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

Chapter 594 Choosing Between Two Evils
Pei Yuan showed no emotion whatsoever, and asked calmly, "And then?"

Chu Jie said somewhat embarrassedly, "Then His Majesty immediately changed into civilian clothes and inquired around Mingyufang. Not only was he convinced that the matter was true, but he also happened to run into several people who had traveled with Tang Gao and the others."

"Based on those people's descriptions, the Jinyiwei officer who appeared back then... should be confirmed as a commander of a thousand."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan belatedly asked, "Look at me, I forgot my place for a moment. Is it appropriate for a commander like me to inquire about these things?"

Chu Jie reacted quickly, immediately saying, "Anyway, I didn't say anything."

Seeing that the boy was sensible, Pei Yuan smiled and said, "Go to Zhihua Temple to get the silver later."

Chu Jie was somewhat surprised, "This isn't appropriate."

It's not about the amount of money; once the two sides have this kind of interaction, their relationship will obviously become much closer.

Given Pei's influence within the Embroidered Uniform Guard, even a few words of favor, or even just a mention of it by Chu Jie when he's bragging, would be of considerable help to him.

Pei Yuan patted him on the shoulder, "I think it's suitable."

Chu Jie quickly expressed his gratitude, his smile beaming from ear to ear.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment, then asked another question, "What about Longhua Temple?"

Chu Jie casually betrayed the emperor over a sum of money he didn't even know the exact amount, saying, "It seems His Majesty sent someone else; we don't know the details."

Ultimately, he was just a minor officer in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and his knowledge was limited.

Oh right, it's the General Flag now.

Based on his previous investigation of public opinion, he managed to sell his idol, Commander Pei, for a good price.

Pei Yuan didn't ask any more questions and patiently waited for Yan Song's results.

Seeing that there was nothing more for him to do, Chu Jie wisely got up and took his leave.

A moment later, Chen Xinjian came over and whispered, "Commander, His Majesty and Yan Song seem to be having a very pleasant conversation."

Pei Yuan responded with an "Oh".

Chen Xinjian thought that Commander Pei had not understood his meaning, so he added, "Then Yan Song wouldn't have any other ideas, would he?"

Pei Yuan asked with a smile, "Are you afraid he'll find someone better off?"

Chen Xinjian did not deny his own petty thoughts, "Commander, we can't be careless about this kind of thing. After all, Yan Song has a shallow relationship with us, and he is from the Hanlin Academy, with a very promising future."

Pei Yuan calmly replied, "Don't worry, every boast he makes now is waiting for me to deliver on it."

"In a few more days, I, the commander, will have my own compiler in the Hanlin Academy. Will I still need him then?"

After a while, Pei Yuan figured the two had finished talking, so he leisurely got up and went outside the teahouse.

Sure enough, not long after, a member of the Imperial Guards, now in civilian clothes, came out and called Pei Yuan in.

Pei Yuan entered the teahouse and glanced around. He saw Zhu Houzhao sitting there restlessly, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Upon seeing Pei Yuan approach, Zhu Houzhao even forgot his previous low profile and took the initiative to bow and wave.

Once Pei Yuan sat down, Zhu Houzhao immediately pressed, "Did you leak the information about the Siyue Treasury to Yan Song?"

Pei Yuan replied, "That's right. The story originated from a Taoist named Zhenji who overheard someone talking about it at a temple."

"As Your Majesty knows, we, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, are your eyes and ears. Our subordinates have gathered all these big and small matters from you."

"Because it was just a trivial matter, I didn't pay much attention to it. It was only when I mentioned it by chance that Hanlin Yan saw through the mystery."

"After I heard Hanlin Yan clarify the key points, I immediately realized that I should report this matter to Your Majesty in a timely manner, which is why I dared to have an audience with Your Majesty yesterday."

Zhu Houzhao laughed heartily upon hearing this, which attracted the attention of many people.

Zhu Houzhao then realized that the occasion was inappropriate, and quickly suppressed his joy. After everyone's attention had shifted away, he said to Pei Yuan, "Pei Yuan, you did a very good job in this matter. It is no exaggeration to say that you have rendered meritorious service to the country."

Pei Yuan quickly replied, "I have already violated the court's regulations by privately recommending talented individuals to Your Majesty. I only wish to avoid any wrongdoing, so how could I dare to claim credit?"

As he spoke, he added another point.

"I am a military officer and I did not study much when I was young. Therefore, I especially admire these talented people and cannot bear to see their talents go to waste. That is why I am willing to provoke controversy in order to recommend Yan Song to Your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao seemed to recall something and chuckled, "I do know a little about that; you are indeed quite different from others."

After saying that, he added, "Yes, you're also very good at judging people."

Zhu Houzhao seemed to be speaking on a whim, and quickly evaded the topic, instead asking, "What about the petition from the Directorate of Keys?"

Pei Yuan replied, "Because I just overheard it casually at the time and didn't take it too seriously, it's difficult to investigate further right now."

"After listening to Hanlin Yan's words, I know that this matter is of great importance. I am afraid that if I make a move, I will alert the enemy and ruin Your Majesty's important plans. Therefore, I have not taken any rash actions for the time being."

"Furthermore, although I hold the position of Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, my authority is limited to matters related to temples and Taoist monasteries. Even if I wanted to arrest and interrogate them, I would be powerless to do so."

Zhu Houzhao was clearly very concerned about this matter, and immediately said, "That's easy to handle."

Just as he was about to reward Pei Yuan with a position in the Northern Garrison Command and have him uncover the entire network of connections, Yin Sheng cautiously interrupted him, saying, "Your Majesty, this old servant has something to say."

Zhu Houzhao glanced at the eunuch in surprise.

Yin Sheng is usually not a talkative person, and today he was also obediently serving him, bringing him tea and water.

How dare I interrupt at this moment?

Yin Sheng first glanced apologetically at Pei Yuan, then said to Zhu Houzhao, "His Majesty previously gave this old servant an imperial edict, which clearly stated that 'Pei Yuan, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, is not allowed to be involved in matters concerning the prison.' This old servant would like to confirm whether His Majesty has changed his mind."

Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment before he remembered what had happened.

In order to make room for Chen Tou Tie, Pei Yuan almost framed Yin Zeng, the deputy commander of the Shandong Provincial Military Command, and had him executed.

Faced with such fierce henchmen, Zhu Houzhao could no longer remain calm, and thus explicitly ordered Pei Yuan not to interfere in matters such as arrests and interrogations.

Zhu Houzhao compared the harms and benefits of unsealing Pei Yuan, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Never mind, never mind."

"No matter what they do, they will eventually have to submit a memorial to the emperor."

“What Yan Qing said makes sense. As long as I don’t see the memorial, I won’t take action. The initiative is in my hands. Who can win more than me?” Zhu Houzhao said, slowly beginning to refine the plan proposed by Yan Song in his mind.

When he came to his senses, he realized that everyone was waiting for him to speak, so he smiled and said, "Go about your business. I also have important matters to attend to, so I must return to the palace now."

After everyone had left, Zhu Houzhao said to Yin Sheng, "By the way, what was the court going to discuss today?"

As a eunuch serving in the Directorate of Ceremonial, Yin Sheng was naturally quite capable.

He immediately replied without missing a single detail, "It was the censor Zhang Jingyang who submitted a memorial stating that because bandits were rampant in Bazhou, trade was disrupted, and the people in the capital were suffering greatly. Therefore, he proposed to reduce or waive the entrance fees at the nine gates, including Zhengyang."

"The Ministry of Revenue suggested that the seven gates, including Zhengyang, should be reduced by 20%, and the two gates, Chaoyang and Dongzhi, should be reduced by 30%. The Cabinet has approved this after drafting the proposal. In order to reduce the burden on merchants, the Tongzhou Beiguan Patrol Office of Shuntian Prefecture was also abolished."

"In addition, Shunping, Hejian, Baoding, Yongping and other prefectures suffered from varying degrees of floods and droughts, and the local people prayed for relief and reduction of taxes and levies for the coming year."

Zhu Houzhao's gaze shifted, and he said, "Have someone tell Lu Yin that the memorial to reduce or waive the city entry tax should be temporarily withheld, but the official documents for disaster relief from the various prefectures can be processed immediately."

Yin Sheng asked another question, "What if Eunuch Lu has already used the seal?"

Zhu Houzhao decisively said, "Then let's intercept the imperial edict at the Office of Transmission. Once it gets to the Six Ministries, it will be difficult to handle."

Knowing Zhu Houzhao's unpredictable thinking, Yin Sheng, despite receiving orders, still played it safe.

Sure enough, Zhu Houzhao soon gave another order: "Have someone find He Huan and order him to speed things up. First, check the silver in the inner transport warehouse, and then have him give me a figure within two days."

"All the silver that has been counted must be packed into boxes and locked, guarded by the Imperial Guards. I have a purpose for it."

Seeing that Zhu Houzhao had no further instructions, Yin Sheng hurriedly went to make arrangements.

Zhu Houzhao did not rush to leave as he had said. Instead, he moved to a place closer to the candidates, listening to their noisy discussions while pondering his own affairs.

It took a while before Yin Sheng returned.

Yin Sheng glanced around, seemingly wanting to say something but then hesitated.

Zhu Houzhao understood, and since it was time for him to return to the palace, he got up and left the teahouse.

After Zhu Houzhao left the bustling streets outside the Great Ci'en Temple, surrounded by a group of Jinyiwei flag bearers, Yin Sheng stepped forward and told him the news he had just received.

"Your Majesty, the people who went to Longhua Temple have returned. They did indeed take three scholars there, namely Tang Gao, Huang Chu, and Cai Ang."

“We had the monks in the temple lead them out of the courtyard, and then we sent people in to search them secretly. Sure enough, we found three green bamboo slips in their luggage. The three green bamboo slips were inscribed with the characters ‘甲’, ‘乙’, and ‘丙’ respectively.”

Zhu Houzhao listened with great interest and said, "I didn't expect the rumors to be true."

Then, for reasons unknown, he said somewhat displeasedly, "The palace examination is an occasion for court officials to select talents for the country. How can he be allowed to play tricks?"

Yin Sheng's integrity is much better than Xu Tai's. At this moment, he thought of the incense offering he had with Pei Yuan last time they had dinner.

So, someone chimed in, "This morning, the Imperial Guard clerk said that Pei Yuan was just teasing the three of them to encourage them, as a fun topic to talk about when they meet again in the future. He didn't mean to play tricks on them."

With Zhu Houzhao's intelligence and knowledge, he would naturally understand these things.

He even added casually, "When Di Qing, a great general of the Northern Song Dynasty, quelled Nong Zhigao's rebellion, he used divination by throwing copper coins with characters on both sides. He then relied on the fact that all the results were positive to boost morale, and as a result, he defeated Nong Zhigao."

"It's not that I'm heartbroken about that. What I'm heartbroken about is... that this time, that bastard might actually succeed in his act."

"Oh dear, this is outrageous!"

Yin Sheng was confused. He asked with some doubt, "Your Majesty, isn't the palace examination tomorrow?"

"Moreover, this matter has caused such a great controversy. If these three were ranked higher, it would only make the situation more chaotic. These ministers are all prudent people and should be more cautious."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao revealed a cryptic smile. "Avoidance? They would avoid a mere commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

Yin Sheng quickly explained his meaning, "It's important to avoid the current uproar over this matter."

Zhu Houzhao laughed and said, "Hehe, how could people like Yang Tinghe, Liang Chu, Fei Hong, Jin Gui, and Wang Hua be easily swayed by gossip?"

Zhu Houzhao's words carried a hint of sarcasm, "Didn't Grand Secretary Liang demonstrate to those candidates before what the difficulty of shaking a mountain truly meant?"

Yin Sheng thought to himself, "In other words, the Grand Secretaries and Hanlin scholars in charge of reading the papers must have decided these people's scores entirely according to their own wishes."

The scoring of the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty was relatively simple. If someone thought it was good, they would draw a circle (○); if someone thought it was average, they would draw a triangle (△); and if someone thought it was even worse, they would draw a dot (、).

Finally, the grades were determined by combining the scores from the examiners.

The emperor possessed a prestigious but ultimately useless power: he could adjust the rankings of the examination papers given to him by the Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet.

In the past, Zhu Houzhao did not pay much attention to such power.

These are all people they selected, and in the end, they themselves endorsed the imperial power. Isn't this just like raping someone and then making them say it was voluntary?
But this time it's different.

Zhu Houzhao was very interested in the little power he held.

If any one of these three men could prove himself, Zhu Houzhao was confident he could accomplish something big.

This major event will completely ignite the candidates, attract all attention, and make the demolition of Jiqingfang and Mingyufang go unnoticed.

Zhu Houzhao pondered for a moment, then asked Yin Sheng, "Do you know who the characters on those bamboo slips correspond to?"

Yin Sheng replied, "Character A corresponds to Tang Gao, character B corresponds to Huang Chu, and character C corresponds to Cai Ang."

Zhu Houzhao nodded, memorizing the three names and their corresponding order, and then asked, "Have you sent someone to identify the appearances of these three people?"

Yin Sheng replied, "This old servant found several literate young eunuchs in the inner study hall to identify the three people one by one, so there should be no mistake."

Zhu Houzhao listened with satisfaction and said, "Very good. When the palace examination is halfway through, you shall arrange for the eunuchs to check the paper and ink. Have those people memorize the first two sentences of the three candidates' essays and then report back to me."

Yin Sheng had been following Zhu Houzhao for a while and had a general understanding of the emperor's audacity.

He couldn't help but advise, "Your Majesty should think twice about this matter."

Zhu Houzhao laughed heartily, a hint of smugness on his face.

“What Pei Yuan said last time made a lot of sense. If we can find a way to draw the attention of the failed candidates back to the exam, who would care about those red-light districts that are about to be demolished?”

"It's better to let those candidates make a fuss about the Mingyufang and Jiqingfang issues than to let them make a fuss about the special imperial examination."

(End of this chapter)