The trial in the lobby of the Criminal Department is never a dinner party.

Let's not talk about the big demon kings of the Criminal Department Shangshu and Shilang; Don't talk about the Lord of Yama who are among the Langzhong, the principals, and the outsiders; Even the officials of the few station shifts are all imps who are difficult to deal with.

Although the officials of the Criminal Department are not as frantic as Dongchang and Jinyiwei, the torture tools used are good things that have been circulated for thousands of years since the establishment of the Yamen of the Criminal Department in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, which can be called the Taishan Beidou of the study of the limits of the human body.

Under the premise of being theoretically well prepared and extremely orthodox, the officials of the Criminal Department did not ignore the role of practice, and the criminals on trial—whether they were Jiangyang thieves, corrupt officials, or thieves with chickens and dogs—as long as they answered dishonest (or were considered to be dishonest), they would inevitably be severely beaten up.

In fact, as today, the interrogation of a prisoner who had almost been convicted by the emperor - although the identity of this prisoner named Yuan Chonghuan was extremely special, he did not move a single hair, and let him sit for trial. This kind of treatment can be said to be unique in the Criminal Department since its establishment.

Therefore, the officials on both sides of the hall heard the order to be executed, and subconsciously agreed, and the head of the official team was routine, and asked out of the class: "What kind of torture tools are used with sticks, bamboo sticks, tiger chairs, and chili water, please make it clear to the adults!" ”

As soon as he spoke, he knew he had asked the wrong person. At present, Wen Tiren, the secretary of the Criminal Department, is still sitting in front of the court, as the head of the official team eating the food of the Criminal Department, he did not go to the situation Wen Tiren, and actually went to ask a eunuch, which is a big taboo in the officialdom.

But Gao Qiqian didn't seem to realize this, and replied casually: "What can this ordinary torture instrument be for?" Why don't you play the pipa and listen to ......"

"Huh." But Zhou Yanru sneered, "Lord Wen, you really make this official open his eyes!" This is the lobby of the Criminal Department, and your number one master, Lord Shangshu, did not speak, but let a eunuch give orders here, saying that it would be too embarrassing for us to read the face when you went out? ”

Wen Tiren's face turned red, and he first taught the head of the official team: "Are you dizzy from eating?" The official didn't speak, what are you talking nonsense about? Don't get out of here! ”

The head of the team was afraid that "sticks, bamboo sticks, tiger chairs, chili water" and other torture instruments would not fall to his body, so he hurriedly retreated.

Wen Tiren turned his head to Gao Qiqian and said, "Father-in-law Gao, you are too domineering, this is the yamen of the Criminal Department!" Both Cabinet Scholars are here, when will it be your turn to speak? ”

Gao Qiqian's face sank, and he said, "Lord Wen, don't forget, the miscellaneous family is still supervising the Dongchang Yamen. As usual, the Criminal Department hears the case, and Dongchang has the right to participate in the trial......"

"Joke!" Zhou Yanru immediately refuted, "Since the ascension of the Holy Heaven today, the first major thing he has done is to eradicate the eunuch Wei Zhongxian and his henchmen. At the same time, in order to eliminate Wei Zhongxian's poison, the factory and Wei Da were also restricted. In addition to the fact that Jinyiwei's function of collecting intelligence from the enemy has not been weakened, the responsibilities and powers of Dongchang have been seriously restricted. What else do you dare to mention to participate in the trial, do you want to be an enemy of the emperor? Aren't you afraid of impeachment by hundreds of officials in the imperial court? ”

Gao Qiqian didn't seem to be scared at all, and said: "Lord Zhou, you are the first assistant of the cabinet, and you also have the imperial history of the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, if you want to impeach the miscellaneous family, it is your responsibility, just go to impeach." ”

After that, Gao Qiqian said to the head of the official team standing in the hall: "What? Isn't Dongchang's words good? Don't hurry up and do it for me! ”

"Do you dare to do it, believe it or not, this official will pinch you to death immediately?" Zhou Yanru said viciously.

The head of the government service team has been in the criminal department for more than 20 years, and he naturally knows the power of Dongchang; But he also knows exactly how much authority the cabinet chief assistant has. At present, Zhou Yanru and Gao Qiqian, both of whom are people with hair thicker than their waists, and the head of this official squad is on the bar, which really makes him in a dilemma and dilemma, so he hurriedly peeked at Wen Tiren, the secretary of the criminal department, on the face.

Wen Tiren's face was cloudy.

Although he was not used to the arrogant and domineering style of eunuchs, he was also bent on seizing the position of Zhou Yanru's first assistant, so he provoked the incident of interrogating Yuan Chonghuan.

But what Wen Tiren didn't expect was that although Yuan Chonghuan had been questioned and imprisoned, the amount was still very large, and Zhou Yanru, Ji Qingwen, Gao Qiqian and other important figures in the DPRK were involved, so that the situation was almost out of his control.

But at this time, Wen Tiren suddenly found that between his words, the case surrounding Yuan Chonghuan actually turned into another major conflict between the civil official group and the eunuchs, which may lead to another officialdom earthquake and reshuffle since Wei Zhongxian's bad deeds.

As the second assistant of the cabinet, his thinking is very different from that of Zhou Yanru. What Zhou Yanru wants is to maintain the stability of the existing government, while Wen Tiren just wants the word "chaos", so as to win in chaos and win in the fire.

And if you want to mess things up, you must pull one faction and fight another, so that the two factions can fight until they are inseparable, so that they can calmly clean up the mess and take advantage of the fisherman. And the side of Ra must be the inferior side in the fight......

So Wen Tiren pondered for a moment and said, "Yuan Chonghuan, stand up!" ”

Yuan Chonghuan is also a person who has been the governor of Jiliao, and he has also given orders, killed and decided, and now he is being held in front of the hall like this and being called around, so he is naturally unhappy. But now his life and death are uncertain, so he can only bow down to others and obediently stand up from his seat.

But I heard Wen Tiren say: "Yuan Chonghuan, since the beginning of the interrogation, you have been arrogant and fighting against the imperial court, it seems that you can no longer be polite!" ”

Wen Tiren has made the decision to cooperate with the eunuch Gao Qiqian for the time being. However, Wen Tiren is also a two-list jinshi, and he still has some bottom line of being a person compared to Gao Qiqian.

So he cried out in a loud voice: "Someone is coming! Twenty sticks, hit me! ”

When the head of the criminal department squad standing below heard this, he immediately had a bottom in his heart, and whispered to a few of his fellow officials, and immediately threw Yuan Chonghuan to the ground, took off his ragged pants, and raised his stick to hit Yuan Dadu's buttocks.

Ji Qingwen saw that it was not good, so he immediately ran to the hall, stretched out his hand and pinched a stick that was about to be smashed down, and said, "No, I want to see who dares to beat Yuan Chonghuan today!" ”

The head of the official team hurriedly said in Ji Qingwen's ear: "Don't worry, Lord Ji, I know a few random beats, don't worry." ”

Ji Qingwen raised his eyes and saw that this stick was the thickness of the bowl mouth, and the weight was more than 20 catties, even if it fell freely, and the power of gravitational acceleration was also very powerful, and it didn't take much effort to beat people to the ground.

But what he didn't know was that the criminal department also had the knowledge of beating sticks, and this knowledge was all in the orders of the chief judge.

For example, the presiding judge said that he wanted to "fight with his heart", and the stick must have some effect, and a few sticks will definitely make your skin and flesh open, bones and tendons, but it will not beat you to death on the spot; But if the presiding judge says "fight to death", then he will be sorry, and a few sticks will inevitably make the ground breathe, otherwise it will be the turn of the stick picker.

But Wen Tiren's order now is a clean "type" word like Yangchun noodles in Qingshui Guangtang, and the operation space is very huge. As long as the leader of the stick team pays attention, even if you hit a hundred or two hundred sticks, you will not be able to hurt your muscles and bones, and maybe you can cure the problem of your old cold legs.

Ji Qingwen had heard of the difference, and when he heard the head of the official team say it so directly, he was relieved and slowly let go of the hand holding the big stick.

Unexpectedly, it was Gao Qiqian who said: "Fight, you have to fight with your heart." If you're perfunctory...... Hmph, there are also big sticks in the East Factory, not only to beat Yuan Chonghuan again, but also to beat a few of you officials! ”

When Ji Qingwen heard Gao Qiqian's words, he immediately became angry, jumped in front of Gao Qiqian in three steps and two steps, pointed at his nose and scolded: "Gelding, if you say it again!" ”