Pawn Crossing the River

Xuansheng wanted to build Taoism into a benchmark, but the result was unsatisfactory.

Xuansheng wanted a Taoist sect that integrated the upper and lower Taoism. However, due to the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism, the integration of the three Taoism came to an abrupt halt. By the time the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism was over, the best opportunity to integrate the three Taoisms had been missed.

Xuansheng wanted to abolish many stereotypes and bad habits, such as the slave system. Although he successfully abolished the slave system on the surface, which is what Li Tianlan said, "the Taoist sect does not appreciate the personal dependence of the master-slave relationship." However, there are still a lot of problems within the Taoist sect. These aristocratic families are rooted in the Taoist sect, but they are not completely affiliated with the Taoist sect. There are also many family members who are not disciples of the Taoist sect. This has loopholes. Therefore, many Taoist sects still call their servants internally. Loyal servants are not uncommon.

Xuansheng wanted to ban the flesh business, but there was huge internal resistance. During the process of Xuansheng's integration of Taoism, the Zixian Mountain lineage stood firmly on Xuansheng's side from the beginning to the end. This made it difficult for Xuansheng to make a choice. In the end, a compromise was reached and the existence of Zixian Mountain was retained, but Yujing was restricted from having a courtyard.

There is also the use of torture. The Qingluan Guards of the previous dynasty were notorious and were particularly famous for various tortures. There is another saying in Gongmen, which is called "Under three trees, what can you ask for?" The meaning is also very simple. Under severe torture, you can get whatever confession you want.

It is undeniable that torture to extract confessions is a double-edged sword. The advantage is that it is extremely efficient in some cases, but the disadvantage is that it can easily lead to unjust, false and wrongful convictions.

The reason why Xuan Sheng wants to restrict torture and extort confessions has nothing to do with kindness and kindness, but to do with the atmosphere.

At the beginning, the case may have been 90% solved, with only the last person's key confession remaining, so he had to use some means to successfully solve the case.

But people are path dependent. With this lesson learned, next time the case will be 80% clear and some means will be used. By analogy, 70%, 60%, 50%, in the end you will fall into a terrible situation of killing good people and taking merit. After all, it is much more difficult to catch the demons of the secret society than to catch an ordinary person.

Xuansheng certainly understands that when the water is clear, there will be no fish, and it is difficult to completely prohibit it, but it must be strictly prohibited in terms of principles and rules. Otherwise, once legitimacy is given to it like Qingluan Wei, then "last resort" will soon become "peace of mind" and "natural and right".

Some things should be prohibited. Even if they cannot be eliminated, the attitude must be negative. This is a positive atmosphere.

To this end, Xuansheng made two efforts. One aspect is to set rules that emphasize physical evidence and despise oral confessions. The proportion of oral confessions in closed cases has repeatedly dropped. Another aspect is the explicit prohibition of all kinds of torture.

Because of this, Xu Kou tortured the prisoner to death. Even if the prisoner was a demon in a secret society and committed many evil deeds, Xu Kou was still demoted.

It's just that there are policies and countermeasures. Xuansheng really underestimated the wisdom of future generations. Xuansheng explicitly prohibited all kinds of torture and even listed an item. It mainly used various traditional methods, mainly corporal punishment, but did not prohibit all kinds of intimidation. Methods, such as pretending to inflict torture to exert psychological pressure on prisoners, are considered normal interrogation methods and a psychological tactic, not torture to extract confessions.

So later Beichen Hall invented something like the "soul seducing whip", which bypasses the body and leaves no scars after being tortured. Naturally, it does not belong to corporal punishment. Since it is not within the forbidden range of Xuansheng, it can be used.

Because the nature of the "soul seducing whip" is an illusion, if you believe it, it will work, but if you don't believe it, it will not work. Therefore, before Mu Jin tortured him, he would talk about it for a long time. This was to constantly hint to Ye Xiu, deepen Ye Xiu's fear, and force Ye Xiu to believe that this was true. of. Because illusions are deceptions and have the word "cheat" in them, Beichen Hall classifies the "soul seduction whip" as a normal interrogation method that pretends to inflict torture. This is already the consensus within the Taoist sect, and even Zhang Yuelu is not exempt from this practice.

Xuan Sheng's incomplete work also caused the special mentality of Taoist people. On the one hand, people from the Taoist sect pride themselves on being civilized and regard people outside the Taoist sect as barbarians. On the other hand, people in the Taoist sect do things similar to what they consider "barbarians" to do.

I have to say, this is really a huge irony.

Zhang Yuelu agreed with Xuansheng's point of view, so she did not abuse the punishment, but slowly confronted Ye Xiu. If Ye Xiu could not explain himself or remained silent, Mu Jin would be punished.

Zhang Yuelu is not a person who doesn't know how to adapt. Now it is a life-and-death fight. People are starting to kill people and silence them. If they still stick to the rules, they deserve to lose.

However, after the first show of force, Zhang Yuelu no longer tortured Ye Xiu, but only confronted him face to face.

"That's what Mr. Li said. Beggar King Ye should understand that no one will come to get you. If someone does come, they will come to silence you." Zhang Yuelu sat opposite Ye Xiu, placing a picture in front of him Book case.

This time, there was no "soul seducing whip" on Ye Xiu's body, but Ye Xiu's eyes were even darker than the last time he was whipped, without any energy at all.

Zhang Yuelu glanced at him and continued: "Perhaps Beggar Ye's suspicion is made up by me. I won't prove anything. I will just say one sentence: King Beggar Ye should know better than me about what kind of person Li Zhenren is and what his methods are. "

Beads of sweat broke out on Ye Xiu's forehead. She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

Zhang Yuelu waited for a moment and then said: "King Ye Beggar, there is only one way left for you. Only by abandoning the darkness and turning to the light can you have a chance of survival."

On the other side, Qi Xuansu was outside the dungeon, leaning against a big tree. He put a cigar given to him by Pei Xiaolou under his nose and sniffed it, hesitating whether to taste it.

Although the daylight hours are longer in summer, the sky becomes completely dark after half a month, and a huge moon hangs in the night sky. The moonlight is excellent, making it a more suitable day for moon-viewing.

Westerners like night banquets, or dinner parties. Shi Luosi wanted to hold a dinner party to entertain Lei Xiaohuan, so Lei Xiaohuan had not returned yet.

Pei Xiaolou had nothing to do for the time being, so he came to "inspect" the progress of the interrogation. Zhang Yuelu did not want Pei Xiaolou to interfere with her, so he sent Qi Xuansu to talk with Pei Xiaolou. Pei Xiaolou did not intend to point fingers. When the two came outside the dungeon and talked about various Western goods, Pei Xiaolou gave Qi Xuansu a cigar and asked him to try it. It is said that this cigar costs thirty Taiping. money.

Just as they were talking, a Taoist priest from the Wanshou Chongyang Palace came to report. They got the news that a Taoist priest in charge of Jiangnan Taoist Prefecture planned to disguise himself and abscond overseas by boat. At this time, he had already left Jinling Mansion in the dark. The key is that the Taoist priest in charge was still Li Tianlan's subordinate. Pei Xiaolou immediately became interested, stopped chatting with Qi Xuansu, and directly led people to capture the Taoist priest in charge of Jiangnan Taoist House who was planning to abscond.

So only Qi Xuansu and the cigar were left. Qi Xuansu wasn't very interested in the interrogation, and he didn't want to go back to the dungeon. The moonlight was good, so he just enjoyed the scenery here. After all, not far away is Zhenwu Lake. The moonlight is shining on Zhenwu Lake, and the waves are sparkling, reflecting a large moon in the water.

Zhenwu Lake is located in the city, and Zhenwu Temple is built with its back. The entire Zhenwu Temple facing Zhenwu Lake has no walls, only a lake embankment and some extended water pavilions, water corridors, pavilions and other buildings. In normal times, you can also drive a boat to and from the lake, which is the elegant pleasure of "taking a boat at night".

The dungeon is built in the deepest part of Zhenwu Temple. After all, this is not a glorious place and it is not easy to build it in a conspicuous place. Zhenwu Temple is backed by Zhenwu Lake, and its deepest part is naturally on the edge of Zhenwu Lake, so half of the dungeon is ordinary. Half of the dungeon is simply a water dungeon built under the lake.

Qi Xuansu was looking at Zhenwu Lake at this time. He suddenly had an idea. If someone attacked Zhenwu Temple, wouldn't Zhenwu Lake be undefended?

However, he soon felt that he was overly worried. The Zhenwu Temple was located inside the city of Jinling Prefecture, not outside the city. It made no difference whether it was fortified or not. More importantly, because the scenery near the lake is excellent, the residences of the deputy hall masters are close to Zhenwu Lake. If they attack from the lake, it will be much more difficult than a frontal attack.

As for killing people and silencing them.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu did take this into consideration, but what they focused on guarding against were the "lone wolves" that sneaked in quietly, rather than large wolf packs.

This is a misunderstanding in thinking. When it comes to silence, I subconsciously think that it should be kept secret and the fewer people who know, the better. But think about it on the other hand, why keep it secret? Is there any need to keep it secret now? The key is to eliminate all evidence. Without evidence, what can you do even if you know the truth?

Although Qi Xuansu felt that it was impossible for someone to attack from the lake, he still felt that something was not quite right. Years of life and death experience have given him a natural intuition for danger.

After leaving Pei Xiaolou, he felt a little uneasy. As time went by, this uneasiness became more intense. He always felt that something was wrong with the surrounding environment, but he couldn't explain it.

After a moment, Qi Xuansu realized what was wrong.

It's so quiet.

There was no chirping of insects, no chirping of birds, and no sound of frogs.

Frogs spend most of their time hiding quietly in the dark, making no sound and not coming into contact with other species. But during the breeding season, they will move into the water in groups to reproduce, make chirping calls, and are active day and night, especially on rainy days.

It's summer, the breeding season for frogs.

not good!

The uneasiness in Qi Xuansu's heart finally reached a certain point, as if an invisible hand just grasped Qi Xuansu's heart, making him breathless.

At this moment, a small black spot appeared in the bright moon in the sky.

Then, the black shadow grew bigger and bigger.

Someone steps on the moon and arrives.

On the other side, a figure rose from the watery moon on the lake.

Qi Xuansu tensed up and took out the "Dragon Hand Gun".

At this time, many more shadows emerged from the water one after another, rushing towards the shore like water ghosts.

Qi Xuansu fired a cannon into the sky as a warning.

Today is destined to be a sleepless night.