Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 433 The Ultimate Insult
tick, tick...

Fujiwara no Arisumaro listened to the sound of dripping water in the dungeon and tried hard to fall asleep.

He was a close minister of Emperor Kotoku of Wa and the younger brother of Nakatomi Kamata.

What he experienced in the past month was nothing short of a nightmare for him.

As a member of the new noble family of Japan, the Fujiwara clan, how could he have ever suffered so much?
"How did I, the leader of the Fujiwara clan, end up in this situation?"

In a state of half-sleep and half-wakefulness, Fujiwara no Maro muttered to himself.

The Nakatomi clan was given the surname "Fujiwara" by the new emperor for their contribution to the Otsumi Incident, which eliminated the powerful Soga clan, and supported Prince Noboru to ascend the throne. The name means the control of the Fujiwara land in the ancient country of Yamato.

In order to return the favor, the newly born Fujiwara clan pushed Maro forward as a core member of the most critical step of the "Taika Reform" -

In simple terms, he was the one who led people to infiltrate the Ming Dynasty and was responsible for digging up the Yellow River embankment, causing billions of troubles to the Celestial Empire.

This would leave them no time to look east, making it easier for Japan to take action on the Korean Peninsula.

Unexpectedly, this year's rainy season was unusual. After the river bank was dug, the Yellow River rushed out of the river channel with extraordinary force, sweeping his team into pieces. Even Fujiwara no Maro, who was commanding (avoiding) and directing (difficult) in the rear, almost didn't escape.

This is really...

very good!
The more miserable the Chinese people who were soaked in the yellow soup were, the more excited he became.

Although he was just a commoner, he could eat white rice every day and even meat occasionally, which was better than what he, a Japanese noble, ate.

This made him feel very unbalanced.

Now this group of pampered people from the Central Plains were in trouble and were washed away by the Yellow River, crying for their parents. This greatly satisfied Fujiwara's sadomasochism.

Refreshing!

It feels as comfortable as a criminal returning to the crime scene and admiring his own "masterpiece".

Not to mention, the more people died and the greater the disaster, the more the Ming Dynasty's energy was consumed.

By then, let alone the peninsula, it is not impossible to look forward to the ancient land of Goguryeo...

This is definitely a great achievement!

As for the fact that the flood killed his team members and saved him the trouble of silencing them afterwards, that was even more of a pleasant surprise.

For Fujiwara no Maro, everything was perfect.

Just when he was about to run away, he was knocked down by a group of big men and brought to justice.

"Why do you say I did it? This is clearly a natural disaster!"

Fujiwara spoke fluent Chinese and tried his best to argue.

However, his captors were too lazy to listen to him.

After a long memory recovery session, he confessed everything he should and shouldn't have said, even how many times he wet the bed as a child.

"How did Mingren know that I did it? I did it perfectly."

Fujiwara no Maro couldn't figure it out.

The scene was completely destroyed by the flood, and the witnesses were also killed by the flood.

In Huazhou, where there was a mixed crowd and chaos, they were able to accurately locate him. Could it be that the Ming Dynasty's secret service could read minds?
"I can't think about it anymore, let's go to sleep!" Fujiwara Maro tried hard to gather his thoughts.

Daming's memory recovery technique is quite something.

It's not just torture.

Instead, it is a double torture of the person being interrogated, both physically and mentally.

Interrogating him non-stop for 12 hours without leaving him any time to sleep is just the basic operation.

For example, there was a torture device called "Tudihou", which used special shackles to lock the person to the ground and spin continuously, making him dizzy.

There is also a kind called "Immortal Seeing Fruit", which makes him kneel on spikes, and constantly put heavy objects on his head and knees, etc.

In addition, there are various little tricks to deprive men of their dignity.

Each of them has his own unique skills. The pain and humiliation are amazing, and the secret torture instruments are an unexpected surprise for him.

Fujiwara no Maro, who came from an island nation with few people, had never seen such tricks. He felt suffocated by the weight of a thousand-year-old civilization and wanted to commit suicide several times.

But he managed to get through it.

You have finally become a new noble and haven't even started to enjoy the good life yet. How can you lose your life so easily?
Hehehe, I want to survive!

As a nobleman, Fujiwara no Arisou Maro believed that he still had value and could serve as a "tainted witness", so the Ming people would not really kill him.

In this way, after being arrested, this person endured the ultimate humiliation for more than a month.

"No, no, no, what am I still thinking about? I should take this opportunity to have a good sleep..."

Fujiwara Tsuyoshi had been "interrogated" for several consecutive days and nights. The content of the interrogation was all about questions like "What's your name? Where are you from?", which was boring and repetitive.

Every time he was about to fall asleep, he was woken up by a basin of cold water and repeated his answers over and over again under the blinding light.

Compared to really wanting to get something out of him, this kind of "interrogation" is more like a form of mental pollution.

He had managed to endure this marathon torture and wanted to take advantage of the time when the interrogators changed shifts to close their eyes.

However, if a person is too tired, it is actually difficult to fall asleep.

"Fall asleep! If you don't, once the new interrogator arrives, a new day of interrogation will begin!"

Fujiwara couldn't help feeling anxious, and the more anxious he became, the more he couldn't sleep.

This made him anxious and exhausted both physically and mentally.

"Asleep! Asleep!"

He felt like he was going crazy and began to bang his head against the ground frantically, trying to knock himself out.

It's better to be unconscious than to stay awake in this hellish dungeon!

Just when he was becoming dazed and his consciousness was about to fade.

pat, pat.

There were dense footsteps coming from the corridor outside the cell.

Fujiwara no Maro stopped moving, and like a frightened deer, he subconsciously pricked up his ears and listened.

Not an auditory hallucination.

It was the real sound of footsteps.

somebody is coming!

Before he could utter a single moan, a strong light shone through the cage.

The blinding firelight caused his mind to go blank temporarily.

When he came to his senses, he found two young men standing in front of him.

One of them made his scalp explode, his hair stood up, and he became stressed.

He was a somewhat shy and introverted boy, not good-looking and looked honest.

However, just one glance made the Japanese noble feel instinctive fear.

The young man's name was Di Renjie, and he was the leader of this gang of cruel officials.

These bizarre and confusing tortures were created by him.

As for the other younger boy, Fujiwara no Maro, he was unknown.

But the young boy exuded a strong aura and was intimidating without even getting angry.

Even the terrible Di Renjie had to bow down to him.

Where did that young man come from?
…………

"Your Majesty, this man is the leader of that group of Japanese slaves.

"It was under his command that the Huazhou dike was dug."

Di Renjie spoke to Li Ming, his eyes filled with hatred and contempt.

Li Ming didn't say anything, just nodded slightly and glanced at the guy.

The little Japanese chieftain was in such a miserable state that he could not be described as such. After being tortured for a month, he had already become soft on the outside and tender on the inside, and had begun to take on a human form.

“Ahhh, ahhh…”

The beast made sounds similar to those of humans. If one listened carefully, one could make out words such as "noble", "testify against the emperor", and "I cannot die".

However, Emperor Li Ming did not have the leisure time to try to have a conversation with a stray dog ​​on the roadside.

He asked Di Renjie:
"Have you explained all the facts that need to be explained?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Di Renjie reported without hesitation.

"It is absolutely true. The Japanese are the mastermind behind this matter."

OK, that's enough for this sentence.

As for whether the specific mastermind is the King of Japan or someone else, it doesn’t matter.

It's all going to be cooked in one spoon anyway. "Thank you for your hard work." Li Ming patted Di Renjie's shoulder and encouraged him.

"You are also very proficient in the art of interrogation."

As everyone knows, the cruel official Lai Junchen was transferred to the south to investigate the situation.

Di Renjie was solely responsible for the entire process of investigating, solving and interrogating the case of the Japanese digging the dike.

"I didn't expect that you are not inferior to Lai Junchen in torture.

“Living with good people is like entering a room full of orchids; one cannot stop smelling their fragrance after a long time.”

In response to Li Ming's ridicule, Di Renjie simply bowed:

"With such a heavy responsibility on my shoulders, I dare not fail to do my best."

Li Ming took a deep breath and pointed at the thing in the cage.

"That guy is too miserable. Let's help him get rid of it."

Di Renjie nodded:
"As you command. What are your instructions, Your Majesty?"

"It doesn't need to be complicated. Just cut it into small pieces and make it into sauerkraut." Li Ming said, and then added two more words:
"Cut it alive."

"Okay." Di Renjie felt that there was nothing wrong with this approach.

Every word the two men said fell into the ears of the prisoner in the cage.

Hearing this, he felt a chill down his spine and shivered all over.

What does it mean to cut the meat into small pieces and what does it mean to cut it alive?

Isn’t this literally “cut into pieces”?

I don’t want to, I don’t want to die! … Fujiwara Maro struggled to open his mouth and shouted with a hoarse voice:

"Don't kill me, I'm still useful! I can serve as a witness. I can prove who came up with the idea, who instructed me, and who gave the final order..."

Before he could finish his words, a pair of tongs hit him on the head.

"Behave yourself! You beast, you don't understand what I say. I told you to behave yourself!"

The jailer used a pair of tongs to break the Japanese noble's teeth and roughly thrust them into his mouth.

“Wow, wow, I was wrong. I will never dare to do it again…Ahhh!”

With a snap, Fujiwara's tongue was pinched off by the thick pliers, pulled out, and thrown on the ground casually.

"Ahhh!"

The blood of the Fujiwara clan rolled on the ground, howling like a pig being slaughtered.

Li Ming and Di Renjie ignored him and left the dungeon long ago.

Witness? What is that?
The army is not a court. Does it need evidence to march to Japan?

What does the destruction of the Japanese island have to do with the Japanese?

If you have any objection, just talk to the butcher knife in our hands.

"However, I'm afraid that we can't immediately carry out the de-urbanization of the Japanese."

Li Ming let out a long sigh.

"What?" Di Renjie didn't quite understand.

Coincidentally, the two of them walked out of the dungeon at this time.

The sunlight outside was so strong that Di Renjie instinctively squinted his eyes.

I glanced at Brother Li Ming and saw that he seemed a little lost.

Combined with the nonsensical words just now, he seemed to have realized something.

"Lai Junchen is in the south. Did he find out something serious?"

"There is no problem with the officialdom in the south." Li Ming smiled bitterly:

“The problem is that there seems to be no officialdom in the South anymore.”

What?
The amount of information in this sentence was so explosive that Di Renjie's brain suddenly crashed and he was unable to understand it for a while.

"Do you know why the South has not sent any documents to me or Tangzhou for nearly a month?"

Li Ming stopped and faced the rushing Yellow River with a self-deprecating smile on his face.

"Why?" Di Renjie asked subconsciously.

"flood."

Li Ming slowly uttered those two terrible words.

"Months of continuous rainfall have caused the Yangtze River, which is also known as the Big River, to flood."

"The river has also changed its course?" Di Renjie was shocked.

"No, it's just an ordinary flood that overwhelms the dam." Li Ming shook his head.

However, the power of the Yangtze River alone is astonishing.

"The cities and villages along the coast, including the provincial government offices, were all submerged by the flood.

"Several governors of Lianzhou were lost, and the bureaucratic system was overwhelmed by the wave..."

Li Ming rubbed his forehead.

"So, let's put the expedition against Japan aside for now."

Di Renjie opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

It is not so difficult to build a country despite the adversities.

This is too difficult...

…………

It is already September and the weather in Central China is starting to get cooler.

Fortunately, as precipitation decreased, the water level of the Yellow River also dropped a bit, and it stayed relatively obediently in the new river channel.

The work of building the new Huazhou Dam was greatly reduced.

The survivors can finally focus more on rebuilding their homes.

The victims returned to their destroyed homes, cleared the rubble, dug channels to drain the accumulated water, and helped each other, working busily.

This ruin will serve as the cornerstone of the future "Huazhou New City".

But today, everyone briefly stopped what they were doing and gathered at the gate of the "new city".

People, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people.

Not only did local people from Huazhou gather here, but even people from nearby places came here after hearing the news.

The Central Plains, which had been shrouded in gloom and sadness for the entire summer, came alive again.

There are only three things that can bring everyone together:
Give money, go to the market, and behead.

Today is the day of beheading.

In ancient times when there were no mobile phones, beheading was always a popular entertainment activity among the people.

This time, the beheading activity was a bit special, as it was to kill other parts of the body besides the head.

Specifically, it is Lingchi, where before the prisoner dies, his flesh is sliced ​​into pieces with a fish-scale knife the size of a fingernail clipper.

The identity of the prisoner this time is also a bit special——

There were several Japanese people, one of whom was said to be a noble.

The Huazhou dike was torn apart by this group of Dongyi people.

In other words, this catastrophe was brought about by this group of Japanese people.

This news spread rapidly through the Ming Dynasty's mature public opinion system and soon had an explosive effect in the disaster area.

When people first heard this information, their first reaction was:

"Japanese? What are those?"

After learning more about it, their second reaction was pure anger:
"Those barbarians are nothing!"

The common people are very simple-minded and will take revenge for any slight.

They will try to find pleasure in whoever makes them unhappy.

"Whoa!"

The blade moved along the flesh of what had once been "Fujiwara no Arisumaro", causing a melodious scream.

The people cheered loudly.

(End of this chapter)