There were side seats in the hall, and Dakui sat on the side of the hall, looking coldly at the three people kneeling in front of him, Brother Yong, Lao Wan, and Liu Ya.
The prefect of Songjiang, He Chongzhi, was still in charge of the trial, and his authority was solemn.
There was a loud bang, and Songjiang Magistrate He Chongzhi asked in a loud voice: "Wait for the three of you to report your name."
Brother Yong, Lao Wan, and Liu Ya all ignored it, as if their bones were very hard.
He Chongzhi was more straightforward. When he saw the three of them looking like dead pigs who were not afraid of boiling water, he immediately ordered: "Come here, these three criminals refuse to confess. Drag them down to the hall with me and give each of them twenty-spine canes. If you don't Say, continue the torture,"
After receiving the order, two squads of yamen officers stepped forward and escorted one of them, dragging Brother Yong, Lao Wan, and Liu Ya down to the hall like a chicken. Not long after, there was a "crackling" sound from outside the hall, but Because he couldn't hear the screams of the criminal, Dakui understood in his heart what these three people were thinking, they were determined not to speak.
After being beaten with the twenty-ridged cane, the squad leader came to report: "Sir, the criminal has not opened his mouth after being tortured with the twenty-ridged cane. Please show me."
He Chongzhi slapped the table and shouted: "Keep fighting," and the class leader ordered him to leave the hall.
Not long after, he was beaten with a cane twenty times, and the squad leader came again to report. He Chongzhi was at his wits end and turned to Da Kui and asked: "Sir Zhang, what should I do if the criminal refuses to confess?"
Dakui smiled slightly and said: "If you don't confess, then just continue the beating with the cane. Why bother asking me?"
He Chongzhi sighed and said, "Master Zhang, you don't know. The spine of the cane is very heavy. If you hit it with a fifty-ridged cane, you may break your bones and tendons." After a pause, He Chongzhi said again: "I have beaten forty times this time." "If you beat me with the cane again, I'm afraid I'll be killed. It wouldn't be a pity for these three criminals to die, but if they are beaten to death, it won't be a headless case." He Chongzhi felt a little embarrassed at this point, but he still asked for help. : "It has been heard that Mr. Zhang was once the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. In terms of punishment, the lower officials are naturally inferior to Mr. Zhang. This... this...,"
Dakui laughed when he heard this and said: "I had no choice but to take up my post in the Criminal Department. It was favored by Emperor Taizu. However, Zhang knew that he was not very talented and learned little, so he resigned and returned to his hometown. As for the criminal law, it is my own discretion, Mr. He. It is inconvenient for me." put one's oar in,"
Seeing what Dakui said, He Chongzhi had no choice but to ask for help, so he had to order: "Bring in the three criminals."
When Brother Yong, Lao Wan, and Liu Ya were brought into the hall, they saw that the three people's backs were already stained with blood and the skin and flesh were torn. This spine staff is also called a back flower. If you remove the twenty spine staff, you can see it on the back. Red is called the flower on the back, and the punishment of the spine cane is not the most severe punishment, but it is very particular. If the torturer ventilates the torturer in advance (gives gold and silver gifts to deal with it), he may not be injured during the torture. It's very serious, but if there is no ventilation, it will end up like these three people.
The spine cane can cause serious damage to the victim's spine and internal organs, so the severity of the torturer's attack is very important. For the torturer who uses the spine cane, his method may seem simpler than other criminal methods, but in fact it is not. This requires the torturer to Being able to control the temperature of the fire, the light red appearance will not damage the bones and organs, but the severe case can kill a person with a forty-ridged staff.
In this execution, the executioner took a hint from the prefect He Chongzhi and only injured his appearance but not his muscles and bones. Therefore, the three criminals were spared after the forty-ridged cane was used.
"Who ordered you to come here to commit murder? Do you know that murdering an official of the imperial court is a serious crime against the three clans? Aren't you afraid of death?" He Chongzhi still spoke with righteousness and righteousness, but he didn't know that this The three criminals all lowered their heads, as if they had not heard He Chongzhi's questions.
Afterwards, He Chongzhi asked a few more questions, but the three people still ignored them. He Chongzhi was so angry that he used pinch torture, both large and small. The punishment was for both legs.) However, the three of them were gritting their teeth in pain and sweating profusely without saying a word. He Chongzhi had no choice but to withdraw from the court and retrial tomorrow.
After leaving the hall, He Chongzhi and Dakui went to the back hall and took their seats. The servants served refreshments. He Chongzhi then stood up and came over and bowed deeply: "Master Zhang, I really have no idea. I hope Master Zhang can teach me. "
Dakui quickly stood up and helped He Chongzhi up, and said with a smile: "Master He, why are you doing this? Please sit down, please sit down."
When He Chongzhi sat down, Dakui said deeply: "In my opinion, these three people must be detained separately and guarded by special personnel, firstly to prevent them from colluding in confessions, and secondly, from committing suicide." He Chongzhi heard this and quickly Send people to do it one by one.
Dakui then added: "There is a saying in the art of war: attack the heart first. If you want to get the criminal to confess, you must make him sincerely convinced. Then attack his weak points to achieve success."
"Oh, Mr. Zhang is really wise. I admire you in Xiaguan," He Chongzhi praised repeatedly, and then said: "If you are an ordinary unruly person, you only need twenty pieces of paper to confess, but for these green forest gangsters, the lower officials We are helpless." After saying this, He Chongzhi stood up, bowed deeply to Dakui and said, "I'd like to trouble Mr. Zhang to sit down in court to hear the case, and I will listen to my instructions."
This He Chongzhi was quite a man of the city, and he actually put aside his wealth to ask for advice. Da Kui couldn't help but laugh a little when he saw He Chongzhi acting like this. This He Chongzhi was also cunning, and he knew that handling these three green forest figures would definitely cause trouble, and they could assassinate the county magistrate. Of course, the prefect can also be assassinated, so it can be seen that the wise move to protect yourself is indeed the best policy.
Dakui pretended to think for a moment, and then said: "In this case, it will be more difficult for me to do this for you."
"Thank you, Master Zhang," He Chongzhi bowed to the end again, but his attitude was completely respectful.
Dakui said: "Since I am trying the case, I must be given enough manpower."
He Chongzhi said without hesitation: "As long as the public servants of the various states and counties within Songjiang Prefecture are at your disposal,"
"Hehehehe, that's not necessary, only six people are enough," Dakui smiled mysteriously, which aroused He Chongzhi's suspicion, but He Chongzhi still followed the instructions and found six yamen servants.
Dakui looked at the six yamen servants standing in front of him, and immediately ordered: "You have six people and three people in a shift, and each shift will be on duty for six hours. You must do this..." Da Kui deliberately whispered to the foreman yamen servant, which attracted a lot of attention. He Chongzhi listened intently but did not hear a word, only feeling anxious.
Next, Dakui went to the cell and met Brother Yong, Lao Wan, and Liu Ya. He only said one sentence during the meeting: "You are all heroes of the green forest. Zhang does not dare to neglect you. Now I have specially arranged a few officials to serve you day and night. I am willing to "Everyone is satisfied. If you need anything, just let me know and I will be waiting for you at any time." After Dakui said that, he walked away.
The three people in the prison were all held separately, and all were shackled. However, Dakui's words were spoken with inner strength. All three people heard them clearly, but if they wanted to talk to each other, they had to shout out. The throat is not good, Brother Yong, Lao Wan, and Liu Ya can't speak to each other, but they understand what Dakui means. This is going to be torture day and night, but all three of them made up their minds in unison. No matter how much he suffered, he never said a word.
When the good day came, the three of them were tied up with wooden shackles and their hands were hung up. However, the hanging was not complete. The toes of their feet were still slightly touching the ground. The rope binding their hands was only as thick as chopsticks. It was very painful when it was strangled on the wrists. As a result, the three of them could only stand on tiptoes. If they let go even a little bit, their hands would be strangled by the rope, causing excruciating pain.
A good man is a good man. Even so, the three of them still clenched their teeth and refused to let go. In front of each of the three of them were two yamen, who set up tables, chairs and benches in front of the three people's cells, drinking tea and chatting.
They stayed up like this until night. The three of them were exhausted. They had been tortured with the cane during the day, and all three of them had burning pain on their backs. At this moment, they were unable to move up or down. It can be said that it was as uncomfortable as it was. In the middle of the night The minds of the three of them were all a little confused, and they didn't care about the pain in their wrists. They just hung there in a daze. Unexpectedly, as soon as they closed their eyes, an official came over and stabbed them in the ribs with a water and fire stick.
The next day, the three people were still silent, and the Yamen official did not ask any questions. He put the three people down. As soon as the rope was untied, the three people immediately fell to the ground. This time, their hands were not tied, but they were tied. The thumb is still hanging, which makes the pain even worse. As the saying goes: ten fingers are connected to the heart, the feeling of hanging the thumb with a thin rope is not something that humans can endure.
At night, when the three of them were about to take a nap, the Yamen official stopped stabbing them in the ribs. Instead, he used a water and fire stick to hit the thin ropes that tied the thumbs of their hands. This kind of punishment is famous, called "rat playing the zither". This is still Da Kui I learned it when I was in the Ministry of Justice, but I didn’t expect it to come in handy now.
After staying up another night, the three of them were really tough, and they still gritted their teeth and held on. However, after two days of being tied up and hung, all three of them were haggard and their eyes were blank.
On the third day, Da Kui asked someone to prepare prison uniforms and send them to the cell. He claimed that the clothes of the three of them were worn out and needed to be replaced. Before the three could refute, a Yamen officer forcibly took off the clothes and applied medicine.
The moment when they were changing clothes was simply too horrible to watch. All three of them had been beaten with sticks. After three days, the wounds on their backs had just scabbed over and were stuck to their outer clothes. When the officer was taking off their clothes, he deliberately violently raped them. He tore off their clothes from their backs with force, and the tears were bloody for a while, which made people dizzy. The same wounds on the backs of the three of them were cut into pieces, but the Yamen ignored them and just said: "Zhang Your Excellency has ordered you to apply the medicine. You must thank Master Zhang later." Then he began to apply the medicine, but this medicine was salt water.
The originally silent cell suddenly heard the screams of three people. When the salt water was applied to the wounds, Brother Yong, Lao Wan, and Liu Ya were all trembling in pain. They didn't even have the strength to scream in pain. When the three of them took a breath, they tied their thumbs and dropped them on the beam.
The three of them stayed up until three quarters of noon. Lao Wan couldn't bear it anymore and had to beg for mercy: "Excuse me, officer, I want to see Mr. Zhang." Although his voice was small, Liu Ya in the next room heard him.
I heard Liu Ya yelling in another room: "Lao Wan, you bastard, if you dare to let loose, the hall master will definitely smash your plate."
"I really can't stand it anymore, let me die," Lao Wan suddenly struggled hysterically, and his thumbs were strangled and bleeding profusely.
At this time, Dakui's voice sounded coldly outside the cell door: "Bring him out,"
After receiving the order, the officer immediately put Lao Wan down and dragged him out of the cell door. Liu Ya's voice behind him screamed like a haunting ghost: "Lao Wan, don't forget the oath you and I made. I still have a small family,”
After he finished speaking, the officer guarding Liu Ya immediately picked up a stick of water and fire and hit Liu Ya on the heart. Liu Ya had not eaten or eaten for three days. This stick directly made Liu Ya vomit, but all he vomited out was yellow water and bile.