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

Chapter 521 King of the World

As expected, Zhu Houzhao's voice softened a little. "You two dared to do this, and both of you will be fined one year's salary!"

Pei Yuan and Qian Ning both breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

A one-year salary deduction is almost equivalent to no punishment for people like them.

Qian Ning had his own subordinates who had collected the tributes, so Pei Yuan was no longer willing to make money easily because he would make too much every time he tried, which could easily cause deflation in the current economic situation where silver and copper were scarce.

Before the two could express their gratitude, Zhu Houzhao looked at Pei Yuan and scolded him, "You are the most rude among the three of us. Even if there are some disagreements among colleagues, they should not be as violent as you are."

Pei Yuan wanted to explain that he just wanted to strangle Jiang Bin's neck with the belt, and there was nothing so messy about it.

But he was afraid that Zhu Houzhao was sensitive and would think that he was implying something, so he could only blame himself for his bad luck and remain silent.

Zhu Houzhao scolded them again before saying to them, "This will not happen again in the future."

The two of them hurriedly thanked the emperor for his grace.

Zhu Houzhao now remembered the top-secret information that Pei Yuan had repeatedly mentioned. He did not return to the Yongshou Marquis's residence and asked directly, "Pei Yuan, what is the matter with the Luo Sect that you mentioned?"

As he spoke, he waved his hand.

Qian Ning immediately drove away the soldiers and eunuchs who were watching.

The eunuchs and soldiers left in silence, and when they were far away, they began to whisper to each other.

No one could see clearly the fight just now.

But the recently notorious Jiang Bin was carried on a horse and taken away, there is nothing wrong with that.

Some people who were close to him even said, "Captain Pei had taken off his pants at that time. If His Majesty had not arrived in time, Jiang Bin would have been..."

When talking about this section, everyone sighed.

Captain Pei is really a tough guy!
Even someone like Jiang Bin, who was on the list, almost suffered a loss.

Some people also said that the situation at that time was two against one, which was not glorious.

But ever since Qian Ning watched Jiang Bin beat Zhou Qi to death without saying a word, he completely lost his prestige, and everyone couldn't help but look down on his fighting ability.

Everyone agreed that Captain Pei, who dared to come directly, was more powerful.

Pei Qianhu, who was even more powerful at the moment, couldn't help but become cautious when facing Zhu Houzhao.

Whether Luo Jiao can be cleared of all charges depends on what response Zhu Houzhao will give next.

Pei Yuan looked around again and confirmed that even Qian Ning had been pushed far away, then he said to Zhu Houzhao, "Your Majesty, this matter is too confidential, I request to come forward to speak."

Zhu Houzhao became interested and jumped off his horse. "Then come closer. I hope what you say will not disappoint me."

Pei Yuan hurriedly took a few steps forward and was about to speak when his eyes fell on Zhu Houzhao's horse.

Then he looked at the saddle for a few seconds, and Pei Yuan's heart trembled.

After hesitating for a while, he finally couldn't help but ask Zhu Houzhao, "Your Majesty, I see your Majesty's saddle is very special."

Zhu Houzhao was always proud of this saddle, so he patted it with a smile and said, "Of course, do you know what it is made of?"

Pei Yuan had a vague answer in his mind, but he could only ask, "What is it?"

Zhu Houzhao laughed, stroked the saddle and said, "This is a saddle made of the skins of the six great bandits in Bazhou. I ride on this saddle every day, which can not only warn those ambitious people with delusions, but also scare those evil bandits away and prevent them from causing trouble in the next life."

Pei Yuan sighed softly after hearing this.

it is as expected.

The human skins of the six major bandits in Bazhou were naturally fake. They were fabricated by Lu Ting and some generals on the front line in order to take credit.

The real six bandits of Bazhou and their elite cavalry had already gone to Jiangxi to join Prince Ning.

Just seeing these things, even if they were fake, made Pei Yuan feel touched.

Seeing Pei Yuan's stunned look, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but asked with a smile, "Why? Do you like it?"

He had lost interest in the six human-skin saddles, so he smiled and said to Pei Yuan, "If the information you bring is valuable enough, how about I give you one?"

Pei Yuan declined the offer, but he did not want to spoil Zhu Houzhao's fun, so he pretended to be very interested and said, "If that's the case, then I must show my best to Your Majesty."

Zhu Houzhao laughed and said, "Just tell me what you want."

Pei Yuan considered how to start the conversation. After thinking for a long time, until Zhu Houzhao became impatient, Pei Yuan said, "As a member of the Imperial Guard, I occasionally go outside the Da Ci'en Temple to understand what the people think and listen to the discussions of the scholars."

"Of course, I was just gathering intelligence, and I didn't discuss or spread it privately."

Zhu Houzhao smiled after hearing this.

He himself also liked to go to Da Ci'en Temple to listen to the scholars' discussions on politics, and some of their views were indeed interesting.

It was precisely because of this that he noticed the forces pulling against each other as soon as the Liang Ci case began to ferment.

Overall, Zhu Houzhao could resonate with Pei Yuan's little hobby.

Pei Yuan continued cautiously, "I occasionally hear some scholars say that the emperor likes to go against the norms."

Zhu Houzhao just laughed after hearing this and didn't react much.

Obviously, he has heard a lot of this kind of talk himself.

Zhu Houzhao asked Pei Yuan, "What do you think, Pei Qing?"

Pei Yuan quickly said in a serious tone, "Your Majesty, I don't think Your Majesty likes to go against the teachings, but sometimes those 'classics' and 'Taoism' cannot provide any help to Your Majesty."

Zhu Houzhao was delighted and said with a smile, "Well said!"

Then, as if he had found a confidant, he asked Pei Yuan, "Some time ago, a court official accused me of living in a felt tent and practicing barbarian customs. Do you know why I did that?"

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and flattered, "Your Majesty must want to emulate King Wuling of Zhao's behavior of wearing Hu clothing and riding and shooting."

Zhu Houzhao praised, "Yes, the Hu people rely on grazing and migration to avoid the fists of our Ming Dynasty. But since the Hu people can graze and migrate, our Ming Dynasty has tens of millions of people. As long as we take a small part of them, can't we also graze and migrate, and track them to a place where they can't escape?"

Zhu Houzhao asked Pei Yuan again, "I have mentioned to you before the reason why I value Buddhism. This time I will tell you something else."

"When Minister Fu Gui was still around, he often gave me harsh advice because I called myself the Dharma King of Daqing. He believed that I was obsessed with Tibetan Buddhism and failed to fulfill my duties as a monarch. What do you think, Pei Qing?" Pei Yuan's heart moved. He didn't expect that Zhu Houzhao would take the initiative to bring up this topic. This coincided with what he came here to lobby for this time.

Pei Yuan immediately said, "The Tibetan people believe in Buddhism. Although there are secular kings, they obey the orders of the Dharma Kings. The Dharma Kings of Buddhism are reincarnated in turn and are the real rulers of Tibet."

"Your Majesty has foresight and is willing to become their Daqing Dharma King. This is to divide the power of faith between the major and minor Dharma Kings, so that the Tibetan people will have a Han emperor to rule over them from generation to generation."

Zhu Houzhao laughed and said, "Yes, you are the only one in the whole court who understands it."

"In addition, I believe in shamanism and have a Mongolian name called Kublai Khan. I also learned Persian and have a name called Shaji Aolan. The Persians call me the Ming Emperor Sultan Suleiman Khan."

"It is no longer the Qin Dynasty. It is extremely difficult to unify the world like Zulong did."

"But although I cannot unify the world further, and cannot burn all the heresy, I can have countless of me to conquer them."

"I can't make the Tibetans give up their faith, so I will become their Daqing Dharma King. I can't change the nomadic habits of the barbarians, so I can become their Kublai Khan. Even if they are far away, I will let them know that there is a Ming Sultan here."

"I am the Son of Heaven! I am the King of the World!"

Pei Yuan was shaken for a moment after hearing this, and he even couldn't help wondering whether he should assist this person to accomplish an unparalleled cause.

However, Zhu Houzhao was so excited that he said to Pei Yuan, "I didn't expect that I could have a conversation with a warrior like you."

As he spoke he realized he had lost his words and burst into laughter.

He untied the human-skin saddle and threw it to Pei Yuan, "Pei Qing, you understand my intentions, so I give it to you as a reward."

Pei Yuan took it hurriedly.

Thinking that this broken thing was made of human skin, I felt a little disgusted, so I just put it on the ground.

After just a slight turn, Pei Yuan saw three words embroidered in cinnabar on the side of the saddle: "Crazy Zhao."

Pei Yuan was stunned for a moment, in a trance for a short while.

The passion and enthusiasm that had just surged up faded away like ice and snow in spring.

Seeing Pei Yuan in a daze, Zhu Houzhao looked closer with some confusion and asked, "What's wrong?"

His eyes fell on the cinnabar tattoo, and he immediately said as if showing off a trophy, "This, this is the bandit name of Zhao Sui, the bandit leader of Bazhou!"

Pei Yuan recovered and replied softly, "I have heard about him."

Zhao Sui, also known as Crazy Zhao, was a scholar.

After making a name for himself in the Bazhou army, he had the bizarre idea of ​​cleansing the court and clearing up the world.

So he wrote to the emperor to expose the bad government and ask him to employ wise officials and give the people a rest. He also planned to use his military force to be the sharp edge of the emperor and bring peace to the world.

Pei Yuan looked at the human-skin saddle in his hand, and his rationality, which had been overwhelmed by his blood, slowly returned.

This unfortunate person is me, who is full of fantasies.

Fortunately, thanks to Pei Yuan's intervention, Zhao Sui survived and led his troops to retreat into Jiangxi.

Is he still dreaming of assisting the emperor?
Pei Yuan carefully put away the saddle.

When he returns, he will write a letter to Zhao Sui and ask him what he thinks.

By the way, send this saddle to him...

Pei Yuan's enthusiasm and passion turned into perverted and cruel in just a short time.

Zhu Houzhao looked at the saddle for a few seconds before he remembered what they had just talked about, but his emotions were interrupted. Suddenly, he felt that his previous behavior was a bit stupid.

Zhu Houzhao asked Pei Yuan, "By the way, what is the reason for you to come to see me this time? Where is the confidential information you mentioned?"

Pei Yuan reorganized his thoughts and said to Zhu Houzhao, "Your Majesty, this time when I went south to Shandong, what I saw along the way was shocking."

"The local people have been repeatedly ravaged by the Bazhou rebels and are already in dire straits."

"Nowadays, the people of Shandong, in addition to those along the canal who have to undertake corvée labor to dredge the canal and supply materials for the grain transport ships, the people of other prefectures have to repair damaged city walls and granaries. Even a large number of young and strong people have been drafted to Beijing to undertake labor in various government offices and temples."

"The Nara sect used this as an opportunity to gather the people, bewitching the ignorant and making them believers."

Zhu Houzhao's face turned ugly. He immediately asked, "Didn't the court send Wang Qiong to provide relief to the refugees? Why is it still like this?"

When Pei Yuan heard what Zhu Houzhao said, the thoughts in his heart became more justified.

You really have the nerve to say that.

Finally, a powerful minister with super high attributes joined you, but you threw him out as a target to absorb firepower.

Pei Yuan was too lazy to respond to his words, and continued, "After receiving the instructions from Your Majesty, I have already set up five Hundred Households Offices in the five prefectures of Shandong. This way, it is like five nails that nail down the Luo Sect in Shandong."

"But I have few soldiers and generals. Each place only has one trial centurion officer and dozens of Jinyi personal soldiers to monitor."

"The Qianhu Division has limited manpower and many areas that need to be controlled. We can't add enough soldiers to form a sufficient deterrent at once."

Zhu Houzhao was somewhat displeased when he heard that the situation in Shandong was so troublesome. He asked directly, "What is the solution?"

Seeing Zhu Houzhao's attitude, Pei Yuan immediately said, "I hope to draw some troops from Xuzhou Guard nearby to supplement the manpower. This way, we can pin down Luojiao more effectively and at least prevent them from causing trouble."

Zhu Houzhao immediately agreed, "Okay, I will convey the order to the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commanders' Office later. Suppressing the Luojiao is the top priority now, and I believe I will give you the approval soon."

Pei Yuan was overjoyed.

It would be much more convenient to simply issue an order from the court than to go to great lengths to deal with Xuzhou Guard Commander Guo Hui.

In this way, the five armies can quickly take shape.

Zhu Houzhao looked at Pei Yuan and said unkindly, "Could it be that you went south to manage Luojiao and only made such little progress?"

Pei Yuan knew that he was about to face the most critical moment, so he said to Zhu Houzhao in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, after more than a month of sleepless and diligent work, I have come up with a perfect plan to wipe out Luojiao in an instant."

Zhu Houzhao was overjoyed when he heard this, "Really?"

Pei Yuan quickly added, "It's just that... we can't do anything about Luo Sect right now!"

(End of this chapter)