Han Shizu

Chapter 1464 A Celebration-like Execution Ground
Although spring is approaching, there is still a bone-chilling chill in Luoyang City. This winter, for many people in Xijing City, it is too cold, not only physically cold, but also heart-chilling.

Of course, this part of the group refers to those nobles and officials involved in the incident, and the elites of the Han Empire.However, it is these elites who are the cornerstone of the country, but this series of scandals broke out on them, their faces were disgraced, and even the prestige of the imperial court was affected to a certain extent.

However, it is only from a macro perspective. For most ordinary people in Xijing, it does not actually have much impact. They may be surprised, but it is absolutely difficult to empathize with them or worry about the country's sorrow. They did not participate in it at all. It's impossible to even affect half of it, and the disappointment with the court is far from that point.

More people are just the people who eat melons and play in their true colors, discussing after dinner, showing their attention and knowledge of the state affairs and political conditions of Xijing scholars and people.

In Luoyang Nanshi, the layout of the city has changed greatly due to the breaking of the boundaries of the city and square, but Nanshi is still the largest bustling city in the capital, and it is still the most lively place in the capital, regardless of seasons.

It's already the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, and it's even more lively, with the flow of people and cars coming and going, fully interpreting the prosperity of the capital.After all, the new year is about to start, and the tenth year of Kaibao is coming to the subjects of the big man at a fast pace.

No matter what major events and turmoil happened within the imperial court, life had to go on, and the New Year's Day was the same. Under the gloom, both officials and families of scholars and people happily bought new year's goods to welcome the new year.

Emperor Liu had previously stated in a decree to his ministers that the new year is about to begin, and the matters of that year will be resolved in that year, and should not be left over for the next year.This is also one of the reasons why the officials of the Three Jurisdictions, working day and night, dealt with all the cases urgently under the huge work pressure. After all, the emperor had already drawn a time deadline.

Amidst the din and noise, someone yelled that they were about to behead, which quickly caused a commotion, and the crowd became orderly, rushing in one direction in an orderly manner.

On the side of the fish market, in front of the meat shop, there is a fishy smell and stench, human voices and animal crows intertwined, the smell of human fireworks drives away the cold air at the end of winter, thousands of people came here after hearing the news, and even It is gradually increasing, and soon there will be no end in sight, and no end in sight.

It's human nature to watch the excitement, especially this kind of excitement.

In the center of the market, a huge execution platform has already been set up. The executioners wrapped in red scarves, holding torture knives, stand neatly on the platform. There are 73 people in total.Given the size of Xijing, it is impossible to keep so many executioners on hand. Many of them are soldiers selected from the army to serve as temporary executioners.

The expressions of the executioners were serious and indifferent, unaffected by the surrounding environment at all, as if they were indifferent to all disturbances.There seems to be a kind of reverence for death and respect for life in their attitudes, and they sincerely treat the life they are about to deprive themselves of.

For this execution, the imperial court paid the greatest attention, not only because of the identity of the criminal, but also because Emperor Liu was watching from above.

In the Han Dynasty, Emperor Liu never let go of certain powers. The final instructions on death row prisoners were all issued by Emperor Liu himself. After so many years, they have not changed.

According to Han law, there are not many crimes that involve the death penalty. Except for treason, deception, treason, robbery, homicide, and other extremely serious crimes, there are very few cases where the death penalty is directly imposed.Therefore, in addition to the harsh punishments in the early days of Qianyou, in the last 15 years, although there were many cases of various types in the Han Dynasty every year, those that constituted the death penalty belonged to a small number.

Even if it is robbery or murder, it will be determined according to the seriousness of the circumstances. In addition, for most cases, the death penalty is imposed.Among the living punishments, exile and flogging are the main ones, and due to the needs of the imperial court, exile is the most important of them.

Of course, looking at it from another angle, exile may be more painful than death penalty, and those who are exiled to mines and various projects are the most severe, which almost represents the abyss of despair. Those who have passed their sentence will be selected one in a million.

Therefore, over the years, every time I check the files collected by the Ministry of Criminal Justice, I can find a large number of new crimes, but the prison cells in various parts of Dahan have always been maintained at an extremely low level.

The imperial court does not support idlers, let alone criminals. This is also a characteristic of the Qianyou and Kaibao era of the Han Dynasty: empty prisons.It's not that there are fewer criminals, but that the criminals are basically arranged where they should go, places where the court doesn't have to scruple and wanton exploitation.

Although the death penalty is rare, every time it occurs, it is a serious case, which can basically cause a sensation, even if it is just some ordinary murderers.

Of course, in the past, the most conspicuous ones were those nobles and bureaucrats, because their crimes were often involved in extended, unforgivable crimes, and the privileged class served their sentences.

Centralized execution is not uncommon in the Han Dynasty, but like this time, more than [-] people are either powerful or noble, and even the highest-ranking household servants and noble children also have the surname Fu.

Such a situation, how can it not cause an upsurge of onlookers, to use a commonly used idiom to describe it, that is, the audience is full of crowds.In a very short period of time, the number of Xijing scholars and civilians gathered in the Nanshi execution ground exceeded ten thousand, and the flow continued.

The traffic of the nearby wide streets was paralyzed due to the crowding and crowding of people. The nearby fish market, meat shop and other markets were also closed for a short time.

Even if there were similar situations in the past, it was never such a sensation. The enthusiasm of the people in the capital this time is already comparable to a large-scale festival celebration.Obviously, watching the heads of those dignitaries fall to the ground is really a rare enjoyment for most ordinary people, even if it is a bloody killing.

It had been foreseen for a long time that the Luoyang government sent more than 200 subordinate officials and servants to the scene to cooperate with the execution of the sentence, and the inspection department also dispatched [-] soldiers to the scene to maintain order.

It was obviously a punishment for the rectification of the national law, but it was so lively, like a celebration, without cheers, but it could make people feel a kind of joy, the authority fell to the ground, as if it was worth celebrating.

Not far from the execution platform, there is also a viewing platform with armed guards. Emperor Liu issued an edict ordering all the dignitaries in Beijing and all the six-rank officials of the court except those on duty to come to watch the execution.

Probably for the convenience of viewing, the viewing platform was built close enough and high enough for the nobles and bureaucrats to clearly see the whole process of the head falling to the ground.

Compared with the curiosity and clamor of the onlookers and people, the superstructures of the giants on the execution platform seemed much quieter, basically silent, each of them just watched the execution platform silently, and none of them had a relaxed expression.

Even though they are in the same execution ground, it seems that there are two worlds, one is noisy, the other is calm, plus the execution platform that attracts everyone's attention, these elements together form a wonderful landscape.

There is also a VIP seat for watching the execution. In a building a little further away, several windows are opened generously, and a group of big men and top dignitaries including several princes stay inside.

The field of view here is wide, not only can you see the execution platform, but you can also see the crowds in the market.Although there were seats, except for the elderly Fu Yanqing, Guo Wei, Wei Renpu and others, most of the people stood in front of the window lattice, also very quiet, few people spoke, and no one seemed willing to break the somewhat dignified atmosphere.

Zhao Kuangyin was naturally also in the middle, his body was still tall and straight, his expression was as cold and serious as steel, but his eyes inadvertently showed a trace of deep fatigue.

The officials in charge of supervising the beheading were somewhat unexpected. Emperor Liu specially decreed that Zhao Kuangyi, governor of Luoyang Prefecture, supervise the beheading.This task may not be easy or even embarrassing in the eyes of many people, but Zhao Kuangyi has always accepted it calmly.

Killing nobles with nobles is probably what Emperor Liu wanted, but for Zhao Kuangyi, he only regarded it as a certificate of honor, a certificate of honor to restore the image in Emperor Liu's mind.

Usually sitting on the monitoring platform, Zhao Kuangyi didn't look sideways, let it be noisy, let it be noisy, just stared at the 73 prisoners who were about to be executed on the execution platform.

These prisoners have one characteristic, besides being noble bureaucrats, their crimes are not included in the list of voluntary surrenders, and all of them were investigated and interrogated by the department one by one.

Perhaps what makes Zhao Kuangyi not so embarrassed is that Zhao Kuangmei, the fourth brother of the Zhao family, is not among them.

As the time came, as Zhao Kuangyi read the imperial edict righteously and solemnly, as the punishment plan fell to the ground, as the knife was raised and fell, amidst the exclamation of the tide, the heads of the 73 criminals rolled , blood-stained downtown, bringing a touch of festive color to this bleak winter.

(End of this chapter)