People's highest evaluation of a wise man is often the words "the best thing to do".
But in fact, the key point of whether a person can "calculate all strategies" is not how smart he is, nor how brilliant his past knowledge is, but how much key information he has mastered.
As long as he has more and more critical information, even a fool can control a wise man.
Lu De is a smart man, but he has left Nanjing in the past few days and does not understand the changes in the situation in Nanjing.
Therefore, Lu De did not know that the situation in Nanjing had now undergone a huge change.
That is - the spokesperson of the "Zhao Party" in Nanjing, the academician Huo Zhengyuan, who has always been cautious, hesitant, and lacks decision-making, unexpectedly showed extremely rare great courage and was determined to give it a go and seize chestnuts from the fire, while the people in Nanjing city
The current chaos is all caused by Huo Zhengyuan forcing the "United Shipping Company" to take the lead in causing trouble.
Because of the lack of this key information, after Lu De heard the detailed explanation from the Nanjing defender Xiao Qi, his inference was biased.
According to the explanation of the defender Xiaoqi, the direct reason why the situation in Nanjing suddenly got out of control was the call taken by the "United Shipping Company", which publicly accused Nanjing's high-level power struggle of disrupting the normal order of the people, so it led the merchants to go on strike.
Strike, students strike.
But in the final analysis, the "United Shipping Company" is just a combination of interests of a group of businessmen. How can it have the courage to take the initiative to stir up trouble at this sensitive time and further disrupt the situation?
There must be a big shot behind the scenes, emboldening the "United Shipping Company"!
But who is behind the scenes driving the "United Ship Navigation"?
Due to insufficient information, Lu De first ruled out the correct answer - that is, Huo Zhengyuan - in Lu De's impression, Huo Zhengyuan definitely did not have such courage.
Then, Lu De pointed his suspicion at the seventh prince Zhu Hejian.
The reason is also very simple. The "United Shipping Company" is a group of merchants' interests. All forces have penetrated it and can exert influence on it. However, if you want to drive the "United Shipping Company" to take risks and take the lead in making trouble, you must
We need the full support of Qian Lai, the Nanjing boss of "United Shipping Company"!
The official backer of shopkeeper Qian was Xi Cheng, the eunuch in charge of Nanjing;
And this Eunuch Xi, the governor of Nanjing, is the political ally of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian in Nanjing;
Therefore, Zhu Hejian, with the support of Xicheng, was naturally able to put pressure on Qian Lai and drive the "United Shipping Company" to do things.
At the same time, because some of the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers had their whereabouts exposed by fighting with another group of thugs in Nanjing yesterday evening and were being hunted down by the Nanjing government, Zhu Hejian wanted to protect these "Chaofeng" dead soldiers and escape smoothly.
, to prevent his crime of secretly raising dead soldiers from being exposed to the world, and also had sufficient reasons to drive the "United Shipping Line" to disrupt the situation in Nanjing.
He has both motivation and ability, and this method is completely consistent with Zhu Hejian's consistent character and style.
Thinking of this, Lu De has already concluded in his heart that the person behind the current chaos in Nanjing is most likely the seventh prince Zhu Hejian.
What should I say? Apart from the fact that the final conclusion is completely wrong, this inference is absolutely logically rigorous and well-founded.
Of course, Lu De is a cautious person. Even if he has an inference in his mind, he will not take any action based on the inference in his mind before personally verifying the results. He will not make actual mistakes due to wrong inferences in his mind.
But unfortunately, with the chaos in Nanjing, various variables and coincidences are also emerging one after another.
For example, now, Lu De wants to meet the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian as soon as possible, so that he can naturally verify his reasoning. However, due to the mutual confrontation between the people of Nanjing and the Nanjing defenders, he is blocking his way forward, making it impossible to advance or retreat;
Lu De originally wanted to ask the Nanjing defenders to arrange a team of soldiers and horses to clear the way for him to escort him. However, at this time, the Nanjing defenders were already stretched thin to suppress the chaos in the city. Although they wanted to take the opportunity to please Lu De, they could only express their gratitude.
Feeling powerless.
Seeing that he was blocked near the city gate and unable to move forward, just when Lu De felt helpless, he suddenly discovered that a young man dressed as a servant, but well-behaved and capable, walked quickly to his side and approached him.
He saluted and said hello.
"The villain Song Shun has met Mr. Lu!"
After seeing this person, Lu De was immediately shocked.
This Song Shun was a confidant of the Song family in the south of the Yangtze River.
The master he served was the grandson of Song Chengren, the head of the Song family, a prominent family in the south of the Yangtze River, the youngest son of Song Qiwen, the official secretary, and the most promising among the three generations of Song family members!
Therefore, Song Shun's sudden appearance means that Song Jicheng is also nearby.
So, Lu De got straight to the point and asked directly: "It seems that Brother Song is nearby?"
Song Shun nodded, turned around and pointed to a restaurant not far away, and replied: "My young master is drinking there. After seeing Mr. Lu, he sent a villain to invite Mr. Lu to have a chat."
Lu De turned around and saw that the restaurant was called "Yao Hai Pavilion". Due to the chaos in Nanjing and the call for a market strike by the "United Shipping Company", the restaurant was not open for business. Instead, it was locked.
All doors and windows are dead.
However, on the second floor of "Yaohai Pavilion" with a wide view, a very eye-catching window is wide open, and someone can be vaguely seen sitting by the window, overlooking the details near the Nanjing City Gate.
Seeing this situation, Lu De's heart moved slightly and asked: "If I guessed correctly, the drinks and dishes of this 'Invitation to the Sea Pavilion' must be unique, so Brother Song has been
You will linger in this restaurant and never want to leave, constantly tasting the fine wines and delicacies here, and you won’t want to leave at all, right?”
Song Shun was stunned for a moment, but did not refute. He just held his hands in admiration and said again: "Master Lu is so sharp."
Lu De nodded lightly, roughly guessing why the group of "Chaofeng" dead soldiers who sneaked into Nanjing in advance yesterday quickly exposed their presence.
Obviously, Song Jicheng, who was responsible for monitoring this place, discovered the signs.
Thinking of this, Lu De also wanted to take the opportunity to contact and test Song Jicheng, so he nodded and said: "I haven't seen Brother Song for a long time, and I miss him so much. Since Brother Song invited me to talk, of course I don't dare to refuse."
After saying that, Lu De took the lead in heading towards the "Yao Hai Pavilion".
*
From a certain perspective, it was inevitable that Lu De would meet Song Jicheng at this time.
After receiving the news that the embankment burst and flooded the Imperial Manor, Song Chengren, the head of the Song family, arranged for his grandson Song Jicheng to personally watch the people coming and going near the city gate, secretly investigate all suspicious persons, and take the opportunity to find the seventh prince Zhu Hejian who was secretly breeding
Evidence of dead soldiers.
And Song Jicheng did not live up to his grandfather's expectations. He soon discovered signs that Nanyang pirates and "Chaofeng" dead soldiers were sneaking into the city one after another, and immediately arranged for Song family servants to secretly follow them.
It's a pity that the Song family's servants are just a group of domestic servants after all. The tracking methods are so poor that not only their tracking behavior was quickly exposed, but also triggered a series of chain reactions, allowing the Nanyang pirates to also discover the death of "Chaofeng"
Because of the existence of soldiers, the fighting between the two sides took place yesterday evening, and nearly ten servants of the Song family were killed and injured.
However, the failure of this tracking mission was entirely due to the incompetence of the servants of the Song family. It was not Song Jicheng who made a mistake, so Song Chengren did not blame Song Jicheng and still let Song Jicheng continue to keep an eye on the situation near the city gate.
Therefore, Song Jicheng still reserved the entire second floor of the "Yaohai Pavilion" near the city gate today. He carefully paid attention to the comings and goings of suspicious people near the city gate, and quickly discovered Lu De who was blocked near the city gate and could not move forward or retreat.
If the situation in Nanjing was slightly more stable, Lu De would not be blocked and would soon leave the vicinity of the city gate and out of Song Jicheng's sight. At most, Song Jicheng could only collect information about "Lu De's return to Nanjing".
By the way, they just sent someone to keep an eye on Lu De's subsequent whereabouts, and the two of them had no chance to meet.
But now, due to the chaotic situation in Nanjing city, after seeing Lu De's dilemma, Song Jicheng suddenly thought of the evaluation of Lu De by his elders Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren. He couldn't help but feel moved in his heart, and sent someone to invite Lu De to meet him. He also wanted to take the opportunity to test
.
While waiting for Lu De to show up to meet him, Song Jicheng fell into deep thought: "According to the information from Zhou Shoufu, Lu De was actually a secret disciple of the former Grand Master He Ming and a senior fellow apprentice of Zhao Shancai. He chose to join the Seventh Army."
Prince Zhu Hejian is most likely not well-intentioned! From this aspect, our Song family and he can be considered to have the same position, and we have a hostile relationship with the seventh prince!
It's a pity that although the positions are consistent, the specific goals are not! We, the Song family, just want to prevent the seventh prince from becoming the heir apparent, and are not prepared to ruthlessly kill them all. However, Lu De and the seventh prince have a bloody feud, and we will never be willing to just
To make him lose his position and be imprisoned in the clan mansion for the rest of his life, and even have a chance to make a comeback in the future, I am afraid he wants the seventh prince to die without a burial place!
Because of these different goals, Lu De has now become the opponent of our Song family. He should want to fully assist the seventh prince to overcome the difficulties of the chaos in Nanjing, and take the opportunity to win more trust from the seventh prince, and then he can gradually master
More secrets and evidence of the seventh prince's crimes, and even actively tempting the seventh prince to commit more serious crimes. In the end, he waited for an opportunity to stab him in the back, which not only caused the seventh prince to fall from his peak, but also ruined his reputation.
No more life!
What's more, Zhou Shoufu also has other plans for Lu De. He doesn't want to alert the enemy and ruin Lu De's plan. He seems to regard him as a back-up to deal with the seventh prince. If the Nanjing plan does not succeed in the end, Lu De can still be counted on in the future.
It will work wonders... Therefore, I need to think carefully about how I should contact Lu De, test Lu De, or even wait for an opportunity to take advantage of him!"
While Song Jicheng was thinking like this, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from downstairs, and turned around to see Lu De walking upstairs.
Song Jicheng immediately restrained his thoughts, stood up to greet him in a friendly manner, and said with a loud smile: "Brother Lu, I haven't seen you for a few days. I originally thought you had been studying behind closed doors. Although I wanted to invite you to get together many times, I couldn't.
I didn't dare to disturb you at will. It wasn't until I saw you entering the city today that I realized that you had gone to hide in a courtyard outside the city!"
Then, without waiting for Lu De's response, Song Jicheng took Lu De's hands and asked with a concerned expression: "If I had known in advance that Brother Lu was staying in a courtyard outside the city these days, I would have been worried.
Yes! You also know that just late at night the day before yesterday, a flood rushed out of the embankment east of Nanjing City. Not only did it submerge the Huangzhuang downstream, but the people nearby also suffered disaster... I remember that the Lu Family Villa was located next to that
The location where the embankment broke was not far away, so Brother Lu was not in danger at that time, right?"
Hearing Song Jicheng's seemingly concerned but actually insidious and pointed question, Lu De's expression remained unchanged, he nodded and smiled and said: "Thank you, Brother Song, for your concern. The flood did not affect the Lu family's land. I only learned about it the next day."
I heard about the flood, so I hurried back to Nanjing."
Song Jicheng nodded happily: "That's good! That's good! Brother Lu, you should be more careful in the future. You are the most promising talent in Jiangnan and a direct descendant of the Lu family. As long as you follow the steps and don't take the initiative to provoke powerful enemies, your future will be doomed."
If you want to be successful, you should never be in danger, let alone personally involved in danger. If any accident occurs, it will be a huge loss to the entire Jiangnan Shilin."
These words still have meaning and seem to be a hidden warning.
"The first talented person in the south of the Yangtze River?" Lu De shook his head and laughed: "If Zhao Shancai hadn't suddenly died of illness after going to Beijing, how could this title fall on my head? Not to mention Zhao Shancai, Brother Song, you have been following Song Shangshu since you were a child.
I live in the capital and have been studying in the Imperial Academy in the capital. I rarely have the opportunity to return to the south of the Yangtze River, so I am not well-known among the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River. If, Brother Song, you stay in the south of the Yangtze River to study, the title of the most talented person in the south of the Yangtze River may not have anything to do with me.
.”
Song Jicheng laughed and shook his head: "Brother Lu, you think too highly of me! It is important for people to know themselves. I know very well that my talents and talents are obviously inferior to Brother Lu... Brother Lu's such ridiculous praise,
To me it's nothing short of ironic."
While talking, Lu De and Song Jicheng were already seated by the window hand in hand.
Later, Song Shun served Lu De with fragrant tea and pastries with quick hands and feet.
Lu De turned his head and glanced at the situation outside the window. He saw that the confrontation between the people in the city and the Nanjing defenders was still going on, and asked: "Brother Song, with your Song family's influence in Nanjing City, why didn't you take action in time to control the situation in Nanjing?"
Chaos? Do you want to watch the situation continue to be chaotic? Although the United Shipping Company took the lead in calling for merchants to strike, river workers to strike, and students to strike classes, as long as the Song family stands up to express their attitude, the influence of the United Shipping Company will be limited, right? "
Song Jicheng sighed, with a somewhat helpless expression, and said: "Under normal circumstances, my Song family would of course take action to prevent the chaos in the city. At least we can weaken the influence of the 'United Shipping Company' and prevent the chaos in the city from spreading to the extent it is now.
...But it is a pity that since last night, the Nanjing Guarding Eunuch Mansion has gone crazy and deliberately competed with my Song family. All the factory guards under his command have been dispatched to obstruct all the actions of our Song family. In such a situation, the Song family
I don’t have the strength to do anything, and when I do things, I get twice the result with half the effort, and I can only watch the chaos expand.”
After hearing this, Lu De became more and more convinced that the reason why the "United Shipping Company" took the lead in calling for trouble from all walks of life in Nanjing was because of Zhu Hejian's behind-the-scenes driving.
While Lu De was thoughtful, Song Jicheng smiled slightly: "What's more, the current situation in Nanjing seems chaotic, but in fact it is still within control. Brother Lu, as long as you observe carefully, you will find that'
Although the United Shipping Company took the lead in making trouble, they also tried their best to prevent the situation from getting out of control. They led the people to confront the Nanjing officials, but they would not take the initiative to provoke, let alone attack. If they were arrested by the Nanjing officials, they would be arrested without mercy.
, and soon all the prisons in Nanjing were filled, so Brother Lu just needs to watch the excitement and there is no need to worry too much."
After a pause, Song Jicheng continued: "In my opinion, the man behind the scenes who secretly drove the United Shipping Company to take the lead in making trouble and causing chaos must be taking advantage of the troubled waters! And what exactly is he trying to do?
Which fish you go for is the real key!"
Song Jicheng had been staying in Nanjing for the past few days and often listened to the conversations between Zhou Shangjing and Song Chengren. Therefore, he knew very well that the person behind the scenes who drove the "United Shipping Company" to cause trouble was the university scholar Huo Zhengyuan.
Moreover, Song Jicheng did not think that this matter needed to be kept secret, because the "United Shipping Company" was infiltrated by all parties, and all the major forces in Nanjing knew the inside story.
However, Lu De had just returned to Nanjing. Due to the intelligence gap, he made a mistake and mistakenly believed that the person behind the scenes who drove the "United Shipping Company" to take the lead in causing trouble was the seventh prince Zhu Hejian.
Just as Zhou Shangjing judged, Lu De now sincerely wanted to help the seventh prince Zhu Hejian tide over the chaos in Nanjing, and was unwilling to see Zhu Hejian fall into trouble because of the chaos in Nanjing.
In Lu De's view, even if Zhou Shangjing's plan goes well and Zhu Hejian stumbles into the chaos in Nanjing, the most it will do is expose Zhu Hejian's crime of secretly raising dead soldiers.
Although such a crime was serious, it only temporarily ruined Zhu Hejian's chance of ascending to the throne. At most, he would lose his status as a prince and be imprisoned in the clan prison.
But as long as Zhu Hejian's inner court supporters are still there, as long as Zhu Hejian's secret management for many years has not been completely destroyed, and as long as Emperor Deqing still has concerns in his heart, there will still be a glimmer of hope for him to make a comeback in the future.
Lu De's real idea is to let Zhu Hejian die without a burial place!
Only in this way can he succeed in revenge.
Therefore, Lu De must help Zhu Hejian successfully get through the chaos in Nanjing, and take the opportunity to gain Zhu Hejian's absolute trust, and then have the opportunity to make Zhu Hejian fall down even harder and heavier at some point in the future, and he will never be able to recover.
, trapped in endless despair!
All in all, Song Jicheng was clearly alluding to the scholar Huo Zhengyuan at this time. However, because Lu De's inference was wrong, and because the two of them were always hiding secrets when talking and did not fully explain their thoughts clearly, Lu De mistakenly thought that Song Jicheng
These words are an allusion to the seventh prince Zhu Hejian.
Because of different goals, Lu De wanted to protect Zhu Hejian with all his strength at this time and help Zhu Hejian mislead Song Jicheng as much as possible.
Under such circumstances, the subsequent conversation between Lu De and Song Jicheng was naturally incorrect, and ultimately caused a huge misunderstanding between the two parties.
