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

Chapter 400 Privatization

After Pei Yuan led his men to Licheng, he first went to meet with Gu Dayong and Wang Chang in secret.

The Luojiao incident was a conspiracy between Pei Yuan and Gu Dayong, and Wang Chang was just cooperating. The two sides had different degrees of involvement in this matter.

Pei Yuan now relies more on Luo Jiao, so he has the idea of ​​slowly withdrawing from the public eye.

After all, if you intend to use it as a murder weapon, it would be stupid to put a logo on it.

Pei Yuan explained to Gu Dayong that the existence of Luojiao could help them make profits from ignorant men and women, so perhaps they could try to keep it around for a while longer.

Pei Yuan explained to Wang Chang that Luojiao could become a political bargaining chip after it grew stronger. Holding this political bargaining chip in hand would increase their own weight.

No matter how they proceed, in order to avoid risks, all parties have to slowly withdraw from this matter.

Basically.

This is like a partnership company that, after the initial start-up period, was proposed to be privatized by Pei Yuan, one of the partners.

Gu Dayong and Qiu Huiji would share the benefits, Wang Chang would get political support, and Pei Yuan would get Luojiao itself.

As for the specific work of Luo Jiao, it will be handed over to Chen Toutie to run independently.

The three of them will complete the risk elimination in the entire incident through the firewall of Chen Toutie.

Gu Dayong and Qiu Ju originally had three demands when they founded Luojiao.

One is to use this to intimidate the imperial court and restore the Western Factory.

One is to make up for the lie told in this matter.

Another one used the excuse of suppressing Luojiao to avoid disaster in Shandong, and returned to survive after Zhu Houzhao replaced the old people with those of Hongzhi and formed a cabinet in the inner court.

Now that the Western Factory has been successfully restored due to the death of Liang Ci'e, as long as the Luo Sect truly surfaces, they will have achieved their second goal.

After that, it was nothing more than hanging around in Shandong.

Therefore, they have little demand for this matter, and they are even more happy to see it happen if they can get some extra profits.

As for Wang Chang, he felt that Captain Pei's words to him were an insult to the loyalty of this old minister.

Like the King of Chu to Qu Yuan, like King Zhou to Bi Gan.

Captain Pei did the work for the two of them, and then helped Chen Toutie to take the position.

After Pei Yuan returned, he observed Chen Toutie carefully and felt that this guy was rough and undignified, with a strong air of stupidity. He felt that he was more like a villain than the gloomy Tian Fu.

It’s just that temperament is something that needs to be cultivated. Perhaps after some time, Chen Toutie will be able to grow up.

Taking into account that it was Chen Toutie's first appearance, he still had to give that evil and powerful feeling, so Pei Yuan had someone prepare a large black robe and hood.

Pei Yuan asked Chen Toutie to try it on and felt...

Not bad.

Just get by for now, and later someone can make a set of armor for Chen Toutie in the style of the Lich King, so that he will look evil enough.

On the second day, Pei Yuan gathered all the people and took Chen Toutie, who was wearing a burqa, directly to the Shandong Governor's Office.

The military officer guarding outside the governor's office saw that they were all wearing the uniforms of the Jinyiwei officials. He did not dare to be negligent and quickly asked about their identities and went in to report.

The soldiers outside the door were also whispering and discussing in low voices the purpose of these people's visit.

As for the man in a burqa in the team, although they found it strange, since he was brought by the Royal Guards, he was probably an important criminal or witness.

Wang Chang had been waiting in the government office for a long time. When he heard that Pei Yuan had arrived, he deliberately said to his subordinates, "The matter of the Luo Sect is complicated. The previous large-scale raids have caused public resentment. Many retired celebrities have also sent me letters, hoping to take the opportunity to persuade them."

"Now that the Jinyiwei has sent people to interrogate those Luojiao villains, we can just get rid of this trouble."

Everyone heard this and said, "That's great."

Wang Chang took the opportunity to say, "In that case, why don't you all come with me to take a look, so that no one will gossip about us and think we are just being perfunctory."

Although the Governor's Office worked in the local area, it was actually composed of officials sent by the imperial court.

Therefore, in addition to some recruited clerks, those who usually assisted Wang Chang in handling official affairs were officials seconded from the Censorate.

Seeing that the court was so concerned about the Luojiao incident, these people had already treated it as a formidable enemy, fearing that something might go wrong on their part.

Seeing that the Jinyiwei were about to take the criminal away, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Who would be so stubborn as to pass the buck if they can just shirk responsibility?

Anyway, the matter has to be pushed forward now, so it's easy to talk without any worries. What's wrong with paying attention to it?
All the officials laughed and said, "This is exactly what we should do, so that the court can know that our Shandong officials are working hard."

Wang Chang saw this and said, "Well, everyone, follow me."

So Wang Chang dusted off his official uniform, stood up from the main hall, and went out to greet them with seven or eight officials of the fifth or sixth rank.

Although the two sides did not have an overt subordinate relationship, Pei Yuan, as a fifth-rank military officer, still expressed his respect for the second-rank civil official.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Wang Chang said, "Since the Jinyiwei has taken over this matter, it is natural that the handover should be clear."

He turned back and said, "Come here, bring those foolish men and women to the yamen to see me."

Someone hurried away immediately.

Soon, the number of the governor's personal soldiers in front of the yamen began to increase, and many of them were holding weapons and standing guard vigilantly.

After a while, some jailers holding sticks rushed out from the side corner door and brought out many young and strong men with iron chains on their hands.

Many of these people looked ferocious, which was consistent with the temperament of bad guys, but they looked panicked and timid, more like honest people who had not seen much of the world.

Fortunately, these people were only detained in prison and had not been interrogated.

Apart from his torn clothes and listless spirit, he had no visible injuries on his body.

When the prisoners saw that they were surrounded by many soldiers from the governor's office holding weapons and a large group of Jinyiwei waiting there in an imposing manner, they began to cry out in panic.

A chief jailer shouted, "Behave yourself!"

A loud shout immediately silenced the prisoners.

The head jailer was a little nervous when he saw so many officials on the steps looking at him. He shouted, "The governor of this province is here. Why don't you kneel down?"

When the people heard that the governor was among the officials before them, they were immediately frightened and knelt down one after another.

No matter how ignorant they were, they knew that the most powerful person in a province was the governor.

It is said that "a county magistrate ruins a family, and a prefect annihilates an entire clan." If you offend a dignified governor, even the egg yolk will be scattered.

Wang Chang saw this and coughed lightly. He then said to the prisoners, "I am here on the orders of the emperor to inspect Shandong. My top priority is to appease the military and civilians and eliminate the troubles. You guys should take care of yourselves."

After Wang Chang finished speaking, he looked at Pei Yuan.

He already knew the trick here, so he naturally didn't want to waste time. Pei Yuan also coughed lightly as a prelude.

The officials of the Censorate thought that Pei Yuan also wanted to speak, so they all looked over at him.

Little did he know that Pei Yuan was giving Chen Toutie a signal.

Chen Toutie, who was wearing a black robe and a hood, stepped forward and tried hard to imitate Pei Yuan. He said in a deep voice, "Follow me!"

The prisoners below looked at this man and there was a slight commotion.

They have struggled hard since they were arrested, but there are many officials who have taken over from them. But who cares about what they say?
Every attempt was met with beatings and worse conditions.

After trying everything, these people had already given up.

However, the officials who took over from them were replaced one after another, but the guy in front of him, whose face he couldn't see clearly, had an indescribable weirdness.

Chen Toutie had also experienced many ups and downs, so he did not take the evasive and inquiring gazes of hundreds of prisoners seriously.

After he finished speaking, he looked at the Jinyiwei soldiers beside him.

Those Jinyiwei soldiers were led by Chen Toutie when they came from Puxianyuan. When they saw Chen Zongqi's signal, they immediately rushed forward and replaced the personal soldiers who were guarding the prisoners.

The officials of the Censorate looked at the guy hidden in the burqa in surprise, and then looked at Pei Yuan, all of them somewhat confused.

Why didn't the highest-ranking captain come forward to take over these prisoners?
Furthermore, who is this person wearing the burqa?

Before they could think about it, they heard Wang Chang whisper to them, "There's nothing for us to do here, let's go."

Those officials also came to their senses and realized that they had finally gotten rid of this big trouble, so there was no need to meddle in other people's business.

Besides, the rules of the Evil Suppression Thousand Households Office have nothing to do with them.

So the officials watched as the man in the black robe and hood led the prisoners away, as if it had nothing to do with them, and then followed Wang Chang back to the governor's office.

When Chen Toutie saw those officials leave, he quickly asked Pei Yuan in a low voice, "Captain, what should we do next?"

Pei Yuan also whispered, "Next we have to go to the West Factory and do this trick again."

Chen Toutie had just experienced this and had some confidence in his heart. He couldn't help but feel relieved after hearing this.

The prisoners were taken over by the Embroidered Uniform Guards. There was a small commotion for a while, and they were all a little panicked, not knowing what would happen next.

Soon, the Jinyiwei drove the prisoners to the Western Factory’s headquarters in Shandong.

Gu Dayong was one of the initiators of Luojiao.

He was also very clear that the Luo Cult wanted to quickly complete this expansion, and these Luo Cult members captured from various places were of great significance.

Therefore, the degree of cooperation from the Western Factory was very high.

Not long after Pei Yuan arrived, Gu Dayong and Qiu Ju had all the prisoners brought out of prison.

Moreover, the posture put on by the Western Factory was even more grand than that put on by Governor Wang Chang's office.

Afterwards, Chen Toutie made his appearance again and took the person away in a swagger in front of the Western Factory's supervisor, manager and big boss.

Seeing that the work was done, Gu Dayong came over and exchanged a few words with Pei Yuan.

Then he asked Pei Yuan, "Are these people enough?"

Pei Yuan said, "There are more than a thousand people on both sides, which should be enough, but it would be better if there were more."

Gu Dayong didn't care about the lives of the locals, and said indifferently, "Why don't we ask Wang Chang to urge them? A county has only handed over such a small number of people. Why are we sending away beggars?"

Pei Yuan hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "I'm afraid it's hard to find. You know the situation of the Luo Sect. These people were squeezed out from various counties and prefectures."

Luojiao does not exist yet, but it is already very difficult to squeeze out thousands of cult members in Shandong.

Gu Dayong said disapprovingly, "It's already said to be a secret cult, so of course it's hard to find. But no matter how hard it is to find, there are always some clues to follow. How can you find it if you don't think of a way?"

"Besides, if we can find one before, we can find two later."

Pei Yuan hesitated for a long time, and finally said, "Then I'll ask Wang Chang again."

If Pei Yuan's foundation was not too shallow, he would not have resorted to crowdfunding Luojiao from the local government.

Pei Yuan saw Chen Toutie gathering all the people and looking at him eagerly, so he said to Gu Dayong, "Then I will take the people away first. I will have someone contact you for follow-up matters."

Gu Dayong warned Pei Yuan, "Tell Chen Toutie to do his job well and don't make any mistakes."

Pei Yuan returned to the team and saw thousands of prisoners piled together, which was quite eye-catching. He said to Chen Toutie, "Let's leave the city first. The power of Prince De's Mansion here is not small, so as to avoid unnecessary trouble."

Upon hearing this, Chen Toutie led the prisoners, who were crying and rioting from time to time, out of Licheng through the south gate.

When the officers and soldiers guarding the city saw so many criminals appearing at the city gate, they almost thought that someone was causing a riot.

It was not until Chen Xinjian stepped forward to negotiate and took out Pei Yuan's official documents and credentials that the soldiers guarding the gate quickly let these people leave Licheng.

In theory, these people were to be escorted to the Yanggu headquarters of the Xie Zhen Qianhu for trial, and the procedures were complete.

As long as Chen Toutie didn't try to stop himself by shouting in front of the city gate that he was the leader of the Luo Sect, no one would step forward to stop him.

These captured prisoners were tied with chains and marched south very slowly.

It was almost dark when they walked out of the city and only walked a dozen miles.

At night, Pei Yuan released some prisoners and asked them to chop some firewood. After they ate something, he let them lean against the fires and spend the night there.

The next morning, when they headed south again, Pei Yuan had gradually faded out of sight.

He took off his official uniform and followed the guards like an idler.

And Chen Toutie officially took over the team.

Of the Jinyiwei brought this time, except for Pei Yuan's personal soldiers, the other 200 or so people have all been assigned to Chen Toutie.

Those guys were all from Xuzhou Guard and they entered the Jinyiwei team by impersonating others.

It was precisely because of Pei Yuan's unintentional operation that the previous identities of these people could not be traced, and their current identities were all set, which was very suitable for laying the foundation for Chen Toutie.

After another day of wandering, we finally entered the territory of Tai'an Prefecture.

The person sent by Tian Fu has already come over and informed Pei Yuan of his progress in a timely manner.

He had found a suitable farm near the foot of Mount Tai.

And with his "active efforts", he convinced the people in Zhuangzi to believe in Luojiao. As long as the criminals were sent there, he could start preaching to them.

At this point, Chen Toutie finally stopped pretending.

(End of this chapter)