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

Chapter 555: Both soft and hard tactics
According to Cai Rong, after Liu Pang learned of Song Suqing's loophole, in order to dig out more information from it, he relied on his identity as an official of the Ministry of Hosts and Guests to arrange Cai Rong into the Huitong Hall, trying to gather intelligence from the casual words of the Japanese delegation.

But Liu Pang was a civil servant in the Ministry of Rites with weak execution ability.

Although I have a general idea, I have no experience on how to push this forward.

That's why Liu Pang found Pei Yuan, hoping to use the Jinyiwei's excellent "hands-on" ability to help him realize his ideas.

This time, Liu Pang got a promise from Pei Yuan, so he quickly asked Cai Rong to come and make the contact.

Pei Yuan smiled when he heard this, and was about to say something to Cai Rong when he heard Cen Meng come over excitedly and report, "Captain, the man has been caught."

"Oh." Pei Yuan became somewhat interested. He did not avoid Cai Rong and said directly, "Bring that person here."

Cen Meng was prepared and waved to the door.

Immediately, several Jinyiwei, as ferocious as wolves and tigers, entered the hall with a man covered with a sack.

Cai Rong was shocked.

He looked around quickly. If it weren't for the many soldiers wearing Jinyiwei uniforms standing nearby, he would not have known whether this was an imperial government office or a kidnapping den.

Cen Meng went forward and opened the sack, and Cai Rong was shocked again.

The person who was sealed and tied up inside was Song Suqing, whom he had just mentioned.

Suddenly seeing the light, Song Suqing struggled desperately in panic, not daring to let Cen Meng get close to her.

Cen Meng turned around to look at Captain Pei, and seeing that he didn't show any reaction, he immediately kicked Song Suqing and then punched her in the face.

Song Suqing was first kicked so hard that she bent over like a shrimp, and then she was punched by Cen Meng and almost flew backwards.

Seeing Song Suqing rolling on the ground whimpering, Cen Meng stepped on him and pulled the gag out of his mouth.

When Song Suqing saw that he could speak, he was about to shout for help, but Cen Meng slapped him twice in the face.

These two slaps stunned Song Suqing, but she also came to her senses.

He was stunned for a moment, looked at Pei Yuan at the top, then looked at the Jinyiwei on his left and right and Cai Rong who seemed familiar, and his gaze moved to Pei Yuan again.

Cen shouted, "Kneel down and talk."

Song Suqing quickly knelt down.

Perhaps because he was kneeling firmly and his IQ was temporarily high, Song Suqing quickly calculated in his mind and said fiercely, "Do you know who I am? I am an envoy from Japan, and you cannot bully me casually."

After saying that, he actually mumbled something in Japanese.

However, the two big red slaps on his face and the shoe prints on his chest made these words unconvincing.

Cen Meng looked at Pei Yuan again, meaning, do you still want to fight?

Pei Yuan was busy with his work and didn't bother to waste any more time, so he asked him directly, "What was your original name? How did you get in touch with the Japanese delegation? This time, the Japanese delegation repeatedly attacked the Ministry of Hosts and Guests. What is their ultimate goal?"

Song Suqing's face turned pale in an instant.

This time he didn't even use Chinese, and just started yelling again.

Pei Yuan immediately lost interest and said to Cen Meng, "Take him out and chop him up."

Song Suqing became even more flustered and started shouting again.

Cen Meng went up and grabbed the rope that tied Song Suqing, and walked out the door with her. When they were about to leave the main hall, Song Suqing yelled, "Spare my life! If you have any questions, I will tell you everything I know."

Pei Yuan hesitated for a moment, but stopped Cen Meng and asked Song Suqing, "Let's go back to the same three questions."

Song Suqing didn't dare to pretend to be a Japanese envoy this time, but shouted, "If I can answer this, I hope my superior can spare my life."

Pei Yuan agreed straightforwardly, "Sure!"

Song Suqing gritted her teeth and said, "I'm afraid that Shangguan is lying casually, and I hope you can put my heart at ease."

Pei Yuan lost interest again.

Said to Cen Meng, "Take him out and chop him up."

Instead of sorting out those troubles bit by bit and trying to find valuable things from those words that are difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood, it is better to cut it off and start over.

Just from the fact that Song Suqing was able to trick the Hosokawa clan into sending a fake envoy to pay tribute ten years later, it can be seen that he is a disaster.

Moreover, if this traitor who is familiar with the internal affairs of both countries is allowed to live, he might get into trouble at any time when Pei Yuan is not paying attention.

Besides, now that he has Cai Rong as a replacement, Pei Yuan is confident that he can get back in touch with the delegation.

When Song Suqing saw Pei Yuan had someone push him out again, she thought that it was still a tug of war between the two sides, just like before.

When Cen Meng cut his throat cleanly like slaughtering a chicken, Song Suqing looked at the blood gushing out in disbelief. He wanted to beg for mercy, but the blood flowed even faster.

Pei Yuan observed Cai Rong's expression and saw that his eyes were staring straight out.

Then he stood up from the hall, waved to him and said, "Come on, let's go and take a look."

Cai Rong's steps weakened at first, and he almost couldn't get up. It took him a long time to stand up with his hands, and he followed Pei Yuan with one step deep and one step shallow.

When they arrived at the hall, Song Suqing was already dead. The blood from her throat stopped gushing out and instead seeped out bit by bit.

Pei Yuan looked at Cai Rong, who was shaking with fear, and threatened, "This is the fate of those who betrayed the Ming Dynasty and colluded with the vassal states."

Cai Rong instantly thought of the time when he privately handled goods for the Japanese delegation during the Hongzhi period.

He was so frightened that his teeth chattered. He quickly knelt on the ground and begged, "Captain, spare my life! I am just a small broker. I don't understand these rules. I just helped sell some paper fans and lacquerware for a little reward. I have absolutely not betrayed the Ming Dynasty!"

Pei Yuan's expression changed again, and he smiled and said, "It's okay to do this business to make a living, but you can't be like some people who betray their own country and sell out the strengths and weaknesses of the Ming Dynasty to the Japanese."

Cai Rong immediately kowtowed to the ground and swore, "I will never dare to do that again. From now on, I will never have any contact with the Japanese again."

Pei Yuan was silent for a while, and put some pressure on Cai Rong.

After Cai Rong begged for a while, Pei Yuan said calmly, "Get up. From today on, you don't need to be a broker anymore."

"You are now a member of the Jinyiwei of Zhenxie Qianhu. Since you know Japanese, I will give you a position as a small flag officer. Now the Japanese don't have Song Suqing to help them. Without this middleman, many things will be difficult to handle."

"Take this opportunity to attract the attention of those Japanese in Huitong Hall."

Pei Yuan paused for a moment and gave his own expectations, "It would be best if he could replace Song Suqing's position."

"After that, you will help me slowly find out the truth about the Japanese. Not only do you need to find out clearly what the Japanese want from the Ming Dynasty, but you also need to privately learn about the intelligence of the chief envoy, deputy envoy, and the officials and monks who follow them. This includes their backgrounds, likes and dislikes, and whether they have any enemies in Japan."

Cai Rong was stunned and at a loss for a moment.

Just now he was a small servant who might have his throat slit by this murderer at any time for colluding with the vassal state. Now, he has inexplicably become a Jinyiwei?

Seeing that Cai Rong was stunned and didn't respond, Pei Yuan knew that he didn't dare to believe it, so he added some more concrete details.

"You will work in the Qianhu Office first. I will assign you a few subordinates to help you pass on information and do your work." "In the future, when the court opens up donations, you can buy your position yourself. If you don't have money, the Qianhu Office can also help you. It won't cost much for a small flag officer."

"As long as you get useful information, I will reward you generously. There are some things I can't tell you now. You will slowly learn them after you enter the Qianhu Office."

Only then did Cai Rong dare to believe that Captain Pei really wanted him to do something.

The example of disobedience was right in front of him, alive or dead, so how could Cai Rong dare to refuse?

He quickly said, "I am willing to hear the orders of the thousand households."

Pei Yuan nodded with satisfaction.

Cai Rong was fluent in Japanese, and Pei Yuan happened to be involved in the affairs of Japan, which made Cai Rong irreplaceable.

Although Captain Pei himself knew a few words of Japanese, they were all strange-sounding and had almost no practical uses.

Since Cai Rong can be a dentist, he must be quite smart.

Moreover, he knew how to take the initiative to learn Japanese and seize the unique tribute track, which shows that he has some vision.

This person can try it.

Pei Yuan said to Cai Rong, "There are two factions in the Japanese delegation this time. One is from the Ouchi clan, and the other is from the Hosokawa clan. These two factions are superficially united, but they are actually separate. When you deal with them, don't treat them as the same."

"When you go back, you can go see the doctor in charge of the Ministry of Guests and tell him about my plan and ask him to cooperate with you. You can also tell him about Song Suqing's matter so that he can be prepared."

Pei Yuan's killing of Song Suqing would inevitably lead to criticism from the Japanese delegation against the Ministry of Rites.

However, this is an unsolved case and since no results can be found, it is just a matter of delaying time.

It is this incident that will make Liu Pang's situation even more passive.

He originally planned to use the Song Suqing incident to control the Japanese delegation and fool them into paying tribute this time.

Unfortunately, Pei Yuan was very picky and directly killed this key person who could change Liu Pang's situation.

Pei Yuan estimated that he would definitely lose Liu Pang's favor.

But it doesn’t matter.

As long as Cai Rong knows who to listen to, the initiative in dealing with the subsequent issue of the Japanese delegation will be in Pei Yuan's hands. Even if Liu Pang is angry, he can only rely more on Pei Yuan in the end.

Moreover, the Imperial Examination Hall will open in two days.

After the candidates hand in their papers, with the addition of co-examiners, the list of successful candidates should be announced early. When the officials from the Ministry of Rites come back to take charge, Liu Pang's pressure will only increase.

By then, Liu Pang might be torn between the Minister of Rites Wang Hua and the Vice Minister of Rites Mao Ji.

Cai Rong responded hesitantly to Pei Yuan's instructions. Pei Yuan said to Cen Meng, "Take him to find Zhang Song and keep a record for him. Also, pick a few experienced people to follow him and help him do his work."

Cen Meng smiled and patted Cai Rong on the shoulder, "Let's go. You are lucky to be appreciated by the thousand households."

Cen Meng's slap made Cai Rong tremble.

Cen Meng's strength was not very great, and the damage to Cai Rong was mainly psychological.

After all, this was the murderer who killed Song Suqing without blinking an eye.

After the two men left, the Jinyiwei guards who were guarding outside reported back.

The person who came this time was Li Shishi.

Li Shishi came just to show his courtesy.

According to the identities of the two men, let alone if Pei Yuan was injured, even if Pei Yuan died, Li Shishi, the Left Censor-in-Chief, would only need to send a student or nephew to show his respect.

But Li Daduxian had no sense of responsibility and was used to running to Zhihua Temple.

I heard that after Pei Yuan came out of Da Ci'en Temple, he took advantage of his day off and brought two kinds of medicinal herbs to the door.

The two people's meetings have always been more utilitarian.

After the greetings, Li Daduxian told Pei Yuan about his contact with Qian Ning.

Pei Yuan realized belatedly that he had not informed his allies after falling out with Qian Ning.

After Li Shishi got Pei Yuan's idea, he went to hook up with Qian Ning not long after.

Perhaps it was Pei Yuan's backstabbing and the fact that Pei Yuan and Jiang Bin became brothers during the duel that made Qian Ning feel a great sense of crisis.

When someone contacted Qian Ning in the name of Prince Ning, Qian Ning showed his enthusiasm for Prince Ning's faction earlier than in history.

Because the two sides talked too speculatively and too deeply.

Li Shishi, who had achieved initial results, couldn't help but let White Gloves withdraw and went to meet Qian Ning in person.

Li Shishi was very satisfied with this meeting.

Qian Ning also showed more enthusiasm.

Not to mention Li Shishi's reliable identity as the relative of Prince Ning, the powerful position of Left Censor-in-Chief, who controls the Censorate, is worthy of being won over by Qian Ning, who is suddenly alone and powerless.

Li Shishi said to Pei Yuan with a smile, "Qian Ning has promised that he will try to find an excuse for His Majesty to summon Prince Ning's son to the capital before the grand sacrifice in the first month of next year."

Then, Li Shishi lowered his voice a little, "When the time comes, we just need to try to get the emperor to have fun. Maybe we can let the Prince of Ning's son take over the responsibility of handling those complicated ceremonies on behalf of His Majesty."

When the emperor can find an excuse, he can indeed do so.

In the past, the people who would come to the fore at this time were either nobles like Duke Chengguo Zhu Fu, or relatives like the old son-in-law Ma Cheng.

In the current environment where the emperor has no son and the ministers have repeatedly advised the emperor to adopt a son from the royal family, as long as someone proposes to let Prince Ning's son help with the sacrifice, it may attract the support of many court officials.

After all, this is more or less a legitimate royal family member, which can always alleviate the anxiety of court officials about the political situation.

If Zhu Houzhao died suddenly, it would seem that having such a member of the royal family who was favored by the emperor would be able to naturally rally the people's hearts.

Pei Yuan was caught off guard by this misunderstanding.

Li Shishi saw Pei Yuan's strange expression and asked with some self-doubt and uneasiness, "Did I do something wrong again?"

Pei Yuan quickly deduced in his mind and shook his head, "It's hard to say. I forgot to tell Dadu Xian before that I have fallen out with Qian Ning. Now we are enemies, not friends."

"Ah?" Li Shishi was a little confused. After a long while, he said with a smile, "You?"

Then he asked with some hesitation, "What about me?"

Pei Yuan immediately said righteously, "Being on good terms with Qian Ning is a good move. Besides, the emperor has no heir. If we can get Prince Ning to help with the sacrifice next year, it will definitely create momentum and make more court officials choose to stand on Prince Ning's side."

"How could I ruin Prince Ning's plan just because of my own selfishness?"

(End of this chapter)