Chapter 13 At least two opponents are deceived at the same time in each strategy
Why Zheng Sen suddenly ran away on his own initiative? This happened two days ago.
After Zhang Xuezeng was put under pressure by Zhu Dadian, he naturally notified the Shen family immediately and asked Shen Shuren to prepare to leave for Nanjing to undergo interrogation by the Ministry of Justice.
Chen Shuren took semi-secretive measures to keep the news secret, that is, he only revealed it to those close to him.
Zheng Sen was sent to Suzhou by his family for just over half a month, but his relationship with Shen Shuren was already getting along well.
Zheng Sen is only fifteen years old now, and he is still at an age where he is full of energy and enterprising, and he is still a little impulsive in doing things. He sees that Shen, Gu, and Zhang are all people with eclectic knowledge and broad-minded knowledge of civil and military strategies, so he has a special conversation with them. Come.
The day before leaving, Shen Shuren quietly invited three buddies, Zhang Huangyan, Gu Yanwu, and Zheng Sen, to have a drink together as a way to practice for himself.
Zhang Huangyan and Gu Yanwu were naturally a little angry about his being transferred.
They felt that this case couldn't be more clear. Shen Shuren simply let his servants defend themselves. He had no fault at all. He just asked the Nanjing Criminal Department to directly review the file materials. Why drag the person away to insult the gentlemen?
But Shen Shuren was very magnanimous: "My brothers have considered it for me, and Shen understands it. However, due to state laws, this visit is not considered a detention, it is just a questioning.
I guess it’s just that this case is too typical and the plot is relatively novel. The Nanjing Criminal Department wants to sort it out and summarize it so that it can be used as a guide to other places, so everything will be fine.”
Gu Yanwu was amazed when he heard this: "Brother Shen Xian is really open-minded, so I won't say more. I'm just drinking. I hope Brother Xian has a smooth journey and it won't affect his career in the future."
After everyone finished drinking, Shen Shuren put on a guilty expression and took the opportunity to apologize to Zheng Sen:
"Shen has a clear conscience about this, but I am only sorry for brother Zheng Xian. A gentleman should have promised a huge sum of money, but Shen broke his promise in the end. Brother Yu, I offer you a drink. If you are willing to forgive Brother Yu, I will drink this cup to the full."
Zheng Sen couldn't help but be surprised: "Brother Shen, why did you say this? Why can't you forgive me for going to Nanjing?"
Shen Shuren's acting skills were just right, showing a surprised expression:
"What? Don't you know about the arrangements at my dear brother's house? Your fourth uncle came to my house several times to beg me to pretend to be sick and not go to Nanjing. But now I can't help myself and can only break my promise. I'm not sorry. you."
Chen Shuren's guess was correct. Zheng Zhilong did not thoroughly analyze the convoluted reasons for his worries with young Zheng Sen.
It is estimated that Zheng Sen only knew that his family did not want him to go to Nanjing, but he had no idea how much the family had paid for this situation and how much they attached importance to it.
Zheng Sen was really shocked and asked quickly. Shen Shuren followed suit and told the Zheng family's remarks and his subsequent reasoning.
After listening to this, Zheng Sen felt a bit like his faith had collapsed. The image of his father in his mind was no longer as "loyal" as he originally thought.
"...It turns out that my father has always been suspicious of the imperial court? Is he afraid that the imperial court will let me go to Nanjing to study, and wants to hold me hostage? Our Zheng family has been doing our duty since Zhao'an, why are we so suspicious? Just because we Like Zhang Xianzhong, were they both ordered to be settled by Xiong Wencan?
If the imperial court really meant this, but I claimed to be ill and refused to go away, wouldn't it put more suspicion on the Zheng family? No, I am just a boy, what's the big deal about my personal safety? If my father and the imperial court were at odds because of me, wouldn't it be a problem? Kill the unfaithful and unfilial people!"
After all, he was young, and thinking about this made his blood boil. He felt that as long as he acted upright, how could the court attack a fifteen-year-old boy like him? That would be too cheap.
It's not surprising that he would think so.
The main reason is that his father Zheng Zhilong knew that Chongzhen had a temper that "can't get rid of the dirt in his eyes" and he couldn't handle it with common sense.
Zheng Sen, on the other hand, had no idea how suspicious Chongzhen was, and at the age of fifteen he was not old enough to be exposed to the political struggles of the imperial court.
Shen Shuren had been observing secretly from the side, and when Zheng Sen was doubting his life, he deliberately "thought for Zheng Sen's sake":
"My dear brother, you are worthy of being a loyal, filial, and righteous man! But don't misunderstand your father and your uncle. They have no intention of openly disobeying the imperial court. I guess I originally just wanted the Shen family to be the leader, and then your family can follow the trend. If there is harmonious mud, the law does not blame everyone.
It's a pity that my father offended Zhu Dadian, the governor of water transportation, because he advocated the change of water transportation to sea. Zhu Dadian took this opportunity to make us sick, but he accidentally inflicted trouble on my dear brother..."
Chen Shuren spoke very measuredly. He knew that they had not been close to each other since ancient times. If he directly talked about the other person's father and uncle's sinister intentions, Zheng Sen would definitely resist instinctively.
However, he mainly praised Zheng Zhilong's plot and made it seem "justifiable", which actually increased the credibility of this rhetoric.
Finally, Zhu Dadian's "unexpected force majeure" was added, making the Zheng family no longer embarrassed to blame the Shen family for not cooperating.
Everything is so in line with the personalities of the Shen family and his son.
Zheng Sen thought about it for a long time during the banquet, and finally, under the influence of alcohol, he got excited and said, "Brother Shen, I will not cooperate with my fourth uncle in pretending to be sick. Now that the matter has come to this, if our Zheng family will continue to act like turtles, , that is pouring dirty water on one’s own head!
Isn't it just to go to Nanjing to study! I'm on the same boat with you, sneak over first, and then I'll report to the Imperial College in Nanjing! By the time it's done, it's too late for my father and my fourth uncle to stop it even if they want to."
Shen Shuren pretended to be shocked, and looked like Zhuge Liang after reciting "Ode to the Bronze Bird Terrace" in front of Zhou Yu: "My dear brother, think twice! It's all Shen's fault, but don't damage the relationship between father and son because of it."
Zheng Sen, however, got more and more persuasive and sighed: "My father came from a humble background and seldom read the books of saints. As a son of a man, I saw that my father had done something wrong in serving the king, so I should make up for it.
Brother Shen, it’s not that I don’t have a boat to ride on, I’m just afraid that I’ll be sent back if I take my own boat. That’s why I want to use your Shen family’s boat to hide from others. This small favor is nothing to you, right?”
Only then did Shen Shuren show off a little: "Although our Shen family is not even 10% as good as yours, we still have hundreds of ships on the sea. A trivial matter like taking a boat is of no use."
Zheng Sen: "Then it's settled. When you set sail for Nanjing tomorrow night, I will secretly come to meet you. But I will leave a letter to my fourth uncle to explain the reason and let him stop thinking about resisting. The court, so as not to cause more trouble, he will understand.
By the time he sees this letter, we have already gone far. Where can they go in the vast river? And I will explain that all this is my own initiative. I think this is best for the family, and they will not blame you. From the Shen family."
Chen Shuren also put on a brave and heroic attitude:
"What are you talking about! I didn't want to take you just now because I was afraid of damaging the relationship between your father and son. How could I be afraid of making others blame you? Although my Shen family is poor, we can still afford this grudge! That's it. Got it!"
…
In this way, Zheng Sen was half abducted and half abducted by Chen Shuren, and was tricked into Nanjing subtly.
Zheng Hongkui didn't find out until the morning after Zheng Sen took the boat that his nephew was no longer there. He had sneaked away with one or two close servants, so he couldn't catch up with him.
The waterway from Suzhou to Nanjing was upstream of the Yangtze River, which took five or six days to reach.
It was the end of June when Shen Shuren set sail, and the day he landed was the third day of July.
Shen Shuren deliberately did not dock at the crowded pier, lest the Zheng family would send servants on fast horses to intercept the ship by taking the land route to the pier first. After all, the reverse flow of the waterway would definitely be much slower than riding a horse.
The past few days along the way have been quite leisurely. Zhang Huangyan and Gu Yanwu also have to take the provincial examination. They can come early or late. They happen to be on the same boat this time.
Everyone drinks and chats together every day, talking about politics and history, and it’s such a happy time.
In particular, Zhang Huangyan, who was both civilized and military, did not have much time for leisure. He felt that the exercise on the boat was too little, so he actually set up several temporary targets on the deck of the boat and shot archery every day as exercise.
The Shen family's Dasha is about eight feet long. Excluding the bow and stern cabins, the middle deck is only five or six feet long. It is not difficult to shoot fixed targets. In order to prevent accidents, the metal arrowheads are knocked off and only wooden poles are used to shoot at the haystacks.
Now that the Ming Dynasty has reached a critical stage of survival, the Civil Service Examination also includes a horse-riding and archery test. However, failing to shoot will not affect the passing of the exam, which is an extra bonus.
Zhang Huangyan was very satisfied with this year's new policy, and he became active in shooting. He occasionally invited Shen Shuren and Zheng Sen to exercise and compete with him. Only Gu Yan was weak in martial arts and would not participate in such activities.
Chen Shuren was also good at sports in his previous life. He went to special sports venues to play horse riding and archery, so it was not unfamiliar to him to hold a bow and arrow.
It's just that the bows and arrows of later generations have professional arrow sets and sights, but the bows of the Ming Dynasty are bare. It took him several days to get used to this traditional bow.
Zheng Sen was born in a martial arts family and was no problem with archery. However, he was still too young and lacked strength, so he could only use soft bows and light arrows. After several days of practice, Zheng Sen also admired Zhang Huangyan and Shen Shuren more and more. Unexpectedly, among these Suzhou literati , to be able to pick out such hard-working people who are skilled in shooting.
After arriving in Nanjing, Zhang Huang said that Gu Yanwu did not need to be imprisoned. They were here to take the exam. They went to the Qinhuai River on their own to find fellow villagers to continue the literary exchange and inquire about the news about the provincial exam.
Zheng Sen went directly to the Imperial College to prove his identity and wait for the Imperial College to apply for his student status.
Wu Weiye, the newly appointed director of the Imperial College, had already received a greeting from Mr. Yang Ge in advance. Knowing this, he naturally did not shirk and helped complete the procedures as quickly as possible.
Because Zheng Sen came to Nanjing two or three years earlier than in history, he was originally supposed to be a disciple of Qian Qianyi, but by mistake in this life he became a disciple of Wu Weiye.
After Chen Shuren got off the ship, he couldn't immediately go through the naturalization procedures. He had to deal with the interrogation by the Nanjing Criminal Department first.
It took another seven or eight days for the Nanjing Ministry of Punishment to complete the review and thoroughly confirm his innocence, and in the blink of an eye it was postponed to mid-July.
After the Nanjing Criminal Department completely closed the case, Shen Shuren took all the materials and went to the Imperial College to see Wu Weiye.
Wu Weiye looked at his resume and the previous invitation letter, and felt a little guilty in his heart.
"Looking at Chen Shuren's resume, I'm afraid his knowledge was not solid when he was in Suzhou. Although Mr. Yang Ge took care of him and let him go to prison, the situation has changed now. After all, he has been involved in a lawsuit. I don't know if Mr. Yang Ge knows this. What's the latest situation? If he knew about it, would Mr. Yang Ge still ask for things to be done as usual?"
After Wu Weiye closed the materials, he considered his wording and expressed his meaning to Shen Shuren in as euphemistic a way as possible.
That attitude is just like that of later generations of civil servants who asked people to issue a "certificate of no criminal record."
Shen Shuren was so perceptive that he understood Wu Weiye's subtext in just a few words.
In fact, he also had a record of this, and he wished that Wu Weiye would be like this.
Therefore, Chen Shuren politely and thoughtfully gave Wu Weiye a step forward: "The student can understand the difficulties faced by the mountain leader. How about this? Why not put your concerns in a tactful letter, and the student can take the opportunity to take it to Hefei for an interview. Meet Mr. Yang Ge.
After all, time changes and the situation changes. At that time, Mr. Yang Ge thought that the student was just an innocent child, so he recommended me to prison. Now the situation has changed. What if Mr. Yang Ge doesn’t want to have anything to do with the student?
The student originally had other errands and wanted to report to Mr. Yang Ge, but the matter was too small and he was embarrassed to come. With Mr. Wu’s letter, the student will have more confidence in asking to see Mr. Yang Ge."
Wu Weiye stroked his goatee a few times and felt that this was not bad. Anyway, he was only responsible for writing a letter. As for whether Shen Shuren could ask to see Yang Sichang after taking the letter, it was none of his business.
And he showed a humble attitude of asking for instructions on everything, and he was always careful not to make any big mistakes.
"You are prudent in your work, okay, I will edit a book and ask for your instructions."
After receiving the letter of introduction, Shen Shuren was very satisfied and rushed straight from Nanjing to Hefei County, Luzhou Prefecture, where Yang Sichang, the governor of the six provinces, was stationed.
This time he exceeded Yang Sichang's task and overcame many additional difficulties that Yang Sichang did not expect at the beginning.
If you do such a good job, wouldn't it be a waste if you don't take the opportunity to give a serious report in front of the boss and show off your PPT as a favor?
Originally, I was worried that Yang Sichang would think he was showing off his frivolity, but with Wu Weiye's request, everything fell into place.
It can only be said that Shen Shuren was very capable of getting things done, and he inadvertently took advantage of Wu Weiye and Yang Sichang at the same time.