The information that Wang Zhaolin intended to surrender was quickly sent to Wuchang Prefecture in Huguang, and then the information was divided into three parts.
One copy was sent to Guangzhou and handed over to Ma Jixiang, the commander of the Guangzhou Jinyiwei and the direct planner of the incident.
One copy was sent to Changsha Prefecture and given to Li Ruolian who was accompanying the disaster relief efforts in Changsha Prefecture.
The last copy was sent to Beijing and handed over to the Ming Emperor Chongzhen.
Li Ruo Lian was the first to get the news because he was close to them.
Looking at the heavy information in his hand, Li Ruolian fell into deep thought.
"Sir, has something serious happened?" Jinyiwei commander Zhang Gongji asked in a low voice while standing nearby.
Li Ruolian said nothing and handed him the information.
After reading it, Zhang Gongji also fell into deep thought.
This is a difficult matter.
First, they were not sure whether the news was true.
The letter is true, but the message is not necessarily true.
Because the possibility of the person writing the letter betraying others cannot be ruled out!
According to the Jinyiwei in Wuchang, the person who delivered the letter was a child. He was stopped by a strange man and given ten coins, asking him to deliver the secret letter to the Jinyiwei's contact point in Wuchang.
By the time the Jinyiwei of Wuchang arrived at the location where the strange man appeared, the man had already disappeared.
The other party obviously knew the Jinyiwei's style of doing things very well, otherwise he would not be so cautious.
Secondly, even if the news was true, they did not have the power to pardon Wang Zhaolin.
Throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, there is only one person who can pardon Wang Zhaolin: the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
No one dares to make decisions for the emperor!
However, if no prompt action is taken, things could easily change, leading to Zhang Xianzhong escaping again.
"Sir, let's do it!" Zhang Gongji gritted his teeth and said, "Xian has been causing trouble for many years, and his death is not a pity. Wang Zhaolin is also a man who deserves to die. Let's pretend to agree first, and when he sends someone to contact us again in half a month, we will catch the contact person, and we will definitely get something by torturing him."
"After we catch Wang the thief, we will execute him immediately. Then there will be no so-called conditions. His Majesty will not say anything after knowing this. After all, they are all people who deserve to die."
Li Ruolian still didn't say anything and continued to hesitate.
Zhang Gongji was a little anxious. "Sir, if we miss this opportunity, we will miss it forever. Catching the thief is a great achievement. Many brothers in the Jinyiwei are counting on this achievement to get promoted!"
"We share the credit and the responsibility together!"
Looking at the extremely excited Zhang Gongji, Li Ruolian laughed: "Mr. Zhang, do you think I am afraid of taking responsibility?"
Zhang Gongji's thoughts were guessed, and he stood there awkwardly pretending to be very busy.
Li Ruo Lian smiled and shook his head: "No, if it was just to take responsibility, I would have asked Elder Li to help mobilize troops into the mountains to encircle and suppress them."
"Then...what are you worried about, sir? Xian the traitor is a wanted criminal of the imperial court. Would it be wrong to kill him?" Zhang Gongji asked with a frown.
Li Ruo Lian's expression was very solemn, "It's hard to say!"
"It's hard to say?" Zhang Gongji was a little confused. It was the first time he heard that killing imperial officials would be a mistake.
Li Ruo Lian did not explain immediately. Instead, he walked to the door, opened it, looked around, and after making sure no one was eavesdropping, he closed the door and said, "Based on the current situation, the thief has no chance of turning the tables."
"So, don't worry about him making a comeback! But... he can't die yet!"
"The real enemy of the Ming Dynasty has never been Li Xianzhong or the like, but those enemies hiding in the dark. As long as Zhang Xianzhong is here, someone in our Jinyiwei will take the blame. I won't say anything more, you can slowly experience it yourself."
Zhang Gongji was first confused, then surprised, and finally extremely shocked.
The meaning of Li Ruolian's words is very clear. In the next period of time, the Jinyiwei may do many shameful things.
Who can command them to do these things?
Of course it’s the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
"So...so your Excellency means to wait for news from Beijing?" Zhang Gong swallowed with great difficulty.
"Yes, wait for the news from the other side. Kill if told to kill, release if told to release!"
On the second day of February in the twentieth year of Chongzhen, Chongzhen, who was far away in Beijing, received news sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guard from Huguang.
When he saw the message, he was stunned at first, then ordered someone to write back to Li Ruolian.
The content of the letter was just one word: Kill!
He didn't need Zhang Xianzhong to take the blame.
First, there is no need to do so, he can put the blame on anyone.
Second, doing so would easily lead to the news leaking out, which would backfire.
The most crucial point is that Zhang Xianzhong is the enemy of the imperial court and must die!
Otherwise he won't be able to deal with other enemies with peace of mind!
When the news reached Huguang, it was already mid-February. Li Ruolian immediately began to deploy troops.
He first asked Li Banghua to help mobilize two thousand soldiers from Wuchang Prefecture, and then they would be responsible for going into the mountains to suppress the bandits.
Immediately afterwards, he wrote a reply letter to Wang Zhaolin in the capacity of the imperial court and stamped the seal of the Embroidered Uniform Guard on the letter.
On the afternoon of February 17, a ragged middle-aged man walked outside the secret contact point of the Jinyiwei.
He was wearing tattered clothes, looked haggard and looked like a beggar.
"Go away, go beg for food somewhere else. There is no food here." A Jinyiwei stood up and waved his hand to send him away.
The beggar looked around and stretched out his dirty right hand: "I'm here to get the letter."
Get the letter?
The Jinyiwei in the room immediately became alert and came over to surround the beggar.
"What letter do you want to take? Who asked you to take the letter?" asked a Jinyiwei.
"It was a gentleman named Wang Zhaolin. He gave me ten copper coins and told me to come here to pick up a letter. If I delivered the letter to the entrance of Jusheng Tower in the south of the city, I could get another ten copper coins."
Wang Zhaolin appeared!
The Jinyiwei present passed the message inside without making a fuss.
Li Ruo Lian thought for a moment and asked someone to hand over the letter, and instructed: "After giving the letter to the beggar, don't send anyone to follow him, remember."
The Jinyiwei obeyed Li Ruolian's orders and handed the letter to the beggar, and also gave him fifty copper coins.
The beggar took the letter and his companion with a smile and walked out slowly.
An hour later, the beggar came back.
This time he brought another letter.
After opening the letter and reading its contents, Li Ruolian stood up excitedly.
He said to the Jinyiwei around him: "Brothers, there are traces of the thief!"
"Great, the opportunity to make great achievements has come."
"Yes, it is finally our turn to step forward. As long as the thief is caught, we, the Jinyiwei, will be the first to achieve the credit!"
"My Lord, please give the order quickly. We can't wait any longer."
"Okay," Li Ruolian took a deep breath, "Send a message to all the troops, disguise as civilians and leave the city in an hour."
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