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

Chapter 357 You are so stubborn.

If this was not the Dongyue Temple, Li Shishi would almost think that he was possessed by an evil spirit.

What nonsense is this person talking about?
He said that after seeing his people, the Bazhou army and the imperial troops would stop and wait until April first?

Who does he think he is?
If it weren't for the calmness and meticulousness Pei Yuan had shown before, Li Shishi would have wanted to walk away.

He thought for a moment, and finally couldn't help but ask boldly, "Could it be that Brother Pei has some connections?"

"Just a little bit of face." Pei Yuan pretended calmly.

Li Shishi's face turned red.

At his age, Pei Yuan almost died because of these words.

These are two ferocious beasts of war.

One group consists of rioters and thugs who have been roaming the north for more than a year, robbing homes and looting; the other group consists of an army of 200,000 men who are following behind and becoming more and more bandit-like.

What kind of face do you have that can keep two or three hundred thousand people stuck there for twenty days?
Pei Yuan looked at Li Shishi and smiled, "My people will be able to deliver the news on the tenth day of March. King Ning will have plenty of time to observe slowly. I believe it will be enough for him to make a wise judgment."

Pei Yuan said again, "That's all I have to say."

After saying this, he left without paying any attention to Li Shishi's attempts to keep him.

Pei Yuan returned to Zhihua Temple and began to seriously review what happened today.

His main purpose in going to see Li Shishi this time was to settle the matter of defrauding Prince Ning and find a way to get the Bazhou Army out of trouble.

After all, they really charged the money.

Considering that both sides have given too much, there is no need for Pei Yuan to stop this two-way rush.

Moreover, a rebellious army that can be deeply influenced by him, even if it is just lurking, will be a good backup for Pei Yuan.

What's more, Prince Ning will definitely rebel in the future.

The foolish Prince Ning was blocked in Anqing in history, but if he had really attacked Nanjing as planned, and then started to prepare for war with Nanzhili as the center, he might have dealt a fatal blow to the social structure in the south that was on the verge of collapse.

It would be more appropriate for the Ming Dynasty's reforms to be borne by the blood of the Ming Dynasty's royal family.

Pei Yuan thought about it and thought about the extra gains he had made today.

It was because of his chance encounter with Zang Xian that Pei Yuan realized that King Ning's plan to "break through the three barriers" had already begun.

Pei Yuan was somewhat interested in getting a piece of the pie, but what interested him more was that this incident intensified the factional problems in the court.

Pei Yuan had always disliked Yang Tinghe because Yang Tinghe's desire for control and lack of cohesion were very detrimental to his layout in the court.

There were only two reasons why Yang Tinghe had an affair with Prince Ning during the Zhengde period.

On the one hand, Zhu Houzhao repeatedly acted dishonestly and challenged the bottom line of the court, while Prince Ning, this useless person, began to show his ambition.

Judging from the situation where almost everyone in the court knew Ning, if Prince Ning really sent troops to quell the rebellion and suddenly marched north to the capital, the gates of Beijing would definitely be crowded with people trying to open them.

It’s just that Yang Ting and the others miscalculated a few things.

The first is that Zhu Houzhao was really good at fighting; the second is that Prince Ning was really useless; the third is that the Sixth Prince had already completed the hunt for Prince Ning.

In addition to this, another reason for Yang Ting and Tong Ning was that Zhu Houzhao had no son.

Zhu Houzhao has no son now.

As of now, even if Zhu Houzhao had a son, he would most likely be a young monarch when Zhu Houzhao died in the future.

At that time, Yang Tinghe might be able to recreate the situation of "Three Yangs assisting in the government" back then.

But if Zhu Houzhao still has no son from now on, what will happen in the future?
There are only two choices: either choose a relative or choose a virtuous person.

When choosing a relative, one must start from the closest royal family and move up step by step. If one wants to choose a virtuous person, the only one who has such great appeal in the court is Prince Ning!
So how should they choose?

Pei Yuan made a judgment that as long as Prince Ning was alive, he must be Prince Ning.

First, Prince Ning met the criteria for selecting talents. Second, Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao did not have the bloodline of Zhu Di.

The second point is even more important than the first.

Because selecting talented people would set a precedent in the Ming Dynasty, that is, ministers choosing emperors.

The emperor's legal right to inherit the throne comes from his ministers' "belief" that he is virtuous.

Does that mean that if the ministers "think" he is not virtuous, they can depose him?
The second point will strengthen the cognitive attributes of the first point.

What they need is the subversive impact of this "emperor chosen by ministers" on the "emperor of bloodline"!

Zhu Chenhao's legal theory came from Ning Wang Zhu Quan.

Zhu Houzhao's legal principles came from Emperor Taizong Zhu Di.

Such an "emperor chosen by ministers" who has no advantage in bloodline is what the civil servants dream of most.

So what is the "Great Ceremony"?
The great debate on ceremony during the Jiajing reign was not about which father Zhu Houcong should recognize.

Instead, the young Zhu Houcong discovered that he, a close-knit "blood emperor", had been manipulated into becoming an "emperor chosen by ministers."

He had to make it clear to the people of the world that he, Zhu Houcong, inherited the throne of the Ming Dynasty by virtue of his father, Prince Xing's succession order, and not by virtue of the ministers nominating him as the son of Emperor Xiaozong.

Because the ministers could use this method to make him emperor, or they could use this method to depose him as emperor.

And he was born the son of Prince Ning and the grandson of Emperor Xianzong.

This cannot be changed.

How could Pei Qiansui let the young empress dowager face such a powerful man like Yang Tinghe in the future?

Although the little queen mother is coquettish, she is not that kind of material.

Therefore, Pei Yuan wanted to get involved in anything that could cause trouble for Yang Tinghe.

Pei Yuan does not have many opportunities to intervene in the current court, and the only high-ranking younger brother was arranged by Pei Yuan to go to Shandong.

However, Prince Ning's attempt to pass through the three barriers this time will cause a very serious rift in the imperial court.

Not to mention the honest man Fei Hong's rampage, another person who jumped out to fiercely oppose Yang Tinghe was Wang Qiong, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Although Wang Qiong failed in the struggle with Yang Tinghe and successfully passed three levels, this guy is a ruthless person who keeps silent.

Because he had a particularly fierce fighter named Wang Shouren!
He placed this successful fighter in southern Jiangxi to hide out for many years, waiting for Prince Ning to rebel.

Pei Yuan was very happy to see that Prince Ning's "three challenges" this time could divide the court. By then, whether he formed an alliance with the honest man Fei Hong or with the "sinister duo", it would allow Pei Yuan to take a big step towards the court.

Pei Yuan roughly clarified the future direction, and told Chen Toutie what happened today, asking him to quickly prepare some luggage and horses.

Early the next morning, Chen Hutou from the Bazhou Army was waiting outside the Zhihua Temple.

Pei Yuan said to Chen Hutou very straightforwardly, "I'll take over this matter. I have a letter for you to take to the commanders. After they read it, they will know what to do."

After saying that, Pei Yuan gestured and Chen Xinjian beside him handed over a letter.

Chen Hutou took the letter and said directly, "If that's the case, I'll reply to the Marshal as soon as possible." Pei Yuan saw that Chen Hutou agreed straightforwardly, and asked with a curious smile, "You have so many people, and you have gone through so much trouble to bring so many gold, jade and jewelry to see me, but you only took back such a piece of paper. Don't you think it's strange?"

Chen Hutou listened, lowered his head and moved his cheeks, then looked at Pei Yuan calmly, "Mr. Zhuge's demeanor, Chen has seen it in Yanggu."

He led tens of thousands of his brothers to hunt down this guy, but the entire army was massacred in the wilderness by just a few hundred people.

Chen Hutou believed that even if all he brought back was just a piece of paper.

This piece of paper must be very powerful.

Pei Yuan felt a little embarrassed facing the victim.

Then he said, "Go ahead. I'll say hello to the imperial army, and you guys better behave yourself."

Chen Hutou turned and left.

Pei Yuan said slowly from behind, "I don't care what method you use, you must deliver the letter to Brother Seven and the others within five days."

After listening to Pei Yuan's words, Chen Hutou quickened his pace.

After Chen Hutou left, Pei Yuan told Chen Toutie, "I've handed over the affairs here to you. I'm going to Huguang."

Chen Toutie was a little surprised when he heard this. "Are you still planning to go by yourself? Can't you just send someone to deliver a message to Lu Ting?"

Captain Pei glanced sideways.

Damn, you are so stubborn and arrogant.

Pei Yuan pointed his finger at Chen Toutie vigorously and said expressionlessly, "I noticed that you are very disrespectful to the future eunuch who holds the seal of the Imperial Household Department."

The future cult leader was poked by Pei Yuan's fingers and retreated repeatedly. He quickly explained with a smile, "I am also worried that Qianhu will be tired from running back and forth."

Pei Yuan sighed, "There's nothing I can do. Get everything ready and leave soon."

It is not so easy to hold down an army of 200,000.

Pei Yuan looked around and started calling people.

"Chen Xinjian, Cen Meng, Hou Qing, the three of you will lead the team this time. Pick out about 20 reliable people. Don't let the news leak out yet."

Pei Yuan said to Chen Toutie, "You should get in touch with Tian Fu more these days. When I come back, I will arrange for you to go to Shandong together. If anyone comes to see me, just say that I'm out on business."

"If there is anything that is difficult to solve, you can ask Gu Dayong or Xiao Yan for help. They all know you, so some things will be easier to handle."

Chen Toutie quickly agreed.

After everyone went about their business, Pei Yuan pondered for a while and then asked someone to send a letter to Yun Buxian.

Now he had to deal with the matter of the Bazhou Army first, so his wedding with Jiao Yaner had to be postponed a little.

But even if we push it again, we should prepare first.

This kind of thing is just right for Yun Bushan to handle. He is good at scheming and will definitely be able to handle it perfectly.

There is nothing more to investigate in the Sanheyi case, so it would be better to have him come back early to help me prepare for taking a concubine.

After Cen Meng and his men had selected their men, Pei Yuan did not waste any time and led them away directly.

He was on an urgent mission this time, so naturally he couldn't be as thorough as before.

Pei Yuan and his men traveled hurriedly, relying basically on the dry food and water bags they brought with them. Occasionally, when they changed horses, they would stay in an inn and sleep for an hour or two.

In this way, we work day and night and basically don't spend much time on repairs.

It took five full days of hard work to finally reach the front line.

Pei Yuan was somewhat glad that he didn't exaggerate too much. If he had exceeded the time limit, his show-off would have been incomplete.

More than 200,000 people naturally cannot be stationed together, and are basically scattered along a long front. Fortunately, Pei Yuan is more concerned about the front-line affairs, so it is not difficult to find the central army.

They were all dressed in Jinyiwei uniforms and could ride their horses directly to the camp without any hindrance.

Some scouts who were out patrolling saw them and slowly walked away as if it had nothing to do with them.

Pei Yuan did not have much hope for the government army's military discipline, but he did not expect that the government army's camp was as disorganized as those of the bandits.

It wasn't until we got near the main camp that someone came up to stop us and ask us questions.

Pei Yuan asked Chen Xinjian to come forward and answer.

When the military officer guarding the gate heard that it was the Jinyiwei from the imperial court who came to see the eunuch in charge of military affairs, he thought that there was some imperial decree for Lu Ting, so he hurried in to report.

Unexpectedly, when Lu Ting heard that a captain named Pei was looking for him, he was overjoyed and directly led many military officers to meet him.

When Pei Yuan saw Lu Ting coming to greet him personally, he quickly jumped off his horse and walked forward with a smile.

Pei Yuan really did not dare to neglect this future eunuch who would be the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department.

After all, it is only a matter of time before Lu Ting pacifies the Bazhou Army, and he is no longer the eunuch who had fallen from power.

Pei Yuan's initial favor in helping him rise would eventually fade if there were no more collusion of interests.

Pei Yuan himself is a very realistic person, and he believes that others are also very realistic people.

Pei Yuan came here in person this time, not only to clean up the mess of the Bazhou Army, but also to tie Lu Ting more securely to his chariot.

Lu Ting grabbed Pei Yuan and shook his arm with a laugh, "Brother, how come you have time to come to the army? Are you on official business, or are you just passing by?"

Perhaps it was because an unprecedented achievement was within reach, Eunuch Lu seemed quite high-spirited and in high spirits.

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "I have some small matters to deal with. I came to ask for help from my father-in-law."

When Lu Ting heard this and saw that there were many people following him, he stopped talking and led Pei Yuan into the camp.

On the way, he smiled and introduced to the generals, "This is Captain Pei of the Jinyiwei. He is a close friend of mine. Please don't neglect him."

The collusion of interests between Pei Yuan and Lu Ting is more solid than that between them and Gu Dayong.

When Pei Yuan and Lu Ting first met, Lu Ting admired Pei Yuan very much. Later, Pei Yuan made plans for Lu Ting, gave him a great achievement, and helped him seize Gu Dayong's power as military supervisor.

In addition, when Lu Ting returns with his achievements in the future, he will have to rely on Pei Yuan to help him compete with Xiao Jing for the position of the head of the Imperial Household Department. Therefore, the two of them have a good relationship and need to support each other, so it is natural that they get along more harmoniously.

Hearing what Lu Ting said, the military officers who accompanied him in the welcoming ceremony all came forward to greet him and compliment him with a smile.

Lu Ting took the initiative to introduce Pei Yuan, "This is General Liu Hui, this is General Shi Yuan, this is Deputy General Xu Tai, this is Lieutenant General Shen Zhou, this is Guerrilla Xi Yong..."

After Pei Yuan had roughly greeted everyone, Lu Ting pulled Pei Yuan aside and asked, "Is your matter urgent?"

Pei Yuan thought to himself, it's getting late anyway, and Lu Ting doesn't seem to have any intention of breaking camp now.

Then he replied, "No hurry, this is not the place to talk."

Lu Ting smiled, "In that case, let me welcome you first."

(End of this chapter)