In the "Yaohai Pavilion", a quarrelsome conversation was going on.
But both parties in the conversation were unaware of it.
After all, whether it is the seventh prince Zhu Hejian or the great scholar Huo Zhengyuan, they are both high-ranking nobles. However, the two young men, Song Jicheng and Lu De, know that they do not have enough weight, so naturally they do not dare to criticize them publicly, so they have to incarnate themselves as
The Riddler refers to Zhu Hejian and Huo Zhengyuan as the "people behind the scenes", and he also believes that the person he is talking to is a very smart person, who must be able to understand his deep meaning.
So, a misunderstanding was born.
*
"I don't think the person behind the scenes wants to fish in troubled waters and take advantage of the opportunity to do anything!" Lu De shook his head and said: "Maybe it's just that the enemy forces pushed people too hard and he just had no choice but to fight back."
What Lu De meant by this was that the reason why the seventh prince Zhu Hejian wanted to drive the "United Shipping Company" to disrupt the situation in Nanjing was all because of the deliberate targeting of Zhou Shangjing, Song Chengren and others.
After Song Jicheng heard this, he thought of the recent experience of the academician Huo Zhengyuan. He was obviously deliberately targeted, plotted and warned, and his followers were also killed and injured in many accidents. He said that he was forced by others and had no choice but to fight back and kill him.
That's right.
Therefore, Song Jicheng first nodded lightly, then shook his head and said: "The recent situation of the man behind the scenes is indeed a bit embarrassing, but this reaction is too drastic! Moreover, his temperament has changed drastically recently, and he is no longer as cautious as before.
, on the contrary, he has shown great ambition. Now he is deliberately disrupting the situation in Nanjing. He definitely has big intentions. It cannot be just to protect himself. Brother Lu must not despise him or trust him...perhaps, in his follow-up plan
In this process, both you and I will be exploited."
Song Jicheng was clearly talking about the recent change in temperament of the academician Huo Zhengyuan, but after hearing this, Lu De still didn't notice anything wrong, because the seventh prince Zhu Hejian also changed his temper before and after arriving in Nanjing, and he was not as humble and respectful as before.
, instead, he gradually showed his courage and edge.
Therefore, Song Jicheng still thought that Lu De was talking about the great scholar Huo Zhengyuan, and Lu De also still thought that Song Jicheng was talking about the seventh prince Zhu Hejian. These two talented and quick-witted young people were not aware of the misunderstanding.
As a result, the conversation went further and further off track.
Lu De shook his head again and defended Zhu Hejian, saying: "Brother Song seems to think that the man behind the scenes is respectful and arrogant, so he is prejudiced against him and secretly guarded against him, but I still have different ideas! Of course.
When a person is about to step from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, he must change his mentality and behavior!
This man behind the scenes was just an insignificant shadow in the past, so he naturally had to be careful about his duties, but now he is about to take over the power, and he will definitely attract everyone's attention in the future, so he should show his courage and sharpness, otherwise how can he do it?
To replace him and make people follow him with peace of mind? Therefore, his change of temperament is not that he was respectful in the past and arrogant in the past, but the meaning of the question after the situation changed."
"You said...replace it?!"
Hearing this word, Song Jicheng was immediately shocked!
Lu De was still talking about the seventh prince Zhu Hejian. The so-called "replacement" naturally refers to the abolition of the crown prince.
Song Jicheng still thought that Lu De was talking about Huo Zhengyuan. After all, Huo Zhengyuan used to be a shadow of Zhao Junchen. Now that he has served as the patrol envoy to the southeast, he is also about to take charge of the ocean power, and will inevitably attract the attention of the public in the future.
But... "replace"? Who does Huo Zhengyuan want to replace?
With Huo Zhengyuan's status, if he wants to replace him, there is only one goal, and that is - Zhao Junchen!
Could it be said that Huo Zhengyuan actually has ambitions to replace Zhao Junchen, to become the new leader of the "Zhao Party", or even to turn the "Zhao Party" into the "Huo Party"?
Then, Song Jicheng couldn't help but recall Zhou Shangjing's evaluation of Huo Zhengyuan.
According to Zhou Shangjing, the key to the so-called art of controlling subordinates is to properly handle the relationship between yourself and the smart people under your command!
For those in power, smart people under their subordinates can have independent opinions and hold real power, but they must keep this smart person by their side and not let them escape control for a long time; they can also let smart people under their subordinates hold real power and hold real power for a long time.
Stay away from yourself, but this smart person must not have too many opinions; if a smart person is not only extremely opinionated, but also must stay away from his own control for a long time, then he must not be entrusted with important responsibilities and let him take charge alone...
All in all, you cannot let a wise man who is responsible, independent, and powerful stay away from you for a long time!
After Huo Zhengyuan served as the Southeast Tour Envoy, he stayed in the southeastern provinces for a long time, taking charge of the ocean power. He was thousands of miles away from Zhao Junchen, and communication was inconvenient. In addition, Huo Zhengyuan has gradually gained courage and independence recently, so he will definitely gradually break away from Zhao Junchen in the future.
direct control, creating a situation where the tail is too big to lose.
However, according to Zhou Shangjing's speculation, even if Huo Zhengyuan gradually breaks away from Zhao Junchen's direct control in the future, it will definitely take several years of brewing and fermentation.
But at this time, listening to Lu De's words, it seems that Huo Zhengyuan has long been eager to get out of Zhao Junchen's control, and even has the ambition to replace him!
Huo Zhengyuan actually has such ambitions? Why does Lu De know Huo Zhengyuan's true thoughts so well?
So Song Jicheng quickly asked: "Why does Brother Lu think that the person behind the scenes wants to replace him? Has he ever confessed such ambition to you personally?"
Hearing Song Jicheng's urgent question, Lu De couldn't help but be slightly startled.
The abolition of the crown prince has long been a secret known to everyone. Why did Song Jicheng deliberately confirm the thoughts of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian?
While feeling surprised, Lu De finally realized that something was not quite right about his conversation with Song Jicheng.
But I couldn't tell what was wrong.
In the end, out of caution, Lu De said with reservations: "I did have a deep conversation with the person behind the scenes about this matter, and he also confided his feelings to me at the time... In fact, the person behind the scenes also missed the old relationship.
If a person had a choice, of course he would not want to take his place! But unfortunately, this is what His Majesty wants now, and he can only accept it helplessly!"
What does Emperor Deqing mean?
Song Jicheng's expression changed slightly, and at the same time his brain was racing, and he finally thought he had figured out the truth of the matter.
No wonder Emperor Deqing was willing to let Huo Zhengyuan, who was born in the "Zhao Party", serve as the southeast patrol envoy and hand over all the major powers of ocean trade to Zhao Junchen. This was completely inconsistent with Emperor Deqing's consistent practice of repeatedly suppressing Zhao Junchen's expansion of power.
In fact, Emperor Deqing was willing to hand over the ocean power to Zhao Junchen in order to seek immortals and saints and pursue the art of immortality. However, this secret was only known to a few people including Emperor Deqing, Zhao Junchen, Huo Zhengyuan, and even Zhou Shangjing was
Being kept in the dark, Song Jicheng certainly didn't know the truth.
But at this moment, because of Lu De's unintentional misleading, Song Jicheng found a reasonable reason for Emperor Deqing's behavior!
It turns out that Emperor Deqing also understood the art of imperial control: "You cannot let a wise man who is responsible, independent, and powerful stay away from him for a long time." That's why he took the initiative to arrange for Huo Zhengyuan to serve as a patrol envoy to the southeast, taking charge of the power of ocean trade and staying away from him.
Zhao Junchen's direct control was to take the opportunity to split the "Zhao Party" forces and let Huo Zhengyuan compete with Zhao Junchen, or even replace him!
This method indeed seems to be Emperor Deqing’s usual tactic!
Therefore, it is no wonder that Huo Zhengyuan has the courage to replace Zhao Junchen. He has shown great courage recently. It turns out that he has the support of Emperor Deqing!
As a smart person, after Song Jicheng thought of this, he immediately thought of more and more important things!
If the arrangement for Huo Zhengyuan to serve as the Southeast Patrol Envoy was because Emperor Deqing wanted to take the opportunity to split the "Zhao Party", does that mean that Huo Zhengyuan's real backer was not Zhao Junchen, but Emperor Deqing?
If Huo Zhengyuan's real backer is actually Emperor Deqing, does that mean that while Huo Zhengyuan was in Nanjing, he ostensibly followed Zhao Junchen's orders and cooperated with Zhou Shangjing to deal with the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, but he was actually one of Emperor Deqing's
The chess pieces will only follow the will of Emperor Deqing?
It's no wonder that Huo Zhengyuan has been always defying Zhou Shangjing's plan to suppress the seventh prince Zhu Hejian recently. That's it!
The reason why Lu De deliberately revealed such secrets to him is not surprising considering that he is actually the secret disciple of the former crown prince and grand master He Ming.
Although Lu De did not want the seventh prince Zhu Hejian to fall into trouble early in the chaos in Nanjing, he also did not want Zhou Shangjing to lose everything in the chaos in Nanjing, otherwise he would find a better opportunity to backstab the seventh prince Zhu Hejian in the future.
In fact, there was a lack of strong foreign aid, so he took the opportunity to hint at Huo Zhengyuan's true position, that is, he did not want Zhou Shangjing to collapse and lose power due to Huo Zhengyuan's sudden betrayal at a critical moment!
After realizing that his logic was smooth, Song Jicheng still did not notice anything inappropriate in this conversation. Instead, he nodded gratefully to Lu De. He only felt that this conversation had benefited both the "Zhou Party" and the Song family a lot, and he also wanted to
Keep asking.
But Lu De had already vaguely noticed something was wrong with this conversation, but he didn't know what was wrong. He just felt that he seemed to have made a mistake in a key link, and by the way, he also brought Song Jicheng into the ditch.
Therefore, Lu De didn't care about taking the opportunity to test Song Jicheng, and just wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible.
At this time, outside the "Yaohai Pavilion", the Nanjing defenders responsible for suppressing the chaos in the city finally lost their patience and began to arrest the people who gathered to make trouble.
Just as Song Jicheng said, the "United Shipping Company" did not want to make things worse. When faced with the arrests of the officers and soldiers, they were all arrested without resistance or panic.
As the saying goes, "the law does not punish the public," the scale of chaos in Nanjing today is extremely large. Thousands of people have been arrested for causing trouble in various places in the city. Coupled with the influence of the "United Shipping Company" and the influence of those behind the scenes,
Operation and Protection, as well as the Nanjing government, also do not want to make things worse and affect their future, so even if the troublemakers are temporarily arrested, they will be released soon.
Therefore, the confrontation between the military and civilians outside "Yaohai Pavilion" was finally settled.
After seeing this situation, Lu De was worried that he would make mistakes if he said too much, so he quickly stood up and left, unwilling to talk to Song Jicheng again.
When Song Jicheng saw that Lu De was determined to leave, he couldn't force him to stay, so he personally sent Lu De to the downstairs of "Yao Hai Pavilion".
After watching Lu De leave in a hurry, Song Jicheng thought that he had gained a crucial secret truth, so naturally he did not dare to neglect it. He immediately sent for pens, ink, paper and inkstones to write down the conversation between him and Lu De in detail.
In a secret message.
Later, Song Jicheng called his chief attendant Song Shun and solemnly explained: "Immediately give this secret letter to Zhou Shoufu and my grandfather for review. There must be no delay!"
*
But he said that after Lu De left "Yaohai Pavilion", he hurried to Zhanyuan.
Along the way, Lu De still witnessed many confrontations between Nanjing officers and soldiers and the protesting people in the city. Fortunately, he was not blocked again and delayed his time. He successfully arrived at Zhanyuan and was immediately summoned by the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian.
Later, Lu De told Zhu Hejian in detail about his various experiences during this period in a study room in Zhanyuan, but the content was incomplete and half-truths.
Lu De first concealed the fact that Jiang Xiao had fallen into paranoia and madness at this time and wanted to pursue Hu Xiao at any cost; he also reasonably explained that Jiang Xiao disobeyed orders and sent a team of "Chaofeng" dead soldiers to return early.
Regarding what happened in Nanjing, it was said that Jiang Xiao discovered that Huo Zhengyuan's staff was acting sneakily and wanted to investigate in detail just in case. Finally, it was said that he cooperated with Jiang Xiao to kill the two prince guards, Guo Shouzhong and Lu Tong.
In order to completely cover up the matter of Zhu Hejian secretly raising dead soldiers.
After talking about his "real experience" in the past few days, Lu De did not wait for Zhu Hejian to think carefully, and began to accuse angrily, saying loudly: "Your Highness, the Seventh Prince, the student's decision to serve you is definitely out of sincerity.
Your future, destiny, wealth and life all depend on you. You should understand the sincerity of your students!
As for that Jiang Xiao, he just doubted the loyalty of the students, and he also forced the students to kill Guo Shouzhong and Lu Tong with their own hands! He said that only by killing them personally can the students submit a letter of surrender and prove that they are loyal to His Highness.
His loyalty is unparalleled..."
Speaking of this, Lu De seemed to have lost his usual calmness and almost lost control of his emotions. He gritted his teeth and said: "The student is an innocent scholar. He has never killed a chicken before, but Jiang Xiao actually forced the student to kill a chicken.
Killing two people, if the student doesn't take action, depending on what he wants, the student himself will also lose his life! How can the student tolerate such a shame and humiliation!?
Although the student does not want to embarrass His Highness, and knows that Jiang Xiao is His Highness's confidant, if His Highness cannot severely punish Jiang Xiao and give the student an explanation, then he hopes that His Highness will forgive the student's willfulness. From now on, if there are still things that need the student
If you cooperate with Jiang Xiao, all students will not accept your orders!"
After saying this, Lu De ignored his dignity and raised his head to look at Zhu Hejian. It seemed that he and Jiang Xiao were in conflict with each other and were at odds with each other.
According to Lu De, he killed Guo Shouzhong and Lu Tong with his own hands, all because of Jiang Xiao's coercion. Looking at Lu De's sluggish look, it was obvious that he was very frightened because of the murder he had committed. Last night he was completely
He couldn't sleep and had countless nightmares. No wonder Lu De hated Jiang Xiao so much.
Naturally, Zhu Hejian would not completely believe Lu De's explanation.
But seeing Lu De losing control of his emotions at this time, and thinking that Lu De would be of great use to him in the future, Zhu Hejian thought that he should give priority to appeasing Lu De, and immediately made a solemn promise to Lu De: "Master Lu, please calm down, and I will do the same."
I didn’t expect Jiang Xiao to dare to be so offensive to you, but don’t worry, after the situation in Nanjing comes to an end, I will definitely punish Jiang Xiao severely and I will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation!”
As soon as Zhu Hejian finished speaking, Jia Lun, the eunuch standing behind him, also cooperated tacitly. He quickly changed the topic to business matters and asked with a cold face: "So, Guo Shouzhong and Lu Tong are both
Dead? Jiang Xiao said that the two of them leaked their whereabouts after leaving the city, what happened? "
Lu De calmed down a little, shook his head and said: "I don't know either! But after Guard Guo saw Jiang Xiao, he said that he vaguely felt that he was being followed after leaving the city, but he never found the pursuer. It should be just him.
He thought too much, but after hearing this, Jiang Xiao's face became even colder, and he asked for many details, and then suddenly took control of Guard Guo and forced the students to kill Guard Guo himself. He said that Guo Shouzhong was a fool and it would be useless to be tracked.
If you are not alert, you must eliminate hidden dangers...
In fact, Jiang Xiao never had any conclusive evidence to prove that the two guards Guo and Lu were being tracked, but he killed them just based on a trace of suspicion in his heart, and even forced his students to do it!
As far as the students know, those two guards were both His Highness's confidants, and they were killed by Jiang Xiao so casually. This person is absolutely daring and will become a disaster sooner or later! Your Highness, with all due respect to the students, you will soon be the Crown Prince.
As the Crown Prince, we must not keep such a person by our side!"
After hearing Lu De's detailed explanation, Zhu Hejian and Jia Lun looked at each other and nodded lightly.
If Guo Shouzhong and Lu Tong were still unwary despite being tracked, they deserved to die! It was also completely in line with Jiang Xiao's usual ruthless and decisive style of acting without leaving any hidden dangers.
In fact, if Zhu Hejian and Jia Lun were present, they would also support Jiang Xiao's approach. It is indeed a pity to lose the two close guards, Guo Shouzhong and Lu Tong, but if these two guards would make the enemy
When the forces discovered that Zhu Hejian had secretly cultivated dead soldiers, even if it was only an unverified possibility, they had no choice but to sacrifice the two of them.
At the same time, although Zhu Hejian and Jia Lun were both thoughtful and suspicious people, they did not know that Jiang Xiao had now discovered Hu Xiao's whereabouts, and they could not imagine their obsession with pursuing and revenge.
Lu De and Jiang Xiao, two people with completely different backgrounds, experiences, temperaments, etc., will form an alliance in a short period of time.
Seeing that Lu De wanted to encourage Zhu Hejian to severely punish Jiang Xiao and even abandon Jiang Xiao whenever he found an opportunity, he obviously hated Jiang Xiao very much and was unlikely to conspire with Jiang Xiao to cover up the truth. So in the hearts of Zhu Hejian and Jia Lun
Suspicion has been reduced to a minimum.
In short, although they do not completely believe Lu De's words, they will only follow the usual practice and verify it a little afterwards, and will not fully investigate all the details.
What's more, under Lu De's design, Zhu Hejian and Jia Lun were like those "chao Feng" dead soldiers, completely diverting their attention. At this time, they only focused on the possibility that Guo Shouzhong and Lu Tong might be killed.
things to track.
So, after Zhu Hejian pondered for a moment, he asked Lu De in detail about the details of the overnight transfer of the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers led by Jiang Xiao. After discovering that Jiang Xiao had not committed any mistakes, he finally nodded with satisfaction and said: "Fortunately, Jiang Xiao is so smart.
Be careful and don't let anyone follow their whereabouts further! However, if someone really secretly tracked Guo Shouzhong and Lu Tong last night, they may have noticed the connection between Mr. Lu and the 'Chaofeng' dead man! So,
Just in case, I have asked Mr. Lu to stay in Zhanyuan temporarily for the next few days. Under my protection, no one will dare to trace you."
Lu De couldn't help frowning and seemed a little reluctant, but he reluctantly nodded in agreement.
Jia Lun suddenly asked: "But now in Nanjing City, there is still a group of 'Chaofeng' dead soldiers whose whereabouts have been exposed and are being hunted by the government. How should we deal with it?"
Lu De shook his head and explained: "By the way, Jiang Xiao also mentioned this matter! He said that he would secretly sneak back into Nanjing as soon as possible after ensuring that no one would track him, and find a way to solve this trouble! Now in the presence of His Highness the Seventh Prince
Driven by this, the 'United Shipping Company' is actively causing trouble, and the city of Nanjing has fallen into chaos. Although Jiang Xiao is a hidden danger, he does have some agility and means, and he should be able to take advantage of this opportunity to get the matter done!"
After hearing this, Zhu Hejian nodded first, showing his trust in Jiang Xiao's methods, but then shook his head and explained: "Master Lu misunderstood. The person behind the scenes who drove the United Shipping Company to cause trouble was not me, but the person who caused the trouble."
Academician Huo Zhengyuan! Although I don’t know why he did what he did, such chaos is indeed beneficial to us, and it is easier to cover up the traces of the group of 'Chao Feng' dead soldiers in the city, so we did not stop him.
, but secretly condoned his actions."
Lu De was stunned for a moment, and finally discovered what was wrong with the conversation between him and Song Jicheng. It seemed that he had made a big mistake because of his preconceived and wrong judgment.
Carefully recalling the content of his conversation with Song Jicheng, Lu De thought to himself: "This conversation should not cause any misunderstanding between Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren behind Song Jicheng, right?"