Just outside the camp, on a fairly flat piece of land at the foot of Suzaku Mountain, the corpses of the soldiers who died in battle were buried here. The tombstones stood neatly, just like the soldiers when they were alive, with their bodies straight. This is what they looked like when they lined up, so proud.
This was the first batch of soldiers who died in battle after the Black Banner Army set up camp on Zhuque Mountain. Fang Xie attended the funeral in person. Fighting Luchuan, 462 people were killed in battle, attacking Boyang, 215 people were killed in battle, and 50 Xiaoqi schools were killed in the investigation of Hukoujian.
The name on the tombstone is solemn and solemn.
Fang Jie looked at the neatly arranged tombstones, and stood there quietly for a while. He didn't leave until the sun was setting, and returned to the meeting hall.
Chen Xiaoru's club injury is still not healed, and he looks a little awkward when he walks, but this stubborn man has never been supported by anyone, and he gritted his teeth and stood upright. In the past few days, he personally led people to investigate Hukoujian. After hiding outside for three days, he finally captured a few Hukoujian scouts who came out of Hukoujian and were about to step on plates.
Fang Jie looked at Chen Xiaoru, took out a bottle of wound medicine from his cuff and threw it over: "The wound medicine that He Sanjinhou brought yesterday, something from foreigners, is somewhat effective in treating red wounds."
"Thank you General!"
Chen Xiaoru took the wound medicine, his nose felt a little sore.
"Bring people up."
Fang Jie gave an order, and several Xiaoqi school escorted the captured Hukoujian scouts into the hall. Fang Xie looked at those people, they were all very strong and strong men. From the appearance and walking posture of these scouts, it can be seen that they are indeed well-trained people. When these people came in, they looked around. Although they looked ugly, they were much calmer than those soldiers under Dou Tiande and Gao Beidou.
After these scouts were escorted up, they stood in a row, and the Xiaoqi school kicked their shoulders and kicked their legs, and then they all knelt down.
Fang Jiezai looked at him carefully, and found that one of them looked at him with a twinkle in his eyes. He stood up and walked behind those few and ordered: "Open their palms."
Because the arms were tied and the palms of the hands were behind the back, Xiaoqi School went up to break the hands of these people, and Fang Jie looked at them one by one.
"If you haven't held a knife for more than five years, you won't have such thick cocoons, so seven or eight out of ten of you are not natives of Huangyang Dao. There are no soldiers guarding Huangyang Dao, and the county soldiers have been disbanded long ago. You are not ordinary people."
Fang Jie said indifferently: "You guys are all well-trained veterans, so threats, intimidation or even amputation of limbs may not make you open your mouth. I am also a scout, so I know that scouts are tough and tough Man, so I really want to ask you questions calmly, and you can answer calmly."
Fang Jie went around in front of them and looked at the person in the middle: "You know me? Seeing the twinkle in your eyes, could it be that you have seen me before?"
This person was the one whose eyes flickered when he saw Fang Jie just now, and when Fang Jie asked him, he turned his face away and refused to answer.
Fang Jie didn't care, walked back and sat down and said, "If it wasn't for this troubled time, you veterans would still be serving in the barracks, receiving a not-so-mean military salary every month, and the relatives at home would not have to pay because of you." Taxes, you can’t say that you can go to the mountains to have enough food and clothing, at least you can eat and drink without worry. But now, you have to take off your livery and sneak into the mountains to become robbers. Although most of the people who robbed were rich and famous, no one said anything good about you.”
"I know that real soldiers will not betray their comrades because of any threats. I didn't want to say anything like exchanging the truth for your life, but you can think about it. If you die, who will protect your relatives at home? Someone is willing If you tell me about the situation in Hukoujian, I will let you all go and give you a sum of money, enough to support your family. Maybe your family has not been involved in the war yet, but since you are qualified scouts, you can It should be obvious that no one can escape the disaster of war! Being safe now does not mean that we will be safe in the future."
After saying this, Fang Xie stopped talking.
He leaned back on the chair with his eyes closed, as if he was thinking about something.
No one spoke, the scouts from Hukoujian looked at each other and chose to shut up.
"It would be great if Mr. Zhuo was here."
After a while, Jie Jie murmured, then pointed to the scout who had looked at him strangely before and ordered: "Take him down first, and you can use whatever punishment should be imposed. If he does something within an hour If everyone refuses to say it, just replace it. If everyone refuses to say it, it will fulfill their integrity."
After Fang explained, he got up and left, as if he had lost patience with these people.
Chen Xiaoru waved his hand, Xiaoqi School came up and took those people down. The man Fang Jie appointed was dragged into an empty house and tied to a stake with a rope. Not far in front of him was a stove, and the soldering iron inside was already burning red. There are torture instruments such as whips and sticks hanging on the wall, which seem to be quite complete. Chen Xiaoru was born in a hundred households in the Ouchi Guard Office, so he is no stranger to these instruments of torture.
The door was not closed, so after the scout was tied up and saw several of his companions being dragged over, they should have been locked in other rooms separately. He is no stranger to this method, interrogating them separately and then summarizing the confessions for verification is the best way. basic way. Whether it's the yamen of a local county or county, the Dali Temple of the Ministry of Justice in the capital, or the people in the guards' office in the inner city, they are very good at it.
So this scout also knew what kind of torture he was going to face next.
He took a deep breath and before he was ready, there was a shrill cry from the next room. It seems that the Xiaoqi school in the next room is even more impatient, and the torture will begin after the people are escorted in.
…
…
The Hukoujian scout in the second room from the left had his coat shredded by the whip in just a moment, and his entire upper body was covered in cuts and bruises. He gritted his teeth and endured it, and involuntarily recalled that when he captured the enemy scouts, he interrogated in the same way. He was not unfamiliar at all, but the roles were changed.
Soon, the severe pain made his mind a little blurred, he couldn't make a sound in his throat, and his throat was hoarse. The standard of a tough guy is not to be beaten or not to yell, that's all a lie. Shouting out because of the sudden sharp pain is an instinctive reaction, not that you can keep silent if you want to endure it all the time.
When the lips are bitten, they will not even be able to control their throats.
The Xiaoqi school opposite him might be tired from beating, so he handed the whip to another person and sat on the opposite chair to rest. The second Xiao riding school came over, smiled at him and said: "You are still a man, listen, the people on trial in the next room are shouting louder than you. I did this in the Ouchi guard's office It's been a long time, and I haven't met many guys like you. However, the more you fight, the more addicted you will be, you should understand, right?"
The scouts knew that what Xiaoqi School said was right, the executioners were more interested in the more stubborn prisoners because of their human nature, and the more they beat them, the more addicted they became.
But precisely because of the reminder from Xiaoqi School, he suddenly discovered something.
Counting from the room I was in to the right, there were loud and small shouts coming from every room, one after another, but there was no sound in the room next to me. He suddenly thought of the general who asked his companion in the next room: "Do you know me? The eyes you looked at me were a little flickering just now. Have you seen me before?"
So he suddenly panicked, followed by anger.
There was no shout, which only means that the guy was not tortured.
Why
Before he had time to think about it carefully, the whip rained down again, almost his entire upper body was whipped to the point where it was not intact, and the Xiao cavalry school didn't seem to want to stop. After stiffening like this for another quarter of an hour, he still couldn't hold on and passed out.
A bucket of cold water was poured on him, bringing him back to sanity again.
Xiaoqi School, who was the first to whip him, seemed to have regained his strength. He walked over and picked up the red-hot soldering iron from the stove. As the soldering iron got closer to him, he could feel the temperature on the soldering iron becoming more and more intense. clearer. Just when the branding iron was almost attached to the skin of his chest, and the corners of his mouth were already twitching slightly due to the burning pain, the general of the Xiao cavalry school came in from outside.
He raised his head with difficulty and glanced at the man, and found that there was a smile on the man's face.
After Chen Xiaoru came in, he waved his hands and told Xiaoqi School to stop: "Don't use any more torture, the general ordered these people to be released, find them clean clothes, apply wound medicine, fifty taels of silver each, and send them away .”
The Hukoujian scout froze for a moment, and instantly understood what it meant.
Not long ago, the general said that as long as one of the scouts confessed, the others could leave.
Now let him go, is there any other possibility
The Xiao cavalry school came over and untied him, then smeared the wound medicine on his body for a while, and threw a piece of clothes and a package under his feet: "Put on your own clothes, and the package contains dry food and fifty taels of silver. The general is kind enough to let you go. If you persist in your obsession and return to Hukoujian, you will know what will happen to you. The reason why you are relieved to let you go is because you are not afraid of you telling what happened in the camp. In Huangyang Road, no one can lead troops to fight Come here, I believe you also know that this sentence is not to lie to you."
Xiaoqi school who beat him before said coldly, then turned and left.
The scout was silent for a while, but he still endured the pain and bent down to pick up the clothes and put them on. After putting on the clothes, he hesitated for a while, finally picked up the package and walked out the door. When he went out, he saw that the scouts who were being tortured in the other rooms also came out, with the same surprise and anger on their faces.
Only no one came out of the first room, and the door was closed.
These scouts got together and understood each other's thoughts from each other's eyes. There was no conversation between them because they both knew that someone had betrayed them. A Xiao riding school came over and said coldly: "Follow me, and when I send you down the mountain, you should go back to where you should go. Don't you don't know how to cherish your life. Even if you don't understand the situation in your Hukoujian, can't you still be able to beat that bullet? land?"
They followed the Xiao riding school and walked out like a machine, and no one looked back.
In the first room, the scout who had seen Fang Jie's twinkling eyes before was pressed and pasted to the window by Xiaoqi School. The look on the faces of the companions.
Fang Jie sat on the chair, pointed out the window and said in a flat tone: "You should know now, even if you don't say anything, I will let you go and go back with them immediately, can you still live? You should be thankful for me I chose you, because you don’t have to be beaten to pieces. Of course, you can also choose to say nothing, and I will send someone to send you out of Hukoujiangukou intact.”