Zhu Yuanzhang paid special attention to Li Jing because he was the first person to be loyal to him. In addition, Li Jing was straightforward, courageous and knowledgeable.
Seeing him suddenly kneeling down at this moment, he hurriedly helped him up and said, "Li Qing, we know that you are a measured person. If you have any questions, it's okay to just say it."
As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang said this, Li Jing couldn't help showing a look of shame on his face.
Liu Wenbing, Shen Zhanran and others on the side also looked at them silently with surprised expressions.
"Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to show extra mercy to Shen Youcheng who offended you at Zhengyang Gate."
Li Jing hesitated for a while and finally spoke.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the words "Zhengyangmen", he immediately thought of the arrogant rich man.
He looked at Li Jing with a sullen face and said, "We remember that Shen Youcheng was very mean to you at that time. Why did you plead for him?"
Seeing this, Li Jing knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had misunderstood him, and hurriedly knelt down and explained: "Your Majesty, the reason why I am interceding for Shen Youcheng is not for other reasons. It is just because he is the only son of Master Shen. Although he is arrogant by nature, he has no bad intentions." .”
"When I was fleeing, I was cared for by Master Shen. Today I heard that Shen Youcheng was sick in prison. Master Shen was also worried about this. Therefore, I took the liberty to pray for God's grace and hope that your majesty will grant it."
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that his words were sincere and did not seem to be hypocritical, so he smiled again and said: "In that case, go back and talk to Li Qing and say..."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly stopped and stared at Li Jing.
Li Jing was about to thank him, but when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang staring at him, he couldn't help but froze.
"The person who donated money today, Shen Wushuang, is the owner of Villa Shen in your mouth?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while, and then suddenly asked seriously.
Li Jing nodded and said with some confusion: "Yes, it is Village Master Shen who donated food today!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he immediately said angrily: "You are pleading for Shen Youcheng right now, but you privately promised Shen Wushuang that you would let Shen Youcheng go as long as he donated food?"
Li Jing was shocked when he saw this, and hurriedly explained: "No matter how brave I am, I don't dare to make a deal on this matter."
"I heard about the rise in food prices this morning and was worried about causing chaos in the city. I thought that Lord Shen's family had a lot of food in stock, so I went to him to discuss borrowing food."
"He was a little hesitant at first, but when he heard about Guangqumen, he immediately agreed. Marquis Xinle was also present at the time. You will know as soon as you ask."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he looked at Liu Wenbing again and asked sternly: "Is this the truth?"
Liu Wenbing hurriedly knelt down and said: "Master Li, every word is true and there is no falsehood. I hope your majesty will understand clearly!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this, he calmed down his anger and said with a smile: "Okay, this is our good minister!"
After that, he helped the two of them up with his own hands, and then said to Li Jing: "Go back to Li Qing and ask him to release Shen Youcheng."
"In addition, let the Ministry of Revenue rush to make a plaque and give it to Shen Wushuang, saying that it is the imperial court's reward for donating food and salary!"
When Li Jing saw Zhu Yuanzhang smiling, he felt relieved and thanked him repeatedly.
Then he realized that at some point, sweat had soaked the clothes on his back.
After Zhu Yuanzhang waited for Li Jing to leave, he said to Liu Wenbing: "Xin Lehou, if we ask you to form an elite army of 10,000 people before sunset today, will you have the confidence?"
Liu Wenbing heard this and said with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, let alone elites, even if I ask you to recruit another 10,000 strong men, I am not sure."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Who told you to only recruit new soldiers? Except for the Jinyi Guards, you can recruit any soldiers and strong men in the capital that you like."
"However, although you can draw soldiers from the city gate, they cannot affect the city's defense. The people you draw must be replaced in time. As for the people to be replaced, the first choice is people with land."
Liu Wenbing thought for a while and said in a deep voice: "Okay, Wei Chen will definitely complete the task!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said to Gong Yonggu: "Gong Qing, you are still responsible for the training. As for the firearms in the army..."
He stopped again, pondered for a while, looked at Huang Nilu and said: "Huang Qing, you are responsible for the firearms of Xinlehou's army. In addition to the best firearms in the capital, the entire army must be equipped with the best firearms in the capital. The matching must also be reasonable.”
"Especially when encountering large-scale cavalry, you must have the ability to fight in the field. Do you have any questions?"
Huang Nilu thought for a while and said, "Wei Chen has no problem."
Upon seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Shen Zhanran and said: "Shen Qing, you will go to the cabinet to discuss with Fan Qing later and formulate a plan to see how to use the limited land near the capital to mobilize the enthusiasm of the people to defend the city."
When Shen Zhanran heard this, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he responded respectfully.
Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while and said, "Okay, that's all for now. You should hurry up and do it!"
"As for your merits, we will keep them in mind. After the rebels are defeated, we will reward you based on your merits."
Shen Zhanran and others said they did not dare, and then hurriedly left Dongnuang Pavilion.
After they left, Zhu Yuanzhang was about to take a rest. Unexpectedly, a young eunuch came in again and reported that Li Guozhen wanted to see him.
So he steeled himself again, recruited Li Guozhen in, and discussed matters such as persuading Bai Guangen to surrender.
Li Guozhen was hesitant at first, but after listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's explanation, he immediately volunteered to persuade him to surrender.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied with his performance, and after giving some details, he asked him to prepare to persuade him to surrender.
After Li Guozhen left, Zhu Yuanzhang discovered that it had unknowingly reached the first moment of Shenshi.
He thought that there might be another wave of attacks by the rebels, so he carefully checked the city defense map and made arrangements for some of the weak spots.
After handling these matters, he picked up the confession submitted by Zhu Cixi and murmured to himself: "This child may seem weak, but he has a strong heart. We have deliberately ignored him for so long. I wonder how he is now. "
Thinking of this, he was about to ask someone to summon Zhu Cihong, but saw a young eunuch come in and report that Li Ruolian wanted to see him.
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, signaled the young eunuch to let Li Ruolian in, and then walked back slowly.
When he saw Li Ruolian in disguise, he couldn't help but feel a little confused.
When Li Ruolian saw this, he told the whole story without waiting for him to ask.
It turns out that when Li Ruolian went to arrest Zhou Zhong just now, he accidentally found half of the unburned letter in the brazier in Zhou Zhong's study.
Although the content of the letter is incomplete, judging from the remaining content, the mastermind of this matter is most likely Guang Siheng.
Li Ruolian knew that the search for Zhou Zhong could not be kept secret for long, so after leaving some people to continue the search, he quickly led people to Guang Shiheng's mansion.
Because he knew that Guang Siheng had a close relationship with Wei Zaode and others, he was worried that news of Guang Siheng's arrest would be leaked, which would cause turmoil.
So he didn't go through the front door, but sent someone to climb over the wall, open the back door, and sneak in from the back.
When he forced his way into Guang Siheng's study, he saw Guang Siheng throwing a stack of letters into the brazier.
Li Ruolian immediately kicked over the brazier, snatched all the letters, and at the same time asked people to search Guang Siheng's mansion.
I really don’t know if I don’t check. I’ll be shocked if I check.
Li Ruolian did not expect that Guang Shiheng, who always claimed to be incorruptible, was also a corrupt official. He had as much as 500,000 taels of silver hidden in the house. In addition, there were dozens of antique calligraphy and paintings, estimated at around 300,000 taels.
In addition, there are hundreds of pieces of armor and more than a hundred three-eyed guns hidden in the dark room of the mansion, which can fully arm a team of hundreds of people.
As for the letters that Li Ruolian grabbed, they were mostly letters between Guang Shiheng and Zhou Zhong, Xiang Yu, and Shi Min.
Among them were not only plans on how to use the prince to take the blame and win the hearts of the rebels, but also how to open the Desheng Gate and how to take advantage of the chaos to trap Chongzhen and offer it to Li Zicheng.
Through these letters, Li Ruolian had roughly clarified what happened at Chengtianmen. Due to the lack of information about the woman, he had Guang Shiheng brought in for interrogation.
Guang Shiheng wanted to quibble at first, but when Li Ruolian used Jin Yiwei's two simple punishments, he immediately resorted to everything.
It turned out that the woman, nicknamed Red Lady, was the wife of Li Zicheng's military advisor Li Yan, and she found him seven days ago.
Guang Shiheng didn't want to pay attention to the red lady at first, but after the other party showed him the surrender letter stamped with Li Zicheng's jade seal and Hui Shiyang's letter asking him to help break the city, he couldn't help but be tempted.
Upon seeing this, the Red Lady promised him a heavy gift. He was obsessed for a while, so he contacted Zhou Zhong, Shi Min and others, and planned the previous food incident according to the Red Lady's instructions.
At the same time, Guang Shiheng also revealed that Zhang Jinyan had been in contact with the rebels, and there seemed to be a rebel general hiding in Zhang Jinyan's house.
In addition, Zhang Jinyan also hid five hundred dead soldiers in a house one mile away from Zhangyi Gate without telling him and Wei Zaode, preparing to open Zhangyi Gate tonight to lure the rebels into the city.
When Li Ruolian heard about this, he immediately sent someone to verify it, and it turned out to be true as Guang Shiheng said.
So he mobilized a team of royal guards to secretly monitor the dead soldiers, and then disguised himself and rushed back to the palace to report.
