"Shangjia Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Guest, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, Huang Yunfa and others, smuggled ordnance and financed captives, according to the "Da Ming Law", 427 main offenders and accomplices were sentenced to Ling Chi, and the three clans were issued ......"

"Execution!"

On the first day of the sixth month, when Zhu Youzhen was inspecting the Yellow River, a terrifying punishment was being staged in the western city of Beijing......

Regardless of ancient and modern times, in the relationship between husband and wife, women often jokingly scold their men "You who have been cut by a thousand knives", but if a person has really been cut by a thousand knives, it is too late.

This kind of pain is not an instant bloody collapse of beheading, nor is it a silent hanging, and it is different from the decapitation-style fast execution, it is a film-style slow execution with a strong sense of torture, accompanied by the prisoner's screams.

This kind of punishment cannot survive or die, and one knife is tightened against another, and the knife does not kill one.

When the punishment of cutting 1,000 and cutting 3,000 is over, the person has long since turned into a fiery peony, because of the cruelty, so even the people of the capital are difficult to see in their lives.

Even though they knew the horror of this punishment, their curiosity still drove the people of the capital, causing them to surround the execution platform in the West Market.

All the people watched as the executioner dropped the token and the executioner began to prepare, so they looked curiously at Fan Yongdou and more than 400 others.

It's just that what disappointed them was that Fan Yongdou and the others didn't have any special expressions on their faces, but instead looked like they didn't care about themselves, just like all the people who were punished.

Perhaps, this is because when people look directly at death, the brain deliberately makes the host feel numb and bored in order to avoid the host being scared to death.

However, among the prisoners, there are still many who are so frightened that they shout loudly and become incontinent.

"Let go of me! Let me go! ”

"Zhu Youzhen! Zhu Youxiao! Damnation will be on you two wretches! ”

"Zhu Youzhen, you can't die well!"

For a time, there was an endless stream of shouting, and in such cases, the executioner would hit the screamer with a wooden stick, knock out all the teeth, and cut out the tongue with pliers.

In this way, they have no way to scold, and just such an act makes many people in the audience feel disgusted and turn around and hide their faces and leave.

After getting rid of the clamoring, some of the executioners drew their knives from their backs and numbly began to cut them.

The knife, which was less than two inches long, seemed to be not long, but it was extremely sharp, and when the tip of the knife touched the prisoner's skin, a small piece of flesh was smoothed off with a slight turn of the executioner's wrist.

"Ahh Kill me—"

"Kill me—"

The pain woke up Fan Yongdou and others, who were paralyzed by the brain, screaming again and again, only to feel that the pain in the wound was unbearable, and they kept wailing.

It's just that this knife is just an appetizer, even if Fan Yongdou and the others pretend to be calm, the pain in their chests still makes their faces ugly, and their gray lips tremble.

Soon, the executioner continued to torture with his knife, and with a deft turn of his wrist, the second knife was inflicted.

Such a neat use of the knife made many people who were still shouting "use torture quickly" a second ago instantly feel uncomfortable.

"Gross-"

"Walked away, didn't look at it, didn't look at it......"

A large number of people chose to leave, and this was only foreplay......

For the third knife, the executioners chose the scalp of Fan Yongdou and others.

On this knife, the executioner raised and fell with his sword, but deliberately did not cut it off, and used the hair on this skin to block the two eyes of the prisoner, so that the four eyes would not face each other, which was extremely strange.

The terrible screams made people feel as if they had walked into eighteen layers of hell, and the screams made many people can't help but leave.

It's just that the people in front leave, and the people behind squeeze in again, and in this land, there is never a shortage of people watching the excitement.

The terrible screams of Fan Yongdou and the others made the executioners unsettled, and they simply found ropes and blocked their mouths.

After doing this, out of respect for this ancient and sacred profession, the executioners still scrupulously followed the ancient rules.

Fan Yongdou and others called the heavens and the earth unwilling, so they could only resist the cover of their hair and scalp, and felt the pain in horror.

Knife after knife, knife after knife...... When the executioners had already cut off their fiftieth piece of meat, the appearance of more than 400 Ling Chi death row inmates was terrifying.

The flesh and blood on their chests were just swirled, and the blood was blurred, scaring away batches of people, and ushering in one after another people who came to see the excitement.

The executioners were sweating profusely and panting, while the executed death row inmates were lifeless, and only when the executioners stabbed them, they instinctively twitched in pain and told each other that they were still alive......

In the face of their convulsions, some of the executioners chose to change their knives, while others gasped for breath and adjusted their breathing a little before continuing the execution.

From their point of view, it can be clearly seen how the death row prisoners in front of them are "handled" by themselves.

For such a horrific and disgusting process and visual impact, some rookie executioners can't help but turn their heads and retch, while in the eyes of the veterans, they only think of themselves as butchers selling meat, and the person in front of them is an animal waiting to be chopped.

The veterans clenched the knives in their hands, while the assistants next to them took off all the clothes of the death row inmates.

According to the rules, if Ling Chi is a male offender, after screwing the scalp and chest meat, he should spin that thing next.

This place requires three cuts, and the size does not have to be the same as the size of the other parts of the meat.

According to the experience of veterans in prison for many years, the male prisoners are most afraid of not skinning and cramping, nor are they afraid of cutting off their bodies, but they are most afraid of being cut off, especially those who were noble in life.

The vast majority of men would rather have their heads cut off than have their heads cut off.

Similarly, in the face of this kind of thing, the knife caster's hand must be fast, otherwise the death row prisoner will react very violently, and in the records of the Criminal Department, he will even directly break the rope and attack the knife maker.

Therefore, the speed of the veterans is always so fast that even the death row inmates can't react, but when they hear a "howl", just suddenly, the thing is cut off.

"I***! Zhu Youzhen! Zhu Youxiao! The two brothers must have died early! I**"

"Cut off his tongue!"

Listening to Fan Yongdou's rebellious words, the executioner hurriedly shouted, and when the executioner heard this, he also hurriedly waved his stick to knock out many death row prisoners who were screaming and scolding.

Blood and teeth were spat out and scattered all over the ground, and the executioners skillfully cut off the tongues of the men on the orders of the executioner.

The intense pain woke the creatures up, and blood kept spurting out of their mouths, mixing with saliva.

It's just that even though they don't have a tongue, the pain in their flesh still supports them to keep scolding, but after they don't have a tongue, they can only mumble, and no one understands their words, including themselves.

Soon, the executioner continued to use the knife, and the bloody and terrifying scene made many people stop.

"Forget it, let's go back to the palace......"

When the executioners were executed, Zhu Youxiao's voice came from a private room on the third floor of the West Market Restaurant.

He closed the window and stopped observing the so-called Ling Chi, and many of the people standing next to him were pale, among which the eunuchs such as Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian had the most ugly faces.

When Fan Yongdou and the others were cut off, they all felt a faint pain in the same part of their body, and they didn't want to look at it anymore.

After Zhu Youxiao's words, everyone escorted Zhu Youxiao downstairs, boarded the carriage, and drove the carriage out of Xishi.

It's just that when Colonel Zhu You got into the carriage, there was an extra note on the table, and when he picked it up, it was written after this inspection.

Looking at the hundreds of thousands of taels of gold, tens of millions of taels of silver, and the amount of more than 30 million mu of land, Zhu Youxiao's mind flashed the tragic situation of Fan Yongdou and others, and he couldn't help but secretly say: "The punishment is good!" ”

However, after finishing speaking, he frowned again and looked at Wei Zhongxian, who was kneeling in the carriage, before he put down his song and asked:

"What punishment did the Third Division set for Wei Liangqing and Hou Guoguang?"

"Dispatch Nanzhou ......" Hearing the emperor's inquiry, the pale-faced Wei Zhongxian lowered his head and replied, while Zhu Youxiao also stretched his brows and said:

"It's not bad to send Nanzhou, you go back to comfort and comfort Kebaba, so that she doesn't feel too sad."

"Slaves and maids know how to ......" Wei Zhongxian responded, although he did not reveal his dissatisfaction on the surface, but he complained a little in his heart.

After he became a eunuch, Wei Liangqing was his closest person, but now Wei Liangqing was assigned to the so-called Nanzhou.

Not only that, but his grandsons Wei Xikong, Wei Ximeng, Wei Xiyao, Wei Xishun, Wei Pengcheng and others, as well as his in-laws Dong Fangming, Wang Xuan, Yang Liuqi, Yang Zuochang and others were convicted and assigned.

The reason why he was not beheaded, nor did he fall to the same level as Fan Yongdou and them, was the result of Wei Zhongxian's relationship.

If he didn't use these relationships, I am afraid that the rest of his Wei family would be wiped out except for himself.

At present, although the people are saved, all the property of this group of people has been confiscated, and their families have all been distributed, Wei Zhongxian is equivalent to losing his family and arms, and he has also lost nearly a million taels of gold and silver.

If he didn't complain, he didn't look like a human being.

"How's the construction of the Halavin Mountain Bell Tower?"

Zhu Youxiao suddenly asked about the things he arranged last year, and Wei Zhongxian could only flatter:

"The 900 stone steps of the bell tower have been repaired, and there is a pavilion and pavilion every 100 steps, and every place in the pavilion is written and carved with His Royal Highness's merits to the Ming Dynasty."

"Right now, the bell tower is being repaired, and the bell is being cast, and it will be completed by the end of the year."

Wei Zhongxian's flattery is actually a kind of pathetic.

Even if his family was convicted and assigned, he still had to flatter and laugh to please Zhu Youxiao, please his master, and even greet Zhu Youzhen with a smile.

"What's going on with Dading Palace?" Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied with the speed of construction, and turned to ask about his summer palace, and Wei Zhongxian also said:

"The palace is still under construction, and the trees are transported from Liaodong, it will take a lot of time, and long live you have expanded the scale of the Dading Palace, and it is estimated that it will take three years to complete the repair."

Zhu Youxiao expanded the scale of Dading Palace, directly expanding the original scale of 50,000 taels to 300,000 taels.

Perhaps for him, a wealthy emperor, 300,000 taels was nothing.

And so it is......

Looking at the song in his hand, it has been counted that nearly 100,000 victims have starved to death, Zhu Youxiao was a little sad, and then closed the song and said:

"The victims are hungry and cold, how can I, as an emperor, be so extravagant?"

"Reduce the amount of Dading Palace to 200,000 taels, and each hall can only have three vegetarian and one soup from now on, for a period of ten days, so that the concubines and concubines in each hall can experience the difficulties of the people."

"Long live the people, if the people know, they will be grateful to Long Live for leading by example." Wei Zhongxian squeezed out a few tears, and Zhu Youxiao also sighed and said:

"The situation is not easy, silver is used everywhere in the imperial court, and the gold and silver seized this time should allow the treasury and the people to live a good life."

"Long live benevolence...... Wei Zhongxian praised flatteringly, while Zhu Youxiao asked:

"My brother is going south this time, can you explain when you will come back?"

"Your Highness has not explained ......" Wei Zhongxian replied with his head down, while Zhu Youxiao sighed and said:

"It's hard for my brother to run around for me, and from today on, the food and silver in the Heart Cultivation Hall will also be halved."

"Yes......" Wei Zhongxian responded, and the carriage gradually moved away with Zhu Youxiao's sigh of "self-blame".

It's just that when they were discussing the difficulties of the victims, in front of a corpse in Chaoyi, Shaanxi, Zhu Youzhen slowly squatted down.

He covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and the person in front of him was the corpse of a dead woman.

Her cheeks were sunken and she stinked, her mouth was stuffed with hay, and her eyes were cloudy and squinted at the sky, and the stench on her body proved that she had apparently been dead for many days.

Before Zhu Youzhen had time to look twice, the two soldiers of the Gongwei Battalion carried the body away, and after Zhu Youzhen stood up, he saw a bare "forest" with only tree stumps left.

"Your Highness, you can see it now, this is what the people of Weibei look like......"

Sun Chuanting's voice sounded, he walked from behind Zhu Youzhen, and the female corpse just now was specially left by Sun Chuanting, so that Zhu Youzhen could see clearly what the Ming officials had done.

Obviously, he was afraid that Zhu Youzhen would forget his original intention, so he deliberately spent a lot of money to preserve the female corpse to the extent that Zhu Youzhen could see it.

However, he obviously underestimated Zhu Youzhen, and Zhu Youzhen never abandoned the idea of wanting to make the people's lives better.

When Huaibei was hungry, his strength was still weak, so he could only compromise, but now, he has finally become a person who can hold power.

It's just that under the rolling torrent of the times, his personal ability is really insignificant.

Everything he is doing is to fight drought and disasters.

He arranged the imperial store, foreshadowed the imperial village, trained soldiers and horses, and cultivated Yanshan students......

He thought that he could get an honest and efficient team, but he didn't want him to underestimate the greed of the people's hearts, and the harvest was nearly 100,000 people who starved to death......

"This Sun Chuanting has overstepped the ......"

When Zhu Youzhen was silent, Gu Bingqian, who was not far away, whispered to Bi Ziyan, and Bi Ziyan also bowed his head slightly:

"After all, it was too smooth all the way, and I dare to say this kind of questioning to His Royal Highness......"

"Too rigid and easy to break......" Gu Bingqian said an ambiguous sentence, and Sun Chuanting at this moment didn't think he was wrong at all, and stepped forward and said:

"Your Highness, if you don't cut off the eunuchs in the court, how can the people enjoy peace?!"

"......" Zhu Youzhen frowned, only feeling that Sun Chuanting had thought about the problem too simply.

If there is an opportunity, Zhu Youzhen will naturally clean up the five parties such as the Eunuch Party and Qichu, Zhejiang, Xuankun, etc., but the problem is that the current situation does not allow it.

There is a problem with officialdom, which Zhu Youzhen knows, but the question is, can he single-handedly sweep everyone in the officialdom into prison and replace them with Yanshan students?

Impossible......

The township parties still hold local power and intertwined networks, and if they are swept to prison and replaced by the oldest Yanshan official who has been in power for only three years, what will happen to the situation?

Not to mention how much time Zhu Youzhen needs to spend to rebuild the new system of officials and scribes after sweeping away these officials and officials, just this time when Yanshan officials shield corrupt officials and become corrupt together, how can Zhu Youzhen ensure that the students of Yanshan Academy will not quickly degenerate into corruption?

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen and Sun Chuanting looked at each other, and after a while, they spoke:

"Rats are caught every year, and they can't be caught every year...... Corrupt officials are killed every year, and they can't be killed every year. ”

"Officials and officials are in the same boat, and the wind and waves are together, no matter who falls into the water first or who falls into the water later, no one will be spared in the end."

"The fowl you wear, the beast you wear alone......"

"In the eyes of the people, how can you and I not be well-dressed beasts?"

"The protection of officials and officials is a problem that cannot be solved throughout the ages, whether it is the Han Dynasty of the Liu family, the Tang Dynasty of the Li family, or the Song Dynasty of the Zhao family......"

"No matter whether their territory is large or small, thousands of miles or tens of thousands of miles, there is no such thing as a so-called one-foot pure land."

"Things in the officialdom are intertwined, just like this Shaanxi civil uprising, many officials are involved in the capital, the palace, the celebrant supervisor, the cabinet, and the imperial brother."

"After something happens, it's not something that can be traced just by trying to track it down."

"He must fight for what should be argued, and he must endure ......"

"Do you just let those corrupt officials disregard people's lives?!" Sun Chuanting felt aggrieved and uncomfortable, but Zhu Youzhen's expression calmed down.

He glanced at Gu Bingqian and them, Gu Bingqian and they instantly retracted their eyes, honestly looking at their noses and noses, and Zhu Youzhen continued to look at the elm in front of him that was eaten by the victims and only had stumps, and said in a dignified manner:

"What do you mean by letting it go?"

"The officials should be killed, those who should be exiled, and those who should be distributed, this is already the greatest fairness that the court and Lone can do."

"Corrupt officials can't be prevented, and they can't be stopped, they will be killed today tomorrow, and they will be killed tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and there will be an endless stream of ......"

"Do you think that the people below you are not involved in the things down there?" Zhu Youzhen asked Sun Chuanting rhetorically, and Sun Chuanting was speechless.

But for such a stopper, Zhu Youzhen did not ridicule Sun Chuanting, but said bitterly:

"There is nature, not only you, but also loneliness."

"Don't think that if you are in a high position, the people around you will be loyal to you, honest and honest."

"You must know that the closer the power is to you, the more people are also poisoned by power, and if they can't stick to their hearts, they will become corrupt officials in your mouth."

"Today I killed the eunuch party, tomorrow there will be another Zhejiang party, tomorrow I will kill a Zhejiang party, and the day after tomorrow I will kill another Donglin."

"In the situation of officials protecting each other, corrupt officials cannot be killed endlessly, and it is impossible for Yanshan officials to be as pretentious and pretentious as you Sun Chuanting and Yang Wenru."

"It is necessary to know that a man who covets power and money is better than a man who covets fame."

"Isn't it harmful to the country and the people if the corrupt people use it?" Sun Chuanting held a breath of air in his chest, but he also knew that what Zhu Youzhen said was right.

"Look at the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, who has not been corrupt?" Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said:

"He can still do some things on that person, even if there is some corruption, at least the people below can still live."

"Is such a person corrupt? No, such a person is a loyal minister. ”

"The so-called traitors are those who take money and do nothing, but turn around and exploit the people."

"According to what His Highness said, aren't all the eunuchs loyal ministers, and there are no traitors?" Sun Chuanting did not agree with Zhu Youzhen's statement, but Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said:

"All of them are loyal ministers, but all of them are ministers......"

"Whether it is loyalty or treachery, it is only between the thoughts of one person."

"If you can use it, you will be a loyal minister, and if you can't use it, you will be a traitor......"

Speaking of this, Zhu Youzhen looked at Sun Chuanting, but saw him silent.

Zhu Youzhen wanted to turn around and leave, but Sun Chuanting said:

"Xia Guan still thinks that this technique is the way to control the world, not the way to pass through the world."

"Since childhood, Xia Guan began to feel that I was re-emphasizing the way of the world and ignoring the way of the world, so I decided to learn the way of the world, just to report the favor of the country and the people after completing the study."

"His Royal Highness's words are indeed beautiful, but what my grandson Boya has learned is the way of the world."

"If what I have learned cannot be put into practice, then what is the use of what I have learned?"

"Besides, the saint cloud, since ancient times, there have been deaths, people have no faith and do not stand, karma has no faith and does not prosper, people are insincere and have no friendship, and the heart is insincere and have no quality......"

"His Royal Highness taught in his words that the lower officials should keep it in mind, but the lower officials will eat the king, and they will be ministers, and as the parents of the people, they must do things worthy of this official robe."

Sun Chuanting's words were conclusive, and Zhu Youzhen also knew that it was difficult for him to move in the face of a person like him, so he could only sigh and say:

"It's easy to be a loyal minister, but it's difficult to handle the affairs of the court well and protect yourself."

"I'm afraid that you will fall into it, and you will be unable to extricate yourself, and you will end up in prison......"

Zhu Youzhen seemed to be talking about the ending of Sun Chuanting in history, but in the face of his words, Sun Chuanting, who didn't know about it, said optimistically:

"If you are really in prison, Your Highness will naturally not sit idly by......"

"What you said ......" Zhu Youzhen's expression froze, and then he smiled bitterly.

It's just that he just smiled bitterly, but Gu Bingqian, who was watching the conversation between the two, glanced at the sky.

He just glanced at it casually, but he didn't want to be stunned directly.

"Look! It's dark! ”

"It's turned red!"

"It's really turned red!"

An endless stream of voices sounded all around, and under their reminders, Zhu Youzhen and Sun Chuanting also raised their heads one after another.

When they raised their heads, their pupils immediately constricted.

Looking up at the sky dome, the scenery in the entire sky dome was all blood red, as if the surging sea of blood was about to press down in the next second......

"Hannan Continuation County Chronicles": "In the first year of Chongzhen, the whole Shaanxi sky was as red as blood. Five years of great famine, six years of great floods, seven years of autumn locusts and great famine, eight years of drought in Xixiang in September, slightly sunny and waterlogged, all the houses are gone. Nine years of drought locusts, ten years of autumn crops are completely gone, and eleven years of summer locusts cover the sky...... Thirteen years of drought...... Fourteen years of drought".

(End of chapter)