Chapter 87 He Xi’s Skills (2)
This kind of face-to-face teaching by words and deeds was obviously much more intuitive and effective than last night's air-to-air training session, and Zhang Guang also saw a side of He Xi that no one knew about. Even if he doesn't engage in intelligence work in the future, Zhang Guang thinks that if He Xi becomes an actor or starts his own theater troupe and becomes a director, he will be a proper master.
What surprised Zhang Guang even more was that He Xi obviously had more than just Kong Limu. Over the course of the morning, Zhang Guang estimated that half of the people who came in and out of the teahouse had greeted He Xi. Zhang Guang did some statistics and found that most of them were subordinate officials in the state government. Two of them were staff members of Tongzhi and Tongpan respectively. When it was almost noon, a few soldiers came to the store. He Xi I even knew one of the hundred households.
This morning, He Xi attacked from all sides and chatted so much that people who didn't know would probably think that he was the resident storyteller. Zhang Guang doesn't have He Xi's eloquent ability, so he can only chime in or provide a little background laughter when others are joking, but he doesn't have much of a sense of presence.
After the soldiers left, He Xi knocked on the table and shouted: "Boy, let's settle the score!"
Calculated, the total amount was one, two or three cents, which still helped to pay for tea for several tables of people. Zhang Guang finally saw what efficient use of event funds is. No wonder He Xi could pat his chest yesterday and say that as long as money can be used in the right place, it is not a waste. According to his efficiency in collecting intelligence, such a small amount of money can be regarded as a model of frugality.
Although the activities in the teahouse are over, it is obvious that He Xi's work will not end there - his next target is the nearby "Nanhaiju" restaurant, which is a place frequented by celebrities from all walks of life in Yazhou. The last celebration banquet of the Yazhou Action Team was held at "Nanhaiju". He Xi, who had specially inquired about the action team, naturally listed this restaurant as one of his event venues.
"If you have any questions, you might as well ask me now." He Xi said calmly as he sat in the street-facing seats on the third floor of "Nanhaiju".
"I do have a question to ask you." Zhang Guang nodded and said, "Two questions. First, why did these low-level officials appear in that teahouse, and how did you know about this situation? Second, look It seems like they all know that you are not a local, so why don’t I feel that they have any scruples about you?”
"That's a good question." He Xi first affirmed Zhang Guang's attitude, and then said: "Then I'll answer you one by one. Let me talk about the first one first. After I came out yesterday morning, I ran around Beicheng. Do you remember what I mentioned yesterday about the principles for choosing public places? ”
"The flow of people should be large, so that it is not easy to attract attention, and more information will be collected." Zhang Guang replied immediately.
"That's right, based on this principle, it will not be that difficult to choose a place among the two restaurants, three small restaurants, and four teahouses in Beicheng..." He Xi looked at the sky in the distance and said faintly: "Of course, in order to save time, I did not do such complicated investigation work. I just spent a dollar to find an idle man on the street and it became clear after asking."
Zhang Guang almost spit out a mouthful of tea when he heard this. He Xi patted his shoulder lightly and said: "Don't think that I am opportunistic, this is called experience. Let's talk about your second question. First of all, you must pay attention to the identities of these people we are contacting today and who they are. ? They are all low-level officials. They are shouted at in the workplace during working hours. They do not have a high social status outside the workplace. They can only have breakfast in a small teahouse on the street. They have no money and no power. Quan is a low-level civil servant, so please tell me, what are their psychological needs?”
Before Zhang Guang could come up with the answer, He Xi continued: "It's respect, it's flattery, it's admiration, it's the feeling of being extraordinary from other people's reactions! In Yazhou, not many people care about them. They are called 'adults', and even many of the prisoners sent here have a much higher status than them. Most of the time in their working life, they only kneel down and lick others. You can imagine their mental state now. There was a stranger who showed enough respect and kindness to them without any entanglement of interests. Moreover, this person obviously had a certain financial strength and social status and was willing to sit at a table and chat happily with them. , do you think they have any reason to be wary of me?”
Zhang Guang opened his mouth wide and sat there for a long time before murmuring: "What you said makes sense, but I am speechless."
"If you are interested in my craft, I suggest you look for some works on personality psychology and social psychology in the large database in the future." Seeing that Zhang Guang did not respond, He Xi added One sentence: "Learning a little knowledge of psychology will also be very helpful in chasing girls."
"Really?" Zhang Guang suddenly came back to his senses.
"Of course, this is very rigorous science." He Xi nodded solemnly: "But before you use it to chase girls, you'd better have enough practical experience."
Not surprisingly, He Xi also met two groups of familiar people here. But this time he acted much more reserved. He just went over to toast and then returned to his table, without talking too much with anyone.
Zhang Guang also noticed this detail. After He Xi came back and sat down, he asked: "What are those two tables about?"
He Xi put down his chopsticks and lowered his voice and said: "One table is Zhang Tongpan from the state government office, and the other table is Wang Qianhu from the guard office."
"This is a real official. Why don't you talk more?" Zhang Guang couldn't help but feel a little surprised at He Xi's performance. Previously, I was as enthusiastic as a spring breeze towards those low-level officials in the small teahouse, but now I met the real master and even exchanged a few words of lukewarm greetings and it was all over? He Xi raised two fingers and said: "Two reasons. First, today is only the second time we meet, and I haven't gotten to know them well enough to share a table casually; second, if someone wants to make an appointment at the wine table For some official duties, if I stay there for too long, it will make people feel disgusted. In this case, it is best not to forcefully increase the presence, which is easy to mess up.”
Zhang Guang asked curiously: "Then why didn't you plan to help them settle the bill?"
He Xi cursed, "Are you stupid? Those two tables of food and drinks cost at least twenty taels of silver. Besides, I didn't eat at the same table. Do you think I'm crazy if I rush to pay?" By the way, in the past 5,000 years, have you ever seen an official use his own money to take his colleagues out to eat and drink? Why should I help these morons pay the bills when it is clear that it is public money?”
Zhang Guang nodded in sudden realization, but immediately felt something was wrong - weren't he and He Xi eating and drinking on public funds now? He Xi seemed to have scolded herself in her words.
Of course, He Xi's integrity was only verbal. Within two minutes of sitting down, he called the waiter over and asked the waiter to bring a bottle of good wine to each of the two tables. Naturally, this account was recorded in his book. on his own head.
He Xi's show of kindness naturally won the other party's favor. The people at the table raised their glasses to express their gratitude. The Qianhu, who was probably a martial artist, had a straightforward temperament and came over to follow him. He Xi and Zhang Guang each had a drink.
After lunch, Zhang Guang curiously asked He Xi where he should go for activities in the afternoon. He Xi shook his head and said: "It is office hours in the afternoon, there is no suitable place. The fastest I have to wait until these people get off work is to go to the brothel to listen." Little songs, hot chicks, etc... But it seems inconvenient to take you there, I think I’d better forget it.”
Zhang Guang's face turned red and he said: "Then you acted alone yesterday and I didn't see you there!"
He Xi sighed and said: "It's impossible to tell if you go to a place like this alone. I said I went to the brothel to work. Can you believe it?"
"It seems that the credibility is almost there." Zhang Guang also had to admit that He Xi's concerns were very reasonable.
"At the very least, two or three people need to testify against each other. I can bring Maliko and Qiu Yuan there another day. These two guys used to be in the mixed system. They must be familiar with these three-sect situations!" He Xi He mercilessly turned the innocent Maliko and Qiu Yuan into negative teaching materials.
Zhang Guang suddenly thought of something, coughed dryly and said: "Old He, I think you should give up this idea as soon as possible. I remember reading some information before coming here, which states that officials are not allowed to have prostitutes."< br>
"Oh? Is there such a rule?" He Xi asked in shock as he really didn't know there was such a thing.
"There really is such a rule." Zhang Guang mentioned a few that he still remembered. After the members of the working group were selected, Ning Qi found a lot of reference materials from the large database for them to supplement their historical knowledge. Everyone's focus is different based on their own interests, and what Zhang Guang read more at that time were some Ming people's works that recorded actual events.
Lu Rong of the Ming Dynasty recorded in "Miscellaneous Notes of Shuyuan" that "in previous generations, all civil and military officials had to use official prostitutes, but now it is prohibited to use prostitutes to stay in prostitution, and even dismissal is not mentioned." Wang Qi of the Ming Dynasty recorded in "Miscellaneous Notes of Yupu" that "officials stay in prostitution. A person who kills people is a first-class person. Even if he is pardoned, he will be punished for the rest of his life. This means that once an official in the Ming Dynasty is caught engaging in prostitution, he will not be employed for life, and the punishment is very serious.
Similar records are very common in the works of the Ming Dynasty. For example, Gu Qiyuan's "Guest Words" records the prohibition and punishment of prostitution by Jiang Bao, the Minister of Rites of Nanjing, "Anyone who stays in prostitution will be identified by a prostitute at night and seven minutes of silver." "If you are punished, you will be shown the yoke." This means that once a prostitute is caught, she will be fined seven cents of silver and will also be shown in yoke. The book "Allusions and Stories" written by Yu Jideng even narrates the story of the Hainan Guard commander who went to Beijing to report on his duties during the Ming Dynasty. He was caught in prostitution, and was stripped of his official position and relegated to the Weiyuan Guard.
He Xi was dumbfounded after hearing this, and sighed after a long time: "With such strict control, it will not be easy to be a civil servant in the Ming Dynasty!"
(End of chapter)