At the same time, Song Jicheng's secret letter had been sent to Dongyuan and handed over to Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren for review.
In a study room in the East Garden, after reading the contents of the secret letter, both Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren were shocked.
"Huo Zhengyuan has actually betrayed Zhao Junchen and become His Majesty's internal agent? This, this... no wonder his recent decisions are so confusing! If it is explained this way, it makes sense!"
As he spoke, Song Chengren's expression was particularly serious.
If Huo Zhengyuan has surrendered to Emperor Deqing, it means that the "Zhou Party" will be under great pressure. Not only must they deal with the seventh prince Zhu Hejian and the Nanjing garrison eunuch, but they must also guard against a sudden backstab by the "Zhao Party" forces in Nanjing.
.
On the other side, after Zhou Shangjing continued to drink oil and detoxify in the past few days, his abdominal pain symptoms have been relieved, but his mental state has become increasingly depressed. At this time, he also steeled himself, thought carefully, and finally shook his head slowly and said: "
I always feel that... something is wrong! If His Majesty really wants to use Huo Zhengyuan to split the 'Zhao Party', with Zhao Junchen's resourcefulness and means, he should not be unwary and unprepared!"
After saying that, Zhou Shangjing's gray eyebrows wrinkled tighter and tighter, feeling a bit in a dilemma.
He was no less afraid of Zhao Junchen than Zhu Hejian. If Emperor Deqing wanted to use Huo Zhengyuan to weaken the "Zhao Party" and split the "Zhao Party", Zhou Shangjing would naturally be happy to see it happen, and would even help secretly.
But now is not the right time, because Zhou Shangjing is focusing on dealing with Zhu Hejian. If he supports Huo Zhengyuan and boosts Huo Zhengyuan's momentum, then if Huo Zhengyuan turns to support Zhu Hejian because of Emperor Deqing's will, it will mean that Zhou Shangjing
Causing trouble to yourself.
"However... no matter whether this information from Jicheng is true or false, after the changes in the situation in Nanjing are settled, I can indeed secretly support Huo Zhengyuan and promote and accelerate the split of the 'Zhao Party'..."
After muttering to himself, Zhou Shangjing turned to look at Song Chengren and ordered: "No matter what, just in case, we still have to strengthen our precautions against Huo Zhengyuan. We can no longer place our hope in him. 'The mountain will fall, but it depends on everyone.'"
We can run', but when it comes to the real decisive moment, we still have to rely on our own people!
So from now on, we should no longer exchange information with Huo Zhengyuan, and no longer expect Huo Zhengyuan to support us. Our top priority is to find the dead soldiers hiding in Nanjing as soon as possible and prove their relationship with the Seventh Prince.
, then we will win this game! As for other variables, they are not things that should be considered now."
Having said this, Zhou Shangjing asked again: "How is the progress of the search?"
Song Chengren was full of confidence, nodded and replied: "The progress is pretty good. Taking advantage of today's chaos in Nanjing, I have deployed all my manpower, and in cooperation with the Nanjing officers and soldiers and the tens of thousands of grain gangs in Nanjing city, we are investigating those one by one.
Currently, one-third of the places where the dead soldiers may be hiding have been investigated. By tomorrow evening at the latest, all suspicious locations will be investigated, and we will definitely be able to force the dead soldiers to show up and flee!"
In fact, the chaos in Nanjing was ostensibly caused by Huo Zhengyuan driving the "United Shipping Company" to take the lead in causing trouble. However, the reason why the chaos became as big as it is today is also because Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren were hiding behind the scenes and adding fuel to the flames.
Zhou Shangjing has this ability, he can seize every opportunity and turn bad things into good things.
At the beginning, Zhou Shangjing was unwilling to see the situation in Nanjing become further chaotic, and had been trying his best to persuade Huo Zhengyuan not to use the "United Shipping Company" to cause trouble.
But when he discovered that Huo Zhengyuan completely refused to listen to the advice and insisted on making the situation in Nanjing chaotic, he simply followed the trend and not only did not try his best to stop it, but secretly told all parties who were attached to the "Zhou Party" to participate in it.
To this day, when the "United Shipping Company" calls on merchants to go on strike, river workers to go on strike, and students to go on strike, the servants of the major gentry families, or the grain gangs who are attached to the water transportation yamen, all respond actively to the call.
, not only took the initiative to go on strike, but also went to the streets to protest and confront the Nanjing government and soldiers, which is why the chaotic situation in Nanjing has become as big as it is today.
But in fact, the gathering of these gentry servants and grain gang members to protest was just a disguise. They all gathered in various hiding places in Nanjing and took the opportunity to break into various houses and shops.
He also led the Nanjing officers and soldiers there. Not only did he carefully inspect these places, he also led the Nanjing officers and soldiers to inspect them again.
In this way, we can naturally quickly find the hiding place of those dead soldiers, squeeze the space of these dead soldiers, forcing these dead soldiers to eventually expose their traces, show up and flee, and even make the seventh prince Zhu Hejian mistakenly believe that
Such a chaotic situation is beneficial to you, and you will lose your vigilance.
After telling Zhou Shangjing the progress of the search in detail, Song Chengren hesitated for a moment and then asked: "There is one more thing! It is the group of desperadoes who fought with the seventh prince's soldiers yesterday evening. Judging from all aspects of intelligence,
They are most likely related to Huo Zhengyuan, but it is still unclear the specific identity and true intentions of this group of desperadoes... Should we take the opportunity to find out this group of desperadoes? If expected, this group of desperadoes will
He is probably being protected by Huo Zhengyuan now."
The group of desperadoes that Song Chengren was talking about were naturally referring to the Nanyang pirates under Hu Xiao.
If he had not received information from Song Jicheng, Zhou Shangjing would definitely agree to Song Chengren's suggestion and take the opportunity to investigate the true relationship between Huo Zhengyuan and the group of desperadoes.
But now, because of Song Jicheng's information, Zhou Shangjing was a little unclear about Huo Zhengyuan's true background, and had no idea how deep Huo Zhengyuan's matter was.
So, after Zhou Shangjing thought for a moment, he shook his head and said: "We are currently in troubled times. Our top priority is to deal with the seventh prince, so it is better to do less than to do more. Don't alarm the snake for the time being. Just send someone to monitor Huo Zhengyuan closely. First, catch the seventh prince.
Let’s talk about the evidence of the prince’s crime of secretly raising dead soldiers.”
"Understood……"
After Song Chengren nodded in agreement, he was about to continue saying something when he suddenly heard the sound of reporting coming from outside the study door.
"Sir, the Chief Assistant, the old man, the people from the Liang Gang are asking for an urgent meeting, saying that they have important news that they want to report to you two."
After hearing this, both Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren were shocked!
Could it be said that the people from the Liang Gang have discovered the hiding place of the dead soldiers under the command of the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian?
Song Chengren immediately raised his voice and ordered: "Let him come and see you immediately!"
A moment later, a middle-aged man with dark skin and capable manners quickly walked into the Dongyuan study room.
This middle-aged man is named Li Bao, and he is the person in charge of the Liang Gang in Nanjing.
The so-called "Liang Gang" is the famous Cao Gang in later generations. Now it has begun to take shape. In Nanjing alone, there are tens of thousands of gang members. As the top leader of the Liang Gang in Nanjing, Li Bao also
He is a very important figure, and sometimes his words are even more useful than those of the government.
But compared to Zhou Shangjing, the chief minister of the dynasty, and Song Chengren, the head of the Song family, Li Bao can only be regarded as an insignificant little mouse.
Therefore, after meeting Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren, Li Bao was extremely humble. He was even frightened and flattered by Zhou and Song's personal visit.
After stepping into the Dongyuan study room, Li Bao did not dare to raise his head at all. He quickly knelt down and saluted: "Little citizen Li Bao, please pay homage to Zhou Shoufu and Mr. Song!"
Song Chengren raised his hand and said: "Get up and speak! You said there is important news that needs to be reported immediately. What exactly is it?"
Li Bao quickly replied: "Returning to the old man, just half an hour ago, a middle-aged man of unknown origin suddenly found the Liang Gang and came into contact with a leader of the Liang Gang. Who would have thought... that he had contact with the leader of the Liang Gang?
After contacting Liang Gang, he actually revealed a key piece of news to Liang Gang!
According to this middle-aged man, late at night the day before yesterday, he witnessed with his own eyes a group of mysterious people digging up dams, causing floods! And because he has traveled around the world all year round, he is well-informed and has a lot of experience.
The identity of the leader of the mysterious group of people has been revealed! According to him, this person is clearly the third among the 'Eight Owls in the World' back then, Jiang Xiao!"
After saying that, Li Bao took out a portrait from his arms, held it to Song Chengren with both hands, and continued: "This portrait was also given to the Liang Gang by the middle-aged man, who said it was a portrait of Jiang Xiao! He said that he
He had an old enmity with Jiang Xiao. When he witnessed Jiang Xiao leading his men to dig out the dam, his whereabouts and identity were also discovered by Jiang Xiao. Now he is being pursued by Jiang Xiao with all his strength!
He also said that Jiang Xiao and he had a deep hatred and could be said to be sworn enemies, so Jiang Xiao would definitely pursue him at all costs, so he chose to contact the Liang Gang because he wanted to seek help from the Liang Gang.
shelter."
The "Eight Owls" were notorious back then. Even Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren had heard of the bad reputation of this group of gangsters, and they were all shocked when they heard about it!
Moreover, as far as Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren knew, after the "Eight Owls" were hunted down by the government, only a man named Hu Xiao managed to escape. The other seven owl had long been captured and executed, so this Jiang Xiao should have been dead long ago.
, and now it is learned that Jiang Xiao not only survived secretly, but also participated in digging up the dam and submerging the imperial village, naturally he is even more shocked.
Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren had long believed that the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian was the mastermind behind the demolition of the embankment and the flooding of the Imperial Manor, so after receiving such news, they immediately thought of more things.
Basically, Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren also thought of all the situations that Huo Zhengyuan had thought of before, and they couldn't help but feel surprised and happy.
Not only were they shocked by the boldness and early planning of the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian, but they were also surprised that after harvesting this information, they had greater confidence that they could kill all the dead soldiers under the command of the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian.
Song Chengren took a closer look at the portrait in his hand, then raised his head and asked: "Where is the middle-aged man who came into contact with you right now? Is he already under your control?"
Li Bao looked a little embarrassed and lowered his head and said, "Please forgive me, Mr. Song. That man disappeared without a trace very quickly after he came into contact with the Grain Gang. After I received the news, it was too late to control him.
I can only come to Dongyuan first to report the news to you two."
After hearing this, Zhou Shangjing, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke up and said slowly: "It seems that the person seeking asylum from the Liang Gang is a lie, and the information he conveyed to me through the Liang Gang is true!
Moreover, this information is so surprising that it does not seem to have been forged! Since the person who reported the information has determined that Jiang Xiao will pursue him with all his strength, it means that Jiang Xiao may soon sneak back into Nanjing secretly.
It also needs to be arranged in advance, it’s best to catch them all in one fell swoop! Li Bao, please immediately pass this portrait to the Liang Gang so that everyone will pay attention to Jiang Xiao’s whereabouts!”
Li Bao quickly agreed, and seeing that Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren had no further instructions, he quickly said goodbye and left.
After Li Bao left the study, Zhou Shangjing turned his eyes to Song Chengren again and said leisurely: "The situation in Nanjing is not only becoming more complicated, but also more interesting! Maybe... we will find unexpected gains soon!"
*
The person who passed information to Zhou Shangjing through the Lianggang channel was Hu Xiao, who betrayed Jiang Xiao back then.
At this moment, not only is Jiang Xiao trying to kill Hu Xiao at all costs, but Hu Xiao is also trying to kill Jiang Xiao at all costs!
That's why Hu Xiao completely obeyed Huo Zhengyuan's instructions, took risks, contacted the Liang Gang, and passed on key information to Zhou Shangjing.
Hu Xiao was a slippery and alert person. After contacting the Liang Gang, he immediately left, without allowing the Liang Gang people to find an opportunity to control him.
After he escaped and left, he quickly confirmed that he was not being followed, and quickly and secretly returned to Huo Zhengyuan's temporary residence in Nanjing.
Huo Zhengyuan's temporary residence was being secretly monitored by various forces, but with Hu Xiao's ability, he still did not attract anyone's attention when he came in and out.
When Hu Xiao climbed over the wall and returned to Huo Zhengyuan's temporary residence, he immediately saw a strange scene.
In the main hall of the courtyard, Huo Zhengyuan was standing with his hands behind his hands, shaking his head and sighing, his expression full of righteousness and compassion.
At Huo Zhengyuan's feet, there were more than a dozen excited young men and women kneeling and worshiping.
Then, Hu Xiao heard the excited questions from these young men and women.
"Master Huo, are you really willing to uphold justice for us and help us get rid of our humble status?"
"If Academician Huo is willing to help us escape our lowly status, then the more than 20 men in my He family will definitely go through fire and water for you, no matter what!"
"Thank you so much, Academician Huo, for your mercy! From now on, I will entrust you with all my life and fortune!"
Seeing such a scene, Hu Xiao was slightly startled at first, and then shook his head slightly in disapproval.
Obviously, the group of young men and women who are kneeling down to worship Huo Zhengyuan excitedly at this moment are the lowly people Huo Zhengyuan found from the Nanjing Ministry of Rites.
In recent years, Nanjing's officialdom has been repeatedly rectified and purged. A large number of Nanjing officials have been affected and have been deprived of their posts and convicted by the court. Among them, those Nanjing officials with more serious crimes have implicated the entire family, and a large number of clan members have been demoted to pariah status by the court.
According to Huo Zhengyuan's thinking, these relatives of criminals who have just been reduced to low status have not yet completely lost their minds. They must be trying their best to get rid of their low status. As long as Huo Zhengyuan promises to help them escape from low status, they will definitely compete.
Work hard.
And as the saying goes, "the poor in literature and the rich in martial arts", these people all have extraordinary backgrounds. Many of them have practiced martial arts and have certain combat capabilities. When they have the courage to fight for their lives, they may be able to produce amazing results.
All in all, Huo Zhengyuan wanted to drive these lowly people to deal with the dead soldiers under the command of the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian.
However, Hu Xiao has never been optimistic about Huo Zhengyuan's idea.
After all, these untouchables are not only untouchables now, but they were just a group of pampered young ladies in the past. How much role can they play?
Anyway, Hu Xiao believed that Huo Zhengyuan's approach was a waste of effort.