Hu Xiao did not trust these "low status" people who were once the descendants of officials.
That is to say, I don’t believe in their ability or their position.
Therefore, after returning to Huo Zhengyuan's temporary residence, Hu Xiao did not show up directly. Instead, he hid in a corner and watched Huo Zhengyuan's wonderful performance with cold eyes.
Huo Zhengyuan's expression was full of compassion. After hearing the excited shouts of the "low-class" people, he kept shaking his head and sighing, as if he was feeling sad.
Then, Huo Zhengyuan stepped forward and personally helped up the first young man, who had a facial injury and looked embarrassed. After taking a closer look, he asked: "You are Tang Cheng, the grandson of Tang Zhen, the former Shangshu of Nanjing's Ministry of Revenue, right?
Your grandfather and I were friends in the same ranking. He was the fourth in the second class, and I was the second in the first class. Such a close friendship... Alas! Old Tang was originally a loyal ally of the crown prince and grand master Wang Baoren.
In the end, you were ruthlessly betrayed by Wang Baoren and fell into a situation where your family was ruined. What a pity! And you, a promising official son, have become a humble servant now, how innocent you are!"
Later, Huo Zhengyuan helped up another young man next to Tang Cheng. After taking a closer look, he nodded slowly and said: "You are Ding Wenbo, the youngest son of Ding Qingming, the former minister of the Ministry of Punishment of Nanjing. I remember you too! Minister Ding and
I used to work in the Hanlin Academy, and I was often taken care of by him... I remember nineteen years ago, I attended your first birthday party and hugged you with my own hands!"
"And you, Meng Haoxuan, right?... I heard that you are the nephew of Meng Yushi, the former Nanjing Inspectorate. Although I have never met you before, when I and Meng Yushi were officials in Hubei, we were
We felt like old friends at first sight and had a great time chatting with each other. I regarded him as my best friend in life..."
Next, Huo Zhengyuan identified the origins of the young men and women in front of him one by one.
Huo Zhengyuan is extremely talented. He was already on the gold medal list in his early twenties. Although he is not yet old enough to know his destiny, he has been in the official career for nearly thirty years. In addition, he has a worldly and smooth personality, and he has never been able to compete with others.
He is an enemy from the front, so he is considered to be popular.
In this way, most of the prominent figures in the temple had friendships with Huo Zhengyuan. Even if there was no alliance of interests and close friendships, they had met and drank with Huo Zhengyuan.
The young men and women he summoned at this time were all descendants of some important figures in Nanjing's officialdom not long ago, so Huo Zhengyuan quickly developed a half-hearted relationship with them, and suddenly became their family friends and elders.
, quickly shortened the relationship, and also gave these young men and women who had been reduced to low status for a short time a lot of trust in Huo Zhengyuan.
In this way, after lifting everyone up with his own hands, Huo Zhengyuan shook his head and sighed: "Look at you, you were all young ladies from high families in the past, and you were all my old friends, but now you have all been reduced to low status. It's really shocking.
I can't bear it...
Well, speaking of it, you are also unlucky. Let me tell you the truth in private... Your father and grandfather did not make any big mistakes, but they just happened to be in the limelight of the imperial court's full efforts to clean up Nanjing's officialdom, so it doesn't matter on weekdays.
You must be dealt with severely and punished severely. In the past, the most you could do was to be dismissed from office, but now you have to suffer the consequences of having your home confiscated, reprimanded, and having your citizenship taken away from you!
Ever since I heard about your miserable situation, I have always wanted to help you and help you get rid of your lowly status. However, our government has strict laws and regulations. It is not easy to change your status and change your household registration. You must find a sufficient reason...
...And now, Emperor Tian has paid off and finally allowed me to find an excellent opportunity! As long as you seize this opportunity properly, let alone get rid of your lowly status, it is not impossible to restore your former status!"
After hearing what Huo Zhengyuan said, dozens of young men and women became even more emotional and expressed their firm attitude without any hesitation.
Among these young men and women, the first was Tang Zhen, the grandson of Tang Zhen, the former Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing. He was also the first to shout at this time. He glared and gritted his teeth and shouted in a low voice: "Master Huo, is there anything we need to do?"
, just give your orders! Again, even if we go through fire and water and lose our lives, we people will not hesitate!"
As Tang Cheng finished speaking, many lowly people behind him nodded excitedly and echoed loudly.
It was obvious that Tang Cheng was a smart man. He neither inquired in detail about the reasons for the matter, nor sought any commitment, nor did he take the opportunity to bargain. He just asked Huo Zhengyuan to directly explain the task.
Because Tang Cheng knew very well that they were no longer the sons of officials with delicate bodies and noble bodies, who were cheered and cheered by everyone, but people of low status who everyone could despise Zhui Chu. Huo Zhengyuan was their only hope of escaping from the low status.
, they had no room for bargaining in front of Huo Zhengyuan, so the only thing they could do was to try to please Huo Zhengyuan and hope that Huo Zhengyuan would keep his promise in the future.
Hearing Tang Cheng's statement, Huo Zhengyuan nodded with satisfaction and looked at Tang Cheng carefully again.
Since Tang Zhen was dismissed from office and his house was confiscated, Tang Chengcheng was reduced to a lowly status and became a "servant" in Nanjing, that is, a shared slave of Nanjing officials. If an official is temporarily short of servants at home, he can borrow them from the Nanjing Rites Yamen
He was a servant in the next life for a few days, so after Tang Cheng became a servant in the world, he was naturally in a very bad situation.
Before being reduced to a lowly status, Tang Chengcheng was a pure playboy. Relying on the power of his grandfather Tang Zhen, he was always domineering and had a shallow and ignorant personality. He offended many people, but those people were afraid of Tang Cheng's family background.
In the past, I dared not speak out when I was angry. Instead, I had to keep a smile on my face.
Under such circumstances, after Tang Cheng became a humble servant, one can imagine how miserable his situation was. His former enemies took the opportunity to retaliate, adding insult to injury and exacting revenge on him a hundred times a thousand times. If it weren't for Tang Cheng
There were also several beautiful sisters who became singing prostitutes and dancers and used their bodies to please some Nanjing officials and asked these Nanjing officials to occasionally protect them. Maybe Tang Cheng had been tortured to death by his former enemies.
But even so, Tang Cheng's situation is still extremely bad. He is only in his early twenties this year, and he has been reduced to a lowly status for only half a year. However, he is already stooped and skinny, his face is pale and shriveled, and the purple scar at the corner of his mouth is extremely eye-catching.
, obviously he was severely beaten again not long ago, and he can no longer find the glory and pride he once had.
However, there are advantages to such a bad situation, that is, Tang Cheng's playboy character has completely changed. Not only has he not completely collapsed, but he has become more tenacious, tolerant, and more... extreme and sinister.
Huo Zhengyuan could clearly feel that when Tang Cheng stood in front of him, although he looked humble and cautious on the surface, there was some intense emotion deep in his eyes, which seemed to be hatred, resentment, and ambition.
, is constantly brewing and stirring, which is faintly frightening.
After realizing this, Huo Zhengyuan nodded slightly and secretly thought in his heart: "No wonder... Tang Cheng, at such a young age, can become the leader of this group of lowly people!
I originally thought that he could become the leader just because his beautiful sisters were willing to be humble and please some officials in charge, so that he was secretly protected. But now it seems that the more important thing is because Tang Cheng is unwilling to accept his fate.
Because of this! Compared with the others who were despairing and gave up on themselves, this Tang Cheng felt like he had made a great breakthrough!
It's just... the resentment he vaguely revealed makes people a little uneasy..."
While he was thinking deeply, Huo Zhengyuan remained calm on the surface. He just patted Tang Cheng on the shoulder and said, "I was doing a private visit in Nanjing incognito during this period, and I accidentally discovered something shocking!
There is a ruthless gangster named Jiang Xiao. He should have been convicted and beheaded by the court many years ago, but for some reason he is still alive in the world. Now he is operating secretly in Nanjing. It seems that he has become a soldier secretly cultivated by a high-ranking court official!
Therefore, I now want to make a plan to capture this gangster, and then I can follow the clues to find out who is secretly raising dead soldiers, and what is his intention in secretly raising dead soldiers! After you are all officials, naturally
Understand the seriousness of such a crime!
I still don’t know who is secretly raising dead soldiers. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, I don’t dare to use any government power at will, and I can’t even recruit people publicly, so I thought of you! You are all cheap now, and there is no one else.
I am willing to take a high look at you, so that you can deal with those dead soldiers without arousing the other party's vigilance. After the incident is completed, I will also ask the court for your merits, so that you can receive rewards and completely break away from your humble status!"
After hearing Huo Zhengyuan's explanation, Tang Cheng and others were shocked.
But at the same time, they became increasingly passionate and eager to try.
Just as Huo Zhengyuan said, they all come from official families. They all understand the seriousness of the crime of secretly harboring death row prisoners and secretly raising dead prisoners. They also fully understand the high risks of such tasks. But because of this, as long as they
In the end, they completed the task assigned by Huo Zhengyuan and found out the truth of the case. The court would certainly not hesitate to reward them, and there was every chance that they would be freed from their lowly status and restored to their normal status as common people.
These people used to be pampered young ladies. In the past six months or so, they have been humiliated and tortured by their low status. It is like being in hell on earth. Therefore, as long as they have the opportunity to escape from their low status, they are willing to take any risks.
, pay any price!
Thinking of this, Tang Cheng was still the first to express his position. After taking a deep breath, he nodded firmly and emphasized again: "Whatever you want to do, Master Huo, just follow your orders! We people have lost everything.
, there is only one miserable life left, and this miserable life will be left to you to deal with from now on!"
Huo Zhengyuan nodded and asked: "I summoned you to meet today on the grounds of hosting a banquet to entertain guests, but in order to prevent alerting all parties, I only summoned more than 20 of you, without giving any details.
I want to inquire about your specific situation, so now I want to know, if you mobilize with all your strength, how many people can you summon at most?"
Tang Cheng thought carefully, then discussed in a low voice with Ding Wenbo and Meng Haoxuan beside him, and finally replied: "In the past year, Nanjing officialdom has been repeatedly purged by the court. More than thirty court officials have been arrested.
After being convicted of a serious crime, our relatives of the guilty subjects were also implicated and reduced to low status, totaling more than 700 people!
Among them, there were about 200 young and middle-aged men. However, after this period of humiliation and torture, many of them were tortured to death or died of illness and exhaustion. Many others chose to commit suicide because they could not bear the humiliation, but only
There are only 70 people left alive, so... although we have been hugging each other for warmth because of similar situations, and we are barely united, we can only gather 150 people at most, and these 150 people
Although everyone is willing to sacrifice their lives for you, among them, there are only forty or fifty people who have practiced martial arts..."
After hearing this, Huo Zhengyuan couldn't help but look disappointed and murmured: "According to my estimate, the opponent's death warrior organization has about two hundred people, and they are all skilled in martial arts and well-trained. They can be said to be powerful, so just relying on
With this kind of manpower, even if everyone dares to fight tooth and nail, I'm afraid they are no match at all..."
While muttering to himself, Huo Zhengyuan felt a little regretful, thinking that his plan was a bit taken for granted. The effect of these cheap people was far less than expected, and it was not enough to compete with the death warrior organization under the command of the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian.
Seeing the change in Huo Zhengyuan's expression, Tang Cheng panicked, fearing that he would miss this opportunity to change his fate, so his brain raced and he kept thinking about countermeasures.
After more than half a year of various trainings, Tang Cheng himself has indeed gained a lot of insight and wisdom.
Therefore, after thinking for a moment, Tang Cheng suddenly suggested: "Master Huo, if you want to recruit a group of people to work hard, but don't want to alert the snake, you don't have to limit yourself to us! The lowly people in Nanjing
There are about 10,000 untouchables. We are from wealthy families. We have been reduced to untouchable status for a short period of time. We have not completely accepted our fate. We are willing to risk our lives to escape from untouchable status. This must be why you are willing to reuse us, Mr. Huo.
The reason is, but the rest of the lowly people may not all be numb and resigned people!
Take the fishermen with the nine surnames as an example. They are all descendants of Chen Youliang and his supporters. After the Holy Ancestor took over the country, he demoted them to the status of low-class fishermen, allowing them to make a living fishing for generations, and levied heavy taxes on them.
, and are never allowed to go ashore, they can only settle down and live on fishing boats. They are not allowed to marry good people, nor can they take part in the imperial examinations. Such a fate is certainly tragic, but among the various low-class statuses, fishermen with nine surnames cannot go ashore.
They suffer relatively little humiliation. They can survive as long as they hide in fishing boats, so they also have the strength and courage to work hard, and they are all good at using harpoons and fishing nets...
There are also the craftsmen in Nanjing City. Although they are not among the lowly people, they are still in a bad situation, because the craftsmen and the lowly people are generally not allowed to leave the country for generations. They can only build various utensils for the court day and night but cannot receive compensation.
As long as they find an opportunity to leave the craftsmanship, they will dare to fight hard, especially those who are blacksmiths. They all have strong brute force, are good at using hammers, and can also provide us with some weapons..."
After hearing Tang Cheng's suggestion, Ding Wenbo's eyes lit up and he drew inferences: "There are also those Nanjing military households who have actually become serfs and servants of the Nanjing generals. They also have resentments.
, if Academician Huo is willing to promise to help them get rid of their status as military households, I will be sure to encourage some military households to work for you!"
Later, Meng Haoxuan on the other side said: "I hope University Scholar Huo knows that because my father's popularity was quite good when he was an official. There are several powerful officials in Nanjing who are my father's predecessors. Although the younger generation's family has declined and he has become a
After losing their status, these old friends immediately lost contact with the younger generation's family, but as long as Academician Huo can provide the younger generation with some money, the younger generation is still sure to persuade them to act secretly. Even if it cannot drive them to work hard, it can still provide intelligence and convenience...
…”
In this way, as Tang Cheng, Ding Wenbo, and Meng Haoxuan expressed their opinions one after another, all the lowly young men and women behind the three of them also showed positive expressions, made suggestions one after another, and tried their best to play their respective roles, for fear that Huo Zhengyuan would think that
They are useless.
"Yes! Yes! This junior also has several family friends in Nanjing City. Although the contact has been completely severed now, as long as the name of Academician Huo can be used, coupled with the junior's contact and persuasion, we can still secretly drive them to serve!"
"I hope that Academician Huo will know that before he was reduced to a lowly status, he often drank and had fun with several arresters from the Nanjing government. Those people were all snobs. Since the juniors were reduced to a lowly status, they have started to drink and have fun together.
It's just to add insult to injury, but they are all money-hungry people. As long as a few dozen taels of silver, the boy is sure to bribe them..."
"One of the hundreds of people in the Nanjing garrison is a distant relative and son-in-law of the junior family. Although he has been avoiding the junior family since the junior family became a lowly family, as long as he has the support of Academician Huo
, this junior will have full confidence in persuading him to cooperate..."
After hearing these people's suggestions, Huo Zhengyuan was stunned for a moment, and then fell into deep thought again.
Huo Zhengyuan suddenly realized that he seemed to have underestimated the role of these cheap books before.
Although these people now all have low status, they were all young ladies from official families not long ago.
Therefore, as long as they are given certain resources, they can regain their family's former connections.
The so-called "network" is essentially a mutually beneficial relationship that needs to be maintained with strength.
When you have a certain level of strength, you can provide various benefits to the other party, and the other party will reciprocate the favor. It can be said that you are guaranteed to make money without losing money, and your network of connections will become broader and more stable.
When you are down and out and lose your strength, you no longer have any benefits to give to the other party. After the other party gives you the benefits, you will only lose but not make any profit. The "connections" you once had will stay away from you.
After regaining a certain strength, it is easy to regain "connections".
Under the current situation, as long as Huo Zhengyuan is willing to provide a certain degree of support to these lowly people in front of him and allow them to restore their family's previous connections to a certain extent, they can obviously play a greater role!
At the same time, by taking advantage of these people's lowly status, they can also recruit and encourage some craftsmen, military households, and fishermen with nine surnames to join their plan without attracting attention. This is undoubtedly a clever move.
Relatively speaking, just letting these lowly soldiers fight head-on with Zhu Hejian's subordinates is undoubtedly the wrong place and overuse of talents.
And while Huo Zhengyuan was thoughtful, Guo Min, the Zhao family's aide who was standing not far away and watching this scene, couldn't help but change his face slightly.