Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Fang Zheng smiled contentedly, seeing that he was willing to yield.

This group of people were all military officers and might not be easy to control.

The military officers of this era couldn't be compared with the soldiers of later generations; there was far too much lacking in terms of morality, military spirit, and order.

He had seen many soldier-ruffians outside, just loafing around for food and drink. To put it bluntly, they couldn't even be called soldiers; they were simply organized thugs.

Under famous generals, they could still be restrained, and a disciplined and fierce army could be brought out, but ordinary generals... with that kind of quality, it would be considered morally high-minded if they only robbed and didn't kill civilians after capturing a city.

Due to his memories from his previous life, where the military and the people were as close as fish and water, Fang Zheng had a good impression of soldiers.

However, after seeing more in the Great Jing, he also knew that these soldiers were not the same as those soldiers.

The current group of second-generation individuals were probably even worse; it's easy to learn bad habits but difficult to learn good ones. Although it might not be as he imagined, Fang Zheng never hesitated to guess the worst-case scenario.

After all, when you're out in society, if you appear too polite and your attitude is too soft, villains will take the initiative to step on you.

And he wasn't a weakling.

"You don't need to be afraid, but this official is also newly appointed, and considering this is your first offense, if you say 'I'm sorry, Lord Fang,' this matter will be considered over."

Ren Hua trembled all over and immediately shouted, "I'm sorry, Lord Fang!"

Fang Zheng raised his voice, "Not so fast! Go outside and say it loudly in front of everyone, 'I'm sorry, Lord Fang!'"

"If I can't hear it, you'll have to say it again. If I still can't hear it, keep saying it until I hear it! Get out!"

Ren Hua knelt on the spot, his face flushed red, feeling ashamed and indignant... It was over; it seemed this guy had no intention of letting him off.

However, since things had already reached this point, there was no turning back, so he could only grit his teeth and shout, "This subordinate obeys!"

Fang Zheng nodded, "Okay, everyone take out the money you have. Find someone to return twice the amount owed to the restaurant! If this kind of malicious incident of disturbing the people happens again in the future, don't blame this official for being ruthless!"

"Where is Zhang Shi being held? Find someone to take this official there!"

Soon, led by a minor official, Fang Zheng entered the Imperial Prison.

This Imperial Prison was obviously built in a hurry and was not yet completed. However, it could already be seen that it was carefully designed, with a semi-underground structure and very thick walls.

Some simple torture instruments had already been placed inside, and the overall environment seemed relatively clean.

There were no prisoners, and the inside was empty and very gloomy.

Following the minor official, they continued to walk inward for a dozen steps and saw Zhang Shi. At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged on the spot, his hair still neatly combed, but his mental state was even worse.

Just as Fang Zheng was about to speak, an old man next door suddenly rushed up, ranting and raving through the prison door, "Traitor! I, this old man, will kill you!!"

The minor official immediately explained, "Lord Fang, this person is the head of the Yan family, Yan Guo'an's father. He was captured along with Zhang Shi. I heard that he had committed some offense before, and His Majesty had already spared him once. Not long after, it was revealed that he was mixed up with Zhang Shi. The higher-ups specifically ordered that he be arrested and handed over to you for joint trial."

Fang Zheng nodded.

He had already heard the Crown Prince talk about this matter. This old guy was left in the palace and interrogated repeatedly by the Eastern Depot, and his secrets were completely exposed.

However, it was said that he had an iron certificate of exemption from death... This thing was indeed unreliable; they could just find a pretext to kill you twice.

Turning his head, he said to the minor official, "Later, when you go out, check how many people in our dynasty have received iron certificates of exemption from death to this day, and how many have died."

"Yes, Lord Fang, this one understands."

Old Yan already hated Fang Zheng to the bone, and he cursed madly through the prison door.

Fang Zheng was not in a hurry to talk to Zhang Shi; the old man's constant nagging was very annoying.

Turning his head back to the place where the torture instruments were placed, he found a thick, long stick and stabbed Old Yan a few times hard through the prison door.

While stabbing, he cursed, "Old fart! Do you really think I'm respecting the old and loving the young! If you talk nonsense again, I'll rush in and beat you!"

After a few consecutive stabs, the old man was stabbed until he gasped for breath, cowering in the corner, only able to stare at him with resentful eyes.

"Still glaring! Tomorrow I'll have someone feed you shit!"

Fang Zheng glared back, and tears appeared in Old Yan's eyes, and he silently turned his head towards the corner of the wall....

Dropping the stick, Fang Zheng patted the dust off his hands and walked to Zhang Shi's prison door again.

Squatting down, he smiled and said, "Lord Zhang, it's been a long time since we talked."

Zhang Shi still had his eyes closed and said faintly, "I have nothing to say to you. I am loyal to His Majesty, and no one can deny this. I just made a temporary mistake and got on Prince Wu's pirate ship."

Fang Zheng said disdainfully, "You've said all the nice words, but your mouth is full of principles, and your heart is full of business. If you like money, don't pretend to be incorruptible. Using loyalty and patriotism as a shield is very shameless."

"I'm only here this time to ask you, Prince Wu said he would give you two million taels of silver every year; where is the silver hidden?"

"I don't want to waste any more words, and I'm too lazy to use torture. You might as well just confess directly."

There was nothing to interrogate, and in fact, the most valuable thing was the silver vault.

The Zhang family was large and prosperous, and they must have hidden the large amount of ill-gotten money very carefully. If he didn't confess voluntarily, it was unknown how much effort it would take.

Zhang Shi remained silent.

The minor official stepped forward and said sinisterly, "Lord Fang, we have someone here who can play the pipa; it would be good to try it on him!"

"Pipa? That thing can also be used to interrogate prisoners?" Fang Zheng smiled, suddenly thinking of the karaoke rooms in Taoyuan County.

He didn't expect this newly built Imperial Prison to be quite humane.

The minor official said, "Yes! It's very capable. Tie him to a chair, take off his upper clothes, and then use a sharp knife to carefully scrape off the skin and flesh on his ribs. Finally, use the blade to constantly pluck the ribs, just like playing the pipa."

"When all the bones are removed, sweat will pour down like rain, and the process will be repeated over and over again, ensuring that he can't beg for life or death! No prisoner has ever been able to endure this trick."

"........." Fang Zheng's goosebumps fell all over the ground, and he asked in surprise, "Where did you come from? You know so much about this?"

The minor official replied, "This one was transferred from the Eastern Depot. The higher-ups said that we didn't have enough manpower here and temporarily needed some people to help..."

Fang Zheng glanced at Zhang Shi, seeing that his expression had changed slightly, and continued to ask, "Are there any other tricks?"

"Yes, there are many! What finger squeezing, leg clamping, skinning, tongue pulling, spine breaking, finger dropping, tattooing...." The minor official recounted them as if listing family treasures, and Zhang Shi's forehead was slightly sweaty.

Not to mention him, Fang Zheng felt extremely disgusted in his heart after hearing it.

He was still unable to accept the various tortures of ancient times.

Although these things were extremely efficient, they were prone to creating dependence, and he was afraid of turning himself into a cold-blooded pervert...

When the minor official had said almost enough, Fang Zheng urged, "Alright, you go out and check on the matter of the iron certificate of exemption from death for me."

The minor official left, and Fang Zheng said to Zhang Shi, "Lord Zhang, I personally dislike using force the most. Just confess directly. What happened with Prince Wu, and where is the silver hidden? We are all scholars; why do we need to do such crude things?"

Old Yan slowly turned his head, staring blankly at Fang Zheng....