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

Chapter 487: Not Castrating the Eunuchs
Gu Dayong and Qiu Ju both had no objection to this.

Anyway, they were free, and the main purpose of the Western Factory was to wipe out the Luo Sect. As for what was going on, everyone knew it tacitly.

After Pei Yuan simply greeted Gu Dayong and Qiu Ju, he did not accept their hospitality. Instead, he turned a few corners and went to the governor's office of Shandong Governor in Licheng.

Pei Yuan and the old minister Wang Chang naturally got along very well. That night Wang Chang held a banquet, and Chen Xinjian and Tan Tai Fangtu were both fortunate enough to join him.

At the banquet, Pei Yuan did not hide the fact that he wanted to kill Zhang Yong.

Even some arrangements for Bi Zhen, Gu Dayong and Qiu Ju were briefly mentioned.

By the way, it was also suggested that Wang Chang go and support Zhang Yong.

Wang Chang was terrified and couldn't help but raise a small question, "I asked to resign and came to Shandong, which reduced the attention of the court and the public. If I go to please Zhang Yong this time, I'm afraid people will think of my identity as a eunuch party."

"If it's just to please Zhang Yong, it seems that the gain is not worth the loss."

Pei Yuan was just about to tell Wang Chang about the new changes under the new situation.

So he said, "This is one time, that is another time."

"Whether you are a member of the eunuch party or a member of the clean stream has never been a question of right or wrong. You were previously condemned by everyone as a member of the eunuch party, not because the eunuch party was wrong, but because the eunuch party was weak."

Pei Yuan explained to Wang Chang, "When Liu Jin was powerful, the cabinet ministers Jiao Fang, Liu Yu, the Minister of Personnel Zhang Cai, the Minister of Revenue Liu Ji, you, the Minister of War, Lu Wan and Chen Zhen, the two assistant ministers of the Ministry of War, and all kinds of officials, big and small, who was not proud to be close to Liu Jin?"

"Was your eunuch status a mistake at that time?"

"When Liu Jin failed, everyone rushed to oppose Liu Jin and added insult to injury. Among the Grand Secretaries, Li Dongyang, who was the most gentle to Liu Jin, became the chief minister of the cabinet. Yang Tinghe also set fire to all the letters in Liu Jin's house."

"Who are the eunuch party and who are the clean stream? Those who did not change their party are the eunuch party, and those who changed their party again almost became the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Censorate."

Wang Chang was speechless for a moment after hearing Pei Yuan's insightful remarks.

The Censorate is the nest of censors, an absolute key place for the clean stream.

Lu Wan, a member of the eunuch party, almost became the Left Censor-in-Chief.

Pei Yuan continued to speak for Wang Chang, "The conflict between Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing is very deep now, and the other ministers also have their own thoughts. Such a fragmented civil service camp is simply unable to fight against the powerful emperor."

"From various indications, an alliance nominally targeting Lu Wan has been formed under the coordination of Minister of Justice Zhang Zilin."

"This alliance openly rallied the people under the pretext of eradicating the 'remnants of Liu Jin', and in reality was resisting the emperor."

"As a nominal target, Lu Wan may seem safe in the short term, but in the future, he will inevitably be abandoned after his rabbit is dead."

This was probably also the reason why Lu Wan stepped forward and acted as the vanguard when Prince Ning later broke through the three passes.

Wang Chang still didn't understand why Pei Yuan encouraged him to curry favor with Zhang Yong, and wondered, "If that's the case, won't I become their target again? If I go to see Zhang Yong now, I'm afraid I'll get into a lot of trouble."

Pei Yuan did not deny this, "It will indeed cause trouble."

When Wang Chang heard even Pei Yuan say this, he felt even more uneasy.

At least as far as Wang Chang knows, Pei Yuan has never made a mistake in this judgment.

Wang Chang immediately backed out, "Captain, why don't we just forget it? Since the government and the public are still calling for a fight against the remnants of the eunuch party, we have to stay away from them. Otherwise, we will only bring disaster upon ourselves."

Pei Yuan was silent for a moment after hearing Wang Chang's words, and then asked, "Let me ask you, who is the current eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department?"

Wang Chang was puzzled and answered, "Of course it's Eunuch Lu Ting."

Pei Yuan immediately followed up Wang Chang's words, "He is mine!"

Wang Chang had previously made some guesses about this through some of Pei Yuan’s operations, and now it is completely clear.

Before Wang Chang could think about the meaning behind this matter.

Pei Yuan then asked, "You have met the current West Factory Governor Gu Dayong and the former East Factory Governor Qiu Ju, right?"

Governor Wang let out a “hmm” sound.

Pei Yuan said, "They are my people!"

Pei Yuan asked again, "You were in Shandong, so you must have dealt with Bi Zhen, the eunuch who guarded Shandong."

The expression on Wang Chang's face began to become interesting.

Pei Yuan looked at Wang Chang and said seriously, "He is also my man. In addition, Xiao Jing, the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department who has served four emperors, also handed over some of his followers in the palace to me when he left the inner court."

Without waiting for Governor Wang to recover from the chaos.

Pei Yuan stared at Wang Chang and asked, "Now let me ask you, where is the eunuch party? Who are the eunuch party?!"

Wang Chang stared at Pei Yuan in amazement, and after a while he said, "We, we are the eunuch party?"

After saying this, I still felt a little bit unbelievable.

Governor Wang couldn't help but mutter to himself with difficulty and some doubt about life, "Am I a eunuch again?"

Wang Chang had finally managed to downplay the color of Liu Jin's eunuch party and was struggling over whether or not to provoke Zhang Yong. Unexpectedly, a word from his own boss shook his three views in an instant.

However, a careful review of the power in the inner court controlled by Pei Yuan reveals that he is already a powerful eunuch.

As the henchman who has always followed Pei Yuan most closely, if he is not a eunuch party member, then who is?
Pei Yuan let Wang Chang digest it slowly for a while, then said, "The civil officials are gathering followers under the pretext of attacking Lu Wan, and their target is actually Your Majesty."

Hearing this, Wang Chang couldn't help but ask, "Does Your Majesty know about this?"

Pei Yuan said indifferently, "Don't worry, I will tell him about it."

Wang Chang was speechless. Okay.

Pei Yuan added, "It was actually my idea to use Lu Wan as a target. The court needs a certain consensus and cohesion, otherwise it will be easily beaten to pieces by the emperor's random means. Now is not the time for both sides to show their cards."

Wang Chang remained speechless and said, "Okay, okay."

Pei Yuan looked at Wang Chang and said, "Don't you realize that there is a good opportunity now?"

Wang Chang was stunned by Pei Yuan's question. He asked blankly, "Where is the opportunity?"

Pei Yuan sighed, "That's Lu Wan! Now Lu Wan is being bullied by the emperor, and other civil servants are standing on the moral high ground and pointing fingers at him every day."

"Lu Wan is now like a dog that has been driven out and is looking for a new owner."

Wang Chang suddenly came to his senses, thinking about what Pei Yuan had just said about the theory of strength and weakness, and said, "What the captain means is that we should now strengthen the eunuch party's momentum again, and no longer be as timid as rats in the gutter?"

Pei Yuan revised Wang Chang's statement, "It is Grand Marshal Lu Wan who wants to revive the eunuch party. This thousand households are just an ordinary religious administrator."

"Do you remember the plan I told you about back then?"

This time Wang Chang reacted quickly and immediately realized what Pei Yuan was talking about. "The commander is saying that we should recruit Lu Wan to be the boss?"

Pei Yuan praised, "Yes, the time is not right yet. It is not appropriate for me to be under the spotlight of the government and the public. Lu Wan is alone and helpless, and he is a talented person. It is the right time for him to become the leader of the eunuch party."

"Now the emperor advocates military affairs, and the authority of the Ministry of War will undoubtedly increase gradually in the future. Lu Wan, the Minister of War, is no longer an insignificant role."

Wang Chang followed this line of thought and immediately felt enlightened.

Civil servants need to have the goal of Lu Wan to promote unity and bridge divisions.

But don’t the remnants of Liu Jin, who have been beaten to even greater pieces and are struggling to survive, need such a banner to regroup?

You know, in an environment where the eunuch party could be purged at any time, even Wang Chang, the nominal boss of Shandong, couldn't speak so effectively.

The reason is that people in the officialdom all knew that the eunuch party behind Wang Chang was finished and should be removed after a transition.

Then who will care about him when something big happens?
If Wang Chang was in such a state, one can imagine the plight of the other remnants of the eunuch party.

If Lu Wan was really thrown out as a target by the civil officials, then Wang Chang could completely use this opportunity to turn the false into the true, take advantage of the weakness of the civil officials' camp, and support Lu Wan to rise up a mountain.

Wang Chang immediately said, "I understand. I will go to see Zhang Yong in a grand manner and make a good show of reviving the party."

Pei Yuan was very satisfied with Wang Chang's comprehension ability, and could not help but encourage him, "This captain already has his own Silijian seal, but he does not have his own cabinet minister. Lord Wang, please work hard."

After hearing these words, Wang Chang's blood boiled.

Chen Xinjian and Tan Tai Fangtu, who were accompanying them, ate their meal in silence, pretending they heard nothing.

Before Chen Xinjian, he had heard Pei Yuan's early stories from his brother Chen Toutie.

Thinking back to when Pei Baihu was heavily in debt, he boasted to his only two younger brothers that he would definitely have his own cabinet chief and seal holder of the Imperial Household Department in the future...

Now, only a year has passed, and there is already a newly appointed eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, who allows Captain Pei to do whatever he wants.

Pei Yuan and Wang Chang talked about some things in the capital, and then asked about the place they were most concerned about.

"By the way, how are the beans growing in Shandong this year? Have you harvested them well?"

At first, Wang Chang thought this was the topic that Pei Yuan was most concerned about, so he made preparations early on. He didn't expect Pei Yuan to ask about it at this moment.

He quickly replied, "The beans from all over the country have been harvested, and are now being gathered by Chen Toutie's men. When most of them are collected, we can use the boat to go south and transport these beans to Huai'an."

After Pei Yuan sent Kong Xu to Huai'an, he didn't really care much about the affairs of Nanyou.

The main reason is that he has no power in Huai'an and Jiangnan. Even if he wants to intervene, he has no fulcrum to use.

Huai'an Wei can be used, and He Huan also said hello to Zhou Chao before leaving.

However, since the Nanyou Group is related to the future control over the Luo Sect, Pei Yuan naturally cannot let Huai'an Wei intervene easily.

Pei Yuan asked Wang Chang, "Have you heard about Kong Xu's situation?"

Wang Chang replied, "I did ask General Chen, and he said that Governor Kong has asked for help from the north many times, and the situation in the south may not be very good."

Pei Yuan had expected this, so he wasn't disappointed.

"I have long thought that this matter is not so easy, but the matter in the capital is too urgent, and every move is related to the overall situation. I can't let go for the time being, so I can only let Kong Xu take full charge."

"The turmoil in the capital has calmed down a bit, and the court is now focusing on the upcoming imperial examination."

"I have more than a month of free time, which is a good opportunity for me to sort out the affairs in Shandong and Huai'an. After I kill Zhang Yong, I will go to Huai'an to see if there is any way to open up the market."

When Pei Yuan said this, he suddenly remembered how he had tricked the princes and nobles in Shandong into switching from beans to cotton.

He asked quickly, "By the way, how is the conversion from soybeans to cotton going? If I remember correctly, the cotton should be harvested as well."

Speaking of this, Wang Chang felt a little guilty. "Yes. It's almost time to harvest cotton. We can keep the truth secret for a while, but I'm afraid we can't keep it secret forever. If someone in the south talks nonsense, I'm afraid we will offend all the vassal kings and powerful people."

Pei Yuan rubbed his brows and said, "Just be perfunctory for now. I'll go check out what's going on in the soybean oil market in the south. If there's really something fishy going on, maybe these cottons will come in handy."

Pei Yuan already had some rough guesses about the situation in Huai'an.

The added profits from soybean oil extraction were too huge, and Pei Yuan's attempt to monopolize the market was bound to cause backlash from many wealthy merchants in the south.

The key is that the growth of Luojiao is slower than Pei Yuan expected, and it is not able to brutally push the market to the bottom in one breath.

Pei Yuan thought about the agreement he had with Han Qianhu that the Huai River would be the boundary, with each of them in charge of their own affairs. He hesitated in his heart about whether Han Qianhu should be involved in Nanyou's affairs.

His control over Jiangnan was almost non-existent.

Although there are two prefects, Liu Zhishu and Zhai De'an, these two prefects have very little power other than the title, and they are all under public supervision.

Although Xu Feng, the commander of the Hangzhou Vanguard, was frightened by Pei Yuan, the Hangzhou Vanguard itself was a mess. Could Pei Yuan still count on his useless garrison soldiers?
However, such a huge deal, which is related to the affairs of the Luo Sect, would require some explanation to Han Qianhu if he wanted to help.

But can he and Han Qianhu really trust each other so much?
Before, when he and Han Qianhu used the court's money to make a lot of money in Huai'an, it was nothing more than a harmless way of digging into the Ming Dynasty's territory.

But what does the existence of Luojiao mean? Han Qianhu, who specializes in tracking down cults, should know it very well.

Could she tolerate her deputy captain secretly controlling such a large force?

Moreover, the Luo Sect is so powerful in Shandong now. Could it be that Captain Han really abides by the agreement on the Huai River and does not send anyone to the north to take a look?
Thinking of this, Pei Yuan became confused for a moment, and became drunk without realizing it.

(End of this chapter)