Cross the Sea in the Red Chamber

It would take a long time to transmit the letter from the south of the Yangtze River to the capital and then upload the reply letter back. No matter how fast the horse was whipped, the news from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would not come back within a month.

It's been a long time since I left the capital, and it's already November. If I stay in the capital at this time, I'm afraid the ground will be covered with snow.But this place in the south of the Yangtze River is different. Not only is it not as cold as the capital city, but even the leaves on the trees have not fallen, and they are still green. It seems that there is no feeling of winter at all.

Jiang Yuan felt that Jiangnan was not like winter at all, but in Chen San's heart, it was even colder than the severe winter in the north, from the skin to the internal organs, and finally to the bone marrow...

In fact, Jiang Yuan didn't really do anything to Chen San. Master Jiang always believed that extorting a confession by torture was a relatively low-level interrogation method. Sometimes people were killed before the words were asked, so how could it work?

The purpose of torture is nothing more than to destroy the spirit of the other party, so that he loses the thinking of resistance and is willing to confess. Then the desired result can be obtained without torture, and sometimes the effect is even better than torture, so why use it? How about such a destructive method?

For Chen San, an ordinary person who has not received any special training, direct torture can directly lead to death. It is better to choose some methods that do not harm the body and completely defeat him from the spiritual level.

Jiang Yuan threw Chen San into a dark and completely enclosed small room, and didn't beat him or scold him, but in that small room, no one would talk to him, and he couldn't hear anything. Sound, capable of placing him in extremely dark and depressing situations, caused the pressure in his mind to increase over time as normal.

That's right, the method Jiang Yuan came up with to extract a confession is commonly known as the Little Black Room!

If a person wants to maintain relatively normal consciousness and stable mental activities, he needs senses as a support, but if a person wants to understand the surrounding situation in an unfamiliar environment, he must rely on senses such as vision, hearing and touch.

There is no sound in the small black room, which deprives hearing, no light, which deprives vision, there is nothing but the wall, and although the sense of touch is not completely deprived, the effect will also be weakened.When people's three senses of sight, hearing and touch are isolated, such an environment may seem harmless, but it will still bring people considerable psychological pressure, and even drive people crazy.

It is /too/ quiet in this room, there is no sound at all.Such absolute silence makes one feel uneasy, even fearful.The silent environment forced Chen San to start singing loudly. He sang the folk songs in the south of the Yangtze River that he remembered one by one, and later even sang two not-so-clean ditties that he heard in the party, but after a while, he Started to get bored.

His own singing could not bring him a sense of security, but instead made him feel so lonely, and made him more and more aware of the reality that he was the only one in this room.The loneliness brought by the darkness drilled into his heart along with his singing, making him shiver with cold.

The silence around was really unbearable, Chen San couldn't control himself, so that he wouldn't think about it.He became more and more fearful due to the stress of the environment, so he began to talk to himself, hoping to create a little sound to break the silence around him and give himself some comfort.

He began to recall when he remembered things, such as digging out bird eggs, shooting slingshots, picking fruits from books, fishing loaches in rivers, being beaten by his parents when he was naughty, and the sweetness of the snacks made by his mother...

Chen San recalled bit by bit, trying to find something to do for himself, so as to dispel his fear of the surrounding darkness.He was talking upside down, more and more unable to control the confusion of his thoughts.One moment he was still talking about how he learned to read from others, and the next moment he jumped to the delicious rice dumplings on the Dragon Boat Festival, stumbling and talking upside down, but his voice became more and more trembling, even Tremolo came out.Chen San only felt that he was so cold, even if he kept himself, it would be of no use at all. He was so cold that his whole body was shivering, and his heart was about to freeze, but no one came to save him...

However, after being locked in the small black room for just four hours, Chen San's spirit almost completely collapsed.

He began to lose control of his thoughts, and became more and more desperate, and the more he thought about it, the more afraid he became.Some inexplicable horrors entered his mind, and he was almost so frightened by his own imagination that his legs went limp.At this time, he stopped talking, but hugged his knees and sat against the corner, sobbing and crying from time to time.Occasionally he would wake up for a short while, at this time he would roar twice to vent his terror, but soon, he would fall into delusions and be frightened to cry bitterly.

Fifteen hours later, Chen San was walking around in this small dark room like a trapped animal, his expression becoming more and more ugly.He couldn't stop at all, or he didn't want to stop at all. It seemed that he could feel alive only when he was walking.

At the beginning, Chen San still walked with small steps, but as time passed, his steps became bigger and bigger, and in the end he almost ran.Sweat dripped from his forehead, but he didn't seem to feel it at all, he just ran wildly.

Occasionally, he would bump into the wall, but the pain at that moment seemed to save his heart that had sunk into darkness, and let him wake up for a short while, so Chen San didn't care about the pain imposed on his body at all. In pain, he continued to run wildly until his body lost all strength before falling to the ground exhausted.

Twenty hours later, Chen San stared wide-eyed at what should be the roof above his head. In his eyes, there was no longer a dark room, but the eerie ghost town of Fengdu.

He saw himself walking into the city with a ghost messenger, and was betrayed by the king of hell to go to the eighteenth hell to make atonement.After he was escorted down, little ghosts were sharpening sharp knives by his door, waiting to dig out his heart and liver, and cut open his stomach.

Chen San opened his mouth and screamed almost absent-mindedly, but his thirsty throat could only make a little sound, and there was no change in the darkness.He closed his eyes and shed tears in despair, but he couldn't feel the tears running across his cheeks at all.

At this time, the door of the room opened with a "bang", and a ray of light shone in, which happened to meet Chen San's eyes.

Chen San never thought that he could be so agile, and he turned from lying on his back to lying on the ground with a roll.He looked in the direction of the door with cloudy eyes that were dripping with tears, staring at the light.

A candle the size of a soybean illuminated his eyes and illuminated his heart. Chen San was like a traveler who had been walking in the desert for a month and suddenly saw a cool spring and a beautiful oasis.He stared at the light almost hungrily, even if it hurt his eyes and made him cry, he never dared to look away, as if the burning candle was the nectar that saved his life.

"Are you willing to say something now?" The soldier holding the candle asked loudly according to Jiang Yuan's instructions.

Chen San still had some hesitation, he shivered suddenly, and remained silent, but his teeth were chattering, and he couldn't control it when he wanted to control it.

"If you don't want to say it, you can stay here." The guard stretched out his hand to hold the door, making a gesture to shut Chen San back into the darkness again.

This time Chen San couldn't keep silent anymore, his fear of the dark had surpassed everything else.Chen San stretched out his hand to save the little candlelight, and almost screamed: "I...I said, please...please don't leave me here...I said, I said everything I beg you..." Chen San knelt on the ground, knocking his head on the ground, "I say...I say!"

The soldier holding the candle was taken aback by Chen San's reaction, and almost threw the candle out of his hand.He didn't understand why Chen San, who was so stubborn and refused to say a word two days ago, was locked in the small dark room and was willing to say anything after two days.

They didn't torture him to extract a confession, they didn't threaten or lure him, and they didn't even touch him with a finger. They just said that they wanted to keep him in the small black room, and his reaction became so big, as if that room It's like eighteen levels of hell.Is there something strange in this room?

The soldier walked into the room with a candle in his hands, but he looked around and looked around the room without seeing anything wrong.Just such a room with nothing, will it scare the person in front of him like this?This guy's courage is too small, it can scare...

If Jiang Yuan was here, he would definitely laugh.

Timid?Even if a brave person is thrown into the small black room, it will collapse after a long time.Psychological pressure is sometimes more terrifying than any physical injury, but people nowadays probably can't understand this kind of words.Without professional training, there is no way to avoid the pressure brought by the small black room. This is a fear that even a strong man can crush!

In the end, Chen San confessed. He brought out everything he knew and thought, and the only thing he begged was not to be thrown back into that little black room again.Although as a small steward, he knew relatively limited things, but it was enough for Jiang Yuan to see some problems.

Chen San is a slave who sold himself to the Wang family, not a slave born in the family, and has no relationship with other slaves in the Wang family.It stands to reason that such a background should not be trusted by the master, but Wang Zipeng did the opposite. He was afraid that the slaves would chat and reveal the secrets of the master's family if they got involved, so he specially promoted Chen San to take the post of delivering letters and running errands. .

This position can be regarded as a small steward who handles foreign affairs, and can also be regarded as Wang Zipeng's confidant, so all the correspondence between Wang Zipeng and Song Chen was passed on by Chen Sanlai.

Originally, there was no connection between Wang Zipeng and Song Chen. Song Chen belonged to the Zhen family, and never interacted with nobles other than the master's family. There were frequent correspondences.

The Zhen family was eradicated by the old emperor after the winter solstice last year, and Song Chen was also recruited by the Liu family at that time. At the same time, Wang Zipeng also sent Song Chen the first letter between them.

Probably because it was the first letter, Song Chen didn't take it seriously, it was just an ordinary communication.At that time, because of the Winter Solstice Palace Change, many nobles were handed in, and there were a lot of letters between each other, even people who didn't know each other couldn't help exchanging information, so Song Chen didn't deliberately hide the letters.

When reading the letter, Song Chen did not drive Chen San out, so Chen San had the opportunity to glance at the letter and saw the words on it.But after seeing it twice, Song Chen opened his mouth and kicked him out, so Chen San didn't see the specific content of the letter, but only had a vague impression.

Chen San was not the son of the Wang family, but was forced to sell himself to the Wang family after the family disaster.When he was a child, his family was in a good family. He once knew a few words with an old scholar. Although he didn't know many words, he also recognized some of the contents of the letter.

Chen San didn't like to show off, so he never told anyone about his literacy, so neither Wang Zipeng nor Song Chen took his reading of the letter seriously.Even if he saw such an important letter that time, he didn't doubt him because of it. On the contrary, because of his "illiteracy", the letters between the Wang family and Song Chen were sent to him specially in order to prevent the leakage of secrets. .

Of course, he would have no chance to see anything in the subsequent letters.Every time Song Chen read the letter, he kept his back, and the letter from the Wang family had already been sealed when it was handed over to him.

Wang Zipeng once threatened Chen San, saying that if other people found out the contents of the correspondence, he would be killed. On the contrary, if he remained honest, he would be rewarded with some gold and silver.Chen San has always been a little timid, he cherished his life very much, and was afraid of being retaliated by Wang Zipeng, so no matter how hard he asked him before, he refused to speak.

As a confidant, Chen San has seen Wang Zipeng's methods.He knew very well that the master was very cruel, and he would kill him if he said he would kill him, so he was not willing to tell the truth until he was frightened by Jiangyuan's little black room and had a nervous breakdown.

Who was the person who snatched his letter before, tied him up and threw him into the river and nearly drowned? He also said this time that he had never met that person before, and he was acquainted on the boat he was on. After inquiring, I found out that the man was actually the steward of the Liu family of the aristocratic family, and was responsible for delivering letters.

Later, the steward of the Liu family got to know Chen San's identity from nowhere, and that's why he wanted to snatch the letter and silence him.

Jiang Yuan frowned. It seems that the contents of these letters are quite important. I don't know what important things this Song official has in his hands, so that the nobles and the family rushed to communicate with him, and wanted him to take refuge. Even in order to destroy the other party's connection with Song Chen, he did things like snatching letters and killing people to silence them.

Jiang Yuan asked in a cold voice: "Didn't you say that you have seen the first letter that the Wang family gave to Song Chen? Do you still remember what was written on the letter?"

Chen San was so frightened that he dared not answer at this time.He didn't think the letter was important at first, but since he almost killed someone because of it, the value of the letter was definitely beyond his imagination.He also understands now that if he still dares to hide it for this reason, the killing god on the opposite side will definitely not spare him. As for Wang Zipeng's threat... let's talk about it later, if he does not confess, he is afraid that he will die now up...

"The little one just saw it twice, and he didn't know many words...so... this..." Chen San said tremblingly.

"It's okay, just tell me what you saw, and you can say as much as you see, don't make up anything." Jiang Yuan understood what he meant, and said, staring into his eyes.

Jiang Yuan's eyes at this time were like a tiger aiming at a deer, and Chen San, who looked majestic and horrified, couldn't help swallowing.

Chen San pursed his lips, suppressed his shock, and then said slowly: "The little one only saw the Wa family on it, and what farm and farmer it was, and said there was a list of account books... Oh, and wrote What kind of tribe do the Yue people have... and the Xiangguo... and King Yong and Shun."

"By the way, it seems to say that Mr. Song Chen has a picture and some books. The manager of the Liu family who threw me into the water once said to himself that with that picture and Those few books can deal with nobles and even win over other aristocratic families, so no matter what you say, you can't let the Wang family get it."

Chen San didn't dare to look directly at Jiang Yuan, so he could only take a sneak peek, and said tremblingly: "The little ones know so much, no matter how many small ones there are, I really don't see clearly..."

What Wajia, what Tianhu?Jiang Yuan frowned, and suddenly realized that what Chen San was talking about was probably the Zhen family and the tenants.He twitched the corners of his mouth and shook his head. This Chen San is really not very literate. He read while reading, but he didn't read in the middle. He recognized this word...

Although he mispronounced the words, what Chen San said was quite useful.

A picture, a few books, can be related to the safety and survival of the aristocratic family and nobles?Moreover, these things also include farms, tenants, lists, Yue people, foreign tribes, Qianxiang Kingdom, and Yong Wang Shun Wang. The importance of these things can be seen from these words.

Maybe after getting this thing, their line of business can make the nobles and aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River devastated, and even hit King Shun and the Chu family who stayed in the capital.Jiang Yuan raised the corners of his mouth, these things must be controlled by their side, such important things must not be obtained by the family and nobles!

It can be seen that the prefect of Yangzhou, Mr. Song Chen, is on the surface with the aristocratic Liu Jiaxu and the aristocratic family, and he is sticky with the Xungui Wang family there, but in fact he is waiting for a price, and the two do not take refuge.

It's been almost a year since the Zhen family's demise, but Song Chen still hasn't turned to any side of the noble family or nobles like other officials belonging to the Zhen family. practice.

The reason why the Liu family and the Wang family communicate with Song Chen frequently is to persuade Song Chen to join their side. Unfortunately, this Song Chen has not yet made a final choice and is waiting for both sides to continue to increase their weight.

The steward of the Liu family snatched the letter and even tied up Chen San and threw him into the water to silence him. In fact, he wanted to destroy the relationship between Song Chen and the Wang family.It takes time to go back and forth between Yangzhou and Jinling. I don’t know how long it will take when Wang Zipeng finds out that Chen San is missing, and I don’t know how long it will take when he sends someone to contact Song Chen. As long as the manager of the Liu family If you can seize the opportunity and take the opportunity to persuade Song Chen to completely surrender to the Liu family, then you will be able to make great achievements.

But this also shows that those few important things should still be in Song Chen's hands at this time, and they have not fallen into any side of the aristocratic family or nobles. Jiang Yuan still has a chance to get such things from Song Chen.

Jiang Yuan smiled, his intuition was really useful, and he was right to order the spies to keep an eye on Song Chen.During this time, Song Chen didn't have any chance to avoid his sight and hand over important things to others. Those things must still be by his side, well hidden by him.

Jiang Yuan greeted his soldiers and planned to return to Yangzhou secretly.This time, he needs to get the important items from Song Chen before the powers of Xungui and the aristocratic family. This may be the most important gain of his trip to the south of the Yangtze River!

Nominally, Jiang Yuan and Situ Ye were still staying in the barracks in Hangzhou to check the drill level of the soldiers. In fact, they had secretly returned to Yangzhou in a carriage and joined Lin Jun who was in Yangzhou.

Unlike Jiang Yuan's smoothness, Lin Jun has no clue when he investigates those hidden farms these days.

Not every aristocratic family and honorable family would be as stupid as the Jia family, who would make a fuss if they let a servant out of the house.Everyone knows that the Lai family is the one who controls a farm in Rongguo Mansion, and they are sure to catch one, but how can other people be so stupid?

Using the released slaves to control the farm is entirely to circumvent the court's laws. Although bypassing the laws can be called a legal practice, it is not a good thing after all, and it may be blamed by the court. Who would do it? It's so upright, I wish everyone knew about it?Isn't that intentional to seek guilt?

This kind of thing must be done in secret, and generally the servants selected must be trustworthy and unknown family members. The less people know about it, the safer it is. In some big families, even the descendants of direct descendants may not know about those things. Where is the farm, and who will manage it, not to mention those peripheral members.

Lin Jun searched for a long time but failed to get any reliable information. Although he guessed a few through some clues, how many farms are these?It is difficult for him to know who is the power of the noble families of the rest.After all, he couldn't have confiscated all the farms in the south of the Yangtze River. Even if he was guilty, he had to have a goal.

If he really dared to search all the Jiangnan farms, it would take three days for the news to reach the capital. He would be dismissed and investigated, and the imperial edict issued to the frontier would be sent to the Jiangnan side by boat...

Lin Jun could not reveal his identity, let alone reveal Jiang Yuan's purpose of going south this time, and he must not destroy the layout of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, let alone make an unannounced visit.All these conditions forced him to do his best, and there was no way to verify so many things in such a short period of time.

After all, Situ Sheng's influence in Jiangnan is still insufficient. Even the old emperor's influence is not much except for the army. Compared with the local snakes who have been rooted here for decades or even hundreds of years, These dragons who cross the river simply don't know how to do it.

Lin Jun was in a state of anxiety. Fortunately, Jiang Yuan had brought good news. This good news swept away the gloom in his heart, and the past sluggishness immediately turned into excitement!After getting the things in Song Chen's hands, maybe they will be able to find out the location of the farms of those honorable families. Their efforts were finally not in vain!