This middle-aged Confucian scholar surnamed Huo was naturally a great scholar of the dynasty and Huo Zhengyuan, the imperial court's first southeast patrol envoy.
Another young Confucian scholar named Jiang is Jiang Zheng, a new staff member of the Zhao family and a favorite disciple of the great Confucian Yang Xun.
Among them, Huo Zhengyuan has been secretly sneaking into Nanjing for three to five days. Jiang Zhengze just arrived in Nanjing by boat this morning, and it has only been about an hour since he met Huo Zhengyuan.
A few days ago, Huo Zhengyuan, who was temporarily staying at the Governor's Yamen in Nanzhili, Suzhou, received news that the seventh prince Zhu Hejian rushed to Nanjing in the name of ancestor worship. Then he and Huang Yourong made the inference that Nanjing's officialdom would soon be
Great changes occurred.
Both Huo Zhengyuan and Huang Yourong believed that under such circumstances, Zhao Junchen would definitely not step aside and would definitely step in and take the opportunity to expand his power.
Once Zhao Junchen decided to participate, and because Nanjing City is located in southern Zhili, it would naturally be inseparable from the full assistance of Huang Yourong and Huo Zhengyuan, so the two of them had to prepare in advance.
However, as Huang Yourong is the governor of Southern Zhili and a former cabinet minister, once he leaves the Suzhou station, he will inevitably attract attention from all parties. Therefore, when it comes to actual actions, he can only let Huo Zhengyuan take charge and make decisions on the fly.
Out of such considerations, Huo Zhengyuan secretly sneaked into Nanjing in advance without waiting for Zhao Junchen's instructions. He has been collecting information and making secret arrangements for the past few days.
Two days ago, a secret letter from Zhao Junchen was sent to the Nanzhili Governor's Yamen in Suzhou. After Huang Yourong read the secret letter, he immediately conveyed the news to Huo Zhengyuan. The situation developed just as the two of them expected -
- Nanjing officialdom is about to undergo drastic changes, and Zhao Junchen is also ambitious and wants to take the opportunity to control the powerful yamen in Nanjing officialdom. Huang Yourong and Huo Zhengyuan are also key links in Zhao Junchen's plan.
It can be said that most of Zhao Junchen's plans and arrangements did not exceed Huang and Huo's expectations.
But there was only one thing that neither Huang nor Huo expected, and that was that Zhao Junchen also arranged for another aide from the government to come to Nanjing urgently to assist them in their work.
This staff member is naturally Jiang Zheng.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen obviously did not trust Jiang Zheng, a new staff member, although he entrusted him with important tasks. Therefore, the follow-up tasks of Huang Yourong and Huo Zhengyuan were to take advantage of the changes in Nanjing's officialdom to assist Zhao Junchen in his expansion.
In addition to his power, he also needed to take advantage of the complex situation in Nanjing City to test Jiang Zheng's true position.
After receiving Zhao Junchen's instructions, Huo Zhengyuan immediately moved to the secret contact point arranged by Zhao Junchen. However, before Huo Zhengyuan could figure out how to complete the task assigned by Zhao Junchen, he waited until dawn this morning.
Jiang Zheng had already arrived in Nanjing, and then also appeared at the secret contact point to meet Huo Zhengyuan.
Huo Zhengyuan was naturally deeply surprised to see Jiang Zheng arriving in Nanjing so quickly. He felt that this young man was vigorous and resolute and should not be underestimated. However, after thinking about the tasks assigned by Zhao Junchen, he naturally put on a smile.
, he made every effort to get closer to Jiang Zheng.
Later, Huo Zhengyuan thought about the information he had collected over the past few days - all signs indicated that under the secret promotion of some conspirators, a civil uprising was about to occur in Nanjing. The specific time was probably on July 7 today.
When Prince Zhu Hejian led hundreds of Nanjing officials to pay homage to their ancestors at Xiaoling.
At the same time, Huo Zhengyuan believed that if he was to control the civil uprising, he would definitely try to encourage a group of young and energetic scholars to take the lead in causing trouble.
Those young scholars have always been the best choice for causing trouble, and they have been extremely useful chess pieces from ancient times to the present.
After all, these young scholars have not been polished by too much reality. Not only do they have high self-esteem and are young and energetic, they are also stubborn and full of idealism, and they are easily provoked.
Moreover, the connections and images of these young scholars are also the best choice. When trouble occurs, not only can their classmates, fellow villagers, fellow students, and even the elders of their teachers' families be involved in the trouble, but the common people are also willing to trust them and follow them.
They can quickly expand the influence of things.
Especially those scholars who have great reputations have the privilege of not worshiping the officials. After the government sees these scholars taking the lead in making trouble, the government will be restrained when it comes to dealing with them, unable to suppress them quickly and control the impact.
The best thing is that even if these scholars who were deeply influenced by Confucian classics took the lead in making trouble out of temporary anger, they were essentially full of longing for the imperial court and full of awe.
Therefore, letting these scholars take the lead in provoking troubles can not only quickly expand their influence in the early stages of civil unrest, but also make it easier to control the situation afterwards. If things get serious, there may not be a need to wait for the government to take action personally. Those scholars who are full of ideas about the Three Principles and Five Permanents will
Take the initiative to retreat - For the government, recruiting scholars has always been a matter of official documents.
Therefore, Huo Zhengyuan believed that once a civil uprising broke out in Nanjing, the Jiangnan Gongyuan, which gathered a large number of scholars, would inevitably play an extremely critical role, and it was also the target that Huo Zhengyuan must focus on.
With this in mind, after Huo Zhengyuan talked with Jiang Zheng for a while, he quickly made a decision to invite Jiang Zheng to come with him to visit the scenery and taste delicious food along the Qinhuai River. On the one hand, he could observe the specific situation of the Nanjing Civil War at a close distance, and on the other hand, he could take advantage of the opportunity.
Test Jiang Zheng's character and ability.
As a result, there was a scene where Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng appeared together in Guanjiang Tower.
The grade of Guanjiang Tower is only average, but the location of this restaurant is excellent. You can see Jiangnan Gongyuan to the north, and Nanjing Liubu Yamen across two streets to the south. It is also a must-see between Jiangnan Gongyuan and Nanjing Rites Yamen.
From what I have learned, once the scholars of Jiangnan Gongyuan take the lead in making trouble, Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng can easily take over the whole situation while sitting on the Guanjiang Tower.
*
At this time, seeing that the situation at Jiangnan Gongyuan was still calm, Huo Zhengyuan felt that he and Jiang Zheng were idle. He also saw that Chai Yuan, the shopkeeper of Guanjiang Tower, seemed to have some knowledge and was a local who was familiar with the situation in Nanjing, so he simply
He "invited" Chai Yuan to sit down and talk with him.
After Chai Yuan sat aside cautiously, Huo Zhengyuan first asked about Chai Yuan's name, origin, and background, and then asked again: "Shopkeeper Chai, you just said that all industries in Nanjing have been declining recently. What are the details? Common people.
What was the reaction? Can you elaborate on it?"
Hearing Huo Zhengyuan's questioning again, Chai Yuan already regretted his blabbering just now.
In Chai Yuan's view, Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng in front of him obviously have official backgrounds, and their status is not low. If he said bad things about the government at this time, he might anger them, or it might spread to some senior officials in Nanjing.
In the ears, you will definitely be asking for trouble when the time comes.
Therefore, Chai Yuan quickly changed his tone, waved his hands and said: "Sir, I just lost my mind and just talked nonsense. I don't take it seriously. Don't take it seriously, and don't take it seriously!"
On the side, Jiang Zheng obviously saw Chai Yuan's concerns, so he took the lead and said: "As for the current situation in Nanjing, especially the chaos in the six yamen of Nanjing, I have heard a little bit about it! It is said that since the imperial court took action more than half a year ago to rectify the situation,
After the Nanjing officialdom, the newly appointed Nanjing Six Ministers were either ignorant or incompetent, or they were wanton and domineering, making the entire Nanjing officialdom a mess. The whole Jiangnan is now in chaos, and the people in Nanjing are especially affected by it.
bitter."
Huo Zhengyuan also nodded slightly and agreed: "Yes, although I have been in Nanjing not long ago, I have also heard about many things, such as the unjust, false and wrong cases of the Nanjing Ministry of Punishment, the random apportionment of the Nanjing Ministry of Industry, and the excessive expropriation and expropriation of the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs.
Wait... But these situations are limited to the officialdom, and we don’t know much about the reactions of the common people. What I want to inquire about from Shopkeeper Chai is also the thoughts and reactions of the common people."
Seeing that Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng were the first to speak ill of the Nanjing government, Huo Zhengyuan also asked again. Chai Yuan could not avoid it, so he had to bite the bullet and answer: "Well, how can the people react? I will bear it if I can.
If you can hide, you can hide, if you can be attacked, you can be attacked, and you can't do anything else... In the final analysis, the common people have no power, and even if they have any dissatisfaction, they can't affect the nobles who are above them...
Hey! If you say that public opinion, public support, and public grievances are not important, officials always talk about them. If you say that they are important, but if officials only talk about them and don't take them to heart, then it means nothing.
Not counting! Although the king is the boat and the common people are the water, before the flood reaches the sky, the grievances of the people are just insignificant waves in the eyes of those who operate the boats."
Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng looked at each other, obviously dissatisfied with these general remarks.
However, the last sentence Chai Yuan said was somewhat insightful, but it was not something that a businessman like Chai Yuan could say.
Later, at Huo Zhengyuan's signal, Jiang Zheng asked again: "What Shopkeeper Chai said is quite insightful, but did Shopkeeper Chai come up with it himself?"
Chai Yuan's face turned slightly red, and he shook his head repeatedly: "I am just a restaurant owner, how can I have such knowledge... I won't hide it from you two. Some time ago, talented people from Yingtian Academy often came to my place for dinner, and the leader was
It’s the talented scholar Lü De. Of course I don’t dare to neglect him. I have always been there to serve him personally. These words are all what I heard from the talented scholar Lü during my service.”
"Lu De..." Huo Zhengyuan thought thoughtfully, and then explained to Jiang Zheng: "As far as I know, this Lu De is one of the most famous talents in Yingtian Academy in recent years. Only Zhao Shan can slightly surpass him.
, but now with the untimely death of Zhao Shancai, he is recognized as the number one talent in Jiangnan!
I heard that because the Prince and Grand Master Wang Baoren paid three visits to the thatched cottage, the talented Lu Da has now become Wang Taishi’s confidant and is quite popular! I also heard that since His Highness the Seventh Prince arrived in Nanjing, Wang Taishi took Lu De
He was introduced to His Highness the Seventh Prince, so Lu De has been working with His Highness the Seventh Prince these days, and has also been valued by His Highness the Seventh Prince. It can be said that he has a bright future."
Although Jiang Zheng acted humble in front of Huo Zhengyuan, he was actually a proud young man with high self-esteem. When he heard about another equally outstanding young talent, he couldn't help but secretly pay attention to him.
What's more, according to Chai Yuan, Lu De frequently invited his classmates from Yingtian Academy to have dinner together some time ago. During the banquet, he repeatedly made remarks such as "the boat is overturned", obviously in order to encourage everyone.
Classmates came forward to cause trouble.
Prior to this, Huo Zhengyuan had introduced Jiang Zheng to the current situation in Nanjing City. Jiang Zheng also agreed with Huo Zhengyuan's judgment and believed that a civil unrest was about to occur in Nanjing City, and that this civil unrest must be led by the scholars of Jiangnan Gongyuan.
Looking at it now, Lu De is obviously one of the important driving forces behind the scenes.
Thinking of this, Jiang Zheng's eyes flashed slightly, and he asked again: "Although I am new to Jiangnan, I have heard about the reputation of this talented scholar Lu, but I don't know that the scholars in Yingtian Academy have heard about the talented scholar Lu.
What are the reactions after these high opinions?"
Seeing that Jiang Zheng was no longer obsessed with asking about the chaos in Nanjing's officialdom and the reaction of Nanjing people, but instead turned his attention to the great scholar Lu Del Lu, Chai Yuan was secretly relieved, but before he answered
On the contrary, his expression became more and more uneasy, and he said: "Since Zhao Shancai died of illness, the talented scholar Lu has become the leader of the younger generation of scholars in Jiangnan. In addition, he himself also comes from an extraordinary family, so he usually speaks in a consistent manner, but...but...
This time, the talented scholars at Yingtian Academy had completely different reactions to these statements made by the talented scholar Lu Da. Many people loudly agreed, while many others strongly opposed it, and even caused many quarrels."
"Why is this?" Jiang Zheng asked again.
Chai Yuan sighed: "In the past six months, many practices of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites and the Nanjing Imperial College have caused a lot of controversy. When Yingtian Academy recruits tribute students, it increasingly favors those children of wealthy families. As long as the family has sufficient wealth,
Those who are willing to give money to the Yamen can easily enter Yingtian Academy and become Gongsheng students even if they have average knowledge. However, if they are from an average family and do not have money to give to the Nanjing Ministry of Rites and the Nanjing Imperial College, even if they are talented, it will be difficult for them to become Gongsheng students.
In the past, people usually relied on their own knowledge to enter Yingtian Academy and became a tribute student...
As a result, the students of Yingtian Academy have been divided into two distinct camps based on their different family backgrounds. The former are those from ordinary backgrounds who entered Yingtian Academy with their real knowledge, and the latter are those with ordinary knowledge who relied on their family background to enter Yingtian Academy.
The Gongsheng students who have the financial resources to enter Yingtian Academy can be said to be hostile to each other and despise each other, and conflicts will arise from time to time.
Although the talented scholar Lu has an extraordinary family background, he has always been on the side of the former, which naturally caused strong dissatisfaction among the Gong students of the latter. Therefore, those Gong students who entered Yingtian Academy with their family background and financial resources also considered the talented scholar Lu
Such remarks are ridiculing them, and of course they are strongly opposed and refuted."
After hearing what Chai Yuan said, Jiang Zheng and Huo Zhengyuan looked at each other again, both thoughtful.
In the view of the two of them, Lu De's various actions were not only secretly encouraging some students of Yingtian Academy to take the lead in making trouble, but also trying to intensify the internal conflicts of Yingtian Academy, making scholars of different origins more hostile to each other.
It can be said that they are stirring up trouble and adding fuel to the fire, lest the world remain in chaos.
And while Jiang Zheng and Huo Zhengyuan were deep in thought, Chai Yuan on the side, although he knew that there were no other guests on the second floor of Guanjiang Tower except the three of them, still turned around nervously to look at them.
He glanced around and then said: "I have just said that one of my main customers here is the scholars from Yingtian Academy. During this period, as these scholars have become more and more hostile to each other, I am entertaining them.
I am becoming more and more cautious, for fear that they will have a dispute with me again!
So, like what I just said, if there were students from Yingtian Academy present today, I would never dare to say it, otherwise there is a high probability that it will cause another conflict, but today is also strange, obviously it is
It has been open for business for more than an hour, but not a single customer is a scholar from Yingtian Academy. Could it be that all the scholars from Yingtian Academy went to Xiaoling to watch the fun? ... It shouldn’t be!"
Speaking of this, Chai Yuan's expression was not only full of doubts, but also hid a hint of nervousness.
After talking with Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng, Chai Yuan had a vague feeling that today's situation was a bit unusual.
Huo Zhengyuan can naturally guess why there are no guests from Yingtian Academy in Guanjiang Building today - if Huo Zhengyuan guesses correctly, those young scholars from Yingtian Academy are all gearing up, planning to do something earth-shattering
It was such a big deal that I naturally didn't bother to come to Guanjiang Tower to buy breakfast.
But he obviously didn't intend to explain the truth to Chai Yuan. He just nodded with a smile and said: "I thought this was just a good place to watch a show, but I didn't expect that I met the knowledgeable shopkeeper Chai, and there was an unexpected gain... This Lu
If there is an opportunity in the future, I will try to get in touch with the great talent Derü."
Jiang Zheng also nodded and said: "That's true. If nothing else happens, this great talent Lu Derulu is definitely a key figure in the changes in Nanjing. We must try to get in touch with him."
As the saying goes, nothing is written by coincidence. As Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng finished talking, they heard the sound of rapid footsteps on the stairs.
Afterwards, a clerk from Guanjiang Tower hurried to Chai Yuan, took a cautious look at Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng, and then lowered his voice and reported to Chai Yuan: "Shopkeeper, Lu Delu, a great talent, came to our store.
Yes! Moreover, the talented scholar Lu also said that he will reserve the second floor of our Guanjiang Building today, and I hope that you, the shopkeeper, can clear out all the guests on the second floor."
Upon hearing this clerk's report, both Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng couldn't help but feel stunned, and Chai Yuan was even more shocked.
No one expected that just as they were talking about Lu De, the most talented person in Jiangnan would suddenly appear in Guanjiang Tower and plan to drive Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng away from the second floor of Guanjiang Tower.
Chai Yuan was surprised, but couldn't help but glance at Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng, and couldn't help but feel in a dilemma.
As a son of a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River, Lu De is now the most talented person in the south of the Yangtze River. He is also the favorite of the crown prince, grand master Wang Baoren and the seventh prince Zhu Hejian. For Chai Yuan, he is an unattainable big shot. Such a big shot wants to take over the watch.
Not only would Chai Yuan not refuse the second floor of Jiang Tower, he would also regard it as an honor.
However, Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng are currently being entertained on the second floor of Guanjiang Tower. Although Chai Yuan does not know their true identities, he can tell through their words and deeds.
Both of them are of extremely high status and cannot be offended easily, so Chai Yuan did not dare to "please leave" Huo Zhengyuan and Jiang Zheng for Lu De's sake.
Therefore, it was naturally difficult for Chai Yuan to make a decision at this time.
At the same time, after the initial surprise, Huo Zhengyuan quickly laughed again, and then reviewed to Jiang Zheng: "I was negligent. Before, I only thought that the Guanjiang Tower was a good place to watch a show, but I didn't
I have overlooked that if there is a big show today, you and I will not be the only ones who want to watch the show. Others who want to watch the show will naturally like this location, so if we choose to watch it here
If you play, you will inevitably meet the same kind!"
Jiang Zheng asked: "Would you like to take the opportunity to meet this Lu De?"
After Huo Zhengyuan thought for a moment, he nodded and told the waiter: "Go and tell the talented man Lu and ask him to come here to negotiate with me in person."