In a room in the inner hall of the mansion, Su Jin was interrogating Guo Pinchao, the general judge of Yangzhou.

Guo Pinchao thought that after the public trial during the day, the matter had already been understood, and after being escorted back to the prison, he was still secretly glad that according to the confession during the day, he had fallen into Feng Jingyao's red powder trap by mistake, and finally had to help him do a few things that violated the rules of the court.

For example, in the matter of conscription, he could not have paid for conscription, but he took extra care of himself, and allowed Feng Jingyao to contribute money to be exempted from conscription; There is also the convenience of taking advantage of his position to privately allow Feng Jingyao to sell salt tea and other things sold in limited quantities by the imperial court.

It seems to be remarkable, but Guo Pinchao, who is well versed in this, knows that these things are simply insignificant; Feng Jingyao was active in taxation, and the imperial court did not take a penny, even if it was investigated, it was just an improper act, but it had little impact on the imperial court's taxation.

At night, he was suddenly brought over the hall again, Guo Pinchao's heart beat a small drum, did any tail fall into their hands? I made up my mind in my heart, and if I had ironclad evidence, I would happily admit it, so as not to suffer from flesh and skin, I would never say a word more if I had no evidence, as long as it was tried by the Song Governor's Mansion, I was not afraid that I would not be fooled.

However, when he saw Su Jin, who was sitting opposite, who didn't look at him much and didn't say a few words, his head was a little big, it was this person who came to Yangzhou and ruthlessly smashed his comfortable and comfortable life like a vase, and this person was able to destroy the bandits in Bagong Mountain, and even Feng Jingyao was also involved in the difficult scheming, I am afraid that it is not easy to fool.

"Lord Guo, Guo Tongju, how are you?" Su Jin spoke with a smile.

"The criminal Guo Pinchao deserves death, and if he is careless for a while, he mistakenly falls into the traitor, which is really a disgrace to the emperor and a shame to the people." Guo Pinchao kowtowed like pounding garlic, with a lot of tears and snot.

Su Jin said with a smile: "Lord Guo understands people, but it's a pity that he woke up late, as a general judge of a state, he is an official appointed by the central government, and he is worthy of being a member of the court from the bottom to the ground, and the first person under the prefect, who is in charge of the decision-making power of Yangzhou Prefecture's soldiers and people, money valley, household registration, enlistment, and prison lawsuits. ”

Guo Pinchao kowtowed and said: "Yes, yes, the criminal official failed to clean himself, and he failed to wake up afterwards, he was really confused, the criminal official has confessed to his crime in the public trial hall today, and how the court punished him willingly accepted it." ”

Su Jin sneered: "Confession, good confession, I think you are too dishonest, what you confess is trivial things, this is also called confession?" ”

Guo Pinchao's body shook and said hurriedly: "Where did the envoy come from, the criminal official has reached such a point, what else is there to hide?" ”

Su Jin said: "You may be able to fool others in the past, but if you want to fool the envoy, you have miscalculated, I advise you to think about it, it is best to pour beans into a bamboo tube, so that you are also refreshed, and I am also comfortable." ”

Song Zhen's face was embarrassed, ' Fooling others may be able to fool the past' This sentence clearly means that he was fooled by Guo Pinchao, this kid is merciless in person, and his words really pierce people's hearts; Seeing that Su Jin has no real evidence except for threats, Song Zhen suddenly wants to see his jokes, and there is some hope in his heart that Su Jin can't ask why; but immediately Song Zhen felt ashamed of his dirty thoughts, how can a person who reads the sage book have such a villain mentality, this is blasphemy of poetry and books in his belly, and defile his noble conduct; blame this kid, he is so confused。

Guo Pinchao naturally didn't pour beans for Su Jin's words, he rolled his eyes and thought for a long time, and said aggrievedly: "Lord Envoy, the prisoner already knows everything, and everything is confessed to Lord Song during the day, what do you call the prisoner to say?" It's better to do this, the adults give a reason, let the official recall and recall, the offender's memory is a little poor, and many things may be forgotten and unknown. ”

Su Jin scolded secretly: What a cunning old fox.

Guo Pinchao was unwilling to confess happily, and he didn't say anything to death, lest Su Jin end up with a dishonest confession when he presented evidence; It is said that the memory is not good, that is, you can remember something at any time, as long as the evidence is conclusive, then you will remember, and if there is no evidence or the evidence is not strong, then you can't remember.

"That's it, Lord Guo, the envoy doesn't want to be rude to you, speaking of which, you are also a serious reader, judging from your resume, you are also from a poor background, and after taking the imperial examination, you went to Huazhou as an official, and you can be regarded as an honest person along the way, so you were praised by the imperial court and transferred to Yangzhou as a general judge; Judging from your past official achievements, the court will definitely not ignore your previous contributions; According to the envoy, although the official position will be lost, but it will not lose his life, the envoy has already discussed with the Song prefect, and said a few words of justice for you on the case file submitted to you, but it all depends on your attitude; If the attitude is correct, it is true that there is a sense of repentance, no one is perfect, and there is a moment of misstepping, but it will never be beaten to death with a stick. ”

Song Zhen smacked his lips and rolled his eyes, this kid is untrustworthy, when did he discuss with himself and say that he wanted to say a few fair words for this person? This guy comes with a lie, and although he is a capable official, he despises his behavior; It's a matter here, you need to stay as far away from him as possible in the future, and it's too bad to be with such a person.

"The envoy's affection for the offender was very moved, and the offender will definitely change his past mistakes and change his mind." Guo Pinchao turned over and over these few sentences, made up his mind not to be tempted by this person, and explained all the things enough to kill his head ten times, when I was a three-year-old child? Coaxing?

Su Jin waited for a while, but Guo Pinchao didn't follow, knowing that this guy didn't shed tears when he saw the coffin, so he smiled: "Very good, it seems that you are planning to pretend to be confused to the end, no matter what, the envoy doesn't want to talk nonsense with you, I just tell you, I have a lot of evidence here, so I told you that you said that it was to give you a chance, and you didn't want a chance, so you will blame the envoy for being unkind to you; Let me tell you a rule first, this envoy will try a case, and every time a crime is verified, it will make the person who denies it suffer a lot, and it seems that you will be carried out tonight. ”

Guo Pinchao exclaimed: "You dare to move? Although I am a criminal official, but the court has not yet pronounced the sentence of dismissal, do you dare to punish the official? ”

Su Jin raised a finger and shook it, and said with a weird smile: "Don't say it so ugly, I won't torture to extract confessions, I just take out evidence to prove the guilt before I do it, this is called punishment and stubbornness, understand?" Besides, since you said that you have already confessed all the crimes, and there are no other crimes, why should you be afraid? ”

Guo Pinchao realized that his reaction was contrary to his words and deeds, so he immediately stiffened his neck and said: "This is the case, I have nothing to explain." ”

Su Jin said: "Okay, let's start revealing the bottom here, you listen, where are you on the evening of the 29th of last month?" ”

Guo Pinchao thought for a while and said, "Where else can I be on business in the Yamen?" ”

Su Jin said: "Really? Why did the soldiers of Beicheng say that you brought Shen Dezhang and a retinue of the Criminal Division to inspect the city gate? Lying about such a trivial matter? ”

Guo Pinchao patted his head and said: "Exactly, my memory is really poor, I did go to the North City Gate to patrol that evening, as a general judge, I have this authority, is there anything wrong?" ”

Su Jin smiled and said, "If there is any fault, let's see, what did you go to Beicheng for, remember?" I warn you, no matter how untrue it is, this envoy will make you look good. ”

Guo Pinchao thought for a while and said: "It's just an ordinary patrol matter, what's the fuss?" ”

Su Jin changed his face and said: "Bad embryo with itchy skin, come here, slap your mouth ten times, as a punishment." ”

Zhang Long stepped forward, grabbed Guo Pinchao's hair and pulled it back, made him raise his face, opened the bow left and right and slapped more than a dozen mouths, hitting Guo Pinchao's teeth and teeth, and his mouth was full of blood foam.

Su Jin hurriedly stopped, and said in his heart: Zhang Long didn't know how to count, so he asked him to slap his mouth ten times, and he actually hit him seventeen or eighteen times.

Song Zhen couldn't sit still, and hurriedly said: "Special envoy Su, this ...... It's not appropriate. ”

Su Jin said: "What's inappropriate?" He was warned not to lie, but he turned a deaf ear, which was a contempt for the messenger, and he should be slapped with his mouth. ”

Song Zhen said: "How do you know that he is lying? It was only natural that he would go to the city gates to patrol the city. ”

Su Jin said unceremoniously: "Lord Fuzun, if you can't stand it, please avoid it; You also defend him with this kind of goods, you have to know if he is lying, right? Okay, come on, bring witnesses ......"