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

Chapter 674 Everyone is busy with their own affairs
Pei Yuan was caught off guard. He had prepared a grand show for Zhang Feng, but unexpectedly, Zhang Feng was so scared that he wet himself.

It's estimated that if it weren't for the case of the murder of the Imperial Censorate and Zhang Feng's detailed testimony, the corruption case surrounding the Grand Canal Waterway Administration could have been closed with just a little digging.

Then all subsequent plans will come to an abrupt halt.

Pei Yuan couldn't help but sigh, "It's a good thing I killed Xiao Chong first."

He then asked, "Who came from the Eastern Depot? It's not Zhang Xiong again, is it?"

Song Chunniang shook her head, "Zhang Xiong was tricked in Shandong last time, so this time Zhang Rui came in person."

Pei Yuan couldn't help but click his tongue, "What a grand scene."

Including Gu Dayong, who was already in Shandong, it could be said that the two chief supervisors of the Eastern and Western Depots were both keeping an eye on this case.

Gu Dayong's Western Depot was originally established to eradicate the Luo Sect. After Pei Yuan exposed the Luo Sect to Zhu Houzhao, the Western Depot took on the important task of supervising the Luo Sect.

Gu Dayong's idea was simple: to firmly implement the line Pei Yuan had told him. When Zhu Houzhao was appointing a large number of more capable "old Hongzhi officials," he tried his best to appear very busy, hoping that the big boss would not fire him.

After all, Gu Dayong, the director of the Western Depot, was not alone; he had a whole string of big and small officials and managers behind him, which could free up many positions for Zhu Houzhao.

Pei Yuan then asked, "Have the Embroidered Uniform Guards arrived?"

Song Chunniang shook her head. "No. Qian Ning and the four outer armies are currently locked in a fierce battle. Jiang Bin is already quite troublesome, not to mention Xu Tai has also arrived. Qian Ning doesn't want to leave the capital at this time, so he made up an excuse and simply left the Northern Garrison Command out of the country."

Pei Yuan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Qian Ning was no pushover either. With such a large plan in place, Pei Yuan didn't want any unexpected changes to occur.

Commander Pei declared fiercely, "If Qian Ning dares to come, kill him!"

Pei Yuan recovered well, and to prove his determination, he even moved quite forcefully, restarting the battle.

Song Chunniang played along with Pei Yuan for a while longer.

She has always been a woman of limited capacity for enjoyment; having had her fill, her participation afterward was purely out of friendship.

After Song Chunniang patiently paid for her loyalty, the two tidied their clothes and came out of the courtyard to settle their respective men.

The Imperial Guards brought by Pei Yuan and the agents of the Western Depot brought by Song Chunniang, except for a few who were keeping watch, were clearly gathered in two groups in front of the post station.

Song Chunniang's West Depot agents were mainly composed of her fellow apprentices from the Changfeng Escort Agency, and she also recruited some wandering Jianghu figures from all walks of life to serve as her henchmen.

Because the West Depot was an internal official department, all its staff were on temporary assignment. Song Chunniang's original official position was still with the Thousand Household Office, so these agents knew that she was one of their own.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards all knew about Commander Song's seniority and special status, so they were naturally more friendly to his subordinates.

At this moment, both sides had something on their minds and were exchanging knowing glances. When one side chuckled, the other side would chuckle back knowingly.

Once the two big shots came out, the underlings all stopped looking at them.

Pei Yuan and Song Chunniang finally had time to discuss their itinerary.

Song Chunniang and the agents of the Western Depot were heading to Dezhou, but they knew they wouldn't make it today, so they decided to rest at Dongguang Post Station.

Pei Yuan needed to stay in Jingzhou for a long time to observe the situation in Dezhou, so he needed to find a suitable place to stay.

The largest temple in Jingzhou is Kaifu Temple, which is also directly under the jurisdiction of the Qianhu Office. It is one of the few temples in Hebei Province with a Daoist named Zhenji.

Given the size of Kaifu Temple, accommodating Pei Yuan and his group of about a hundred people would not be a problem at all.

The two had just finished their affair. Pei Yuan was the epitome of a ruthless sage, and Song Chunniang had had enough of him.

Therefore, both parties agreed to part ways and go about their own business.

Song Chunniang's men stayed behind to rest at Dongguang Post Station; Pei Yuan led his men away to Kaifu Temple.

Kaifu Temple had received the news several days earlier and made preparations for Commander Pei's arrival.

The abbot of Kaifu Temple also tricked worshippers into cleaning the entire large temple under the guise of a prayer ceremony.

When Pei Yuan arrived, he looked at the Zen temple prepared for them and was very satisfied with it.

He summoned the abbot and the Daoist Zhenji who was sitting there, and praised them, saying, "I never imagined that you two would be so talented yet unappreciated, ending up in Jingzhou. When I return to the capital, you two will come with me, and I will arrange other places for you in the capital."

The Daoist Zhenji was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately kowtowed.

The abbot of Kaifu Temple hesitated upon hearing this. He had been at Kaifu Temple for many years and had long since figured out the inner workings of the temple, and he made a considerable amount of money from it each year.

The Daoist Zhenji had been stationed at Kaifu Temple for some years and had a good relationship with the abbot, so he quickly and secretly reached out to pull him.

Seeing this, Pei Yuan smiled and said to the abbot, "You don't need to worry. The eminent monk Shi Buyi of Dayongchang Temple has committed a crime, and many monks in the entire Dayongchang Temple have been implicated. You are a monk from out of town, so you won't get involved in the karma. Once you arrive in the capital, you can go to Dayongchang Temple to become the abbot."

"Once you've sorted out everything at Dayongchang Temple, go to Zhihua Temple to see Commander Benqianhu. I'll try to help you get the deputy seal of the Buddhist Registry."

Pei Yuan now wields considerable influence in the religious circles of the capital, so it wouldn't be difficult for him to get the abbot of Kaifu Temple to take charge of Dayongchang Temple.

When the abbot of Kaifu Temple heard that he had the opportunity to go to the capital to take charge of Dayongchang Temple, and even hoped to become the deputy director of the Buddhist Registry, he was so excited that he knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.

Seeing this, Pei Yuan laughed heartily and, satisfied, dismissed the two men.

With Pei Yuan settling down at Kaifu Temple, it briefly became the headquarters of the Thousand Households Office.

With nothing better to do, Pei Yuan, while waiting for news from Dezhou, also sent people to nearby Cangzhou, Ningjin, Jiaohe, Xianxian and other places to investigate and see how popular the temples were and whether there was any money to be made.

As Pei Yuan's contact with Ming society deepened, he increasingly felt that temples were such a crucial element in the Ming's ruling order.

The wealth of the common people was plundered by the powerful and wealthy, the wealth of the powerful and wealthy was plundered by local officials, and the wealth of local officials was plundered by powerful ministers and eunuchs.

The high-ranking officials and eunuchs then used this inexhaustible wealth to buy their way into the afterlife at temples.

Then the temple used its surplus money to recruit unemployed young men from society, supporting them while also prohibiting them from marrying and having children, thus socially eliminating these lower-class populations. This was far more effective than arresting and killing people to alleviate land pressure, and it wouldn't cause any trouble.

Moreover, this amazing process operates very smoothly, like an ecosystem.

As long as Pei Yuan cannot stop the exploitation in the operation of society, the accumulation of wealth will be an unstoppable inevitability.

Those high-ranking officials and eunuchs have to spend their money, right? Rather than letting them think too much and do dangerous things, it's better to let them spend money to buy their next life.

Just as Pei Yuan was working hard to integrate the temples, the situation in Dezhou was also making progress. As the forces of the Eastern Depot and the Western Depot arrived, all the people involved in the case and mentioned by Zhang Feng surrendered themselves and admitted their mistakes.

Things went exceptionally smoothly, which made Bian Xian feel that the credit was practically within his grasp.

The only thing that bothered him was that there was still no explanation regarding the assassination attempt on the Imperial Censorate.

Hearing that there was no progress on the key matter, Gu Dayong, the director of the Western Depot who had been hiding in Licheng County, went to Dezhou in person to express his views.

—Bian Xian, you're no good!
Zhang Rui, the eunuch of the Eastern Depot who had been investigating the case with Bian Xian in Dezhou, also felt ashamed.

He was secretly furious that Gu Dayong was talking without understanding the situation, but he also didn't have a good way to deal with this guy.

Although Zhu Houzhao was making great use of the old people from the Hongzhi era, according to custom, the Western Depot still had the power and responsibility to supervise the Eastern Depot.

Aside from bearing the pressure from Bian Xian, Zhang Rui could only vent his anger on his subordinates at most.

Just as the atmosphere above was becoming increasingly tense, an imperial censor investigating the case was shocked to learn that Zhu Yourong, the heir apparent of the Prince of De, had actually slandered the emperor's lineage.

When those young, impetuous censors heard about this, they casually asked the same question while interrogating other officials involved in the case.

The officials involved generally believed that helping the emperor quell rumors was not a wrong thing, so they all admitted to it.

When the information gradually reached the hands of the few people in charge, the quantitative change led to a qualitative change, and they suddenly realized the sensitivity of the matter.

Relying on his seniority, Gu Dayong took the initiative to summon Zhang Rui and Bian Xian to discuss the matter.

After discussion, the three agreed that the local officials had not done anything seriously wrong. There was no evidence to support the rumors spread by the Crown Prince of De, and the matter had already been quelled. Furthermore, there were rumors involving the Emperor. Apart from secretly reporting to the Emperor, it was not advisable to create any further complications.

However, things took a turn for the worse than they had anticipated.

Not long after, some of the powerful families in Yanggu who had been plundered by Pei Yuan heard that the imperial court had sent various government departments and the Eastern and Western Depots to Shandong to investigate the case. Under the instigation of some people, these powerful families sent people to Dezhou to report the evil deeds of Pei Yuan, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Although Zhang Rui of the Eastern Depot was not on good terms with Pei Yuan, he still had to maintain the dignity of the Eastern Depot and the Imperial Guards in front of outsiders, so he completely ignored the matter.

Gu Dayong of the Western Depot also refused to accept the case, arguing that it was not related to the attack on the Imperial Censorate.

Bian Xian, who had been subjected to the sarcastic remarks of the two for some time, was suddenly invigorated.

Damn it, karma's finally caught up with you! Interrogate her!

The officials of the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice had long been fed up with the two dead eunuchs who kept spewing negative emotions. Seeing that they could teach the Embroidered Uniform Guard a lesson and make an example of them, they immediately got excited.

On the one hand, they sent an official document to Beijing, summoning Pei Yuanlai for questioning.

On one hand, they searched for the files on the Yanggu incident from back then, hoping to put the matter to rest before Pei Yuan arrived.

However, as the investigation progressed and the investigating censors gathered various pieces of information, when the matter once again implicated Prince De, Bian Xian and others began to look serious; when the matter began to involve the entire Shandong officialdom, Bian Xian and others fell silent.

When Gu Dayong asked rashly, "Wasn't Bian Zhongcheng the Shandong Governor during the Bazhou Rebellion?"

Things started to get completely out of control.

Gu Dayong and Zhang Rui strongly urged Bian Xian to suspend the investigation and await further instructions from the imperial court.

At the same time, the Crown Prince's rumor-spreading also drew strong criticism from the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

Both demanded an immediate investigation into the origins of the rumors and to verify whether they were related to Crown Prince De.

Bi Zhen, the eunuch in charge of Shandong who was on official business in the capital, was ordered to travel south overnight to question the De family about this matter.

It was at this time that Pei Yuan, the commander of the Zhenxie Thousand-Household Office who happened to be inspecting various places in Beizhili, learned about the case in Shandong and took the initiative to come to Dezhou to accept questioning.

Pei Yuan recounted the entire story from beginning to end.

First, he mentioned that when he was investigating the powerful families of Yanggu who assisted the bandits of Bazhou, many officials from Shandong came to stop him from investigating the case.

It was also mentioned that Fei Yue, the Assistant Surveillance Commissioner of Shandong Province, personally intervened and seized the authority to handle the case in the name of the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commission.

Even Jiang Hong, the retired Left Provincial Administration Commissioner, was implicated, and it was mentioned that Jiang Hong and a large number of Shandong officials jointly submitted a memorial to the court.

Pei Yuan also stepped forward to admit his mistake, believing that he had only cared about his personal grudges at the time and had not considered the overall situation, failing to discover the fatal connection between the two.

As for the crucial connection, Pei Yuan only mentioned it briefly; the specifics are open to interpretation.

However, Pei Yuan also added that when the Censorate sent people to inquire about the matter, he specifically reminded the Imperial Inspector Chen Bing to pay attention to why so many powerful families in Yanggu were helping the bandits in Bazhou who were shouting "cleanse the court of corrupt officials and support the virtuous king"; and why the officials in charge of Shandong were so hostile to Pei Yuan who was investigating the matter, but so protective of the accomplices who helped the bandits in Bazhou.

Pei Yuan's meticulously constructed logic indeed sent chills down everyone's spine.

Zhang Rui took it upon himself to temporarily place Bian Xian under house arrest, while Gu Dayong immediately suggested that the Ministry of War send a letter to Lu Wan to prepare for the suppression of the Shandong riots.

After several days of development, the case in Shandong finally reached Beijing.

The cabinet urgently convened its ministers to discuss countermeasures, but before they could come up with a strategy, further news arrived.

It is said that he was a retainer of De Fan, and once led a group of people to collude with the bandits of Bazhou to attack Dongchang Prefecture in order to seize the horse breeding land of the Han commoners.

Even the local people arrested Xue Songqi, who had been in charge of the matter.

Xue Songqi confessed to what had happened back then without reservation. Upon hearing this, Prince De was so frightened that he shut himself in his room and refused to come out.

The ministers, who were arguing endlessly about the matter in Shandong, exchanged glances. Well, there's no need to discuss this anymore.

A prince who was proven to have colluded with bandits in Bazhou, a prince who made Shandong officials bow down to him, a prince who had begun to attack the emperor's lineage and plotted treason—he already had enough reason to die.

In addition, another headache was placed before the ministers.

If this is the case with De Fan, then how should officials in various parts of Shandong be dealt with? How should local powerful families be suppressed and appeased?
While silent, Yang Tinghe quickly thought of Bian Xian's problem.

This person was appointed because Yang Yiqing strongly recommended him.

However, Yang Tinghe only mentioned sending people to investigate the case again, and did not waste any more words on Bian Xian's matter.

He glanced sideways at Yang Yiqing.

Now is not the time to bring up past grievances. The final reckoning will come when the situation in Shandong gets bigger and bigger.

(End of this chapter)