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

Chapter 320 The mastermind behind the scenes
As the news came out, it immediately sparked heated discussions on a wider scale.

Yang Yiqing, the Minister of Personnel who was in alliance with Zhang Yong, originally wanted to express his support to Zhang Yong as soon as possible on the grounds of stabilizing the political situation.

But the emperor did a great job.

Zhu Houzhao's consolation and retention of Zhang Yong completely blocked the channels for others to take advantage of the opportunity to exert pressure.

However, the suppression of Zhang Rong actually destroyed Zhang Yong's prestige.

As a result of this incident, Qiu Ju's position was temporarily stabilized.

Zhu Houzhao sent out a signal of easing the situation and asked Zhang Rui, who posed the greatest threat to the governor of the Eastern Depot, to be sent to the front line to monitor guns and work under Lu Ting.

Although everyone knew that Qiu Ju's position would be even more difficult to keep when Zhang Rui returned from the army with military merits, at least they no longer had to worry about it.

Then, Zhu Houzhao did not let the civil and military officials in the court sit idle. He immediately issued an edict, asking the cabinet to work with the Ministry of War and the Censorate to re-discuss Gu Dayong's merits and demerits.

When the people in Jianzheng realized that the emperor was trying to stabilize the others and concentrate on dealing with Zhang Rong and the Northern Pacification Division, they felt more and more that the future of Zhang Yong, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, was not good.

only……

Many people still have doubts in their minds. There were clearly three forces drying their horses outside the Da Ci'en Temple. Now two of them have suffered heavy losses. So what should be done with the remaining one? Why has there been no movement?

The situation is now confusing and even the bravest censors dare not get involved.

The core circle of power is engaged in a fierce game of game, but the people who are just watching the politics don’t care about that and they all expressed their opinions enthusiastically.

——Update quickly!
Pei Yuan was also worried for a while.

He had no control over how Zhu Houzhao would react, and inevitably felt a little uneasy.

Fortunately, Yun Buxian was indeed a local tyrant who was well-connected in the capital. He had used the past few days to slowly transfer out those Xuzhou soldiers whose identities were unclear.

His father, Yun Weilin, had been a Taoist priest in Da Ci'en Temple for many years and had a deep foundation.

The Da Ci'en Temple is a place where many people from all walks of life gather. Many of them "make wishes" and "fulfill wishes" by relying on the Da Ci'en Temple as a platform.

If it was inconvenient for the Buddha to chop the trees, they would find someone to do it for them. If the Buddha was embarrassed to spend money, they would also help him spend it.

Therefore, it was not a problem for Yun Buxian to find a few people with leverage to do things.

When Cheng Leixiang received Pei Yuan's secret letter, he rushed to support them immediately and then brought those people back to Tianjin.

In addition, Tan Tai Fang Tu and Si Kong Sui also began to expand in an orderly manner.

The Jinyiwei soldiers rushed into the temples on the previous list like wolves and tigers, questioning the origins of the temples, whether they had approval from the Ministry of Rites, and whether Taoist Zhenji had moved in.

The answer is of course no.

Some of these temples were built based on the wishes of imperial concubines in the palace in the early years, some were built based on the wishes of eunuchs in the palace, and some were built by high-ranking officials or wealthy businessmen.

Sikong Sui carefully asked about the vassal kings' lineages that were built by the imperial concubines in the palace. If there were any vassal kings who were still alive, he would just let them go for now. If there were no descendants left, he would arrest the abbot without mercy.

Sikong Sui took the names of the eunuchs who made vows, the high-ranking officials who offered sacrifices, and the high-ranking officials and nobles and showed them to Pei Yuan for review. For those with low ranks, the temple property was confiscated and the abbot was arrested.

Pei Yuan glanced over the list and saw that people like Xiao Jing and Lu Ting were not on the list, so he ignored them all and asked Sikong Sui to deal with them one by one.

As for those ordinary powerful and wealthy businessmen, not only did he confiscate the temple property, Pei Yuan also asked Sikong Sui to register the names and hometowns of the main worshippers, intending to use them as a reserve, so that when the Qianhu Suo was short of money, he could confiscate their property for emergency use.

The decrees of successive dynasties that restricted Buddhism became tools for Pei Yuan to wield to commit crimes.

The monks of Zhihua Temple had passed the assessment of Shi Buyi, the deputy seal holder of the Monks' Registration Office, a few days ago, and had also gotten in touch with Chen Yiping, the head of the Temple of Sacrifice and the Official in Charge of the Ministry of Rites.

As Qianhu Suo completed the clearance according to the list, the monks of Zhihua Temple all happily took up their posts.

Although the Qianhusuo looted temple properties ruthlessly, each temple was like a fat hen that would still lay eggs even if all its feathers were plucked.

Pei Yuan also counted on the continuous commissions from these temples to support his own troops, and he did not touch those things that were difficult to cash in.

After confiscating more than 20 temples, Pei Yuan seized 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver, dozens of store deeds, and some land outside the city.

Even though he was mentally prepared, Pei Yuan was still stunned by the result.

Fortunately, Sikong Sui also explained that when the monks of Zhihua Temple were promised, these monks were greedy for benefits and chose to go to a slightly larger temple nearby, so it was not surprising to have such a gain.

Some smaller temples may not have so much money.

At this time, Pei Yuan couldn't help but think of Zhu Houzhao's reservoir theory.

Buddhism has indeed provided a huge buffer for society in terms of wealth distribution. They have harvested the wealth and land of the rich, and also harvested the poor surplus labor force.

The key is that Buddhism also allows the working population who convert to it to stop having children, physically eliminating the poor population and achieving poverty alleviation.

The afterlife sold to the rich, because it is in a virtual parallel universe, has no connection with the supply and demand in real society, and will not affect the CPI index.

so.

Although his actions were essentially for the purpose of making money, if he continued, it might destroy the social structure, which Zhu Houzhao would probably not be able to tolerate.

Pei Yuan hesitated for a while, but finally stopped Sikong Sui and Tan Tai Fangtu from continuing to expand their victory.

Even if you want to take action later, it is best to avoid the limelight and do it quietly.

Pei Yuan was not greedy and gave all the harvest to the governor Kong Xu and asked him to register it first.

In the future, part of the money for maintaining the troops in the Northern Bureau will rely on the commission from the temples, and part will come from here. In order to digest this wealth reasonably, Pei Yuan does not need to do anything too ugly.

When Kong Xu was working as an inspector in Guangdong, he was a smart man. Seeing that there were many shop deeds and cash on the books, he asked Pei Yuan if he wanted to start his own business to increase the income from the money.

The current situation is unstable, and Pei Yuan has not completely opened up the links on the Grand Canal, so trade lines cannot be connected for the time being.

He was not in a position to tell Kong Xu about his "Grand Canal Strategy" for the time being, and just said perfunctorily, "Let's wait and see."

Thinking of the Grand Canal strategy, Pei Yuan immediately remembered the matter of the Governor of the River.

Also two days ago, the two major projects that Xiao Yan had leaked to him in advance were officially launched.

One is to repair the Grand Canal, and the other is to replenish the canal boats.

The ultimate goal of these two major projects is to improve the canal's capacity and speed up the exchange of materials between the north and the south. Especially after Pei Yuan and Han Qianhu did that job in Huai'an, the silver on the market decreased significantly in a short period of time. Many merchants could only complete transactions through barter, which led to an increasingly tight capacity on the canal.

Therefore, in order to stabilize prices and to restore the smooth flow of this lifeline of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court made great efforts to improve the condition of the canal.

Moreover, the court's final decision was exactly the same as what was revealed by the second-generation eunuch Xiao Yan.

Chen Tianxiang, the chief censor of catching bandits, was in charge of the section north of Dongchang Prefecture, Zhang Jin, the chief censor of water transport, was in charge of the section south of Xuzhou. Zhang Feng, the governor of Suzhou and Songshan, was transferred to be the governor of the river, in charge of the section from Dongchang to Peixian.

In Pei Yuan's own Grand Canal strategy, the position of Governor of the Canal was the position he reserved for Wang Chang.

Therefore, whether it was to repay Xiao Yan for tipping off or to implement his own Grand Canal strategy, killing Zhang Feng was imperative.

Pei Yuan thought about it and called Chen Toutie to ask him, "Have you contacted Xiao Yan in the past few days?"

Chen Tou said sternly, "No. Xiao Yan was almost scared to death. He didn't expect Qian Hu to come like this. Now he doesn't dare to go out."

Pei Yuan couldn't help but curse, "What a waste."

If anyone carefully investigates what happened that day, they can easily find various problems from the details.

Pei Yuan was able to take the initiative because someone in the court tipped him off.

The only ones who had the opportunity to attend court and get the cooperation of the eunuchs in the palace were the military governors who were the second generation of eunuchs.

The coolest and most handsome guy among them is the newly appointed Left General of the Central Military Governor's Office, Xiao Yan.

In addition, if Zhang Yong stepped down, there would be few people who would have the chance to replace him.

Therefore, with just a simple calculation, the mastermind behind this matter will immediately become clear.

——Xiao Jing, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department!

Pei Yuan has actually been worried about this matter these days.

With Zhu Houzhao's wisdom, as long as he took the time to sort out the whole matter, he would definitely notice this problem that could not be avoided.

That is, how did Pei Yuan, a Jinyiwei who came from Nanjing to do his job, know the content of the emperor's court meeting in the first place and take action first?
Pei Yuan thought about it and felt that no lie could be perfectly compensated in front of Zhu Houzhao, the master of stress relief.

As long as he started lying, Zhu Houzhao would pick apart his words one by one and poke holes into his lies.

The best way is to let Xiao Yan take the blame.

The truth cannot be changed, but the right to interpret the truth can be diverse.

Pei Yuan had been wanting to have a quick rehearsal with Xiao Yan these past few days, but now Xiao Yan realized that he had gotten into trouble and didn't dare to see him at all.

Pei Yuan rubbed his brows and could only take one step at a time.

He asked Chen Toutie again, "How is Cen Meng? Will Shuntian Prefecture release him?"

Chen Toutie said, "I went to Shuntian Prefecture to ask, and there is still no public opinion on what happened that day. No one in Shuntian Prefecture dares to make this decision. They are all shirking responsibility and waiting for the emperor's final decision."

Pei Yuan's face was slightly angry. "Didn't I find out about Liang Ci's whereabouts? How dare Shuntian Prefecture still hold him captive?"

Chen Toutie replied, "After all, someone died at that time. Even if it wasn't Liang Ci's fault, we still need to find out what happened. And if it's true that someone assassinated Jinyiwei Qianhu according to our statement, it would also be a big case."

"The situation is so complicated now that Shuntian Prefecture cannot touch or not touch it. We dare not get involved at all and have been playing dumb."

Pei Yuan could also roughly understand Shuntian Prefecture’s mentality.

He sighed and asked with concern, "Did Cen Meng suffer any injustice in Shuntian Prefecture Prison?"

Chen Toutie replied, "Not really. I went to see him myself, he ate well and slept soundly. I heard that Qian Hu was fine now, he laughed happily and said that his future was coming."

"Damn it." Pei Yuan laughed after cursing, "By the way, where is Huo Tao? Has he left the capital?"

Chen Toutie replied, "No, after what happened that day, Grand Secretary Liang Chu submitted his resignation the next day. Although the emperor did not agree, Liang Chu stopped attending court, which gave Huo Tao hope. He planned to take advantage of the opportunity and organized manpower at the Da Ci'en Temple again."

Pei Yuan couldn't help but sigh, he was worthy of being the one who teamed up with Zhang Cong to defeat Yang Tinghe, he was really capable of doing a lot of trouble.

This guy is so good at organizing and inciting, he is indeed a useful talent.

If he were taken in, at least he could help him deal with a lot of trivial matters, such as large-scale factionalism at the grassroots level.

Pei Yuan asked again, "What about the land tax?"

Chen Toutie replied, "Tian Fu is staying indoors, but his old servant is running outside frequently, and from time to time he goes to Da Ci'en Temple to inquire about the situation."

Pei Yuan guessed that this guy probably thought his lobbying was successful, and he didn't know how I would react, so he didn't dare to come out to see me. But it's not like I don't know where he lives, could he have other ideas?
Pei Yuan thought for a while and said, "There's no rush to meet Tian Fu. Let's go meet Huo Tao. I want to see what this guy has to say now."

Chen Toutie heard this and advised, "Captain, it's already past noon. It will be late when we get to Da Ci'en Temple from here. We don't know how long Huo Tao will stay. How about we go early tomorrow morning?"

Pei Yuan was about to agree, but then he thought again, he had been hiding for a few days and didn't know how Song Chunniang and Jiao Xiaomei were doing.

Now it seems that Zhu Houzhao is not in a hurry to attack him.

If I can't find Huo Tao, I can go to Zhang Lian's house at night to check on how the two of them are doing.

So Pei Yuan said, "Let's do it today and bring more people."

Chen Toutie reminded, "The atmosphere in Tianjing City has been quite tense these days. The soldiers from the Five Cities Military Department have started patrolling the city during the day. Bringing more people might just be an eyesore."

Pei Yuan was thinking about Zhang Rong's matter and did not dare to take it lightly.

Although Zhang Rong was taken to the Southern Pacification Office by Qian Ning, it is still unknown whether he has any remnants outside.

When Zhang Rong was around, he could still weigh the pros and cons. If the remaining remnants retaliated indiscriminately, he would be in big trouble.

Pei Yuan said, "We can't just hide like this forever, how about this, let Tan Tai..."

Pei Yuan paused, thinking of Mr. Tan Tai's violent temper, and changed his words, "Let Captain Sikong bring a few people to secretly support me, so that if anything happens, I won't be caught off guard."

Old Man Sikong is easier to talk to, and although his skills are a bit weak, he is able to become a centurion together with Old Man Tan Tai, so his attributes should be able to keep up.

(End of this chapter)