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

Chapter 469 This inference is very reasonable

After seeing off the Xia father and son, Pei Yuan sighed, knowing that he would have to face a real mess next.

Under the guidance of Chen Xinjian, he walked to another Zen room.

Li Shishi inside was chatting with the monk Zhixin from Zhihua Temple about something unknown.

Monk Zhixin was originally the receptionist monk of Zhihua Temple. When the monks were dismissed, Pei Yuan saw that this monk was quick-witted and kept him as abbot, which also helped to keep a reputation for Zhihua Temple.

In fact, Li Shishi, Wei Ne and others came here every now and then, ostensibly to discuss Buddhism with Master Zhixin.

Now that Zhu Houzhao was vigorously developing the Buddhist universe, many officials catered to his preferences, and visiting temples was a common occurrence.

Although Pei Yuan occupied Zhihua Temple as his headquarters, he did not occupy it entirely.

The Zhihua Temple is actually a large building complex with matching courtyards on both sides.

The large building on the east side was requisitioned by Pei Yuan to be used as an official office for work and storage of archives and documents. The side rooms next to it were previously reserved for the pacification commander He Ru. Now that He Ru had gone to the south to run an oil press workshop, Zhang Song was helping to manage the paperwork of the Qianhu Suo.

In addition, some of Pei Yuan’s personal guards were stationed there.

As for the several courtyards on the west side, in addition to a large number of Jinyiwei stationed there, weapons were also stored and some food and fodder was stockpiled.

The Buddhist temples and halls in the center are still intact. Occasionally, Pei Yuan would remove the soldiers guarding the gates to allow nearby believers to go in and burn incense.

Seeing Pei Yuan coming, Monk Zhixin tactfully bowed to the two of them and then left.

Li Shishi looked at the back of Monk Zhixin and sighed to Pei Yuan, "After decades of living in poverty, it is better to be an idle monk."

Pei Yuan rolled his eyes and said, "Let's go eat wontons!"

Li Shishi was a little bored, "What's so delicious about this?"

Finely ground noodles, fresh pork, a soup base made from aged sauce, bamboo shoot oil, and shrimp juice, and when the hot wontons arrived, Li Shishi finished two large bowls.

The old man burped and sighed, "I can't even taste the saltiness."

Pei Yuan asked someone to take away the bowls and chopsticks, and asked Li Shishi, "Did you see Eunuch Zhang Yong in the court today?"

Li Shishi was surprised, "You ask this question... He is the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department. If he is not here, how can we use the seal if there is an emergency?"

Halfway through the conversation, Li Shishi realized that Pei Yuan would never bring this up out of thin air.

He quickly asked, "What happened to Zhang Yong?"

Pei Yuan said, "Zhang Yong was caught. Someone reported that Zhang Yong embezzled money from the treasury when he was in the Imperial Household Department. The case was handled personally by Zhang Rui, the governor of the East Factory."

Li Shishi was shocked when he heard this. "When did this happen?"

Zhang Yong was the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department. Replacing Zhang Yong had a political impact no less than replacing the prime minister of the cabinet.

Pei Yuan said, "While you were in the court meeting, Zhang Rui must have taken advantage of Zhang Yong's lack of time to arrest and interrogate the treasurer Wu Ji. Now, Zhang Yong must have been placed under house arrest."

Li Shishi digested the news for a while, then said in annoyance, "What a pity, they didn't catch him earlier or later! I just spent money to smooth over Zhang Yong's connections in order to restore the Three Guards."

Pei Yuan reminded, "It may not be a bad thing. Remember what we did in the south?"

Li Shishi's expression was stern. The only thing the two had done in the south was to shelter and hide Liu Liu and Liu Qi.

This is a deadly business.

Pei Yuan mentioned this, which made Li Shishi feel shocked. "What do you mean?"

Pei Yuan said, "The eunuch Lu Ting, who was the military commander at the time, only gave his nephew Lu Yong the title of Earl of Zhenping, and his own position has not been moved. If there is a chance this time, it will be a good thing for both of us."

Li Shishi's eyes lit up immediately after hearing this. "You mean, we should try to push Lu Ting to the position of the Chief of the Imperial Household Department?"

Then Li Shishi's thoughts diverged, and he immediately said, "If Lu Ting becomes the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, with their original relationship, wouldn't it be easier to talk about anything in the future?"

Pei Yuan glared at him. "What origin? The court was in an uproar over the meritorious service, and the government and the people were in turmoil. Now that the merits have been awarded and the government and the people are settled, are you still planning to use a trumped-up impostor to challenge the entire post-war order?"

Li Shishi quickly said, "No, no."

Pei Yuan's words were very insightful. Now, based on the "complete pacification of the Bazhou bandits", so many major changes have taken place that no one cares about Liu Liu or Liu Qi anymore.

It is impossible to take back the rewards now, nor is it possible to hold the soldiers and generals who took credit for the achievements accountable. It is even more impossible to make the court a laughing stock and the three cabinets and seven ministers a topic of conversation.

If they appear, they must be fake, nothing more than a small group of new thieves.

Unless Prince Ning really wants to tear his face off and jump out and shout, "This is really the Bazhou Army, Pei Yuan sold me out, and it was Lu Ting who handled it!"

But at that time, if King Ning, a traitor, said such nonsense, it would only make people doubt his IQ.

Li Shishi thought about it, turned the tables, and asked Pei Yuan, "So what do you mean?"

Pei Yuan said, "What I mean is, if Lu Ting becomes the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, it will be much easier to talk about things in the future."

Li Shishi was speechless. Aren't they all the same thing?

After thinking about it, he understood what Pei Yuan meant.

The incident with the Bazhou Army is now over, and no one owes anyone anything from now on.

Thinking of this, Li Shishi felt more at ease.

Li Shishi said to Pei Yuan, "Don't explain to me, what should I do?"

Seeing Li Shishi being so open, Pei Yuan gave him a thumbs up and then said, "The only one who can compete with Lu Ting now is Xiao Jing."

"Xiao Jing is a senior official who has served in many dynasties and has been working in the palace. He has more followers than Lu Ting, a eunuch sent out to guard the palace."

"Now that Zhang Yong has stepped down, Xiao Jing will definitely mobilize his followers to fight for that position for him. He is an old friend of Hongzhi and has good abilities, which meets the emperor's expectations."

"If the emperor and the queen mother hear nothing but praises of Xiao Jing, then even if Lu Ting has some merits, he may not be able to compete for them."

Li Shishi was a little embarrassed when he heard this and said, "My dear brother, you know this well. The eunuchs in charge of the Imperial Household Department are internal officials. They are appointed and dismissed based on personal relationships rather than merit. This is not something that court officials can influence."

"Xiao Jing has been working in the palace since the reign of Emperor Yingzong, and has served in the Chenghua and Hongzhi dynasties. He has served in four dynasties so far. Such qualifications... Tsk tsk."

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "I don't think so. Xiao Jing's qualifications are a huge advantage, but also a huge weakness. It's easy to reverse the situation."

Li Shishi was too lazy to be led by Pei Yuan to think, and said confidently, "Then you say."

Pei Yuan dipped a little tea and drew a long water mark on the table.

"This is Xiao Jing, who served four emperors and is a veteran of four dynasties."

Pei Yuan drew another short water mark below. "This is Lu Ting, who served two emperors. From the perspective of the palace, his qualifications are mediocre and not worth mentioning at all."

"But what if we look at it from another angle? There is more than one master in the palace."

Li Shishi rarely replied, "You mean the Queen Mother? Why would the Queen Mother interfere in this? It makes no difference to her who the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department is."

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "There is a difference."

As he spoke, he pointed to the long water mark representing Xiao Jing and said, "Then let's look at this from the Queen Mother's perspective. This Xiao Jing was loyal to four emperors, namely Emperor Yingzong, Emperor Chenghua, Emperor Hongzhi, and the current emperor."

Pei Yuan finished speaking and pointed to the short water mark representing Lu Ting. "This is Lu Ting. He has only ever been loyal to the Queen Mother's husband and son."

Li Shishi heard something and hesitated, "This, it's nothing, right?"

Pei Yuan was surprised, "How come there is nothing?"

"Before Emperor Yingzong died, he abolished the system of burying concubines alive with the emperor, so that concubines no longer had to be buried alive with the emperor."

"Therefore, all future queens can spend their remaining years in the palace."

"The mother of Emperor Chenghua, Empress Dowager Zhou, died in the seventeenth year of Hongzhi, right? The wife of Emperor Chenghua, Empress Dowager Wang, is still alive, right? The Shunfei of Emperor Chenghua, Wang, died in the seventh year of Hongzhi, right?"

"These...are all the former mistresses of Xiao Jing, a veteran official of four dynasties!"

Li Shishi's scalp tingled after hearing this. Xiao Jing's strong qualifications, after being interpreted so cunningly and sinisterly by Pei Yuan, became his fatal weakness.

Pei Yuan was still talking.

"Grand Commander, think about it, the three former mistresses of Xiao Jing mentioned above all had some connection with the current Empress Dowager Zhang. Even the Grand Empress Dowager Wang is still living in the palace."

"These noble women all lived in this small palace at the same time. Don't they have any conflicts with each other?"

Li Shishi was speechless. This inference was so damn reasonable!
I didn't expect that Pei Yuan, this bastard, not only had an inference, but also evidence.

"Grand Empress Dowager Zhou." Pei Yuan reminded, "Do you remember the one who died in the 17th year of Hongzhi? He had a younger brother, Zhou Yu, the Earl of Changning. He and Zhang Heling once had a large-scale fight in the capital for the land outside the capital. The sound of the fight even alarmed the court and aroused the dissatisfaction of the ministers."

Pei Yuan added, "Concubine Wang Shun has a younger brother named Wang Min. Three years ago, he fought with the Xia family, the Zhang family, the Yixing Grand Princess's family, and the imperial farm in the palace for land in Tianjin."

“This happened not long ago.”

"The Queen Mother..., you probably don't like these two women, right?"

Li Shishi was amazed.

Under Pei Yuan's sharp blade, Xiao Jing, who had rich experience and many followers, had his heart pulled out and his most fatal weakness was found.

But this made Li Shishi, who saw hope in an instant, cheer up.

"What are you going to do?"

No matter how Lu Ting denied it, two people who had done something bad together would easily do the next bad thing together.

This is also the reason why Li Shishi always likes to come and discuss with Pei Yuan whenever he encounters difficulties.

It is absolutely in Li Shishi's interest to let Lu Ting take the position.

Pei Yuan said, "Xiao Jing has many followers. If we find someone to say bad things about him in the palace and deliberately slander him, it will be easily discovered and I'm afraid it won't have any effect."

"But if there is a way to get people in the inner court to praise Xiao Jing for his loyalty and dedication during the reigns of Emperor Yingzong and Emperor Chenghua, then these remarks, mixed in with the good words spoken for Xiao Jing, will be difficult to be noticed."

"Perhaps, Xiao Jing's followers will use it to promote it in front of the emperor or the queen mother."

"It would be best if there were a few words of praise from the former mistresses of Eunuch Xiao Jing. For example, Empress Dowager Zhou, Concubine Wang, etc...."

Li Shishi thought to himself, Lu Ting is stable.

To Empress Dowager Zhang, Lu Ting, who had only been loyal to their family of three, seemed so pure compared to the four scumbag eunuchs who had served him for four terms.

Li Shishi nodded, indicating that he would take the job.

He said, "Liu Yang, the former eunuch guarding the Imperial Household Department in Jiangxi, has a close relationship with Prince Ning. He has been making porcelain for the palace in Jiangxi for many years, and he still keeps in touch with Prince Ning after returning to the palace. Letting him go on this matter will be a sure thing."

After saying this, Li Shishi sighed again and again, "If Emperor Yingzong knew that you used a few women to make a fuss about the imperial edict exempting people from being buried alive, I really don't know how he would feel."

After saying this, perhaps because he found that the current situation was getting better and better, the old man enthusiastically talked about some gossip about Yingzong.

We will not elaborate on the God of War's ability to govern the country, but his stubbornness in the relationship between husband and wife is simply a wonder.

Zhou Jing, the Left Governor of Yunnan, was a second-rank official. Not long after his wife died, he married a second wife.

As a result, the matter was reported by the Censor Zheng Chen. After the God of War learned about it, he was so angry that he trembled all over.

Damn, what the hell! It's so cold-blooded!

Therefore, this one of the three biggest bosses in Yunnan was directly caned, dismissed from his post, and punished!
Zheng Chen, who reported it, was very confused.

Zhou Jing was also confused after being beaten.

No.

According to the imperial system, only when parents died, or a woman's husband died, would she be punished for marrying before the mourning period was over. If her wife didn't die at all, she would still be punished in this way. Isn't this against the will of heaven?

Just in time for the imperial court to grant amnesty, Zhou Jing quickly took the opportunity to write a letter to defend himself.

Then Emperor Yingzong punished him by beating him again.

Another Shaanxi councilor Zai Bian, whose term of office had expired, was to be replaced by someone else, but he abandoned his duties and returned home without permission because of the death of his wife and daughter. The Censorate was very dissatisfied with this, and another supervisory censor jumped out and impeached him for neglecting his duties.

Then Emperor Yingzong responded that this was reasonable.

What’s even more bizarre is that Emperor Yingzong also fell in love with a young man with a white waist.

This person is also called Ma Liang.

Emperor Yingzong woke up and slept with him every day, and "he was so docile that he would always accompany him whenever he went to the emperor's palace."

Later one day Ma Liang's wife died. Emperor Yingzong thought about it and thought, although, but.

Let Ma Liang go back to deal with his wife's funeral.

Some time had passed since this incident. Emperor Yingzong happened to go to the inner garden and suddenly heard the sound of drums and music. He asked in confusion and found out that Ma Liang had remarried, who was the sister of Marquis Yangwu.

Emperor Yingzong was furious, "This bastard is so heartless, I will never play with you again!"

(End of this chapter)