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

Chapter 423 Pei Yuan's Hazy Beauty
When Gu Dayong heard that the emperor wanted to ask for more details, he became a little panicked.

He knows nothing.

During the entire process of suppressing the rebellion, he only remembered the gifts others gave him.

He can't even remember the names of those who have never given him gifts.

Various military plans were basically formulated by Lu Wan and his team, and Gu Dayong was only responsible for nodding.

This time, Gu Dayong hadn't even finished reciting the second chapter of "Fought in Four Provinces, Listing the Heroes Who Suppressed Rebellions in My Heart". If he was questioned by the clever emperor, wouldn't he be exposed on the spot?
Fortunately, this was all within someone's expectations. His claims of illness over the past few days were not only to confirm whether the money had arrived, but also to set the stage for this matter.

So Gu Dayong hurriedly wrote a letter, saying that he was sick and did not dare to enter the palace to meet the emperor in a hurry.

It just so happened that when the Luo Sect was being suppressed in Shandong, he had a close relationship with Pei Yuan, the Captain of the Suppression of Evils Division. Pei Yuan knew everything about the suppression of the rebellion, so Pei Yuan could report it on his behalf.

When Zhu Houzhao heard that Gu Dayong was ill, he immediately sent the imperial physician to treat him.

The imperial physician went out of the city and went to the post station to visit the world-famous Supervisor of the Western Factory.

After coming out, he expressed great regret.

"It's too late to save him. Let's prepare to collect the bodies."

Gu Dayong was very happy to see that he could get away with it easily.

He only demonstrated one tenth of his skills, but he didn't expect that even the imperial physician was fooled.

By the way, yesterday Captain Pei asked Hou Qinglai to cut off a strand of his hair, and I don’t know what happened.

When Zhu Houzhao heard that Gu Dayong was critically ill, he felt a little sorry for this old eunuch who had served him for many years. However, he was used to being heartless, so he had someone give him some medicinal herbs and then planned to order Pei Yuan to enter the palace.

But the eunuch who delivered the imperial eunuch had not left yet, and Zhu Houzhao suddenly changed his mind and recalled several times he had met Pei Yuan outside the palace and the scenes of their discussions.

I also felt that if I were to ask and answer questions in the palace, it would be too restrained.

Such exciting and fun things should be done in a crowded place with everyone clapping and cheering.

You can also take this opportunity to go out of the palace for a walk.

Therefore, after confirming that Pei Yuan was working at the Zhihua Temple, Zhu Houzhao asked Qian Ning to arrange for Pei Yuan to meet at the old place outside the Da Ci'en Temple the next day.

Pei Yuan was relieved when he received the summons from Zhu Houzhao.

A month has passed, and the achievement of Bazhou in suppressing the rebellion has not yet been realized. Instead, public opinion is surging, complicating and exaggerating the matter.

There is a saying that goes, the more the truth is debated, the clearer it becomes.

But isn’t it that hazy beauty that politics needs?
In fact, not only the imperial court was anxious, but even Pei Yuan needed to cut the Gordian knot and push this matter forward.

Because he himself has a lot of hazy beauty...

If too many things come to the surface, Pei Yuan will be in trouble.

The next morning, Pei Yuan went to the teahouse outside the Da Ci'en Temple where he had first met Zhu Houzhao and waited there.

Pei Yuan knew that Zhu Houzhao had a hobby of traveling incognito, and he was afraid that wearing official uniform would be in the way, so he just wore casual clothes.

Perhaps because the weather is getting warmer, many people are willing to go out.

In the teahouse outside the Da Ci'en Temple, there are still many scholars who are happily playing the keyboard.

Originally, many candidates from other places had heard that the rebellion in Bazhou had been quelled and the road was safe, so they had already traveled south for several days. When they heard at the post station that there was a hot topic of "great discussion on merits", they could not help but turn back and enthusiastically join in the discussion.

The judges' stance was naturally very upright, and they basically believed that it was the incompetent military men in the court who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to muddy the waters in this matter.

There were also a few cynical outliers who felt that what Pei De said made some sense. If the local government had not implemented harsh policies, there would not have been so many people rebelling.

Pei Yuan listened for a while and roughly judged that the step of stirring up public opinion had been completed. The next step was to build momentum for the warrior and, by the way, seek an earl title for Lu Ting, the first contributor, by relying on his inflated merits.

Eunuch Lu was a very honest and cooperative person, and under Pei Yuan's persuasion, in order to take full credit for suppressing the rebellion, he even did such things as releasing Liu Liu and Liu Qi privately.

For such people, Captain Pei will definitely reward them if they have made contributions.

When the court was about to end, many capable men began to enter the teahouse.

They did not drive others away. When there were empty seats, they would take them, order some tea and snacks and eat slowly.

These people obviously understood that this was exactly the kind of atmosphere Zhu Houzhao wanted, so they were very low-key and didn't do anything to spoil the fun.

Pei Yuan also saw Qian Ning, who was wearing casual clothes, come in and take a look.

Qian Ning and Pei Yuan looked at each other, just nodded, and didn't come over to talk.

After some time, a burly young man dressed as a scholar came into the teahouse happily.

Pei Yuan stood up and Zhu Houzhao quickly raised his hand to stop him.

Pei Yuan waited until Zhu Houzhao sat down at the same table before he apologized to him, "I am sorry for being disrespectful."

The location chosen by Pei Yuan was a little off the beaten track, and there were many secret agents of the Imperial Guard sitting around, so he was not afraid of being overheard.

Zhu Houzhao looked around with great interest, and after listening to the candidates' speeches for a while, he said to Pei Yuan, "Don't spoil my fun."

Pei Yuan did not mention the matter again.

When the two were in Zhihua Temple, they once sat opposite each other on a cushion and chatted. Zhu Houzhao himself didn't care, and Pei Yuan naturally didn't want to stick to any empty formalities.

Pei Yuan had just entered the palace to meet Zhu Houzhao a few days ago, and there was nothing new about the relationship between them.

Zhu Houzhao was not in a hurry to ask about the suppression of the rebellion in Bazhou. Instead, he continued to listen to the discussion of the candidates with great interest.

After listening for a while, Zhu Houzhao gestured to the candidates and asked Pei Yuan, "Pei Yuan, you have been listening for a long time. What do you feel?"

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Many people are not concerned about the suppression of the rebellion itself, nor do they discuss the process of suppressing the rebellion. Instead, they are concerned about the impact and consequences of suppressing the rebellion."

"It turns out that the truth of the matter is not important. What is more important is what this truth can bring."

Pei Yuan also didn't want Zhu Houzhao to focus too much on suppressing the rebellion itself, because there was too much of Pei Yuan's hazy beauty in that. What Pei Yuan wanted to guide now was to let Zhu Houzhao spend his energy on solving subsequent problems.

When Zhu Houzhao heard Pei Yuan say this, he smiled and said, "Your point of view is unique."

Zhu Houzhao thought Pei Yuan would choose a side between the civil officials and the military officers and then express his views. Unexpectedly, Pei Yuan neither sided with the civil officials nor the military officers, but looked at the matter from a broader perspective.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and said to Zhu Houzhao, "I can prove my point right away."

Zhu Houzhao became interested after hearing this. "Hey, how do you prove it?"

Pei Yuan said slowly, "Your Majesty, most of the opinions of the candidates you just heard support the civil officials, and only a few are reflecting on the harsh local policies, right?"

Zhu Houzhao nodded, "Not bad."

Pei Yuan said, "Then I can change their minds with just one sentence and make these candidates support the military officers instead."

Zhu Houzhao was surprised when he heard this, "How is this possible?" How could a smart man like Zhu Houzhao not see that the basis for these candidates' judgment was their identity and position.

They don't care at all how the rebellion started or how it was suppressed.

They are literati, and their support lies with the civil servants, so of course they have to support the civil servants.

Pei Yuan said modestly, "I can give it a try."

Zhu Houzhao became more and more interested, "Try it quickly."

Pei Yuan stood up and called to the shopkeeper, "Give me a dime of wine."

The tea shop also does some wine and meat business, but because it is outside the Da Ci'en Temple, in order to accommodate the nobles who come to worship Buddha, they usually have to go to the backyard to enjoy the food.

When the shopkeeper saw that Pei Yuan only wanted wine and no meat, he pretended to be confused and asked someone to bring him wine.

Pei Yuan took the wine glass, slowly stood up, and walked to the tables where the scholars were talking loudly. After listening for a while, he raised his glass and congratulated them in a low voice.

The scholars were slightly stunned, and quickly replaced the wine with tea and drank a cup with Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan only said one sentence, toasted a glass of wine, and then came back with a kind smile on his face.

Zhu Houzhao wanted to ask something, but seeing that some candidates were still looking at Pei Yuan, he did not rush to speak.

The candidates at those tables were silent for a moment and then continued their previous discussion.

Zhu Houzhao was somewhat expectant and wanted to ask what Pei Yuan had just said.

But Pei Yuan said calmly, "Let me keep you in suspense for a while. If I tell you this method too early and it doesn't work, it will inevitably be suspected of misleading the king."

Zhu Houzhao was a man of taste and liked to enjoy these interesting things.

Then he smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, let's wait and see."

Neither of them said much, and continued to listen to the candidates discussing this "grand discussion of merit".

As he listened, the smile on Zhu Houzhao's face slowly disappeared, and soon, it even became a little solemn.

He looked at Pei Yuan from time to time, his eyes full of thought.

Because, in just a short moment, the direction of the candidates' discussions changed suddenly!

Criticisms against the incompetence of court officials and the abuse of power by local officials quickly became mainstream.

In the impassioned speeches of those candidates, "cruel government is more ferocious than a tiger" became the most frequently mentioned phrase.

Those who were cynical before became even louder.

Those who had not expressed their opinions originally also began to agree.

Most of those who had mocked the military officers before not only stopped talking, but some of them even became interested in the new topic and enthusiastically joined the discussion.

Many people have even begun specific discussions about which states and counties’ policies have caused great hardship to the people.

The official who received the most criticism was naturally the former governor of Shuntian Prefecture and current Vice Minister of War Li Hao!

After all, the court paid such a huge price just to quell the rebellion of the people under his rule.

The rapid spread of the Bazhou Army seemed to prove that this guy was incompetent as the Minister of War.

Some people even said sarcastically that they wanted to ask Li Hao what he had done to anger the docile people and turn them into a mob "stronger than the northern barbarians."

Zhu Houzhao took a few deep breaths, and the solemn expression on his face slowly eased. Then he stared at Pei Yuan and asked seriously, "How did you do it?"

"How did you get these scholars, who are scholars, to support the military men?"

"How did you do it? With just one sentence, you made these scholars turn to support the military men?"

Pei Yuan naturally could not hide anything from Zhu Houzhao.

So he said to him respectfully, "I am only speaking to those candidates."

"I just heard their conversation and I admire their integrity. After the court cleans up the local corruption, there will definitely be a large number of vacancies for officials. With their status as juren, they may have the opportunity to govern a region. The people under their rule have such upright officials, which is really worth celebrating."

After Pei Yuan finished speaking, Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment, and then he looked suddenly enlightened.

He couldn't help but pat his fist and said, "I see."

The intellectuals support the civil servants, and the general direction is certainly correct.

but?
Abandoning general concepts, what about the writer himself?

Especially when it comes to these candidates who are already qualified to be granted local official positions?

——I want a river of blood to flow! Die, die, die, die!
After all, no matter how much those military men were suppressed, it was impossible for them, a group of successful candidates, to become centurions or thousand-householders.

However, if we trace back the counties and cities where rebellions have occurred in recent years, their status as juren really allows them to become county magistrates or prefectural magistrates!

In fact, if you want to ensure that there is enough room for error, then of course the more people you kill, the better!

Zhu Houzhao saw Pei Yuan's devilish method of shaking people's minds, and couldn't help but sigh, "Last time I asked you a question, I thought you were very capable, and this time it really opened my eyes."

He sighed again, "There are dozens of candidates here, all of them are talented people from all over the country. I didn't expect that just one sentence from you would shake their stance and turn against you."

Pei Yuan quickly said modestly, "These are just some methods that are not worthy of being put on the stage."

Zhu Houzhao shook his head. "I said last time that I would consult you if I encountered any difficulties in the future. I didn't expect that I still underestimated you. If I had known, I would not have sent you to Shandong."

Pei Yuan did not intend to stay in the capital and fall with Zhu Houzhao. He said in a deep voice, "The horse breeders in Bazhou County can cause unrest in the world, let alone the Luo Sect in Shandong, which has gradually become a force to be reckoned with."

"I have heard that those who are good at fighting have no great achievements. Your Majesty has sent me to Shandong, but the disasters that have been quelled are no less than those in Bazhou."

"How do you know, this isn't 'one word decides the world'?"

Zhu Houzhao was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately said with great satisfaction, "So, those people's quarrels are not as great as my contribution?"

He added half jokingly, "Then I am more powerful than Xianning Marquis Qiu Yue? What title should I get?"

Pei Yuan had a lot of conspiracies and plans, but he was almost fooled by Zhu Houzhao's naivety.

He was stunned for a long time. With his reaction ability, he didn't know how to respond.

Fortunately, Zhu Houzhao soon realized his own incompatibility and muttered angrily, "Is it not possible?"

Pei Yuan had nothing to say.

This guy conferred the title of Duke of Zhenguo on himself after the great victory in Yingzhou, and it was not an honorary title, but a title that was filed in the Ministry of War and actually received salary.

Pei Yuan could only say, "The reward for your majesty is not something I can discuss right now."

(End of this chapter)