The weather has been bad for the past few days, and the dark clouds that linger in the sky have not dispersed. And today is even worse, Wang Xu has just arrived outside the West City Gate accompanied by the guards, and the sky is drizzling, and the autumn wind blowing from time to time also brings a trace of coolness.

However, these have no effect on what is about to happen. The wilderness outside the city was full of onlookers, crowds of people, at least more than 10,000 people, and there were still people coming out of the city gate to join this "army", the whole execution scene was extremely noisy, and the buzzing sound was endless. Columns of soldiers were unaffected by this, and always stood in their respective positions, whether it was the drizzle falling in the sky or the pointing of the people, they did not make any move, like proud pines. If it weren't for the occasional populace who crossed the line and were politely invited out by them, I'm afraid they would be no different from puppeteers.

Wang Xu stood on the high platform built at zero o'clock, looking at the soldier's watch, and was also very satisfied. It's like an army that can win battles! Like those county soldiers in the past, they are staggering, and the whole team has to be old for a long time, which is not a grade at all.

Tian Feng, Guo Jia and other civil officials who accompanied him also noticed this, and they all talked about it, and they did not hide the appreciation in their words. Tian Feng, who was standing on Wang Xu's left, straightened his beard under his jaw and sighed: "Lord, the generals are really extraordinary!" In the past year, the army has been expanded twice, and such a disciplined soldier can be trained, which can really be described as the tiger minister of the lord! ”

"Huh!" Hearing this, Wang Xu also smiled with relief. But knowing the actual situation of the army, he immediately shook his head and said: "But Yuan Hao should not praise him too much, the soldiers who came today are all veterans, and the latest batch can't do this." It may look similar roughly, but if you look closely, it will be different, for example, after standing for a long time, the body of the recruit will shake, and some people's hands or feet, and even the weapons in their hands will also have a small range of movements. ”

Hearing this, Tian Feng shook his head indifferently, and said with a smile: "Lord, it has only been a few months for recruits to join the army, how can they be too demanding, and it is already very difficult to do what the lord said." ”

"That's just as well!"

Wang Xu smiled and nodded, and was about to open his mouth to chat with Tian Feng, but Guo Jia on the right suddenly gently pulled his clothes and reminded in a low voice: "Lord, the prisoner is here." ”

"Oh?" Hearing this, Wang Xu and Tian Feng were not interested in going any further, and Qi Qi turned his gaze to the city gate.

The first thing that caught the eye was Wang Fei, who was sitting on a war horse at the moment, holding an iron war spear in his hand, and the plain red cloak behind him was dancing in the wind, looking majestic. Immediately followed by two foot soldiers, holding halberds, were escorting more than 100 prisoners slowly towards the city gate. These prisoners had their hands and feet chained, and they were connected to each other, and they were all dejected, and they were scolded by the soldiers.

With their arrival, the people who had been crowded together also made way one after another, leading directly to the high platform here, and the discussion in the crowd gradually subsided, quietly watching the prisoners who pressed in.

After a while, Wang Fei took the lead in rushing to the front of the high platform, jumped off his horse with a turnover, and said, "General, all the prisoners have been brought!" ”

"Hmmm! Very good. Get in the ranks! Because it was in public, Wang Fei addressed him very formally, and Wang Xu also nodded with a stern face.

"No!" In response, Wang Fei strode to the side of the high platform in the eyes of everyone. As the general in charge of the execution today, he is to command below.

With the sound of clinking chains, the more than 100 prisoners were also quickly pressed to the front of the high platform, and were surrounded by countless soldiers in the middle of the open space. Wang Xu's majestic gaze swept over these people one by one before he shouted: "There are no rules, there is no circle, the country has national laws, and the family has family rules!" You and others conspired to assassinate important officials of the imperial court, and now the evidence is conclusive and irrefutable. Today, he will be beheaded here to show the public, in order to correct the law of the country. ”

After speaking, Wang Xu's sharp gaze suddenly turned to the people watching around, and continued: "I also hope that everyone can take this as a warning in the future, no matter who they are, anyone who violates the law must be severely punished." ”

As the words fell, the already unusually quiet field was even quieter. Except for the prisoners who were waiting for execution, their faces were bowed with their heads down, and everyone's eyes looked at Wang Xu on the high platform.

In this regard, Wang Xu also calmly endured everyone's attention, without the slightest change in emotion on his face, and stood coldly in the center of the high platform. Just when everyone thought that this was the end, and only waited for the hour to come, the execution would be carried out immediately. Among the prisoners in the audience, one of them took a step abruptly, raised his head and glared angrily at Wang Xu on the high platform: "Wang Xu, you don't want to deceive the people, according to the law of the Han Dynasty, those who assassinate important ministers of the imperial court should be beheaded if they directly participated in it and the mastermind, but those who participated indirectly or assisted would not be sentenced to such a heavy punishment." Today, you have captured more than 100 people here and beheaded them for your own personal gain. ”

As soon as these words came out, the people were in an uproar, although Wang Xu's face did not change, his eyes were very dignified, and he turned his head to look at Shan Huai and the others who were standing not far from the right. Seeing this, Shan Huai, Ling Wanqing, and Liang Rui also quickly glanced at each other and hurriedly walked over. "Lord!"

"What's going on? Who is he? How did you torture you? Why would anyone retract their confessions now? Wang Xu's tone was surprisingly calm, but everyone knew that he was very dissatisfied at this moment.

"Back to the lord, this person is Wang Rui, the former assassin of Jingzhou. Why he suddenly retracted his confession, his subordinates don't know, he has always been very cooperative during the previous interrogation, and I have already signaled to his family to let him stop doing such a thing. After speaking, Shan Huai also glanced at Wang Xu with some apprehension.

"Hmm!" Nodding, Wang Xu didn't say anything more to him, and shouted angrily: "Wang Rui, as the mastermind, shouldn't you be executed?" In vain, you were once the assassin of Jingzhou, an important minister of the imperial court. Not only did you do such a great evil, but even when it came to the execution, you didn't dare to admit your mistakes, and your family and children would probably be ashamed of you! ”

"Hahaha! I, as the mastermind, deserve to be put to death. But at least half of the more than 100 people here did not die for their crimes. This Wang Rui didn't know which tendon was wrong, so he ignored Wang Xu's secret threat and insisted on making trouble.

Hearing this, Wang Xu couldn't help but take a deep breath, and his tone was even colder. "You conspired to assassinate General Ben, if it weren't for the rescue of righteous people, I'm afraid General Ben would have died in Jiuquan. Although the Han statutes do not say that those who are indirectly involved must be beheaded, they also do not say that they cannot be beheaded, and it all depends on the severity of the circumstances and the criminal law. This general is the governor of the four counties of Jingnan, you still dare to assassinate, it can be seen that the thief is so big, and there is nothing wrong with beheading! And what more can you say to those of you who have grievances, or who are forced to do so because they do not want to participate, and I have punished them lightly? ”

Wang Xu brought stability and prosperity to the people, and was already very loved by the people. At this moment, when I heard these words that sounded very reasonable, even if they spoke out one after another, for a while, there were some scolding voices all around, and most people didn't listen to Wang Rui's words at all. In fact, the idea of the common people is very simple, whoever is good to them, he will support whomever he wants.

With countless scoldings, Wang Rui suddenly panicked, and he didn't know how to refute, he didn't expect Wang Xu to be so popular with the people, and there were no loopholes in his words. His right hand trembled and pointed at Wang Xu for a long time, although he was angry and anxious, he couldn't speak.

Seeing this, Wang Xu didn't give him the slightest chance, and even said sharply: "Wang Rui, not only do you know the law and break the law, but now you are openly insulting me, and you will not escape death today no matter what, no matter how you quibble, justice is in the hearts of the people." If you really want to speak with me about statutes, I ask you. When you were still serving as the assassin of Jingzhou, you knew that you were incapable of exterminating the thieves, so why didn't you retreat? In order to grab merit, how did you force me and Sun Jian to quit the army? For the sake of your face and your official position, how many people have you dragged down in Guiyang County? How many soldiers have died in battle? Do you know how much effort the officials have spent and how much effort the people have spent to make up for your losses because of your selfish interests? ”

As soon as these words came out, the people who had preconceived ideas in their hearts were even more furious, and immediately scolded, and Wang Rui, who was in it, was even more red-faced. After a while, it seemed that he was also out of the way, and suddenly scolded: "Wang Xu, do you think you are a good person?" Back then, the Holy God sentenced you to prison, and you found someone to replace you privately, but you got away with it, do you really not know it? Who are you qualified to speak of these things today? ”

Almost instantly, the audience fell silent because of these words. Although there are a lot of people, they seem to be able to feel each other's heavy breathing. The eyes of the people involuntarily fell on Wang Xu.

However, Wang Xu's reaction was very fast, and after a little pause, he came back to his senses in an instant, and shouted: "Wang Rui, don't spew blood, you need to have evidence for everything!" If it is as you say, how can His Majesty have entrusted me with such a heavy responsibility? Although I, Wang Xu, am immoral and incompetent, I am dedicated to the people, leveling the yellow scarves, suppressing thieves, and governing the government diligently and thriftily. This qiē, His Majesty, the imperial court, and even all the people are in the eyes, what is the reason for you to use such words to slander me? ”

With Wang Xu's rebuttal, the people around him gradually came to their senses, and immediately discussed a lot, exchanging heads with each other, all echoing each other. "Yes! General Wang divided the land for us and punished the corrupt officials, how could he do such a thing! ”

"That is, even if you do it, where can you find a good official like General Wang? I have planted fields for others for half my life, and if it were not for General Wang, I might not have my own fields in this life, let alone marry a wife and have children. ”

"That's right! General Wang is a good person, if General Wang hadn't taken in us homeless people and gave us food and clothing, we would have starved to death a long time ago! ”

"Hmmm! That's right, during the Chinese New Year last year, we also opened a warehouse to release grain, so that those of us who moved here had a good New Year......"

Listening to the chaotic discussions of the people around him, Wang Rui was stunned by the wooden stool. Originally, he had been forbearing, but he was waiting for this last moment, pointing out Wang Xu's insidiousness in public, and he would be sad when he was dying. As for his family, he had already entrusted him with it, and he didn't believe that Wang Xu could kill them thousands of miles away.

Unexpectedly, the result was completely opposite to what I expected. Not only did no official respond, but even ordinary people ignored it, but spoke for Wang Xu one after another. As for the soldiers, they never moved, as if they were the living dead, and they didn't even look at him.

After a long time, Wang Rui slowly glanced at everyone around him, but finally understood. This place is already full of Wang Xu's people, he is the emperor of the soil here, no matter what he says, it is in vain.

Thinking that he was completely defeated by a hairy boy, the unwillingness in Wang Rui's heart suddenly reached the limit, and he pointed at Wang Xu and laughed wildly. "Hahahaha! Hahaha......"

After a long time, he suddenly put away his smiling face and scolded with a grim face: "Wang Xu, you are ruthless enough, you have the ability!" You can fool these fools, you can fool those officials, you can raise so many minions, but how long do you think you can be rampant? Hahahaha...... You helped He Jin deal with the eunuchs, what kind of good person do you think He Jin is? You have no ascendancy, and you will die soon, I will wait for you to come down and accompany me! Hahaha......"