"I've hired all the villains. I beg you, the official, to lower your rank a little."
Mr. Zheng spoke to Kuaishou in front of him in a weak voice, but as soon as his voice came out, he was drowned in the noise.
There were more than fifty thieves imprisoned in the inner prison. These people were all from Huang Wending's group. Most of them had been oppressed by Mr. Zheng and his gang in the past. They had been in jail for a few days and were bored and full of fear. At this time, they saw Mr. Zheng.
Being tortured, many people were inexplicably excited, and the prison was noisy.
Pang Yu took him back to the inner cell and hung him up without asking any questions.
Two hemp ropes hung the thumbs of his hands, just high enough for the big toes to touch the ground.
The hemp rope caused severe pain in his thumb. If he wanted to relieve the pain in his thumb, he needed to support his weight with his big toes. The two big toes had to bear the weight and control the center of gravity. Naturally, he could not hold on for long, and then the big toes
My ankles and ankles will soon suffer severe pain, and I have to switch to my thumbs to bear weight.
Either the fingers hurt or the toes hurt. Mr. Zheng was in a constant switching state for most of the hour. Although he quickly found a balance point, that is, the fingers and toes each bear part of the pain, but the final result is that the fingers and toes hurt together.
As time went on, the pain became more and more intense.
He was just a domestic slave who roamed the streets on weekdays, not a steadfast martyr. In less than half an hour, his spirit collapsed. In the final analysis, he was on the level of a local ruffian.
"This squad leader doesn't need you to recruit anything. You beat Yue Ji to death in the street that day, and there were witnesses all over the street. You can be convicted without saying a word."
Pang Yu looked at Mr. Zheng from the side with great interest, "Young Master is just trying to take revenge. You have offended many people in this yamen. Young Master makes you suffer, and many people will applaud you."
Mr. Zheng was a little desperate. The two hemp ropes were like the most terrifying torture instruments in the world. He could no longer bear the physical pain.
He originally thought that the yamen was just like a board or a standing cage. He didn't know much about the box bed, and he didn't feel scared at all.
When they first hung him, he didn't care. What use could these two hemp ropes have?
But an hour later, as long as Pang Yu asked him to explain something, he could even explain it to his eighteen generations of ancestors. What made him most desperate at this time was that Pang Yu had no demands on him, but only wanted to torture him for revenge.
"I am in pain, my finger is about to be broken, sir, please spare my life!"
"Why are you hanging if it doesn't hurt?"
Pang Yu comforted him in a calm tone, "Brother Zheng, don't worry. The thumb joint is very strong and the two thumb feet can bear the weight. It will not break. At most, it will cause ischemic necrosis if it is hung for a long time."
Mr. Zheng raised his head and howled twice, while Pang Yu was very leisurely, showing a dominant position in control.
This kind of punishment that uses body weight has this advantage. After it is formed, there is almost no effort on the part of the interrogator. Gravity will complete the follow-up work, and the execution can take as long as it takes.
"I originally thought you could last two or three hours, but Brother Zheng is a bit disappointing.
Brother, I still have some other new gadgets here that I haven’t used yet, otherwise Brother Zheng should show off his tenacity."
"Bantou Pang, spare your life, I'm not tenacious anymore.
The villain buried two hundred taels of silver, two pairs of gold bracelets, and one gold inlaid with jade under the wall of Yueshang Temple, and gave them all to Bantou Pang. He only asked Bantou Pang to loosen the rope."
"stop!"
Pang Yu knocked on Mr. Zheng's forehead, "Brother Zheng, you can't be so loud about such a confidential matter, otherwise the money will be taken away by others later.
If you have anything else to explain, please tell me in a lower voice.
Especially the entanglements in the yamen, if I hear what you like, I will loosen the rope for you."
At this time, Mr. Zheng's whole body was soaked with sweat, his fingers and toes were almost numb from pain, and his physical strength was close to the limit. Seeing that Pang Yu finally made a reliable request, as long as the rope could be loosened, he would do anything, he said regardless, "The villain said , Wen Laoer, the man in the cabinet, can look for him if he sends any deceitful messages.
Tian Shu, the clerk in Hufang, told me where to go to issue the card tickets and asked our bank to send someone there.
Yuan Cangzi, who prepared the warehouse, sent all the grain stored in the warehouse to be sold in grain stores outside. One was from our Wu family, and the other was from Fang Xiang.
Yuan Cangzi will divide the household between Zhao Sili and Tang Dianli..." Pang Yu interrupted in a low voice, "Wait a minute, I clearly heard Zhao Sili's name."
Mr. Zheng realized something and probably understood something. He stopped talking and just gasped quickly.
"I can tell Brother Zheng that Secretary Zhao cannot save you."
Mr. Zheng stared at the floor, desperately holding on with his toes, his body kept shaking, fighting against the pain coming from his hands and feet, sweat pouring down his forehead.
Pang Yu was not in a hurry. He had plenty of time and waited patiently for a moment. Mr. Zheng slowly raised his head and looked at Pang Yu, "I am both a murderer and a person who causes chaos. You can't save me."
"I can't save you right now, but I'm in charge of this prison right now. As long as you do as I say, I can save you from suffering.
Otherwise, if I give Brother Zheng all the new stuff, my life will be boring."
Pang Yu didn't lie to him, because the prison in Tongcheng had never held so many prisoners. During civil unrest, the prisoners escaped. Once the prisoners made trouble and broke out, the county government could not suppress them at all.
Yang Fangqian had to ask Kuaiban and Zhuangban to help guard the South Prison. The most important inner cell was guarded by three people from Kuaiban, so Pang Yu could now enter and exit at will.
"Brother Zheng beat someone to death, but he didn't have the murder weapon in his hand, so there is no chance of redemption. Ants are greedy for life, so they always have to give it a try.
But if Brother Zheng doesn't know how to advance or retreat..." Pang Yu pointed to the prisoners in the cells around him and whispered, "These people are all from Huang Wending's group, and they will never end their feud with you all day and night. Pang doesn't need to do it himself. As long as you are locked up in one of their cells, Brother Zheng will never have the chance to redeem you.
When the time comes to go to court, Brother Zheng will know what to say."
...In Kuaishou's check-in room, Pang Yu closed the window facing the corridor and exchanged news with Tang Weimin in a low voice.
"When Pang Xiaodi took office as a new official, he arrested Du Fangming and Mr. Zheng as soon as he took office. It was very satisfying. Everyone in the city praised him. The undercurrent of public sentiment in the past few days disappeared. The county magistrate was full of praise for Pang Xiaodi these past two days. .”
Pang Yu still felt a little proud.
In the past two days, Du Shushou and Mr. Zheng were arrested in the execution room.
Du Fangming was an easy calligrapher, so Pang Yu did not arrest him in the yamen. He specifically waited for Du Fangming to be at home to arrest him, and then escorted him back to the South Prison with great fanfare. The people along the way praised him, making him quite a limelight.
The arrest of Mr. Zheng was even more effective. It was originally the most convenient way to go to the county government from Yiminmen, but Pang Yu deliberately went around the outside of the city and entered the city from the busiest south gate, which made everyone in the city know.
Both Zheng Lao and Du Shushou were people with great public indignation. By attacking these two people, the people's emotions rose, and the people's hearts were on the side of the county government. Yang Fangfian was able to get out of the dangerous situation, and he could help the leaders relieve their worries. Naturally, the county magistrate He was very fond of Pang Yu, and Pang Bantou was in trouble in the Yamen.
"It's all thanks to Mr. Tang's kindness that the villain can do things smoothly."
Pang Yu leaned over and lowered his voice, "Mr. Zheng has agreed that Secretary Zhao will be implicated in the lobby."
Tang Weimin's eyes flashed, "The officials who built the Anhui Ningfen Patrol Road have arrived and will definitely be heard in court. As soon as Mr. Zheng's words come out, Zhao Si will have nowhere to deal with and will most likely resign.
But there is still another difficulty for Tang."
"What's the difficulty?"
"For the position of Secretary, the predecessor must recommend a successor. Now we just want Secretary Zhao to step down. How to get him to recommend Tang is the most difficult thing."
Pang Yu was surprised and said, "Isn't it appointed by the boss?"
Tang Weimin gave Pang Yu a strange look, and was quite surprised by Pang Yu's lack of common sense.
Although Pang Yu had never heard of it, this was indeed the case for officials in the Ming Dynasty.
This is an unspoken rule in the clerk market. If Secretary Zhao resigns, a successor will be recommended.
The successor will give Secretary Zhao a reward, which is called the first silver. This makes the successor of an official like a business, which requires the formation of a formal document and the witness of the intermediary.
If it is a vacant position, there will be strong competition, so the one with the highest price will usually get it.
Dingshouyin has a long history. Although the imperial court once strictly prohibited it, in the end it was just a formality. In the end, the court was forced to accept the reality and allowed Dingshouyin to become the rule of the officialdom.
By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the official market had become very standardized. In some highly vacated departments, such as the Salt Transportation Department and the Fengyang Governor's Yamen, the first-time salary of an official could be as high as thousands of taels to tens of thousands of taels.
And they will eventually earn back this money, because they can sell it to the next one when they leave office.
"If Secretary Zhao is accused, Tang will have a chance to replace him, but if the governor's office appoints someone else, you and I will have to make wedding clothes for others, so it's best to let Secretary Zhao recommend Tang."
Pang Yu thought about it carefully and realized that Tang Weimin was actually worried about implicating himself because he was very close to Secretary Zhao, so he repeatedly asked Pang Yu to get Mr. Zheng to report misdemeanors.
"Then this matter can only be planned by Mr. Tang. If you want my younger brother to help, you can let me know at any time."
Tang Weimin nodded and stood up and said, "Little brother Pang, just look after Mr. Zheng. As for the recommendation, Tang will take care of it himself.
But you and I should move less in the past few days, lest Mr. Zhao becomes suspicious. If he knows that you and I are behind the plan, he will get angry and let others take the lead, and things will not go well."
Pang Yu quickly stood up and sent Tang Weimin to the door of the duty room when Mr. Yu was about to come in.
Pang Yu quickly invited him in. Mr. Yu was not polite when he entered the check-in room and sat down minding his own business.
Recently, he and Pang Yu had been having a lot of contact. He helped Pang Yu complete the matter of writing his name on the application form. Pang Yu asked Zhou Yueru to give two generous gifts, and the relationship between the two became closer.
Mr. Yu said directly to Pang Yu, "The county magistrate asked Yu to come and inform me. In a quarter of an hour, I will ask Pantou Pang to go to the lobby to discuss matters."
"But what's important?"
Mr. Yu frowned and said, "This matter is not a big deal or a small matter.
We are discussing the aftermath with the Tongcheng gentry. The most important thing is to determine the cause of the chaos so that we can report the details to Anqing Mansion."
"I see."
Pang Yu pondered for a moment. He had heard Mr. Yu talk about this matter, but Pang Yu had not paid attention to it recently because he had personally experienced it and the reason seemed obvious.
There has been such a big mess in Tongcheng, and it has been heard by heaven. Naturally, the cause and effect must be explained clearly, and the cause and effect cannot be confused, lest Emperor Chongzhen say that local officials are perfunctory.
But when he really thought about it, Pang Yu realized that the matter was not that simple.
First of all, how the local officials characterize the incident, whether it is a rebellion or a riot, a popular uprising or a slave uprising, a common people fighting or a bandit disturbing the people, each method of dealing with the aftermath is different. In the end, the intensity of convicting the criminals will be different, and the assessment of credit will be different.
Once it is determined, it needs to be reported to the Anqing Mansion immediately, so that the governor and inspector can report back to the emperor to avoid a passive situation again.
Therefore, once Yang Fangqian stabilized the situation, he immediately started to deal with the matter. Since the gentry contributed to quelling the chaos this time and were the main victims, the county government naturally had to discuss it with them first.
Mr. Yu rubbed the area between his brows, with a tired look on his face, "Jian Anhui Ningfen Patrol Road Office officials, the Nanjing Ministry of War's official has arrived in Tongcheng, Wang Gongbi has not returned to Chizhou, is still stationed in Anqing, and may come at any time
Tongcheng, everyone has to have a hand in determining this matter, and if we delay it for a little longer, I’m afraid it will be even more difficult.”
Pang Yu said in surprise, "The chaos has been settled, why do these adults seem to be more concerned about it?"
"It's all because Cao Jiang Admiral Ma Shiming reported the Tongcheng Civil War to the emperor in advance. According to the news from the Anqing Mansion, the most mentioned in Ma Shiming's memorial were the slaves of the local eunuchs, Yin Deng and Zheng Lao's group of slaves
Quite a few, Huang Wending, who was causing trouble, also had many domestic slaves.
Although the chaos has been settled now, Mr. Yang is still in a dilemma. He doesn't know how to determine the cause, because he is afraid that the gentry will be involved and it will not end well."
"So what's the current explanation for the cause?"
Mr. Yu thought thoughtfully and said, "Some scholars in Tongcheng believe that it was caused by the spread of the Shan-Shaanxi movement and should be characterized as the local bandits taking action in response to the movement. This is the theory of rebellion.
Some of the squires talked about popular uprisings, some talked about private fighting among the people, and so on.
Mr. Yang thinks it is a slave rebellion caused by a series of cunning domestic slaves."
Pang Yu heard that none of them mentioned the gentry. Even the slave change that Yang Fangqian thought of only mentioned the cunning of the domestic slaves and did not mention the slave-owning gentry.
Judging from the composition of Huang Wending's gang, any characterization is actually suitable.
As long as the head of the family is not involved, the qualitative difference between the yamen and the gentry should not be too big. It is a technical issue at most.
But Mr. Yu kept frowning. Pang Yu asked tentatively, "Is Mr. Yu in trouble?"
"Indeed."
Mr. Yu turned his head and glanced behind him, then leaned over and whispered, "Yesterday, as soon as the Nanjing War Department's official arrived in Tongcheng, he asked Mr. Yang to characterize the cause of the civil uprising as the gentry's indulgence of slaves and oppression of good people."
Pang Yu was slightly startled. This Nanjing War Department Titang officer had just arrived and was here on behalf of the Nanjing War Department. Even the governor could not control him. The idea of allowing slaves to do evil would definitely be firmly opposed by the Tongcheng gentry.
Yang Fangqian and Pi Yingju would not support this characterization, otherwise they might offend the large number of slave-owning gentry in Anqing. As local officials, administration often relied on the cooperation of the gentry class.
"Yu also heard that Governor Zhang Guowei and Inspector Li Youdan both sent their aides to Anqing. I wonder if they want to come to Tongcheng."
Pang Yu couldn't figure out the reason for a while, especially the sudden appearance of the Nanjing Ministry of War Titang official. He didn't know who he came to represent. The key point in defining slaves as evil was not the slaves, but the gentry themselves.
He made this argument as soon as he arrived, and it was obviously not made casually.
All of a sudden, various forces gathered in Tongcheng, and an event that seemed inconspicuous suddenly turned strange.
At Pang Yu's level at this time, he was unable to obtain enough information for analysis, so naturally he could only be confused.
Pang Yu shook his head, gave up the useless efforts, returned to the original topic, and carefully asked Mr. Yu, "I have never been asked to go down to the lobby to discuss matters in the past, why are you suddenly asked to listen today?"
"Master Yang said that Pantou Pang was the first to put an end to the chaos and was the most knowledgeable about its causes. As for the determination of the cause, Bantou Pang was asked to participate in writing the detailed declaration. It must be done as soon as possible."
Pang Yu opened his mouth. There were more forces involved this time than Yunji Temple. At Yunji Temple, Pang Yu had an advantage in intelligence, but this time he had no advantage at all.
I felt like there was a fog in front of me, and there was a big hole somewhere in the fog, just waiting for me, the seemingly proud class leader, to step into it.
Mr. Yu was also assigned to handle this matter. He had been very busy these past two days. He had written the detailed application seven or eight times. Often, before it was finished, there would be new changes, and he would have to start over.
The two of them did not dare to stay too long. Several gentry had already passed through the corridor, and they were probably going to have a meeting soon.
Pang Yu patted her head and went out with Mr. Yu. As soon as she stood on the corridor, she suddenly felt something.
He raised his head and looked to the left, Fang Zhongjia was striding from the corridor, looking at Pang Yu with cold eyes.