Chapter 2055
Under Dong Yanyun's persuasion, Xu Xinsu finally gave up some unrealistic ideas and tried to solve the problems that had arisen first. At this time, the city gates of Zhangzhou City had been closed. The city defense army and Xu Xinsu's personal guards were dispatched collectively and began to arrest Jinyiwei related personnel in the city in the name of catching Jiang Yang's thieves.
The Jinfa was temporarily requisitioned by Xu Yuxing as an interrogation venue, and the interrogation of the captured persons began. There are three main questions that Xu Yuxing wants to find out. First, what are the contents of the materials destroyed by Jinfa and others before this? Second, through what channel did the seized muskets come from the South China Sea to Zhangzhou City? The third is what Jinyiwei wanted to do by hiding these weapons in Jinfahao.
Although the person in charge of Jinyiwei in Zhangzhou was not captured here, Xu Yuxing believed that among the people captured so far, there must be insiders, so they deliberately delayed the time to destroy and hide evidence when he took people to Jinfa.
However, most of these Jin Yiwei have received special training. It is difficult to extract valuable information from them without being ruthless. In addition, time is tight. Xu Yuxing does not have time to spend time with these people. He only asks questions once. If he does not cooperate, he will directly Sent to severe punishment. Upon seeing this, Jin Ming stepped forward and gave Xu Yuxing an idea.
Jin Ming's method is actually very simple. He uses the Prisoner's Dilemma principle to launch a psychological offensive on the prisoners, telling them that whoever confesses first will be exempted from the death penalty. If someone else confesses first, those who refuse to cooperate will be directly punished with death. Although this method is simple and crude, it has been tried repeatedly and has excellent results in practical applications. Even those who have already determined to die will inevitably experience psychological imbalance if they learn that other companions who are imprisoned at the same time still have a chance to survive. This is the saying that we should worry not about scarcity but about inequality.
Xu Yuxing readily accepted Jin Ming's suggestion. The most important thing for him now was to find out the inside story of Jinfa as soon as possible. As for what method to use during the interrogation process, Xu Yuxing only decided based on its expected effect. If he adopts it, he doesn't care at all now as to whether it will cost lives.
Of course, verbal threats alone are definitely not enough. Torture plus psychological offensive can achieve the best results. Therefore, the several courtyards of Jinfahao soon became an execution ground, and screams came one after another from everywhere. If the surrounding neighborhoods had not been sealed off, I am afraid that a large number of onlookers would have gathered to watch the fun.
The collapse of these Jinyiwei was faster than Xu Yuxing expected. Soon, subordinates came to report. Some people could not stand the punishment and were willing to confess in exchange for a chance to survive. Xu Yuxing immediately called Jin Ming to interrogate the prisoner who was willing to speak.
They saw this person in the flower hall of the second courtyard. This man was tied behind his back to the pillar in the hall. There was a lot of blood on his face, chest, and the ground in front of him. His eyes were also red and swollen. It seemed that he had suffered a lot just now.
Xu Yuxing said coldly: "My time is limited, don't think about playing tricks. You only have this chance! Tell me your identity first!"
"The villain is Cui Kan, Xiaoqi of Jinyiwei." The man responded with a hoarse voice, and blood foam flowed out of the corner of his mouth: "Please give me a chance, sir!"
After the person reported his identity, Xu Yuxing winked to the side, and someone immediately left. The Jin Yiwei waist tags previously found from the Jinfa account can be used to verify whether this person is lying. If there is Xiaoqi Cui Kan, then Xu Yuxing's men will announce this news to other prisoners. Firstly, this will leave Cui Kan with no way out. Secondly, it can also stimulate other prisoners to confess quickly in order to survive.
Xu Yuxing said: "You must also know how serious the consequences of today's incident are. If you confess honestly, if what you say is verified to be true, I will protect you from death!"
Xu Yuxing asked him about his identity to gauge whether this person was qualified to have access to confidential information. This Xiaoqi's official rank is only the seventh rank, and he is the lowest-ranking military attache in the Jinyiwei establishment. Xu Yuxing actually doesn't believe that this person can provide any valuable inside information, but at this time, he is the only one who is willing to confess, and he can only Can you come and interrogate it first to see what this person has to say?
Cui Kan responded: "I dare to ask, can the words of adults be effective?"
"How presumptuous! Open your dog eyes and see clearly, this is Master Xu San!" Xu Yuxing's men immediately shouted sharply next to him.
Xu Yuxing raised his hand to stop his subordinates from scolding, and said to Cui Kan: "I, Xu Yuxing, said that if you can live, you will not die, but if you don't confess quickly and let others take the lead, then I can't guarantee it."< br>
Cui Kan was afraid of missing out on his chance of survival, so he quickly responded: "The villain will recruit you as he is!"
According to Cui Kan, Zhangzhou Jinyiwei received a batch of goods from the sea about a month ago, and then secretly transported the goods into Zhangzhou City under the command of Sun Baihu. In order to keep it secret, they didn't even transport it back to Jinyiwei Yamen, but sent Jinfa No. to hide it. However, this Jinfahao was originally one of Jinyiwei's properties, so no one thought it was strange to do this.
A few days later, Sun Baihu mobilized the local Jinyiwei manpower to Jinfa, and then showed him the true identity of this mysterious cargo. Sun Baihu said that in order to improve the combat effectiveness of the local Jinyi Guards, he would arrange for everyone to take turns to learn how to use this kind of musket. However, in order to avoid misunderstandings from the Xu family, this matter needed to be done secretly.
This is of course just a very lame excuse, because all the Jin Yiwei who are assigned to work in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou know that they do not have any authority to take armed action locally, and the weapons sneaked into Zhangzhou are definitely not used as decorations The only possibility is that Sun Baihu is planning to use these weapons to cause trouble in Zhangzhou.
Not everyone agrees with Sun Baihu's approach. Some people now express doubts, thinking that if there is any noise in Zhangzhou, it is likely to attract investigation by the Xu family, and their small manpower is compared to the Xu family's local power. There is no chance of winning at all, Xu Xinsu can really crush them as easily as crushing a group of ants.
Although Sun Baihu was the highest-ranked Jinyi Guards officer in Zhangzhou, he was still only a sixth-grade officer. He could not make his subordinates obey his arrangements honestly, so the matter of learning to shoot was put on hold for the time being. A few days ago, Sun Baihu said that he had something to go out, so he left Zhangzhou City with two of his confidants. Before leaving, he once again mentioned the gun lesson and asked everyone to go to Jinfa No. to take out the guns and learn how to load ammunition first. When he comes back, anyone who has not learned how to load ammunition will have one month's salary deducted.
This is tantamount to rushing the ducks to the shelves. Even those who think this is inappropriate ultimately choose to compromise because they feel sorry for Yinzi. But everyone knows how risky it is to engage in such small tricks under Xu Xinsu's nose. If this matter is discovered by Xu's family, they will probably not even get a chance to defend themselves, and they will be casually framed and dealt with by the other party. .
And it just happened to be such a coincidence that when the Jin Yiwei gathered at the Jinfa No. for training today, Xu Yuxing and his men came right over. The Jin Yiwei in Jinfa noticed that something was wrong outside, and mistakenly thought that the incident had been revealed. He did not dare to open the door to let people in from outside, and immediately destroyed all kinds of written evidence. These muskets could not be destroyed in a short period of time, so they had to be collected and hidden in the woodshed, but this did not avoid subsequent searches. "Sir Xu, everything the villain said is true. Please be careful! When Sun Baihu got these muskets, the villain strongly opposed it. He never dared to cause trouble in Zhangzhou City. He only acted under his coercion. Will appear here!" Cui Kan tried his best to defend himself at the moment, trying to make Xu Yuxing believe that he was forced to get involved in this matter.
What Cui Kan stated was very detailed and sounded credible, but there was not much truly valuable information in it. Cui Kan did not mention the details of any of the three issues that Xu Yuxing wanted to investigate.
Xu Yuxing suppressed his impatience and asked him: "Do you know where these muskets came from? Who else passed through the hands before arriving in Zhangzhou City?"
Cui Kanyu said: "This matter was arranged by Sun Baihu. He never mentioned it. The villain really didn't know about it. At that time, the cargo we handed over at sea was a Guangzhou ship, but the other party didn't seem to be my Jinyiwei Zhong. People.”
Xu Yuxing asked again: "What are the contents of those things you burned before opening the door?"
Cui Kan said: "It seems to be the Jinfa's account books and cargo entry and exit records. The villain has actually not been here a few times, so he doesn't know much about the situation here. Mr. Shi said that these things cannot fall into the hands of outsiders, so he did it earlier Will rush to burn it.”
Xu Yuxing thought that since there was a general banner among the arrested people, they must know more than Cui Kan. However, he continued to ask: "Did Sun Baihu tell you clearly what he planned to use these muskets for?"
"He only said that he would use this to improve the strength of the local Jinyi Guards, but he never mentioned where these weapons would be used." Cui Kan's answer was the same as before, without any new information.
Xu Yuxing waited for a while and saw that the other party had nothing to say, so he decisively ended the conversation: "Copy the content of his confession clearly and have him sign it!"
While Xu Yuxing was interrogating, there was a document next to him that was recording the conversation. However, this kind of shorthand handwriting was so scrawled that only he could understand it, and the archived transcript Xu Yuxing needed must be clearer. Asking Cui Kan to sign and pledge it was also to confirm the reliability of the transcript. If he had to argue with Jin Yiwei in the future, this kind of evidence would come in handy.
But Xu Yuxing could hardly be said to be satisfied with Cui Kan's confession. This guy blamed almost everything on Sun Baihu, who was lucky enough not to be in Zhangzhou City, and denied knowing many details. This may be because he really did not have access to the relevant information, or he may have deliberately concealed it, but the contents he confessed did not actually promote Xu Yuxing's investigation much.
After leaving this flower hall filled with the smell of blood, Xu Yuxing asked Jin Ming for his opinion. Jin Ming was not satisfied with the confession he had just received. He shook his head and said: "This person is not worth much, but Mr. Shi, who directed them to burn the information, may have more information. But there is no need to rush. As long as there is the first person to speak, there will soon be the second and the third.”
Jin Ming's expectation was correct. After realizing their unfavorable situation, most people trapped in the Prisoner's Dilemma would choose to compromise in exchange for a relatively light punishment, especially when it was confirmed that an accomplice had chosen to compromise first. If they do not allow themselves to take responsibility for other accomplices, people who originally have a tough attitude will seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and make choices that are beneficial to themselves.
All the prisoners in the retrial were told that their colleague Cui Kan had already confessed, and those who planned to remain secretive had no value at all.
"Don't imagine that someone will come to get you out, and don't think that you have any other way to escape. Only by confessing honestly can you have a chance of survival!"
"Your accomplices have been recruited. If you still don't speak, you will be of no value to us. We will take you directly to the execution ground and execute you later!"
"You'd better tell some news that your accomplices haven't mentioned as soon as possible, otherwise we will have to let the person who confessed first survive!"
Under constant pressure from the interrogators, one after another some people began to lose their patience and chose to confess. At this time, Xu Yuxing also determined the identity of Mr. Shi through the identification of other prisoners.
"Are you Shi Biao? It seems that you are the person with the highest official position we have caught here." Xu Yuxing interrogated the Imperial Guard Chief Banner in a study room. He looked quite embarrassed, and his bun had been captured. His face was covered with blood stains from torture. Although he had been loosened, his body was still curled up into a ball, and he coughed painfully from time to time. According to Xu Yuxing's men, they were a bit harsh when they tortured this person just now, and they probably broke one or two of his ribs. But that's fine, Xu Yuxing doesn't have to worry about this guy suddenly rebelling.
"Your men have caused a lot of things. Even if you don't say anything, you can't completely cover up the truth. And you have to understand one thing. If I want to deal with you and your accomplices, it won't be possible at all. What evidence do you need to prove that you deserve to die?"
Xu Yuxing said slowly: "What you want to hide from us will kill you and your accomplices, and even implicate your families. If you think that the consequences don't matter, then think about the nature of this matter What does it mean that Jin Yiwei is trying to assassinate a high-ranking local official who holds military power? Civil strife may occur in Ming Dynasty, and you and your accomplices will be eternal sinners!”
(End of chapter)