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

Chapter 356 The Real Power Broker

Pei Yuan secretly felt it was a pity. If the original owner Zang Xian had not been here, this plan would have to be sold to Li Shishi.

Don't think about it now.

However, Pei Yuan estimated that since Fei Hong was not blocking his way at the moment, Zang Xian probably did not have the plan of "reading papers in the front hall and urinating in the back hall".

These can be left aside for now, as they are subsequent value-added services.

How can King Ning become stronger if he doesn't spend money?
Pei Yuan then said to Li Shishi, "The second hurdle is the cabinet. With the respect of the governor, it shouldn't be difficult to get a few university scholars to make some concessions."

Li Shishi thought about the wealth and property he had brought with him and nodded confidently.

Pei Yuan continued, "The doctor of the Ministry of Rites nodded, and the cabinet drafted the edict. After that, it only needs to be stamped at the Silijian. There is a mystery in the timing, but there is no rush at the moment. If there is a chance, I will explain it to you in detail..."

The mystery that Pei Yuan was talking about was naturally the political changes among the eunuchs in the inner palace.

In the next two or three years, those eunuchs will have ups and downs, and will face different situations at almost any time. If you invest recklessly, it is easy to get nothing.

The best solution, of course, is among the value-added services.

Li Shishi didn't realize what Pei Yuan meant. He sorted out Pei Yuan's operation process in his mind and asked in confusion, "Don't we need to find some close people to lobby the emperor for this matter? Can this matter be accomplished without the emperor's nod?"

Pei Yuan looked at Li Shishi and smiled disapprovingly, "Our Great Ming covers a vast territory, and hundreds of things happen every day. Does the emperor need to intervene in every one of them? For a matter of 'ceremonial guard', as long as there is an ancestral system to follow, we can handle it according to the rules."

Li Shishi then realized that he had taken this matter too seriously because of his guilty conscience.

This matter can completely follow the normal organizational procedures of the officialdom and achieve the goal quietly.

Even if Prince Ning did not rebel, no one would notice this matter even after several decades.

He was very pleased and the more he looked at Pei Yuan, the more he liked him.

Then he glanced and saw Zang Xian next to him.

Hey, what are you here for?

When Li Shishi came back to his senses, he looked at Zang Xian, who looked aggrieved, and said awkwardly, "Zang Fengluan, look at this..."

Zang Xian said in a bad tone, "Since Du Xian has made such preparations, why did he call Zang here?"

Li Shishi immediately realized that Zang Xian had misunderstood.

He must have thought that he and Captain Pei had planned this all along.

He quickly clarified, "Zang Fengluan is wrong. Captain Pei and I only met once before."

As he spoke, he quickly explained how he and Pei Yuan knew each other.

Zang Xian smiled, didn't respond, and didn't say he was leaving.

Pei Yuan had no intention of driving Zang Xian away. The real trouble ahead was to weave a dense network to safeguard King Ning's major event.

Although the details of making things happen only depend on those three steps, there are many people who can do bad things to Prince Ning.

Without Zang Xian's help, he would not be able to take on this responsibility.

Pei Yuan just wanted to get involved and take a bite out of the "three-level breakthrough" plan, not to overturn the table.

He immediately laughed and said, "What's the matter? Is there any misunderstanding? Did Pei talk too much?"

Zang Xian looked at Pei Yuan for a long while before he jokingly said, "Brother Pei is not a talkative person, but a thoughtful one."

Pei Yuan laughed heartily and said, "It seems that I am ignorant."

As he spoke, he raised his glass and said, "Let's have tea instead of wine."

Pei Yuan poured himself and drank three cups in a row.

Zang Xian smiled and also raised his glass to take a sip.

Li Shishi was intrigued by Pei Yuan's words and wanted to ask more questions in detail. However, it would be embarrassing to do so in front of Zang Xian.

He quickly called Zang Xian again to avoid neglecting him.

But Zang Xian was in no mood today. He glanced at Li Shishi and said, "It's getting late, I should leave now. It's not in vain that I met a person like Pei Qianhu today."

After saying that, he did not rush to get up, but looked at Pei Yuan with a smile.

Pei Yuan's heart moved. This wise man Zang had extensive connections, so it wouldn't hurt to make friends with him.

He immediately took the initiative to invite, "I will be taking a concubine in a few days, and I plan to invite some relatives and friends to have fun. I wonder if Zang Fengluan would be willing to do me the honor?"

After all, taking a concubine is not the same as marrying a wife, so it is understandable even if the other party is unwilling to come.

Zang Xian smiled and said, "Okay. When you have the correct information, send it to the Jiaofangsi in Dengshikou. If I have time, I will go and take a look."

After saying that, Zang Xian stood up and left.

Pei Yuan also stood up and sent Zang Xian out with Li Shishi.

When I returned to the Zen room, I changed the tea.

Li Shishi then took the initiative to ask meaningfully, "Brother Pei, do you have any requests?"

Pei Yuan pondered for a moment, thinking that it was because Li Shishi and he had just gone out to see Zang Xian off, and this walk made his mind much clearer.

Pei Yuan wanted to ask for money directly, but that would not be very decent.

But if you say that you have no desires or demands, that would be a big problem.

Pei Yuan then said, "I will take a concubine in a few days..."

Li Shishi smiled and said, "No problem."

Pei Yuan finished his words, "As for the gift... it's just a token of your appreciation, you don't have to spend too much."

Li Shishi understood Pei Yuan's words and laughed, "That's easy to say."

Pei Yuan stood up and said to Li Shishi, "Then I will be waiting for the governor."

Li Shishi was a little surprised to see Pei Yuan leaving, "Why are you leaving so early too?"

He still has a lot of operational details to go over, and he wants to ask Captain Pei to check them out.

Pei Yuan replied, "The world is changing, and we have to seize every moment."

After saying that, he reminded Li Shishi, "Du Xian must hurry up with what he has to do. Although Chen Jin is incompetent, his soldiers are fierce and brave. I'm afraid those Jiangxi bandits won't be able to hold out for long."

"When the situation is peaceful and the sea and river are clear, what pretext will King Ning use to restore those armed forces?"

Li Shishi couldn't help but nodded when he heard this.

Pei Yuan looked at Li Shishi, hesitated slightly, smiled, turned around and left.

Li Shishi was an old and experienced man. He immediately sensed something was wrong with Pei Yuan's pretentious attitude and said subconsciously, "My dear brother, please stay."

Pei Yuan paused slightly, then turned around with a smile.

Li Shishi looked at the smile. Although he didn't understand what was going on, he instinctively felt that he had made a crucial decision.

His mind quickly recalled everything that had happened since he came into contact with Pei Yuan.

Perhaps his mind was really clear now. As he thought about it, he suddenly put forward the most unlikely assumption.

What if...what if everything that happened was intentional by this young man?

Thinking about the chance encounter in Dongyue Temple, thinking about the other party's identity as a manager of monks and Taoists, thinking about the Luo Sect that he mentioned by chance, which made his heart beat, thinking about the monk soldiers who were causing trouble in the area, and the slightly awkward mention that King Ning should pacify the area, and the final topic. - Restore the Three Guards for King Ning!

He even casually proposed detailed and thorough measures.

Li Shishi was horrified again.

So many natural things happened in front of him, but he didn't even realize that there was something wrong!

The head of the Censorate, who was responsible for openly supervising the imperial court, and the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who was secretly a spy, actually discussed, while sipping tea, how to restore the military power of a vassal king and legally evade the supervision of the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissioners' Office!

He didn't even notice anything was wrong!

This is the biggest problem!

Li Shishi looked at Pei Yuan and was already a little frightened.

He remembered the identity of the Jinyiwei opposite him.

I also remembered why Zang Xian didn't say a word just now and refused to leave afterwards.

I also remembered how Zang Xian decisively withdrew after receiving Pei Yuan’s invitation.

Li Shishi was sweating profusely and grabbed Pei Yuan's sleeve, "Xian, Xian brother..."

Pei Yuan's body was not pulled away. He turned around, was silent for a moment and said, "Last month, I caught someone."

Li Shishi failed to pull Pei Yuan away, but fortunately Pei Yuan did not leave and seemed to want to have a long chat again.

He quickly took over the conversation, "Oh? Who is it?"

Pei Yuan said calmly, "The Jinyiwei people, I also have enemies in the Jinyiwei."

Li Shishi was usually in a high position with great power, and he seldom flattered others. He did not dare to be cold to Pei Yuan and let the man go.

I thought quickly in my mind, and several solutions emerged at the same time.

--"What's wrong?"

——"Is that reasonable?"

——“Never heard of it!”

Before Li Shishi made a choice, Pei Yuan continued, "This man is an ambitious broker. After interrogating him, I learned a shocking secret."

Pei Yuan deliberately lowered his voice, "He once helped Prince Ning to contact the rebels in Bazhou, and even got a sum of money from it."

"What?" Li Shishi was shocked when he heard this. This was something he didn't know.

Pei Yuan continued, "The person who contacted him was called Liu Yangzheng, and the money was also obtained through this person. The down payment was 40,000 taels of silver, 20,000 taels after the Bazhou rebels entered Henan, 20,000 taels after entering Huguang, and 20,000 taels after entering Jiangxi."

"When I caught this man, he had already received 80,000 taels of silver. It was only because he was not involved that the Bazhou rebels and Jiangxi were unable to connect."

Pei Yuan looked at Li Shishi with a fake smile, "Now the Bazhou rebels are wandering around Huangzhou and Jizhou. What do you think it's for?"

Then he asked, "Also, I wonder why the great Ning clan spent 100,000 taels to let the Bazhou rebels cross the state and go to Jiangxi?"

"This, this..." Beads of sweat broke out on Li Shishi's forehead.

Although he had never heard King Ning mention this matter, he knew the name Liu Yangzheng.

This is another important adviser of King Ning.

Seeing that Li Shishi was in a state of panic, Pei Yuan continued, "You can write to Prince Ning and ask him to verify this matter. However... you can wait, but those rebels in Bazhou may not be able to."

"They are waiting in the Huang and Ji areas now. If they have no one to help them and fail to cross the Yangtze River, or if they move to other places, once the leading figures among them are captured, what can King Ning do even if he has ten ceremonial guards?"

"That's all I have to say, little brother."

Pei Yuan said this and pretended to turn around.

How could Li Shishi dare to let Pei Yuan leave?

He hurriedly wiped the sweat from his forehead and urged Pei Yuan, "Sit down, my dear brother. There may be a misunderstanding about this matter."

Pei Yuan looked at Li Shishi for a while, and his eyes fell on the teacup on the table.

The soon-to-be-appointed Grand Du Xian took a look and without hesitation, he picked up the pot and poured tea, "My dear brother, quench your thirst first."

Pei Yuan took the tea, drank it in one gulp, and then said to Li Shishi, "Doesn't that guy still have 20,000 taels left? I want the remaining 20,000 taels."

Li Shishi felt relieved after hearing this. Asking for money was easy. As long as he had a request, the problem could be solved.

Pei Yuan added to Li Shishi, "You go do the work, and you give me money."

Then he half-jokingly said, "In this case, I won't be implicated in this matter."

Li Shishi said firmly, "Your Excellency will definitely not be implicated."

Pei Yuan was relieved about this. The reason why he implicated Li Shishi was to tie this person down.

This person is the political core of the Ning Wang group and has a great chance of replacing Hong Zhong as the Left Censor-in-Chief.

The Left Censor-in-Chief was one of the Seven Grand Ministers and a very important person.

Moreover, Li Shishi and Prince Ning’s sons were in-laws, and their relationship was extremely close.

If Prince Ning wants to use the matter of taking money to threaten Pei Yuan, it would be a disaster unless Prince Ning intends to give up Li Shishi.

In this way, Pei Yuan turned his own problem into Li Shishi's problem.

He turned his own weakness into Li Shishi's weakness.

Another benefit of Pei Yuan avoiding direct involvement in this matter is that he completely exonerated himself.

He has a clean record on the Bazhou rebel side.

There was no way to investigate the conspiracy between him and Han Qianhu to defraud Prince Ning because not many people knew about it and he concealed his identities at the time.

Pei Yuan also used a virtual identity to block this relationship.

Even if the two sides compared each other a little bit, it was like talking at cross purposes, and they could not produce enough evidence to threaten Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan took an open approach with the subsequent 20,000 taels, and was closely tied to Li Shishi, so he was not afraid of being threatened by Prince Ning.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and asked Li Shishi, "How soon can you contact Prince Ning?"

Li Shishi thought about it and gave a safe time, "About ten days."

Pei Yuan said, "I'll give you fifteen days. Today is March 5th. When King Ning receives the letter, it will be March 20th. I'll give him another ten days to prepare. Before April 1st, King Ning's envoy will appear in the Bazhou Army camp."

Li Shishi felt that the time arrangement was somewhat deliberate. He hesitated and said, "This... no one can predict what will happen thousands of miles away."

Pei Yuan looked at Li Shishi and warned him, "You must make it clear to King Ning that his envoy must appear in the Bazhou military camp before April 1st. Because no matter whether it is the Bazhou rebels or the imperial court troops, they will only wait until April 1st."

Li Shishi's eyes widened when he heard this. "You, my dear brother, what do you mean by that?"

Li Shishi vaguely felt that he had heard something unbelievable.

Pei Yuan said calmly, "It will only take my men five days to get from here to the Huang and Ji fronts."

"Five days later, no matter where the Bazhou army is, no matter where the imperial court troops are, they will stop where they are and wait for you until the first day of April."

Pei Yuan looked at Li Shishi and said jokingly, "After the first day of April, I won't care about you anymore."

(End of this chapter)