Hanhou

In Zhao Jia's view, as a member of the Machang tribe, the "law" mentioned by the man is nothing more than the matter of the racecourse or the clan.

Eager to bring the villain to trial, Zhao Jia discussed with the county magistrate and planned to hand him over to the young official.If it's about the racecourse, it's faster to interrogate the head of the horse; if it's about the clan, with the ability of the young officials, it's more than enough.

The arrest of the villains does not mean that all the nails in Shaling County have been removed, let alone the county.

Zhao Jia decided to get to the bottom of it and find out the matter thoroughly.If this group of villains bite to death and don't let go, they will be sent to the county town at worst, and ask Zhou Juecao for help.With that person coming forward, not to mention prying open clam shells, hard rocks can be smashed to pieces.

Seeing the county magistrate turned around one after another, he didn't take what he said to heart at all, the man was anxious in his heart, and said loudly: "My lord, I'm a caravan!"

Caravan?

Zhao Jia and the county magistrate looked at each other and paused at the same time.

"Han merchants or Hu merchants?" the county magistrate asked.

"It's all there." The man swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and said bravely, "This matter is of great importance, please respectfully retreat."

The county magistrate pondered for a moment, then nodded to Zhao Jia.

The man and the clansmen who were arrested with him were taken into the hall, and the horse chief and the villain were all sent to prison.Zhao Jia specially ordered that the people be separated and detained, and each cell should be guarded to prevent them from colluding with each other or committing suicide.

After the matter was settled, Zhao Jia ordered Ji Bao to stay in the front yard and enter the main hall after the county magistrate.

The Machang clansman who wanted to raise the law stood in the hall, while the other was forced to kneel on the ground.The county magistrate's face was sinking like water, and several wooden slips were spread out in front of him, all of which were confessions made by men.

"Repeat what you just said." Seeing Zhao Jia coming in, the county magistrate said to the man standing in the hall.

"Respect." The man tremblingly repeated the confession, and said that he had heard the matter with his own ears, and he had seen the unscrupulous businessman with his own eyes.It's just that the distance is far away, and he hid behind a tree, but the other party didn't notice it.

The clansmen kneeling under the hall knew that there was no hope of escape. In order to reduce the punishment, they not only confirmed what the man said, but also named the two rogues driven by the businessman.

"Children's Caravan?"

After listening to the two testimonies and reading the recorded confession, Zhao Jia's heart sank, and a chill came down his spine.If what he said is true, the matter cannot be handled by Shaling County, and must be submitted to the county immediately.

Who would have thought that the Huns would send spies to the Han Dynasty through child trafficking!

From the grassland to Bianjun, and then to Chang'an, these spies hid among the children sold in the market, and it is hard to know how many hands they passed.When he enters Chang'an and hides, it will not be so easy to find out.

In fact, the Han Dynasty also thought about using caravans in order to spy on the Xiongnu.

The problem is that the lifestyle of the Xiongnu is very different from that of the Han Dynasty. They lived by water and grass, and most of their daily necessities were robbed.Unless it is a beautiful woman, it is rare to sell someone from a caravan.And these women are not regarded as human beings at all, they live worse than sheep slaves, and most of them cannot live beyond two years.

The Han Dynasty spied on the Xiongnu, except for scouts and caravans, they could only pass through Fu Qin's team.

Throughout the Wen and Jing dynasties, the lifespan of Princess Heqin was not long.Among the courtiers and eunuchs that Fu Qin entered the grassland, except for one Zhongxing who had forgotten his ancestors, there was almost no one left.

With Bank of China, it becomes even more difficult to drive nails.

On the other hand, in the Han Dynasty, many of the boy servants in the first class of nobles came from merchants.Even though the imperial court banned the trading of slaves for a while, there are policies and countermeasures under the policy, and the law does not punish the public, so we can't ignore it and screen all the nobles' homes.

The most typical example, many of the dancers and singers trained by Princess Guantao and Princess Yangxin were bought from the city.The Son of Heaven wants to take this matter seriously, and his own sister and eldest daughter are the first to bear the brunt.

Princess Yangxin didn't mention it, if Emperor Jing took Princess Guantao for surgery, Empress Dowager Dou would be the first to refuse.

Don't look at the Empress Dowager Dou's dislike of Liu whoring, her attitude is getting colder and colder, it doesn't mean she will ignore her daughter.If Emperor Jing really questioned Princess Chang for keeping slaves, Changle Palace would be furious.

Under such an environment, it is destined that the number of children in each prefecture will only increase, and the probability of Huns spies getting in will also increase.

The nobleman in Chang'an is not ignorant, and the boy servant who finds out that there is a problem is bound to be ruthless.

It's just that this kind of disposal is carried out behind the scenes, and no family will make a big fanfare and declare to the outside world that the child servant in the family is acting suspiciously.Whenever such a situation arises, they will try their best to cover it up.

Every family matter is settled independently, news is not circulated, and there will always be a few fish that slip through the net, and they will take root in Chang'an.

Historically, Emperor Jing was seriously ill, and the Xiongnu got the news and took the opportunity to harass the border, and the border counties were full of wars.

At that time Wei Shang had already left, Zhou Yafu died in prison, Zhidu was executed, the successor Feng Jing, the prefect of Yanmen, died in battle, Li Guang was alone, and Cheng Bushi was exhausted in raids. In less than two years, Bianjun was killed, injured, disappeared and taken into captivity. The number of soldiers and civilians reached [-], which is almost the total population of Dingxiang County, Shang County, Yanmen County and Dai County. It was a huge blow to the Han Dynasty.

When Emperor Jingdi was most seriously ill, the Xiongnu sent a large army to the south and invaded the Han territory on a large scale, not to mention burning, killing and looting, and even burned down the Ganquan Palace.This is the "hate of humiliation" in history, and it is also one of the fuses that made Emperor Wu make up his mind to never stop destroying the Huns.

When Emperor Jing died, Liu Che was still in the year of dancing elephants.

In the past two or three years, Emperor Jing's condition became more and more serious. In order to stabilize the country and prevent the Huns in the north from being aware of it, and to allow Liu Che to succeed to the throne smoothly, Emperor Jing even changed his old style by having banquets in the palace and giving his officials big wine. , to allow folk liquor.

Even so, news of the emperor's serious illness spread like wildfire and quickly spread to the grasslands.The military minister Shanyu took the opportunity to send troops, and the four corners of the royal court came out in full force.

The distance between Chang'an and Longcheng is more than a thousand miles, and the palace tried every means to hide Emperor Jing's illness, but the Xiongnu still got the news, and they didn't even need to check it, so they sent troops directly to invade the border.It would be unfair to accuse the court of being careless in cleaning up the spies.It can only be said that the methods of the Huns were insidious, and the nails buried were too deep.

Zhao Jia really couldn't think of a second one who could come up with such a plan, except for the Bank of China who turned his back on the Han and voted for Hu.

The caravan reported by the Machang tribe is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Zhao Jia felt a tightness in his chest when he thought that the county had been sieved over and over again over the years, and there were still nails from the Huns.He finally understood why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wanted to use the power of the whole country to crush the Xiongnu at all costs.

To eradicate enemies like the Huns, they must be completely beaten down and all foundations destroyed.Otherwise, sooner or later, they will revive and pose a greater threat to the Han Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jia took a deep breath, and asked the county magistrate to interrogate the villain Ma Chang on his behalf, and dispatched his own people to search the city and capture the hidden caravan.

"Close the city gate." The county magistrate was more decisive than Zhao Jia, and wrote a notice in his own handwriting, ordering the little officials to post it at the city gate, "Today and tomorrow, no one is allowed to enter or leave."

Zhao Jia nodded, borrowed a wooden tablet, knife and pen from the county magistrate, wrote a letter face to face, sealed it carefully, and handed it to Ji Bao along with his own wooden plaque, ordering him to set off for the county seat immediately, and present the letter to Wei Taishou .

Originally, Zhao Jia wanted to send the letter to Wei Yue.It suddenly occurred to him that the third son of Wei had already left the county, and had gone to the county fortress to station a month ago, and it would take longer to go back and forth.If you encounter cavalry going out of the fortress, you will be even more empty-handed.The matter was urgent, and there was no room for delay, so I had to change my mind and send the letter to the prefect's mansion.

Ji Bao put away the wooden tablet and wooden plaque, saluted and strode away.

The county magistrate went to the prison to interrogate the prisoners, and used the methods learned from Zhou Jue Cao Chu in turn, trying to pry the criminals' mouths open no matter what.

Zhao Jia led people to search the city, focusing on the commercial market.

Under the identification of the Machang tribe, three businessmen were arrested successively.It's a pity that the team leader found out that something was wrong in advance, and left the caravan to escape alone.

When searching for the slaves hidden in the caravan, three of them were found to be very suspicious.Adhering to the principle of catching mistakes and never letting them go, Zhao Jia ordered that the entire caravan be taken away and imprisoned.

There was a lot of noise about the arrest of people in the official temple. In order to avoid attracting more suspicions, they let it out to the outside world, saying that the caravan was illegal and shoddy, which was reported by the buyer.How long the matter can be kept hidden, Zhao Jia is not sure, and only hopes that it can be kept hidden for a moment.

People brought him into the official temple, Zhao Jia had no intention of going back to the military camp, so he summoned a small official and asked him to pass the message to the camp.

Named as a civil official, his force value is not low, so he can still go to the battlefield with a weapon.In addition, the pawns had not yet arrived, so there was no need to start training immediately, and Zhao Jia did not show up for a few days, so basically there would be no trouble.

When Zhao Jia walked into the prison, a small official was carrying a wooden barrel into the execution room.

In the execution room, a villain was hanged with his hands up, and two jailers held leather whips, dipped in the salt water in the barrel, and whipped the villain again and again.

Amid the sound of breaking wind, the villain finally couldn't hold on anymore and started screaming loudly.

The county magistrate did not order to stop, the jailer exerted all his strength, and the criminal's chest and back were covered with red marks, one after another, oozing bright red blood.

Seeing Zhao Jia coming so quickly, the county magistrate was slightly surprised.

"Everyone caught?"

"A few people were caught, and the rest fled early." Zhao Jia stood next to the county magistrate, not only to explain his doubts, but also to make the villains understand clearly, "Report the matter to the envoy of Wei, and the person who reported it will also be sent to the county. The county will take over this matter, and no one involved will be able to escape."

"Very good." The county magistrate nodded with a smile, signaling the jailer to continue smoking, put down the wooden tablet and knife and pen, and seemed not interested in asking again.

Although the villain screamed miserably, he didn't faint after all.Hearing the conversation between the two, and seeing the actions of the county magistrate, he couldn't help but feel his liver and gallbladder tearing apart.But still embracing the last sliver of luck, he said hoarsely: "The Han people are cunning, don't try to deceive me!"

The county magistrate smiled slightly, motioned the jailer to stop, picked up a small knife, and walked up to the villain, the blade slashed across the criminal's cheek, leaving a bloodstain in an instant.

Zhao Jia said, "Unfortunately, there are no fishing nets."

The words were a bit inexplicable, and the county magistrate turned his head in doubt.

Zhao Jia wrapped his left arm around his chest, resting his chin with one hand, narrowed his eyes slightly, and raised the corners of his lips.

"Cut flesh and bones, cut them into pieces." Zhao Jia said, looking at the burly villain, "cover him with a fishing net, and slice him with a dagger. After hundreds of thousands of cuts, the heart and lungs will not be damaged, and he will not die."

The punishment of Ling Chi appeared in the Five Dynasties, and the officials in the Han Dynasty naturally did not know about it, let alone saw it with their own eyes.However, just listening to his description, one can know that this torture is severe, even worse than being cut in half by a car.

The appalling level, just imagine that the jailer and the jailer feel their scalps go numb, not to mention the villain who was hung up, completely shaken with fear and out of his body.

But the county magistrate showed interest, and said with great interest: "There are no fishing nets, and there is no shortage of hemp rope."

After the words fell, he enthusiastically ordered the jailer to find hemp rope, form a net on the spot, and asked someone to fetch daggers, tried a few in a row, and chose the sharpest one. He had a great plan to try.

Thinking of being covered up and cutting his flesh, the villain finally broke down and burst into tears on the spot.He is not afraid of death, but such a punishment is too terrible, and it is simply not something a human can bear.

"I recruit, I am willing to recruit!"

Zhao Jia was about to speak out, but the county magistrate pressed his shoulder and shook his head lightly.Then the jailer was summoned and ordered to tie the knotted hemp rope to the villain.

The latter was out of his wits, and when he saw the jailer pick up the dagger, he rolled his eyes and passed out on the spot.He was woken up by the splash of salt water and screamed so loudly that it could almost pass through the beams of the house.

The criminals imprisoned next door could not see what was going on in the execution room, but they could clearly hear the sound.

When the jailer fetched the thick rope, he deliberately stopped in front of the cell, stared at the strongest criminals with malicious intent, described the torture that Zhao Jia said vividly, and bet on which one would cut off more flesh.

"It's a pity you can't use a fight." A jailer said.

"Wooden barrels are also acceptable." Another person replied.

The prison guards were very serious, and "weighed each other" to the villains one by one.Not long after the two entered the torture room, there was a heart-piercing scream.

Chief Ma curled up in a corner of the cell, covered in injuries, barely breathing.Hearing the jailer's words, his face turned pale with fright.Unknowingly where the strength came from, he rushed to the door of the cell, stuck his hand out of the wooden railing, and said loudly, "I'll raise my hair, it's illegal!"

At this moment, the screams stopped abruptly.

The villain quickly rushed to the fence, and saw the jailer drag out a sack and two wooden barrels from the execution room.The sack was soaked in blood, dripping onto the ground.The edge of the wooden barrel was dyed scarlet, and it seemed to be very heavy... Thinking of what might be inside, the villains counted one by one, and all of them turned blue.

Looking at the county magistrate and Zhao Jia who came out of the torture room, they found that they were each holding a piece of fine cloth, wiping the blood stains on their hands, but they were smiling, as if they were talking about something interesting.

In the dark prison cell, this scene frightened the villains.

They have been hiding in the border county for many years, but they have never discovered that the officials of the Han Dynasty are so cruel!Compared with them, the four corners of Da Shanyu and Wang Ting are not enough!

In the execution room, the unconscious criminal was tied up with hemp rope, and his mouth was also gagged to prevent him from waking up.

The "tragedies" in the minds of other villains did not actually happen.But that doesn't matter, as long as they think their accomplice has been hacked, Zhao Jia's goal will be achieved.

The two cleaned their hands, threw the blood-stained cloth handkerchief to their feet, and stepped on it casually.Sweeping across the cell, they quickly reached an agreement to let the jailer unlock the lock and drag out the criminals inside.

"I am willing to recruit, I am willing to recruit! I surrendered to the Han Dynasty, I am willing to identify, and there are Hu people hiding in the clouds!"

The villain's hands and feet were limp, and he almost lost control on the spot, no longer the ferocity of the racecourse.

After dragging him away from the sight of other criminals, the magistrate signaled the jailer to stop.

Zhao Jia stepped forward, squatted down, supported his knees with his left elbow, held a dagger in his right hand, supported the villain's chin with the back of the knife, and said with a smile: "Tell me, if you don't satisfy me, you can cut it here." you."

The villain trembled all over, as if facing a devil.

"Say."

Zhao Jia's voice was not high, but it exploded in the villain's ears like thunder.The villain didn't dare to hesitate, like beans poured out of a bamboo tube, he told everything he knew.

The county magistrate wrote in person and recorded everything he said.

After the villain finished speaking, two jailers forcibly dragged him into the execution room, followed by screams.The sound lasted for a while before the jailer clapped his hands and threw the freshly baked "zongzi" into the corner.

The county magistrate and Zhao Jia checked the two confessions, and asked the jailer to go to the cell to pick him up.

One after another, the criminals spat out one after another, and three wooden boxes were filled with wooden tablets recording confessions. Zhao Jia and the county magistrate didn't feel relaxed at all, but their expressions became more dignified.

At the same time, Zhao Jia's letter arrived at the prefect's mansion.After reading the content, Wei Taishou ordered a strict inspection of the city gate, and at the same time sent people to the fortress barracks, and ordered Wei Yue to tune two troops and rush to the city to stand by.