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

Chapter 465 No, Who Are You?
In an instant, Pei Yuan understood one thing.

The Tongzhengsi system has been fully exposed!
Zhu Houzhao's little tricks were no longer hidden from the eyes of the old foxes in the court. All the arrangements made by Zhu Houzhao for the Tongzhengsi system were sorted out and examined bit by bit.

Although they didn't understand why so many officials flocked to the Xuanda area, their vigilance against the Tongzhengsi system had made them decisively send out the vicious dogs of the six departments to sniff out the unusual scent themselves.

In an instant, Pei Yuan also figured out who he was.

He is a brave and brave hero who fought against Liang Chu, a close friend of Zhang Lian, the White Lotus of the Censorate, and a few days ago, he rejected the lucky person who offered auspicious signs because of his courage to take responsibility. He has been in good terms with Mao Ji, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and they admire each other!
——I am Pei Ayuan, a clean official of the Imperial Guard.

Pei Yuan immediately smiled warmly at Yang Yu and said, "You also know that I am a close friend of Zhang Lian from the Censorate?"

Yang Yu was stunned for a moment, and asked in confusion, "Which Zhang Lian?"

It’s not that Yang Yu didn’t think of who it was. After all, he was the Chief Censor of the Ministry of Personnel, and the promotion of officials was under his supervision.

But he didn't dare to think about what relationship could there be between that upright man who risked his life and even dared to confront Shouning Marquis Zhang Heling and the Jinyiwei in front of him?
He asked tentatively, "Zhang Lian, the Shanxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner?"

Unexpectedly, Pei Yuan's face also showed some surprise, "You don't know?"

"Then you know that I have been friends with Mao Ji, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, for a long time and we admire each other?"

Yang Yu was even more confused after hearing this, "Mao, Mao Ji?!"

No, who are you?

Mao Ji, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is one of the three officials of the Ministry of Rites and the most noble.

If Lu Ting hadn't thrown a bunch of random punches, Mao Ji would have had a great chance of becoming the Minister of Rites among the Seven Ministers.

How dare you, a demon from the Imperial Guard, say that you and Minister Mao have a long-standing spiritual friendship and that you respect each other?

Pei Yuan saw Yang Chi's reaction and was somewhat surprised. He looked at Yang Chi in confusion and asked, "Do we know each other?"

"Could it be because I stood up for justice and was not afraid of the powerful, and in order to protect many candidates, I beat up Liang Chu's son outside the Da Ci'en Temple?"

Yang Chi: “…”

Damn, this Jinyiwei is simply evil!

So who are you? I'm here to get information, not to make connections!
Fortunately, Yang Chi had experienced many big scenes. As the Chief Censor of the Ministry of Personnel, he was the one who refuted many of Zhu Houzhao's impertinent orders and imperial edicts.

Without such great reputation, he would not have been able to ascend directly from the seventh rank to the fourth rank.

Yang Chi's expression changed, and he smiled, "So, we do have some history. Yang used to be a censor in the four ministries of punishment, ritual, military, and civil service, and he also had a lot of dealings with Shao Zongbo."

Now Pei Yuan was confused.

No, who are you?
The "Jieshi Zhong" in the Ming Dynasty court have always been famous for their ability and courage to fight, and the "Du Jieshi Zhong" is even more of a god of war who emerged from it.

Pei Yuan didn't expect to meet a quadrilateral warrior on this ordinary day.

After Yang Chi finished speaking, he asked Pei Yuan with some curiosity, "As far as I know, Shao Zongbo, in addition to handling ministry affairs, is devoted to learning and has rarely interacted with outsiders. How could he be with..."

Yang Chi paused.

Wei Ne, the middleman, introduced, "This is Captain Pei from the Imperial Guard."

Yang Chi was not embarrassed. He smiled and nodded to Pei Yuan, "Then I wonder how the young master of the clan would have any connection with Captain Pei?"

Mao Ji is the model of a pure stream in the minds of scholars.

He entered the officialdom through the imperial examination and then entered the ivory tower of the Hanlin Academy, where he compiled history while serving as a reader and lecturer to the emperor. Once he became a Hanlin scholar, he would directly graduate and serve as a vice minister, and then become a high-ranking official in a ministry.

My ten fingers are free from dirty work, and only smell the fragrance of ink.

Yang Chi really couldn't imagine how Mao Ji had any connection with the Jinyiwei, and this person actually used the term "mutual sympathy".

When Pei Yuan heard Yang Chi ask this, he said, "I also met Shao Zongbo because of official business."

"Perhaps the Right Minister has never heard of the yamen where Pei works. This yamen is called the Suppression of Evils Thousand Households Office. It is mainly responsible for managing temples and Taoist temples, and tracking down evil cults and obscene temples."

"The Taoist priests under his jurisdiction are all connected with the Buddhist and Taoist Records Departments of the Ministry of Rites, and never interfere in the struggles between the imperial court and the inner court."

"Pei usually deals with monks and Taoists. He studies the Taoist scriptures and cultivates his character every day. He is not interested in politics."

After Pei Yuan introduced himself, he was about to talk about his relationship with Mao Ji.

But Yang Chi couldn't help but question, "If that's the case, why did Captain Pei appear in the Tongzheng Division?"

Perhaps Yang Chi was used to being the Chief Secretary, and he subconsciously caught Pei Yuan's grammatical error, and when he asked back, he emphasized the word "政".

Fortunately, Pei Yuansu has always been cautious. He has been dealing with the Tongzhengsi a lot these days. Every time he comes or sends someone over, he prepares one or two memorials in advance.

Hearing Yang Chi's question, he took out the money from his sleeve and handed it over.

"I just happen to have some official business to report to the court."

Yang Chi took it, looked at the cover, and saw the words "Trial Implementation Plan on Fire Prevention and Ban on Burning during the Ullambana Festival" written on it.

Okay, excuse me.

Captain Pei was indeed not involved in politics and had no conspiracy or frame-up. He was a clean figure among the Jinyiwei.

Yang Chi had already taken it, so it would be difficult for him to return it, otherwise it would become a real interrogation.

He smiled and put the memorial away, saying to Pei Yuan, "That's great. I'll have it copied. Just leave it with me and I'll send it to the Ministry of Rites later."

Pei Yuan is not the kind of person who cares about these things.

He slightly turned sideways to avoid being blocked by Wei Ne, so that more people could see the scene of him and Yang Chiyan laughing and smiling.

Then, he mentioned his relationship with Mao Ji.

"Earlier, Shao Zongbo had someone forward a memorial to Qianhu Suo."

"It was about a good omen occurring in a certain county, and the court was reported for congratulations. Shao Zongbo believed that such a thing was an act of dishonest intent and flattery to the emperor, so he did not respond."

"In order to prevent others from making mischief, Shao Zongbo forwarded the memorial to Qianhu Division and asked them to verify it first before making any decision."

"Pei is disgusted by this and immediately wrote the eight characters 'evil words to confuse the people, what we have found is not true' in his own handwriting to reply to Shao Zongbo."

"The young master of the imperial clan saw that Pei was a responsible person and praised him very much. He also sent someone to bring a message to me."

Pei Yuan finished talking about what happened earlier and didn’t go on to talk about what happened later.

Leave it blank.

Unexpectedly, after hearing what Pei Yuan said, Yang Chi actually had a very good impression of him. "If that's the case, then there is more connection."

"Back then, a vassal king presented an alchemist to the emperor. It was Yang who made a bold remonstrance, saying that the magic of Yu Liu should not be used to confuse the emperor's mind. Then he withdrew his order and refused to let the alchemist out of the city." "If there was someone like Pei Qianhu who knew the righteousness and right from wrong, and they worked together, it would have been a joyful thing."

Pei Yuan seemed quite fascinated after hearing this, and then he smiled and said, "Now that Zhang Yong is about to be executed, the power of eunuchs is declining. It is time for the righteous in the court to work together. Unfortunately, although Pei is yearning for it, his status is limited. He can only manage those monks and Taoists and cannot participate in the event."

When Yang Chi heard Pei Yuan's words, his expression changed immediately.

He asked quickly, "What did Captain Pei say? Just now when Yang was delivering the memorial to the inner court, he met the eunuch who holds the seal. Just now."

Pei Yuan was surprised, "Haven't you heard the news yet?"

Then he pretended to realize something and whispered to himself, "Yes, there's no way such a thing could spread so quickly."

Seeing Pei Yuan's serious words, Yang Chi glanced around, quickly pulled Pei Yuan's sleeve and said to him with a smile, "Just now I told you to have a taste of my good tea, brother Pei. Come on, come in and talk."

After saying that, he glanced at Wei Ne who was standing beside him and asked tentatively, "Counselor Zuo, are you coming with us?"

Wei Ne didn't dare to be self-centered, he just pondered and said nothing.

Pei Yuan glanced at Wei Ne and said with a smile, "I came here a few times before, and it was the Left Councillor who delivered the memorials for me. Since the Right Minister of Justice is here to help, I won't bother the Left Councillor."

Although Wei Ne didn't understand why Pei Yuan wanted to distance himself from him, he knew that now was not the time to ruin things, so he immediately bowed perfunctorily to Yang Chi and left.

Yang Chi looked at Wei Ne and said nothing.

According to the original order of priority, after Right Vice-Chancellor Lin Tingyu went out to inspect Baoding, Left Councillor Wei Ne should have taken over.

It was just that Wei Ne’s reputation as an official was too bad, and he had no achievements to speak of, so Wei Ne himself felt guilty and did not dare to fight for it.

Now that Yang Chi, the quadrilateral warrior, has arrived, Wei Ne has even less hope.

But because of this, there is a certain subtlety between the two of them, and they haven't found a way to get along with each other yet.

After Wei Ne left, Yang Chi quickly invited Pei Yuan into the house.

Perhaps because of the undercover mission, the quadrilateral soldier behaved very friendly and personally washed the cup for Pei Yuan and poured him a cup of freshly brewed tea.

Pei Yuan was flattered and took it. He took a sip and said, "Good tea!"

Yang Chi made a few polite remarks, and like an ordinary gossiper, he said to Pei Yuan with great interest, "Captain Pei, why don't you tell me, what's going on with Zhang Yong?"

Pei Yuan put down the cup and said with a smile, "What a coincidence. Today I went to Jingfu Temple for inspection, and when I came out of there, I happened to meet a large group of foreigners passing by."

"Although this is an idle position, I am a member of the Jinyiwei and have some ties to them, so I asked them a few questions."

"But we learned that someone had reported to the East Factory Governor Zhang Rui that when Zhang Yong was in charge of the Imperial Household Department, he asked the treasurer Wu Ji to help him steal several thousand taels of silver from the treasury. Those guards went to question Wu Ji."

Having said that, Pei Yuan leaned slightly and moved forward.

Yang Chi also understood and leaned forward to listen, and heard Pei Yuan lower his voice and say, "I asked the leader of the imperial guards in detail, and the leader said that this is not a matter of a few thousand taels of silver. A person like Zhang Yong cannot be overthrown by embezzling such a small amount of money. I heard that... it was the order from above."

When Yang Chi heard this, his eyes flickered and his heart was like a raging storm.

Pei Yuan watched calmly, and only when Yang Chi's gaze turned towards him did he pick up the cup on the table and drink.

Yang Chi pondered for a moment, and followed Pei Yuan's words and said, "If this is the case, I don't know whether it is a blessing for the government and the people, or it will cause trouble from now on."

Yang Chi's expression was slightly more gloomy than before, and nothing could be seen.

The two drank two more cups and chatted for a while before Yang Chi stood up and said, "I have just been transferred to this government office to work, and I don't want people to gossip about me. I won't stay with you for long. If you have time, we can go drink together after the government office is dismissed."

Pei Yuan said quickly, "I dare not disturb You Tongzheng's official duties."

As he said this, he pretended to stand up.

Yang Chi kept Pei Yuan for a while, then collected a few memorials from the table, stood up and left.

Pei Yuan saw Yang Chi leaving in a hurry, so he slowly sat back down after standing up halfway.

Pei Yuan saw clearly just now that the few memorials that Yang Chi had just picked up were not yellowed, so it was obvious that they were not normal document delivery.

Instead, he went to discuss the matter with his backstage.

Yang Chi was born in the Sixth Department and served in four departments. His cost is more complicated. He may be Yang Tinghe's man, or Yang Yiqing's man.

But no matter who they are, it is not a bad thing to pass on the message at this time.

As the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, Zhang Yong had a high status and was called the Prime Minister, but his identity was a eunuch and Zhu Houzhao could decide his future and life and death with a single word.

Unlike the appointment and dismissal of officials in the court, there are quite strict appointment and dismissal procedures, and the six departments are ready to interfere with decision-making.

It can be said that as long as Zhu Houzhao intended to change the cage and replace the bird, Zhang Yong's resignation was unstoppable.

Even Yang Yiqing, Zhang Yong's ally, could only watch and was unable to react at all.

As a leader of the Qingliu clan, he couldn't possibly encourage his followers to follow him in protecting a eunuch, right?

Faced with this situation, Yang Yiqing had no time to worry about this. What he had to do now, in addition to quickly cutting ties with Zhang Yong to avoid being implicated, was also to prepare for what to do after Zhang Yong's downfall.

Even if Yang Yiqing wanted to give Zhang Yong justice, he would have to wait until he was sure that he had the strength to protect himself.

As for Yang Tinghe.

If he had known about Zhang Yong's downfall in advance, he might have seized the opportunity of Yang Yiqing losing an important ally and taken the opportunity to do something.

It can even be said that even if the eunuch who will become the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Household Department in the future appears, Yang Tinghe can try to win over him before Yang Yiqing.

But these have nothing to do with Pei Yuan.

The moment Pei Yuan saw Yang Chi, he realized that a great opportunity had arisen.

Although he was always doing this and that, he did not have a good communication channel with the most powerful civil service force in the court.

Pei Yuan could choose not to provoke the civil service forces, but the huge civil service forces were there.

They represent the will of the local nobles. No matter how much Pei Yuan tries to avoid them, he will have to face them one day.

Therefore, it is very meaningful to establish a communication channel as early as possible, even if Pei Yuan appears to be used.

Pei Yuan doesn't mind being used by others.

He also doesn't mind them getting information or benefits from him.

After all, long-standing experience tells us that domestication begins with feeding.

(End of this chapter)