Li Zicheng thought for a while and said, "Proprietor Liu, if it weren't for the paper money incident, you planned to be coerced by them forever?" ”

"Three years," Liu Xing said: "They told the grass people that they would only stay in Lanzhou for three years, as long as the Liu Mansion did not report it, and when the three years expired, they would return their grandchildren, and then the grandchildren left without knowing it, and the Liu Mansion did not lose much, and they only provided them with some tea and rice on weekdays......"

"Lord Liu is confused," Li Zicheng said with a straight face: "How can such a person be true to his word?" In fact, at the end of the three-year period, they no longer have to threaten your grandson, only one crime of collaborating with the enemy, can Liu Dongzhu afford to bear the crime? In the future, I will still be coerced by them, and if I continue to do so for a long time, how can I not commit crimes against the Mandate of Heaven? ”

"The grass people are really confused...... Ask the capital to rebuke and punish ......"

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "For the sake of his grandson, it is understandable that Liu Dongzhu was confused for a while, and now he can still make a ...... of it."

For the people, Li Zicheng has always been "mourning their misfortune and being angry with them", in the final analysis, they can't be completely blamed, in the environment of "family world", how many families can survive the troubled times?

In the hearts of the people, there is no country, no nation, only their own small family, it is very good to think of the family, in fact, they are also very pitiful, being targeted by enemy spies, who dares to stand up and expose it? If you don't know yourself, you're a sinner......

"Dadu Governor ......" Liu Xing raised his eyes that were a little distracted, and the tears in his eyes had not yet dried, "Can Dadu Governor forgive the grass people?" ”

Li Zicheng asked rhetorically: "What do you say?" ”

"The grass people listen to the governor of the grass for everything, the grass people are guilty, and they are willing to bear it with all their might, and they only ask the governor to bypass the children and grandchildren of the grass people......"

"In any case, your grandson is innocent, the Governor of Pontus will not embarrass a child, and the Governor of Pontus will do his best to save your grandson," Li Zicheng nodded, "As for Proprietor Liu, before everything is clarified, please be a guest at the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion." ”

Liu Xing naturally knows the meaning of the word "guest", he fornicated with the spies of the imperial court, no matter what the reason, the crime is inevitable, Li Zicheng did not embarrass him for the time being, and promised to let his grandson go, which is already the best result.

As for his son...... He couldn't take care of it anymore, in the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion, he had no choice, Liu Xing hurriedly bent his knees and bowed to the ground, "The grass people obey the Metropolitan Governor!" ”

Li Zicheng asked his soldiers to escort Liu Xing down, and Guo Shijun hurriedly said: "Metropolitan Governor, do you want to interrogate those spies?" Taking advantage of the fact that they had just been arrested, their hearts fluctuated......"

"Naturally, I will be interrogated," Li Zicheng said: "Xiaomi, someone will escort those three spies over, and the three of them will be escorted separately and separately, from now on, don't let them have any form of contact!" ”

"Yes, Grand Duke!"

He Xiaomi trotted out, Li Zicheng handed over the interrogation to Guo Shijun, and went home for dinner, although Guo Shijun looked young, but his age was not young, and he should be more experienced than him in dealing with a few spies who were caught.

Li Zicheng slept well all night, and after getting up the next day, he first went to the training ground to run the circle, and when his body was slightly sweaty, he went home to wash, and it was not yet breakfast, He Xiaomi: "Metropolitan Governor, Lord Guo asks to see!" ”

"Oh? came so early, it seems that last night's harvest must be not small," Li Zicheng put down the tea cup and said, "Take Shijun to the study to drink tea first, and I'll be there later!" ”

After He Xiaomi left, Li Zicheng hurriedly ate breakfast, then entered the study lightly, saw Guo Shijun drinking tea, and said with a smile: "Shijun came so early, last night was not a small harvest, right?" How, did they recruit? ”

"The Grand Duke!" Guo Shijun hurriedly got up, made a big salute, and then returned to the seat, "They have already recruited, they are all Hong Chengchou's people!" ”

"Oh?" Li Zicheng was overjoyed in his heart, it was good if he was not a person from the imperial court, Hong Chengchou had already seen the Mandate of Heaven Army, and because of the defeat in Guguan, the two sides had reached a verbal agreement, and it was expected that he would come to Lanzhou to spy on the information.

Hong Chengchou has an agreement with the Mandate of Heaven Army, although there is no paperwork, but the facts are the facts, as long as Wang Anping releases a message over there, he will not be able to eat and walk around, and the longer he and the Mandate of Heaven Army maintain no attack on each other, the more unclear it will be in the future, it can be said that since there is that agreement, Hong Chengchou has fallen into the grip!

As long as he is not a member of the imperial court, Li Zicheng does not have to worry.

Guo Shijun said: "Metropolitan Governor, how to deal with these people?" ”

"What about Liu Xing's grandson? Did you get rescued? ”

"Rescued," Guo Shijun said: "The spies locked Liu Xing's grandson in a dilapidated house outside the city, and delivered some water, steamed buns, and ...... on time every day."

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "I'm a little strange, since they are spies sent by Hong Chengchou, why don't they hide their identities, but they can't get along with the Liu Mansion?" Isn't that easy to expose? ”

"The subordinates have also asked these questions," Guo Shijun's eyes shone brightly, "Speaking of which, most of the governors may not believe it, these three people know about the war in Guguan, so they don't care about the matter of inquiring about information, they just want to live a life of drinking and drinking in Liu's mansion......"

"Passive slacking?" Li Zicheng was surprised, "Since they are spies sent by Hong Chengchou, they naturally have received a certain amount of training, if they can't send a message to Hong Chengchou, won't Hong Chengchou be suspicious?" ”

"So they will also send some information, which is the daily situation of the Heavenly Mandate Army, and the subordinates feel that there is not much practical value when they hear it," Guo Shijun said: "This time, the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion is going to issue paper money with great fanfare, and Hong Chengchou has given them an order, no matter what, they will destroy the issuance of paper money." ”

Li Zicheng unconsciously touched his chin, even Hong Chengchou's cronies lost confidence in the imperial court, so Hong Chengchou, and even the failure of the imperial court, is not far away, do you still need to maintain Taoguang?

If you want to disguise it again, the entire Ming Dynasty will be made into a miasma by thieves, how will you clean up the mess in the future?

It seems that the strategy of hiding under the wings of the imperial court is about to change!

"Do they still have accomplices? Can their words be trusted? ”

"The subordinates detained the three of them separately and interrogated them separately, and their confessions were basically the same, even if they threatened with death, there was not much information to dig up," Guo Shijun said: "They belong directly to Guyuan, and they are in one-line contact on weekdays, and a team like them may still be, but they have no contact with them." ”

It is also reasonable for Hong Chengchou to send spies to Lanzhou and Xining, and a large number of displaced people have been placed in the territory of the Heavenly Mandate Army, and it is too easy to mix in them.

The Mandate of Heaven Army has a Han and Qing bureau to investigate the enemy's situation, but it does not have its own counter-espionage agency, and it seems that the work in this area should be strengthened.

Li Zicheng began to miss Wu Ermao, but unfortunately, he is now far away in Sichuan......

"Governor, what should I do, do you want to kill them?" Guo Shijun frowned, but he came up with a plan, "The Governor, if their identities are announced in public, they are killed at the entrance of the market, and then they are used to suppress prices and protect the value of paper money, it is an opportunity to ......."

Li Zicheng thought for a moment and said: "This will be handed over to Shijun, after killing, give the head as a gift to Hong Chengchou, and attach a letter, if he has a different heart, the Mandate of Heaven will not only go east of Longshan, but also send the agreement between the two sides to Zhang Fengyi, the secretary of the military department, and let him explain it to the imperial court." ”

Maybe Hong Chengchou still has any political enemies, but Li Zicheng doesn't know, he can only use the court to scare him, Chongzhen's suspicious temperament, for the generals who are abroad, he is full of expectations and very suspicious, once he is targeted, you just wait to be beheaded, no matter how great the military merit is, it can't resist the wrath of the Son of Heaven.

These three spies are now of no use value, and they just want to sacrifice the flag for the issuance of banknotes.

Guo Shijun did not delay, and immediately mobilized the people who had been promoting banknotes on the street to carry out a new round of publicity:

In order to ensure the normal issuance of paper money and protect the order of life in the city, two days later, the spies will be beheaded at the market entrance of Dongmen Street to show the public, in order to set an example!

Liu Xing was still imprisoned in the Governor's Mansion, but Li Zicheng allowed his family to visit, his son was exempted, and his grandson was recovered.

The grain prices of Liu Kee Grain Store have fallen back to the level before the issuance of paper money, and the prices of various goods have also fallen along with the price of grain.

Two days later, three arrested spies were beheaded in front of the eyes of thousands of civilians.

The people applauded their hands, and the prices of various commercial houses in Lanzhou City also fell in response to the sound, and they all returned to the stable situation of paper money issuance; Li Zicheng and others focused on investigating the prices of grain, salt, and meat in the city, and all of them returned to their original levels, and some goods also fell slightly.

In Lanzhou City, the people gradually settled down, and the impetuous momentum that had just appeared was extinguished by the red blood of the spies.

Li Zicheng released Liu Xing, he was coerced by the spies to do something unfavorable to the Heavenly Mandate Army, which was excusable, and through hints, he warned Huaxia Bank in time, which was considered a meritorious service, but the merit could not be lowered, and he was fined three thousand taels of silver, which was considered a lesson.

In order to prevent the merchants in Lanzhou from discriminating against the Liu family, the twists and turns in the middle, the Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion did not announce the details, only saying that the troops were sent to encircle and suppress the Liu Mansion that day, which was completely out of misunderstanding.

However, when such a thing happened, Li Zicheng was quite annoyed, loose on the outside and tight on the inside, while maintaining the stability of the market, while secretly investigating and cracking down on hidden spies.

As the strength of the Heavenly Mandate Army grows larger and greater, there will be more and more people who inquire about the information of the Heavenly Mandate Army.

The newly formed Hanyang Bureau will recruit a general banner of manpower to investigate the secret agents of the imperial court at this stage.

Li Zicheng also has another idea, that is, to supervise officials in various places, in the territory of the Heavenly Mandate Army, the original imperial court officials have left a lot, if they can't be purged in time, it is inevitable that they will leave the original bad habits.

However, unlike the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty, the Hanyang Bureau only has the right to investigate, not the right to dispose of, and they cannot frame officials at will, everything is based on "facts and laws".