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

Chapter 547 You Don’t Even Want to Call Me Third Brother

Pei Yuan's words were blunt, but they hit Jiang Bin's mind at once.

Jiang Bin rose through the ranks from a low-ranking military officer. Before he took part in suppressing the Bazhou Rebellion, he was just a small seventh-rank captain.

Thanks to his continuous fighting and his courage in pulling out the arrows and fighting again, he suddenly gained attention and became the focus of the world.

He also relied on this fame to soar to the top.

But in essence, his foundation is extremely superficial, and heaven and earth are only a thought away from some people.

You know, civil officials can be in name only, because their "name" is the stepping stone for them to advance. The most obvious example is the group of poets in the Hanlin Academy, who have almost no political experience at all. As long as they slowly hang around in the Hanlin Academy, they will be on the road to the pinnacle of power.

But it is different for military officers. How much power they have depends entirely on their personal strength.

The bravery that made Jiang Bin stand out was his personal strength, but how far could this personal bravery alone take him?

Jiang Bin was from Xuanfu, but he initially served as a military officer in Datong.

Although his official position has been promoted rapidly nowadays, his main duty is to accompany the emperor in martial arts exercises and train the four foreign armies transferred to the capital.

The nominal job was just to guard Geyu and other forts in the middle route of Xuanfu.

Although he was not a minion in front of the general and deputy general who actually controlled Xuanfu, his status was completely incomparable to theirs.

The reason why Jiang Bin was elected as the leader of the four outer armies by Li Cong, Shen Zhou and others was, firstly, because this posture was created by Jiang Bin in order to fight against Qian Ning; secondly, because Jiang Bin was very favored by the emperor.

That is why Jiang Bin could always use the banners of "Xuanda Liaoji" to bully others.

But it happened not long ago that the four towns wanted to promote more military generals to the court, but were blocked by Qian Ning.

This immediately made the four towns' main goal to eliminate Qian Ning, who was blocking their way.

So in this situation, using Jiang Bin's affairs to replace Qian Ning is undoubtedly a very tempting attempt for the rulers of the four towns.

Although Jiang Bin felt that this matter was somewhat embarrassing for him, he could accept it as long as he could get rid of Qian Ning.

However, Pei Yuan's vicious rumors made him unable to sit still, because Pei Yuan destroyed the reputation on which he relied to rise.

After Jiang Bin saw through the risks involved, he naturally prioritized self-protection without hesitation.

Jiang Bin was silent for a moment and didn't say much, then gestured to another stone bench next to him.

Pei Yuan walked forward and sat down carelessly.

Perhaps seeing that the atmosphere between the two had eased, the selected servants who had gradually gathered around them also put away their tense attitude and returned to their rooms.

Cen Meng took a look and tactfully returned the Embroidered Spring Sword to its sheath, standing a little further away from the two of them.

Perhaps he had prepared himself mentally, so Jiang Bin took the initiative to ask, "What are you going to do?"

Pei Yuan said, "Speaking of which, you are lucky to have such a result this time. Do you know what Qian Ning and I planned before?"

As Pei Yuan spoke, he picked up a handful of stones from the ground and told Jiang Bin about the plan of "making friends with distant countries and attacking nearby ones" that he had discussed with Qian Ning.

After listening to this, Jiang Bin couldn't help but frown.

Originally, he still hated Pei Yuan for causing this turmoil, but after he finished listening, he actually felt relieved that he had escaped a disaster.

If Pei Yuan and Jiang Bin had not suddenly fallen out and fought each other at the Yongshou Marquis' Mansion, then as long as Qian Ning softened his stance, showed goodwill to the warriors of the four towns, and opened up a path for them to rise, then he, Jiang Bin, would most likely become a victim of this plan.

Unexpectedly, after Jiang Bin was beaten unconscious by Pei Yuan and Qian Ning, the warriors from the four towns thought this was a good opportunity, so they took the initiative to attack Qian Ning, hoping to take the opportunity to bring Qian Ning down.

This forced Pei Yuan's plan to be terminated.

After Jiang Bin heard this, even though he was hostile, he couldn't help but say, "Captain Pei is very scheming."

Pei Yuan shrugged, "It's no use. The situation is different now. Qian Ning and I have a falling out."

Then he took the initiative to explain to Jiang Bin, "Qian Ning wanted to use me to protect him from this disaster, but I just flipped the table."

Jiang Bin felt a little happy when he heard that Pei Yuan and Qian Ning had a falling out.

Then, Jiang Bin thought about how Pei Yuan, that bastard, overturned the table and ended up beating him up. He felt a little relieved just now, but now he felt a little uncomfortable again.

Pei Yuan ignored Jiang Bin's thoughts. He looked at the sunlight leaking through the tree and said to Jiang Bin, "I gave Qian Ning an idea, and I want to give you one too. Do you want to listen?"

Jiang Bin hesitated for a long time before suppressing his disgust for Pei Yuan and replied, "Tell me about it."

Pei Yuan smiled and pointed at the stones that he had arranged in a ball during the demonstration, and then pointed at more stones in the distance. "Although my plan was unexpectedly terminated, as long as the conflict between the Four Outer Armies and the Embroidered Uniform Guards remains deadlocked, Qian Ning may still be able to use this plan."

"If that day eventually comes, I wonder how my second brother will deal with it?"

Jiang Bin's face froze.

As a person who is in the public eye, how can he prevent the people behind the scenes from colluding with each other?

If that day really comes, Sizhen will betray Jiang Bin without hesitation and choose to ally with Qian Ning.

Fortunately, Jiang Bin has some brains to be where he is today.

He thought of Pei Yuan's words just now, and immediately asked, "What advice do you want to give me?"

Pei Yuan said with a fake smile, "Of course we have to do it on two fronts. We have to try to satisfy the desire of the warriors of the four towns for advancement, and we have to try to cut off the collusion between Qian Ning and the warriors of the four towns behind the scenes."

Jiang Bin looked at Pei Yuan for a while.

He was not sure whether Pei Yuan had the means to turn decay into magic, but this method alone sounded interesting.

Jiang Bin thought about it and asked straightforwardly, "What conditions do you want?"

Pei Yuan didn't beat around the bush. "I have a subordinate who is very ambitious, but I don't have any suitable positions to place him in. Can you help him find a position for me in Xuanfu?"

Jiang Bin said unhappily, "Change it. I can't even find a good job myself."

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "Then I'll owe you the money first. When you think you can do it, we can discuss it again."

Jiang Bin frowned, thinking Pei Yuan was a bit of a rogue, but then he thought again, he was the one who owed him the money, so there was no need to discuss it further if he didn't want to pay it back, right?
Jiang Bin said calmly, "Then Captain Pei, please speak."

Pei Yuan didn't keep the question in suspense and glanced at the stones gathered together on the ground.

The slightly larger one in the middle represents Zhu Houzhao, and the ones surrounding it represent Zhu Houzhao's close ministers.

Pei Yuan looked at the stones scattered outside, representing the warriors of the four towns.

He first opened his five fingers and waved them in front of Jiang Bin, then reached out and picked up the stone representing Zhu Houzhao and threw it hard into the stones scattered outside.

He said calmly, "If we can't get to the emperor's side, why don't we just move him to your side?"

Jiang Bin's eyes followed the parabola. He was stunned at first, looking back at Pei Yuan in confusion. Then, as if he suddenly realized something, he first quickly glanced at the group of stones that were still gathered together but with an empty space in the center, and then looked at the stones that were mixed together in the distance.

He said in shock, "What do you mean?"

Pei Yuan decisively advanced the historical line. He informed Jiang Bin in advance of this result that would only come after repeated struggles, "Xuanfu is not far from the capital, and it can get rid of the close ministers surrounding the emperor. In this case, it is not a bad idea to let your Majesty go to Xuanfu to build a temporary palace."

When Jiang Bin heard this suggestion, his heart beat faster. After a while, he asked, "Is this possible?"

Pei Yuan said, "Why do you think the current emperor is so close to warriors, even going against common sense and taking more than a hundred warriors as his godsons?"

Jiang Bin replied quickly, "The emperor wants to seize military power."

This was also the consensus reached by the warriors from the four towns during private discussions.

If they had not reached this conclusion, they would not have been so enthusiastic and wanted to take the opportunity to spread their influence into the court.

Pei Yuan urged, "Even if the emperor wanted to mobilize a small number of troops to the capital, he would be restricted by the Ministry of War. After a year of hard work and leading the troops himself, he could only win over 3,000 to 5,000 people and win the support of the army."

"If that's the case, why not just persuade the emperor to go to the border town and inspect the hundreds of thousands of troops?"

Jiang Bin seemed to have a bright window opened. "Is this possible?"

Pei Yuan said disapprovingly, "Your Majesty has even done things like training troops outside the palace in order to win the hearts of the troops. How can there be anything that can and cannot be done?"

"Also, there were some rumors some time ago. I wonder if Second Brother has heard about it."

Although Jiang Bin still had some qualms about the word "Second Brother", he had to pretend he didn't hear it. "What's the rumor?"

Pei Yuan said, "Some people say that the Tongzhengsi faction is your majesty's secret agent. Many officials from the Tongzhengsi faction have been placed in Xuanda, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Revenue, which is in charge of military rations."

"As soon as this rumor came out, in order to keep a close eye on the Ministry of Public Security, one of them was transferred from the Ministry of Public Security to the position of Right Minister of Public Security."

"Of course, I only heard about this matter, so I won't mention the person's name."

"But there is no smoke without fire. The history of the promotion of those Tongzhengsi officials is clearly laid out there."

"Perhaps the emperor has indeed accumulated a lot of power in this place closest to the capital."

"But no one can guess what His Majesty is thinking, and no one knows what His Majesty thinks of going to Xuanfu where there is no one to hinder him."

Jiang Bin obviously couldn't listen anymore. His eyes flickered and it was unknown what he was thinking about.

Pei Yuan also tactfully shut up and waited for him to weigh the pros and cons.

After a long while, Jiang Bin whispered to Pei Yuan, "But the four towns may not be willing to let the emperor go. There are advantages to this, but, but..."

Pei Yuan took a while to understand what Jiang Bin meant.

Being able to have the emperor by one's side would certainly make it easier for the warriors of the Four Towns to come to the fore, but the Four Towns themselves might not be so clean.

If you really get the emperor by your side, it may cause trouble for you, which may not be a good thing.

Pei Yuan advised, "At this time, the emperor still cares about these things? Maybe His Majesty will say something and let you avoid these worries."

"Besides, you were just a captain before. If there was any corruption or abuse of power, would it have anything to do with you?"

Jiang Bin thought about it and decided that there was really no need to worry about it.

This bastard only made a few bucks.

He swallowed hard and looked at Pei Yuan with burning eyes, "Who should I go to to clarify this matter? This plan... should be able to sell for a good price!"

Pei Yuan listened but remained silent and did not give any opinion at all.

Jiang Bin was puzzled. He was a little confused about Pei Yuan, who had been actively promoting the plan, and suddenly took such an attitude. "Captain Pei?"

Pei Yuan said slowly, "I am very sincere to you, brother, and you are even unwilling to call me your third brother."

What the hell!

Jiang Bin was speechless for a moment. He gritted his teeth and finally managed to force out an ugly smile, "Third, third brother."

Pei Yuan then smiled and said, "That's more like it."

Jiang Bin suppressed his nausea and continued to ask, "In your opinion, who should push this matter forward to get greater benefits?"

Pei Yuan said, "Only elementary school students make choices. We can have them all. If it were me, I would sell this plan to get two benefits."

Only then did Jiang Bin realize the blind spots in his thinking.

Since this is beneficial to both Your Majesty and the Four Towns, of course you can try to win favors from both sides.

Seeing that Jiang Bin had been persuaded, Pei Yuan did not stay here any longer. He stood up and said, "Second brother, think about it slowly first. I have other things to do."

Jiang Bin didn't even stand up to see him off.

He looked at Pei Yuan's back for a while, then shouted, "What kind of future does your subordinate want?"

Pei Yuan turned around and smiled, "It would be enough to have a guard post where you can make the final decision."

Jiang Bin didn't answer and let Pei Yuan leave.

Cen Meng followed Pei Yuan and saw that Pei Yuan was walking back. He actively suggested, "Qian Hu has been bored these days, why don't you go somewhere else? Da Ci'en Temple is quite good. It's a good opportunity to relax."

Pei Yuan waved his hand and said, "There's no rush to stroll around. I have something else to deal with."

Cen Meng had vaguely heard Pei Yuan say a few words just now, so he asked, "Is it the matter you discussed with Jiang Bin?"

Pei Yuan nodded.

Cen Meng asked in confusion, "Hasn't the commander already arranged for him to do it?"

Pei Yuan smiled and looked at Cen Meng, "Since you heard this, didn't you hear me say, 'If it were me, I would sell this plan twice as much.'"

Cen Meng thought to himself and thought there was nothing wrong with this.

Qianhu's plan sounds good for His Majesty and the Four Garrisons, so it's normal to suggest that Jiang Bin play both sides, right?

But when Cen Meng saw Pei Yuan's meaningful smile and thought about the words "If it were me..."

Cen Meng suddenly shuddered.

What the hell!

If Jiang Bin can use this plan to sell two benefits, then this bastard can do it too!
But his two portions and Jiang Bin’s two portions are completely different concepts!

Jiang Bin, who thought he had gained a huge reward, seemed to be just a part of Pei Yuan's plan.

Pei Yuan wants to sell two copies. Jiang Bin is one of them. Who is the other one?

Cen Meng couldn't figure it out for a moment and felt his mind was in a mess.

Then, Cen Meng thought about how Pei Yuan had actually mentioned this in front of Jiang Bin in a joking manner and without any concealment, and that he had successfully deceived Jiang Bin. He felt his eyes had been opened for a moment.

Especially when he thought about Pei Yuan deliberately teasing Jiang Bin by calling him the third brother, he suddenly felt that this guy was simply too arrogant and too inhuman!
(End of this chapter)