"Lord Wang, do you know why you are here?"

When Lu Xing came to Wang Wenyan, he first glanced around at the torture instruments around him, and then fanned the smell of blood in front of his nose with his hand, and asked Wang Wenyan quietly. Eighty-one? Chinese? ≈≥≠．≤８≈１≤Ｚ≤≥．＝Ｃ≈Ｏ≈Ｍ≠

"The official doesn't know, and I hope Lord Lu will make it clear." Wang Wenyan looked at Lu Xing with a pale face, it was obvious that Lu Xing's appearance here was not a good thing.

In fact, the moment Wang Wenyan was brought into the Imperial Prison of Fusi in Jinyi Weibei Town, he should have known that he was finished this time, the Imperial Prison was not something that could be entered if he wanted to, and he needed enough weight to be arrested and put into the Imperial Prison, and it had become a symbol of identity and status in Daming to be able to enter the Imperial Prison.

Similarly, it is even more difficult to get out of the edict after entering the edict prison, how can you taste the chilling punishments in the edict prison, if you don't do it, your life will be thrown inside, and if you die, you will die, and there is no place to cry out for injustice.

"Lord Wang, what you did before must be fresh in your memory, today the official will not say anything else, just one thing, I hope you can tell the truth, this is good for everyone."

Lu Xing smiled slightly, and asked Wang Wenyan in a deep voice, "Lord Wang, after the defeat of Guangning, someone gave 100,000 taels of silver to buy peace for Lord Xiong Tingbi, where did that money go?" ”

"Lord Bear!" Wang Wenyan was slightly stunned at first, and then his face changed greatly, and his eyes became very flustered.

Speaking of which, we have to talk about the fate of Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen, the governor of Guangning, after the defeat of Guangning.

After the defeat of Guangning, the Donglin Party and the Qi, Chu and Zhejiang parties, which had not yet fallen, quarreled over whether the responsibility for the defeat of Guangning belonged to Wang Huazhen of the Donglin Party or Xiong Tingbi of the Chu Party, and they all wanted to exonerate their own people.

As everyone knows, after Wang Huazhen escaped from Guangning City and met Xiong Tingbi who came to reinforce him at the Daling River, Wang Huazhen suggested retreating to Ningyuan City, but Xiong Tingbi refused.

Xiong Tingbi believed that after the fall of Guangning, Jinzhou and Ningyuan no longer had the value of guarding, and in order not to leave the population and resources for the Houjin soldiers, all the people outside the customs should be moved into the Shanhaiguan Pass, and all the things that could not be taken away should be burned, and the walls should be cleared.

Speaking of which, the Liaoxi Corridor was not a military powerhouse at that time, Jinzhou and Ningyuan were just two ordinary acropolises, and there were not many troops, the core of the Ming Dynasty's defense in Liaoxi was Guangning, and the Liaoxi Corridor belonged to the rear, God knows that the Guangning City behind the high walls of the city was lost so quickly.

After Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen were escorted to the capital, the courtiers of the Emperor of the Apocalypse interrogated the case, and Wang Huazhen quickly pleaded guilty, after all, he lost the city of Guangning, which was his greatest culpability in the defeat of Guangning.

And Xiong Tingbi, although the military power of the Ming army outside the Guanwai was in the hands of Wang Huazhen, although Wang Huazhen was the culprit of the defeat of Guangning, but because he rejected Wang Huazhen's suggestion to guard Ningyuan and led the army to withdraw to Shanhaiguan, his guilt was greater than Wang Huazhen.

During Xiong Tingbi's trial, Xiong Tingbi explained the reason for abandoning Jinzhou and Ningyuan to lead the army back to Shanhaiguan, in his opinion, Jinzhou and Ningyuan were difficult to hold after the defeat in Guangning, and even if they were held, they would have no value, and could only be a huge drag.

The terrain of the western Liaoning corridor is special, there are not too many places suitable for farming, so the logistics supply of the Ming army must rely on the supply in Shanhaiguan, and then the Jin army can get supplies from Guangning City, once the Houjin army besieges Jinzhou and Ningyuan, the first Ming army is at a disadvantage in the logistics route.

In addition, considering the fierce combat effectiveness of the Houjin army, the Ming army's reinforcements and logistical supplies may be cut off, which makes the Ming army in Jinzhou and Ningyuan a lone army.

Therefore, in the case of the loss of Guangning, Xiong Tingbi thought that there was no need to defend Jinzhou and Ningyuan, but simply retreated to Shanhaiguan to defend, and waited for the Ming army to reorganize the army at Shanhaiguan before sending troops to Shanhaiguan to recover Guangning, and then tried to recover Liaoyang and Shenyang.

I have to say that Xiong Tingbi's arrangement has a certain amount of truth from a strategic point of view, but he made a big mistake, no matter how perfect his strategy is and fits the actual situation, if he gives up Jinzhou and Ningyuan without the approval of the imperial court, it will be a capital crime to flee without a fight.

There was a military law in the Ming Dynasty called "death to those who lose their territory", which means that if the general who guards the territory loses the territory, then the general is a capital crime.

Although Xiong Tingbi has been set aside by Wang Huazhen, no matter how he says it, he is also the Liaodong strategy of the Ming Dynasty, and he has the responsibility of defending the territory of Liaodong.

During the battle of Liaoshen, Yuan Yingtai, who was the Liaodong Economic Strategy at the time, could have fled, but he chose to commit suicide and martyrdom, not that Yuan Yingtai did not want to live, but that after Liaoyang and Shenyang were lost, the entire Liaodong was going to fall into the hands of the Houjin Army, and he could not escape death as a Liaodong Economic Strategy.

Therefore, Wang Huazhen had to bear the responsibility for losing Guangning City, and Xiong Tingbi, who advocated the withdrawal of Shanhaiguan, had to bear the responsibility for losing the Liaoxi Corridor.

Unless the imperial court agrees, Wang Huazhen and Xiong Tingbi will die outside the pass, and the two of them, as the two commanders of the Ming army, must not retreat to Shanhaiguan.

In fact, the Houjin army once sent people to pursue Houwang Huazhen, but they did not cross the Daling River and retreated, and they had no intention of getting involved in the Liaoxi Corridor at all, after all, the Houjin soldiers had limited strength and national strength, and Nurhachi would not stretch the battle line too long, and he was really unable to occupy the Liaoxi Corridor.

This made Xiong Tingbi's strategy of retreating to Shanhaiguan very embarrassing, and in the eyes of outsiders, he was frightened by the Houjin army and lost the Liaoxi Corridor to Houjin in vain, and his explanation was just to survive.

Zou Yuanbiao, one of the bigwigs of the Donglin Party, who presided over Xiong Tingbi's trial, quickly reached a consensus with the officials on the jury, believing that Xiong Tingbi's explanation had merit, but the military law strictly ordered "those who lose their land to die", and the national law was so inexorable that he was sentenced to death like Wang Huazhen.

Of course, Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen will not sit still, although the two are in prison, they have many colleagues and friends, and they have tried to rescue the two, as long as the Emperor of the Apocalypse does not order the execution of the two, then there is a chance to turn the tables.

Generally speaking, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was the most tolerant of the courtiers, and even if he was hit, it was just a scepter, and he would not directly cut off people's heads like the Qing Dynasty in later generations.

Therefore, even if some officials make mistakes and go to prison, the emperor will give them the opportunity to re-enter the official career, and some officials who should have been executed are also imprisoned for a few years and then fall lightly.

Therefore, Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen's old friends and relatives have been active after the two were sentenced to death, wanting to get through the door of the court's important ministers.

It is more convenient for Wang Huazhen, he himself is a member of the Donglin Party, although he was sentenced to death this time, the Donglin Party will definitely protect him.

You must know that the imposition of the death penalty and the execution of the death penalty are two different concepts, as long as the important ministers in front of the Emperor of the Apocalypse in the court are willing to speak, the sentence will be delayed again and again, and maybe the emperor will be able to avoid death if the emperor amnesties the world.

Xiong Tingbi's matter is more difficult to do, after all, the Emperor of the Apocalypse favors the officials of the Donglin Party, and the officials of Qi, Chuzhe and other factions have fallen out of favor, so Xiong Tingbi's old friend naturally found Wang Wenyan, a broker, and gave him 100,000 taels of silver to dredge, hoping to save Xiong Tingbi's life.

It is rumored in historical materials that Xiong Tingbi took out 40,000 taels of silver after communicating with Wang Wenyan, and Wang Wenyan embezzled 20,000 taels from it.

However, judging from the actual situation, after the defeat of Guangning, Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen were both imprisoned and strictly guarded, where did they have the opportunity to contact Wang Wenyan? This kind of thing is usually the old thing around him.

And Wang Wenyan didn't dare to make money for such a big case even if he was greedy, at least he didn't dare to be greedy for half as much as he did secretly, the risk was too great, so the rumors were not credible.

Speaking of which, Wang Wenyan is also unlucky enough, after getting Xiong Tingbi's money, his first thought was not to ask the Donglin Party for help, but Wei Zhongxian, the inner servant of the Emperor of the Apocalypse, if he wants to save Xiong Tingbi's life, the closer the relationship with the Emperor of the Apocalypse, the better, and Wei Zhongxian should take the brunt.

Therefore, Wang Wenyan asked someone to send Wei Zhongxian a large sum of money, but to his surprise, Wei Zhongxian actually refused the money.

In desperation, Wang Wenyan had no choice but to target the bigwigs of the Donglin Party.

Regardless of the hidden circumstances in this, in history, Xiong Tingbi was not killed until three years after his sentence, and it was passed on to the nine sides, and Wang Huazhen lived to Chongzhen for five years.

Now, Wei Zhongxian arrested Wang Wenyan this time, using Xiong Tingbi's case as a breakthrough, and caught Wang Wenyan off guard.

Although he asked others to give Wei Zhongxian a gift at that time, how could this little trick be hidden from Wei Zhongxian? As long as Wei Zhongxian checked a little, he could know that it was the money sent by Wang Wenyan.

Therefore, when Wang Wenyan heard from Lu Xing that he was arrested and imprisoned because he was involved in Xiong Tingbi's case, the panic in his heart can be imagined, if there is anything else, he can still deny it, but this matter involves Wei Zhongxian, and he can't rely on it.

"Lord Wang, as the saying goes, those who know the times are Junjie, and it is better to explain as soon as possible than to suffer some flesh and skin, so that you can also strive for leniency." Lu Xing saw Wang Wenyan's expression was extremely frightened, knowing that Wang Wenyan had realized what was wrong, so he looked at him with a smile and said.

Wang Wenyan suddenly shuddered when he saw Lu Xing smiling for some reason, he seemed to have become the prey in Lu Xing's eyes, it seems that if Lu Xing can't get the desired result, then he won't give up!

"Xiaguan...... The lower officials are guilty! ”

Therefore, Wang Wenyan sighed after weighing left and right, and said to Lu Xing helplessly, he is not the kind of hard-headed person, so how can he stand the torture in the edict, it is better to find a way out for himself as soon as possible.

The corners of Lu Xing's mouth suddenly showed a smug smile when he heard this, as long as Wang Wenyan confessed, then the next thing would be much easier, the so-called feng shui took turns, and the people of the Donglin Party should be unlucky now after so many years, otherwise what is the reason!

(End of chapter)