The next day, the ninth day of the fifth month, it was overcast.

Xu Qianhu found Commander Luo with Xu Liang's last letter early in the morning and presented the letter to Commander Luo.

The commander of Jinyiwei made Luo Yangxing see the thick pile of letters, flipped through the first two pages, and glared at Xu Changqing and scolded with a smile: "I thought that only we bold people wrote ugly, but now it seems that this Xu Liang is not much better than us." ”

Xu Qianhu smiled and said, "Who said it wasn't." My lord, this person is about to be sent out to behead, and if this letter is okay, we will try to send it out before the other person's head hits the ground. ”

Luo Qianhu thought that he had originally received Xu Liang's money, and boasted that he wanted to save his life, but he was still intervened by Cao Yubian of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Xu Liang's life still could not be saved, so he faintly felt a little sorry for Xu Liang in his heart, so he nodded and took a cursory look at the letter.

Suddenly, Commander Luo's face changed, he took out one of the pieces of paper, and stared at the line on it, word by word. Xu Qianhu glanced at it curiously, and saw that it was written crookedly: "Lady, Xianggong, I heard that Miss Li once told you the whereabouts of the five sheepskin Diamond Sutras, after Xianggong died, I don't want anything else, I just want you to try to find one, burn it and send it to me to see, in order to solve the confusion in my heart." ”

The words are very ordinary, and things are not a big deal, isn't it that Xu Liang wants to read the Diamond Sutra. Xu Qianhu thought secretly, not understanding why Commander Luo cared so much.

Commander Luo slammed the letter into his arms and shouted to Xu Qianhu, "Go quickly, try to drag the person who was beheaded." Then he shouted outside: "Come, prepare the horses, I want to enter the palace!" ”

The palace had just dispersed early, and the adults of the six departments in Beijing went out of the palace gate one after another, and each got into a sedan chair to prepare to go back to the yamen for breakfast. Emperor Chongzhen, the supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty who had not long ascended the throne, was still in the Qianqing Palace.

No one would believe that the emperor who dared to completely reorganize the eunuch party at the beginning of his ascension to the throne is actually only eighteen years old this year. At this time, the young emperor was sitting at the large desk. frowned and flipped through the chapters, and after reading three books in a row, Emperor Chongzhen's brows never stretched.

The Emperor looked like this. The seven or eight palace maids and eunuchs who were waiting carefully in the palace did not dare to come out, for fear of angering the young emperor. The breakfast from the imperial dining room was set aside. It's already cold.

At this time, there was a slight sound of footsteps outside the palace, and then a middle-aged eunuch walked in lightly. He saw that Emperor Chongzhen was still reading the chapter, his face was tired, and he couldn't help but be a little worried, so he stepped forward and reached out to touch the breakfast, and saw that it was already cold, so he waved his hand and let the two eunuchs rewarm it. and walked lightly to Chongzhen's side. He said softly: "Your Majesty, you can rest, the old slave will go to warm up breakfast again, and His Majesty will use some." ”

Chongzhen raised his head and smiled at the middle-aged eunuch: "It turned out to be Cheng'en, you came just in time, take a look with me, is this letter properly handled?" ”

It turned out that this middle-aged eunuch was Wang Chengen, the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor Bingbi who Emperor Chongzhen trusted very much.

The prince hurriedly waved his hand and smiled: "Your Majesty has tormented the old slave." His Majesty is arbitrary, how dare the old slave talk more. ”

Emperor Chongzhen chuckled lightly and pointed at Wang Chengen with his fingers. "You." Suddenly, seeing that Wang Chengen still had a piece of music in his hand, he couldn't help asking, "Whose music are you holding in your hand?" ”

Wang Chengen put the fold in his hand in front of the emperor and said with a humble smile: "This is the fold that the General Administration Department has just received from Hong Chengchou, the prefect of Pingliang, Shaanxi. ”

The Emperor sighed. As he opened it, he said: "What did this Hong Chengchou write, he won't ask me for money again, right?" ”

Wang Chengen said: "The old slave just looked at it on the road, and it seemed to be about Xu Liang, the original magistrate of the town. ”

"Xu Liang?" The emperor thought for a while, and remembered the closing fold of Zhang Nianyun, the imperial historian of the capital, about Xu Liang's plot to be treacherous, so he opened the fold of the Hong Governor's Mansion and looked at it carefully.

While looking at it, the emperor's brows furrowed again, he put down the fold, thought for a while, and said, "Go and find Zhang Nianyun's fold." ”

Wang Chengen listened. Stooping down and rummaging through a large box behind the desk, he pulled out a fold. Unfold it and put it in front of the emperor. Emperor Chongzhen put the two folds on the table and looked at them again. He sat back in his chair and was silent.

"Chengen, what do you think about this?" Suddenly, the Emperor asked faintly.

Wang Chengen considered the words, looked at the emperor's face, and said carefully: "According to the old slave, Zhang Nianyun Zhang is a true minister, and there have always been few mistakes in the cases handled by him. ”

"Hmm." The Emperor sighed.

"However," Wang Chengen said softly again, "this time things are a little different from usual. This time, the matter was not in the capital, but in Zhenyuan County, which was hundreds of miles away, and Master Zhang Nianyun tried the case without leaving Beijing...... cough, this, now Xu Liang's top boss Pingliang prefect Hong Chengchou folded his intercession again, according to the old slave, the real situation should be more secure with Hong Governor's mansion. ”

When the emperor heard this, he looked at Wang Chengen with open eyes and said, "Chengen, you said that, you can't help but be frank with Liang?" ”

Wang Chengen was very calm, and chuckled: "Your Majesty, it's not that the old slave listens to and believes." In fact, the old slave is not ignorant of this Xu Liang. ”

"Oh?" The emperor was surprised, "Do you know this man?" ”

Wang Chengen shook his head and said, "Your Majesty is laughing, the old slave has been following His Majesty all these years and has never traveled far, how can he recognize Xu Liang." Do you still remember that the old slave has a nephew who is now working in the ministry? ”

"Well, Wang Xian in the Ministry of Literature and Selection?" The Emperor said.

"It's Wang Xian." Wang Chengen said: "Wang Xian was a magistrate in Jianchang, Jiangxi a few years ago, and at that time, Xu Liang had just arrived in Jianchang as a pawn. The two of them work in the same yamen, and they are more attached to each other, and the old slave's impression of this Xu Liang was told by my nephew. According to Wang Xian, although Xu Liang is young, he is quite disciplined, and when he was in Jianchang, he took a patrol battalion to clean up the water in the surrounding Poyang Lake, and the people of Jianchang County live and work in peace and contentment, all thanks to Xu Liang's original credit. ”

The Emperor nodded slowly, and then cast his eyes on the two parts. Wang Chengen stayed aside and did not speak. He has been with the emperor for a long time, and he knows that the emperor himself has a strong sense of autonomy and will not be swayed by the opinions of others.

At this time, a little eunuch came in and reported: "Your Majesty, the Jinyi guard commanded Lord Luo to ask for a meeting outside the palace." ”

When the emperor heard this, he waved his hand and said, "Announce him in." ”

Commander Luo adjusted his breath, slowed down, walked in, and saluted the emperor. After the emperor got up, he asked with a smile: "Luo Aiqing, is there something wrong with entering the palace this morning?" ”

Commander Luo said respectfully with the words he had thought of on the road: "Your Majesty, the minister has just received urgent information from An Chang Qianhu, and he has come to report to His Majesty. ”

Hearing that it was urgent information, the emperor's expression became stern, and he asked in a deep voice: "What kind of information, tell me." ”

"Yes," Luo commanded: "On the first day of the fifth month, there was a mutiny in the Qingyang garrison camp in Shaanxi, and the officers and soldiers in the battalion besieged the yamen of the Qingyang prefect, and the Qingyang prefect was kidnapped by the rebels. ”

The emperor's expression changed when he heard this, and he scolded: "What's the matter? What is this Qingyang Garrison He Renlong for? How do you bring the soldiers? ”

Commander Luo said in surprise: "Your Majesty, General Long He, the former Qingyang garrison, let the governor of the three sides, Wu Zhiwang, be dismissed half a month ago. The current garrison general is someone else. ”

"What about the others?"

"At the time of the mutiny, the new garrison general had been hacked to death by the rebels." Locke commanded.

"Bastard!" The emperor was so angry that he slapped the table hard. Seeing this, Wang Chengen persuaded: "Your Majesty, you dissipate your anger, beware of hurting the dragon's body." Then he commanded Luo: "Lord Luo, how could a well-garrisoned military camp suddenly mutiny?" ”

Luo commanded: "It is said that the garrison battalion has not been paid for four months. Originally, when General He Renlong was there, he could still control the scene, but a month ago, He Renlong was relieved of his military power by Lord Wu Zhiwang because he was afraid of the enemy when he encircled and suppressed the thief Li Jiajun in Maling. ”

Wang Chengen said suspiciously: "He Renlong, known as He Maniac, our family heard that he is the vanguard of the thieves, why is he afraid of the enemy?" ”

When Commander Luo heard this, he suddenly laughed in his heart, and he was still worried about how to lead the topic to Xu Liang, but he didn't think that this prince would be so good and pave the way for talking.

Commander Luo's face was also incredible, and he said: "The specific plot is not very clear to the officials, it is said that He Renlong and Xu Liang of Zhenyuan Zhixian County and others each brought soldiers and horses to accompany Master Wu, as well as a father-in-law from the East Investigation Factory to go to Maling to clear out the thieves, in the battle, the 3,000 men and horses led by Xu Liang of the Zhenyuan Zhixian County lost more than 2,000 people, but also killed more than 3,000 thieves, and the famous He Maniac only lost more than 800 people, but it was basically lost in the process of besieging the mountain. Lord Wu was angry that He Renlong was cowardly and fearful of the enemy, so he was punished. The specific situation, His Majesty can summon the father-in-law of the East Factory to come and ask. ”

The emperor's expression changed when he heard this, the father-in-law of Dongchang was Wang Tiqian, and his identity was really not suitable for disclosure. The emperor also knew that Wang Tiqian was doing things for himself, so he skipped over and suddenly asked: "Luo Aiqing, what you said about Xu Liang of Zhenyuan Zhixian County, but the Xu Liang who is locked up in prison?" ”

Luo commanded the secret way to make a big deal, and hurriedly said: "It's this person." However, when the lower officials heard that this person was going to be taken to the vegetable market today, he was beheaded. Alas, this man fought so valiantly that it would be a pity to kill him. ”

The emperor took a closer look at Zhang Nianyun's excerpts, and saw that there was no mention of the relationship between Xu Liang and the eunuchs, so he said to Wang Chengen: "In this way, this Xu Liang is also a loyal person." Cheng'en, you go outside and take a look, if the person hasn't been executed yet, stop and bring it over for me to see. ”

"The old slave obeys." Wang Chengen responded, and strode out of the main hall. Commander Luo looked at Wang Chengen's back as he left in a hurry, and secretly said Why does this prince look more eager than me? (To be continued)