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

Chapter 355 These are all my words

Li Shishi asked the young monk to serve tea, and the three of them raised their glasses and chatted, talking about the scenery in the capital.

Li Shishi was from Jiangxi. After passing the imperial examination at the age of 23, he was chosen to work in the Ministry of Justice. He lived in Beijing for 15 years before being sent to serve as an official in other places.

Before I knew it, another thirty years had passed.

He had a familiar yet complicated feeling towards the capital, and this time when he came back, he had the illusion of returning to his hometown.

As an official of the Jiaofangsi, Zang Xian witnessed mostly beautiful lives and the various misfortunes of those beautiful lives.

As Zhu Houzhao's favorite actor, he had a different perspective on everything.

Pei Yuan grew up in the city and was exposed to the joys and sorrows of ordinary people.

The three of them had different views of the capital, and they all found it quite interesting to talk about it.

But Pei Yuan is not someone who would try to get close to people for no reason.

Before he came, he just planned to contact Li Shishi, but after meeting Zang Xian and guessing that Prince Ning was going to start the three-level breakthrough, he immediately changed his mind.

If "Prince Ning's Three Passes" is treated as an operational listing project, then everyone involved in this matter can benefit from it.

Li Shishi can be regarded as the Party A representative of King Ning, the political broker Zang Xian, the general convener, can be regarded as the sponsoring securities firm, and the subsequent Yang Tinghe, Zhang Rui, Lu Wan and others can be regarded as the various participating capitals.

Everyone worked together to help King Ning restore his military strength and share the benefits King Ning brought.

These people did not expect Prince Ning to overthrow the tyrant like Prince Yan did, but as long as they could get the Ning clan's generations of wealth, that would be enough!
Captain Pei has a very active mind.

For this kind of thing, I can take money, and I can also love King Ning.

Then, Pei Yuan changed the subject and sighed, "It's a pity that I can't stay in the capital for long. I will go to Shandong in a few days."

"Oh? Why is that?" Li Shishi felt a little regretful. He had not been back to the capital for a long time. He had just arrived and finally met someone he could talk to, but he didn't expect that he would leave immediately.

Pei Yuan did not hide it and said directly, "It's all because of the Luo Sect. The Luo Sect is powerful and is about to cause trouble in Shandong. If we don't take care of it, I'm afraid it will be another Bazhou Army."

After saying this, as if afraid that the two of them might not understand, he explained further.

"I am in charge of arresting evil cults in the Suppression Unit. I cannot shirk my responsibility."

Li Shishi immediately became interested when he heard Pei Yuan's words. He pretended to ask casually, "What is the Nara sect? Why haven't I heard of it before?"

"Oh, Luo Sect..." Pei Yuan immediately explained to these two guys who had a wide range of contacts and influence what Luo Sect's "True Emptiness Hometown and Unborn Parents" was.

Then he continued, "Luojiao has spread rapidly in Shandong, especially among the transport troops and canal workers, where it has a great influence."

Pei Yuan patiently persuaded him, "The Bazhou army is making such a fuss now. I heard that they are almost reaching Du Xian's hometown in Jiangxi. The court is now suppressing the bandits and relies entirely on the canal to raise food and grass. If the Luo sect takes the opportunity to riot, the consequences will be disastrous!"

Li Shishi's eyes flickered and his breathing slowed down when he heard this.

He was not interested in the possibility that Pei Yuan mentioned, but what if Luo Jiao did this when Prince Ning raised his army in the future?
If the canal was suddenly paralyzed at that time, wouldn't it be a heavy blow to the imperial court?
This Luo religion is very valuable!

Li Shishi couldn't help but ask, "Brother Pei, do you have any clues about the Luo Sect?"

Pei Yuan said, "Luojiao is very powerful. His Majesty has specially restored the Western Factory and appointed the Governor of Shandong. Together with me, we will conduct a three-way suppression. We will have to wait and see how it goes."

Pei Yuan took the initiative to complain, "The safety of the canal workers and transport troops is related to the food and wages of the border troops, and the food and horses of the Beijing troops. Even our salaries have to come from the canal. How can it be so easy?"

Li Shishi nodded repeatedly as he listened, and almost wanted to persuade Pei Yuan to just forget it.

When Pei Yuan saw that Li Shishi agreed, he felt like he had found a soulmate, and he couldn't stop pouring out his grievances.

"For example, a few days ago, my spy in the Ministry of Public Security..."

Pei Yuan paused here.

Li Shishi's eyes immediately became sharper, and Zang Xian also turned his gaze over.

Pei Yuan touched his forehead pretending to be embarrassed and continued, "A friend told me that a meritorious official named Wu Yurong submitted a memorial to impeach the Chief Censor Chen Jin for dispatching many Guangxi wolf-blooded soldiers and local monk soldiers to Jiangxi to quell the rebellion. As a result, those local soldiers and monk soldiers burned, killed and looted, and were even more brutal than the rioters."

"This matter involves the monk soldiers. I heard that the court also wants the Qianhu to respond. Even the Chief Censor can't control it. What can I do?"

Li Shishi was originally from Jiangxi Province. He felt very much like what he said and immediately complained, "Chen Jin is indeed incompetent and has brought disaster to the local area."

Pei Yuan listened to Li Shishi's words and deliberately sighed, "To suppress this kind of rebellion, it is better to use local troops. Otherwise, the disaster will be even worse. I heard that Jiangxi Dusi has five guards and several thousand households that can be deployed. Why can't Chen Jin be used?"

Li Shishi held his breath when he heard this. The topic had become a little deep at this point.

Although he and Pei Yuan got along very well and felt very close to each other, he still knew the importance of the matter.

Pei Yuan seemed to be talking excitedly, and asked Li Shishi, "It is said that Prince Ning is quite virtuous, why didn't he send troops to help and stabilize the area?"

Li Shishi hesitated for a moment and replied, "The troops of the Ningfu Yiwei Division have been cut by the imperial court for many years."

As he spoke, he looked at Zang Xian. This was exactly the reason why he met Zang Xian.

Zang Xian had a close relationship with Ning Fan before, and had received some hints in this regard.

But now was not the time to talk about this, so he drooped his eyelids and looked at the teacup, ignoring Li Shishi's signal.

Unexpectedly, the captain of the Jinyiwei next to him laughed and said, "I see. There are so many rebels in Jiangxi now, isn't this the best time? We should take advantage of the situation to restore the three guards."

Zang Xian was startled and looked at Pei Yuan first, then at Li Shishi.

Li Shishi was also slightly surprised, and quickly said to Pei Yuan, "Brother, don't say such things carelessly!"

Pei Yuan laughed and said, "How can this be called nonsense? As the arm of the imperial court, the vassal kings have the responsibility to defend their territory. Moreover, these rituals are all from the teachings of Taizu. Why are you afraid to talk about horses in front of others?"

Although Li Shishi wanted to restore the Three Guards, how could he discuss such confidential matters with someone he just made friends with?

He immediately said, "It's easier said than done."

Then, I tried to change the subject.

Unexpectedly, Pei Yuan argued as if he was not convinced, "What's so difficult about this matter? In my opinion, this matter is as easy as pie!"

Li Shishi was thinking about how to smoothly avoid this topic. When he heard Pei Yuan's words, he couldn't help but shudder all over and almost knocked over the teacup.

Although he knew it was inappropriate to continue this topic at this time, he still couldn't help but tentatively said, "Brother, you are not kidding."

Pei Yuan looked like he had a good idea and said with a smile, "In my opinion, if Prince Ning wants to restore the troops of the Yiwei Division, he only needs to open up the three most critical links. I call it passing through three levels."

Zang Xian, who was originally looking at the two of them as if they were joking, froze the smile on his face when he heard this.

Isn’t this exactly the plan he was going to use to persuade Party A?

Li Shishi was very excited when he heard Pei Yuan's words, which were so convincing that he even mentioned the three most critical points. "Please tell me, dear brother." Pei Yuan smiled and asked, "According to the governor's opinion, which government office should we go to if we want to restore the troops of Prince Ning's mansion?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shishi knew that the captain of the Jinyiwei was going to show off.

He was anxious to know the answer, so he thought about it and said, "As far as I am concerned, I should go to the Ministry of War and the Five Military Command. The troops in the world are always under the control of these two places."

Pei Yuan laughed and said, "Wrong."

Li Shishi was stunned when he heard this. He frowned and thought for a moment, not knowing what he did wrong.

Pei Yuan looked at Li Shishi and said with a faint smile, "If you follow the path of the Ministry of War, you will be controlled by the Ministry of War. If you follow the path of the Five Military Commandery, you will be controlled by the Five Military Commandery. I am a thousand-household official, and I feel uncomfortable when someone is controlling me. Prince Ning, who is such a big vassal, certainly doesn't want that."

Li Shishi was so frightened after hearing this that he almost stood up.

But looking at Pei Yuan's expression, it seemed unintentional, yet also intentional.

Li Shishi couldn't help but asked, "Why would you say that, brother?"

Pei Yuan spread his hands and said with a smile, "Just judge others by my own standards. I don't want to be controlled by others, and I guess Prince Ning doesn't want to be controlled by others either."

Only then did Li Shishi breathe a sigh of relief and put his uneasy heart at ease.

Then he suddenly realized what Pei Yuan meant, and his heart warmed up, "So, Brother Pei has the right way?"

Pei Yuan chuckled, "Of course."

Then he subconsciously wanted to rub his thumb and index finger in front of Li Shishi.

Just thinking about the current situation and Zang Xian's increasingly weird expression next to him, Pei Yuan quickly realized that he could not grasp this opportunity to ask for money.

Even if he didn't say it, Zang Xian would speak.

This political assault through three levels was originally planned by Zang Xian.

Pei Yuan could only regretfully let Li Shishi get something for free.

Li Shishi couldn't help but ask, "Then from my perspective, what should we do?"

Pei Yuan offered a free answer, "Of course we should start from the Ministry of Rites!"

"Ministry of Rites?" Li Shishi was a little confused.

Not to mention that he was confused by this answer, even if he gave it to King Ning, he would still be confused.

Of course, the one who was even more confused was Zang Xian next to him.

He looked at Pei Yuan in disbelief.

This, this is my word again!
Captain Pei clenched his right hand and waved it lightly, as if he was holding a goose feather fan.

He said to Li Shishi, "Du Xian, think about it, what kind of troops does Prince Ning want to restore?"

Li Shishi lowered his head and pondered.

It was the team used to organize the Jingnan Rebellion.

Pei Yuan said to Li Shishi as if to show off, "The troops that Prince Ning wants to restore are not guards like Nanchang Guard and Nanchang Zuowei."

Li Shishi himself was a little confused, "What is that?"

Pei Yuan tapped his fingers on the table and said meaningfully, "It's a ceremonial guard! What else could it be if not a ceremonial guard?"

“A guard of honor?!” Li Shishi shuddered, then immediately nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, “Yes, yes, yes, it’s a guard of honor!”

Pei Yuan asked with a smile, "Does the restoration of the ceremonial guard need to be managed by the Ministry of War? Does it need to be managed by the Five Military Commandery?"

Li Shishi immediately shook his head.

Then he said in a voice that seemed to be filled with fear, "I almost did something wrong!"

If this matter is really reported to the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commandery, then even if Prince Ning restores the Three Guards, it will still be under the control of the court.

Then why are you rebelling?
Then Li Shishi realized his aphasia.

It’s broken. I just...

The old man glanced at Pei Yuan slyly, only to see Pei Yuan smiling at him.

Now Li Shishi felt a little uneasy. What did he mean?
By this point in the tea party, the three people present had an idea in their minds.

It turned out that there were three foxes playing here.

Li Shishi boldly said, "Then in my opinion, if Prince Ning wants to do this, which government office should he visit?"

Having said that, Li Shishi deliberately left out something that could be said.

"To be honest, the old man and Prince Ning are in-laws. When I heard about Prince Ning's affairs, I was... a little surprised."

Pei Yuan heard this and said quickly, "I see. I'm sorry."

Then he patted his chest and said, "What else is there to say? Du Xian and I hit it off right away. Since they are Du Xian's children and relatives, they are my children and relatives. How can I hide anything from them?"

As he spoke, he gave Li Shishi a reminder, "For this matter, we should go to the Yizhi Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites! Since we are restoring the ceremonial guard for Prince Ning, of course we should go to the corresponding government office of the Ministry of Rites."

"Although the Yizhi Langzhong is only a fifth-rank official, he can accomplish many things that the first- and second-rank officials cannot do."

Zang Xian next to him widened his eyes again.

This is my word again!

This was the perfect solution he had come up with after thinking about it for a long time and without sleep regarding the matter of Prince Ning.

How come I just met someone today and was able to expose the problem in just a few words?

This man is so terrifying.

Li Shishi felt as if the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining.

He couldn't help but stroke the back of Pei Yuan's hand and sighed, "I didn't expect that my brother has such talent. With your ability, how could you be relegated to a thousand households? In my opinion, even Guan and Le are not as good as you."

Pei Yuan smiled so hard that his teeth were exposed after hearing this. He quickly said modestly, "I passed, I passed!"

Is this how people in ancient times praised others? It sounds quite nice.

(End of this chapter)