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

Chapter 363 It's not easy to be a bad guy
Pei Yuan immediately rejected it, "Ridiculous, I am a minister of the Ming Dynasty, a personal soldier of the emperor, how can I deal with the vassal kings?"

"The reason I said that just now is nothing more than that I pity the people. Shandong has a vast territory and a dense population, but a large amount of land has been seized by the vassal kings, and the people are living in poverty. It is only human nature that Pei feels compassion."

Xiao Yan immediately shouted speechlessly, "Stop!"

Pei Yuan had just thought of a few new words but hadn't said them yet, but Xiao Yan's interruption made his emotions less coherent.

He glanced at Xiao Yan with dissatisfaction.

However, Xiao Yan said with a smile, "Just these words."

Pei Yuan was puzzled, but not panicked.

The words I have just used have already filled up my armor, so I don't have to worry about being reported.

Xiao Yan, however, was not shy about the topic of dealing with the vassal kings, and said in a gentle and persuasive manner, "Think about who often said those words just now, and you should know about this matter and who you should find to cooperate with."

Pei Yuan was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly understood.

Isn't this the kind of thing that people like Yang Yiqing often say?

In other words, if you want to deal with the vassal kings, you should cooperate with the civil service system?
That's right too.

It was too difficult for the princes to seize the throne, and many of them were keen on land annexation. However, doing so would inevitably lead to sharp conflicts with local powerful people.

Isn’t the current civil government of the Ming Dynasty a product of local tyrants?

It is said that the poor are good at literature and the rich are good at martial arts. This is nonsense.

Pen, ink, paper, inkstone, book, which one is cheaper?
Just as a basic item in the exam, if you want to write well, you need a lot of copying practice.

You should know that the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty was a liberal arts examination, all of which were subjective questions, and the examiner's personal opinions accounted for a large weight.

Even if you can learn to read characters by other means, without a lot of practice on paper with a pen, you will never be able to write characters good enough to take the imperial examination. As for the price of knowledge, it is even more expensive.

Knowledge has never been cheap, whether in ancient or modern times, in China or abroad.

Therefore, the vast majority of civil servants in the court came from wealthy families.

Pei Yuan wanted to deal with the ever-expanding vassal kings, and the local tyrants who also had a strong desire for expansion would be a great help to him.

Pei Yuan gained something, and then he felt deeply moved.

Did not expect ah did not expect.

I didn't expect that even people like Li Shishi and Xiao Yan could give me some insightful opinions.

No wonder all wise kings in the past needed to be open-minded and accept advice. I have learned a lot.

Seeing Pei Yuan seemed to have realized something, Xiao Yan added, "But you'd better not play with fire."

"Emperor Taizu once established the "Imperial Ming Ancestor Instructions", which said, 'Any censor who reports the king's minor faults and alienates relatives will be beheaded. Anyone who hears that the king has committed a major crime but has no evidence to prove it and reports it will be punished with the same crime. Any common people who dare to report the king's minor affairs and be treacherous will be beheaded. Their family members will be exiled to the border.'"

In other words, if the censor reported a minor mistake made by a vassal king, it would be an attempt to alienate the Zhu family's relatives and he would be beheaded.

If a prince committed a serious crime but had no real evidence and easily reported it, he would also be beheaded.

If an ordinary person dared to criticize some trivial matters in the palace, he would be beheaded regardless of whether he was right or wrong, and his family would be exiled to the border.

Pei Yuan really didn't know the situation, and couldn't help but blurt out, "Can it be like this?"

Xiao Yan saw that Pei Yuan really didn't know how deep the water was here.

He wanted to see Pei Yuan suffer a small loss, but he was also afraid that this fellow would be lawless and cause too much trouble, which would eventually bite him.

After thinking it over, he backed down and persuaded Pei Yuan.

"Whatever you think, I advise you to put it aside."

"Not only is it difficult to sue those princes, even if you do find someone to sue them, it's not easy to get a trial. Any case involving royal relatives must be tried by the emperor himself. And except for the unpardonable crime of treason, minor crimes will be discussed by the royal family in Beijing, and serious crimes will be discussed by the royal family in Beijing as well as the princes outside the capital."

"Those guys are judging themselves. How could they possibly convict themselves of a serious crime when they are so sad about the death of the rabbit?"

Pei Yuan listened carefully and denied it immediately, "How could I, a Jinyiwei, have the idea of ​​suing the prince?"

Pei Yuan asked again after he finished speaking, "What we are saying is, are there any bad guys who can bypass these things and murder those vassal kings? We must be on guard against such things."

Xiao Yan felt more and more uneasy.

Could this bad guy be you?
He quickly warned again, "There is no way around it. Even if the princes have committed serious crimes, they must be summoned by royal relatives or eunuchs in person. And in order to prevent being deceived, three groups of people must go to summon the princes."

"If the three groups of people fail to summon the prince, then the local officials and the eunuchs will send the prince to the capital, and the emperor will personally inquire about the right and wrong of the matter."

"To prevent the emperor from making a decision in a moment of excitement, and to prevent others from interfering. Taizu also stipulated that even if the evidence of a crime is irrefutable, the emperor's relatives and eunuchs in Beijing must stay with the prince for ten days. Within these ten days, the emperor must meet with the prince five times."

"This will not only give the vassal king enough time to ask for help from his relatives, but also allow the vassal king to plead with the emperor repeatedly. If this doesn't work, then the vassal king will be punished."

Pei Yuan was really speechless when he heard this.

This old Zhu is so shameless!
From the beginning, that expression of not knowing right from wrong was already very ugly.

The result is that even if the guilt is proven, they still use this method to morally blackmail the emperor.

If "staying with the emperor for ten days and meeting the vassal kings five times" cannot change the emperor's determination to deal with the matter, then no matter what happens next, the emperor will bear the stigma of being mean and ungrateful.

I'm afraid that at this point, most emperors would just have an idea.

Why are there so many pressing matters? Forget it...

Xiao Yan didn't stop talking, and said to Pei Yuan, "Even if all these procedures are completed, the emperor can't impose a heavy sentence."

"Taizu also said that even if the princes committed serious crimes, they could not be punished. For serious crimes, they would be demoted to commoners, while for minor crimes, they would be brought to the capital to be scolded by the emperor. If the emperor wants to save trouble, he can also let people tell them about the consequences so that they can reform themselves."

Pei Yuan felt numb after hearing this.

After a long while, he sighed and said, "Let's just say that it's not easy to be a bad guy in the Ming Dynasty."

Xiao Yan put his hands behind his back and looked at Pei Yuan with disdain.

Your little thoughts.

After all, Xiao Yan felt that he was more mature. After he finished his contempt, he still advised his younger brother earnestly, "There are many opportunities to make money. There is no need."

Pei Yuan was startled and warned him quickly, "Don't talk nonsense. What are you talking about? I am a captain of the Jinyiwei, a personal soldier of the emperor."

After seeing Xiao Yan off, Pei Yuan asked Chen Toutie to stop arranging meetings with guests.

Taking advantage of his free time in the afternoon, Pei Yuan thought carefully about the affairs of Shandong.

Other things would be fine, but today, Pei Yuan was also having a headache after learning from Xiao Yan that the vassal king was so difficult to deal with.

The two strongest vassal clans in Shandong now are the Dewang clan and the Luwang clan.

In addition to Prince De, the lineage of Prince De also included his eldest son Prince Tai'an and his third son Prince Jining.

The lineage of King Lu is quite old. In addition to the King of Lu, there are also the King of Zhenye, the King of Zouping, the King of Anqiu, the King of Leling, the King of Dong'ou, the King of Bucheng, the King of Guantao, the King of Yicheng, the King of Guishan, the King of Ziyang, and the King of Yangxin.

The Dewang faction is powerful and has concentrated strength.

Although the power of the Lu Wang family became scattered during the feudal division, the Lu Wang family and the Kong family always maintained a close marriage.

The Kong family also had marriage alliances with a large number of court officials. This made the Lu royal family's power dispersed, but the potential allies were very powerful.

Pei Yuan pondered silently for a long time, and a series of conspiracies and tricks slowly emerged from the bottom of his heart. He also had a general plan on how to overthrow these vassal kings in Shandong.

When Pei Yuan, who had been holding back for the whole afternoon, left the courtyard, Chen Toutie immediately came up to report, "Captain, the official from the Ministry of Public Administration came this afternoon, and I was asked to fend him off."

"Oh." Pei Yuan responded.

Ever since Wei Ne discovered that Pei Yuan was not an ordinary guy, he began to approach him diligently.

It was not difficult for Pei Yuan to understand this.

Now the liquidation of Liu Jin's remnants has been put on the agenda. For Wei Ne, who is already a dead fish, it will not be a loss as long as he can flutter a few times.

Moreover, maybe he could find a way to survive from Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan asked Chen Toutie, "Did he say what it was?"

Chen Toutie replied, "I asked him about it, but he was hesitant in his answer and only said it was related to Maitreya religion."

Pei Yuan lost interest when he heard this.

Those guys in Maitreya Sect are just a bunch of petty thieves and can't cause any trouble at all.

Pei Yuan was interested in those people simply because they could drag Guo Xun, the Marquis of Wuding, into the water.

With Pei Yuan's current layout, even if the Maitreya Sect has already started to take action, he may not be able to pick this peach.

It would be better to let the Maitreya Sect corrupt Guo Xun first.

Pei Yuan asked, "Does Yun Buxian know that I'm back?"

Chen Toutie replied, "I've sent someone to tell him. He's busy repairing the courtyard and decorating it. He heard that the captain had returned, so he got really busy. I told him not to come and see me. If there's anything, go find him."

Pei Yuan thought about what happened to Wei Ne just now.

Wei Ne had come here before, and had been running around for his good friend Jiao Huangzhong, and Jiao Huangzhong...

He is Jiao Yaner’s biological father.

Since you are in Beijing, you should say hello.

Pei Yuan said to Chen Toutie, "Go and call Yun Buxian over, and by the way, ask someone to go to Gu Dayong's residence to ask Taoist Zhiwei if there are any good days to take a concubine these days."

Speaking of Gu Dayong, Pei Yuan was stunned for a moment, then asked with dissatisfaction.

"By the way, what happened to Gu Dayong? Doesn't he know that I'm back in Beijing?"

Chen Toutie was silent for a while, then reminded Pei Yuan, "As the supervisor of the Western Factory, he has to accompany the emperor during the day."

"Oh." Pei Yuan nodded, feeling relieved.

He is also a reasonable person.

Chen Toutie was not sure whether Gu Dayong would give Pei Qianhu this kind of face. He was afraid that Pei Yuan had too high expectations, so he asked tactfully, "Do you want to make an appointment with Gu Gongyue tonight?"

If Pei Yuan had this intention, he would have to remind him.

Pei Yuan looked at the sky. It was already late.

He hesitated and said, "Tonight, forget it, I have some plans."

Chen Toutie understood immediately and hurried to arrange what Pei Yuan had just instructed.

Not long after, Yun Buxian hurried over.

Although Yun Buxian is now the general commander who works for Pei Yuan, Pei Yuan has already hinted to Chen Toutie, Chen Xinjian and Cheng Zhihu that this guy is not very honest.

Therefore, Chen Toutie and the others deliberately concealed many confidential matters from Yun Buxian.

When Pei Yuan went out this time, Yun Buxian just thought that as the rumors outside said, Pei Yuan went to Shandong to investigate a case.

Therefore, when he met Pei Yuan, Yun Buxian simply reported to him the tasks assigned to him in a very casual manner.

He first mentioned the matter of Sanhe Station.

Yun Buxian is a know-it-all in the capital. After the task was assigned to him, he asked someone to find out some inside information.

After learning that the water was deep here, Yun Buxian began to play badly without making any noise.

Until Pei Yuan terminated his investigation, Yun Buxian had not found out anything.

Pei Yuan didn't care much about it. He just said a few perfunctory words and then asked about the preparations for taking a concubine.

When Pei Yuan returned to Beijing before, the Yun family helped to clean up.

It was just a rush at that time, just to make it convenient to stay.

Moreover, Yun Buxian had not obtained Pei Yuan's permission at that time, so he did not dare to decorate the room in advance, and in the end he just added some furniture.

The Pei family has not been wealthy for three generations, and this house has not been properly renovated for a long time.

The tiles on the roofs of many rooms were uneven, and the thatch had a stale smell.

Pei Yuan is not short of money, so he has to take good care of his concubine this time.

Yun Buxian replied, "Reporting to the captain, I have organized people to repair the two courtyards. In two or three days, they will be brand new. Just the day before yesterday, the Jiaofangsi next door saw that the courtyard was being renovated, and someone came to ask a few questions, and also told me that when the day is good, the Jiaofangsi can send singing girls to perform dances and music."

Pei Yuan asked, "Who is the one who came to speak?"

Yun Buxian said, "The manager of the Jiaofangsi building next door is called Sun Qi. I have met him several times before."

Pei Yuan knew that this must be Zang Xian taking the initiative to show goodwill to him.

Given Zang Xian's identity, he really couldn't get along with Yun Buxian.

Pei Yuanzheng asked Yun Buxian about his arrangements in detail, and the people who went to Gu Dayong's house also came back to report.

Chen Toutie arranged for Chen Xinjian to make this trip, and Chen Xinjian came to see him as soon as he came back.

Pei Yuan asked without waiting for him to salute, "How is it, is there any good day?"

Chen Xinjian replied, "Master Zhiwei said that five days later will be a good day."

Pei Yuan nodded slightly and looked at Yun Buxian.

Yun Buxian immediately promised, "I will prepare the new house for Qianhu within two days."

Pei Yuan was satisfied, and then thought to himself, now is the time to prepare invitations to all parties.

I should also tell Yan'er.

With this thought in mind, he said to Yun Buxian, "You go ahead and do your work. When this matter is done, we will reward you based on your merits."

After Yun Buxian left with a happy look on his face, Pei Yuan winked at Chen Xinjian and said, "Get ready. Bring two people with me later."

(End of this chapter)