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

Chapter 362 Tinghe has something to say

Wang Chang felt his scalp tingling after hearing this.

Is this Qianhu Pei Yuan’s plan?

He only went to the front line, but he came up with a plan with such far-reaching impact.

If this plan succeeds, the growing Luojiao will monopolize the main soybean producing areas next year.

Without the supply of soybeans, all the downstream industries in the south that are engaged in oil pressing and selling soybean meal will be wiped out.

By then, "Nanyou" will take the opportunity to rise, expand the market, and extend its tentacles into downstream industries.

The China Soybean Oil Group, which has taken a dominant position in the market in one fell swoop, will have a heavy say in the subsequent industrial distribution.

By then, even if Henan starts growing soybeans again, it will be forced to become part of the supply chain of "China Soybean Oil Group".

As for opening up the South.

They are a cult. Isn’t the way a cult opens up the market very simple?

With such a huge industry providing profit support, coupled with the people working in this industry line, the PPTs in Pei Yuan's hands will become real force.

As Wang Chang was thinking, he suddenly remembered a problem that he had overlooked.

By the way, what was Captain Pei doing at the front line before?

If this strategy was just something Pei Yuan came up with, then what was the main purpose of Pei Qianhu's journey?

Wang Chang suddenly felt that what he knew was probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Seeing that the two had understood his intention, Pei Yuan said to Chen Tou-tie, "We will have to deal with a lot of people this time. Let Tian Fu go with you. If you encounter any trouble, ask for his advice. He is on the same boat with us."

Chen Toutie quickly agreed.

Pei Yuan then said to Wang Chang, "When you arrive in Shandong, first make a count of the existing soybean producing areas. Remember not to take it lightly."

Wang Chang also quickly responded.

After seeing Wang Chang off, Chen Toutie went out for a short while before returning and saying to Pei Yuan, "Left Censor-in-Chief Li Shishi is here."

"Left Censor-in-Chief?" Pei Yuan was surprised. "Has Li Shishi been promoted?"

Chen Tou said ironically, "He has been promoted. Hong Zhong has already retired and returned to his hometown."

Pei Yuan thought that it was probably the butterfly effect caused by himself.

Wang Ding left early, Li Shishi took his place early, and there was chaos in the cabinet again, which made Hong Zhong more and more thinking about retiring while the going was good.

After all, the Censorate was an institution specifically responsible for impeaching officials, and every large-scale political fight would begin with the Censors of the Censorate taking the lead.

The current structure of the Censorate is different from that of other ministries.

The structure of the six ministries is a Shangshu, plus left and right vice ministers, and then they are divided into different categories, and there are doctors in each department.

The top-level structure of the Censorate was composed of the Left and Right Censors-in-Chief, with the Left Censor-in-Chief being in charge of the affairs of the Censorate, and there were many deputy Right Censors-in-Chief.

For example, Lu Wan who is leading the troops on the front line, Chen Jin who is suppressing the rebellion in Jiangxi, Lin Jun who is the governor of Sichuan, Wang Chang who is the governor of Shandong, and Tao Yan who is the governor of Zhejiang are all Right Censors-in-Chief.

Wang Ding and Li Shishi successively took charge of the government affairs in Beijing as the Right Censor-in-Chief. Now that Wang Ding is gone and Hong Zhong has retired, Li Shishi has been directly promoted to the position.

As the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Li Shishi can now be called one of the "Seven Great Ministers" together with the six ministers.

Pei Yuan also valued this "other person's Zifang" very much, and went to the side hall to meet him in person with a smile.

When Li Shishi came before, he heard that Pei Yuan was meeting guests. He asked a few questions out of curiosity, but the Jinyiwei kept their mouths shut and didn't say a word.

But what a coincidence.

This time, Wang Chang was the Right Censor-in-Chief of Shandong Province. He had just met Li Shishi in the past two days. Li Shishi accidentally caught a glimpse of Wang Chang's thin figure when he left and immediately recognized him.

Li Shishi was surprised and also quite awed.

After he heard that Pei Yuan had returned, thinking about the important event of the Bazhou Army, he rushed over to meet him early in the morning.

Unexpectedly, someone arrived earlier than him.

Moreover, this person is the former Nanjing Minister of War and current Right Censor-in-Chief and Governor of Shandong.

Li Shishi came to Pei Yuan because of the Bazhou rebels. He had something to ask of Pei Yuan and was also caught by someone with leverage, so he came to him eagerly.

Then why did Wang Chang come to the gate of this mere thousand households so early in the morning to ask for a meeting?
Wang Chang used to be the Grand Marshal of the South, commanding countless troops from the southern garrisons. Now he is also a high-ranking official in charge of a region.

Li Shishi deeply felt that this imperial court was treacherous.

The confidence that Li Shishi had rebuilt in the past few days has also become unconfident.

Seeing Pei Yuan coming in person, Li Shishi also hurried forward.

After some pleasantries, Pei Yuan took the initiative to talk about business.

He was so proud of his style that he didn't mention the fact that he had made the trip himself and was exhausted. He just said calmly, "The frontline army has received my letter and has stopped chasing the Bazhou army. Now the 200,000 soldiers have unsaddled their horses and taken off their armor. It all depends on your attitude."

Li Shishi suddenly felt the pressure increased a lot.

He said quickly, "I have sent a letter to Prince Ning. I tried my best to mediate this matter in the letter, so it shouldn't be a big problem. I just don't know about the rebels in Bazhou..."

Pei Yuan waved his hand, "Don't worry, Bazhou is in chaos, ahem..."

Pei Yuan quickly stopped talking and continued to put pressure on Li Shishi, "The imperial army is waiting for you, and the rebels in Bazhou are also waiting for you. Everyone is very angry, so don't let Prince Ning drag your feet. Otherwise, I will be in trouble."

Li Shishi wiped the sweat off his face. He didn't dare to be careless and said quickly, "I'll urge you again."

Pei Yuan remembered something and asked Li Shishi, "By the way, are you familiar with Wang Qiong, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?"

Li Shishi shook his head when he heard this. "He is from Shanxi, and I am from Jiangxi. We are not from the same class or year. We have never dealt with each other before, and we have only met a few times during this visit to Beijing."

Pei Yuan thought to himself that it seemed that he had to find another middleman to meet with Wang Qiong.

The first person Pei Yuan thought of was Wang Shouren.

Wang Shouren and Wang Qiong had a particularly good relationship.

Wang Qiong had long realized that Prince Ning might have ulterior motives. After Wang Qiong was transferred to become the Minister of War, he immediately recommended Wang Shouren to be the Governor of Southern Jiangxi. He also asked the Ministry of War for permission to allow Wang Shouren to "supervise military affairs at his convenience" on the pretext of an emergency in Fujian.

In other words, when all the ministers in the court were praising Prince Ning's virtue and restoring his military power, these two people were already hiding in the grass and preparing.

A few years later, Prince Ning's rebellion was suddenly exposed.

Yang Ting and the group of people who took the money were dumbfounded.

How come you started working without even saying hello? I haven't even gotten in the car yet.

Prince Ning's army was far away in Jiangxi, and Yang Tinghe didn't even have time to escape and surrender.

According to the report sent back on the spot by Liang Zhuo, the head of Lidu, the public opinion atmosphere at that time was like this.

——"When Hao rebelled, seventeen out of ten officials in the court turned to Hao and said that Hao would definitely succeed. The only person who stood firm and showed no fear was Jinxi!"

That is to say, when Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao rebelled, almost everyone in the court knew Ning, and they believed that Zhu Chenhao's uprising would definitely succeed and that he would seize the Ming Dynasty just like Prince Yan did in the past.

The only one who was not afraid at that time was Wang Qiong. Moreover, Wang Qiong pretended to be calm and said, "Don't worry, I am using Wang Bo to pacify Ganzhou just for today. In just one day or two, the enemy will be captured."

Then Wang Shouren, who had been hiding in the grass for many years, jumped out from the bushes and started beating Zhu Chenhao up.

Then..., the Ning Wang Rebellion was put down.

What happened next was magical.

Emperor Zhengde drowned while traveling south.

Afterwards, Wang Qiong was imprisoned by the Censorate on the charge of "making connections with eunuchs". He was sentenced to death in the first trial, but in the second trial, Wang Qiong argued hard and the sentence was changed to exile.

After pacifying Zhu Chenhao, Wang Shouren, the minister who made the greatest contribution, became anxious and retired on the pretext of illness.

If Pei Yuan believed in the idea of ​​"making friends with eunuchs" and really asked Gu Dayong or Qiu Ju to help introduce him, he would be fooled.

Because Wang Qiong is not that kind of person.

When Liu Jin was in power, all officials had to present a "red book" to Liu Jin before they could make a report. Wang Qiong was driven out of the capital by Liu Jin and sent to Nanjing to take up a post because he had never presented a "red book" to Liu Jin.

But Tinghe has something to say.

According to the records in "History of Ming Dynasty", their explanation for this was that every time Wang Qiong handed over the "red book", he secretly bribed Liu Jin's waiter and asked for the "red book" back.

In other words, they believed that the reason they could not find evidence was because it had been hidden.

Logical loop, death penalty.

Pei Yuan just didn't believe this logical loop, so he wanted to find a clean civil servant like Li Shishi to help him make an introduction.

Unfortunately, I didn’t expect that Li Shishi couldn’t make the connection either.

Li Shishi saw the disappointment on Pei's face. After thinking for a moment, he took the initiative to say to Pei Yuan, "Would you like to go find Zang Xian and give it a try?"

Pei Yuan shook his head and made his point clear, "He can't do it. Wang Qiong is not the same as them."

Wang Qiong didn't even give Liu Jin face, and Zang Xian, as the emperor's male favorite, had an even worse status.

Pei Yuan asked Zang Xian to help him with the introduction, which was completely asking for trouble.

Li Shishi was an experienced man, so he naturally understood what Pei Yuan meant. He explained, "Although Zang Xian cannot meet Wang Qiong, he can help you find the right person."

Pei Yuan was pointed out by Li Shishi and suddenly understood.

Zang Xian is a political broker. As long as you are willing to pay, he can naturally help find the right person for things he cannot do.

There is no rush for this matter.

You can wait until the day you take a concubine, and then ask Zang Xian when he comes.

After Li Shishi left, Pei Yuan's place was quiet for a while.

Pei Yuan ate some wine and food, and then washed off the dust from the journey.

Jiao Yaner and Song Chunniang must be brought back from Zhang Lian's house in the next two days. If Pei Yuan doesn't take action, he will be without a legitimate reason.

If it weren't for this matter, Pei Yuan wouldn't have rushed back in such a hurry.

After all, it involves hundreds of thousands of troops, so it is still somewhat important.

By the time Pei Yuan had washed himself, another visitor arrived.

This time it was Xiao Yan, the Left General of the Central Military Governor's Office.

Pei Yuan and Xiao Yan are in a cooperative relationship with each other, and they get along well with each other for the time being.

Xiao Yan didn't know what Pei Yuan had done in the past few days. He believed Chen Toutie's words and really thought that Pei Yuan went to Shandong to investigate a case.

As soon as he saw Pei Yuan, he couldn't wait to ask, "How is it? How is Zhang Feng doing?"

Pei Yuan immediately realized that Xiao Yan had misunderstood something.

He knew that Xiao Yan was still thinking about the matter of Zhang Feng taking advantage of his fellow criminals, and was just about to say a few words to him casually.

Suddenly, I had another thought.

Dredging the Grand Canal and replenishing the grain ships is a huge project. While supporting a major war, would promoting this project also be a way to drain the blood from Taicang?

Pei Yuan thought about it and answered Xiao Yan's question first, "I went to Shandong because of the Luo Sect. The Luo Sect is getting worse and worse in Shandong, and has aroused the emperor's wrath."

"I am responsible for capturing evil people and tracking down evil cults. This is exactly my duty."

Xiao Yan didn't know what was going on, so he asked in confusion, "Why haven't I heard of this Luo Sect before?"

Pei Yuan sighed, it was because the original version was not up to standard.

He recalled how Wuding Hou Guo Xun was dragged into the Maitreya sect, and worried about Xiao Yan's low IQ, so he immediately reminded him, "If someone comes looking for you, don't be fooled."

Xiao Yan smiled and said, "Do I need you to tell me? I'm not stupid."

Pei Yuan only mentioned it briefly, and then asked Xiao Yan, "Are you happy in the Central Army Commander's Office? Do you want to change your official position?"

When Xiao Yan heard this, he straightened his chest and his voice became louder. "I am the first-rank left commander of the Central Army Commander's Office. I can almost be said to be the highest official in the country. What can I be unhappy about?"

Pei Yuan sneered, looking at Xiao Yan's smug look.

At this moment, Xiao Yan also remembered how he became the first-rank left governor from a fifth-rank captain, and immediately lowered his chest in embarrassment.

Pei Yuan didn't want to expose Xiao Yan's secrets, so he immediately ignored the matter and said directly, "I may stay in Shandong for a while. On the one hand, I will continue to hunt down the evil people of Luo Sect, and on the other hand, I will monitor Zhang Feng nearby and collect evidence of his corruption and abuse of power."

"If you have connections, how about going to the Left Army Governor's Office?"

Xiao Yan thought about the jurisdiction of the Left Army Governor's Office and immediately became a little uneasy. "Which garrison in Shandong do you want to deal with?"

Pei Yuan didn't dare to say this now, and hurriedly laughed and said, "How is it possible? It's just that it's easier to get things done with someone in the court. With you in the Left Army Commander's Office, I feel more at ease."

Xiao Yan is a complete idiot, he would just muddle through in any governor's office, so he doesn't mind changing places.

He pondered for a while and said, "I'm afraid it's not easy to handle. If it were someone else, we could just replace him. The person in charge of the Left Army Commandery is the Prince's Grand Tutor, Duke of Chengguo Zhu Fu."

"Zhu Fu." Pei Yuan became excited. He had just mentioned it casually, but he didn't expect it could actually be realized.

This Zhu Fu was a very cowardly person. Later, he was forced to kneel down for a long time by a favored minister like Jiang Bin, which brought shame to his ancestor Zhu Neng.

Pei Yuan said to Xiao Yan, "You can be tougher. If you can threaten him with the name of Eunuch Xiao, there will be great hope. Besides, it's just a change of governor's office, not taking away his official position. There's nothing wrong with the Central Army Governor's Office."

Xiao Yan was unhappy, "Okay."

After saying this, he emphasized, "I will have to get a bigger share of Zhang Feng's stolen money when the time comes."

Seeing that Xiao Yan had a strong subjective initiative, Pei Yuan thought of the two powerful vassals in Shandong.

He pretended to be casual and said to Xiao Yan, "It was only after I went to Shandong this time that I realized that the richest vassal states in Shandong are Defan and Lufan. These two vassal kings annexed a large amount of land and seized wealth, and each of them is extremely wealthy. It's just a pity, what a pity..."

Xiao Yan listened without saying anything. Apparently he also realized that Pei Yuan wanted to use him as a pawn to deal with the two princes.

After a while, Xiao Yan suddenly smiled and said to Pei Yuan, "If you want to deal with the vassal king, you've found the wrong person."

(End of this chapter)