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

Chapter 704 Why Not Choose Me?
The Prince of Ning became somewhat agitated after hearing this, but he forced himself to remain composed and felt he should say something.

They felt they should be humble, yet they were also afraid of being looked down upon.

Many thoughts raced through his mind, causing him to slightly open his mouth, but he didn't say anything.

He then looked at Li Shishi, the most resourceful man in Prince Ning's camp.

But then they saw Li Shishi nodding repeatedly at Pei Yuan.

Prince Ning's Heir Apparent: ?
No.

My dear father-in-law, haven't you always boasted that you are the Jiang Ziya of Jiangxi?

Why does this moment fill me with such distrust?

When Prince Ning turned around again, he saw Commander Pei leaning forward slightly, meeting Li Shishi's determined gaze, and saying in a suggestive tone, "Now that His Majesty has no son, many members of the imperial clan have only considered it, but have not yet taken any action."

"If the Ning family seizes the initiative, then all eyes in the world will be on the Ning family."

"Therefore, the Ning Prince should take this opportunity to make more people aware of this matter, and the Crown Prince should also take this opportunity to make friends with more high-ranking officials and ministers, so as to create a fait accompli to some extent."

"Because at this very moment, the Crown Prince possesses both the 'weapon' and the 'name' bestowed upon him by the Emperor."

"As the saying goes, when the name is correct, the words will be proper, and when the words are proper, things will be accomplished. In the future, if there is no one to whom the country can be entrusted, the people of the world will naturally think of the heir apparent."

The Prince of Ning then turned his gaze to Li Shishi.

Upon hearing this, Li Shishi said with some concern, "While what you say makes sense, Commander, I'm worried it might anger His Majesty. Last time, His Majesty was driven to a rage by his court officials. Won't what we're doing cause problems?"

The Prince of Ning's heir breathed a slight sigh of relief.

His previous worries were somewhat unnecessary.

The fact that Li Shishi could ask such a question clearly shows that this Jiang Ziya of Jiangxi still possessed rational thinking.

But then he thought that even so, Li Shishi still brought him here overnight to consult with this Commander Pei, which showed that this Commander Pei seemed to be even more extraordinary.

Pei Yuan smiled upon hearing this.

"That's why I brought this up; there's no time to lose."

After Pei Yuan finished speaking, he explained to Li Shishi, "His Majesty is an extremely intelligent person with very independent ideas. I don't think the Left Censor-in-Chief would disagree with that, would he?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shishi nodded.

Putting aside other things, the fact that the regulations Liu Jin introduced during his reforms were so effective that the court officials could find little to object to, and could only accuse the old eunuch of plotting a rebellion, shows that Zhu Houzhao was indeed quite capable.

How can one achieve this without being intelligent, visionary, and possessing their own logic?

Pei Yuan continued, "I don't think I need to elaborate on what such a distinguished imperial edict, with its unique dragon-patterned letter and gold plaque, signifies."

"I can say definitively that His Majesty's decision to send the Prince of Ning's heir to the capital to oversee incense offerings actually indicates that he already had the idea of ​​having the heir inherit the throne."

Li Shishi's face lit up with joy, and he couldn't help but exchange a glance with the Prince of Ning, whose face was also beaming with elation.

Pei Yuan said, "His Majesty's decision was clearly the result of careful consideration."

"As for the reasons... you don't need to know. All you need to know is that His Majesty chose the best option for Prince Ning after weighing various factors."

As he spoke, Pei Yuan looked at the Prince of Ning's heir, "In other words, this is when His Majesty has the best impression of you. Choosing you is also the final result he had no choice but to accept."

"Therefore, I believe that even if what you are doing now is a little out of line, His Majesty would probably be more inclined to accept your little tricks than to choose a new person and face criticism from the court and the public again."

"If you don't believe me, you can test the emperor a little and see his reaction before making a final decision."

Pei Yuan was quite confident in his explanation.

Over the past two years, the Little Prince has launched numerous attacks on the Western Front and has repeatedly managed to escape unscathed.

The troops in the western garrisons almost all fortified their cities and defended against the invasion of the Dalai Lama, only launching a symbolic pursuit when the Dalai Lama had plundered his entire fortune and retreated.

These successful invasions have rapidly fueled the Little Prince's ambition.

A few days ago, the Prince of Dai, along with the general, governor, and garrison eunuch of Datong, urgently reported to the court that the young prince of Datong had gathered a large force and intended to launch a major invasion of the Datong line.

A few days ago, when the Ministry of War presided over the court meeting, he also felt that this matter was very thorny.

Currently, the various towns along the central defense line are not under each other's command. If the imperial court wants to stabilize the Datong defense line and even organize the troops of each town to launch a counterattack, it must send a Grand Censor who is capable enough to command the troops of each town.

Otherwise, we might repeat the mistakes made on the western front.

These words were merely the Ministry of War throwing out the problem and using it as an excuse to shirk responsibility.

The border town of Datong is deeply entrenched in problems. Unless Lu Wan personally goes to the front line to take command, it is almost impossible to get these self-reliant troops to fight the Datong invaders.

To consolidate their power, those military generals have embezzled the imperial military farms and silver to support their own elite guards. The imperial garrison itself is suffering from food and pay shortages, low morale, and is already in a terrible state.

These military officers are not afraid of the court dismissing them now. As long as their elite guards are there, they are not afraid that the court will not use them.

If they go and fight the enemy, others can stay on the sidelines and watch.

In the end, their troops were wiped out, and they were still punished.

Those who remain neutral might have a chance to redeem themselves through meritorious service if they're unlucky, or even be offered benefits by the court to win them over if they're lucky.

Even if the Dalai Lama stormed into the Ming Dynasty to plunder, the Ming Dynasty was so large that it would not perish.

So who would be willing to be the fool who steps in front?
The areas around Datong and Taiyuan might very well follow the example of Shaanxi and Gansu, retreating into their own territories and allowing the Datong barbarians to plunder the Ming Dynasty.

When neither side wants to fight, it's hard to say whether this strategy is good or bad.

The troops in these towns were unwilling to engage in open battle, and the young prince wouldn't waste his precious resources attacking fortified cities. With these potential threats looming over the border towns, the young prince dared not venture too far in during his raids.

However... it is the ordinary people of the Ming Dynasty who have to pay the price.

The most troublesome place on the northern defense line is still Xuanfu.

Xuanfu was an important gateway to Beijing. It originally had 9,000 soldiers capable of fighting, but 7,000 were transferred to Hejian, Datong and the capital for defense.

The Xuanfu town itself, such a large defensive line, now only has a little over a thousand old and weak soldiers.

If the young prince had been bold enough to not raid Shanxi but instead charge towards Beijing, the Datong invaders might have returned to the gates of Beijing before the Jiajing era.

Now that the situation has deteriorated to this point, Pei Yuan is very confident that Zhu Houzhao will inevitably go to the front line to supervise the battle, just as he has done in history.

Zhao Zige has already thought about his funeral arrangements, so how could he possibly care about the petty actions of the Prince of Ning?
He might even feel some relief about this, and be able to devote himself more wholeheartedly to the war in the north.

Seeing Pei Yuan speak with such certainty, Li Shishi felt relieved and said, "Since that's the case, I understand now."

After saying that, he gestured to the Prince of Ning's heir, "I have some private matters to discuss with Commander Pei. Go to the Buddhist hall in front and burn some incense to pray for the blessings of our Great Ming."

Although the Prince of Ning's heir wanted to hear more, he could only nod and say, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Father-in-law."

Pei Yuan politely rose to see him off, but the Prince of Ning tactfully stopped him.

After the Prince of Ning's heir left the main hall, Pei Yuan still walked to the door and watched his back for a while.

Li Shishi also came over and asked, "Commander, what do you think of him?"

Pei Yuan joked, "Your son-in-law? His taste isn't very good. Why don't you choose me?"

Li Shishi put his hands in his pockets, ignoring the comment. Pei Yuan then gave a slightly better assessment, "It looks so-so. At least it's passable. The officials should be satisfied."

Li Shishi smiled and said, "I'm relieved to hear that."

After saying this, Li Shishi returned to his desk, picked up the memorial, and stuffed it into his sleeve. "I should go now."

Pei Yuan was a little surprised, "You asked this just for this?"

Li Shishi sighed and shook his head.

He seemed to want to say something, but then shook his head.

His last words were, "I'm leaving."

Li Shishi was different from others after all. Pei Yuan gave him face and escorted him all the way to the Buddhist hall in the central courtyard to pick up the Prince of Ning.

Then it was sent outside the door.

As Li Shishi's carriage rumbled away, Pei Yuan watched, feeling a pang of emotion.

he murmured softly.

"Zhu Houzhao was prepared, but others were not."

Are you all ready again?

After returning home, Pei Yuan wrote a letter to Jiao Fang, asking if he was interested in the position of Left Censor-in-Chief.

Pei Yuan personally estimates that it's unlikely to be successful.

Jiao Fang once served as the Grand Secretary and fully supported Liu Jin and his reforms.

It wasn't until a few months before Liu Jin's downfall that Jiao Fang broke with him, resigned, and fled.

Even now, many court officials are still relentlessly demanding that Jiao Fang be held accountable.

The Left Censor-in-Chief was a censor, a symbol of moral exemplars in the court.

Even if Pei Yuan were willing to give it to Jiao Fang and help her get promoted, even with Jiao Fang's thick skin, she probably wouldn't dare to take the position.

Pei Yuan was just bored and teasing the old man.

The next morning, Pei Yuan woke up from his sleep.

It's been eight years since the Zhengde Emperor's reign.

Given Pei Yuan's status and position, he was not qualified to pay homage to the emperor.

Pei Yuan's official position was in Nanjing.

He doesn't even have a directly subordinate management department in Beijing.

In theory, he had a special order from Zhu Houzhao and the special status of a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard with an ivory waist token, so he could request an audience with Zhu Houzhao at any time.

But actually.

Unless there's something serious going on, given his status as a lowly Kalami, he and Zhao Zige are practically unrelated. The only ones who can offer him, a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, professional guidance are actually some departments within the Ministry of Rites.

Therefore, no one reported Pei Yuan's return to the capital to Zhu Houzhao, and he never even met the emperor.

Others' short holidays will have to wait until after the grand ceremony is completed.

Pei Yuan's short holiday can now begin.

Soon, Jiao Yan'er, who had woken up earlier, pushed open the door and came in to help Pei Yuan get ready.

We arrived at the front yard.

The courtyard was already packed with the disciples of the Qianhu Office who had come to pay their respects for the New Year.

Besides the cheerful Yun family father and son, Xiao Tong, Lu Yong, and others.

Pei Yuan also spotted Cheng Leixiang, as well as the two commanders Deng Liang and Cao Xing, in the crowd.

Pei Yuan was very happy to see them and waved to the three of them.

The three of them quickly came over to congratulate Pei Yuan on the New Year.

Pei Yuan asked with a smile, "What brings you all here today? Aren't you afraid someone will investigate you?"

Cheng Leixiang chuckled.

“In the past, I wouldn’t have dared to be so blatant. But right now, the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner who is in charge of us is suspended from his duties pending investigation.”

"Otherwise, the three of us would be fawning over him right now."

Pei Yuan didn't take it seriously.

The military defenses in Tianjin are under someone else's control. If we don't wake up to this situation, we'll just be asking for trouble.

They messed things up, and it was Pei Yuan's interests that suffered the consequences.

Cheng Leixiang added, "Chen Tou Tie and his brother are keeping a close watch in the south, not daring to relax for a moment. They both sent gifts and asked me to deliver them to the commander."

Cheng Leixiang mentioned things in the south.

Pei Yuan suddenly remembered something important.

He didn't hide anything from Deng Liang and Cao Xing, and asked in a slightly lowered voice, "You're also in charge of the canal, do you know when the south usually starts sending large quantities of cotton cloth out in previous years?"

One of the important responsibilities of the Tianjin Sanwei is to manage the northernmost section of the Grand Canal.

In addition to ensuring safety on the canal, a certain number of laborers were also needed to help pull the boats when the water was shallow.

The officers of these three guards, both high and low, could make a little extra money, but their work was also very hard.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Leixiang replied, "According to past practice, cotton is woven into cloth and sold in large quantities one or two months after the harvest."

"Shandong is in such a mess this year that many businessmen haven't dared to get involved here."

"As the commander knows, doing business these days inevitably involves dealing with officials. The imperial court is investigating the Shandong case very thoroughly, and many people are afraid of being implicated."

Pei Yuan roughly understood, because many officials had been arrested, and the wealthy merchants who had previously profited from collusion between officials and businessmen dared not get involved in this mess at this time.

Before the matter was resolved, there was naturally some unease and suspicion, which is why those merchants were hesitant to head north.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and said to Cheng Leixiang, "The Shandong case should be resolved soon. Have Chen Tou Tie keep an eye on the canal. Once the canal thaws in the spring, burn all the ships that are heading north to transport cotton cloth."

Pei Yuan's control over the situation in Shandong is becoming increasingly profound, and he is taking this opportunity to streamline the industrial structure.

The sale of cotton-padded coats was crucial to his success in establishing trade routes between Korea and Japan.

If trade routes between Korea and Japan cannot be opened up, it will be difficult to control a large population by relying solely on timber from Liaodong.

Only by creating an orderly economic cycle encompassing Shandong, Liaodong, Korea, and Japan can a powerful political and economic entity be formed, allowing Pei Yuan to become a powerful figure in Ming politics.

(End of this chapter)