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After hearing this, Huo Zhengyuan immediately became wary.
Even though the two parties now have a common goal and a common enemy, and they appear to be working together and sincerely when they work together, in fact, the "Zhao Party" and the "Zhou Party" have never been allies. They have always been fighting overtly and covertly with each other, and they are always As Zhao Junchen's various reforms gradually deepened, the conflict of interests between the two parties became increasingly fierce.
Therefore, Huo Zhengyuan was secretly wary of Zhou Shangjing from beginning to end, fearing that while Zhou Shangjing was digging a hole for Zhu Hejian, he would also push himself and "Zhao Dang" into the hole.
Zhou Shangjing definitely has the means and the idea.
At this time, Zhou Shangjing wanted to use Huo Zhengyuan to force the lowly people to ambush Zhu Hejian's dead soldier organization, which made Huo Zhengyuan feel that he was being plotted by him.
Now that Zhou Shangjing has noticed that Huo Zhengyuan is secretly connecting various Jijis recently, it means that Zhou Shangjing has obtained conclusive evidence that can prove to the court that there is a connection between Huo Zhengyuan and Jiji.
Under such circumstances, once Huo Zhengyuan followed Zhou Shangjing's suggestion and ordered the lowly people to ambush the dead soldier organization that was besieging Zhu Hejian, and Zhu Hejian was unlucky and was accidentally injured during the melee between the two sides, or even died unexpectedly, then Zhou Shangjing would most likely immediately He stabbed Huo Zhengyuan in the back, reported Huo Zhengyuan's relationship with Nanjing Jieji to the court, and put all the responsibility for Zhu Hejian's death and injury on Huo Zhengyuan.
You must know that even if conclusive evidence is found that Zhu Hejian secretly raised dead soldiers, before Emperor Deqing personally sanctioned him, Zhu Hejian was still a prince after all, and Huo Zhengyuan was by no means qualified to harm him without authorization, and he was still inciting a lowly riot. To cause harm in such a way is definitely against Emperor Deqing's taboo and will definitely be severely punished by Emperor Deqing.
In the end, Zhou Shangjing used Huo Zhengyuan to bring down Zhu Hejian, and on the other hand, he used Zhu Hejian to bring down Huo Zhengyuan, and then severely damaged the "Zhao Party". It was simply the best of both worlds, killing two birds with one stone.
But on the surface, Huo Zhengyuan deeply recognized it, nodded slowly, and said: "That's it! Zhou Shoufu's plan is brilliant! If the seventh prince voluntarily exchanges and becomes a hostage, this matter must be kept strictly confidential at the beginning, and only a few high-level officials will do it. Knowing the inside story, and those lowly people in Nanjing City all have low status, it is impossible to know about this matter!
Therefore, as long as we conceal the fact that the Seventh Prince became a hostage from the lowly people and make them mistakenly believe that this ambush is just to assist the court in suppressing bandits, they will naturally charge into the battle without any worries... and because they are not important at all, So even if an accident occurs, we can easily put all the blame on these scoundrels. They have no chance to argue and can only let us control and accept their fate and accept severe punishment from the court..."
At this point, Huo Zhengyuan suddenly changed the topic and said: "However, just in case, the official still hopes that the chief assistant will write down a warrant in his own hand, which allows the official to suppress the banditry and rescue the seventh prince. You can make decisions on the spur of the moment and act cheaply!
At the same time, Xiaguan's operating time is still short and he cannot drive too many lowly people to work hard, so he can only be responsible for the ambush near the west city gate. As for the other three city gates, they are all handed over to Zhou Shoufu. If you have endless strategies and great magical powers, you can definitely find three more useful chess pieces. How about that? "
Zhou Shangjing took a deep look at Huo Zhengyuan, his eyes full of regret.
*
In fact, before Huo Zhengyuan was promoted to bachelor, Zhou Shangjing was very optimistic about Huo Zhengyuan's intelligence and had the opportunity to take Huo Zhengyuan under his tutelage and make Huo Zhengyuan a member of the "Zhou Party".
But in the end, considering various interests and Zhou Shangjing believed that Huo Zhengyuan was too timid and unable to stand alone, he gave up on Huo Zhengyuan. Instead, he used various means to get Huo Zhengyuan to join Huang Yourong's family and become Huang Yourong's confidant. .
At that time, Huang Yourong's ecological niche in the temple was similar to that of Zhao Junchen now. He also used all means to amass wealth, controlled a large number of well-oiled yamen, and attracted a large number of corrupt officials to join him. His expansion was extremely rapid. , once threatened the status of the "Zhou Party".
After Huo Zhengyuan joined Huang Yourong's disciples, his intelligence and intelligence were quickly put to good use by Huang Yourong. However, his too timid and cautious behavior gradually affected Huang Yourong. He was always able to keenly discover various hidden dangers, and he always emphasized various aspects. The terrible consequences of this hidden danger made Huang Yourong become indecisive, which in turn caused the entire "Yellow Party" to gradually lose its vigor and expansion momentum, and became only complacent in corruption and amassing wealth.
In this way, the "Yellow Party" has turned into an interest group that is greedy but without any spirit, and is destined to be vulnerable.
Therefore, when Zhao Junchen began to rise, he used his stronger financial resources and more efficient methods of grabbing profits to defeat Huang Yourong and the "Yellow Party" almost easily. Not only did he seize Huang Yourong's temple niche, but he also It quickly annexed most of the "Yellow Party" forces.
During this period, Huo Zhengyuan also naturally changed his sect and joined Zhao Junchen's sect without any resistance, becoming Zhao Junchen's right-hand man.
Zhou Shangjing initially thought that after Huo Zhengyuan defected to Zhao Junchen, the changes in the "Yellow Party" would soon be repeated. Zhao Junchen would definitely value Huo Zhengyuan's intelligence and intelligence, and would gradually be influenced by Huo Zhengyuan, and the "Zhao Party" would also Like the "Yellow Party", they will become more forward-looking and cautious, gradually losing their ambition to expand and enterprising, and will no longer be able to pose a threat to the "Zhou Party".
Who would have thought that although Zhao Junchen reused Huo Zhengyuan, the end result was not that Huo Zhengyuan influenced Zhao Junchen, but that Zhao Junchen changed Huo Zhengyuan. Huo Zhengyuan, who had always been timid and cautious, gradually gained courage and determination, enough to be able to stand alone.
In fact, not only Huo Zhengyuan was influenced by Zhao Junchen, but also the corrupt officials in the "Zhao Party" group were now more or less influenced by Zhao Junchen. They were constantly influenced by Zhao Junchen's various reforms. After tasting the sweetness, they are no longer a simple community of interests for corrupt officials, but have become radical reformers in the temple. Everyone's eyes light up when they hear the word "reform".
The changes between Huo Zhengyuan and the "Zhao Party" officials are what Zhou Shangjing is most wary of.
Zhou Shangjing's wisdom and vision can fully see the various hidden dangers currently existing in the Ming Dynasty, but he is unwilling to change the status quo, and he is unable to change the status quo, because Zhou Shangjing himself is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the old interest system.
At this moment, seeing that Huo Zhengyuan dared to take the initiative to put forward conditions and compete with him, instead of fearing him and letting him do whatever he wanted in the past, Zhou Shangjing became more and more wary of the variable Zhao Junchen, and he couldn't help but feel regretful. I missed such a talent as Huo Zhengyuan.
If he had known in advance that Huo Zhengyuan's weak character could be easily changed, Zhou Shangjing would have taken Huo Zhengyuan under his wing.
Although Zhou Shangjing also knew very well that after Huo Zhengyuan joined his disciples, he might not be able to change Huo Zhengyuan as easily as Zhao Junchen.
The two requirements Huo Zhengyuan put forward at this time were also extremely harsh for Zhou Shangjing.
Asking Zhou Shangjing for a warrant to make a last-minute decision is equivalent to Huo Zhengyuan's follow-up actions getting Zhou Shangjing's endorsement. Once Zhu Hejian is accidentally injured during the melee, Zhou Shangjing will do his best to assist Huo Zhengyuan in covering up the truth and not let anyone discover the unauthorized actions of the scoundrels. It was due to Huo Zhengyuan's instigation, otherwise Zhou Shangjing would also be jointly and severally liable.
As for the conditions under which Huo Zhengyuan wanted to arrange for the lowly people to ambush near the West City Gate, he obviously wanted to seize the maximum benefits after the situation was settled.
With Zhou Shangjing's vision and wisdom, he had of course guessed in advance that when Zhu Hejian's death warrior organization fled Nanjing City, it was most likely that they would pass through the West Gate of Nanjing.
After Huo Zhengyuan controlled the lowly people to ambush near the West City Gate, there was a high probability that he could be the first to grasp the evidence that Zhu Hejian secretly raised dead men. After Huo Zhengyuan mastered the relevant evidence, it was equivalent to controlling the key to the replacement of the prince. Naturally, it was The benefits are countless.
Under normal circumstances, Zhou Shangjing would certainly not agree to Huo Zhengyuan's harsh conditions.
But now, Zhou Shangjing is also a little stretched and unable to do what he wants.
The foundation of the "Zhou Party" in Nanjing is the Jin Gentry forces represented by the Song family, and the grain gang forces that depend on the "Zhou Party" for survival. However, the Jin Gentry forces and the grain gang forces are currently in a tense confrontation with the Jin Yiwei. Although Zhou Shangjing There are still some forces that can be mobilized, but these forces are closely monitored by Zhu Hejian's supporters, and the operations cannot be kept secret at all.
After counting, only the lowly forces controlled by Huo Zhengyuan are the most useful. Not only are they numerous and dare to fight, but after an accident, it is also easy to cut off the relationship and turn them into abandoned ones, without worrying about backlash. , and no one pays attention to these cheap books and pays attention to these cheap books, so no one will deliberately monitor these cheap books, so these cheap books can be turned into a surprise army and exert miraculous effects.
So, after Zhou Shangjing pondered for a moment, he directly agreed to Huo Zhengyuan's conditions. He took out a warrant from the table at hand and handed it to Huo Zhengyuan. He said with a smile: "Okay! I have already prepared this warrant."
*
Time returns to the present.
Recalling the negotiation process between himself and Zhou Shangjing, Huo Zhengyuan naturally had no sense of complacency, but rather felt a little heavy.
When he negotiated with Zhou Shangjing, Zhou Shangjing controlled the rhythm and direction from beginning to end, and the vision and methods displayed by the two were also very different.
Although Huo Zhengyuan finally took advantage of Zhou Shangjing's limited power and forced Zhou Shangjing to make a compromise, Huo Zhengyuan did not think that Zhou Shangjing was willing to give up the amazing benefits of controlling the replacement of the prince.
In fact, Huo Zhengyuan knew in his heart that even if he took advantage of the ambush of the lowly disciples and got hold of the key evidence that Zhu Hejian raised the dead, he would not be able to preserve the evidence on his own. He would still need to cooperate with Zhou Shangjing. You can preserve evidence and make a difference.
As for the current situation, it seems that Huo Zhengyuan is driving the bastards to ambush Zhu Hejian's death warrior organization, but it is just a mantis stalking the cicada. Zhou Shangjing is the last oriole to take action, and is always ready to seize the fruits of victory. .
Thinking of this, Huo Zhengyuan was no longer in the mood to train Tang Sheng, a talent with a cold temperament.
If Zhu Hejian was accidentally injured in this melee, Tang Sheng would definitely become a scapegoat and die an untimely death - even if the court later believed that the lowly people had made a contribution to the rescue and pardoned the lowly people for accidentally injuring the prince, Huo Zhengyuan and Zhou Shangjing will definitely kill people to silence him in order to avoid future troubles.
As for Tang Sheng, if he wants to successfully join Huo Zhengyuan, instead of being ruthlessly abandoned and silenced by Huo Zhengyuan, he should pray sincerely and beg God to protect Zhu Hejian and be safe and sound in the chaos!
But Tang Sheng didn't know his real situation. At this time, he was still trying his best to flatter Huo Zhengyuan, and he was also complacent in his heart. He thought that since he was able to do things well and flattered well, he would definitely be reused by Huo Zhengyuan, and then he would break away from the lowly status. Citizenship, rapid rise...
Huo Zhengyuan still ignored Tang Sheng's flattery and just observed the chaos of the war carefully.
Suddenly, Huo Zhengyuan raised his hand and ordered: "Send the order to the nine fishermen, they can take action!"
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