Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 900
The sky was drizzling.

The clouds were low.

Hong Chengchou knelt at the Meridian Gate, the main entrance of the Forbidden Palace, majestic and majestic, with bright yellow glazed tiles and vermilion palace walls forming a large concave shape.

The Meridian Gate faces the sun in the middle and is located at Meridian.

Meridian Gate Tower, also known as Wufeng Tower, is the old name of the gate tower along the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

At this time, the emperor was standing on the Wufeng Tower, and the princes and ministers were also standing on the left and right. On the East and West Goose Wing Towers, there were countless civil and military officials below the third rank.

In the square below, countless imperial guards dressed in gorgeous and bright red cotton armor uniforms, loaded with live ammunition.

Hong Chengchou's heart has no waves. From Liuqiu to Beijing, all the way, those emotions such as anger and fear have slowly dissipated. The brothers accompanied them all the way, and they finally untied their knots. Before he died, his brother finally forgave him and made him feel completely at peace.

Death is not scary.

Compared with the time when Songjin was captured by the Tatars ten years ago after the defeat, his state of mind was also different. At that time he resisted alone, and after being captured, he went on a hunger strike and refused to surrender, but in the end he was still somewhat unwilling. The action of him brushing off the dust from his clothes made the Tartars think that he didn't want to die, and finally the Tartar Emperor himself came forward to persuade him to surrender, and finally persuaded him.

And now, ten years later, after these ten years, he has passed the age of 60, and his state of mind is different. He even expected this day to come, but now the trial has only come late.

The Meridian Gate has been renovated in recent years, and it looks very solemn and majestic.

The vermilion palace wall matches the red cotton armor of the Imperial Army so well, and the bright yellow glazed tiles of the Wufeng Tower complement the bright yellow dragon robe of Emperor Shaotian upstairs.

Hong Chengchou, this famous name in the world will eventually be buried in bleakness, but no matter what, there will definitely be a strong stroke of him in the history books. Let future generations talk about his merits and demerits. Today, he will still be respected by the emperor. trial.

This is the last judgment.

Wufeng upstairs.

The people standing around the emperor are almost all from the Conglong Yuanxun faction, most of them are from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the eastern Zhejiang faction accounts for the majority. Xinchao occupies the best position.

These founders of Eastern Zhejiang looked at Hong Chengchou kneeling in the square below, and there was a bit of satisfaction in their eyes that could not be concealed.

The emperor came back from the west tour, and suddenly began to clean up. Those who surrendered captives and bandits in the past, those who supported their own self-respect, those who separatist and became kings, and those who repeated themselves will finally be liquidated. This is the happiest thing for the Yuanxun faction. matter.

Most of the Yuanxun faction, especially those from Eastern Zhejiang, were originally low-ranking officials, many of them were just scholars and ordinary people. General, I hate people like Qian Qianyi, Hong Chengchou who are in high positions but betray the country and surrender.

For Tu Guobao, Li Chengdong, Zhang Guozhu, and Li Ji, when they met these rebellious officials and thieves, especially those in Shunying Xiying, they hated them even more.

In fact, the composition of the East Zhejiang Yuanxun faction is quite typical. It is mainly composed of gentlemen from the east of Zhejiang, and then landlords, peasants, and even merchants and bureaucrats. There are people from all walks of life, but there are fewer big bureaucrats. Most of those big bureaucrats are surrender factions. , such as Qian Sanbin, Zheng Zhiyin, etc.

The Yuanxun faction Conglong Yougong, really relying on blood, full of justice, and blood to become the Yuanxun of the new dynasty, but Hong Chengchou, Qian Qianyi, Wu Sangui, Li Ji, Sun Kewang, Li Chengdong and other rebellious officials and thieves can also transform themselves and continue to steal from the court. In high positions, they have always been very dissatisfied.

The Yuanxun faction and those people have always been at odds with each other, but under the suppression of Emperor Zhu Yihai, no factional disputes have formed.

Now that the liquidation is finally settled, the Yuanxun faction is naturally happy from ear to ear, raising both hands and feet in favor.

Zhu Yihai also saw the expressions of Wang Zhiren, Zhang Mingzhen, Wu Kai, Wang Pingdeng and other great heroes from Eastern Zhejiang. These military generals were more straightforward, and their happiness was all displayed on their faces without any concealment.

In contrast, Song Zhipu, Ke Xiaqing, Chen Hanhui, Yu Ying, Qian Sule, Sun Jiaji, Xiong Rulin, Zhang Guowei, Zhu Dadian, Zhang Wenyu, Qi Biaojia, Liu Zhouzong, Huang Daozhou and other civil servants did not see anything on their faces, but they In the matter of the emperor's purge, he did not stand up to speak for Hong Chengchou and the others, which is an attitude in itself.

As for Ruan Shicheng, Ma Shiying, Yang Wencong, Liu Kongzhao, and Zheng Zhilong, let alone those people. Although they are not from the eastern Zhejiang lineage, they belong to the earlier ones who defected to Zhu Yihai, and they have a great relationship with Qian Qianyi, Hong Chengchou, etc. The difference is that although they were called traitors or pirates before, these people have one thing in common, that is, they have never surrendered.

Even if Ruan Shicheng and Ma Shiying lost Nanjing, they still ran to Hangzhou with the queen mother in their arms. When King Lu, who had already supervised the country, wanted to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, they followed Fang Guoan to the south of Zhejiang Province and did not surrender to the Qing Dynasty.Both Yang Wencong and Liu Kongzhao went down the river after Zhenjiang was defeated, and they did not surrender to the Qing Dynasty even when they went to sea.

Zheng Zhilong was in Fujian, although he had contact with Tartar envoys secretly, he also supported Zhu Yihai but never surrendered.

Based on these, no matter how others scolded them in the past, these people are not in the process of purge and cleansing this time, and they don't need to be included in the list of criminal officials.

Although those from the eastern Zhejiang department looked down on them, and even vaguely kept their distance, but at least they fought against Qian Hongwu and other repeaters together, and their attitudes were surprisingly consistent.

Now Qian Qianyi and others have a common title, sinning the party and surrendering ministers.

In Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taiji of the Qing Dynasty, Shunzhi, and Shaotian of the Ming Dynasty, Hong Chengchou, who served as the supervisor of the University of Economics and Economics, calmly waited for the last moment.

A poor boy who lost his father since he was a child and couldn't even afford to wear shoes, and sold tofu in the streets and alleys. It is enough to achieve this in this life, and he will die without regrets. At this point, even if he is going to be executed now, it doesn't matter.

He should have this fate in his fate, and he must also have this doom.

When he met Huang Taiji at the age of 50, he was not in danger. When he met Zhu Yihai at [-], he couldn't make it through.

He looked at the emperor in bright yellow robes on the Wufeng Tower, he admired Zhu Yihai very much, the royal family was far away, and he was only a general of the country, but when the Ming Dynasty collapsed, he was able to turn the tide and help the building in the future It is indeed beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Although he is the magnate of King Lu of the Ming Dynasty, the blood of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang gave him the greatest capital, but he still needs to have enough skills. The conditions of Emperor Chongzhen were much better than him when he came to the throne, but after more than ten years of tossing, he completely defeated him. The national toss is gone.

King Fu Nanjing succeeded to the throne, but the Hongguang Dynasty only lasted for one year.

King Lu took the initiative to open the city and surrendered after only serving as a state supervisor in Hangzhou for one day. There is also King Yiyang, who was proclaimed as a state prison on Chongming Island. Those clans who wanted to take advantage of the chaos and claim themselves to be supervisors and emperors, there were many in Taihu Lake, Jiangxi, Qinling, and Guilin, but none of them succeeded.

Only Zhu Yihai, after the Qing army broke through Nanjing and Hangzhou, still dared to raise the flag and raise troops in Taizhou, and even ran decisively to contact loyal ministers and righteous men from all sides, and even went directly across the river to go deep into Wu, which should have been lost at that time. Zhong Yuan, who was rescued, was stunned to let his tossing method bring life to him.

Hong Chengchou sighed, it's a pity that he didn't meet Zhu Yihai sooner.

Ma Shiying went down Wufeng Tower according to the order and came to Hong Chengchou.

The two faced each other, one was kneeling in prison clothes, looking quite embarrassed, the other was wearing brocade clothes and jade belts, rich and noble.

"Hong Jiuheng, can you plead guilty?"

"Acknowledge!" Hong Chengchou was very happy. Up to now, it was just a formality. The emperor wanted to make an example of others, so he cooperated happily in exchange for Hong's family's safety.

Ma Shiying nodded.

The two actually had a good relationship before, and even had a bit of sympathy for each other.Hong Chengchou was a Jinshi earlier than Ma Shiying. He was a Jinshi at the age of 23 and was a young man. Ma Shiying was two years older than Hong Chengchou and three years later. He was 28 years old when he was a Jinshi.

After becoming a Jinshi, Hong Chengchou served as an official in the Ministry of Punishment for six years, while Ma Shiying stayed in the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing for several years. After that, the resumes of the two were actually similar. They both worked in the local government and performed well. , Governor, all over the border.

During the Chongzhen Dynasty, they were all local feudal officials with relatively high abilities. They were more pragmatic and capable, and they were much better than those party officials who only talked.

At the end of Chongzhen, Hong Chengchou supervised Ji Liao, rescued Songjin, was defeated and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, entered the banner, paid homage to the crown prince Taibao, Minister of the Ministry of War and Yudu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, went to the inner court to assist in military affairs, and was awarded a bachelor of the Academy of Secretaries.

Governor of Ma Shiying, Lu Feng, after the death of Chongzhen, together with Shangshu Shi Kefa of Nanjing Ministry of War, Gao Hongtu, Shangshu of Nanjing Household Department, and the four towns of Jiangbei, supported King Fu to succeed to the throne. Vice capital censor.

A few years later, both of them held key positions such as Grand Scholars in the Shaotian Dynasty.

But now, one is still a great scholar of the current dynasty, and even the emperor's father-in-law, but Hong Chengchou has become a prisoner waiting to be executed. Although the emperor also accepted Hong's daughter into the palace, this will not change his ending.

Surrender and non-surrender became the biggest watershed between them.

"Go ahead!"

Hong Chengchou said calmly, he was already prepared.

Ma Shiying looked at Hong, this was a senior he admired very much, he was even his role model, he used to follow Hong Chengchou as an example, trying to catch up with him, but now, what happened to Hong.

He turned his head to look at Wufeng Tower.

The emperor sat on the throne, extremely majestic.

Hong Chengchou took out his pocket watch.

It's noon.

"Hong Chengchou, the sage thinks that you have made some contributions to the country anyway. Now you are only killed, not as good as your family. You are sentenced to death and all your property is confiscated. Your wives, concubines and children will move to Suiye, and each will be given 20 acres of land. , another [-] yuan in silver per person to settle down. The rest of the nine Hong clans, the father, the mother, the mother, the wife, and the wife all moved to the frontier to settle down, and the fields and houses were confiscated, but the gold and silver were given back... Miss your mother I'm getting old, and I'm giving you a special gift to stay in Beijing and be supported by your third brother."

This treatment is much better than Geng Zhongming, Wu Sangui and the others. Geng Zhongming committed suicide in Dongjiang because he did not go to Beijing for trial.

Wu Sangui's fate was even worse because of his rebellion. His brothers, nephews, etc. were all executed, and the rest of his family members were enslaved.

Qian Qianyi finally confessed, and the punishment was a little lighter, and he was just killed.

Now Hong Chengchou's treatment is lighter.

His wives, concubines and children do not need to be slaves, they are still free, but immigrated to the frontier, and even the rest of his tribe, those who have official titles, are only lowered to the third class, and then they are recruited in the border areas where they migrate, and they can still be officials. , but only in border areas, but at least the treatment is still very different, especially these tribesmen can keep part of their property and take it with them.

"Can Chengyi be implicated?" Hong Chengchou asked.

"Hong Hanlin is waiting for an edict. He has always been loyal to the court and the saint. Naturally, he will not convict him. The saint has just granted him the lifelong title of Marquis of Nan'an County. The order hall also has a special decree from the saint to revoke the first-rank imperial order, Mrs. Guotai. , and give orders to Mrs. Tai of the county."

Hong Chengchou is a minister of the first rank, he used to have the title of duke of the country, his mother naturally got the order of the wife of the country, and now he is on trial and should be executed. Originally, his wife, children and brothers would also be punished, but the emperor ordered Hong Chengchou to refuse. Being implicated, he was promoted to Marquis for life.

Hong Chengchou's mother took back the order of Mrs. Tai from her son's title of duke of the country, but obtained the order of Mrs. Tai from the county title of her third son, and was served by Hong Chenggan. This is also a special reward for Hong Chengchou's cooperation.

Otherwise, Hong Chenggan would also be implicated in seizing his official position, let alone his mother.

After listening, Hong Chengchou was finally relieved.

"Come on, don't worry about it anymore."

Ma Shiying looked at Hong Chengchou, and said with some emotion, "It is the will of the sage, change the waist to death with a court stick!"

After hearing this, Hong Chengchou was taken aback for a moment, then laughed, and kowtowed to Wufenglou.

"Thank you, Shengen!"

Cutting in half is a dead body.

Although it is more painful to be beaten to death with a stick, it has a special meaning in the Ming Dynasty. The court stick of the Ming Dynasty is the most famous, and the civil servants also like to contradict the emperor. They are not afraid of the court stick. He also likes deliberately contradicting the emperor to deceive the imperial staff. A royal staff at the Meridian Gate will immediately gain a lot of fame. This is the ultimate shortcut to official career. bitter.

So once upon a time, although the imperial staff was used by the Son of Heaven to punish officials, it seemed to be a kind of honor.

Today the emperor wanted Hong Chengchou to be killed by the imperial staff, and Hong Chengchou thanked him for leaving the whole body for him, and secondly, he felt that this method of death had saved him the face of the minister.

Ma Shiying waved.

The executioner stepped forward with the imperial staff in hand, and immediately raised the staff to beat them as soon as the order was given. There was no fancy work, and there was no hard work or pretending to beat them. It was just one stick after another.

At least thirty strokes of the court stick, and a maximum of one hundred strokes.

The two imperial guards beat him eighteen times each, a total of 36 times. Hong Chengchou's back was bloody and bloody, and he was already out of breath.

Ma Shiying looked at the scene with lingering fears. Perhaps for Hong Chengchou, it was a great grace to change his waist to death with a stick, but for him, a bystander, he felt that every stick interrupted the dignity of the ministers. The deterrence of one note after another warned all the ministers and officials who were watching the sentence.

Hong Chengchou, what a man he used to be, is now beaten to death in the Meridian Gate Square.

He was flustered and short of breath, and his face was pale.

It was still drizzling.

The dark clouds are still low.

Hong Chengchou was lying wet in a pool of blood, without making a sound.

On Wufeng Tower, the emperor sat on the throne with a blank expression, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince standing next to him looked uneasy when he saw the minister of this rank being killed with a staff on the spot.

Wang Zhiren and other heroes, who were somewhat proud just now, all had serious expressions at this moment.

Although the court rod hit Hong Chengchou, it also made them feel a sense of shock.

This is the power of the emperor's thunder!

(End of this chapter)