felt like they were in a dream.

Then, everyone thought of the conditions that Pei Yuan had just mentioned.

By the way, I still have to undergo the assessment of the Buddhist Registrar’s Office.

A group of monks chattered, and after a while, someone bravely came out to ask, "Excuse me, Master, what does it mean to have a predestined relationship with Buddha?"

Pei Yuan didn't know much about the market situation, so he thought about it and called Yun Weilin over.

As a former spy at Da Ci'en Temple, Yun Weilin can be said to have basically reached the ceiling of Buddhism.

I also had a lot of dealings with officials from the Monks' Registration Office of the Ministry of Rites.

After listening to Pei Yuan's question, Yun Weilin shook his shiny bald head and gave reasonable suggestions.

"The official seal of the Monks' Registration Department is currently vacant, and the deputy seal is in charge now. The deputy seal of the Monks' Registration Department is Shi Buyi, a senior monk from Dayongchang Temple. I heard that the court is already discussing the candidate for the official seal. He will take advantage of the money now and make it easier to talk. He can bribe him with 200 taels."

"As the deputy seal holder, Shi Buyi may not come to the examination in person. If his fellow apprentices Shi Bukong and Shi Bushe do it for him, each of them will have to pay ten taels as a favor before they can talk."

Pei Yuan nodded, "In other words, we need to prepare at least 220 taels?"

Yun Weilin shook his head again after hearing this. "Captain, this is just the cost of passing the assessment. We still need to go to the Ministry of Justice to investigate and obtain the written reply, which will cost about another thirty taels of silver."

Pei Yuan remembered that in order to become abbots, these monks not only had to take a civil service examination, but also had to provide a certificate of no criminal record.

Pei Yuan nodded, "Two hundred and fifty taels, right?"

Yun Weilin was afraid that Pei Yuan might misunderstand, so he added, "At this point, we have only obtained the qualification to be selected."

"If you want to get an appointment from the Ministry of Rites, you have to go through the Ministry of Sacrifice and Purification. Generally speaking, you go through Chen Yiping, the head of the Ministry of Sacrifice and Purification. He will take the money and bribe the Langzhong and Yuanwailang of the Ministry of Sacrifice and Purification."

"Except for Chen Yiping, the people in the Temple of Sacrifice and the Ministry of Justice will not accept any money from others."

Pei Yuan also understood that the matter stopped with Chen Yiping.

The entire Ancestral Sacrifice and Cleansing Bureau was carried on Chen Yiping's shoulders.

Pei Yuan asked, "How much taels does Chen Yiping want?"

Yun Weilin replied, "It depends on the size of the temple."

Pei Yuan showed Yun Weilin the list of names reported by the monks of Zhihua Temple, "What about these?"

Yun Weilin is indeed an expert. After a quick glance at the list, he gave an estimate, "It should be between one thousand and five hundred taels."

Pei Yuan became a little uneasy after hearing this.

Adding the previous expenses, it’s almost two thousand taels.

To fill a vacancy of a sixth-rank centurion, according to the market price, that would only cost three thousand taels.

Song Chunniang took advantage of the horse donation and directly bought the honorary title of a seventh-rank general flag for seventy taels.

Later, when Han Qianhu was hiring someone, he gave her a real job without spending a single tael of silver.

Compared to this, being an abbot is too expensive.

Pei Yuan felt that his previous thoughts needed to be slightly revised, so he said to the monks, "It seems that Buddha's fate is rare, how about... you all come together."

"How about a few people entering one temple together?"

As long as you can get the top position in the temple, others who follow you in will also be able to do well.

At critical moments, concentrating resources can also achieve good results.

Sure enough, the monks started to discuss in a low voice after hearing this. Some looked calm, some seemed to be thinking about something, and some were chasing the monks next to them and asking questions anxiously.

Pei Yuan listened patiently as the discussion gradually died down, then he picked up his pen and was about to reclassify them, "How is it? What do you think?" Then he heard the original abbot, Monk Shanshi, step out and answer on behalf of the monks, "This is the market situation, and we have no objection."

Pei Yuan asked, "Have you made any changes?"

Monk Shanshi shook his head and said, "No need for that. We can help each other and get through this difficult time together."

Even though Captain Pei was calm and composed, he was almost broken down by Monk Shanshi's words.

His eyes swept over the poor monks who were full of hope, and his mentality was truly blown away.

Damn it, in order to protect these 60,000 taels, I will put my head on the line and deal with Zhengde!
It turns out that you are actually walking sixty thousand taels!
At this moment, Pei Yuan even had the idea of ​​surrounding Zhihua Temple and carrying out a bloody massacre.

"Then, then..." Pei Yuan's face was uncertain and his words were a little confused.

Then the monk Shanshi smiled and said to Pei Yuan, "In this Zhihua Temple, there are still some treasures that Emperor Yingzong gave to Wang Zhen as sacrifices. Because of the long time, the list of treasures has been lost. Monks like us should not be involved in such karma, so we leave them in the temple and let Qianhu keep them well."

Pei Yuan's expression gradually improved after hearing this.

He immediately understood roughly.

Even though the Zhihua Temple is not usually very popular, Emperor Yingzong bestowed a lot of money and property on the temple. In addition, there are many ambitious eunuchs who would secretly come here to make pilgrimages, and the money they donated should not be a small amount.

Besides, a deserted temple has its advantages. Normally, no one comes, so the monks have enough time to go out and perform rituals and do private work.

For those with more experience, it should not be a problem to save up a few thousand taels.

It’s okay for those with less experience. You can become the abbot of a temple. Are you still worried about not having money in the future?
Naturally, some people are willing to borrow some temporarily to help others at this critical moment.

After clearing out more than 30 temples, Pei Yuan can arrange the monks from Zhihua Temple to take charge.

Although this scale is not a big deal for the capital city which has 1,200 temples, it is still a good start.

Moreover, the newly added temples under his control can actually bring in more financial resources, making it easier for Pei Yuan to support more people.

This time, Pei Yuan will mainly rely on the Nanjing Jinyiwei brought by Sikong Sui and Tan Tai Fangtu.

These people's origins are clear and they are not afraid of investigation.

If there are official troubles or unplanned resistance, the Xuzhou soldiers can also use the vacancies in the Qianhu Suo and put on vests to support the situation.

Pei Yuan was just thinking of letting Sikong Sui take charge of this matter, but suddenly he changed his mind. If Shi Bukong and Shi Bushe could use Shi Buyi's power to accept money, he could also let his younger brothers make some money. Those monks were rich anyway.

Pei Yuan called out the names of the monks one by one in front of them and said, "Pay attention to the matter of clearing out those temples. I will leave this matter to you, Captain Sikong, Captain Tantai, General Cheng, General Chen, General Song, and Captain Ding."

"You can go check if those temples are doing anything illegal. I, the Ming Taizu, have set up so many rules. I don't believe that those guys can be clean."

Sikong Sui, Cheng Leixiang, Chen Toutie and Ding Hong who were present all agreed.

Pei Yuan then raised the list in his hand and said to the monks, "You have to pay attention to your own affairs."

The monk Shanxin understood what he meant, and he quickly expressed his opinion with some pain, "I understand."

Pei Yuan was thinking about his money and didn't want too many people to know about it.

He said to the monk Shanxin, "You guys talk to them first. The emperor has told me something to deal with."

Monk Shanxin said quickly, "This Zhihua Temple has been managed by the Qianhu, so the Qianhu can do whatever he wants."

Pei Yuan signaled to Cheng Leixiang, and took his personal soldiers with him to move the silver to the east yard.

Pei Yuan hesitated for a moment and did not put the silver in the private courtyard behind him, but buried it in the courtyard of the government office where he worked.

Although there will be frequent people coming and going here in the future, it will be inconvenient to use.

But the amount of silver was not small and Pei Yuan could not use it all at once.

He now has more than 6,000 taels of silver in his hand. It depends on the believer monk's attitude. Once the matter is done, he will probably give some reward.

If you can’t spend it all, you can’t spend it all.

After packing up everything, Pei Yuan locked the gate on this side, intending to wait until there was nothing unusual about the color of the soil before officially coming in to handle official business.

When we returned to the Tathagata Temple, the monks were still waiting there cautiously, not daring to go out.

Sikong Sui, Chen Toutie and Ding Hong were all smiling happily.

The Yun family father and son were tactful enough to wait outside the door with the other Jinyiwei.

Seeing Pei Yuan coming over, Chen Toutie was about to say something, but Sikong Sui came over and reported to Pei Yuan enthusiastically, "Captain, just now..."

Pei Yuan quickly waved his hand, signaling Sikong Sui to shut up.

"Just do your job well."

Pei Yuan understood that the monks had probably already negotiated a price with some of their younger brothers.

He has his own share and doesn't want to get involved.

Sikong Sui said happily, "Then we would like to thank Qian Hu."

Pei Yuan saw the father and son of the Yun family slightly embarrassed and deliberately retreating behind the crowd. He remembered that Yun Weilin did have a wide network of contacts and was quite useful, so he added, "Yun Buxian is working with me now, so let's include him."

Before Sikong Sui could reply, Yun Weilin said happily, "Thank you, Qianhu! Thank you, Qianhu!"

Yun Weilin saw with his own eyes today that the emperor and Captain Pei came out of the temple together, and he also saw that before Zhu Houzhao left, he gave Pei Yuan some additional instructions.

He was glad that he got on board in time, and he also became more optimistic about Pei Yuan's future.

Just thinking about the bad history of sitting on the fence, Yun Weilin has begun to regret it.

Just now, when he saw Pei Yuan appointing a few people to do the work, there was neither Yun Weilin, who was the most familiar with people in the capital, nor Yun Buxian, who had already joined the gang. Yun Weilin felt even more regretful.

Pei Yuan's statement just now undoubtedly made Yun Weilin feel relieved.

Yun Buxian also hurriedly said, "I will do my best to live up to the trust of the thousand households."

Pei Yuan did not have enough trust in the father and son for the time being, and did not want them to know that the Xuzhou soldiers had entered the city, so he took them away directly and asked Ding Hong to quickly recall all the people who had been released.

When I got home, Jiao Yan'er and Song Chunniang were not there.

After asking the servants who stayed here a few questions, they learned that General Song and his wife had left together in a car.

Pei Yuan was inexplicably surprised.

Although the situation today is a bit dangerous, there is still room for maneuver.

I haven't sent anyone to notify them to run away yet, so why is Song Chunniang so eager to evacuate and run away?

Pei Yuan was puzzled for a while and decided to go to the house of Censor Zhang Lian to bring them back. But just after he turned around and took a few steps, his heart trembled.

What the hell!

I was careless!

(End of this chapter)