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

Chapter 336 I always feel something is wrong
Chen Toutie had an idea in his mind.

Thinking about the lack of moral integrity of this monk Yuantong, I don't plan to say anything to him now.

Yun Buxian's hanger-on friends were indeed very familiar with the capital city. Not long after he went out, they brought back information.

It turned out that Wei Ne had sold his property in Beijing since Liu Jin's downfall, and now he was just renting a small house.

Yun Buxian not only asked about the place, but also went there in person.

But without Captain Pei’s order, it would be a bad idea to alert the enemy.

Chen Toutie was overjoyed and said, "In that case, Yun Buxian, please stay at Zhihua Temple tonight. Tomorrow morning, if Qianhu needs you, he won't have to come back to look for someone else."

Yun Buxian had failed in his attempt to sit on the fence, and was now trying his best to perform. Upon hearing this, he immediately agreed.

By the time the two returned to Zhihua Temple, it was already late.

Chen Toutie asked someone and learned that Qianhu had already gone to bed, so he decided not to disturb him.

Pei Yuan was unable to visit General Song, and after returning, he always felt that something was missing today.

I was so bored that I went to bed early, thinking that I still had to deal with the affairs of the Ministry of Public Security tomorrow.

The next morning, when Pei Yuan woke up, he immediately asked someone to call Chen Toutie.

Chen Toutie knew that he was most likely going to ask about Wei Ne, so he directly asked Yun Buxian to go with him.

Pei Yuan asked a few simple questions and without wasting time, even without having breakfast, he took the two of them out, intending to stop Wei Ne in time when he went to the Tongzhengsi.

Although the Tongzhengsi government office is now insignificant, it is an administrative unit. Although its power is getting smaller and smaller, it has a specific scope of work and is quite busy.

Although Wei Ne was a member of the eunuch party awaiting death, the imperial court had not yet begun to investigate him. He was still receiving a salary from the Ming Dynasty and still had to report to the Ministry of Public Security on time.

Wei Ne went out early that day. When he was about to reach the familiar tea and snack shop, he subconsciously put a few copper coins in his sleeve.

As soon as he arrived, he heard someone at a table greeting him with a smile.

Wei Ne took a look and thought, isn’t this the guy from yesterday?
Wei Ne immediately stepped forward and said angrily, "You are so arrogant. Yesterday I asked Jiao Huangzhong and he denied it flatly, saying that it never happened. How dare you lie to me and make me a laughing stock."

Pei Yuan was not surprised to hear this. He ate the oil cake and smiled, "I will take a concubine next month. If the Left Councillor has nothing to do, you can bring Jiao Huangzhong over for a drink. Let's see if he will accept it then."

If Jiao Huangzhong denies it, it will be a good opportunity for Jiao Yaner to give up, and Pei Yuan won't have to worry about Jiao Huangzhong anymore.

When Wei Ne heard Pei Yuan's words about diligence, he became suspicious again.

Pei Yuan knocked on the table, asked someone to bring another bowl of mutton soup, pushed the plate of hot fried cakes forward, and asked, "Let's eat together."

Wei Ne has reached the state of being as fearless as a dead pig. If someone invites him to eat, why should he be polite?
I ate it immediately with hot soup.

Breakfast at this time is relatively simple, just a hot and filling meal is enough.

Even the emperor ate fried cakes and steamed buns, with some meat.

For example, Emperor Yongle not only loved to eat fried cakes, but also liked to chew on two large bones early in the morning, and occasionally change his taste to eat horse meat rice.

After Emperor Jiajing became a Taoist, he could not stand these things.

The imperial chef boiled the meat until it was soft, took the juice from the meat, and gave it to Emperor Jiajing to eat with rice.

"It should be taken with meat and blood juice and medicine."

The breakfast of Emperor Chongzhen, who was simple, was very complicated.

——"Their meals include beef, mutton, donkey, pig, roe deer, deer, pheasant, rabbit, as well as seafood, wild vegetables and wild vegetables. Most of them are smoked, roasted, grilled, or stir-fried. They are rich and rich, and have different names. There are also seasonal side dishes and snacks for the people. They are prepared by our ancestors to show their descendants how hard life is. Side dishes include bitter herb roots, bitter herb leaves, dandelions, reed roots, cattail seedlings, jujube sprouts, perilla leaves, sunflower petals, asparagus, garlic moss, gourds, bitter melons, celery, and wild shallots."

It's like saying that a person is very innocent, but knows many postures.

I always feel like something is wrong.

When the Ming Dynasty was at its most powerful, his fierce ancestor ate fried cakes, gnawed on big bones, happily drank soup, and occasionally had a few cups of wine.

But in Chongzhen...

What is going on? I am lost in thought.

Wei Ne didn't feel like he was eating for free. He took a few big bites of the fried cake, took a sip of the mutton soup, and then smacked his lips and said, "It would be better if it was goose soup."

Pei Yuan was so angry that he laughed. He said with disdain, "You are worthy of it?"

Wei Ne chuckled and didn't say much.

In terms of the quality of food in this era, the best food was not cattle, sheep, donkeys, deer, etc., but goose.

In the Ming Dynasty, if one entertained guests for dinner and the first dish was goose, it was considered a top-notch meal.

The host feels proud and the guests enjoy their meal.

For example, in "Jin Ping Mei" which reflects the great wave of the Ming Dynasty, when Ximen Qing married Li Ping'er, the richest woman in Jin Ping, he invited relatives and friends to a wedding banquet, and the first dish was goose.

Afterwards, Ximen Qing held a full-month banquet for his son, and the first dish was goose again. "Soon, five rounds of wine were served, and three servings of soup were served. The kitchen servant came up and cut the first dish, a small roast goose."

The wife of Mr. Qiao entertained Wu Yueniang. "The cook came up and presented the first dish, crystal goose."

Wu Yueniang, who was being entertained, was very happy and rewarded the cook with two cents of silver.

Then why is this first dish mentioned repeatedly and in great detail in "Jin Ping Mei"?
Because "Jin Ping Mei" is a refreshing novel from the Ming Dynasty.

Talking about eating goose is just like people writing novels about Moutai or 82 Lafite.

The symbolism is strong and easy to understand.

In the Ming Dynasty, eating goose was very classy and not something that could be eaten casually.

Zhu Guozhen, the chief minister of the cabinet during the reign of Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty, once wrote in his "Yongchuang Xiaopin": "Goose is the most important food, so according to the ancestral rule, the censors are not allowed to eat goose."

This regulation sounds very serious, but if it is changed to its current meaning, it means that civil servants serving in public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are not allowed to drink Moutai at banquets.

Can you now understand Zhu Yuanzhang’s personal emotions?
The niche field of censors is extremely noble and not only is it easy to rise in career, but the paths to advancement are also extensive.

There were many officials in the imperial court who came from the Censorate, so the issue of eating goose was a very sensitive one.

Before he entered the Tongzhengsi, Wei Ne also briefly inspected the garrisons in Datong as an imperial censor. With this qualification, he could no longer eat geese casually.

Of course, if you really want to eat it, there are some little tricks here.

According to the records of Wang Shizhen, a great writer of the Ming Dynasty, his father Wang Rong once entertained a governor at home.

Wang Rong was not an ordinary person. When he was the governor and governor-general, he once held the title of Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief. The guest was also the governor who was serving in the Censorate. Logically, neither the host nor the guest could eat goose.

But when entertaining distinguished guests, it would be embarrassing not to have goose on the table.

So Wang Rong made full use of the flexibility of the Ming Dynasty system. This guy, who had served as a senior official in the Censorate, showed off his flexible operations when he entertained another senior official in the Censorate.

——He removed the goose's head and butt and stuffed it with a chicken's head and butt. Can you tell me this is a goose?

This is not a goose!
If you don’t agree, come and argue.

The two well-fed Deputy Censors-in-Chief will personally educate you on the law.

When Wang Shizhen's short essay was published, many officials were amazed, they realized that it was possible to have fun like this.

As a result, many officials of the Censorate could eat geese openly.

Furthermore, questioning whether it was a goose was basically equivalent to trying to overthrow the Censorate and was suspected of treason.

As for now, little Wang Rong is only four years old, so Wei Ne is naturally still not worthy of eating goose.

Wei Ne ate a few pieces of fried cakes without hesitation, refilled his soup, picked out the mutton from the bowl and ate it, then slowly drank up the soup.

Then he burped and said to Pei Yuan with a smile, "Tell me, what do you want from me?"

"If you want me to say something good about you in front of your father-in-law, forget it."

Pei Yuan looked around and saw that the two tables nearby were occupied by his own people. The guests at other tables were far away, so he whispered, "It's about the Tongzhengsi."

After hearing this, Wei Ne immediately stood up and was about to leave.

Pei Yuan quickly reached out and pulled him back to sit down.

Without waiting for Wei Ne to refuse, Pei Yuan said calmly, "There's no harm in listening."

Wei Ne thought about it and sat down to listen to what Pei Yuan meant.

Pei Yuan looked at Wei Ne and said, "Later today, or tomorrow, the emperor will send someone to the Tongzhengsi to investigate the whole story of Li Fuda's case."

"Li Fuda?" Wei Ne frowned, as if he had some impression of him.

Pei Yuan reminded him, "It's the memorial you were reading when you left the Tongzhengsi yesterday."

Wei Ne said with a sigh, then said unhappily, "How can you just read the memorials from the Ministry of Public Administration?"

After saying that, he realized something more important and frowned, "How do you know what the emperor is going to do?"

Pei Yuan smiled and said calmly, "This has nothing to do with you."

Upon hearing this, Wei Ne recalled what he had learned yesterday when he went back to the Ministry of Public Administration and looked for Pei Yuan.

It is said that this captain of the Imperial Guard submitted a memorial requesting a strict investigation of the cult, and explicitly stated that he had already mentioned the matter to the emperor.

Wei Ne immediately realized, "So you work for the emperor."

He thought to himself, could it be that this person came here at the order of the Emperor?
Pei Yuan did not correct this and continued to ask, "Has the memorial been submitted?"

Wei Ne said, "Who would dare to conceal the local military turmoil? I have already reported it."

Pei Yuan asked him carefully, "Did you give it to the Secretariat or to the six ministries of the Cabinet?"

This is not a secret, Wei Ne explained casually, "The Secretariat wants the original copy, and what is sent to the Cabinet is the yellow summary. The Cabinet will arrange for each department to handle it according to the situation. After the departments have handled it, the Cabinet will give its opinion, and then the Silijian will use the seal. If there is anything that the Silijian feels is inappropriate, they will check the original copy."

Pei Yuan thought for a moment, "So, my memorial was handled in the same way?"

Wei Ne knew that Pei Yuan was talking about the memorial to investigate Luojiao, so he said, "Of course it is so."

Pei Yuan asked, "If that's the case, why didn't the emperor see it?"

Weiner smiled and said, "Of course it was intercepted by the cabinet."

Seeing that Pei Yuan wanted to ask, Wei Ne smiled and said, "Although riots of this scale as Li Fuda's are troublesome, most of them can't last long. Not to mention Li Fuda, even the Song King Zhao Jinglong of the White Lotus Sect was quickly pacified, wasn't it?"

“Some seemingly troublesome things may suddenly become clearer if you put them off for a while and take a closer look.”

"By that time, will a matter that requires many people to be held accountable become a trivial matter? By then, I wonder how many people in the Shanxi officialdom will praise the cabinet for its prudence."

Only then did Pei Yuan learn the reason from this old official.

He then asked, "Then isn't the cabinet afraid that the emperor will ask about it?"

Wei Ne smiled and said disapprovingly, "The Ming Dynasty is so big, with official appointments and dismissals, envoys coming and going, seasonal sacrifices, and floods here and droughts there. Things are extremely complicated."

"It can't be that this one is important and that one is not important, right?"

"As long as there is something going on, just push it back, who can say anything?"

Pei Yuan frowned slightly after hearing this. This was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

Pei Yuan looked at Wei Ne. If there wasn't enough benefit in exchange, it would be hard to say some things directly to this old official.

He thought for a moment and asked Wei Ne, "Counselor Zuo is well-informed in the Ministry of Public Administration. He must have heard that Lu Wan's army is very powerful and has defeated the rebels in Bazhou one after another. He may return to the court at any time."

Wei Ne responded, his mood a little unhappy.

When Lu Wan defeated the rebels in Bazhou and the troops from all over the country scattered, it was the time for Liu Jin's eunuch party to be destroyed.

It would not be difficult for other eunuchs of Liu Jin to find a way to make a living, but it was really too much for him to help Jiao Huangzhong extort the real estate of his colleagues.

Many people must have been waiting to arrest and bring him to justice.

Pei Yuan said, "When I came to the capital this time, I met a Hangzhou vanguard commander who came to Beijing to file a complaint. Do you know who he was suing?"

Wei Ne waited for Pei Yuan's answer with little interest.

Pei Yuan said, "He is accusing Wang Chang, the Minister of War in Nanjing. I was lucky enough to travel with him for a while. According to him, Wang Chang has defected to Lu Wan and seems to be trying to make Lu Wan the leader of the eunuch party."

"What?" Wei Ne immediately sat up straight.

He looked around subconsciously, and after making sure that no one was around, he looked at Pei Yuan nervously, "Is this news confirmed?"

Pei Yuan said, "Left Councillor is in the Ministry of Public Affairs, he has the most up-to-date information, you can... ask someone about it."

Wei Ne stopped talking, lowered his head, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Pei Yuan said to him at the right time, "Counselor Zuo has only done something for my cheap father-in-law. Even my father-in-law is unwilling to sit there and wait for death. Councillor Zuo should also give it more consideration."

Wei Ne shook his head but said nothing more.

He saw very clearly that the remnants of Liu Jin were involved in too many things. If he wanted to completely eradicate Liu Jin's new policies, this kind of political persecution would be very useful.

This declarative political gesture can play an important role in setting the direction.

It's just idiots like Jiao Huangzhong who still dream of "discussing issues based on facts" with those in the alliance against Liu Jin.

(End of this chapter)