Ming Dynasty 1566

Chapter 138

This set of shackles and handcuffs is the famous "tiger-wolf set". It was originally used to deal with gangsters in the Ministry of Punishment and the government offices of various provinces and counties.However, it was used in the Criminal Prosecution Division and the Zhenfu Division to lock officials who were disgusted by the emperor. The name was also changed, and it was called "Jinbuyao": First, because the whole body was covered with chains from head to toe, every step They all made clanking noises; secondly, because the hands and feet were all handcuffed together, the two shackles were bound by chains and could only move step by step, walking like a woman's golden lotus steps, hence the elegant name.The intention is very sinister, it is to insult those civil officials who claim to be clean, such as the "Four Admonitions from Yuezhong" and "Seven Sons of Shaoxing" back then, all of them used this set of torture instruments.

"Take it away!" The first eunuch ordered.

The two eunuchs went to pull the chain.

"Wait!" The eunuch's head quickly lowered his head, "Don't hurt him by a single hair, check the background!"

"Yes." The two imprisoned eunuchs loosened the chains, and Hai Rui could only walk slowly outside the house.

"Search! Search carefully!" The head of the eunuch who was punished shouted again.

Other eunuchs rushed in, some rushed into the east bedroom, some rushed into the west study, some went straight to the coffin, knocked the coffin lid to the ground, even the coffin was searched.

Inside the coffin were neatly stacked Hai Rui's sixth-rank official uniform and the sixth-rank official hat on top of the official uniform.One eunuch grabbed out the official hat, and the other eunuch grabbed out the official uniform. They both shook at the same time, but there was nothing.Looking into the coffin again, it was empty!
Because there were orders, the eunuchs in charge of Hai Rui's sentence were not to be violent, so they had to be patient and followed him, watching him slowly move out in chains, and when he reached the gate of the courtyard, he was blocked by a high threshold.

The eunuchs were neither rude nor helpful, and hated in their hearts that it was a day of great joy in the palace, and everyone should be rewarded by the emperor, but because of this, they were all smashed with a hammer, and they had to come here in the middle of the night. The drudgery, one by one, stood on the sidelines and watched, wanting to see him climb over the threshold by himself.

Hai Rui hadn't looked directly at these people since the moment the lock was locked. Standing in front of the threshold, he looked down and saw the torches shining on his lower body, and there were feet in spiked shoes on his front and back, but no one came to help him cross the road. threshold.

"Do you want to go over? Kneel down and crawl over!" A voice of a criminal eunuch shouted beside him.

Hai Rui didn't know anything, turned his body slowly, turned his back to the courtyard door, grabbed the iron chain and sat down on the threshold, then raised his feet, moved his body, moved his feet to the outside of the threshold, and grabbed the iron chain again. Lian stood up slowly by himself.

The eunuchs looking at each other, showed some appreciation for his move.

Hai Rui saw the prison cart by the door, and walked towards the prison cart without moving.

The prison cars of the Criminal Division were all sealed, with only a door installed at the rear of the car. At this moment, the door was open. Hai Rui walked to the door at the rear of the prison car and stood there.

At this time, two eunuchs came to help, and they lifted him one by one and sent him to the prison car.

Then the door of the prison car slammed shut from the outside, and then locked again with a snap.

Lanterns and torches lit up the compound outside the supervisor's office again, and the left to punish and the right to appease, the leaders of the two departments were summoned urgently again, and knelt on both sides of the courtyard with one leg.

Chen Hong stood with his head held high at the door of the duty room, Zhao Zhenji bowed his head and stood on his left, and the other three eunuchs who held pens stood on both sides of them.A Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, a Shaoqing of Dali Temple, and a left deputy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, who were urgently summoned to assist in handling the case by the imperial edict, stood lower than them, bowing their heads and standing under the stone steps of the guard's door.

The sky is about to dawn, and there is a dead silence, only the crackling sound of the torches in the night wind.

Chen Hongpian kept silent again, and he didn't know what he was waiting for.Others who were standing and kneeling felt that the night would not know when it would dawn.

A burst of footsteps broke the silence, and the eunuch who took the lead in arresting Hai Rui rushed in, went straight to Chen Hong and knelt down in front of Chen Hong: "My ancestors, Hai Rui has been arrested!"

"Okay!" Chen Hong spoke now, looking at the head of the eunuch who was imprisoned, "Accompany Mr. Zhao, a hero, and immediately go to interrogate that hero! If you ask questions or answer questions, don't miss a single word. Remember it all for me!"

"Yes!" The eunuch's head stood up and looked at Zhao Zhenji, "Master Zhao, please."

With a gloomy face, Zhao Zhenji followed the eunuch who was punishing him and walked out.

Only then did Chen Hong begin to assign people: "Listen up, the imperial court has committed a major treason case!"

The kneeling heads were all raised in shock, and all looked at him.

Chen Hong: "When the head of the household department came to power, he was going to force the emperor to abdicate! As for who is behind him, we have to find out one by one. As the saying goes, there are no internal thieves that cannot attract external thieves, and some people are by our side , by the emperor's side. Now let's check from our side. Bring that slave surnamed Huang in!"

Immediately there was a roar outside the courtyard, and all eyes turned away.

Huang Jin was already handcuffed at this time, and was escorted in by two eunuchs, and escorted to the Shimian Road in the courtyard, where he stood facing Chen Hong.

Everyone couldn't believe their eyes, how could this Eunuch Huang be an insider?How could he force the emperor to abdicate?It's incredible!
Chen Hong's gaze stabbed at Huang Jin.

Huang Jin was originally a stupid, straight and very stubborn person. At this time, he was bound by chains, and he still held his head high, but he didn't look at Chen Hong.

Chen Hong laughed: "Thought you were the Chief Eunuch Bingbi, standing there, waiting to be approved? Kick him to kneel down!"

Of course, the person who was betting on Huang Jin was Chen Hong's confidant. At this time, the two of them kicked Huang Jin's ankle at the same time. Huang Jin was kicked until he knelt down.

Chen Hong was angry: "You hold your head so high, do you want to see the stars in the sky? Give him a treat, let him see more stars!"

One of the eunuchs in charge of him swung his left palm and the other swung his right palm, and they slammed at Huang Jin's face!
Huang Jin was still stiff at first, then he saw gold stars all over his eyes, then it was pitch black, and finally fell down.

All the people kneeling in the courtyard, and the three eunuchs standing under the eaves bowed their heads, and some closed their eyes.

"Help up!" Chen Hong shouted again.

The two eunuchs pulled Huang Jin up one by one. Huang Jin's head fell limply on his chest, and he was dragged to kneel there.

"Wake him up and let him point out the party!" Chen Hong shouted again.

Cold water was always available, and at this moment another eunuch carrying a bucket of water threw it at Huang Jin.

Huang Jin trembled all over, and woke up again from the darkness, trying to open his eyes, but found that his eyes could not be opened, there was only a thread, and he could only see faint lights, his face was swollen up.

Chen Hong stared at him fiercely: "It doesn't work anymore if you talk about loyalty or not. If you don't want to implicate more people, just point out a few accomplices!"

Huang Jin breathed out, and opened his mouth to spit out to Chen Hong: "Bah!"

The mouthful of blood only fell on Chen Hong's feet.

All the people in the yard looked at Chen Hong, and the lights from the lanterns turned those eyes into a little bit of fire.

Chen Hongmo stopped, closed his eyes, thought for a while, then opened them again, and slowly scanned the shining eyes all over the yard: "I know, those of you who came early and came late have been treated by Lu Fang. Enhui is still thinking about the benefits of the old ancestor. But you have to understand one thing, if Lu Fang is such a good person, she will not betray the master Long Live. For us people, we must first be loyal, and second Loyalty. I, Chen Hong, have been in the palace for decades, and I have never been ambiguous on this point. Today I still have this point, first of all, I must be loyal to my master, and then I will protect everything I can. Who told Lu Fang to care about you? Ten years? Many of you are involuntary, as long as you still have the word "loyalty" to Master Long Live in your heart, I will let it go. But like this Huang Jin, he regards Lu Fang more than Master Long Live He is taller and heavier than his master, Long Live Lord, so he must not be forgiven! I, Chen Hong, are ten times stronger than him, and I am ten times stronger than him! As I said here, Gongli 24 The yamen, plus a town governor, who used to be related to Lu Fang, I only arrested one person, and that was Huang Jin! The rest, as long as they repented and stopped thinking about that Lu Fang, and stopped following Huang Jin, I guarantee them all! But there are still two I can't guarantee, because these two people are related to that Hai Rui! Zhu Qi, Qi Dazhu."

Zhu Qi and Qi Dazhu were still kneeling in the first row of the Zhenfusi crowd on the right, but now they stood up.

Chen Hong: "Hai Rui is the first rebellious person in history, why do you want to be riveted to him?"

Qi Dazhu wanted to answer, but Zhu Qi held him down with his hands, and replied loudly: "Eunuch Chen doesn't need to ask anything, just put us on torture tools!"

Chen Hong shook his head, and two more confidant eunuchs came over with handcuffs and silently handcuffed Zhu Qi and Qi Dazhu.

Chen Hong: "Don't beat people with steel and iron bones. It's useless to beat them. Let them find out for themselves and tell everything."

Zhu Qi and Qi Dazhu were also escorted out of the yard.

"It's your turn now." Chen Hong looked at the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, and the left deputy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate standing at the foot of the stone steps. A few members of the cabinet, as well as the officials from the six ministries of the Nine Ministers, are waiting in the cabinet right now. Go ahead and tell them to write their own defenses. If it is related to Hai Rui, write it as relevant, and if it has nothing to do with Hai Rui, write it as nothing .Don’t wrong a good man, and don’t let a traitor go.”

The three people immediately showed embarrassment and stood there in a daze.

Chen Hong: "I know that this assignment is embarrassing for you. A servant of the Ministry of Punishment, a young minister of Dali Temple, and a deputy capital censor, they are all your superiors in terms of official positions. But you have to think about it in your heart. Now, you are serving They are on mission, and they are nothing until the investigation is clear. "Loyalty" is the word, and no one can change your future. If you sell favors and leave a way out, then there is no way out. Do you hear me clearly?"

The three of them clasped their hands together and replied: "The humble officials understand."

Chen Hong: "Go."

Those three people walked towards the courtyard gate as if they were stepping on cotton.

"Eunuch Shi, Eunuch Meng, Eunuch Bian!" Chen Hong looked at the other three eunuchs holding pens.

"The subordinate is here." The three of them lowered their heads and replied in a low voice.

Chen Hong raised his voice: "Gather the soldiers and horses of the five cities and martial law in the nine cities of Shuntian Prefecture! Before that Hai Rui confesses, no official is allowed to go out!"

Beizhen Fusi Prison was known as the No. [-] prison in the world at that time!The stone walls on all sides, the stone surface all over the floor, and the stone slab on the top are all paved with granite of the same color.The prison is one foot deep on the ground, and there is no sunlight all year round. It is as dry as Beijing, and it is often humid. People locked in it, even if they are not tortured, will inevitably become weak and riddled with various diseases after a long time.

The people from the criminal punishment department watched, holding the lantern, Zhao Zhenji was led down the stone steps of the prison by them, only to see the deep stone path inside, only the dim light of the oil lamp on the wall.

Zhao Zhenji's face was even more gloomy than this dark prison at this time, turned around a stone path, and turned to another stone path, his face became more and more gloomy.

(End of this chapter)