Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu and Liu Hu had just arrived in front of the city gate when they saw the open space not far away filled with standing cages. There was a prisoner standing in each standing cage. The round mouth above the standing cage was stuck around their necks, and their hands were He was handcuffed on both sides of his neck, a choker was placed across his mouth, and ropes at both ends were tied tightly behind his head.

There were many Qingluan guards standing around, equipped with swords, guns and firecrackers. There were more common people watching the excitement than Qingluan Guard. Not only were they not afraid, but they were slightly excited. From time to time, Qingluan guards would drive away the people watching the excitement and ask them to retreat outside the line. The people in the front row would retreat, but there were more people behind, and the crowd continued to surge forward.

This is a custom that has been passed down for thousands of years, watching people kill people.

In addition, there is a temporary wooden platform built to supervise the execution.

According to the rules of the previous dynasty, civilian officials were always responsible for supervising executions. However, this dynasty canceled this regulation and handed it over to Qingluan Guards for implementation.

The person in charge of supervising the execution this time was a Qingluan Guard from Baihu. He stood with a sword in his hand, his face was as cold as iron, and his eyes were looking at the sky.

The time of killing at 3:00 noon is determined by God.

He is watching the time.

It was already early noon, the sky was blue and the day was high. Many people waiting to watch the execution also braved the dazzling light to look up at the slowly moving sun.

The Qingluan guard responsible for the execution did not use a knife. In fact, in recent years, the imperial court has gradually reduced the number of punishments such as beheading and beheading, and Ling Chi has been almost deposed, and more executions have been carried out by hanging. And because there were so many people executed today, there was no noose hanging, but cage hanging.

The so-called cage hanging means: the floor of the cage is live, and there is a ring handle at the rear. As long as the executioner pulls the handle, the floor will be pulled out, and the neck of the person in the cage will be stuck in the cage. Inside the round sleeve, it was stuck alive.

As for the punishment of death by gunfire, it is generally used in the military.

Qi Xuansu didn't expect to see such a scene when he first arrived in such a prosperous town. He couldn't help but be curious and walked towards the crowd. He happened to see an old man sitting on a stone outside the crowd, playing with a hookah.

"Old man, why is it so lively?" Qi Xuansu came to the old man's side and asked.

The old man kept moving his hands, without even raising his head, and said in a bad voice: "You can't see, of course it's a murder."

Qi Xuansu did not feel dissatisfied: "I know it was murder, but I don't know who it was."

The old man "Gululu" took a sip of saliva and said, "The ones we killed were all Japanese pirates."

"Japanese pirates." Qi Xuansu couldn't help but be startled.

If Luzhou is still located at the junction of Jiangnan and Jiangbei, then Bohai Prefecture is the absolute hinterland of Jiangbei. This is the sphere of influence of the Donghai Navy. The Donghai Navy is deeply influenced by the Li family and is influenced by the Cihang lineage. The Nanhai Navy was not from the same group, so why did they start killing Japanese pirates?

The old man exhaled a breath of mist and said slowly: "They say they are Japanese pirates, but they are actually hired Japanese pirates."

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Human pirates, our navy has iron-clad ships, these pirates cannot land at all, and do not even dare to appear in the offshore. They mainly rob merchant ships traveling at sea. Everyone had never seen Japanese pirates before. When they heard that they were killing Japanese pirates this time, they rushed over to watch the fun. But I heard that the Japanese were almost dead a long time ago, and the remaining leaders are actually us Central Plains people. The government issued an order to arrest everyone they saw, and wherever they were caught, they would be punished on the spot. "

Qi Xuansu said in surprise: "The Dharma is being rectified on the spot?"

"Yes, justice will be done on the spot." The old man became more energetic, "These words make you angry. These pirates are causing harm to the country and the people. Asking for confessions and filing cases is a waste of time. They should be caught today and beheaded tomorrow. "

"You don't ask for a confession, don't file a case file, just hook Zhu and kill someone?" Qi Xuansu protracted his voice, pretending to be surprised and confused.

The old man paused his movements and said with great success: "Yes, what I want is a clean and neat move."

Qi Xuansu finally figured it out.

Strictly speaking, the Nanhai Navy is catching Japanese pirates and wants to survive, while the Donghai Navy is killing Japanese pirates and leaving no survivors.

In the final analysis, the two major forces are still at odds with each other.

After Qi Xuansu figured this out, he lost interest, got up and left, and entered the city with Liu Hu.

Although the inspections are much stricter now in the "Japanese pirates", Qi Xuan has the identity of the man in black, so he can still get through unimpeded, and the armor is also interpreted as the armor of the man in black.

Wutong Courtyard has a great name and a large area. It is almost the same as the mansion of officials and wealthy businessmen. It has a special cave inside, which is divided into many small single-family courtyards. The courtyard is deep, quiet and elegant. Except for a group of prostitutes and women, There are also countless musicians, tailors, craftsmen, and servants, so that people can have everything they need without leaving home.

Many powerful people will comb their pink hair here and rent a small single-family courtyard. It is not all for the enjoyment of women. After all, those who come in and out of this place are either rich or noble, and there are always spoiled wives and concubines. This can be regarded as a cause for trouble. To seek tranquility and escape from the world is the favorite of the gentry. It can be said that it is an indispensable style for celebrities.

It is naturally not difficult to inquire about places like this. However, it is noon and it will not be open for business. Unless you have reserved a yard here and combed your pink hair, you will not be able to enter.

Qi Xuansu was a foreigner and not a gentry, so he naturally would not rent a courtyard here. As Wutong Courtyard had a background of the Li family, Qi Xuansu did not want to come rashly and attract unnecessary attention.

So Qi Xuansu decided to go to the branch of Huasheng Hall in the city to deal with the broken pieces.

Although Bohai Mansion is very large, it is not difficult to find the branch of Huashengtang. It is located in the most prosperous area of ​​the city, has a very grand facade, and is located next to the branch of Tianjitang.

Qi Xuansu entered the gate of Huasheng Hall carrying the armor of the pseudo-spiritual officer and Wang Baoyue's prosthetic leg. Before the Taoist priest from Huasheng Hall could ask questions, he took the initiative and said: "The beaten armor of the pseudo-spiritual officer"

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, plus Western ‘alchemical arcane’ items, do you want them? "

The Taoist priest standing behind the counter was stunned for a moment, then said "Wait a moment" and turned directly to the back hall.

After a while, the Taoist priest in charge came out in person.

This is a Taoist priest of the fourth grade offering wine, about forty years old, and a woman.

Qi Xuansu didn't waste any time and directly spread the set of pseudo-spiritual officer armor on the ground.

The Taoist priest in charge just glanced at it and then looked away: "The objects belonging to the Eight Tribes are not valuable in the first place, and they are incomplete and damaged. They can only be regarded as scrap metal. Three hundred peace coins, no more."

This was also expected by Qi Xuansu. Wang Baoyue's prosthetic leg was the big one.

He unwrapped it, revealing the arm.

The Taoist priest in charge was initially a little careless, but after seeing those thin metal tubes that resembled the meridians of the human body, his eyes narrowed and his expression became serious.

"May I ask, where did you get this?" the woman asked.

Qi Xuansu said: "I teamed up with a friend from Tiangang Hall to kill a pirate and removed it from the pirate's body."

The woman was worthy of being from Huashengtang. She did not show the slightest look of disdain. Instead, she knelt down and looked through it with her hands.

The surface of the prosthetic limb was originally covered with a layer of skin-like material, making it look the same as a real arm. However, it was only later that the clothing and clothing were burned away by flames, revealing the original metal texture.

The woman first looked at it carefully, then inspected it with her hands, and murmured: "Using metal to imitate the human body, but also integrating the advantages of firearms, connecting the five internal organs, and using human essence as projectile gunpowder, it is really a strange idea and admirable."

Qi Xuansu asked: "You haven't asked the Master for his name yet?"

The woman came back to her senses and said, "My name is Su Yan."

Qi Xuansu immediately thought of another Taoist priest in charge of Huasheng Hall.

Su Ran.

Reminiscent of the fact that both of them have the surname Su, they are probably from the same clan and come from the Qingqiu Mountain lineage of Taiping Road.

Although Xuansheng originally decided that Quanzhen Taoism would be responsible for creating things, there is me among you, and you among me. There are also many Zhengdao disciples and Taiping Tao disciples who participated in the creation project, just as Quanzhen Taoist disciples also participated in human affairs.

This made Qi Xuansu feel guilty and coughed slightly: "Mr. Su, how much do you think this kind of thing costs?"

Su Yan looked away from the prosthetic limb and looked at Qi Xuansu: "Although the Western 'Alchemy Arcana' is rare, Taoist sects are not without samples, so I can only give you two thousand Taiping coins within my authority. price."

Qi Xuansu was not very satisfied with the price, so he asked, "Can we barter?"

"Yes." Su Yan answered happily, "In exchange of equal value, the exchanged items can be discounted according to the Taoist internal price."

(End of chapter)