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

Chapter 371: Waves Rising
Zang Xian was indeed a qualified businessman. He smiled with satisfaction and said, "Then it's worth it for me to use some special means."

As if to strengthen his persuasiveness, Zang Xian explained, "Wang Qiong has a fellow villager with whom he has a good relationship, but he is in a rather dire situation. I can set up a trap to see if I can control him. If I can, this matter will be easier to handle."

Pei Yuan was impressed.

As expected of a professional, he asked Wang Qiong’s friends to push the message forcefully.

Pei Yuan asked realistically, "How much?"

Zang Xian was not polite either, "Two hundred taels."

If it weren't for what Zang Xian said just now, Pei Yuan would definitely have turned hostile on the spot.

As a fifth-rank military officer, his monthly salary of only 16 dan of rice, not counting the discount, was based on the current market price of one tael of silver for two dan of rice, so Captain Pei's monthly salary was only eight taels of silver.

Just to meet Wang Qiong once would cost Pei Yuan twenty-five months' salary!

This is fucking robbery!
I was robbed!
But with what Zang Xian had laid before him, Pei Yuan had nothing to say.

This matter not only requires sorting out complicated interpersonal relationships and finding the right person from the vast crowd, but also requires some means to get others to take on this immoral job.

Pei Yuan could only think that he was unlucky. He turned around and was about to tell Chen Xinjian to take the money, but Zang Xian smiled and waved his hand, "No hurry, just send it to the Jiaofangsi next door when you have time."

Pei Yuan said, "The sooner we find someone, the better."

Zang Xian smiled and said, "Okay."

He glanced at it and asked with a little surprise, "Brother Pei and Xiao Yan are also somewhat acquainted."

Pei Yuan also saw Xiao Yan who had just entered the room. The two of them had a good relationship. Pei Yuan was greeting Zang Xian and was not in a hurry to go over. He just said, "Not bad."

Zang Xian pointed at Gu Dayong and Qiu Ju in surprise, "Then you..."

Pei Yuan understood that what Zang Xian was hinting at was that the conflict between the "old people of Hongzhi" and the "Seven Tigers in the Palace" was already very intense. It seemed unwise for Pei Yuan to invite people from both sides to the banquet at the same time.

Pei Yuan explained, "At the beginning, Xiao Yan escorted Eunuch Gu to the capital, and encountered bandits from the Bazhou Army in Shandong. Later, thanks to Xiao Yan's bravery and Eunuch Gu's command, they were able to defeat the Bazhou bandits with a small force."

"The two of them went through life and death together. Afterwards, Xiao Yan was promoted to the Left Commander-in-Chief of the Central Military Commandery and was also given the title of Earl. Gu Dayong also gave his younger brother Gu Daliang the title of Earl."

"Although these two people have different positions, they can be said to have shared adversity and wealth, so their friendship is naturally extraordinary."

Zang Xian suddenly understood, "So that's how it is."

He said jokingly, "Yes, this is another valuable intelligence."

Sure enough, after Xiao Yan arrived, he greeted Gu Dayong, and there seemed to be no grudge between the two.

However, Xiao Yan and Qiu Ju just nodded.

Qiu Ju's East Factory had just been taken away, and he had no good intentions to pay attention to these old people from Hongzhi.

Xiao Yan saw Pei Yuan talking to someone in the corner, so he waved and told Pei Yuan to go about his business.

Zang Xian immediately realized that Xiao Yan and Pei Yuan were very friendly with each other. It seemed that the relationship between them was not that simple.

Xiao Yan was not shy about it, but Pei Yuan had to take this guy seriously.

The old eunuch Xiao Jing has not yet decided the outcome with Lu Ting.

Pei Yuan was not sure, either. In the end, would it be Xiao Jing wearing the extremely noble dragon robe, riding in a sedan chair in the palace, and leisurely entering the Imperial Household Department; or would it be the eunuch Lu Ting from the Imperial Stables who returned to the court with the prestige of defeating the enemy and becoming the most powerful person in the inner court.

It's really a dilemma...

Pei Yuan and Zang Xian had almost finished talking about something, so they immediately went over to Xiao Yan.

Seeing Pei Yuan coming over, Xiao Yan smiled and took something out of his sleeve, "Guess what this is?"

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "It can't be the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes."

Xiao Yan laughed and unfolded the thing in his hand, which turned out to be a house deed.

He said, "I bought the house behind yours and gave it to you. How about that? That's quite nice of you, isn't it?"

Pei Yuan's two-story house is indeed not very suitable for living. In the mind of an insecure person like Pei Yuan, the inability to station enough people is the biggest flaw.

It was only because Pei Yuan had his eyes on Taiping Warehouse that he did not spend much time asking for land and houses.

Now that Xiao Yan bought the house behind and gave it to him, Pei Yuan was very happy.

Pei Yuan's two-courtyard house can be sold for at least two or three hundred taels. The house at the back is bigger and is worth at least four or five hundred taels.

Pei Yuan could completely connect the two sides and merge them into one.

In this way, the old houses in Dengshikou can still be used for the transition.

Pei Yuan happily took it and said, "That's very kind."

This is not about money. After the battle of Yanggu ended, Pei Yuan, Xiao Yan and Gu Dayong divided the spoils among themselves, and each family received 50,000 to 60,000 taels.

Xiao Yan and Gu Dayong were both picked up for free, so this little bit of feedback is nothing.

The key is the thoughtfulness, which is very good.

Seeing Pei Yuan was satisfied, Xiao Yan laughed and said, "Remember my kindness!"

The two of them will then plot against Zhang Feng, the governor of the river, and if they do that well, the rewards will be lucrative enough.

Pei Yuan readily agreed, "Don't worry, Brother Xiao."

Zang Xian, who came with Pei Yuan to socialize, frowned slightly. Judging from Xiao Yan's behavior, he suddenly felt that he should not take the two hundred taels. It seemed more cost-effective to ask Pei Yuan to remember a favor than to take the money directly.

Liu Zhishu, who had been eagerly waiting for more customers, became more and more restless.

With the arrival of Xiao Yan, Pei Yuan's background color became purer and purer.

This is a super treacherous minister who can make the "Seven Tigers in the Palace", "Old Men of Hongzhi" and "Favoured Ministers of the Emperor" all come to congratulate him!

The officials of the Ming Dynasty served in the same court, and sometimes there were bound to be some welcoming and seeing off.

But what are the identities of these people?
Even if it is a formal marriage, it may not be possible to invite them to be present, let alone just taking a concubine?
Thinking of Pei Yuan's unrevealed reputation, Liu Zhishu suddenly felt as if he had accidentally discovered the mastermind behind the treacherous party.

He even had a bold idea in his mind.

If I report this villain to the Censorate after returning, maybe we can track him down and capture him in one fell swoop, thus bringing a clean and upright atmosphere to the Ming Dynasty court!

Liu Zhishu was a little agitated, and Huo Tao beside him pushed him awake anxiously.

"Tai Liu, this gift is not appropriate."

The two of them had been thinking about it the whole time, so they hurried to the warehouse at the back to exchange the scroll with the words on it.

But what Zang Xian sent just now was a singing girl, and what Xiao Yan sent was a house deed, so it was not appropriate to take action.

Liu Zhishu was about to respond when she saw Huo Tao perk up, "Someone else is here."

Liu Zhishu looked and saw that the person who came this time seemed to be very familiar with those low-level military officers. After exchanging greetings at the door for a while, he followed the general flag-gatherer named Chen Toutie in.

Liu Zhishu thought that the person who could deal with a general flag so warmly should not be an important figure. But after a closer look, he was surprised.

The visitor turned out to be the newly appointed Shandong Governor, Wang Chang.

After Wang Chang entered the official career, he worked in the Ministry of Justice. Then he climbed up step by step from the position of Censor of the Ministry of Justice, and finally entered the Ministry of War and served as the Minister of War.

When Liu Zhishu was observing government affairs in the Ministry of Justice, it was just before Wang Chang was transferred to the Ministry of War as the Left Vice Minister, and the two had a brief encounter.

There have been rumors before that Wang Chang, as one of the few remaining leading figures among Liu Jin's remnants, would definitely be liquidated.

This can be seen from the fact that he was transferred from the Minister of War in Beijing to Nanjing.

However, with Wang Chang being appointed as the Right Censor-in-Chief and Governor of Shandong some time ago, the rumors about this person have completely died down.

Wang Chang is going to land safely and retire normally.

What Liu Zhishu could not have imagined was that this high-ranking official who was about to be sent to a remote post would come to attend a concubine-taking banquet for a mere thousand households, and even disregard his status and chat and laugh with a general in front of everyone.

Wait, external speaker?
Liu Zhishu suddenly found something in common with Wang Chang.

It’s just that Wang Chang, who was sent to a remote place, was a second-rank frontier official with the title of Right Censor-in-Chief, while he was only a fourth-rank prefect.

Thinking of what Captain Pei had just told him, Liu Zhishu couldn't help but make a bold guess: Could it be that the Governor of Shandong was also here to seek Captain Pei's support?

What the hell!

Even the Governor of Shandong came to pay a visit before being transferred to a remote post. Could it be considered a stroke of luck and that I had come to the right place?

At this time, Wang Chang's entourage brought up a gift, which coincidentally was also a piece of calligraphy.

Huo Tao watched closely, and when he saw a Jinyiwei soldier come forward to receive the gift and send it to the backyard, he quickly tugged at Liu Zhishu's sleeve and said, "Prince Liu, this is a good opportunity. Should we follow him?"

Liu Zhishu was struggling in her heart.

He watched the Jinyiwei soldier walking further and further away with Wang Chang's letter, and said hesitantly, "Wait a minute."

Then, the left governor, who was a high-ranking official, saw the general flag that accompanied Wang Chang in and greeted him with a smile, "Tou Tie, where did you go just now? Why didn't I see you?"

Then he walked up to her, put his arm around her shoulders and started talking.

As the messenger between Pei Yuan and Xiao Yan, Chen Toutie was responsible for passing many secrets back and forth.

Xiao Yan was often furious at Pei Yuan's shameless methods, but he was very close to Chen Toutie, who was able to comfort him in time, help him complete his psychological cycle, and calm his internal friction.

Many times when Xiao Yan couldn't sleep at night, he silently recalled Chen Toutie's words several times and tried to persuade himself.

Forget it.

Gu Dayong and Qiu Ju looked at each other. They both knew that this time they were going to Shandong to escape the disaster under the pretext of Luo Jiao's incident, and cooperation with the Governor of Shandong was also a very important part, so they also greeted Wang Chang.

After being reminded by Chen Toutie, Xiao Yan remembered that the matter of sniping the governor of the river could not be separated from the help of the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Department. The Shandong Provincial Surveillance Department was naturally led by the Shandong Governor who was also the Right Censor-in-Chief, so he also stepped forward to greet him.

Zang Xian felt strange when he saw how harmonious those people were. He said to Pei Yuan tentatively, "Brother Pei, you have a wide range of friends."

Pei Yuan's heart moved.

As a political broker, Zang Xian had a wide range of friends.

It would be a good opportunity to ask Zang Xian to help publicize their development program and team culture to prevent anyone from having wild ideas.

Pei Yuan then whispered to Zang Xian, "Everyone is here for profit, everyone is here for profit."

"Oh?" Zang Xian's eyes lit up, "What do you mean?"

Pei Yuan whispered, "I went south before and thought that there was a lot of potential for the trade route along the canal, so I teamed up with a few like-minded friends and planned to open up this trade route together to make some money to supplement the family income."

Zang Xian was relieved after hearing this, and then he looked at everyone present and said with a smile, "Brother Pei, this doesn't look like you are trying to make a little money."

Pei Yuan spread his hands and said, "We are all amateurs. We will be satisfied if we don't lose money this year. We haven't started this matter yet, so I still need to sort it out."

Zang Xian smiled and asked Pei Yuan again, "What kind of business do you plan to do, brother?"

Pei Yuan replied calmly, "Ordinary silk and cotton."

Zang Xian immediately understood the meaning of it and couldn't help but exclaimed, "This is a good business. With such insight, there is no need to worry about bad business."

Is the silk and cotton business profitable?
It is true that some money can be made, but this kind of bulk materials can only generate stable profits, not huge profits.

Given Pei Yuan and his team's impressive status, doing business in silk and cotton is a bit conservative.

However, using this business to open up trade routes is also an excellent choice.

Because many officials from the south are powerful landlords.

Even if they were not powerful landlords before, after they gained fame and fortune, they would quickly become powerful landlords by means of occupation and contribution.

The economy in the south is developed, and a lot of land is used to grow mulberry trees and cotton.

Part of the industries of these powerful landlords in the south were in the industrial chain of two cash crops: silk and cotton.

Pei Yuan formed a small group to engage in the trade of silk and cotton cloth, and became the friendly father of many southern officials.

Zang Xian could already imagine that the attitude at the political level would change after this unknown small group was exposed.

what?
How dare the eunuchs, the ministers of honor, and the inspectors join forces?!

There is a way to die!

what?
Are they going to join forces to sell silk and cotton cloth to the north?
Okay, okay, take my silk and cotton and leave my hometown quickly!

Zang Xian only knew that this group of people knew how to play when he heard that they were going to start with silk and cotton.

Zang Xian thought about it and asked tentatively, "Brother, do you have enough capital? Do you want me to help?"

Pei Yuan has indeed made the silk and cotton business a counter-trading target for soybean trade.

Only the silk and cotton business could be exposed, but the soybean trade had to be firmly controlled in one's own hands.

Pei Yuan immediately said tactfully, "It's not my place to decide on this matter. If the subsequent trade routes can be opened, it won't be too late to discuss this matter."

Zang Xian thought about it and it made sense, so he didn't insist.

He calmly showed his value to Pei Yuan.

"Brother, you have chosen the perfect time to start this business now."

Pei Yuan knew there was more to come, so he quickly asked, "What advice do you have, Fengluan?"

Zang Xian said, "Two days ago, the Supervisory Censor Zhang Jingxuan said that because of rampant thieves and the lack of trade, the market has become depressed, so he hopes to reduce the commercial taxes of Zhengyang and other nine gates. The Ministry of Revenue has already made a decision and plans to reduce the taxes of Zhengyang and other seven gates by 20%, and Chaoyang and Dongzhi two gates by 30%. "

"In addition, the Shuntianfu Tongzhou Beiguan Inspection Office must be abolished."

Pei Yuan was shocked after hearing this, and felt something was wrong. He immediately asked, "What about the money gates in Lin, Huai, Yang, Suzhou, Hangzhou, etc?"

(End of this chapter)