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The next day, at three quarters past three o'clock in the morning.
In early summer, it is just before dawn.
Although the Nanjing government is still under martial law and arresting people throughout the city, although the "United Boat Company" is still organizing people from all walks of life to gather in protest, and although Nanjing is destined to be chaotic today, because it is still early, the forces of all parties have not yet launched their actions. action, so the streets of Nanjing at this time are relatively calm for the time being, unlike yesterday where there were scenes of military-civilian confrontations everywhere.
Taking advantage of this brief moment of calm, Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo quickly left the Fallen Alley in Nanjing City and rushed towards Huo Zhengyuan's temporary residence.
Tang Chengnai is the direct grandson of Tang Zhen, the former Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, and Ding Wenbo is the youngest son of Ding Qingming, the former minister of the Ministry of Punishment in Nanjing. More than half a year ago, they were the playboys that everyone envied, but now... they can only live in the Lane of the Fallen People. Living in hiding.
The so-called "Degenerate Alley" is where the lowly people in Nanjing gather to live. It is also the place with the most difficult conditions and the worst environment in Nanjing. All the houses are dilapidated, and all the streets are dirty and smelly. People nearby It is also a mixed bag, and is often bullied and harassed by rogues. It is also located in a low-lying area of Nanjing. During the rainy season, rivers often backflow.
Before yesterday, every time Tang Cheng went in and out of Fallen Alley, his heart would be filled with unspeakable hatred and deep resentment.
He resented the imperial court's merciless management of Nanjing's officialdom, which caused the Tang family to be reduced from a noble official family to a humble family without warning. He resented the prince and grand master Wang Baoren for ruthlessly betraying his grandfather, the former Nanjing Minister of Household Affairs Tang Zhen, leaving the Tang family almost defenseless in the face of imperial rectification. He even resented his grandfather Tang Zhen for having no defense against Wang Baoren, a ruthless and unjust villain, so he allowed the imperial center to easily After finding various evidence of the Tang family's crimes, he also implicated himself in suffering all kinds of humiliation after becoming a pariah!
All in all, because of his desperate situation, Tang Cheng has turned into a sinister person. He has begun to resent everyone in this world and wishes he could die together with this world!
But at this moment, when Tang Cheng left the Fallen Alley, his heart was full of excitement. This was naturally because Huo Zhengyuan gave him the opportunity and hope to break away from his humble status and change his identity.
After leaving Huo Zhengyuan's temporary residence yesterday, Tang Chengcheng began to follow Huo Zhengyuan's instructions and traveled around to make contacts. He also stayed up all night last night and contacted servants and beggars who were in a similar situation to his own, and who lived in fishing boats and could not go ashore for the rest of their lives. The fishermen with nine surnames, as well as those Nanjing craftsmen households who were only in a slightly better situation, promised that as long as they worked for Huo Zhengyuan in the next few days, Huo Zhengyuan would help them change their registration and household, allowing them to have the status of ordinary people.
The result was naturally extremely smooth.
For these servants, beggars, fishermen with nine surnames, and craftsmen, the temptation to change their registration and household is fatal. Even if they need to take huge risks, even if they only have a glimmer of opportunity, they are absolutely unwilling to miss it.
Therefore, when Tang Cheng contacted them, he immediately received a fierce response from them. Everyone swore on the spot that they were willing to go to the mountains of swords and seas of fire for Huo Zhengyuan, even if it cost them their own lives. They only asked Huo Zhengyuan to do it for him. It would be great if their family members and their descendants could be restored to their status as good citizens.
Tang Cheng was not surprised by this result. He knew very well the desperate situation and true thoughts of these people.
Now, Tang Chengcheng wanted to report the progress of his mission to Huo Zhengyuan as soon as possible, hoping that he could leave a good impression on Huo Zhengyuan as capable and reliable.
Ever since he came into contact with Huo Zhengyuan, Tang Cheng had more ambitions in his heart. He not only hoped that he could take the opportunity to escape from his lowly status, but also wanted to take the opportunity to climb into Huo Zhengyuan's network, get Huo Zhengyuan's important use, and restore his former master. life.
The experience of being a lowly person for more than half a year has created a black hole deep in Tang Cheng's heart that is eager to swallow everything. It requires a lot of wealth, power, and venting to fill it.
With such a mood, Tang Cheng walked forward quickly and turned to Ding Wenbo and asked: "How is the progress of the task assigned to you by Academician Huo? How is it going?
But you must go all out and never miss this opportunity! "
Ding Wenbo nodded lightly and said: "It went relatively smoothly. Academician Huo gave me a large sum of money yesterday and asked me to find a way to restore the old family connections. Ha... you also know what this kind of connections are like. One thing, if we are in trouble, they will avoid us and even add insult to injury. But if we have benefits here and it is still profitable for them, then they will lick their faces quickly Change my attitude and greet you again!
Yesterday, I selected a few family members who would be useful in the future and gave them generous gifts. In name, I just hoped that they could take care of me a little in the future, and did not make any more requests. After they saw that I had given out a large amount of money, , immediately acted much more cordial, and although it was just a pretense, the contact was restored. You can contact them again at any time to collect information and build bridges for Academician Huo! "
After hearing this, Tang Cheng nodded with satisfaction and said coldly: "Whether it's false or not, as long as we can use them at any time, it's fine! We have completed the explanation of the great scholar Huo so quickly, which will definitely make the great scholar Huo think highly of us." Let’s take a look! Whether we people will eat hot food or eat shit and drink urine next depends on these few days!"
Unlike Tang Cheng, who was driven by resentment in his heart, Ding Wenbo was still a little hesitant and scrupulous at this time. After he glanced at Tang Cheng's cold and solemn demeanor that seemed paranoid and determined, he couldn't help but question: "Although Huo The bachelor has made a promise to us, but this matter... I still feel that it is unreliable!
Brother, do you still remember why our family was severely punished by the court and reduced to a lowly status? The main crime was conspiracy to assassinate important officials of the imperial court! And this important official of the imperial court refers to Zhao Junchen, the temple patron of Academician Huo! Although we all know in our hearts that the assassination of Zhao Junchen had absolutely nothing to do with the Nanjing Sixth Department and that we were framed, the central government insisted on imputing this crime to us, and we had no chance to argue!
Under such circumstances, would Cabinet Minister Zhao really be willing to put things past the past and help us get rid of our humble status and regain our status as good citizens? Could it be that...that Academician Huo just wanted to use us and drive us to die from the very beginning? What should we do if he breaks his promise and regrets it later, or if we all survive his scheme and lose everything in vain? "
Tang Cheng turned to look at Ding Wenbo with some disdain and said coldly: "Do you think we are still qualified to consider these things? Whether it is being used by others or narrowly escape death, it is better than having no use value and no chance to change fate. , I can only live in this world in a muddleheaded way! For me, I would rather be used to death than..."
While talking, Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo had already arrived near Huo Zhengyuan's temporary residence.
In the middle of Tang Cheng's words, he suddenly felt wary in his heart. He immediately shut up, turned around, and looked behind him.
Then, Tang Chengcheng saw two men who looked like coolies quickly approaching him and Ding Wenbo.
Seeing these two men, Tang Cheng immediately frowned and thought to himself: "Looking at the clothes of these two people, they seem to be members of the Liang Gang... The Liang Gang has always been Zhou Shangjing's lackeys and has always had arrangements. People are secretly monitoring the temporary residence of Academician Huo, and this is already near Academician Huo's temporary residence, so it is not surprising that members of the Liang Gang appear here!
However, judging from the posture of these two people, it seems that they want to contact and talk with me, but I don’t know what the purpose is... Oh, yes, Academician Huo sent people to rent all the nearby courtyards yesterday, so that these people can The Liang Gang couldn't successfully complete the surveillance mission, so these two people probably want to get information about Academician Huo from us, so I must deal with it carefully and never reveal any flaws..."
Thinking of this, Tang Cheng immediately stopped and bowed to the two people from the grain gang with a humble expression.
Although most of the people in the Liang Gang were just coolie sailors, Tang Cheng's status became even lower after being reduced to a lowly status. In order to avoid more trouble, he still had to be careful to please them.
On the other side, Ding Wenbo had similar thoughts to Tang Cheng. He also stopped and looked humble, waiting patiently for the two grain gang members to inquire about information from him.
While waiting for the inquiry, both Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo lowered their gazes, not daring to look directly at each other, and tried their best to show their obedience.
However, the two of them did not wait for the other party to ask.
After the two "Liang Gang Gang members" walked up to them quickly, one of them suddenly got angry. He took out a short stick from behind and hit them directly on the head, immediately killing Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo. After being knocked unconscious, the other person took out two pairs of sacks, stuffed Tang and Ding into the sacks with quick hands and feet, and then quickly left here with Tang and Ding on their shoulders.
*
Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo never expected that the two people they saw dressed as Liang Gang would never think of using normal means to pry out information from them from the beginning.
Moreover, these two people are not members of the Liang Gang at all, but "Chaofeng" dead soldiers who disguise their identities.
According to Jiang Xiao's order, these two "Chaofeng" dead men need to take action and control several humble servants who are working for Huo Zhengyuan, become the informants of the "Chaofeng" organization, and provide Jiang Xiao with information about Huo Zhengyuan.
Therefore, the "Chaofeng" dead warriors focused on Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo.
In fact, it cannot be considered an accident that Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo were targeted by the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers. Instead, it was something that was destined to happen.
Tang Cheng was eager to show off his abilities to Huo Zhengyuan, so he dragged Ding Wenbo to Huo Zhengyuan's temporary residence before dawn.
After the two "Chaofeng" dead soldiers arrived near Huo Zhengyuan's temporary residence, they first saw Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo.
Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo both had low status, so even the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers were full of contempt for them and had no intention of carefully screening them. After meeting Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo, they Seeing that it was getting dark, he immediately decided to choose the two of them as control targets.
After all, the status of Jiji is so low. Even if Tang and Ding are unwilling to become the informants of the "Chaofeng" organization, the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers can still kill people and silence them at will, without having to worry about anyone tracking down these two people. The truth behind Jianji's death will be when the "Chaofeng" dead warrior will re-select his target.
As a result, before Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo could report the progress of their mission to Huo Zhengyuan, they were kidnapped by the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers.
*
About half an hour later, a basin of cold water was poured on the heads of Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo, finally allowing Tang and Ding to wake up leisurely.
Tang Cheng's mind was dazed for a while, and then he finally recalled his experience of being kidnapped. He was shocked at the moment, and finally woke up completely. He quickly raised his body and looked up to observe the surrounding environment.
Then, Tang Chengcheng found that he was in a awning boat. The two men dressed as grain gangs who had kidnapped them were now standing at the bow and stern of the boat, seemingly responsible for guarding them.
And Ding Wenbo was right next to him, his expression and reaction were exactly the same as his own, and he was also nervously observing the surrounding environment.
At the same time, both Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo were not bound. It seemed that their kidnappers were extremely confident and did not worry about their chances of escaping.
In the boat canopy, in addition to Tang Cheng and Ding Wenbo, there was also a stout man wearing the clothes of a grain gang leader and wearing a mask. He was sitting in front of them, observing them carefully with cold eyes. The reaction of the two.
And this stocky man wearing a mask was Jiang Xiao.
Tang Cheng didn't know that the bandit leader Huo Zhengyuan wanted to capture was sitting in front of him. At this time, he thought someone from the Liang Gang had kidnapped him.
Although he resented the grain gang's rough methods, Tang Cheng naturally did not dare to show it at this time. Instead, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, as if he had no dignity, and said in a trembling voice: "Hero, spare your life! Hero, spare your life! I hope you know this." , my companions and I are just two scoundrels who are willing to be humiliated. Not only do we have no money and power, but we are also of low status. If a hero is tied up, we will not be able to squeeze out any profit at all. It will only bring bad luck to the hero. If we expect the hero to show his noble hand, we should treat it as such. We two are nothing, let us go! Don’t worry, good man, with our status, we have no ability to retaliate against you, we don’t dare
I will only be grateful for your kindness! "
In comparison, Ding Wenbo's reaction was a beat slower, but he immediately imitated Tang Cheng and knelt down to beg for mercy.
On the other side, after Jiang Xiao saw Tang Cheng's behavior, he felt a trace of interest in his heart and said slowly: "You said you two are just two ordinary untouchables? Why don't I look like that? I have someone in the court." It is clearly stipulated that lowly students are not allowed to study and take scientific examinations, but you two do not behave like illiterate people."
Tang Cheng lowered his head and sobbed: "Hero, you have a keen eye. The two of us are indeed not ordinary people. The villain's name is Tang Cheng, and his grandfather is Tang Zhen, the former Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing! You should have heard of it, the center of the imperial court In recent years, there have been repeated crackdowns on the Nanjing officialdom. It was also said that the Six Ministries of Nanjing had ulterior motives and hired assassins to assassinate Zhao Ge, an important minister of the imperial court, and then made numerous accusations. All Nanjing officials were severely punished, and the villain was also implicated and was demoted to Low profile... The person next to the villain is named Ding Wenbo. He is the son of the former Minister of Justice of Nanjing, and his situation is exactly the same as that of the villain..."
After Jiang Xiao nodded thoughtfully, he asked again: "It turns out that it was after the officialdom... I have also heard about your situation. It is indeed a bit pitiful... As far as I know, you are now lent to the Nanjing Rites Yamen Huo Zhengyuan’s orders?”
[In view of the general environment,
Tang Cheng still didn't dare to raise his head and replied: "That's right! That great scholar Huo wanted to hold a large banquet, so he needed a group of servants who knew etiquette and had experienced the world. The villain and others fit the bill. Such a request was made, so the Nanjing Ministry of Rites assigned the emissary of the great scholar Huo..."
At this point, Tang Cheng, who seemed humble and timid, suddenly had a gleam of light in his eyes, and added: "I hope the hero knows that the current situation of the villain and his companions is really extremely miserable!
The court backer of Academician Huo is none other than Zhao Junchen and Zhao Ge! The villain has just mentioned that the reason why the Nanjing officialdom was initially purged by the imperial court was because the imperial central government determined that officials from the Six Ministries of Nanjing hired assassins to assassinate Zhao Cabinet ministers. After our group of people were assigned by the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs to the emissary of Academician Huo, then Academician Huo soon learned of our origins. In order to vent his anger on Zhao Gechen, he found various reasons to torture and humiliate us...
Therefore, I hope that you, our hero, will be merciful and have some mercy on us poor people, and you must release us from here as soon as possible. If that great scholar Huo hasn't seen us for a long time and rushed to his temporary residence to listen to his orders, he will definitely have to do it again. Punish us severely, maybe beat us to death..."
After saying that, Tang Cheng kowtowed and begged repeatedly, his image was extremely pitiful.
Although Tang Cheng did not know the true identity of Jiang Xiao and his "Chaofeng" soldiers, and mistakenly thought that they were from the Liang Gang, he still accurately deduced Jiang Xiao's true intention and believed that Jiang Xiao sent someone to kidnap him. He and Ding Wenbo wanted to conquer the two of them and become informants and take the opportunity to find out information about Huo Zhengyuan.
On the surface, Tang Cheng's words were to beg Jiang Xiao to release him, and to arouse Jiang Xiao's sympathy with his miserable situation, but in fact, they were hinting at one thing to Jiang Xiao - he, Tang Cheng He has an old grudge with Huo Zhengyuan, harbors a hidden grudge in his heart, and also has the motive to take revenge on Huo Zhengyuan.
In short, Tang Chengcheng wanted Jiang Xiao to mistakenly believe that with just a few tricks, Tang Cheng could be bribed to become an informant, and Tang Cheng could be used to collect intelligence information on Huo Zhengyuan.
Tang Cheng reacted very quickly and came up with such a plan in a short time. If his plan succeeded, not only would he be able to escape smoothly, but he would also be able to use counterintuitive tactics to provide Jiang Xiao with various false information, Misleading Jiang Xiao's judgment.
Tang Cheng's performance is also extremely realistic. If he met ordinary people, Tang Cheng's plan might have succeeded.
But unfortunately, the opponent Tang Cheng encountered this time was Jiang Xiao.
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