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

Chapter 386 Living up to the time
Pei Yuan's visit to the capital this time basically laid a solid foundation for the capital.

Pei Yuan left Tan Tai Fang Tu in Beijing, continued to train the Jinyiwei, and sent Taoist priests to more temples.

Relying on the continuous tributes from large and small temples, Pei Yuan was able to greatly expand the scale of the Northern Bureau.

He himself withdrew most of the people and took them all to Shandong on business.

Of the 600 elite soldiers from Xuzhou that were gathered, Cheng Leixiang and Ding Hong each took away 100 to quickly take control of the garrisons they were in.

Of the remaining four hundred people, Pei Yuan selected two hundred personal soldiers to stay behind at Zhihua Temple where he was stationed, to protect his silver.

The other two hundred people were handed over to Chen Toutie and stationed in Puxianyuan to protect his house and women in Dengshikou.

It can be said that..., he puts public interests above personal interests and fully integrates family life into work.

Later, after the horse-drying time at Da Ci'en Temple, Pei Yuan temporarily hid these 200 people in Tianjin Wei.

This time, we had to transport silver to Huguang to bid for soybeans, and only then did we recruit people back one after another.

Now, Dengshikou has been taken over by Song Chunniang, who served as the chief of the Western Factory. The Puxianyuan Hundred Households Office has also been re-established, with the Taoist priests from the surrounding areas taking turns to guard it.

In order to prevent anyone from causing any trouble while Pei Yuan was away from Beijing, he gave the temporary jurisdiction of the Hundred Households Office to Yun Buxian, who was concentrating on repairing a house for Captain Pei.

The Yun family father and son have a wide network of contacts in the capital. If some emergencies can be handled more smoothly, Pei Yuan will have time to activate many of his backup plans.

Yun Buxian was so moved that Pei Qianhu valued him so much that he was overwhelmed.

Yun Buxian was promoted to the rank of general because of his merit in breaking into Liang's house and capturing Liang Ci'an last time.

Now that Qianhu has started to employ him, he can finally stop wasting his skills.

Yun Buxian has always felt that his abilities are not inferior to Cheng Leixiang. According to previous precedent, since the commander-in-chief values ​​him so much, he should be sent out as a commander next.

Yun Buxian looked at the construction site in front of him where people were mixing mud, throwing stones and tamping earth, and he sincerely felt a kind of vitality where all things were competing to flourish.

As for Zhihua Temple, some Jinyiwei from Kong Xu and Bu Lu were left behind, and Pei Yuan also withdrew the elite troops guarding their old nest in Xuzhou.

Not long after leaving the city, Chen Toutie came over with Tian Fu to say hello, "Captain, I am Yin Cheman, and I will take my leave of you first."

Pei Yuan nodded and repeatedly reminded Chen Toutie, "Your brain isn't very good. When you encounter problems, listen to Tian Fu's opinions."

Chen Toutie's face turned red with embarrassment. He looked back at Tian Fu, then at Huo Tao who was sitting in the same carriage with Pei Yuan, and said awkwardly, "I obey your command."

Tian Fu was also a little embarrassed. He didn't even want to say goodbye to Captain Pei alone.

After all, according to Pei Yuan's vague system division, he will follow Chen Toutie for a long time, one is responsible for planning and responding, and the other ensures loyalty and execution.

Captain Pei has not mentioned what will be done after he passes the imperial examination, but serving as an imperial censor to inspect Shandong should be the closest possibility.

Luo Jiaozhi's chief priest toured Shandong as an imperial censor, and assisted Chen Jiaozhu...

Tian Fu thought about the scene and felt more and more that he had done the right thing by boarding Captain Pei's boat.

The Ming Dynasty still has a promising future.

After the cult leader and the chief priest left, Huo Tao took the initiative to ask, "I do have some talent, if you can use me, just let me know."

After the concubine-taking banquet, Huo Tao finally understood everything.

If those people whom he has worked hard all his life to look up to are still eager to attend the banquet for Pei Qianhu to take a concubine, then why should he, who is already qualified to sit at the banquet, be so stupid as to spend his whole life looking up to them?
Unlike old-fashioned people like He Tian Fu who are well versed in the world and can accept reality little by little, the more collapsed the beliefs of young people are, the more drastic the turn they make.

Unexpectedly, Pei Yuan smiled at Huo Tao and said, "You don't have to."

With Huo Tao's intelligence, he naturally saw that Tian Fu had already defected to Pei Yuan a long time ago, and his loyalty was recognized to a considerable extent.

Now when the troops are assigned to carry out missions, he can play the role of giving advice and suggestions, and even Captain Pei’s absolute confidant has to listen to his opinion.

Huo Tao, feeling that he was a step behind, was about to hint at his loyalty more boldly.

Pei Yuan said to him earnestly, "You are a talent for the country and will support the Ming Dynasty in the future. Your current task is to observe and learn more."

History cannot give a complete assessment of Huo Tao's talents.

Because of the strong Prime Minister Zhang Cong, all his contemporaries were overshadowed.

Zhang Cong was able to endure before he entered the cabinet, but after he entered the cabinet, he immediately cast aside the scumbag Jiajing who was holding him back, and acted boldly with strong means. Not only was he brave enough to reform and rectify the administration of officials, he also cleared out a large amount of land and property from the people that had been seized by royal relatives.

Emperor Jiajing, who had worked hard for six years, was suddenly hit hard.

It turns out that I don’t have to do anything and the world will be fine.

It's time to take some time to break through the Qi Refining Stage.

What about Huo Tao? Although he was overshadowed by Zhang Cong, he did not show much ability to govern the country, but his views on the political situation and political decisions were top-notch.

At the most critical moment of Zhang Cong's battle with Yang Yiqing, Zhang Cong and Gui E could not withstand Yang Yiqing's fierce attack and were about to be convicted under the impeachment of Wang Zhun and Lu Can. It was Huo Tao who made the key judgment that "the departure of the two will inevitably implicate me" and "the enemy is in Wenyuan Pavilion", and thus he attacked Yang Yiqing.

The appearance of this new force, the Minister of Rites Huo Tao, immediately defeated Yang Yiqing's camp. The Minister of Justice Zhou Lun moved south to become an official in Nandu, and Xu Zan, the Vice Minister of Justice who supported Huo Tao, took office.

Only after taking over the Ministry of Justice did they gain an overwhelming advantage over Yang Yiqing.

Zhang Cong also took this opportunity to overthrow Yang Yiqing and become the prime minister.

Pei Yuan's most ideal political model for the future is that Zhang Cong governs the Ming Dynasty to make the country rich and the people strong; Huo Tao governs the government so that factions of all sizes can work together; Tianfu governs Luojiao, takes over the deep government where imperial power does not extend below the county level, takes root among the vast majority of the people, and maintains Pei Yuan's core ruling power.

The three of them have different responsibilities and each has different goals.

People like Huo Tao should clearly aim at the Hanlin Academy.

Huo Tao was shocked, but secretly happy. He didn't expect Captain Pei to think so highly of him.

Pei Yuan didn't want to talk to Huo Tao for the time being. He lifted the curtain and watched the troops being deployed outside.

Chen Toutie still led the 200 elite soldiers from Xuzhou who were originally from Puxian Temple. They had to escort 140,000 taels of silver to Henan. Although no one knew about this and they didn't have to worry about being plotted against, they still brought enough long and short weapons, large armor, bows and crossbows.

When it comes to escorting silver, there is no team more professional than this one in the Ming Dynasty.

With the tall and strong men and well-equipped weapons of this team, they would not take the thousands of bandits seriously at all.

Chen Toutie also carried letters of introduction from the Left General Xiao Yan, the Western Factory Supervisor Gu Dayong, and the Left Censor-in-Chief Li Shishi, so Pei Yuan was not worried about his safety.

As the team's pace increased, the two sides began to become completely disconnected.

Pei Yuan was left with only 200 personal soldiers defending Zhihua Temple and more than 100 Jinyiwei under Sikong Suidai. Although the number of people had been reduced a lot, they still appeared to be a mighty force on the official road.

Pei Yuan looked at the marching speed and estimated in his mind that if they continued like this, it was hard to say whether they could reach Hexi Posthouse tonight.

It's just that they brought a lot of baggage and equipment, and there was nothing they could do about it. Pei Yuan had done so many bad things himself that he was naturally afraid that others would copy him.

Wasn't Liang Ci'e also killed by someone who broke into Sanhe Posthouse while he was under the protection of the garrison soldiers?

Liang Chu might not have thought of such a simple and crude method, but Zhang Rong did, and Zhang Rong did it more than once.

Let’s not mention the ambush on Pei Yuan in the capital. Wasn’t the Portuguese artillery attack in Nanzhili by Pei Yuan a secret operation by the Northern Pacification Office?
Although Zhang Rong is in custody now, as long as Zhang Yong does not fall, he is still the boss even in prison.

His followers outside still follow his lead.

Pei Yuan was thinking about this when he heard the sound of hurried horse hooves in the distance.

Pei Yuan was startled. He lifted the curtain in front of the carriage, leaned out, and looked towards the north where the dust was rising.

The carriage stopped quickly, and there was a little commotion among the Xuzhou soldiers on the march, with people whispering to each other everywhere.

Sikong Sui and Cen Meng shouted loudly and began to form a team.

Several cavalrymen wandering around the team quickly rode their horses to the rear.

The commotion of the Xuzhou soldiers was just a normal reaction to the accident. When they heard Cen Meng yelling to form a team, they immediately reacted and went to get their weapons and cotton armor from the baggage carts.

Cen Meng emerged from the dozen or so personal soldiers who had followed Pei Yuan when he was in Nanzhili.

He fought in almost all the battles that Pei Yuan had experienced this year, including facing the countless attacks from the Bazhou bandits in Yanggu.

So regardless of Cen Meng's abilities, he was very calm when facing emergencies.

The Xuzhou soldiers were in the same situation. They had actually fought against the bandits under tremendous pressure, and at least on a psychological level, they had no intention of fearing battle.

However, the Jinyiwei brought by Sikong Sui, although they are also experts with experience in hunting down cults, their vigilance is not as strong.

Seeing Sikong Sui shouting orders loudly, their reaction was much slower than that of the Xuzhou soldiers.

Pei Yuan waited for the carriage to stop, then got out of the carriage and looked out from a high place. While looking, he reached out to the side.

Chen Xinjian immediately handed Pei Yuan's golden hammer to him.

Pei Yuan looked at them for a while and ordered, "There aren't many people coming, so don't rush to put on armor."

After hearing this, Cheng Zhihu rode on his horse and shouted to pass on Pei Yuan's order.

In less than half a cup of tea, the cavalry in the distance stopped their charge.

The cavalrymen who came to meet the approaching people stepped forward. They first quickly observed the group of people, and seeing that they only had swords with them, they loudly asked about their purpose.

The cavalry quickly separated, revealing a man, who was none other than Gu Daliang, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Gu Daliang exchanged a few words with the cavalry from the Qianhu Division, and the cavalry quickly sent someone to report.

Pei Yuan was also a little surprised when he heard that it was Gu Daliang who came.

He threw the golden hammer to Chen Xinjian and ordered the ranger, "Let him come over."

The ranger rode away quickly and shouted a few words when he got to the group of people.

Gu Daliang left behind dozens of his subordinates and only took two riders with him, following the cavalry to Pei Yuan's side.

Pei Yuan jumped off the carriage and waited for Gu Daliang to come over.

When Gu Daliang was about to arrive, Hou Qing immediately led a few armored soldiers to meet him.

Gu Daliang wisely dismounted from his horse in advance and strode towards Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan asked loudly, "Why is Earl Yongqing here again?"

Gu Daliang laughed and said, "Come and see Qian Hu off."

As he spoke, he glanced at the soldiers who were already on guard, then withdrew his gaze with a little surprise, and smiled and complimented, "I didn't expect that the thousand-householders would lead such elite troops. I think even the border troops may not have such momentum."

Pei Yuan did not answer the question, but smiled and continued, "Didn't I send it just now?"

Gu Daliang replied, "Just now, Qianhu wanted Gu Ben to see you off, so I brought him here."

As he spoke, Gu Daliang turned around and gestured.

One of his followers opened a bundle tied to the saddle, revealing a box.

Pei Yuan's eyelids twitched.

The attendant had already opened the box, and inside was the head of Tanimoto, whom he had met once before.

Seeing Pei Yuan remained silent, Gu Daliang explained, "Just now I heard the captain mention Gu Ben, so I asked someone to ask Gu Ben if he knew the captain. I didn't expect Gu Ben to be quite disrespectful to the captain."

"I heard something strange, so I asked someone to inquire about the whole story in detail. I learned that last year, Tanimoto was ignorant of his own limitations and actually offended Qianhu."

Gu Daliang looked at Gu Ben's head and said bluntly, "What's the point of keeping such a blind man?"

Pei Yuan sighed softly.

There were indeed no fond memories between him and Gu Ben, but times had changed and he could even forgive Xiao Yan and his son. Given the friendship between him and Gu Dayong, why should he make things difficult for his adopted son?
He saw that Xiao Tong was Xiao Yan's son and the third son of Wang was Wang Qiong's son, and subconsciously thought that the person coming would be Gu Dayong's adopted son Gu Ben.

Unexpectedly, just by asking this casual question, Gu Daliang brought Gu Ben's head.

This man's ruthlessness and cruelty reminded Pei Yuan vaguely of an old friend.

——He Huan, commander of Huai’an Guard.

Pei Yuan had no expression on his face, and said calmly, "There's no need to be like this, this is Eunuch Gu's adopted son."

Gu Daliang smiled and said, "I will explain it to my eldest brother when I get back. He is old and sometimes he is confused. If you have any questions, just come to me, Gu Daliang."

Pei Yuan did not give any promise. He glanced at Gu Ben's head, then looked at Gu Daliang and said with a fake smile, "I have already met the person. Earl Yongqing can go back now."

Gu Daliang smiled heartlessly, "Okay, I'll go back right away, I'll go back right away."

When the three riders went away, Pei Yuan's face immediately turned ugly.

Pei Yuan stood there without saying a word. He waited until the three riders and the large group gathered and rode away before he withdrew his gaze.

"Captain." Sikong Sui and Cen Meng rushed over and wanted to find out what happened.

Pei Yuan exhaled, glanced at everyone calmly, and said calmly, "Let's go."

(End of this chapter)