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

Chapter 382: Large platform, installment payment possible

If we count from the first day of April, if a major war breaks out on the front line, the court will get the result on the fourth or fifth day at the latest.

Although Pei Yuan tried hard to keep calm, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous on the fourth day of April.

Chen Xinjian was very tactful and quickly sent the information about Zhang Song, the judge of the Dali Temple, to Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan took a look and was not surprised at all when he saw the description of Zhang Song's heavy debt.

The authority of the Dali Temple had been greatly weakened during this era.

Although they are theoretically responsible for reviewing case files, investigating and collecting evidence, and making rulings on sentences, among the three judicial departments, the Dali Temple has an inferior status to the Censorate, and less actual power than the Ministry of Justice. Basically, the only power they have left is to raise objections.

We can simply understand that once a case occurs, the specific review work, that is, the first instance, is led by the Ministry of Justice and supervised by the Censorate.

The Dali Temple serves as a review agency and conducts a second instance on paper.

But the question is, since the Dali Temple is not as high in status as the Censorate and its real power is not as great as that of the Ministry of Justice, why did it jump out to oppose the results of the first trial of those two big brothers? Isn't this just seeking excitement?
Therefore, the status of Dali Temple has declined seriously at this time.

Especially during the Hongzhi period, the Dali Temple no longer had to transfer prisoners from the Ministry of Justice for the second trial. After only a paper second trial, the Dali Temple was completely marginalized among the three courts.

After all, the Dali Temple can only review the results of the first instance, and the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate will not allow anything that may cause trouble to appear in the files of the first instance.

The Dali Temple is in such a state of decline now, let alone a minor official of the seventh rank in the Dali Temple.

The salaries of Ming officials were already somewhat stretched due to the double impact of rising prices and salary cuts.

Local officials can embezzle bribes and misappropriate public funds, and their lives are still relatively comfortable.

The more important yamen among the officials in the capital can make a lot of money by taking advantage of the situation and enjoying the respect from local officials.

But the situation of those officials in Beijing who work in low-paying jobs is too miserable.

They not only have to bear the high living expenses in Beijing, but also face the pressure of not being able to make ends meet with just their salary.

Take the Dali Temple judge for example. The salary of this seventh-rank official is 7 shi and 5 dou per month. This salary also includes the ridiculous treasure notes and discount coins, and only about half of it can be actually cashed out.

Calculated at four shi, it is equivalent to only two taels of silver as monthly salary.

How easy is it to support a family in Beijing with two taels of silver?

What's more, as an official, he cannot avoid socializing with colleagues, and during important festivals, he has to give gifts to please his superiors.

Therefore, a large number of officials in Beijing are either living off their own family assets or are heavily in debt, hoping for the opportunity to be assigned to other posts.

There is also a very professional term here, called "Beijing Debt".

Those who lent money in Beijing were all powerful families. For example, the family of Zhang Heling, Marquis of Shouning, was a very powerful large platform.

As soon as the imperial examination results were announced, these people would target those successful candidates who came from poor families and did not get good official positions, like vultures.

These scholars of poor origin were limited by their own knowledge and could easily be lured by their words and borrow large sums of money to bribe in order to seek a better transfer.

There were even some candidates who were tricked into borrowing money as soon as they arrived in Beijing to prepare for the exams, and then were lured into spending all their money with promises of literary gatherings, banquets, and fame-seeking.

Seeing that the loan was purely credit-guaranteed and they could borrow and use it at any time, and that there was no interest paid before the results of the imperial examination were announced, those candidates all felt at ease and started to consume in advance.

After all, when you become an official in the future, will it still be a problem to repay the money?

But when the imperial examination list came out, those vultures immediately changed their attitude.

Some of them directly snatched the certificates of successful candidates and demanded that the candidates redeem them with money.

Some even directly detained new officials who had not yet taken office, preventing them from taking office. If they wanted to be appointed as officials, they had to pay money first.

Candidates who have passed the imperial examinations or new officials who are about to take office have no choice but to borrow more money from larger and more powerful platforms to settle their previous debts.

The newly-taken third party cut off the previous process and obtained a clean debt, and was no longer afraid of those juren and jinshi making a big fuss.

This means that as their debt relationship shifts, they become less able to struggle and more controlled by others.

Not to mention cold and hot government offices, many new officials are already heavily in debt before they even take office.

It is better for those who are sent to local officials. When they take up their posts, the debt collectors of the platform will follow them and ask them to repay the interest that has increased several times.

If these debt slaves are ruthless, they can pay off their debts in Beijing in three to five years and gain freedom.

Those who can't bring themselves to do it and can't lose face may have to wait for more than ten years before they can hope to be relieved.

People like Zhang Song, who was targeted by someone and thrown into a cold government office, and had to live a hard life in the capital city on two taels of silver a month, will basically never be able to break free from the shackles in his life.

Pei Yuan looked at the stack of papers recording Zhang Song's trivial matters, and felt very sad.

If I had had five or six hundred taels of silver back then, how could I have ended up in this situation?

Now that I am burdened by such a huge foundation, when can I ever have some leisure time?

Pei Yuan smacked his lips and asked Chen Xinjian, "How much silver does he owe in total?"

Chen Xinjian had obviously investigated, "He once mentioned it to someone, it should be more than 160 taels."

Pei Yuan sighed after hearing this.

With Zhang Songzheng's seventh-rank salary, even if he didn't eat or drink, it would not be enough to pay the interest.

If Zhang Song could have stayed in Beijing for a few more years and grown his capital a little more, his life would have been over.

Even if you are lucky enough to make a breakthrough in the future, there will always be someone holding the reins behind you.

Pei Yuan asked Chen Xinjian, "Does his family have any other businesses?"

Chen Xinjian replied, "They were sold out a few years ago."

Pei Yuan saw that Zhang Song was really at the end of his rope, so he said to Chen Xinjian, "Okay, go ask him if he's willing to work at the Jinyiwei Experience Department. If he's willing to come, I'll help him pay off his debts."

"Every month from now on..."

Pei Yuan calculated and turned to look at Chen Xinjian, "How much silver do you have now?"

Chen Xinjian chuckled and said, "Twenty taels."

Ever since the Northern Bureau's work got on track and hundreds of temples paid protection fees, Pei Yuan has stopped bleeding the Southern Bureau and started to be self-sufficient.

In addition to saving a large sum of money for future expansion, the rest of the money was used to support the existing troops.

Almost all the Jinyiwei under the Northern Bureau could receive high salaries from Kong Xu.

Chen Xinjian started out as a minor flag officer, and although he was only of the seventh rank, he was already ten times more powerful than Zhang Song.

Pei Yuan first said to Chen Xinjian, "Don't worry, there will be more and more in the future."

When Chen Xinjian started to laugh foolishly, Pei Yuan said, "Tell Zhang Song that as long as he comes to help me, he will be paid 20 taels a month."

Chen Xinjian waited for a while, and seeing that Pei Yuan had no other instructions, he left in a hurry.

Pei Yuan looked at Chen Xinjian's back and shook his head slightly. He didn't expect that I would have to support these Ming Dynasty officials.

Deceiving too much!

By the afternoon, Chen Xinjian came back.

Pei Yuan saw that he looked relaxed, so he asked with a smile, "How's the matter going?"

Chen Xinjian quickly replied, "It's done. As long as we help him pay off his debts, Zhang Song is willing to come to the Jinyiwei Experience Department. He is outside the temple now and wants to come and thank the captain in person."

Pei Yuan said, "Let him in."

Chen Xinjian went out and brought Zhang Song in.

Zhang Song obviously didn't expect that he would get such an opportunity by acting as an introducer.

He understood that the Jinyiwei was a place full of dangers, but now that things had come to this, he really had no other choice.

When Zhang Song saw Pei Yuan, he bowed to the ground, tears streaming down his face, and said, "Your humble servant Zhang Song, would like to thank the commander for his help." Pei Yuan said "hmm" with a long drawl, but did not take too much credit for it.

"The main reason is that you have offended Xie Qian, and your future is hopeless. Otherwise, as a Jinshi, you are still worth others' investment."

Zhang Song did not expect Pei Yuan to speak so bluntly. He hesitated for a moment and kept repeating, "I don't know how I have offended the Grand Secretary... I may have done it unintentionally, I..."

Seeing Zhang Song's flustered and incoherent speech, Pei Yuan smiled and said to him, "Get up. You don't have to worry that I will regret it. Didn't Xie Qian leave? Even if he has the chance to return to the court, he can't do anything to me."

"I was able to lead my troops into the residence of the current Grand Secretary Liang Chu and capture his son, let alone a former Grand Secretary."

After Pei Yuan said this, Zhang Song suddenly realized, "It turns out that Qian Hu is the righteous man in brocade clothes who beat Liang Ci'an violently and upheld justice for the people of the world."

From now on, Zhang Song will be one of them, so Pei Yuan doesn't need to be so polite. He immediately laughed and said, "Yes, it's me."

Pei Yuan could feel that Zhang Song seemed to be stagnant for a moment, as if his breathing had stopped.

Then that small moment of pause disappeared just like that, as if it had never appeared.

Zhang Song bowed again and said, "I am glad to serve you, my humble servant."

Pei Yuan silently looked at the official curled up on the ground and the faint red halo that suddenly appeared on the ground.

Zhang Song didn't wait for Pei Yuan's response, and he didn't dare to stand up or say a word.

Pei Yuan suddenly asked him directly, "Do you want to take revenge on Xie Qian?"

Zhang Song shuddered as if frightened, and then hurriedly explained, "I am a humble official, a humble minister, a lowly official..."

This cowardly and fearful fellow who lived in the shadow of Xie Qian had just begun to develop some thoughts of revenge, but was directly exposed by Captain Pei.

This made Zhang Song's mind go blank and he became incoherent.

Pei Yuan looked at the faint red halo shattering and was speechless. Just like that?

Pei Yuan was too lazy to argue with him.

So I said to him, "Okay, let me see how to do it properly."

Pei Yuan added, "By the way, if there is a transfer order, it will nominally be to Nanjing Jinyiwei, so you don't have to worry about that. I will then transfer you to our Qianhu Suo."

Zhang Song didn't understand the ins and outs of this and just nodded in agreement.

Pei Yuan looked at Zhang Song and still didn't let him get up. Instead, he repeated his previous promise to him, "In addition to the money I'll use to settle your account, your salary will be temporarily set at 20 taels per month. When you make a contribution, I will also be generous in rewarding you."

Zhang Song thanked him again profusely.

Pei Yuan felt a little sad as he looked at this guy whose edges had been completely worn away by life.

This is not as good as when he was cowardly and resentful just now. He was more like a human being.

He squatted down and looked at Zhang Song.

Zhang Song looked at Pei Yuan in confusion.

Seeing Pei Yuan staring at him, Zhang Song slowly began to feel panic again.

He looked at Pei Yuan's serious and sharp gaze, wanting to dodge but not daring to avoid it.

Pei Yuan then slowly said to Zhang Song, "Remember, you are taking my money."

Zhang Song's body stiffened. This time he quickly understood Pei Yuan's meaning and said sincerely, "I will sell my life to Qian Hu."

Pei Yuan was quite satisfied with Zhang Song's attitude.

Pulling him to his feet, she said, "Alright. Just follow my lead and I won't treat you unfairly."

After saying that, Pei Yuan remembered something and said to Zhang Song, "By the way, is there anyone else in your family?"

Zhang Song was feeling touched, but was suddenly frightened when Pei Yuan asked him this.

He then remembered the Jinyiwei's bad reputation and said apprehensively, "I have a weak wife and an old mother at home, and two sons who are just learning to speak."

Pei Yuan was a little disappointed, "It's so troublesome."

After saying that, he waved his hand to signal Zhang Song to leave.

Zhang Song was so frightened after hearing half of what he said that he dared not leave. He quickly asked Pei Yuan, "Please tell me clearly, Captain Pei."

When Pei Yuan saw Zhang Song like this, he knew that he had misunderstood.

He patiently explained, "If your identity is simpler, it would be fine. I can just report you as a drowning victim. I will try to help you change your appearance and fill the vacancy."

Zhang Song then breathed a sigh of relief.

Then his heart began to lift again, and he asked Pei Yuan a little nervously, "Then, then is it difficult for me to handle this?"

Pei Yuan said, "It's not easy. You have an old mother to support, and your son also needs to have a bright future. It's a pity to change his appearance."

This is secondary. The main thing is to change Zhang Song's identity, and then he will lose his greatest value.

Qualification for becoming a Jinshi!

As long as there is a chance to get a good thing like Jinshi, of course I will hoard as many as I can.

What's more, this Jinshi had offended Xie Qian and had almost no prospects for advancement, so other bigwigs didn't even try to help him.

We just have to find a way to go through the formal procedures.

Pei Yuan thought about it and arranged for Chen Xinjian to take Zhang Song away first, while he went to Wang Qiong's house again before it got completely dark.

Wang Qiong was greatly surprised when he heard Pei Yuan talk about Zhang Song.

Then he frowned and said seriously, "The selection and appointment of officials is a major matter of the court. How can you and I interfere casually?"

Pei Yuan said disapprovingly, "If it was really that high-sounding, how could Zhang Song have been suppressed in the seventh-rank official position for more than ten years?"

Wang Qiong said calmly, "That's the Ministry of Personnel's business. The injustice done by the Ministry of Personnel is indeed chilling. But we are not the Ministry of Personnel."

Wang Qiong also mentioned the practical aspects, "Besides, the Minister of Personnel Yang Yiqing has a close relationship with Xie Qian. How could the people working under him not take this into consideration?"

Pei Yuan smiled at Wang Qiong and said, "This is not difficult. I just don't have connections in the Ministry of Personnel. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to you."

Wang Qiong was somewhat unhappy with Pei Yuan's brazen remarks.

But Pei Yuan said calmly, "Do those people in the Ministry of Personnel have any deep hatred with Zhang Song?"

Without waiting for Wang Qiong to speak, he answered himself, "No."

"Is Xie Qian's reputation so good that someone has always taken care of this matter over the years?"

"Not necessarily."

"They are just indulging the evil in their hearts, enjoying the pleasure of playing with other people's lives under the pretext of covering up their ugliness."

"But not everyone likes the villain game. There are always people who are willing to put an end to it."

"The premise is, don't cause them any trouble."

"So your tireless pursuit of justice for Zhang Song actually hit them where they are most vulnerable."

"Then let Xie Qian continue to take the lead. For the sake of Xie Qian's name, demote Zhang Song to the seventh rank or the eighth rank."

"Pick him a junior official and get him to my Imperial Guards."

"The matter has been concluded, and I have gained your favor. Everyone can explain themselves."

Wang Qiong was stunned after hearing this.

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "Isn't it true that if you take a step back, the world will be broader?"

(End of this chapter)