The noon of late autumn is still a little cold, especially in the autumn noon in the capital, which always makes people shiver and chill. However, on this day, the people of the capital seemed to be a little different, and they flocked to the same place despite the cold. Is it to catch the market? It doesn't seem to be the direction to go to Fang City. Is it a soldier who goes to see the victory and return to the court? But it's not a direction outside the city, and there have been no battles in these years, let alone any big news of victories. Is it a big family marrying or a big birthday? But whose home can accommodate so many onlookers from the people of the capital. Is it the imperial court that has a new champion on the street? However, this year is not the year of Dabi, there is no possibility of a champion, and there will be no champions paraded in the streets. How could ordinary people rush to one place in such a concentrated manner? This has also confused some outsiders. Some people simply follow everyone along, whether it is to see the excitement or the scenery, and then talk about it.

Everyone walked and muttered quietly, as if they were talking about something in private. But when the unknown approached, they closed their mouths and scattered as if they had some scruples. While these people are walking unhurriedly to one place, the crowd is getting bigger and bigger. The soldiers and horses of the five cities, the Yamen and the Jinyi Guard, who played a role in maintaining law and order on the ground in the capital, also began to get nervous, for fear that these people would make more trouble. The commanders of the various departments gave strict orders to their subordinates, and no one was allowed to take advantage of this opportunity to make trouble. All the yamen in the capital have taken up their posts, and even the army outside the city has been prepared for war. The Admiral of the Nine Gates got the news one step earlier, and was ready to close the city gate at any time and quell the chaos in time. Under the reminder of the Admiral of the Nine Gates, the soldiers had long been dressed in secret, and their weapons were ready to be dispatched at any time.

In fact, only a very small number of people in the crowd who watched the excitement knew the inside story, the vast majority of people just followed the excitement, and some people followed inexplicably. It wasn't until these people gradually came to the vicinity of the noon gate that some experienced people learned a little bit of the truth. It turns out that today's imperial court wants to behead prisoners here, which is what everyone always hears about "beheading at noon". The emperor is always an unreasonable person, when someone offends the emperor, or is hated by the emperor, the emperor will always have an excuse to order him to be killed, or even his family. This kind of immediate beheading place and behavior has a professional term in the official called "noon gate beheading". Because the noon gate is outside the main gate of the palace, it not only publicizes the majesty of the royal family, but also can play a deterrent role to kill a hundred people. It is said that in order to prevent the unjustly killed person from taking revenge after becoming a ghost, the time of beheading is generally chosen at three o'clock in the afternoon, that is, when the yang energy is at its heaviest. It is said that even if a person who is beheaded at this time becomes a ghost, he is still a soft-legged shrimp, and some of them do not even have the possibility of becoming a ghost. Therefore, if the imperial court kills people at the noon gate, it will definitely kill people at three o'clock in the afternoon of this day. It is said that the more people who watch it, the heavier the yang energy, and the more resentment of the dead can be restrained, so there is no rule in the imperial court that no one should see the head killed. Of course, there are also meanings that make people scared and dare not make a decision against the imperial court.

Generally speaking, ordinary prisoners are not qualified to be beheaded at the noon gate alone, and the "autumn execution" time for the imperial court to execute prisoners every year is not yet enough, could it be that the emperor wants to kill a certain minister? Or was that person in the local area rebelled or rebelled, and was immediately beheaded if he was caught? While occupying favorable terrain for themselves, everyone whispered to each other to see who knew about the person who was going to be killed today. Not to mention outsiders, even the local people don't know who they are going to kill today. This makes people who usually boast that they have backers and are famous "bag inquiring" in the capital are also very depressed.

There are two types of so-called "noon beheadings", the first of which is a temporary decision in the true sense of the word. That is to say, no one except the emperor knows the inside story in advance, and when the emperor gives an order, he needs to prepare quickly. The second is to give some kind of hint or news, knowing that there will be such a thing one day, and give everyone a psychological preparation process. It seems that today's "noon gate beheading" is a bit mysterious, but it also gives everyone the preparation process. Not only did the common people learn about the onlookers early, but they also gave the people from the yamen and the criminal department more time to prepare. When everyone gradually gathered over, the Jinyi Guard, the Criminal Department and others outside the noon gate had already begun to work without panic.

According to the division of duties, such killings should be entrusted to the people of the Criminal Department, which is in charge of the justice of the whole country, and in particular, the execution of the beheading of prisoners has the final review and enforcement power. According to the most formal procedure, the Criminal Department issues the final right to execute after reviewing the prisoner's case, and the emperor personally decides on the time and place of execution. The personnel of the criminal department will behead the prisoner after the final identification and identification, and then verify the body afterwards, and then allow the prisoner's family to dispose of the prisoner's body. If the prisoner has no family members, or if the court does not allow the prisoner's family to collect the body, the prisoner's body will be disposed of casually by the people of the Criminal Department.

But the noon gate is not another place, outside the main gate of the palace, jurisdiction and law and order are not owned by the criminal department. Therefore, all prisoners who are to be beheaded at the noon gate must also be strictly interrogated and commanded by Jinyiwei. Every time the "noon gate beheading" was made, the people of the criminal department cooperated with the Jinyi guard to arrange the scene at the noon gate, and the people of the Jinyi guard did not interfere with the people of the criminal department to kill people. However, the security and on-site order of the noon gate should be taken care of and managed by Jinyiwei, and the people of the criminal department could not meddle in this matter.

Jinyiwei divided the yellow line early at the noon gate, and the onlookers could only watch the killing outside the yellow line, and once the yellow line was crossed, it was equivalent to violating the law. According to the system of the imperial court, the offender and the prisoner are dealt with together. This yellow line is equivalent to the warning line of modern society, and once someone approaches or crosses the yellow line, Jinyiwei will be extra cautious. Prevent people from coming out at this time to obstruct the killing or directly save people.

Just when Jin Yiwei was busy isolating the yellow line of onlookers, the people from the Criminal Department had already set up a platform in the center of the noon gate. If you don't have time or preparation, the platform will not match, but if you have time, the platform will be there. There are three purposes for setting up the platform, the first is to let the onlookers see clearly, which has a deterrent effect. The second is to prevent people from saving people or coming out to make trouble. If someone makes a move, the executioner can press the prisoner directly to the platform or kill him. The third purpose is to avoid contamination of the prisoner's bad luck and blood. It is said that the bad luck and blood of the dead are very heavy, and even if the surface is cleaned, there is still there underground. This road is the only way for the minister of civil and military affairs to enter the palace, and it is not good if a minister is contaminated with bad luck and death. Therefore, as long as time permits, the people of the criminal department will build this detachable platform.

Once the platform is built, there will be people walking and jumping on it, just to test whether the platform is solid. It is said that there was a beheading of a prisoner in the previous dynasty, and because the platform was not secure, there was almost a major incident. In order to focus lessons learned, the personnel of the Department of Corrections must make sure that the platform is strong and safe before each operation. Once the platform is secure, it is time to place large wooden piers on the platform. How to place the big wooden piers and put a few large wooden piers have a certain degree of exquisiteness, and it can also allow the onlookers to roughly calculate the identity, status and number of people beheaded today. Generally speaking, the larger the big wooden pier, the higher the status of the person, and the higher the number, the more people the criminal implicates. If there are large wooden piers on the platform, it means that a large family of people is going to be killed. This is what everyone often says and hears.

The common people waited outside the noon gate early, stretching their necks to watch the people of the criminal department set up the scene. Whenever the people in the criminal department made a move, the onlookers began to discuss. Some experienced and gossip people will explain or brag about what they know. said that he killed people at three o'clock in the afternoon, but it was not until noon, and the noon gate had already been leaked by everyone. Those who came late had to watch and listen from the sidelines, and they couldn't see anyone or anything in the center at all. I had to listen to other people's live explanations or guess out of thin air.

When the people of the Criminal Department rolled out the red carpet on the platform, some ordinary people began to exclaim. According to the rules of the imperial court, this kind of treatment is only available to former or current officials, and of course, meritorious service or imperial relatives also enjoy this kind of treatment. It seems that the person to be killed today is not a rebel, nor a big bandit or robber, but a person who once had a position. The mentality of the common people has diverged, some sympathizers are relieved, and some people who have been robbed of the rich and helped the poor are no longer entangled. Almost most of the common people were very excited about the killing of officials, because such officials were either corrupt officials or people who offended the emperor. In the mentality of hating the rich or the long-term suppression of the imperial court, the common people will not sympathize with the criminal officials, and even have a little desire for the idea of the imperial court killing the criminal officials every day.

When the people from the Criminal Department took out two large wooden piers and three large wooden piers, the mentality of the common people changed again. At first glance, the two older ones are for two adult men, either father and son or brothers, and the other is for women, and this woman is related to at least one of these two men, either the man's wife or the man's mother or daughter. Because there are no small wooden piers, there are no children in the list of killings, which is not considered a "full house of beheading" in the real sense. But the offender was to be beheaded, and his wife and others were implicated, and it seems that the crime was not small. Some soft-hearted people began to sympathize with the three men, especially the women, and began to sigh and feel sorry for the woman who was about to be beheaded.

Just when the common people were talking, a team of people poured out from the entrance and exit of the noon gate. Rushing from the outside to the inside were the people of the Five Cities Terracotta Division, who came to help the Jinyi Guard maintain law and order. The person who poured out of the palace was the Jinyi Guard, who was responsible for guarding the order of the execution ground. Soon after the two teams occupied their respective favorable terrain, several people dressed as officials came to the scene, and the common people quieted down.