"Your Majesty, you are already waiting outside!"
"Xuan!"
"Li Ruolian, a member of the Qianhu family in Jinyi Guards, is here to see Your Majesty."
Li Ruolian, who was wearing a red Feiyu uniform, knelt on the ground after entering the Nuan Pavilion, muttering inwardly.
Although he was a Qianhu member of the Imperial Guard, he was only a fifth-rank official and was not even qualified to meet the emperor. He didn't know what the emperor was doing with a small Qianhu like him.
"Get up!"
Li Ruolian stood up after thanking him. When he raised his eyes, he saw the emperor staring at him. He immediately lowered his head. It was disrespectful to look directly at the emperor.
He is more than 1.8 meters tall, has a strong body, piercing eyes, and full of energy. Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun can tell at a glance that their bodies have been drained by wine and sex, and how can they compare with the man in front of them.
"Li Aiqing, do you know why I came to you?"
"I don't know!"
Li Ruolian shook his head and immediately said: "Your Majesty has something to explain, and I will not hesitate to die!"
"Even if you die?"
There was a playful smile on Chongzhen's lips: "Now I ask you to chop down Tian Ergeng, Xu Xianchun, and Wei Zhongxian. Do you dare to do the same?"
"Your Majesty, please issue an order!"
Li Ruolian immediately knelt down without any hesitation.
"Why don't you be afraid that I am testing you? You must know that Wei Zhongxian is very powerful now. Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun have both taken refuge in him. Tian Ergeng is your boss. Are you not loyal to him?"
"Your Majesty, I am a member of the Jinyi Guards. The Jinyi Guards are the emperor's personal troops. I am loyal to the emperor, not the commander of the Jinyi Guards. Your Majesty does not need to test me. I will kill whoever your Majesty says to kill?"
Although Li Ruolian was kneeling, his voice was still loud, revealing his unwavering will.
The current commander of the Jinyi Guards is Tian Ergen, who was appointed by Emperor Tianqi. He has only succeeded to the throne for more than half a month and has not yet had time to replace him.
According to historical records, after Tian Ergeng, Luo Yangxing took over, and then a man named Wu took over as the commander. These two were the last two Jinyiwei commanders in the Ming Dynasty.
Luo Yangxing was the son of Luo Sigong, the previous commander. He was good in the early stage, but became corrupt in the later stage. Finally, he defected to Li Zicheng and offered 30,000 taels of silver. After Jiannu entered the customs, Luo Yangxing defected to Jiannu again.
If his father knew that he had a son with a third surname, he would probably jump up from the ground and strangle him to death.
Since Chongzhen knew that Luo Yangxing had problems, he would naturally not use it anymore. The only one he remembered among the Jinyi guards was Li Ruolian, who died in front of Chongwen's gate.
"Li Aiqing, I have just ascended the throne and the situation in the government is unstable. I want to regain control of the Imperial Guards, punish the eunuchs and quell the party strife, and bring peace to the world. So what I just said about killing Tian Ergen was not a joke."
"Your Majesty, I am willing to trade one life for another. I may not be able to do anything with Wei Zhongxian, but with Tian Ergen, I can take advantage of my position to kill him by surprise."
Chongzhen could feel the sincerity in Li Ruolian's words. If he hadn't been a person from later generations and had read some history, he would have really thought that Li Ruolian was flattering.
"My companion, please give me a seat!"
Li Ruolian was overjoyed, thanked him repeatedly, and sat in front of the emperor. It is estimated that even the chief minister of the cabinet did not receive such treatment. He, a fifth-grade Qianhu, had such treatment, it was like a dream.
"Li Aiqing, do you know the current situation of Jinyiwei? Tell me about it."
Li Ruolian pondered for a moment, and his face became a little gloomy: "Your Majesty, the current Jin Yiwei is no longer the former Jin Yiwei. Under Wei Zhongxian's 'leadership', our glory is no longer. Officials beat and scold us, and the common people also treat us badly." Disdainful."
"The current establishment of Jinyiwei is still sound, but it is severely underpaid. I don't know the specific officials. However, among the thousands of households under my jurisdiction, there are currently only 858 people in the establishment, which is already considered the best.
There are several thousand households with only four to five hundred people under their jurisdiction, and most of them are old and weak people.
The current reported total number of Jinyiwei is more than 50,000, but I estimate that there may only be more than 15,000, and only half of them may be truly capable and usable. "
Chongzhen was not surprised at all by the figures Li Ruolian said.
Because historical records indicate that when Li Zicheng besieged Beijing, the Jinyiwei army was said to have had 150,000 people, but the final estimate was that it was only about 15,000 to 20,000 people. Now this is considered relatively good.
"Do you know who among the Jin Yiwei are more reliable?"
After Chongzhen finished speaking, he immediately added: "I am talking about those who are truly loyal to the imperial power."
"Everyone under my command can be trusted. Commander Tongzhi Wu Mengming, commander Qianshi Wang Guoxing, Qianhu Wang Wencai, Baihu Wang Shoulin, and Gao Wencai are all upright people and can be used."
Chongzhen frowned slightly. He had no impression of the people Li Ruolian mentioned. He believed in Li Ruolian, but that didn't mean he believed in the people Li Ruolian mentioned.
After all, knowing people but not knowing their hearts, it might be possible for some people to deceive Li Ruolian.
"How many people can you control?"
"Your Majesty, we all want to do something practical, so Wei Zhongxian did not touch us too much. We can probably control about three thousand to four thousand people. Although the number is not large, we are confident that we can kill the rest. Some people.”
Chongzhen was overjoyed. This news was great. Jin Yiwei was not completely ruined yet, and some of them were still available. In this case, he could take action in advance.
"Li Ruolian, I have given you several tasks. First, investigate the people you just mentioned in private. If they are really useful people, I will never treat them badly.
Second, it will be of great use to me to secretly investigate more than 100 other people in Jinyiwei and find evidence of their crimes.
You only have one month. After the investigation is clear, you are the commander of the Jinyiwei, and you will temporarily lead the Jinyiwei. If you perform well in the future, you will be the next commander of the Jinyiwei! "
Li Ruolian was confused. He was a Qianhu of the fifth rank, and his commanding colleague was from the third rank. He had jumped three levels in a row, and he was also temporarily assigned to the Imperial Guard.
Let’s not talk about whether he can finally become the commander of the Jinyiwei. The current commander Tian Ergen has been fired. In other words, he will be the boss of the Jinyiwei in a month.
The boss of Jinyiwei, he can do too many things, corrupt officials, he can take action.
Why did he want to enter Jinyiwei? If he wanted to gain military merit, it would be easier to go to the Nine Frontier Army or the Jingying Camp than to the Jinyiwei.
The reason why I came to Jinyiwei is because Jinyiwei is the emperor's personal army and can do things that benefit the people.
"Master Li, haven't you thanked His Majesty for your kindness?"
"I thank Your Majesty for your grace!"
Li Ruolian, who had just woken up from a dream, immediately knelt down.
"Go ahead, don't let down my expectations!"
Li Ruolian saluted and walked towards the outside of Nuan Pavilion. But when he was halfway there, Chongzhen suddenly shouted.
"Wait a moment!"
