The eighth day of the first lunar month in the twenty-third year of Chongzhen.
While all the officials in the capital were immersed in the joy of the New Year's Day holiday, Li Ruolian, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, frowned.
He looked at the two letters in his hands, wondering whether he should send the news to the palace immediately.
When it was almost noon, Li Ruolian swallowed, put the letter in his arms, and rode out of the mansion on horseback.
In the open space outside the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Chongzhen was lying on a recliner basking in the sun.
The winter sun was warm on his body, making him feel drowsy.
"Your Majesty, Commander Li requests to see you," Wang Chengen reported.
Chongzhen opened his eyes, looked at the sun in the sky, and asked, "What time is it?"
"Your Majesty, it is now one o'clock in the afternoon! It is time for you to have your meal," Wang Chengen replied.
"Ah," Chongzhen sighed, "Li Ruolian came just in time for dinner."
Wang Chengen shook his head and asked, "Should I let him go?"
"How can I chase him away now that he's here? I don't need the money for a meal!" Chongzhen closed his eyes again, "Let him in, and tell the chef to prepare an extra lunch... No, prepare two, Li Ruolian has a big appetite!"
"Yes!" Wang Chengen took the order and left.
Not long after, Li Ruolian strode in.
After saluting, Li Ruo Lian took out the two letters from his bosom and said, "Your Majesty, Nanzhili sent two letters concerning Zheng Chenggong's escort."
"Two letters?" Chongzhen opened his eyes directly, "Who wrote them?"
"One is a secret letter written by the Nanjing Jinyiwei, and the other is a letter from Shi Kefa, the Nanjing Minister of War." Li Ruolian held the two letters high above his head.
At Chongzhen's signal, Wang Chengen took the letter and began to read it.
Although the themes of the two letters are both related to Zheng Chenggong, the specific contents are different.
After reading one of the letters, Wang Chengen concluded: "Your Majesty, the Nanjing Jinyiwei used the sunken merchant ship as their starting point. They visited the ship owner, the crew, and the merchant who rented the ship."
"These people all confessed that the ship was sunk by the Ming army flying the Jiannu flag."
"Ming troops flying the Jiannu flag?" Chongzhen was a little surprised. "As Ming troops, why did they fly the Jiannu flag?"
Li Ruo Lian stood by and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please forgive me! The Jinyiwei only infiltrated Zheng Zhilong's caravan, and did not infiltrate the elite of Zheng's army! The elite of Zheng's army were sent out for escort this time. The Jinyiwei had no spies, so they could not find out why they flew the Jiannu flag!"
Chongzhen thought about it briefly and continued to ask: "Since the ship was sunk by Zheng's army, why didn't these people report it to the government?"
"Zheng Chenggong gave a large sum of money to the ship owner, the merchant who rented the ship, and the ordinary crew members. Even the families of the missing and drowned crew members received 200 taels of silver as a life-saving payment. This amount of money far exceeded their losses, so no one reported it to the authorities!"
"Since ancient times, if the people do not file a complaint, the officials will not investigate, and in the end, nothing will be done."
"I see!" Chongzhen nodded and looked at Wang Chengen: "Who wrote the second letter?"
"It's Shi Kefa, the Nanjing Minister of War!"
After Wang Chengen answered, he and Chongzhen looked at Li Ruolian together.
Li Ruo Lian was a little confused: "Your Majesty, is there...is there a problem?"
Chongzhen said nothing, and Wang Chengen asked coldly, "Commander Li, are you going to explain?"
"What to explain?" Li Ruolian was a little confused.
"As an official appointed by the imperial court, why didn't Shi Kefa write the letter directly to Your Majesty, but instead gave the letter to you?" Wang Chengen asked.
"This..." Li Ruolian was confused, "The person who wrote the letter was Shi Kefa, I didn't know!"
After saying this, he felt that it was too perfunctory. After thinking for a while, he added: "I guess Shi Kefa is not sure whether the contents of the letter are true or not, so he simply told me the news and let me find a way to verify it."
"Stop!" Chongzhen stood up directly, "Tell me the news first, and we'll talk about the rest later!"
"Yes, sir!" Wang Chengen shifted his gaze from Li Ruolian to the letter.
The letter was written by Shi Kefa himself.
In the letter, he said that a man named Yin Hongsheng had previously defected to him, and then switched to Huang Degong at his recommendation.
After the Battle of Damingfu, Yin Hongsheng left Huang Degong and his whereabouts were unknown.
Two years ago.
Yin Hongsheng contacted Shi Kefa again and told him that he had joined Zheng Zhilong's army.
As time went by, Yin Hongsheng gradually gained the trust of Zheng Zhilong and was arranged to be beside Zheng Chenggong.
Yin Hongsheng was among those on this escort mission.
Yin Hongsheng wrote down everything he saw and heard and told Shi Kefa, who then wrote it down to Li Ruolian without missing a word.
Li Ruolian told Chongzhen the news.
After reading the letter, Wang Chengen asked with some doubt: "Does Commander Li know Yin Hongsheng?"
"I've heard of it, but never seen it!" Li Ruolian replied.
"Who is he? Why have I never heard of him?"
"He was a chivalrous man!" Li Ruolian began to recall, "During the battle of Damingfu, he led a dozen people to break through the encirclement of the bandits, sneaked into the city and told Li Xingzhong the news."
"Without him, the battle of Daimyofu would most likely be lost!"
Wang Chengen did not dare to express his opinion. He stood beside Chongzhen with his hands down, waiting for instructions.
Yin Hongsheng!
Chongzhen was deeply moved when he heard the name.
In history, Yin Hongsheng was the founder of the Tiandihui and was definitely a big shot!
I didn't expect to get news from him.
How rare!
Chongzhen exhaled slowly: "Yin Hongsheng's news should be true! He respects Shi Kefa very much, and there is no need for him to pass on false news to Shi Kefa!"
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