The Empire will continue to win

Chapter 96 The More Severe the Situation, the More Internal Strife Occurs

Under the flickering firelight.

Two bright orange 75mm grenades lay quietly in the woodpile, their brass casings gleaming and without a trace of rust.

Shen Moqing held up the torch and approached, discovering a scratch mark on the bullet.

"Minister, the production date and serial number of the shells have been removed."

"That's not surprising. Mo Qing, you're an expert. Let me ask you, how far can such a shell travel? How many areas can the explosion cover?" Yu Xian's expression was solemn, as if he had thought of something terrible.

"Theoretically, the range can reach 5500 meters, and the shrapnel can cover a radius of 40 meters."

"What do you think they're going to do with those shells?"

Shen Moqing remained silent, for the prophesied emperor would not meet a good end.

"But having shells alone isn't enough. Do you think they have any artillery hidden?"

"Your Excellency is wise; let's conduct the interrogation tonight."

"Mo Qing, please lend me a hand."

"Please give your instructions, Minister."

"First, go back and assemble the armed militia, ready to be deployed at any time. Second, go to the Ministry of Justice and witness the execution in person."

The Ministry of Justice's dungeon was gloomy and terrifying.

"Sir, please be careful and watch your step." A young constable, holding a gas lamp, diligently pointed the way ahead. The steps were dark, and he dared not let his distinguished guest fall.

"Ah~"

A bloodcurdling scream suddenly came from the darkness, and Mama felt her head spin.

Shen Moqing instinctively drew his gun, startled. I was startled.

The constable picked up his leather whip and stepped into the darkness, cracking it so hard that the prisoner dared not utter a sound.

I walked another twenty or so steps.

"Open the door!"

"Yes."

A door slowly opened. This was the third door we had passed. They were all heavy iron-clad wooden doors, and outside each door was a room for the jailers to rest and drink tea.

It was a net so tight that there was nowhere to escape.

After turning two corners and climbing a dozen or so steps, the view suddenly opened up, and the lights were bright. There, a young Dong Sang woman was stripped naked, her hands and feet chained to a cross.

Wow, the treatment Jesus received.

"Excuse me, sir, could you please move aside?"

Shen Moqing took two steps back with good temper, watching as a jailer in a blue robe passed by, walked to the woman, and put down the tray in his hand.

Opening the leather bag on the tray revealed a dense array of silver needles.

Needle!

Densely packed.

The silver needles were inserted extremely deep; Shen Moqing estimated that some of them were even more than 2 centimeters deep. The acupoints they pierced were also irregular, being either vital or sensitive.

The female prisoner trembled, seemingly screaming but unable to utter a sound because she was tightly gagged. In excruciating pain, her eyes swelled, she sweated profusely, and even lost control of her bladder; the more she looked, the more bizarre it became.

"Nephew, you've arrived. Please have a seat."

"I've made all the arrangements: 200 armed militiamen and 40 horse-drawn carriages, ready to assist in making arrests at any time."

"It's still most enjoyable working with you." Yu Xian, the torture artist, chuckled as he pulled over two chairs. "His name is Kang Xiaoba, from the outskirts of Beijing. He had a few years of schooling, but he lost a leg because of adultery. Later, he hung around the Tianjin docks and committed several major crimes. Then, I pulled him out of the death row and put him in charge of torture."

It turned out to be the case.

Letting criminals torment each other, setting aside the law, is quite entertaining.

"Alright, Kang Xiaoba, stop poking and just ask already."

"Yes."

The long-gown artist Kang Xiaoba reluctantly put down the silver needles, removed the gag, and took out a clean white silk handkerchief from his bosom to gently wipe away the bloodstains.

The area was riddled with needle marks, from which blood was seeping out.

"My dear wife, you are as pure as jade, why bother? Just tell me. If you don't, I'll have no choice but to skin you alive and make you into lanterns."

His soul was scattered and his spirit was destroyed.

-

Indeed, artists are all eccentric, regardless of age.

"I'll talk, I'll talk~"

Without a second's hesitation, the female Jesus immediately knelt down. Judging by her urgency, the torture had been used too much, and the interrogation too late.

Kang Xiaoba quietly packed up her sewing kit and went to tinker with the monk next door.

The silver needle suddenly broke, and the egg-shaped ball burst out.

Instantly, a pig-like scream erupted, deafeningly loud.

Once the gag was in place, it turned into whimpering sobs.

Shen Moqing stared intently, even thinking of the beautiful Empress Dowager Cixi. Oh no, could it be that I, a famous associate professor, am some kind of pervert deep down?

Yu Xian stood up and quickly walked to the woman: "I'll ask, you answer. If I see you hesitate when you answer, I'll hand you over to Kang Xiaoba. First question, do you know any strongholds?"

"3 li east of Xizhimen Station, the 5th house in Leather Hutong~"

-

The female spy chickened out.

But unexpectedly, the male monk turned out to be a tough nut to crack.

Seeing that the silver needle torture was ineffective, Kang Xiaoba angrily covered the monk's face with four pieces of brown paper and poured water over him. The monk was on the verge of suffocation several times, blood spurting from his mouth and nose, and his pupils dilated, but he still wouldn't confess.

Undoubtedly a tough nut to crack.

"Never mind, just rub some sesame oil on him," Yu Xian said, coming over after finishing her questioning.

"Yes."

Shen Moqing looked at the monk whose legs below the knees were slicked back with oil and was about to ask what this new game was all about.

"Nephew, let's go."

Ah ~

The scene that followed was too gruesome even for the cruel official to bear, which gives you an idea of ​​how brutal it was. The two walked out of the dungeon one after the other, and faintly heard the barking of dogs behind them.

The main hall of the Ministry of Justice.

It's very quiet.

Apart from the necessary guards and jailers, the entire Ministry of Justice mobilized.

It's curfew now, and to avoid suspicion, Yu Xian can't arbitrarily deploy troops to arrest people in the city. However, he can take advantage of the time before sunrise to destroy the exposed outposts outside the city.

A long time passed.

The jailer, Kang Xiaoba, arrived, walking with a limp and a limp. He handed over a stack of papers: "Minister, confessions from those two men."

Yu Xian looked through it once and then handed it to Shen Moqing.

After reading the statement, Shen Moqing blurted out, "No, the statement is false."

"My lord, are you questioning my professional ethics?" Kang Xiaoba, covered in blood, suddenly looked up from below the hall, staring at Shen Moqing with a furious expression.

Oh shit.

The dog dares to bark at people now.

Shen Moqing flew into a rage, walked up to the notorious bandit, and slapped him.

Snap~ Snap~

Two hard slaps, followed by a kick to the chest.

Kang Xiaoba got up, his nose bleeding profusely. He covered his swollen face, looked at Shen Moqing, and then at Yu Xian.

Yu Xian stood up decisively and pointed at the arrogant and vicious dog: "Guards, drag Kang Xiaoba away, give him 30 strokes of the cane, and deduct three months' salary."

"Yes."

Several constables rushed out from behind the hall, dragged Kang Xiaoba down to the floor, pulled down his pants, and beat him up.

"Nephew, please continue."

"Minister, look at the address of the spy den this man confessed to: the third house in Needle and Thread Alley in the northeast corner of the capital."

"What's wrong?"

"This is my home!"

"6

'

"Also, the address of this so-called hidden artillery should be a service barracks of the naval academy, if I remember correctly."

"6

'

-

Shen Moqing said in a low voice, "Minister, the prisoners couldn't withstand the torture and deliberately made false statements. Their confessions may be entirely false, or they may contain both truth and falsehood. In any case, we cannot act rashly."

"The situation in the capital is too complicated," Yu Xian said in a deep voice, nodding repeatedly.

"The most crucial thing right now is to find the gun. If there really is a 75mm howitzer hidden in the shadows, then the area within a 10-mile radius is within its range, including the Forbidden City."

The Forbidden City!

Upon hearing these three words, the torture artist swallowed hard.

"Mo Qing, this is just a private chat between uncle and nephew, none of our business. Do you think this so-called Dong Sang Ying Agency really has cannons?"

Shen Moqing did not answer directly, but solemnly said, "Whether it is true or not, we must treat it as true. Tomorrow, you should report the truth to the Forbidden City and request an imperial decree for a city-wide search. Whether it is a prince's mansion or a private residence, all places must be searched."

After a few seconds of pause.

"Nephew, I understand what you mean. Use the opportunity of searching for cannons to expand the authority of the Ministry of Justice."

"Yes."

"You've had a hard day. Wash your face and rest for a while. Tomorrow morning, we'll go to the palace together, uncle and nephew." Yu Xian's tone was as gentle as a spring breeze.

Sitting in the back room drinking tea, Shen Moqing reviewed the events of the day.

Politics is a complex undertaking that requires money, confidants, powerful backers, and allies. Allies can be as powerful as oneself or even stronger.

But they must have a common goal or a common enemy.

Looking at the entire court.

Li Shaoquan is cunning and manipulative; one should not be too close to him.

Weng Tonghe and I are not on the same page and cannot work together. He is also a confidant of the emperor's party, so we should not be too close to him.

The others were either hostile or indifferent.

Therefore, Yu Xian is the only option left.

His sudden slapping of Kang Xiaoba seemed to be a sign of dissatisfaction with the boy's attitude, but it might also have been a spur-of-the-moment attempt to test his ally's intentions.

Unexpected events are the best way to see into people's hearts.

If Yu Xian had shown even the slightest dissatisfaction with him, or had been perfunctory in punishing Kang Xiaoba, he would have quickly cut ties with him.

Fortunately.

Yu Xian seems like a potential ally.

early morning.

At the entrance of the Ministry of Justice, the two were chatting and laughing, about to board a carriage to go to the Forbidden City.

Suddenly~

Two riders galloped in, their hooves pounding.

The constables from the Ministry of Justice looked wary and pointed their guns at the carriage.

"Supervisor Shen~" The knight reined in his horse a distance away, removed his leather hat, and identified himself.

"Wang Shizhen? Gu Hongming?"

Seeing the anxious expressions on the faces of his two trusted confidants, as if something bad had happened, Shen Moqing quickly apologized to Yu Xian and went over to them. The three of them walked to a corner.

"Something terrible has happened, Governor Ding is here."

"Which Governor Ding?"

Ding Baozhen.

"Why is he, the governor of Shandong, not staying in Jinan Prefecture? What is he doing in the capital?"

Wang Shizhen was speechless.

Gu Hongming nodded repeatedly.

Shen Moqing suddenly realized that her complaint was unreasonable. Ding Baozhen was also the assistant minister of Yanshan Heavy Industry Group. After thinking for a moment, she asked in a low voice, "What does he want to do?"

"Governor Ding was stopped by the militia outside the gun factory. They jumped up and down, cursing you for having disloyal intentions and saying that the gun factory was a state within a state," Wang Shizhen said.

"He also said he would impeach you in front of the two empress dowagers," Gu Hongming muttered to himself.

"I'm not afraid of him."

"Financial accounting should be independent, and business operations should be decoupled," the thin scholar Gu reminded him.

This is really troublesome. Shen Moqing was irritated and paced back and forth for a few steps. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he hurriedly walked towards the carriage.

"Master, I'm in trouble."

"Trouble? I'm never afraid of trouble." A ruthless official is never afraid of trouble, and a person who is afraid of trouble cannot be a ruthless official. The logic is that simple.

Yu Xian waved his hand boldly: "Everyone, stay ten steps away."

"Yes."

The constables stood with their backs to the carriage, forming a circle.

Inside the train carriage.

The two whispered and discussed for ten minutes behind the curtain, then Yu Xian turned back to the Ministry of Justice, while Shen Moqing rode off to Nanyuan.

If you want to forge an alliance, you must first exchange pledges of allegiance!

The main gate of the gun factory.

The two sides were locked in a tense standoff.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"The Imperial Governor of Shandong and the Assistant Minister of Yanshan are here. You shall lay down your weapons immediately, or you will be exiled to Kuye Island and never be allowed to return south." Captain Chen Guorui held up the golden seal and slowly walked towards the gate.

bang~

A gunshot rang out, and he shrank back in fright.

At his feet, white mist rose from where the bullets had landed, only a foot away from him.

"No one is allowed to enter without our Inspector Shen's order," Yuan Weiting shouted from behind the wall.

"Who has more power, the oversight body or the minister?"

"Stop talking nonsense. You have the assistant minister give orders to Supervisor Shen, and then Supervisor Shen gives orders to us. That's called following the rules of the court."

"Fuck your mother, are you trying to rebel?"

next second~

A bullet grazed Chen Guorui's scalp, piercing his military cap and causing it to fall to the ground. He was both shocked and furious, and drew his gun to fire, igniting a burst of gunfire.

Fortunately, both sides exercised restraint, avoiding direct aim and sending most of the bullets flying into the air.

Even so, Ding Baozhen retreated several dozen feet in a sorry state, protected by his guards.

"Ceasefire~"

Both sides were shouting.

The gunfire finally stopped.

Behind the barricades, the militiamen brought out a 75mm mountain gun, which immediately drew cheers.

"Weiting, you've got some nerve." Duolonga looked at the magnificent ceremonial guards scattered all over the ground outside, still feeling lingering fear.

"What's there to be afraid of?"

"That's the governor, after all."

"I dared to beat up my drill instructor before graduation, and I dare to beat up the governor after graduation, so what?" Yuan Weiting wore his military cap askew, his thick, radish-like fingers twirling his revolver, a complete soldier's scoundrel.

"Brother Yuan, you've got it!" Miao Peilin laughed heartily.

Gong Zhao remained silent.

Wang Wu turned his face away.

Yuan Weiting took in both of their reactions.

Everyone thought he was just incredibly audacious, but little did they know that he was deliberately trying to cause a huge disaster to test the limits of his superior, Shen Moqing.

If nothing happens to him afterwards, it means he's a powerful and influential person.

What kind of leader are you if you don't have the ability?

If you don't have the ability, who the hell would risk their life to follow you?

If Shen Moqing is dismissed from his post, I'll have to quickly find another powerful patron. Although my uncle Wu Changqing is dead, his former students and followers are still around. If I beg them, I can still find a place to go.

On the other side...

"Bandits, scoundrels, and scoundrels! I will impeach Shen Moqing before the two empress dowagers and have him executed in the fullest." Ding Baozhen said angrily.

To everyone's surprise, the assistant minister of Yanshan Heavy Industry Group was not even allowed into his own factory and was even held at gunpoint by the workers. It was truly a disgrace.

The captain of the guard, Chen Guorui, said with a ferocious expression: "Your Excellency, once this matter is over, I will personally execute that fat bastard who led the shooting."

-

He saw it clearly; it was a short, fat man with a mustache and gleaming eyes.

Making a wish~

Suddenly, a group of knights came galloping from afar.

Enemies meeting are bound to be furious, but they both restrained themselves and kept a distance of over a hundred meters.

"The Shandong Governor and his assistant minister are here. Please come and give us your reply, Supervisor Shen."

Pre-battle negotiations?

Ok.

Without hesitation, Shen Moqing dispatched Captain Wang Shizhen, a seconded officer from the First Town. His motives are hard to fathom, but he may well have been planning to drag Li Shaoquan into the mess.

Who can blame them when Li Shaoquan has such thick arms?

"Old Wang, be extremely careful in negotiations. If things feel off, you can strike first."

"Um."

Wang Shizhen was an honest man and had no idea that he had been tricked. Instead, he nodded gratefully and said thank you. Then he opened the leather holster, stretched his wrist, and slowly steered his horse forward.

The two riders rode towards each other.

On the other side, Chen Guorui, who was known for his violent temper, actually rested his right hand on the gun handle.

"Don't move, my gun is definitely faster than yours."

"Who are you?"

"Wang Shizhen, in the second year of Xuanwu, won second place in the national shooting event of the Imperial Army Grand Competition."

"Bullshit! Do you think I'm an idiot? Wang Shizhen is in the First Division of the Army, and the First Division is currently fighting in Liaodong!!" Chen Guorui was furious. Time and time again, since becoming the governor's confidant, he had never suffered such humiliation.

I've decided to kill!

Unexpectedly, just as the pistol was pulled from its holster, a bullet grazed his arm, bang!

He landed with his gun on the ground!

Guo Rui fell from his horse!

Ding Baozhen was so angry that his beard trembled, while Shen Moqing breathed a sigh of relief.

Fine, we're laying our cards on the table, we're tearing off the mask. I have every reason to suspect that you, Ding Baozhen, are the old maidservant that Empress Dowager An kept in Jinan!

Inside the factory area.

"Oh my goodness!"

When speculator Yuan Weiting saw Ding Baozhen's bodyguard Chen Guorui shot and fall from his horse, his eyes lit up, he muttered to himself, thought for a moment, swung his rifle sling behind him, and jumped off the wall.

Although he is fat, he is very agile.

He shouted, "Yuan Weiting of Xiangcheng is here!"

They run incredibly fast!

Everyone was stunned and couldn't react for a moment.

But Miao Peilin, a hero from northern Anhui, had been roaming the underworld for many years and was also quick-witted. Seeing his colleagues' active steps, he decisively picked up a red flag and waved it left and right.

"Brothers, charge with me!"

[May all of you retain a childlike heart forever! Please grant me your monthly votes!]

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