"Xicheng Bingmasi?" Chongzhen was slightly stunned. What could they report that could alarm him?

Qiu Yu, who was outside the screen, personally brought the question book over and handed it to Wang Chengen.

After taking the question from Wang Chengen, Chongzhen frowned after reading it.

The Xicheng Bingmasi wrote two things in the title book.

The first thing was that a suspected hideout of bandits and spies was discovered in the city. Since most of the people in the West City Military Department were assigned to guard the city, they requested an order to send troops to encircle and suppress them.

The second thing was to find some arrows shot from outside the city, with white cloth tied on them.

Written on the white cloth was the codeword of the Imperial Guard, which roughly meant: Your Majesty, Liu Wenyao, led 10,000 Shandong soldiers to the capital to defend the king, and has now arrived in the Tongzhou area. Tonight at midnight, I will lead the army to raid the bandit camp and then enter the city from Chaoyang Gate. Please send someone to meet us.

"Your Majesty, after inspection by the Ministry of War, the words on the white cloth were indeed written by the Left General Liu Wenyao, and the seal is also General Liu's official seal." Li Banghua reached out and picked up a piece of rice paper from the table next to him and handed it to Wang Chengen. On the rice paper was a copy of Liu Wenyao's official seal.

"Not a knockoff?"

"At present, it is impossible to distinguish the authenticity, and we need to judge based on the actual object."

Chongzhen nodded, threw the white cloth on the table, and then said decisively: "It's fake."

Li Banghua was stunned.

He picked up the white cloth on the table, then took the rice paper from Wang Chengen, rubbed his eyes hard and tried to identify it again.

"Don't look at it, Lord Li. I don't judge the authenticity based on handwriting and seals."

"Please... please enlighten me, Your Majesty!"

"Before Liu Wenyao left Beijing, I told him that if Liu Zeqing was eliminated successfully, and his troops were taken under his command, when Liu Wenyao led his troops to Beijing to defend the king, in order to prevent someone from pretending to be him and surrendering falsely, all the places where the seal was needed in the correspondence were to use the gold-plated silver seal of Prince Yong."

"If the person who surrendered was really Liu Wenyao, then the seal on this white cloth should be the seal of Prince Yong, not the official seal of the Left Commander-in-Chief."

Li Banghua's mouth twitched, and he was shocked by Chongzhen's train of thought. He never thought that the emperor's anti-counterfeiting method would be so simple and crude.

Not only him, but all the civil and military officials in the court would not think of this level.

"Your Majesty's talent and wisdom are beyond my reach!"

"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary things!"

Before Li Banghua had time to be happy, he thought of the group of spies in the city.

"Your Majesty, there are spies in the city and bandits pretending to be government troops outside the city. It seems that they are planning to open the city gates tonight. We must be on guard!"

"Haha, what Elder Li said is right. We must be on guard."

Li Banghua looked at Chongzhen with confusion.

Why could the emperor still laugh when such a big thing happened?

Is the emperor so optimistic?

"Since the bandits have started to use their brains, I will make them pay the price for it. I will leave the defense of the city to you. Remember, wait until the enemy gets closer before attacking!"

"As for the spies in the city, you don't have to worry about them. I will send the East Factory to assist the Military Department."

"I accept your order."

After leaving Wenyuan Pavilion, Chongzhen hurried back to the Qianqing Palace and summoned Li Ruolian and Wang Zhixin to meet him.

On weekdays, they are the high-ranking Jinyiwei and Changwei.

When the emperor needs them, they are like knives hidden in the dark.

Stab whoever you want!

"Wang Zhixin, take this red book to the West City Military Department and work with the other four cities' military departments to immediately capture the bandits and spies in the city. Remember, leave a few alive and get to know their backgrounds."

The official documents approved by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, also known as the "red book", were sent by the cabinet to the six departments, which archived them and copied them to the relevant departments.

Wang Zhixin immediately took the order and left.

After Wang Zhixin walked away, Chongzhen looked at Li Ruolian.

Li Ruolian knew clearly that the emperor wanted him to kill someone again.

But from the beginning to the end, everyone the emperor ordered him to kill had a reason to die: corrupt officials, scholars who violated the law, and merchants who collaborated with the enemy.

"Li Ruo Lian...how many people do you have available to you right now?"

"Your Majesty, there are less than 500 people. The rest have been assigned to guard the west gate."

"It's okay, it's enough. The price of grain in the capital skyrocketed a few days ago. I asked you to investigate the profiteers who raised the prices. How many of them did you find?"

Li Ruo Lian thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, there are twelve trading houses in total, and these trading houses control more than 70% of the grain trade in the capital."

"I will give you one night to wipe out all these businesses, and make the confiscated silver public and send it to the treasury."

Li Ruolian subconsciously wanted to receive the order, but suddenly found that there were not enough people.

The business not only had people, but also weapons. For example, a business with 100 carriages would have 200 horsemen, plus bodyguards and servants, so the total number of people would not be less than 300.

Because the businesses cooperated with the imperial court, they not only had bows and crossbows, but also various types of firearms.

With the 500 men under his command, it would be good enough if he could destroy two businesses.

"Your Majesty, I don't have enough manpower, I'm afraid..."

Chongzhen smiled faintly: "It's okay, I will send 1,800 soldiers from the Yongwei Battalion to assist you. You must eradicate the roots tonight!"

Li Ruolian was stunned and did not dare to accept the order.

The Yongwei Camp is the last barrier of the Imperial City. Now the Emperor has lent him the people of the Yongwei Camp. If something happens to the Imperial City, he cannot bear the responsibility.

"The Brave Guard Battalion is your Majesty's imperial guard. I dare not use them."

"Don't worry, it's not your turn to consider my safety."

Li Ruolian had no choice but to kneel down and accept the order.

After Li Ruolian left, Chongzhen told Wang Chengen: "Send an order to the inner court. Tonight, the Brave Guard Battalion has been ordered to leave the palace to suppress bandits, and the imperial city is empty of guards. To ensure the safety of the imperial city, all the eunuchs in the twenty-four prisons can sign up to guard the imperial city. Each eunuch who participates in guarding the city will be given five taels of silver. I will not blame you if you don't want to guard the city, so go ahead."

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