<!¡ª¡ª> ¡ ¡ ¡ At the same time, Song Jicheng¡¯s secret letter has 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!" While speaking, 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 and thought carefully, and finally slowly shook his head 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 wisdom and methods, he should not be unwary and unprepared!" After that, Zhou Shangjing's The gray eyebrows are also getting 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 Make trouble for 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 take more precautions against Huo Zhengyuan. We can no longer place our hope in him. 'The mountain will fall if you rely on it, and everyone will run if you rely on it.' The real decisive moment will ultimately depend 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 person hiding in Nanjing as soon as possible! Those dead soldiers will prove their relationship with the Seventh Prince, and then we will win this round! As for the other variables, they are not things that should be considered now." At this point, Zhou Shangjing asked again: "The search. How is the progress of the matter? " Song Chengren was full of confidence and nodded and replied: "The progress is not bad. Taking advantage of the chaos in Nanjing today, I have sent all my manpower to cooperate with the Nanjing government troops and the tens of thousands of grain gangs in Nanjing city. The gang members are investigating the possible hiding places of the dead soldiers one by one. Currently, one-third of the area has been investigated. By tomorrow evening at the latest, all suspicious locations will be investigated, and the dead soldiers will definitely be able to be forced into hiding. Show up and run away! "In fact, the chaos in Nanjing was ostensibly caused by Huo Zhengyuan's "United Shipping Company" taking the lead in causing trouble, but the reason why the chaos reached its current scale was because Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren were hiding behind the scenes and fueling the trouble. reason. Zhou Shangjing has the ability to 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 ignored the advice and insisted on making the situation in Nanjing chaotic, he simply went along with the flow. Not only did he not try his best to stop it, but he secretly told all parties who were attached to the "Zhou Party" to get involved. Today, when the "United Shipping Company" calls for merchants to go on strike, river workers to go on strike, and students to go on strike, servants of the major gentry families, or grain gangs attached to the water transport yamen, all respond actively to the call. , not only took the initiative to go on strike, but also went to the streets to gather in protest and confront the Nanjing officials and soldiers. This is why the chaotic situation in Nanjing has become as large as it is today. But in fact, the gathering of these gentry servants and grain gangs to protest was just a disguise. They 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 check these places carefully, he also led the Nanjing officers and soldiers to check them again. In this way, we can naturally quickly find the hiding places of those dead soldiers and squeeze the activity space of these dead soldiers.This forced these dead soldiers to expose their traces, show up and flee. It also made the seventh prince Zhu Hejian mistakenly believe that such a chaotic situation was beneficial to him, and then lost his 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 the specific identity and true intentions of this group of desperadoes are still unclear Should we take the opportunity to find out this group of desperadoes? He is probably being protected by Huo Zhengyuan now. The group of desperadoes Song Chengren was talking about were naturally referring to the Nanyang pirates under Hu Xiao. ¡°If Zhou Shangjing had not received information from Song Jicheng, he 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 while, he shook his head and said: "We are currently in a troubled time. 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.¡± ¡°I understand¡± 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. "Master Chief Assistant, the old man, the people from the Liang Gang are urgently seeking to see you, saying that they have important news 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 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¡¯s name is 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 considered 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 you have important news that needs to be urgently needed. "Report, what is it?" Li Bao quickly replied: "Replying to the old man, just half an hour ago, a middle-aged man of unknown origin suddenly found the Liang Gang and made contact with a leader of the Liang Gang. , who would have thought After he came into contact with the Liang Gang, he actually revealed a key piece of news to the Liang Gang! According to this middle-aged man, he witnessed a group of mysterious people digging up the dam late at night the day before yesterday, causing a disaster. The scene of the flood! And because he has been in the world for many years, he is well-informed, and he has also discovered the identity of the leader of the mysterious group of people! According to him, this person is clearly one of the "Eight Owls" back then! The third oldest one, 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. Jiang Xiao's portrait! He said that he and Jiang Xiao had an old feud. When he witnessed Jiang Xiao leading his men to destroy the dam, his whereabouts and identity were discovered by Jiang Xiao. Now he is being hunted down by Jiang Xiao! He also said that Jiang Xiao had a deep hatred for him and could be said to be sworn in, so Jiang Xiao would definitely pursue him at all costs, so he chose to contact the Liang Gang because he wanted to seek the Liang Gang's protection. "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 the matter of digging up the dam and submerging the imperial village. Naturally,It was even more shocking. Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren had long believed that the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian was the mastermind behind the demolition of the dam 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 be surprised and happy. "We were shocked by the boldness and early planning of the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian, and we were also pleasantly surprised that after harvesting this information, we had greater confidence that we could kill all the dead soldiers under the command of the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian in one fell swoop. Song Chengren carefully observed the portrait in his hand, then raised his head and asked: "Where is the middle-aged man who came into contact with you now? Is he already under your control?" Li Bao looked a little embarrassed, lowered his head and said: "Please still ask. Mr. Song, I apologize, but that man disappeared without a trace soon after he came into contact with the Liang Gang. After I received the news, it was too late to control him, so I had to rush to Dongyuan 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 passed to me through the Liang Gang is true! And this information is too much! It's surprising, but it doesn't look like it was faked! 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 secretly sneak back into Nanjing soon. We also need to make arrangements in advance. It¡¯s best to catch them all in one fell swoop! Li Bao, please spread this portrait to Liang Gang immediately so that everyone can pay attention to Jiang Xiao¡¯s whereabouts!¡± Li Bao quickly agreed, but Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren didn¡¯t have any more instructions. , and 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 an unexpected gain soon!" * By Liangbang The person who passed the information to Zhou Shangjing through the 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 is a slippery and alert person. After contacting the Liang Gang, he immediately left, without allowing the people from the Liang Gang to find an opportunity to control him. After he escaped, 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 is 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 questioning of these young men and women. "Master Huo, are you really willing to uphold justice for us and help us get rid of our low status?" "If Master Huo is willing to help us get rid of our low 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, Master Huo, for your mercy! From now on, I will trust you with all my life and fortune!" Seeing this scene, Hu Xiao was slightly startled, 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 that Huo Zhengyuan found from the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. In recent years, the Nanjing 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 criminal relatives who have just been reduced to a lowly status have not yet completely lost their minds. They must be trying their best to get rid of their lowly status. As long as Huo Zhengyuan promises to help them escape from the lowly status, they will definitely compete. Work hard. And as the so -called "poor literature and rich martial arts", these people are all extraordinary. Many of them have learned martial arts and have a certain combat effectiveness. When they are brave enough to fight, they may have amazing effects. In short, 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 ideas. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?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 believes that Huo Zhengyuan's approach is a waste of effort. ?¡?¡?¡?¡?<!¡ª¡ª>