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

Chapter 508: Thousands of Households Discussing Talents over Wine

After three rounds of drinking, Pei Yuan, still drunk, asked the three people, "You have traveled around the world and must have seen many people. Do you know any talented people in the world today?"

Upon hearing this, Cai Ang immediately smiled and said, "Speaking of talented people, we naturally have to mention Yang Shen, Yang Yongxiu, right? He has extraordinary literary talent, is good at poetry, lyrics and music, and can win first place in the imperial examinations. He can be called the most talented person in the world."

Among the three, the youngest, Cai Ang, failed the exam twice.

They had all experienced last year's imperial examination and had witnessed Yang Shen's talent.

When they heard Cai Ang mention this man, everyone admitted they were superior.

Unexpectedly, Pei Yuan, a military officer of the Jinyiwei, dared to speak out and said disdainfully, "Yang Shen is knowledgeable but not profound, miscellaneous but disorderly, with a crude view and stubborn opinions. Although he has poetic talent, his talent is high but his character is not pure. He is not an outstanding person."

The three of them couldn't help but gasp.

I was thinking in my heart, you know nothing, even Yang Shen looks down on you.

Huang Chu saw that the atmosphere was a bit cold, so he took the initiative to ease the situation and said, "Wang Shouren has both literary and military talents. Not only is he well-educated, but he also offered advice and military strategies to the emperor when he was young. I heard that he has written a book to explain the way of the sage. He is truly a leader among our generation."

Although Pei Yuan was a second sage, he was not completely partial to his good brother Shouren. He commented, "Although my brother has a shocking theory, it is inevitable that it is shocking. He is also stubborn and unyielding by nature, and it is difficult for him to be accepted by the world. I am afraid that even if he has a great reputation, it will be after his death."

Huang Chu saw this and said, "Lü Tan, the top scholar in the third year of Zhengde, is a man of broad knowledge. His writing and knowledge are first-rate in the world. He is also upright and magnanimous. A few years ago, because of Liu Jin's chaotic politics, he retired to his hometown and built Donglin Book House in his hometown. He gathered students to give lectures. In terms of learning, he is on par with Wang Shouren. What do you think of this man?"

Pei Yuan thought to himself, I have never heard of it, and immediately said disdainfully, "This is just a mediocre person."

The three were speechless again.

Tang Gao had been silent until everyone else spoke, so he said dryly, "Li Mengyang is a man of quick wit and a classic style. He also has a great character and does not shy away from the powerful. He is admired by the world."

Pei Yuan had really heard about Li Mengyang, mainly when he learned about the war record of that evil woman, Empress Dowager Zhang.

When Li Mengyang impeached Marquis Shouning, he was nearly killed in prison by Empress Dowager Zhang, but Emperor Hongzhi didn't dare to say a word.

Pei Yuan commented, "Talent is not enough to help, wisdom is not enough to survive, this is what Li Mengyang said."

Tang Gao asked, "How are Gong, He Jingming, Xu Zhenqing, Kang Hai, Wang Jiusi, Wang Tingxiang and others?"

Pei Yuan had never heard of any of these people becoming famous in later generations, so he said, "They are just mediocre people."

The three of them were speechless.

The whole day was killed by these thousand households talking.

Tang Gao then asked, "In the eyes of the thousand households, who is the most talented person today?"

Pei Yuan laughed and said, "Others may not know, but I think you three are extraordinary and will definitely be extraordinary in the future!"

The three of them were even more speechless. What the hell was this? Discussing heroes over a glass of wine.

If it was just a one-on-one bragging, they would have just laughed and agreed, but there are other people present now!

If this gets out, won't we become a laughing stock?

Besides, you are just a warrior, what do you know about the talents of the world? Fortunately, Pei Yuan did not count himself, otherwise this would be considered an insult.

Tang Gao and the other two were almost overwhelmed by Pei Yuan's praise and wanted to pick their feet out of embarrassment.

After Pei Yuan finished speaking, he continued to urge people to drink as if nothing had happened.

After another round of drinking, Pei Yuancai smiled and said, "It's not fun just drinking like this. I like gambling, and after meeting you three, I made three lots for you three. How about each of you draw one?"

The three of them looked slightly changed after hearing this.

Huang Chu and Cai Ang both turned their eyes to Tang Gao, the most mature of the three.

Tang Gao put on a smile and asked, "Well, what is Captain Pei's gambling game about? The three of us are just poor candidates, and I'm afraid we can't come up with anything that will impress Captain Pei."

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "Brother Tang, don't worry. I just want to make it more interesting for our future meeting."

Tang Gao's expression softened a little, and he immediately asked, "Then I wonder what these three lots mean?"

Pei Yuan took out three sticks that he had prepared long ago from his sleeve.

These three sticks are made of green bamboo slices, and it seems that they were taken from a green bamboo umbrella.

Pei Yuan smiled and showed them, "This was taken from the bamboo umbrella that I held when we met. I wrote a word on each of them, and then tied them with a rope and sealed them with wax."

"You three can each draw one, and when we meet again in the capital tomorrow, we can open them and read them to help with the wine we drink. How do you think?"

The three lots that Pei Yuan drew were naturally the ones on which he had written "A", "B" and "C" in advance.

It would be fine if Captain Han was unwilling to help, but since everything has been prepared, it might as well be used in vain.

It is naturally a good thing if you guess right, but there is no loss even if you guess wrong.

After hearing what happened, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Huang Chu and Cai Ang continued to look at Tang Gao.

Tang Gao thought about what the captain had done and felt that he was not a bad person, so he took the initiative to smile and extend his hand, saying, "In that case, Tang will join in the fun."

As he said this, he stretched out his hand towards Pei Yuan, wanting to pick a lot from Pei Yuan's hand.

Just as Tang Gao's hand was about to touch the green bamboo stick, Pei Yuan suddenly felt a force beating in his hand, and a bamboo stick seemed to come alive and popped out.

Tang Gao didn't notice it. He took out the lot when he saw it, and said with a smile, "I'll take this one."

Pei Yuan's expression changed slightly, and he subconsciously wanted to look around.

When Cai Ang saw Tang Gao draw one, he smiled and said, "Then I will draw one too."

As he spoke, he reached out his hand to draw the lot from Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan felt a force jumping again in his hand holding the two green bamboo sticks. When Cai Ang was about to draw the sticks, the sticks suddenly protruded an inch as if they had jumped into Cai Ang's hand.

This action happened in the split second when Cai Ang was about to touch the green bamboo stick. Cai Ang was unaware of it and thought he had touched and picked it.

Just pull out the green bamboo stick.

Pei Yuan became more certain now.

Han Qianhu finally helped him.

But at this moment, Pei Yuan felt a little uneasy.

He remembered that he had mentioned this to Han Qianhu and asked her to help draw the three lots, A, B and C, in order according to the ages of the three people.

Cai Ang was the second one to reach out to take it, but he was the youngest, so he had to make sure Han Qianhu didn't make a mistake.

But now was not the time to think about these things. Pei Yuan smiled and handed the last lot to Huang Chu.

Huang Chu took it politely and looked at it for a while.

Seeing that the other two people pretended to put it away solemnly, he also stuffed the lot into his clothing bag.

After everyone put away their things, Pei Yuan said calmly, "If what I saw is correct, you are the top three in the undergraduate exam. When the results are announced tomorrow, I will prepare a banquet to celebrate with you."

Tang Gao and the other three looked at each other in confusion.

They were all people who had failed the exams several times. Even Tang Gao, who was the most tenacious among the three, only wanted to pass the exams and that would be enough for him. Who dared to dream of getting the top three?

And even if you dare to dream of the top three, how can you dare to imagine that the top three in undergraduate studies are all on the same boat here and now.

Pei Yuan finished speaking and stood up unsteadily without saying anything more.

There is no point in saying anything now. He will have to wait until the day when the results are announced before he, Pei Qianhu, can really gain some reputation from them.

When the three saw Pei Yuan stand up, they also wanted to stand up.

Pei Yuan waved his hand to stop them, "You guys drink first, I suddenly remembered an official business, I need to go see my superior, Han Qianhu."

Hearing that Pei Yuan was here on official business, the three of them did not dare to try to keep him, but they all tactfully said that they had had enough fun and wanted to go back to their rooms to rest.

So the four of them left the room together. Pei Yuan waited for them to return to their respective rooms before he staggered onto the front deck.

Chen Xinjian knew that Pei Yuan's alcohol tolerance was not good, and was afraid that Pei Yuan would slip and fall into the water, so he hurried over to help him.

Pei Yuan asked him, "Where is Captain Han's boat? I need to see her for something."

Chen Xinjian tactfully advised, "The captain is drunk, it's not good to set up the gangplank. If there is anything, why not wait until tomorrow?"

Pei Yuanjiang's face darkened and he scolded, "Where is the nonsense? Take me there quickly."

Chen Xinjian was helpless in seeing this, so he had to call a few more soldiers to protect them, then he tightly tied the ropes on the shore and tried to get as close to the shore as possible.

But before the boat could reach the shore, a dark figure of Jinyiwei came hurriedly from a distance.

Chen Xinjian stopped and looked in the moonlight. The guards beside him hurriedly asked, "Who is it?"

The man answered loudly, "I am the general Yang Fang, and I am here to pass on the order of the captain."

Chen Xinjian glanced at Pei Yuan and responded to himself, "The captain is drunk, what's the matter?"

Seeing Pei Yuan standing there with an impatient look on his face, Yang Fang could only pretend not to see it and said, "Ah? Deputy Captain Pei is drunk? Then, then it's okay."

Chen Xinjian was suspicious and asked, "Why did General Yang come here?"

Yang Fang heard the question and could only say, "Captain Han said that if Deputy Captain Pei is alright, he should go and inspect the gunpowder he brought."

How could Pei Yuan understand after hearing this that this was a rejection from Han Qianhu.

He turned around without saying a word and went straight back to his cabin.

Chen Xinjian and Yang Fang looked at each other, one went back to report, and the other chased to Pei Yuan's cabin.

From a distance, Chen Xinjian heard the sound of cups and plates breaking in the cabin.

Chen Xinjian arrived at the door and waited for a moment. When there was no movement, he slowly pushed the door open and walked in.

The previously messy dining table became even more chaotic, with some of the soup from the food even splashing onto the bulkhead.

Chen Xinjian went out again in silence and called his personal soldiers over to help clean up the mess.

After the personal guards had carefully packed up everything, Chen Xinjian was the last one to leave.

At the moment the cabin door closed, Pei Qianhu, who had been lying on the bed in the cabin, let out a light "Huh."

Chen Xinjian slowly left and went up to the deck.

Cen Meng asked carefully, "What's wrong?"

Chen Xinjian said calmly, "The captain is not very happy. Let's sleep on the deck tonight. I hope it won't rain."

Cen Meng said heartlessly, "It's just right, the deck is cool."

Early the next morning, the fleet left Qingyuanshuiyi and continued heading north.

Amid the sound of oars, it was not until the afternoon that we arrived at Ande Water Horse Posthouse.

Ande Water Horse Posthouse is close to Dezhou. There are boats that can go north, and you can also change horses here and travel by land.

If you continue to take the boat, you will have to go from Cangzhou to Tianjin. The canals along the way have not been completely dredged. Not only is the water shallow and difficult to navigate, but the detour is also longer.

If you change horses here, you can go through Hejian and then go directly to Beijing via Zhuozhou, which will be relatively faster.

Captain Han still had to wait in Dezhou for Cui Bohou to follow. When Pei Yuan knew about it, he sent someone to report to Captain Han, saying that the imperial examination was approaching and he had to take his men ahead. Then he led his men away on horseback.

Although Tang Gao and the other two thought that Captain Pei was a little crazy after getting drunk, he was still very reliable when he was serious about his work.

At least with their status as candidates, it is impossible for them to easily get post horses from such a busy water horse post.

I don’t know how much time this alone can save them.

After another two days of travel, they were about to reach the capital, so Pei Yuan stopped his horse at the side of the official road and asked someone to call Xiao Tong over.

When Xiao Tong, who was among the personal soldiers, heard that Pei Yuan was looking for him, his face became a little unnatural. When he arrived in front of Pei Yuan, he was so nervous that he didn't know what to say.

Pei Yuan was very displeased by this and scolded Xiao Tong, "Why have you been hiding from me these days? As your uncle, how can I eat you?"

It would be fine if Pei Yuan didn't say anything.

When Pei Yuan said this, Xiao Tong immediately remembered the time when those rats gnawed at the warhorse under his crotch.

I couldn't help but start to shiver.

He quickly said, "My nephew, my nephew doesn't dare."

Pei Yuan was a little speechless, "Look at you, you look so ugly."

Seeing that there was no one else on the official road, he slowly asked, "How does it feel to chop off the body of the eunuch who holds the seal of the Imperial Household Department with your own hands?"

Xiao Tong closed his mouth, not daring to speak, and just lowered his head deeply.

Pei Yuan was a little disappointed, but he praised, "Well, being able to keep your mouth shut is also an advantage. Go back and tell your father about it, let him teach you how to say it, and then come back and tell me."

Xiao Tong finally squeezed out a few words, "Yes, nephew knows."

Pei Yuan said, "Well, go ahead."

The Xiao family's connections in the palace were almost wiped out by him.

Even if Xiao Jing had some cards up his sleeve, with Xiao Tong's pledge of allegiance, he could basically tie the Xiao family to his chariot completely.

Moreover, although the Xiao family's connections are very valuable and Pei Yuan also values ​​them very much, there is actually one last treasure that still has some value.

That is the super old eunuch Xiao Jing who can live to the sixth life.

When Xiao Jing suddenly seized control of the Ministry of War and mobilized the Xuanfu border troops, he did it very cleanly and beautifully.

Not all eunuchs can be so bold and decisive when facing those outer court officials.

When the struggle between Pei Yuan and Empress Dowager Zhang's party becomes fierce, the competition for these eunuchs will directly determine the situation of both sides.

Having an extra card in your hand may play an important role at a critical moment.

(End of this chapter)