The difference between politicians and statesmen is that politicians are always more "smart" and well versed in the principle of "seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages", while politicians are more "dull" and always do things they know they can't do.
"It's a stupid thing.
And Wang Baoren is undoubtedly a politician.
Therefore, after understanding Zhu Hejian's hint, Wang Baoren almost did not hesitate. He quickly stopped asking questions and stood up to leave quickly.
However, under Zhu Hejian's respectful farewell, when Wang Baoren was about to walk out of Zhanyuan, he suddenly stopped again, turned around and asked: "Just now, His Highness asked me about the word 'uncompromising means'.
My opinion, and now I also have a question to ask Your Highness, what do you think of the phrase 'Herdsman on behalf of the emperor'...?"
Zhu Hejian shook his head without any hesitation and said: "Students have no opinion at all about this sentence. It is just like the need to eat when hungry and the need to sleep when tired. It is the most basic truth in the world. There is no need to have any opinion at all, as long as
Just follow it!
Although the emperor is the supreme being in the world, his energy is limited like that of a mortal. It is impossible to govern the world by himself. He must rely on hundreds of officials to handle government affairs...especially a loyal and lone minister like you, teacher!"
After hearing this, Wang Baoren nodded with satisfaction, gave Zhu Hejian a brief gesture, then quickly walked to his seat in the sedan outside Zhanyuan, and quickly left in the sedan.
In this way, Zhu Hejian finally dealt with Wang Baoren and temporarily resolved Wang Baoren's dissatisfaction and doubts, and made Wang Baoren willing to continue to support him without knowing the inside story.
Standing outside the Zhanyuan Gate, watching Wang Baoren's sedan go away, Zhu Hejian suddenly snorted coldly, feeling that he had wasted too much time on Wang Baoren and wasted his breath by saying too many untrue things.
Afterwards, Zhu Hejian turned around and quickly returned to Zhanyuan. As he walked, he ordered to his cronies: "Call Jialun to come and see me as soon as possible... Send a message to the eunuch of the Nanjing garrison, asking him to immediately send all the factory guards under his command."
, keep a close eye on all the disturbances in Nanjing. Once the situation changes, no matter how big or small, you must report it immediately! If people from the Zhou and Zhao parties make any changes, let him find reasons to block and delay..."
For Zhu Hejian, the top priority now is to put an end to the fact that the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers have been exposed and are being hunted by the Nanjing officials as soon as possible.
Once the "Chaofeng" dead man is caught by various forces, it will be a disaster for Zhu Hejian.
Therefore, Zhu Hejian is destined to be busy tonight and unable to rest.
*
At the same time, Wang Baoren had already taken a sedan chair away from the vicinity of Zhanyuan where Zhu Hejian lived.
After Wang Baoren sat in the sedan, he closed his eyes and meditated, carefully thinking about his exchange with Zhu Hejian tonight.
Wang Baoren did not completely believe Zhu Hejian's righteous and ambitious statements, but he could also see that Zhu Hejian's desire for power was even greater than that of Emperor Deqing.
That's why Wang Baoren suddenly mentioned the phrase "controlling the people on behalf of the emperor".
He just wanted to know whether Zhu Hejian, while intending to suppress the vassal kings, gentry, and military forces, also wanted to hollow out the ministerial power and make all officials completely vassals of the emperor.
Wang Baoren's ambition was to be a very human minister, to rule the world, and to become a powerful chief minister, not just a yes-man at the emperor's feet. If Zhu Hejian still wants to empty out his ministerial power in the future, then he will be very important to Wang Baoren.
He cannot be considered a good master.
After hearing Zhu Hejian's final answer, Wang Baoren was quite satisfied.
Regardless of whether this answer comes from the sincerity, at least Zhu Hejian deeply understands the necessity of the existence of ministerial power.
In fact, Zhu Hejian's various statements, especially Kang's passionate expression of ambition, contain multiple meanings, not only to find a high-sounding explanation for his unscrupulous behavior in recent times.
According to this, it was also an implicit promise to Wang Baoren about his future position.
According to Zhu Hejian, in the future he would like to further strengthen the emperor's centralization of power and at the same time suppress the vassal kings, gentry, and military forces. However, this kind of thing is too difficult, relying solely on the emperor's own power and the inner court that is dependent on the emperor.
It is impossible to achieve power at all, and it must also have some civilian support.
And Wang Baoren is obviously the best candidate.
Not only because Wang Baoren is Zhu Hejian's political ally and teacher, but also because Wang Baoren has been unable to obtain the support of the Guanjin Group under Zhou Shangjing's perennial suppression, and he does not have all kinds of whimsical ideas like Zhao Junchen.
Reform gradually became the spokesperson for wealthy businessmen.
All in all, Wang Baoren's power foundation was unstable and his connection with the gentry class was not particularly close.
Therefore, Zhu Hejian said that Wang Baoren was a "loyal and honest minister".
If Zhu Hejian takes action against the Jin gentry class in the future, Wang Baoren's unstable foundation and lack of deep relationship with the Jin gentry class will turn into his strengths, allowing Zhu Hejian to reuse him with confidence, and Wang Baoren will easily be able to use Zhu Hejian's full support.
Realize your ambition to be a supreme minister.
However, just as Zhu Hejian would not completely trust Wang Baoren, Wang Baoren would certainly not trust Zhu Hejian easily, let alone be fooled by Zhu Hejian so easily.
After closing his eyes and thinking for a long time, Wang Baoren finally opened his eyes, raised his hand and opened the curtain on the left side of the sedan, and called out: "Where is Zhiming?"
Following Wang Baoren's soft call, a middle-aged staff member dressed as a Confucian scholar walked quickly to Wang Baoren's sedan, nodded and said, "Please give me your instructions, Grand Master."
This person's name is Qin Zhiming, and he is one of Wang Baoren's closest aides.
Wang Baoren said slowly: "I remember, we have placed several informants inside Zhanyuan? They haven't been exposed yet, right?"
Qin Zhiming shook his head and said: "Reporting to the Grand Master, His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince arrived in Nanjing and stayed in Zhanyuan, all because of our secret arrangements, so we took the opportunity to plant spies among the servants of Zhanyuan... And according to your instructions, Grand Master,
These informants have always adhered to their duties and have not deliberately collected intelligence. They have kept their identities confidential first, so naturally they have not aroused suspicion... However, the Seventh Prince is heavily guarded, and he never uses the spy in his daily service.
The original servants in the garden, so they have no chance to be exposed."
Wang Baoren nodded lightly and said: "Let those informants take action and try to collect as much intelligence as possible... There is no need to deliberately inquire about those confidential information, just let me know some general trends within Zhanyuan, such as the subsequent events of the Seventh Prince.
The daily schedule, who comes in and out of Zhanyuan, whether the people around the Seventh Prince are busy... Although these information are not critical, they are enough for me to deduce many things."
After Qin Zhiming nodded in agreement, Wang Baoren explained: "Also, Lu De has always had a good relationship with you when he served as my aide in the palace. You can find time to talk to him tomorrow and tell him about your old relationship.
Promise some benefits and try to get some information from him... I have a vague feeling that if the Seventh Prince has secret plans that I have hidden from me, those secret plans will most likely have something to do with Lu De! I need to find out the truth about the Seventh Prince as soon as possible
plan!"
After Zhu Hejian's hint, Wang Baoren ostensibly gave up his desire to get to the bottom of things and explore the truth. It seemed that he was unwilling to be associated with Zhu Hejian's real plan, in case those hidden methods were exposed and he would be implicated.
But in fact, Wang Baoren will still find ways to explore all Zhu Hejian's secrets in private.
As long as he knows Zhu Hejian's secrets, Wang Baoren will have more trump cards and more means to restrain Zhu Hejian. Naturally, he will not give up.
In official circles, it is one thing to know the truth openly, but it is another thing to know the truth privately.
Of course, some things need to be kept secret. In some cases, the less you know about the inside story, the better. It is best to ask three questions without knowing anything.
But the premise of this kind of "ignorance" is to "pretend to be ignorant" rather than to be truly ignorant or confused.
On the surface, you can be completely ignorant of the inside story, but privately, you have to understand the whole situation.
As a politician, the fewer sources of information on the surface, the better, but the more complete the intelligence collection in private, the better. It can be said that you are trying your best secretly.
On the surface, he was completely unaware of the inside story in order to completely distance himself from the incident. In private, he knew the whole story in order to strive for the best interests and wait for the opportunity to pick peaches.
Wang Baoren is also well versed in this.
*
But he said that while big figures such as Zhou Shangjing, Song Chengren, Huo Zhengyuan, Zhu Hejian, and Wang Baoren had their own plans and made frequent moves, some small figures in the game were not idle either.
As a close guard of the seventh prince and the leader of the "Chaofeng" organization, Guo Shouzhong had already left Nanjing overnight under Zhu Hejian's order, hoping to contact the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers outside Nanjing as soon as possible, as well as
Jiang Xiao, the actual leader of the "Chaofeng" organization.
There had just been a massacre in the city of Nanjing. The servants of the Song family suffered heavy casualties as two groups of mysterious men fought each other. Guo Shouzhong left the city overnight under such circumstances, which naturally aroused suspicion from all parties.
But in order to contact Jiang Xiao outside the city as soon as possible, Guo Shouzhong did not care about this private suspicion at this time. As long as no conclusive evidence could be found on the surface, a mere private suspicion would not affect the overall situation at all.
What's more, another advantage of going out of the city overnight is that it ensures that no one can track you.
At nightfall, the city gates of Nanjing were closed. Because Guo Shouzhong had a warrant from the Nanjing garrison eunuch Xi Cheng, he could force the defenders to temporarily open the city gates.
After Guo Shouzhong leaves the city, the city gate will be closed again immediately. Therefore, if anyone wants to secretly track Guo Shouzhong, they need to first find a big shot with the same weight as Nanjing's eunuch Xi Cheng and ask for a warrant from this big shot.
The city gate can be opened again. Even if the person following has a warrant to open the city gate in advance, the Nanjing city gate is extremely thick and it takes a lot of time to open and close each time. With such a long delay, Guo Shouzhong
The trace has long been lost.
Therefore, after Guo Shouzhong left the city, he only maintained vigilance for a short period of time, easily confirmed that no one was following him, and then boldly ran to the east of Nanjing City at night with confidence.
There, there is a villa owned by the Lu family.
According to Zhu Hejian's original plan, Lu De led the "Chaofeng" soldiers to dig up the embankment and cause floods to submerge the imperial village. All the "Chaofeng" soldiers would hide in the Lu Family Villa to temporarily avoid the limelight until the storm subsides.
After calming down, let them return to Nanjing City and wait for Zhu Hejian's next instructions.
But it is obvious that Jiang Xiao, as the actual leader of the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers, did not follow Zhu Hejian's order and actually let a small number of the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers return to Nanjing in advance, and even fought with them in the busy city.
The fighting resulted in heavy casualties among the Song family's servants, which not only caused a great uproar, but also put the "Chaofeng" organization in danger of having its traces leaked, directly threatening Zhu Hejian's plan to take over the throne.
Under such a crisis, Guo Shouzhong was naturally in an anxious mood. After leaving the city, he ignored the danger of traveling at night and hurried towards the location of the Lu Family Villa.
But at the same time, deep in Guo Shouzhong's heart, there was a hint of excitement!
Not worried, not anxious, not panicked, but excited!
Guo Shouzhong has always been jealous of Jiang Xiao.
For a long time, Zhu Hejian always reused Jiang Xiao, and could even be said to have a lot of trust. This kind of reuse and trust made Guo Shouzhong feel extremely uncomfortable.
When the "Chaofeng" organization was first established, Guo Shouzhong was the person in charge of this dead warrior organization, but before he knew it, Guo Shouzhong was robbed of all the limelight by Jiang Xiao.
Both the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers and the seventh prince Zhu Hejian trusted Jiang Xiao more, and Guo Shouzhong soon became the messenger between Zhu Hejian and the "Chaofeng" organization.
In Guo Shouzhong's view, a dangerous desperado like Jiang Xiao is like a piece of toilet paper, which should be thrown away completely after use. It is not worthy of reuse and trust at all, and it should not affect his reputation in the eyes of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian.
status.
But now, Jiang Xiao actually disobeyed the clear orders of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, and even triggered a crisis. Naturally, Guo Shouzhong was uncontrollably excited, thinking that he had finally found an opportunity to completely overthrow Jiang Xiao!
"Jiang Xiao actually dared to disobey His Highness the Seventh Prince's order and made such a big fuss. The entire 'Chaofeng' organization is facing the risk of being exposed. After I see Jiang Xiao, I must let him
Give me an explanation! If this explanation doesn’t satisfy me, then don’t blame me for killing the donkey!"
"Perhaps, I can take the opportunity to eradicate Jiang Xiao and regain control of 'Chaofeng'... No, no, there is no need for me to control 'Chaofeng' again! Most of those 'Chaofeng' dead soldiers were killed by Jiang
Xiao personally assessed and recruited, and he has been trained and commanded by Jiang Xiao for a long time. After all, he is more loyal to Jiang Xiao, and I can't control it well..."
"What's more, seeing that His Highness the Seventh Prince is about to become the Crown Prince, the existence of the 'Chao Feng' organization has become a hidden danger and a flaw for His Highness the Seventh Prince. It is best to wait for an opportunity to abandon it completely! If I have been working for His Highness the Seventh Prince,
Although you can become a confidant by taking charge of the Dead Soldiers organization, you will ultimately be in the dark and your future will be limited!"
"So, the best way is to find an opportunity to destroy the entire 'Chaofeng' organization, silence all the dead men and destroy their evidence, so that His Highness the Seventh Prince no longer has to worry about this hidden danger and flaw... After His Highness the Seventh Prince becomes the Crown Prince,
, when doing things, it is natural that we, the guards who came from the Jinyi Guards, will do it for us... Well, after the Nanjing incident comes to an end, I will make this suggestion to His Highness the Seventh Prince..."
Thinking of this, Guo Shouzhong was moved by his loyalty and became more and more excited deep in his heart.
When he was thinking, time naturally passed quickly, and the journey was no longer boring. After Guo Shouzhong made up his mind, he found that he had arrived near the Lu family courtyard.
Under Jiang Xiao's training, the "Chaofeng" soldiers were indeed well-trained. They soon discovered the appearance and identity of Guo Shouzhong, and quickly introduced Jiang Xiao into a secret room in the Lu Family Villa.
.
Entering the secret room, Guo Shouzhong raised his eyes and saw Jiang Xiao and Lu De.
Guo Shouzhong was also a wealthy man. Although he had the idea of killing the donkey, after meeting Jiang Xiao and Lu De, he remained calm on the surface, with the same serious and gloomy look as before.
As if it was business, he just asked straight to the point: "Jiang Xiao, I need you to give me an explanation!"
Hearing Guo Shouzhong's question, Jiang Xiao couldn't help but frown.
Because the gates of Nanjing City were sealed to prevent the influx of refugees after the flood, Jiang Xiao had not received the news at this time and did not know that the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers were fighting in public with Nanyang pirates in Nanjing City.
Therefore, Jiang Xiao immediately asked: "What happened? What explanation does Mr. Guo want?"
Guo Shouzhong snorted, and immediately told Jiang Xiao about the exposure of the "Chaofeng" dead soldier in Nanjing City, and then asked sternly again: "Jiang Xiao, I need you to give me an explanation! Give one to His Highness the Seventh Prince.
Explain! Why did you disobey His Highness the Seventh Prince's order and let the 'Chaofeng' soldiers return to Nanjing City early? After they returned to Nanjing City, what force did they fight with?"
Under Guo Shouzhong's questioning again, Jiang Xiao took a serious look at Guo Shouzhong, his brows became tighter and his expression became more sinister, but he did not immediately answer Guo Shouzhong's question.
Seeing that Jiang Xiao was silent, Guo Shouzhong stepped forward, narrowed the distance between himself and Jiang Xiao, stared at Jiang Xiao closely, and his voice became colder and harsher: "Jiang Xiao, answer my question immediately! Don't force me to use it.
Extraordinary means... If you have a reasonable explanation, I can still intercede for you in front of His Highness, otherwise..."
However, before Guo Shouzhong could finish speaking, a short knife was thrust into Guo Shouzhong's chest without any warning.
"Ho ho..."
Guo Shouzhong first looked down at the short blade that was embedded in his chest in disbelief, and then looked up at the expressionless Jiang Xiao. He seemed to want to say something, but blood kept pouring into his throat, and he couldn't speak at all. Soon,
Collapsed to the ground.
Jiang Xiao, on the other hand, looked coldly at the dying Guo Shouzhong at his feet, and finally answered Guo Shouzhong's question.
"Explanation? Of course I have a reasonable explanation! That is, even if someone like me does all kinds of evil, living in this world... there are still a few principles that need to be adhered to..."