After the morning court ended, Li Ruolian followed Chongzhen to the Qianqing Palace.

He said with difficulty: "Your Majesty, Dang Chongya and Shen Weibing are not easy to deal with. Nothing can be learned without torture."

Chongzhen smiled faintly: "Who said you are not allowed to torture?"

"But..." Li Ruolian didn't understand.

How could the emperor say such an ungrateful thing?

It would be fine if I knew about it, but if other ministers knew about it, how would they look upon the emperor?

What will those scholars think?

Chongzhen smiled nonchalantly, "If they are insidious, I must be a hundred times more insidious than them! If they are treacherous, I must be more treacherous than them."

"The whole court of civil and military officials talks about morality, but they are all thieves and prostitutes in private. They can't control themselves, but they still want to use morality to restrain me?"

"ridiculous!"

"You are someone I trust. I will do the things that are public, and you will do the things that are private. Do you understand?"

Li Ruo Lian swallowed his saliva, and said hurriedly in shock: "I understand."

"Okay, I have a secret method to force them to confess. All I need is a piece of paper and a bucket of water to make them confess."

After receiving Chongzhen's teachings, Li Ruolian's eyes lit up, and he thanked him and left in a hurry.

He wants to test the power of the secret technique immediately!

The issuance of various government decrees in recent days has made officials from various departments extremely busy. Regardless of whether they are really doing their job or not, they have to work step by step.

It was almost evening when Chongzhen finished dealing with the pile of memorials and petitions. On the way to Kunning Palace, he suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, "Wang Chengen, how is the prince?"

......

That night, outside Wuqing City!

There were basically no trees near ancient cities. Those trees were either cut down by ordinary people or by government officials.

Ordinary people cut down trees for firewood, while government officials cut down trees for safety.

Soldiers can be hidden wherever there are trees, and the government will not allow this to happen.

Gao Wencai, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, led two thousand men and stationed twenty miles west of the city to prepare for the prince's carriage.

These two thousand people are composed of three different forces.

Five hundred Jinyiwei, five hundred Dongchang guards, and one thousand garrison troops brought by Feng Yuanyang from Tianjin.

The Jinyiwei's tent was in the middle, the Dongchang was on the north side, and the Tianjin garrison was on the south side.

Inside the central military tent, three men were eating toasted buns and drinking hot water.

The three people were Gao Wencai, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Zhang Rong, a eunuch from the Imperial Household Department, and Deng Hun, the garrison commander of Tianjin.

While eating, Deng Hun asked, "Captain Gao, will the prince be here soon?"

"Well, according to the scouts' report, the Crown Prince's crane carriage is less than ten miles away, and it will take at least two hours to arrive."

"That's good." Deng Hun finished eating the steamed bun carefully, picked up the big bowl in his hand and drank the hot water in it.

He wiped his mouth and continued to ask, "Captain Gao, I don't mean anything else, I'm just asking casually. Are you Jinyiwei used to eating this stuff?"

Looking at the steamed bun in his hand, Gao Wencai thought without hesitation, "Why did Guard Deng say that? The court needs money everywhere, and the Jinyiwei are also human beings. They earn about the same as you. It's good enough to have something to eat."

Deng Hun smiled awkwardly and then looked at the eunuch Zhang Rong.

Zhang Rong was originally a eunuch in the Imperial Household Department and concurrently served in the Eastern Depot. He was ordered to accompany the crown prince to Nanjing.

The Dongjishichang was nominally a temporary agency, and in theory the emperor could send anyone to supervise the Dongchang. The Dongchang Superintendent was not a formal official position, and had no rank. Its personnel were all part-time eunuchs in the inner court.

"Eunuch Zhang, are you used to eating these toasted buns with hot water?"

Zhang Rong said calmly, "It's good, better than the food in the palace."

"No way..." Deng Hun said in disbelief. "His Majesty eats wild animals from the mountains, swallows from the clouds, cattle and sheep from the land, and seafood from the sea. You are all His Majesty's favorites, but you can't eat meat and drink soup?"

Zhang Rong rolled his eyes at him and said, "Your Majesty has not eaten meat since the third year of Chongzhen. He only eats cabbage, radish and potatoes on weekdays. We slaves are lucky to have steamed buns, let alone steamed buns. If it weren't for the salary we received a few days ago, I would still feel dizzy when I walk now."

When he heard the word "pay salaries", a gleam of light flashed in Deng Hun's eyes.

He calmly poured himself a bowl of hot water and asked, pretending to be indifferent: "Payment? You guys are guarding the emperor, and you are also short of pay?"

"You don't understand. The money from the court is given to the border troops first, and then to people like us. By the way, didn't you get paid before you came?"

Deng Hun's eyes were dim. "The court owed us eight months' salary, and not a penny has been paid yet. My brothers and I can't even afford to eat."

Gao Wencai finished the last steamed bun and took a sip of water: "Don't worry, Commander Deng. The court has money now. The salary will be paid in less than ten days or half a month."

"I can't wait any longer. I have a request today."

Without waiting for Gao Wencai and Zhang Rong to ask, Deng Hun said impatiently: "Can my brothers and I borrow some money from you? We don't know when we will be back from Nanjing. We have an old mother and a young child at home. We dare not leave without leaving some money for them!"

Gao Wencai opened his mouth but said nothing.

Deng Hun was a garrison commander, a fifth-rank official. He was a captain, also a fifth-rank official.

The dilemma that Deng Hun is facing now is also encountered by Gao Wencai.

Fortunately, they were paid their salaries before leaving the capital. They left most of the money to their families and only took some pocket money with them.

Even if I wanted to borrow money from others, I was powerless.

Zhang Rong said nothing, intentionally avoiding the topic.

He has money, but he won't lend it.

Eunuchs are different from other people. They have no children and save all the money they earn for their old age.

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