Chapter 3426
When the recruitment of new people finally started to bear fruit, Zhang Qianzhi also waited for new developments in the Wujian Plan.
The Ministry of Security had sent messengers a month ago to contact three contacts personally selected by Zhang Qianzhi and deliver his handwritten letter.
The two businessmen in Yunnan and Guizhou are too far away, and it is estimated that the messenger will not be able to return for a while. But the line of Xiang Chunfu, the prefect of Ganzhou, has already had an echo.
This letter from Ganzhou Prefecture, two thousand miles away, has been placed on the desk in front of Zhang Qianzhi.
Zhang Qianzhi scraped off the wax paint on the seal and pulled out the letter paper inside.
The font on the letter is standard Song font, and the handwriting is clear and easy to read. However, after Zhang Qianzhi took a look at it, he knew that this letter was probably not written by Xiang Chunfu himself. It should be written by someone close to the master.
Although Xiang Chunfu was an official of the Ming Dynasty rather than a Han Dynasty, there was actually not much difference in the temperament and habits of handling official affairs between the two countries. Zhang Qianzhi has been in the officialdom for many years and knows this all too well.
Officials usually write and review documents in cursive script, so they can do it as quickly and conveniently as possible. Only when submitting important official documents, Song fonts, which are easy to read but troublesome to write, are used.
The group of people who are proficient in Song script writing are often the masters, clerks and other figures around officials. These people only have brains and pens, so they are often used as ghostwriters by officials.
Of course, Zhang Qianzhi also had a rather special reason for his speculation, that is, he believed that Xiang Chunfu would not have sent a personal letter to him the first time he contacted him. If something went wrong on the road and fell into the wrong hands, or if Haihan used it as a threat to him, then Xiang Chunfu might not be able to bear it anymore and walk away.
Xiang Chunfu spent more than 20 years in the Ming Dynasty before climbing to his current position. He was an official in the Ming Dynasty. He couldn't have no city government at all, so even if he had the intention of contacting the Haihan Security Department through letters, he would never do so. It's so easy to make such a low-level mistake.
But precisely because it was written by someone else, Zhang Qianzhi did not have high hopes for the message Xiang Chunfu would express in this secret letter.
Sure enough, after reading the secret letter, he didn't have any happy reaction, and its content was basically in line with what he expected.
Xiang Chunfu was more cautious than Zhang Qianzhi expected, and he did not even take the initiative to reveal his identity in the letter.
The writer said that he had lived in Jiangxi for a long time and had rarely contacted his old friends in the south. Now that the world is not peaceful, it is not easy to leave Jiangxi and move around in the south.
As for Zhang Qianzhi's request to maintain close contact in the future, the letter writer did not comment, but cautiously expressed the hope that such exchanges would not cause trouble to each other.
However, at the end of the letter, the writer expressed that he still remembered Mr. He in his hometown and wished Mr. He well.
The "Master He" mentioned in the letter obviously refers to He Xi who paved the way for Xiang Chunfu back then.
Zhang Qianzhi read the letter over and over three times before slowly putting it back into the envelope.
The other party expressed in the letter rather vaguely that he had not forgotten the previous relationship, but he did not show a clear attitude on whether to continue to accept the remote control command of the Ministry of Security. He was obviously hesitant.
In Zhang Qianzhi's view, Xiang Chunfu was probably a little worried that his contact with Haihan would endanger his current status, but he was also afraid that cutting off contact with Haihan would offend the Ministry of Security, which made him somewhat hesitant. The other party is a high-ranking official of the fourth rank of the Ming Dynasty. Now he has a family and business. He is regarded as a local emperor. In recent years, his contact with Haihan has not been so close, and he has no need to rely on Haihan's support. It is reasonable to have such a reaction.
However, Zhang Qianzhi understood his reaction, which did not mean that he would be considerate of the other party.
The purpose of the Wujian Plan is to use nails to drive into the upper class of Ming society to induce changes in the domestic situation of Ming Dynasty. Now it has taken Xiang Chunfu more than twenty years to put this nail in place, so how can it be abandoned just because the other party's attitude is uncertain.
Zhang Qianzhi believes that in order to dispel Xiang Chunfu's concerns, in addition to exerting pressure on him, he must also give him some necessary commitments. If there is no benefit at all, why would Xiang Chunfu give up the glory and wealth he is enjoying and take the risk to cooperate with Haihan?
So he planned to tell the other party in the next contact that Haihan could guarantee that after his return, he would be given a higher position based on his merit.
Of course, the prerequisite for enjoying this kind of treatment is that Xiang Chunfu can help Haihan successfully win the Ganzhou government governed by him in the most peaceful way possible. Only in this way can he have enough merit for the executive committee to give him special retention treatment. .
And if Xiang Chunfu can help Haihan win more places and make greater contributions, then he may not stop at ruling Ganzhou in the future, and it is also reasonable to move up.
After Zhang Qianzhi had almost considered the next step, he called the courier who had just returned to Sanya in and asked him face to face some details about his trip.
Zhang Qianzhi asked: "Did you see Xiang Chunfu himself during this trip to Ganzhou?"
The subordinate responded: "My lord, I saw him, but I couldn't talk to him. I was only taken to the door of his study to wait, and his subordinates passed the letter and saw him from a distance. I thought he was trying to avoid missing anything. It will be criticized by others.”
The Ministry of Security has a set of codes specifically used to identify oneself, which were written into the greeting card. Xiang Chunfu, who had been trained in the early years, could tell the identity of the visitor at a glance, so the messenger sent by Zhang Qianzhi could be summoned smoothly.
But he only summoned people without having a conversation, which was indeed a very prudent approach.
Zhang Qianzhi continued to ask: "What is the situation at his home? Do you have detailed information? Have you checked the previous records?"
The subordinate responded: "I have inquired about it, and the situation of the Xiang family is still basically consistent with the archived records. The only discrepancy is that Xiang Chunfu's eldest son entered the Imperial Academy after the last joint examination and is now permanently stationed in Beijing."
Zhang Qianzhi nodded slightly and said: "This is probably one of the reasons why he has scruples."
The Infinite Project roster that Zhang Qianzhi obtained from He Xi previously contained information about relevant personnel. However, some of the information was old and may not be consistent with the current situation, so Zhang Qianzhi asked this question.
It is not unusual for Zhang Qianzhi that Xiang Chunfu's son can be admitted to the Imperial College. Even if his reading ability is limited, Xiang Chunfu should have enough energy to send him in.
As a prefect, of course he would try every means to find a way out for his descendants, and Xiang Chunfu himself had taken the Imperial College route to enter his official career, so it was a familiar path for him.
Zhang Qianzhi couldn't help thinking that it seemed that in order for Xiang Chunfu to return, it was not enough to promise him a future. He probably had to pave the way for his son as well.