What made Zhu Hejian feel a little relieved was that after Li Yong and Leng Ling heard about Hu Xiao, they still didn't have any special reaction. They just looked at each other and continued to immerse themselves in eating, seemingly not caring about Hu Xiao's existence.
Perhaps, the two of them do not yet understand the importance of Hu Xiao;
Or perhaps, the two of them knew that they were not strong enough. After all, the Jinyi Guards under their command only had a hundred people. They were not only responsible for guarding the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, but also divided their forces to escort the captured "Shaofeng" dead soldiers back to the capital.
I have no time left to pay attention to Hu Xiao’s affairs.
But no matter what the possibility is, it means that... Zhu Hejian can confidently and boldly play Hu Xiao's role.
*
Just when Zhu Hejian wanted to further test Li Yong and Leng Ling, Lu De also walked quickly to the door of the room and reported in a deep voice: "Your Highness, Nanjing's eunuch Xi Cheng and the Nanjing shopkeeper of United Shipping Company
Qian Lai and Qian Lai asked for an audience together."
After hearing this, Zhu Hejian couldn't help but frown slightly.
The timing of Xi Chengqiu's meeting with him was unlucky. Li Yong and Leng Ling were watching nearby, and Zhu Hejian was unwilling to further expose his close relationship with the inner court forces.
However, in order to show his clear conscience, Zhu Hejian deliberately flashed a look of doubt and wariness in his expression, and said to himself: "Xi Cheng? He brought Qian Lai to see me? I always feel that the purpose of these two people's visit is not simple.
…”
After pretending to think for a moment, Zhu Hejian shook his head helplessly and said: "Forget it, let the two of them come to see me! The current situation in Nanjing ultimately requires the cooperation of the inner court forces, and we cannot be easily offended!"
At the same time, Zhu Hejian seemed to intend to keep Li Yong and Leng Ling to witness, so instead of hinting at Li Yong and Leng Ling's departure, he kept urging them to continue dining.
But after Li Yong and Leng Ling looked at each other again, they stood up together. They both said that they were full and said that they had other tasks to be busy with. They actually wanted to leave and were not prepared to listen to Zhu Hejian.
The content of the conversation with Xicheng and Qian Lai.
After Zhu Hejian tried to persuade them to stay for a few words, seeing that Li and Leng were firm in attitude and not pretending to be polite, he stopped forcing them to stay and immediately stood up and sent them out of the room in person.
Watching Li Yong and Leng Ling leave, Zhu Hejian looked thoughtful. After a moment, he turned to Jia Lun and ordered: "Be sure to keep an eye on these two people! I always feel that... my father told me to
The mission of the two of them is more complicated and critical than we expected!"
*
On the other side, Li Yong and Leng Ling had been silent since they left. When they reached a quiet and uninhabited place, Leng Ling finally stopped being silent and asked softly: "The Seventh Prince will dine with the two of us."
On this occasion, we have repeatedly tried to inform us of confidential information about the situation in Nanjing. Why did Brother Yong deliberately refuse to respond? If we find out more information from the Seventh Prince, we will have more information to report when we return to the capital to see His Majesty!
"
Li Yong also lowered his voice and explained slowly: "Have you forgotten His Majesty's instructions? When we work around the Seventh Prince, everything must be based on the decision of Bao Wenjie, the Minister of Rites!
And what Minister Bao told us was... after the two of us were exposed as His Majesty's agents and informants, we should become even more low-key and stick to our duties. Instead of tightening the surveillance of His Highness the Seventh Prince, we should become even more relaxed!
Only in this way can His Highness the Seventh Prince gradually regain his courage and dare to take more actions, so that we can collect more intelligence! If we monitor too closely and make His Highness the Seventh Prince restrain his hands and dare not take any action, on the contrary
No more information can be collected!"
Leng Ling nodded to express his understanding, but after hesitating for a moment, he suddenly asked: "Brother Yong, why do you think His Majesty suddenly trusted Bao Wenjie so much? Even the escorts like us were obedient to him.
Before Minister Bao, His Majesty had never accepted any civil servant as his confidant...
I remember that it was more than half a year ago, after the news of Zhao Cabinet's annihilation of the Mongolian coalition forces on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu reached the capital, Bao Shilang secretly met with His Majesty once. From then on, His Majesty's attitude towards Bao Shilang gradually changed.
Already...
It's a pity that I didn't have a chariot escort on duty that day, so I don't know what exactly Bao Shilang and His Majesty had a secret conversation about. However, I remember...Brother Yong, you happened to be chauffeuring me in the palace that day, right? Can you tell me the relevant information?
Revealing a little bit about it? It also makes me feel confident..."
Before Leng Ling could finish speaking, Li Yong turned around and glared at him with a very clear warning: "Have you forgotten what I told you? When driving with His Majesty, don't ask about things you shouldn't.
Ask around, and you must not tell anyone what you know, even if you and I are dead brothers! If you really want to know the truth, just wait until I return to the capital and ask His Majesty. If His Majesty agrees, I will tell you the truth.
As for you, then I will naturally have no reservations about you!"
Leng Ling was so frightened that he immediately waved his hands and said, "No! Brother Yong! Don't! Just pretend that I didn't say it!"
Li Yong just wanted to scare Leng Ling. After snorting, he nodded and said: "Okay, I can just pretend that I didn't hear it!"
But after the two of them walked a few more steps, Leng Ling couldn't help but ask: "Brother Yong, what do you think of the suspicious things about our Seventh Prince..."
Li Yong interrupted Leng Ling's inquiry again, and warned again with an increasingly serious expression: "Remember, we are His Majesty's eyes and ears! As His Majesty's ears and eyes, we should not have our own ideas, we only need to see what we see
Just report the things you have heard truthfully! As for how Your Majesty views these things, that is the arbitrary decision of Your Majesty’s Sacred Heart!”
Leng Ling shook his head and smiled bitterly, and murmured: "Based on the information we currently have, if His Majesty's Sacred Heart is left to make the decision, the Seventh Prince's good days may be over in the future! What a pity... His Highness looks barbaric.
Okay, you will always be polite to us..."
Just like that, while Leng Ling was muttering to himself, the two gradually walked away.
*
After about a tea break, Lu De took Xicheng and Qian Lai to Zhanyuan Study Room and met the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian.
Xicheng didn't want Qian Lai to see the close relationship between him and Zhu Hejian, so when he saw Zhu Hejian, he acted businesslike, and after taking Qian Lai to greet Zhu Hejian, he immediately explained
Intention.
Zhu Hejian was sitting behind the desk. He couldn't help being surprised after hearing this. He couldn't help confirming to Qian Lai: "What you mean by 'joint shipping' is... you don't need the help of the Nanjing Guarding Eunuch Mansion at all, as long as you are
This prince and the 'United Shipping Company' jointly issued a statement, so that you can take back all the properties of the 'United Shipping Company' from the Jiangnan gentry on your own? And after you took back all the properties, you were willing to hand them over to the Nanjing Guarding Eunuch Mansion.
Take over?"
Qian Lai nodded immediately: "That's right! And this statement is absolutely fair - from the day when Nanjing City was lifted from the ban, all Nanjing merchants who violated the law and discipline were immediately expelled from the 'United Shipping Company'. For the next three years,
You will not be allowed to participate in any business of the United Shipping Company again within this period - since Your Highness has issued an order yesterday to severely punish profiteers, this statement can only be regarded as a supplement and will definitely not bring any trouble to Your Highness!"
After hearing what Qian Lai said, Zhu Hejian couldn't help but remember that after the prince and grand master Wang Baoren arrived at Zhanyuan yesterday evening, he sent a message to him on behalf of Zhao Junchen, saying that as long as he stood his ground, no matter what happened to any merchant,
All illegal activities are as ruthless as punishing the franchise merchants of "United Shipping Company", so Zhao Junchen promised not to pursue his actions against "United Shipping Company".
Zhao Junchen's message yesterday and Qian Lai's proposal today are obviously of the same origin.
Obviously, in response to Zhou Shangjing's action of embezzling "United Shipping Company", Zhao Junchen had already conceived a complete counterattack plan.
However, Zhu Hejian was a little unsure as to what Zhao Junchen's counterattack plan was.
As a result, Zhu Hejian naturally did not dare to easily agree to Qian Lai's proposal.
Although this proposal seems to do no harm to you, it is actually of great benefit.
Just when Zhu Hejian was hesitant, Xi Cheng, the eunuch guarding Nanjing, couldn't help but persuaded: "Your Highness, our family has also thought about it for a long time, and we also believe that this matter is beneficial and harmless to the inner court! It is just a statement, and your Highness
His past stance is also consistent. After seeing this statement, the world will only praise His Highness for his just stance and hatred of evil. No one can find any fault! Even the people behind the "United Shipping Lines" and "United Shipping Lines" want to take the opportunity to cause chaos.
Come on, we can get away easily!"
Before this, Xicheng had hesitated whether he should agree to the proposal of "United Shipping Lines". He always thought that there was a trap hidden in this proposal, just waiting for him to jump into it.
However, when Xicheng couldn't help but agree to the proposal, the hesitation and doubt in his heart quickly dissipated, and his support for the proposal became stronger.
Human nature is like this. Before making up your mind, when you are hesitating, you will always look for various inappropriate reasons and constantly scare yourself. But after you have made up your mind, you will look for various reasonable reasons and constantly convince yourself.
Therefore, once some decisions are made, there is no going back.
What's more, on the way to Zhanyuan, Qian Lai had already given Xi Cheng a rough introduction to the various industries of "United Shipping Lines" in Nanjing. The astronomical wealth made Xi Cheng completely red-eyed!
After Zhu Hejian heard Xi Cheng's statement, the swinging balance in his heart couldn't help but tilt.
On the one hand, although the situation in Nanjing has changed frequently during this period, and Zhu Hejian himself has suffered repeated setbacks, Xi Cheng, as a staunch ally of Zhu Hejian, has never lost his grip. In addition, Xi Cheng has been in Nanjing for many years and has been dealing with various forces.
He has never suffered a big loss. These performances are enough to prove Xicheng's ability, so Zhu Hejian also believes in Xicheng's judgment.
On the other hand, in yesterday's debate at the Confucius Temple, Zhu Hejian was forced by the situation to force the eunuchs in Guanzhuang to take the initiative to admit their mistakes and submit to the Jin gentry forces. This behavior has aroused dissatisfaction among the inner court forces, and the inner court forces are Zhu Hejian's
There is absolutely no room for loss in the fundamentals. If Zhu Hejian once again takes matters into his own hands and refuses the wealth and wealth offered to the inner court forces by the "United Shipping Company", then the dissatisfaction of the inner court forces will inevitably become stronger. This is something Zhu Hejian must not do.
The price to bear.
However, thinking about Zhao Junchen's past methods, Zhu Hejian still believed that this matter was by no means simple, so although the balance in his heart was gradually tilting, he still did not dare to agree immediately.
Seeing the change in Zhu Hejian's expression, Xi Cheng couldn't help but persuade again: "Your Highness, do you know... how much money are the combined properties of the United Shipping Company in Nanjing worth? Our family has estimated it! It's at least tens of millions.
Numbers! Tens of millions! Once the inner court has added such an astonishing income, your majesty will definitely be very happy after learning the news! And once your majesty is so happy, many things will be easy to handle! "
Xicheng's hint was already very obvious.
When Zhu Hejian was in charge of Nanjing's military affairs, the situation in Nanjing got out of control many times, and he repeatedly lost points. Moreover, various suspicious aspects of Zhu Hejian gradually became apparent, which could never be hidden from the eyes of Emperor Deqing.
At the same time, because Xicheng had been too cooperative with Zhu Hejian during this period, Emperor Deqing would definitely doubt Zhu Hejian's true relationship with the inner court forces after noticing various suspicious things.
As a result, Zhu Hejian's own future situation will naturally be on thin ice, and the inner court forces will definitely not be able to escape Emperor Deqing's purge and rectification again!
Under such circumstances, both Zhu Hejian and Xicheng must find ways to please Emperor Deqing as much as possible in exchange for Emperor Deqing's leniency.
The same thing, whether Emperor Deqing was in a good or bad mood, often had completely different handling results.
So, is the wealth of tens of millions of taels enough to win the favor of Emperor Deqing, exchange for Emperor Deqing's forgiveness, or even... make Emperor Deqing voluntarily blind and temporarily ignore the various doubts between Zhu Hejian and the inner court forces?
The answer is...it's really possible!
After all, this wealth is really amazing, and the old Zhu family has always been a miser, especially Emperor Deqing!