Huo Zhengyuan frowned, feeling wary and asked: "Oh? What kind of sleep talk did Hu Youyi say? It actually aroused His Highness's curiosity?"
Zhu Hejian stared at Huo Zhengyuan and said slowly: "He seems to think that he is not a close guard of Academician Huo, but his true identity is a Nanyang pirate. He also said that he wants to make a deal with Academician Huo... Speaking of which, this junior is still here
When I was in the capital, I occasionally met Academician Huo, but I had never seen this Yishi Hu."
Huo Zhengyuan shook his head directly and said: "You can't take it seriously if you talk in your sleep! People's dreams are always absurd and bizarre, Zhuangzi's dream of butterflies is an example! As for His Highness, he has never seen Hu Youyi when he was in the capital, because the center of the capital, at the feet of the emperor, is
The public security in the market is reassuring, so I will never bring a large number of escorts through the market."
Zhu Hejian seemed to believe Huo Zhengyuan's explanation and nodded: "That's it! Listening to what Academician Huo said, the juniors became more and more curious about Hu Yishi's dream! After Hu Yishi was rescued, the juniors will definitely question Hu Yishi.
You might be able to hear an interesting story based on the content of the dream."
According to Zhu Hejian's thinking, Huo Zhengyuan will definitely be worried about Hu Xiao leaking the truth at this time, and will definitely ask for control of Hu Xiao from himself again.
In this way, Zhu Hejian can bargain with Huo Zhengyuan.
However, Huo Zhengyuan didn't follow the routine at all, and nodded directly: "If Hu Youyi's dream story is really interesting, I hope your highness will tell this story to my subordinate. Your Majesty likes those absurd stories very much. This kind of dream story is really interesting."
Although no one will believe the tall tale to be true, it is still a good source of conversation."
The implication of Huo Zhengyuan's statement is that no one will believe what Hu Xiao said.
In fact, when Guo Min, under the instruction of Zhao Junchen, secretly colluded with the Dutch Governor of Nanyang, he did not let Huo Zhengyuan intervene in the matter from beginning to end, just to try to avoid Huo Zhengyuan's relationship as much as possible.
Huo Zhengyuan could roughly guess the content of Guo Min's mission, and he was worried that he would be implicated. Especially after contacting Hu Xiao, this worry reached its peak, so Huo Zhengyuan also tentatively asked Guo Min - if it was Hu Xiao's
How should they respond when their identity and background are discovered?
At that time, Guo Min behaved extremely strangely, with a face full of bitterness and helplessness, and replied - Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan would not be affected too much, but the Guo family members, including himself, would all be affected.
The nine implicated clans hope that Huo Zhengyuan will remember his old friendship and find a way to save one or two Guo family orphans and not let the Guo family bloodline be cut off.
Huo Zhengyuan is a very smart person. After hearing Guo Min's reply and thinking about Guo Min's identity and experience, especially Guo Min's brother Guo Tangnai, who was Zhao Junchen's former political enemy, he has roughly guessed Zhao Junchen's precautions.
means.
Huo Zhengyuan naturally believed in Zhao Junchen's methods, so he believed that he would never be implicated because of Hu Xiao, and he would not be threatened by Zhu Hejian at this time.
In other words, once Huo Zhengyuan showed any intention of compromise after being threatened by Zhu Hejian, it would have confirmed that he was involved in colluding with foreign forces, which would have left greater hidden dangers and clues.
Therefore, no matter from any aspect, Huo Zhengyuan must show his clear conscience at this time and must not make any compromises.
If Zhu Hejian becomes angry after his threat fails and decides to expose the secret collusion between the "Zhao Party" and foreign forces to the court, then Huo Zhengyuan will quickly abandon Guo Min and cooperate with Zhao Junchen to shift all responsibilities to the Guo family.
Of course, Huo Zhengyuan would also be grateful for Guo Min's help in preventing disasters afterwards, and he would definitely burn more paper money when paying homage to Guo Min in previous years.
Zhu Hejian didn't know Huo Zhengyuan's true thoughts and Zhao Junchen's preventive measures. When he saw that Huo Zhengyuan didn't care about his threat at all, he couldn't help but be stunned. He didn't expect that his trump card was useless!
Why is Huo Zhengyuan so calm? And why is he so unconcerned?
Could it be said that Huo Zhengyuan is not worried about the exposure of the "Zhao Party"'s crimes of secretly colluding with foreign forces?
It shouldn’t be!
Or... Hu Xiao's various testimonies are all fabricated lies?
But Hu Xiao’s testimonies are all true, and they don’t look like lies!
What's more, what reason does Hu Xiao have for making up such a story to deceive himself?
All kinds of contradictory information left Zhu Hejian a little confused, but after thinking that Hu Xiao might lie and deceive him, he was still very upset, and he secretly made up his mind that when Hu Xiao regained consciousness again, he would torture Hu Xiao severely.
, repeatedly confirming whether his various testimonies are true or false. If it is discovered that Hu Xiao's various statements are fabricated, then Zhu Hejian will definitely torture Hu Xiao to death!
It is conceivable that Hu Xiao will be in big trouble next.
However, whether Hu Xiao lied is not something Zhu Hejian should consider now. The top priority is to persuade Huo Zhengyuan to allow the stores of "United Boat Shop" to resume business as soon as possible.
Just as Zhu Hejian's mind was racing and he was quickly thinking about how he should persuade Huo Zhengyuan, Lu De, who was next to him, suddenly said: "Your Highness, Academician Huo, Hu Youyi's sleep talking is just a trivial matter after all, let's get back to the business! Academician Huo
I mentioned just now that a large amount of supplies have been lost from the 'United Shipping Line' recently, which suddenly made the students think of something!"
Zhu Hejian was stunned again and asked, "What did you think of?"
Lu De sneered and said: "Everyone knows that the United Shipping Company is making money every day and is richest in the world. It controls a large amount of money, food and materials! At the same time, the United Shipping Company was arrested by the government because of gathering people to protest.
There are a large number of people. Academician Huo also claimed that the 'United Shipping Company' has recently lost a large amount of valuable materials. These situations all prove one thing, that is - although the 'United Shipping Company' has a huge amount of materials, it seriously lacks manpower to guard these.
Supplies!
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Now, when people are unable to buy all kinds of daily necessities, and at a time when they are complaining, if there is a person whom everyone hopes to stand up, raise their arms and shout out to the people, and publicly express
The 'United Shipping Company' had a huge amount of supplies but was unwilling to sell them to the people. They publicly accused the 'United Shipping Company' of hoarding money and making huge profits. They even made it clear to the people that the 'United Shipping Company' was seriously short of manpower and had insufficient guardianship. Then...
…How will the situation develop?”
Hearing Lu De's words, Zhu Hejian's eyes lit up, he looked at Huo Zhengyuan with a smile, and asked, "Yes, what should be the situation like if this happens?"
Obviously, the "man whom everyone hopes to return to" mentioned by Lu De refers to the seventh prince Zhu Hejian himself!
Lu De's words were also a threat to Huo Zhengyuan, meaning that if "United Shipping Company" was unwilling to resume business quickly, Zhu Hejian would take the initiative and lead the angry people to rob big businesses and make "United Shipping Company" lose all its money.
No return!
In this way, the public grievances of the people of Nanjing can be vented, and the imbalance between supply and demand in Nanjing can be quickly improved. Although it will also cause a riot, after the public grievances have been vented, the riot can be easily quelled!
At the same time, because it was Zhu Hejian who personally led the people to rob the supplies of the "United Shipping Line", Zhu Hejian's own popularity among the people must have risen again. And because of Zhu Hejian's status as a prince, the court's prestige will not be affected. The people will only think that
The Tianjia royal family stood on the side of the common people and became more and more grateful. Moreover, because the common people mainly targeted the "United Shipping Company", the imperial property would not suffer much loss.
In this way, only the injured world of "United Boat Line" is achieved.
Even if the "United Shipping Company" complained to the imperial court about Zhu Hejian afterwards, Zhu Hejian was only reprimanded by Emperor Deqing for a few words at most, which was insignificant, but the "United Shipping Company" still could not recover the losses.
Then, "United Shipping Lines" will definitely feel resentful, thinking that "Party Zhao" cannot protect them, but has brought them huge disasters and serious losses, so the influence of "Party Zhao" on "United Shipping Lines" will also
Significantly attenuated.
After thinking about the pros and cons, Zhu Hejian was no longer willing to negotiate with Huo Zhengyuan. He believed that it would be more beneficial to him if Lu De's idea was implemented.
On the other side, Huo Zhengyuan's expression changed and he quickly figured out the pros and cons.
Therefore, Huo Zhengyuan directly changed his position, nodded and promised: "Master Lu's concerns are very reasonable! I hope His Highness the Seventh Prince can rest assured. After the official left Zhanyuan, he immediately urged the United Shipping Company to let all the members of the United Shipping Company
The shop has resumed business and assisted His Highness in quelling the grievances of the people of Nanjing."
Zhu Hejian thought he had Huo Zhengyuan under control, so he stopped being impatient. He smiled and shook his head and said, "No rush, no rush! 'United Boat Line' has its own difficulties. If you don't want to open for business, then I won't force it!"
After saying that, Zhu Hejian stood up and said: "By the way, Academician Huo just said that my reputation in Nanjing has greatly increased, and the people all regard me as Master Qingtian. In fact, I also received news that
A large number of people came to see the garden and wanted to ask for my orders, but they were blocked by the Jin Yiwei and the Nanjing garrison... I think about it carefully, blindly blocking the people from asking for orders and avoiding them is not a good thing after all.
, so I have decided to go to see the people in person now! Will Academician Huo come with me?"
Seeing Zhu Hejian's attitude, Huo Zhengyuan was a little panicked. He quickly stood up and promised Zhu Hejian again that all major shops under the name of "United Boat Shop" would resume business within an hour.
Later, seeing that Zhu Hejian was still unwilling to give up, Huo Zhengyuan rolled his eyes and said: "By the way, I came to Zhanyuan to see His Highness. There is another matter I want to ask His Highness's opinion on."
Zhu Hejian was naturally dismissive of Huo Zhengyuan's change of topic, and became more and more demanding, saying: "I have to go personally to see the people who are complaining about their grievances. If Master Huo has other things to discuss, we will be on the way.
Just walk and talk..."
However, before Zhu Hejian finished speaking, he found Lu De winking at him.
Because of Lu De's on-the-spot performance, Zhu Hejian quickly recovered his disadvantage and completely gained the upper hand when negotiating with Huo Zhengyuan. Therefore, Zhu Hejian also slightly restored his trust in Lu De at this time.
After seeing the look in Lu De's eyes, Zhu Hejian pondered for a moment, then changed his mind, returned to his seat and sat down again, saying: "Well, it's not convenient to talk on the road after all. If Academician Huo has something to do, let's talk about it now."
After Huo Zhengyuan turned his head and took a deep look at Lu De, he said to Zhu Hejian: "Your Highness, you also know that a large number of people are currently besieging Yingtianfu Yamen. Their appeal is not only to let the shops in the city resume business as soon as possible.
There are still many people who have suffered huge losses due to the fire last night and the suppression by Jinyiwei. They want to seek justice from the government. This group of people will never disperse easily, so even if the 'United Boat Shop' resumes business, Yingtianfu Yamen will not
They will still be surrounded by a large number of people...
But in this way, if those arrested gangsters are still detained in the Yingtianfu Yamen Prison, there will inevitably be various inconveniences during interrogation and torture, and the progress of the tripartite joint trial will be greatly delayed."
Zhu Hejian asked: "What does Academician Huo mean?"
"Xiaguan thought about it and concluded that it is inappropriate for these arrested gangsters to be detained in the Nanjing garrison prison, the Jinyiwei prison, the Nanjing Criminal Department, Nanjing Dali Temple, or the Nanjing Supervisory Office. Therefore,
... I boldly propose that these arrested gangsters be imprisoned in Zhanyuan and handed over to your Highness to guard them personally. How about it? I heard that the cellar in Zhanyuan is large enough to hold these gangsters, and His Highness has a large number of possessions.
The Imperial Guards are enough to guard them without any negligence."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After hearing this, Zhu Hejian felt incredible. He never expected that Huo Zhengyuan would make such a suggestion!
But Zhu Hejian was not only not happy, but also felt strong vigilance in his heart, suspecting that this suggestion was Huo Zhengyuan's trap, and he also knew very well that among the more than one hundred Forbidden Army guards under his command, Emperor Deqing's informants were hidden.
After imprisoning those arrested "Chaofeng" dead soldiers in Zhanyuan, Zhu Hejian was restrained, and it was inconvenient to do some things.
However, it is also an excellent opportunity to personally guard these arrested "Chaofeng" dead soldiers. Although some things are inconvenient to do, when you make up your mind to act, the chance of success greatly increases.
Just when Zhu Hejian was in a dilemma and couldn't make a choice, he saw Lu De's eyes again.
In the end, Zhu Hejian said slowly: "This matter... let me think about it carefully and I will reply to Academician Huo as soon as possible."
Huo Zhengyuan smiled and asked: "Then... Your Highness, do you still want to go in person to meet those Nanjing people who are asking for help and calling out their grievances?"
After Zhu Hejian hesitated for a moment, he shook his head and said: "This matter... is not urgent."
In this way, the negotiation between Huo Zhengyuan and Zhu Hejian ended quickly.
*
After Huo Zhengyuan said goodbye and left, Zhu Hejian immediately turned to Lu De and asked: "Mr. Lu, what did you mean just now? We have obviously found a way. Not only can we severely damage the 'United Shipping Company' and the 'Zhao Party', but we can also improve us again."
It can also quickly quell the public grievances of the Nanjing people, so why do you want to stop me?"
Lu De shook his head and said: "Your Highness, as the situation in Nanjing has developed so far, various changes have occurred many times, which have always caught us off guard. Don't you still understand? Even if some plans seem to be brilliant, they are always out of control during execution.
The more people involved in this plan, the easier it is for it to get out of control!
Encouraging the people of Nanjing to grab big houses can only be used as a threat. If this strategy is really implemented and the people get excited, they will definitely lose their minds and lose all their money.
Our various industries will definitely suffer heavy losses, and maybe even the official warehouses and military depots in Nanjing will be affected...
The 'United Shipping Company' seems to have huge influence, but after all it is just a group of merchants. It will not shake the foundation of the imperial court. However, if the gentry also suffered huge losses, even the official warehouses and military stores were robbed by the common people.
If you have a large amount of supplies, then you will definitely have countless mortal enemies under your tree, and you will no longer be able to stay away from it!"
Hearing Lu De's explanation, Zhu Hejian did not completely agree, but he still nodded in approval and asked: "Then... Huo Zhengyuan proposed that all the 'Chaofeng' dead soldiers who were captured alive be sent to Zhanyuan for detention.
Why do you want to wink again? You should know that the imperial guards under my command must have been planted by the emperor and sent these "chaofeng" to Zhanyuan for detention. It will be inconvenient for us to do our work.
"
Lu De's eyes flashed with an inexplicable look, but on the surface, he looked like he was considering Zhu Hejian wholeheartedly, and said slowly: "But...as long as we can avoid His Majesty's eyes, some things will be reversed when we act.
It greatly increases the chance of success, doesn’t it?”
*
Just as Zhu Hejian and Lu De were having a secret conversation, Huo Zhengyuan had already left Zhan Yuan. After turning his head to look at Zhan Yuan, a sneer flashed across his face. It was not like he was at a disadvantage in the negotiation and was forced to