In this world, fools are always the same, but wise people have their own characteristics.
After Zhao Junchen saw Jiang Zheng's talent and intelligence for the first time, he spoke highly of him and believed that Yang Xun's disciple was no less talented than the original Zhao Shan.
But Zhao Junchen soon discovered that Jiang Zheng and Zhao Shancai should not be generalized at all. Apart from being talented young people, the two of them had nothing in common.
Zhao Shancai was a close disciple of the former crown prince and grand master He Ming, Jiang Zhengze was a direct disciple of the great scholar Yang Xun, He Ming was good at the emperor's mind, and Yang Xun was a master of law. He Ming passed the "Twenty-Three Histories", "
Great works such as "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" made Zhao Shancai understand the laws of rise and fall, governance of chaos, success and failure, and safety. Yang Xun often led Jiang Zheng around Yunnan and Guizhou, and everything was based on practice.
The two famous teachers have completely different areas of expertise and different educational methods, so their disciples are naturally completely different.
Zhao Shancai is gentle and gentle, keeps a low profile, understands the interests closely, and is impeccable in everything he does.
Jiang Zhengze is informal and cheerful, sharp-edged, accustomed to the changes in the world, and pragmatic and rigorous in his actions.
After Zhao Junchen accepted Jiang Zheng as a staff member, Jiang Zheng moved to Zhao's mansion that evening, and then he couldn't wait to express his desire to familiarize himself with his working environment. The task arrangement was vigorous and resolute.
At that time, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but be a little surprised to see Jiang Zheng wanting to participate in staff work so quickly, but he still arranged for several key staff members in his government to help Jiang Zheng become familiar with the working environment of Zhao's staff.
To this, Niu Fude, Su Xiqing, and Wang Lun all readily agreed. They had a very good impression of Jiang Zheng, and they all admired Jiang Zheng's identity and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to further their friendship with Jiang Zheng.
Then, just over an hour later, Niu Fude, Su Xiqing, and Wang Lun all ran to Zhao Junchen to complain.
Because Jiang Zheng has extremely keen eyesight and is well-informed, but after he was initially familiar with the working environment, he noticed many abnormalities in the work of the Zhao family's staff through some clues.
These anomalies are all related to Zhao Junchen's several confidential plans, and they are also things that Zhao Junchen secretly asked Niu Fude and others to conceal from Jiang Zheng.
For example, among Zhao's staff, Niu Fude has always been responsible for Zhao Junchen's plan to infiltrate military power, but Jiang Zheng has not yet proven his loyalty, so naturally this matter must be deliberately kept hidden from him.
However, Jiang Zheng only had a short conversation with Niu Fude and several of Niu Fude's helpers before he fully confirmed Niu Fude's scope of work.
For another example, Su Xiqing was responsible for managing the core accounts and large amounts of income and expenditure of the Zhao family, but many of Zhao Junchen's secret income and expenditures could not be made public, so Su Xiqing deliberately made a series of false records just in case.
Ledger.
However, when Jiang Zheng was communicating with Su Xiqing, he just took a casual look and concluded that the account books placed in Su Xiqing's study were all fake, and also pointed out the location of the real account books.
For another example, Li Lun was not only good at whimsical ideas and often put forward some innovative suggestions, but he was also Li Chuanwen's only son, so Zhao Junchen took good care of him for Li Chuanwen's sake, while letting Li Lun stay.
While serving as a staff member in the Zhao Mansion, he also arranged a place for Li Lun to be a Gongsheng student, so that Li Lun could go to the Imperial College to study.
Of course, what Zhao Junchen did was not just to arrange a good future for Li Lun, but also to prepare for this year's autumn provincial examination. He wanted to take the opportunity to recruit a group of talented new blood for himself, and Li Lun
Lun's mission was to secretly recruit talents for Zhao Junchen while he was studying in the Imperial College.
However, Jiang Zheng sensed the flaw somewhere and immediately pointed it out. At the same time, he expressed the hope that Li Lun could leave Zhao Junchen's staff team and focus on his studies and tasks at the Imperial College.
Probably because Jiang Zheng has been studying with Yang Xun for many years. Yang Xun is a sincere gentleman. He always speaks directly to his disciples and never hides it. Therefore, Jiang Zheng expressed his stance.
Ji was also accustomed to getting straight to the point, which made all the Zhao family's staff hesitate when dealing with him, and they all felt deeply embarrassed.
And this series of things just happened on the same night.
So, just over an hour later, Niu Fude, Su Xiqing, Li Lun and others all came to Zhao Junchen to complain, saying that they were unable to deal with Jiang Zheng and hoped that Zhao Junchen would arrange additional personnel to contact Jiang Zheng, otherwise Zhao Junchen's secrets
The plan will soon be revealed one by one by Jiang Zheng.
It was also because of this situation that Zhao Junchen deliberately told Li Chuanwen and Xiao Wenxuan to be careful when meeting Jiang Zheng.
*
That night, Zhao Junchen held a banquet in the mansion. On the one hand, it was to welcome Li Chuanwen and Xiao Wenxuan, and on the other hand, it was also to welcome Jiang Zheng to join them.
Several main staff members in the Zhao family, except Ouyang Bo who is currently going south to assist Huo Zhengyuan in managing the ocean-going plan, Li Chuanwen, Niu Fude, Jiang Zheng, Su Xiqing, Xiao Wenxuan, Li Lun and others all showed up to participate. It can be said that they gathered together.
one class.
Li Chuanwen and Xiao Wenxuan met Jiang Zhengnai for the first time. Because of Zhao Junchen's instructions, they paid special attention to Jiang Zheng.
While Li Chuanwen and Xiao Wenxuan were sizing up Jiang Zheng secretly, Jiang Zheng also noticed the gazes of the two. He also moved his eyes to observe the two for a moment, and then took the initiative to smile and nod, his attitude was quite gentle.
Jiang Zheng's expression didn't change much. Even if he smiled and took the initiative to show his kindness, it would still give people the feeling that he was smiling but not smiling.
At the same time, Jiang Zheng always looked at others with piercing eyes, without any dodge, and full of scrutiny, which also gave him an aggressive aura.
In short, Jiang Zheng does not look like a young scholar at all.
After the banquet started, Zhao Junchen took the lead in standing up with a wine glass in hand and said a few opening words. The general idea was to express his gratitude to Li Chuanwen and Xiao Wenxuan for their hard work over the past six months. Then he expressed his welcome to Jiang Zheng and finally said:
He praised the work of all the Zhao family staff.
When getting along with several close aides, Zhao Junchen did not deliberately show off his official power and was always approachable. After giving a brief opening speech, he toasted a glass of wine with the aides and then let everyone put down their chopsticks and enter.
Eat as you please, without any regard for rules or respect.
The staff also understood Zhao Junchen's character, and there were not many restrictions. Everyone should eat, drink, and talk freely, making the atmosphere of this banquet very relaxed and harmonious.
After Zhao Junchen took down his chopsticks and ate three-thirds full, he turned his attention to Jiang Zheng. He saw that Jiang Zheng was not talking to anyone at this time - in fact, because of what happened last night, the Zhao family
All the staff were avoiding him intentionally or unintentionally at this time - they just ate in silence and listened to the conversations of the staff, with a hint of thinking flashing in their eyes from time to time.
Seeing this situation, Zhao Junchen suddenly asked: "Jiang Zheng, when you talked with Niu Fude yesterday, you actually thought that Niu Fude's scope of responsibilities was related to military affairs, but I don't know...why you came to such a conclusion.
?”
Upon hearing Zhao Junchen's question, all the staff immediately became quiet, and they all focused on waiting for Jiang Zheng's answer.
Jiang Zheng seemed to have expected that Zhao Junchen would ask such a question, and without much hesitation, he replied slowly: "When Mr. Niu introduced himself to the students, he said that he had served as an aide to civil and military officials at all levels of the imperial court for many years in Liaodong.
, and the Liaodong region has always been prone to frequent wars, so Mr. Niu must be proficient in military matters after having such experience;
When Zhao Gechen went to Shaanxi and Gansu, he took Mr. Niu with him to assist him, which is enough to prove that Zhao Gechen valued and trusted Mr. Niu's military capabilities.
At the same time, when the students asked Mr. Niu about the scope of his powers and responsibilities in daily life, Mr. Niu's answer was very vague. It was obvious that he had some taboos and did not dare to tell the truth. Considering that Mr. Niu had a very high status among the Zhao family's staff,
He must be shouldering important responsibilities, and the student had already vaguely guessed at that time.
Later, the student talked with several helpers in Mr. Niu's study and found that these people's experiences were very similar to Mr. Niu's. They all had rich military experience and were still very familiar with the current situation of the imperial military affairs. They obviously had frequent contact with them.
Related work, but don’t know much about other things...
Considering that Zhao Gechen has made it this far, when employing people, one must make the best use of their talents... Combining these circumstances, students can be sure that the scope of Mr. Niu's powers and responsibilities when assisting Zhao Gechen must be related to military matters!"
After hearing what Jiang Zheng said, the atmosphere at the banquet suddenly became a little cold and solemn.
Several core staff members knew more or less about Zhao Junchen's secret infiltration of the army. However, Jiang Zheng had not yet proven his loyalty and should not know the relevant information at all. However, he just inferred it on his own through some clues.
.
In this way, Jiang Zheng came into contact with secrets that he should never have access to, and the situation became embarrassing.
For a moment, the thought of "killing people and silencing them" flashed through the minds of several staff members.
After all, once Jiang Zheng told his teacher Yang Xun about this matter, Yang Xun's temperament would definitely tell Emperor Deqing. And once Emperor Deqing found out about this matter, the trouble would be huge!
However, in such a cold and awkward atmosphere, the smile on Zhao Junchen's face did not change at all, and he just continued to ask: "I see, such a subtle vision and wisdom is really amazing... Then, why do you
Will he know that the account books in Su Xiqing's study are all forgeries? Can he also clearly point out the location of the room where the real account books are hidden? "
Under everyone's gaze, Jiang Zheng still replied slowly without hesitation: "Because those forged account books are so new!
Mr. Su is in charge of the income and expenditure account books in the Zhao Mansion. As a large family like the Zhao Mansion has numerous income and expenditure every day, it is necessary to check the account books frequently and check the numbers. However, there is no sign of any flipping in the forged account books.
The traces obviously just recorded some numbers at random, but they were never flipped over after they were recorded. It was fake at first glance!
At the same time, after the introduction of several seniors, the students discovered that the daily activities of the Zhao family’s staff were concentrated in the east courtyard wing, and the more important the staff, the more important their respective study rooms were.
It is close to the large study room used by Zhao Gechen on weekdays!
Mr. Su is the oldest staff member in the Zhao family, and is in charge of the revenue and expenditure accounts. His position is extremely important. However, the location of the study room where he used to store the forged account books is far away from Zhao Gechen's large study room, which is completely inconsistent with the situation.
Mr. Su’s identity!
What's more, the spring cold has just passed, but there is no trace of fire in the study room. It must be not used frequently, so the student infers... that the study room is not the real one used by Mr. Su on weekdays.
The study room and the account books in the study room are all fake.
Several seniors had introduced the locations of their respective study rooms to the students. They were all close to Zhao Gechen's study room. However, there was a wing room in it, just dozens of steps away from Zhao's study room. It must be used by important people.
But several seniors deliberately ignored the past when introducing...
Taking into account Mr. Su's status in the mansion, students can deduce that the wing room is most likely Mr. Su's real study room! Therefore, the real account books of the Zhao Mansion must also be stored there. These account books can be said to be crucial.
There are too many things that can be inferred from various income and expenditure figures, so the seniors deliberately concealed them from the students."
After hearing Jiang Zheng's explanation, the Zhao family's staff became increasingly embarrassed.
Zhao Junchen's eyes flashed, but the smile on his expression remained unchanged, and he just asked again: "Then why can you guess that... Li Lun's mission during his studies in the Imperial College was to recruit talents for me?"
Jiang Zheng glanced at Li Lun and smiled apologetically, but still half-smiling, and then replied: "After Brother Li met the student, he invited the student to a banquet at Tianhai Pavilion out of good intentions, and also
He said that he invited several classmates from the Imperial College at the same time...
But as far as the students know, Tianhai Pavilion is one of the most expensive restaurants in the capital. A casual meal can be enough to cover the expenses of an ordinary person for half a year. When Brother Li invited the students to the banquet, his attitude was very casual.
He can also invite multiple classmates at the same time, and it can be seen from his words that this is not the first time he has held a banquet in Tianhai Pavilion, and he is very familiar with the situation in Tianhai Pavilion.
Then, the student thought that although Brother Li was well paid to work in the Zhao Mansion, he could not afford such expenses, and Brother Li did not look like a lavish spender. There was only one explanation for this situation,
That is, all of Brother Li's expenses are provided by the accounting department of Zhao Mansion, so Brother Li has no scruples in setting up banquets in Tianhai Building to entertain his classmates and friends.
However, why does the Accountant of the Zhao family provide a large amount of money to support Brother Li's frequent invitations to his classmates for dinner parties? Apart from recruiting talents for Zhao Gechen, the students can't think of any other possibility!"
*
After hearing Jiang Zheng's explanations, the mood of the staff became more and more complicated. On the one hand, they were amazed and admired Jiang Zheng's keen eye for seeing the subtle things, and on the other hand, they were secretly thinking about how to deal with Jiang Zheng next.
After all, he really deduced too many secrets.
Zhao Junchen also sighed softly and said slowly: "Since I invited Li Chuanwen, Niu Fude, Ouyang Bo and other gentlemen to form a staff team for myself, all the staff have become my best assistants. They have always been
He works efficiently, is well-organized, and does everything to his advantage... Who would have thought that in your eyes, it would seem to be riddled with holes, and that many secrets could be known at a glance..."
Jiang Zhengze took out a booklet from his arms, handed it to Zhao Junchen with both hands, and said: "Regarding this matter, the students believe that the methods of the staff in Zhao Gechen's mansion are no longer suitable for Zhao Gechen's current achievements.
! As the saying goes, there is no rule without rules. The students think that Zhao Gechen should make a new set of rules. Here are some of the students’ ideas. We also ask for Zhao Gechen’s advice.”
Zhao Junchen calmly reached out to take the booklet and silently flipped through it, his expression still unchanged.
However, Zhao Junchen secretly thought in his heart: "Sure enough...Jiang Zheng's behavior is not that he is outspoken and outspoken...he just wants to force me to express my stance!"