Chapter 552: Prisoner's Dilemma, 3-day game, order to release the prisoners
Chapter 552: Prisoner's Dilemma, Three Days of Gambling, Order to Release the Prisoner (5k)
Outside the imperial prison gate, two dark red lanterns were fluttering in the darkness.
Zhao Duan stood up from his chair and looked curiously at Ma Yan and other colleagues who were walking towards him.
Ma Yan's thin face had a complicated expression, filled with unresolved worry:
"I heard that Lihua Hall arrested a lot of people and put them in jail today, so I came to see how the situation is."
He didn't want to come at first. But Zhao Duan's big hand and unscrupulous arrests made Ma Yan unable to sit still and had to slap himself in the face.
Not only him, but all the detectives from the eight branches behind Ma Yan had complicated expressions.
Normally, they were known as the living devils, and all officials in the capital were terrified at the mention of them, but now they seemed to be gentler.
Putting aside the downfall of the Li Party, the last large-scale arrests were last year, when "Zhao Shaobao" first took office as the Chief of Investigation.
But that time, although many people were arrested, those involved were of low rank, all minor officials below the fifth rank.
But this time it's different.
Zhao Duan's sword slashed out and went straight to the main artery of the imperial court.
Who can not panic?
"Haha, don't worry, Governor. Everything is going smoothly." Zhao Duan said with a smile.
At this time, Qian Kerou hurried out of the dungeon. Seeing Ma Yan and the others were stunned for a moment, she immediately reported under Zhao Duan's encouraging eyes:
"Sir, we have already fought a round, and these people have been bitten to death. They are doing things for Yuan Li."
Ma Yan and others' faces turned green, thinking, is this what "progress is going well"?
The chief eunuch could not help but say, "There is no rush to eliminate the traitors."
Zhao Duan looked at him in surprise: "Is the governor afraid?"
Seeing everyone hesitating, Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"Just kidding. If they don't use some tricks to get them to confess, it's a conspiracy. I was just about to interrogate them. Now that the governor is here, let's go together."
Trying a prisoner?
Ma Yan nodded hesitantly.
Zhao Duan led the way and a group of people entered the "interrogation room" in the dungeon which was specially used to interrogate prisoners.
Zheng Laojiu and others were inside the room, and were stunned to see so many people coming in.
Zhao Duan said calmly, "Have you arranged the order for the interrogation?"
Zheng Laojiu said "yes", ignored Ma Yan, handed over a handwritten list, and whispered:
"According to your instructions, based on the first round of interrogation, these people will be ranked from the lowest to the highest in terms of their firmness of will."
Zhao Duan nodded: "Let's start in order."
Then, he politely asked Ma Yan to sit down, and then he pulled a chair and sat behind the interrogation table openly.
As for Haitang and other detectives, there were no chairs, so they had to stand in a row at the back, curiously wanting to observe the operations of their white-faced colleague.
Russian qing.
The iron gate opened, and Hou Renmeng and Shen Juan escorted a frail middle-aged official in and pressed him on a chair.
Zhao Duan flipped through the documents expressionlessly:
"Sun Honglin, a member of the Ministry of Rites. According to investigations, he was secretly collecting intelligence in the city for the rebel king..."
When Sun Honglin entered, his legs went weak. When he saw that there were ten "interrogators" in the room, including the eunuch Ma Yan, he was frightened to death and felt confused, wondering "What have I done to deserve this?"
When he heard the words "Do you know your guilt?", Sun Honglin came back to his senses with a start, and said with a stiff upper lip:
"I...I didn't collaborate with the enemy...I was just following...Mr. Yuan's orders..."
Ma Yan frowned.
This group of officials had already reached a tacit understanding and pushed everything onto Yuan Li, which was extremely disgusting.
Zhao Duan said "Oh" and stretched out his tone:
"So, you are working for Yuan Li? Do you have any evidence?"
Sun Honglin hurriedly said: "Mr. Yuan said it was a confidential matter and that no evidence was allowed to be left behind..."
"Then the few people who did this with you..."
"It's also Yuan Gongsuo..."
Zhao Duan suddenly shouted, sternly:
"The truth has been exposed, yet you still dare to deny it!
Your classmate Wang Yong has already confessed. He said that you colluded with the traitors and designed to drag him into the pirate ship. He also hinted that you were working for Yuan Li, and he knew nothing about it. The culprit of everything is you!"
Sun Honglin's brain buzzed, and he subconsciously refuted:
"Impossible... How could he be like this..."
Zhao Duan sneered and pursued:
"Collaborating with the rebels is a serious crime punishable by extermination of the family. Your Majesty is merciful and in order to stabilize the court, only the ringleader is executed, and the other accomplices are given lighter sentences. In order to save his family, he is willing to give you up as the main culprit. Why not?"
Sun Honglin was speechless.
Zhao Duan was nonchalant again, and continued to list the names of several officials who were dragged into the scandal by Sun Honglin, as confessed by Wang Yong.
Sun Honglin saw the evidence of his crimes piling up layer by layer, and he broke down in a cold sweat:
"He lied! The bad guy complained first! He was the first to find me! He said he was doing things for Mr. Yuan, but I was the one he dragged into this! Not only me, but also..."
Not long after.
After completing his confession, Sun Honglin was taken away.
The next person to be brought in for questioning was Wang Yong.
Zhao Duan copied the same trick again, first interrogating, then suddenly shouting:
"...You still dare to deny it! Sun Honglin and Wang Qinhe have already confessed. The accusation is that you falsely used Yuan Li's name to drag others into the water..."
Under the many detailed evidences provided by Sun Honglin, Wang Yong was so angry that his eyes went dark. He knew he was going to die, so he gritted his teeth and said:
"My Lord, what they said is not true..."
soon.
Wang Yong was taken away, and the next one was Wang Qinhe...
Prisoners were brought in and taken out one after another, and Zhao Duan used the same routine over and over again. The evidence for each accusation was a mixture of true and false, implicating one person after another.
Ma Yan and others, who witnessed the prisoners' psychological defenses being broken one by one, fell into collective silence.
The look in his eyes when he looked at Zhao Duan changed.
During halftime.
After holding it in for a long time, Haitang finally spoke. She stared at Zhao Duan and analyzed calmly:
"So Wang Yong didn't confess at the beginning. Are you trying to trick Sun Honglin? How do you ensure that he will tell the truth?"
Zhao Duan glanced at his female colleague and said with a smile, "It's just a prisoner's dilemma."
He briefly explained the concept and then added:
"So the purpose of the first round of torture was to make these people believe that others might shift the blame onto them in order to reduce their sentences. Another purpose..."
Haitang's eyes lit up and she said first:
"Another purpose is to use torture to screen out those who are more likely to be breached. Sun Honglin is the most timid, so he is used as a breakthrough point.
As long as he opens his mouth and gives the evidence, you can use the half-true and half-false evidence to further convince others that they have been sold...
Just like a snowball, the more evidence you accumulate, the higher the chances of a successful fraud, resulting in more confession evidence in your hands..."
Zhang Han also took a deep breath:
"Even if someone refuses to speak during this process, we can skip it temporarily. Once we have extracted more evidence from other people, we can bring them back for a second trial..."
Ma Yan also said quietly:
"Most importantly, the testimonies of these people corroborate each other, so we can trace back to the source to determine whether Yuan Li was actually involved in this matter."
The other officers understood the instructions and were all amazed. They looked at Zhao Duan with more surprise:
This colleague who served as acting "Mr. Zhao" was actually an expert in interrogation!
No wonder His Majesty would send this person to replace Zhao Shaobao.
What an amazing character!
Ma Yan was amazed, Zhang Han secretly admired him, Haitang was eager to try and wanted to compete with him, but at the same time, he became suspicious.
I always feel that... this guy gives people a feeling that he is a little familiar.
The interrogation continues.
Two hours later, Zhao Duan sorted out the confessions in his hand, took out a new list, and handed it to Qian Kerou:
"Let's catch these people tomorrow. Don't worry, they can't run away, or it's just right that they run away."
Qian Kerou agreed.
Ma Yan hesitated for a long time before saying:
"Is this a little too...big?"
Zhao Duan asked with a smile: "Do you think these people should not be arrested?"
Ma Yan shook his head and said:
"They should be arrested. But the method is too rough. Even if you have His Majesty's support and Yuan Li cannot stop it, without solid evidence, arresting so many people today will definitely cause trouble in the court, and His Majesty will also have a headache.
The others are fine, but the worst thing is that you illegally arrested Peng Wenliang, which gave the officials something to talk about."
The other police officers also echoed: "This is too reckless."
Not only them, but the entire Beijing officialdom thought that the new police department was too reckless and arrogant.
Not going through the legal process and forcibly going to the Censorate to arrest someone is too taboo. Wouldn't that give others a huge handle?
Ma Yan sighed inwardly, thinking that although this man was bold and good at interrogation, he was still far from being Zhao Shaobao.
If Zhao Shaobao were still alive, he would never have handled the matter so roughly.
After all... not enough wisdom.
Zhao Duan smiled, stood up, stretched his waist, yawned and said:
"It's late today, I will escort the governor out. Since His Majesty has entrusted this matter to Lihua Hall for supervision, no matter how bloody it is, I will bear it alone."
After saying that, he waved his hand and walked out.
Ma Yan and others looked at each other.
"Inspector, what should we do?" asked a police officer.
Ma Yan rubbed his brow helplessly and said unhappily, "Let him do whatever he wants."
……
……
That night, Zhao Duan "fell asleep" in the bedroom behind Lihua Hall.
The next morning, it was a sunny day, and the sun filled the courtyard.
As soon as the sun rose, Zhao Duan practiced boxing in the center of the courtyard where the sun was the best.
I can't practice cultivation with this body, but as a puppet, I still have the basic foundation.
Zhao Duan estimated that it was roughly equivalent to the mortal realm.
However, the purpose of his boxing practice is not to strengthen his body, but to get even sun exposure.
"Solar charging is OK... I was busy for too long last night and almost ran out of energy this morning..."
Zhao Duan basked in the sun, feeling his cold and numb body warm up little by little, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
Soon, the Jinyi guards arrived one after another, and then went out to arrest people according to his instructions.
At the same time, Qian Kerou also sent the latest information from the court:
Yesterday, a large group of censors headed by Yuan Li entered the palace to meet the emperor, but the empress avoided them on the pretext of practicing in seclusion.
At the morning court today, Yuan Li led nearly half of the court officials to put pressure on the empress in the Golden Palace. Memorials impeaching the Imperial Court and the New Investigation Bureau came in like snowflakes, almost overwhelming the desk in front of the emperor.
not only that.
The scholars of the Imperial College, led by the students of the Imperial College, were in an uproar and were madly protesting, angrily accusing the imperial court of arresting people without any evidence and deliberately trying to destabilize the court.
Some people even believed that the purge of the Qingliu Party was a vicious plot against the king, and that Your Majesty had been deceived and misled.
"Sir, many people outside are talking about us now. Some people call us traitors to the country."
Zheng Laojiu came over, handed over the report, and looked worried.
Zhao Duan was basking in the sun. He waved his hand in dissatisfaction and asked Lao Zheng to move away so as not to block the sun. Then he said:
"It's just a little trouble. Don't pay any attention to him."
However, within an hour, Zheng Laojiu came back and said anxiously:
"Sir, this is bad. After the court was dismissed, dozens of officials brought one or two hundred family members of the suspect to the imperial court, demanding an explanation from us. The governor hid himself, and now this group of people is coming for us."
Zhao Duan, who was lying in a chair sunbathing, opened his eyes and asked curiously:
"You all came empty-handed?"
"what?"
"I mean, didn't you bring any gifts or something? To bribe me to release the person?"
"..." Zheng Laojiu choked and smiled bitterly:
"Ever since what Lord Zhao did last year, they don't dare to bribe him to release him."
Oh, yes, last time I arrested people and tricked them into giving bribes, and then detained them on the charge of bribery... Zhao Duan sighed, these people are not easy to trick.
Guilty sin.
What does it mean that those who plant trees before us will enjoy the shade? This is the truth...
"Then send someone to stop them outside, and beat anyone who dares to break in." Zhao Duan waved his hand unhappily and changed his position on the chair.
A group of officials waited outside for a whole morning but refused to come in, so they had to retreat.
However, in the afternoon, Zhao Duan was awakened by noisy scolding outside the courtyard wall.
"Who's making so much noise outside?" Zhao Duan shouted unhappily.
This time it was Qian Kerou's turn to trot in. The secretary puffed up her cheeks and sulked:
“Sir, they are students from the Imperial College, as well as some scholars. By the way, the prisoners’ family members haven’t left either.
This group of scholars are scolding us. There are also many people watching. The noise is too loud, and the governor has hidden himself again, so no one dares to drive them away by force. "
Everyone knew that now countless eyes in the entire court and the entire capital were staring at the small Lihua Hall.
Amid the political infighting, even the living devils of the imperial court were afraid and dared not show their heads, for fear that they would be used as victims to quell the storm after the dust settled.
"..." Zhao Duan sighed: "Forget it, don't pay attention to it. As usual, anyone who dares to break in will be beaten."
If it were normal times, he would simply send people out to drive them away violently.
But as the saying goes, people's words are scary. Zhao Duan's goal was to purge the traitors, not to push the scholar group to the side of the rebels.
It's easy to vent your anger by beating up a group of scholars.
But at this critical juncture, the empress's reputation will be damaged, which will be detrimental to suppressing the rebellion.
Zhao Duan felt that he could endure a little for Zhenbao and ignore this group of clamoring scholars for the time being.
"Let him be strong, the breeze blows over the hills; let him be arrogant, the bright moon shines over the river."
……
However, seeing that he ignored them, the cursing outside the courtyard wall became louder and louder.
Zhao Duan couldn't sleep because of the noise, so he simply went out. He put on a hat and a face scarf, and took a few trusted confidants with him. He slipped out from the back door of another hall, went around the yamen, hid among the onlookers, and watched the excitement.
Outside the Lihua Hall, I saw a large group of scholars with red faces and ears, cursing in a romantic and dashing manner, with eloquent words, competing with each other in terms of novelty and splendor, and from time to time they burst out with beautiful sentences, which attracted applause from the whole room.
"it is good!"
Zhao Duan hid in the crowd, clapped his hands and cheered, exclaiming in amazement:
"As expected of someone who has read the books of sages, you have so many ways to curse people, and they sound pretty good. But are these people cursing me as a traitor to the country, or are they showing off their literary talent in public?"
Qian Kerou followed beside her, changed into a silk dress, and said indignantly:
"These scholars are very smart. They keep saying that they are fighting for the country, but in fact, don't they know that the whole court is watching them, so they take this opportunity to make a name for themselves?
My Lord, the Qingliu Party is very close to scholars, and there are many students and old friends among them. How respected is Mr. Yuan in the hearts of scholars? Now that you are fighting against the Qingliu Party, you have offended all the scholars in the city. "
Zhao Duan muttered:
"You talk as if I was liked by them before...Huh? Why are these guys throwing bricks in?!"
One scholar was not satisfied with his cursing, so he picked up a brick from somewhere, swung it up, and threw it into the courtyard wall.
Then, everyone seemed to be awakened:
The officers stopped me from entering, but they couldn't stop me from throwing things at them, right?
Soon, more and more people picked up bricks and threw them in. Some scholars even called on their classmates to pull a cart of bricks from somewhere, and the students rolled up their sleeves and started throwing bricks.
Qian Kerou, Hou Renmeng and others' eyelids twitched when they saw this.
Zhao Duan, however, put his hands behind his back and said with a smile:
"I'll go and clean it up later. The hanging flower gate in the government office has fallen into disrepair for a long time, so I'll have bricks to repair the house this time."
……
In the evening, the scholars who were tired of cursing finally dispersed, and after this commotion, almost everyone in the capital knew:
A new official appeared in the imperial court to replace King Zhao Yan. Perhaps because he was afraid of being hated by others, he wore a mask on his face.
Within one day of taking office, he offended half of the court, clashed with Yuan Qingyi, and attracted the hatred of countless students.
Compared with the farce-like folk entertainment, the atmosphere in the court was heavy and solemn.
The ministers in the court were not stupid, and they all understood that the white-faced police officer represented the will of the empress.
In essence, this is a game between the empress and the Qingliu Party headed by Yuan Li.
Do traitors exist? Of course they do.
But who are the traitors?
Does Yuan Li also have a problem? No one knows the answer.
The reason why no real big shot emerged on this day was because everyone was waiting.
Waiting for an answer.
Waiting for the confessions of the arrested officials in the imperial prison, and waiting for the empress's final attitude towards Yuan Li.
However, very few people knew that late at night, the final confession of the trial was quietly sent from the imperial prison to the deep palace.
That night, the imperial study was brightly lit.
……
The time came on the third day.
Zhao Duan showed up for work in the morning as if nothing had happened, and then moved a chair to the yard to bask in the sun.
It was unusually quiet outside the courtyard wall today.
No officials came to demand the release of the people, and no scholars came to curse the traitors.
Zhao Duan lay in the chair, tapping the armrests lightly with his fingers. The sunlight shone through the branches of the pear tree, and the light spot hit the corner of his robe.
Finally, today's court meeting in the palace was adjourned after being delayed for a full hour.
Zhao Duan, who was sitting in the Lihua Hall, also waited for the empress's final answer.
"Sir, the White Horse Supervisor, Supervisor Sun, is here." Qian Kerou trotted over and whispered:
"From the palace, Supervisor Sun entered the palace today to preside over the morning court session."
Zhao Duan opened his eyes, sat up, and smiled:
"please."
A few moments.
Outside the courtyard, an old man in a eunuch's dragon robe slowly came in, and the old eunuch Sun Lianying returned to his official attire as the eunuch in charge of the seal.
He was followed by several eunuchs from the palace.
Mo Chou is not in the capital, and Sun Lianying, as one of the empress's most trusted subordinates, now represents the empress.
"Your humble servant respectfully welcomes Supervisor Sun." Zhao Duan bowed.
Sun Lianying came over and stood in front of him. With her wrinkled face, her wise eyes gazed at him deeply and said:
"Pass on your Majesty's order to release all the innocent officials in prison."
-
Layout is updated first and then modified
(End of this chapter)