Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 166 Thank God, Severe Punishment and Harsh Law
On the eighth day of April, the sun rises from the east.

The entire capital city has already woken up, and the streets are bustling like before.

An execution team, bathed in sunshine, is marching to the execution ground.

Du Ming, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment personally escorted the death row prisoner, and it was Li Guangdu who was detained in the prison car.

When we arrived at the Sixi Pailou, there was already a sea of ​​people here, and the nearby roofs were covered with people, just because: Xing and an envoy from a foreign vassal, it is a novelty.

Li Guangdu is not tall, but his body is strong and his skin is dark.Even if he is escorted to the execution ground now, there is still a lot of obscene language in his mouth along the way.

At first he used Chinese, then switched to Vietnamese, and finally wanted to change back to Chinese, but it became... woo woo, because there were too many cloth balls in his mouth.

Wearing a second-rank official uniform, Du Ming, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, looked at the rebellious Li Guangdu, and found that the ancients were honest and not deceived—if they are not of my race, their hearts must be different.

When these foreign feudal vassals paid tribute, although they kept claiming that the Heavenly Dynasty was the Kingdom, they didn't necessarily think so in their hearts.Once Daming is in trouble in the future, these foreign vassals must have exposed their wolfish ambitions.

At this time, he finally understood His Majesty's painstaking efforts to strengthen the army, and for some foreign feudal vassals who had different intentions, he had to "eliminate their race" and never cause future troubles.

Below the Dongpai Building, the punishment platform has been arranged in advance, and a thick wooden pole with a fork is erected on the punishment platform.

Li Guangdu was temporarily placed under the Nanpai Building. Several tall government officials opened the prison car, let him sit in a big basket, and removed his shoes and other things.

Li Guangdu was forcibly stuffed into the big basket, and the cloth ball in his mouth had just been taken off when he shouted: "The emperor of Ming Dynasty is all cowards and cowards, since he dared to beheaded, why didn't he dare to raise troops! Even with his head Today my head really fell off, and I have a scar as big as a bowl, and in 18 years I am a hero of the Li Dynasty, when the time comes, I will raise troops to destroy you Daming!"

Huh?
The onlookers were very angry when they heard Li Guangdu's clamor, but when they heard that something was wrong, they couldn't help but looked at each other.

There was movement on the execution platform. Several executioners came to the thick wooden pole of the execution platform with small baskets in their hands. One executioner took out his iron hook and ground it on the gravel, while the other executioner was grinding his own hook. sharp edge.

Li Guangdu suddenly noticed the weird movements of the executioners on the execution platform, and asked suspiciously, "What are you doing with such a small knife?"

"Fengtian Chengyun Emperor, the imperial edict said: Li Guangdu, an official of the Li Dynasty in the foreign vassal, took advantage of the opportunity to go to Beijing to pay tribute, and stole the forbidden things of the Ming Dynasty. On the way back, he met the emperor's decree, and the magistrate defeated the decree. , but all his tribes were punished by the emperor's own army, and his people were arrested and returned to the capital. However, the thieves have no remorse and think that they can be exempted from crimes. It is ridiculous. Ming Dynasty is the country of the suzerain. What about the ministers of the vassal state? Now that Guangdu has committed the crime of treason and insulted the emperor, and now he is punished by Lingchi, according to the law, he should be cut by [-] knives, hereby!" The onlookers read the sermon.

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

"Haha... whoever the messenger is, he should be hacked to pieces!"

"I hate the imperial court for forgiving Dongying back then, but now Lingchi Annan's envoy is exalting our Ming Dynasty's prestige!"

……

When the onlookers learned the reason of the incident and saw that the emperor wanted to execute the arrogant Annan envoy Ling Chi, they couldn't help applauding.

Li Guangdu's hands and feet were tied, and he looked belatedly at the executioner who was sharpening a knife on the execution platform, and found that things were far worse than he thought.

In fact, he was already scared in his heart during the escort.Just considering the face of the Annan people, and wanting to win the generous shirt of the emperor of the Li Dynasty, so he thought about closing his eyes and coming here.

Li Guangdu realized that he had greatly underestimated the courage of the Ming Emperor, and immediately shouted to Du Ming, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment on the execution platform: "Du Shangshu, there must be something wrong, there must be something wrong, how can you delay this... ?”

"It is indeed a crime to be beheaded, but whoever insults the emperor's father will be punished by [-] knives! Come and prepare for execution!" Du Ming saw Li Guangdu's reaction, and ordered in a cold voice.

"Foreign ministers who don't understand the laws of Ming Dynasty, please ask His Majesty for forgiveness... woohoo!" Li Guangdu begged for mercy when he wanted Daming to use the most terrifying criminal law against him.

In order to prevent him from committing suicide by biting his tongue, someone stuffed a nut core into his mouth.

Li Guangdu saw an executioner sharpen the blade so sharply, thinking that this kind of blade would cut [-] knives on his body, his crotch couldn't help but feel hot.

He was really scared. He thought that as long as he gritted his teeth, he could be a hero in an upright manner, and was even named a hero by the emperor of Li Dynasty.

As a result, he was quick to talk for a while, and in the end he was about to become the worst person in the entire Li Dynasty.

As soon as he arrived at Sishi, the beheading officer put Li Guangdu on the execution platform.

Three cannons rang out, and a thick wooden pole with a fork was erected on the execution platform, and Li Guangdu was suspended with a rope, and Li Guangdu screamed in horror.

"Execution!"

Du Ming, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, took out a warrant stick from the bamboo tube, and immediately threw it towards the ground.

Although it is said that it is a joint trial by the three divisions, but now those two are still listening to me, and I naturally have to rub the emperor's mind.

Compared with the former emperor, the current new emperor is indeed a wise and mighty young emperor.On the judiciary side alone, after Qingyunhou Zhoushou beheaded, all the officials and gentry in the world have begun to fear the law.

For example, the son of Ma Wensheng, the former censor of the left capital of the former Metropolitan Procuratorate, beat someone to death. In the past, he could be pardoned, but in this dynasty, he must be punished. Only the current emperor has the posture of a wise king.

The disposal of Annan's envoys this time demonstrates the authority of the Ming law.

From the bottom to the top, from the sea to the world, the Ming Dynasty advocated the rule of law so much, why worry about China's prosperity.

Ling Chi didn't need to wait for [-]:[-] p.m., the execution would begin when Du Ming, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, dropped the token.

"I haven't seen Ling Chi for a long time!"

"Ling Chi with [-] knives is extremely rare!"

"This person really deserves it, how dare he offend our Emperor Ming!"

"We should let them have a taste of Ling Chi, so that these envoys can improve their memory!"

……

Seeing that Ling Chi was about to start, and seeing that the long-awaited show was about to be staged, the onlookers couldn't help talking.

Li Guangdu's hands were tied behind his back, and just when he needed to adjust the orientation of the net, he would be able to assume a kneeling downward posture, and his body under the influence of the center of gravity would be pressed against the net.

Although Li Guangdu really wanted to resist, but now that he was tied up and his mouth was stuffed with nut cores, he couldn't even speak.

Snapped!
A strong executioner slapped Li Guangdu's heart suddenly, Li Guangdu suddenly felt a sense of suffocation, his heart hurt, and his whole body couldn't help curling up.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Cai Zishou dexterously turned the sharp knife, and unscrewed a piece of meat the size of a copper coin from Li Guangdu's right breast.This knife just twisted off the nipple, leaving a wound like a blind eye socket.

This Qizishou was surnamed Wang. Because of his superb technique, he always made the prisoner suffer the most knives before dying, so he was nicknamed "King Zishou".

After King Qizi unscrewed the first piece of meat, he did not continue to carry out the execution, but walked to the edge of the execution platform. The apprentice next to him counted "one", and he threw the meat to a high place and said, "Thank God!".

Li Guangdu still felt tightness in his chest with a nutmeg pit in his mouth, and the pain of the new wound made his tears fall, like a pig about to be chopped alive.

By now, he already regretted the arrogance of this time in his heart.

If I kept a low profile and had more respect for this dynasty, I wouldn't have acted so recklessly, and I wouldn't have ended up like this today.

It's just that there is no medicine for regret in the world, and his joy has just begun.

When King Qi Zi came back, he seemed to cleanly remove the milk grains on Li Guangdu's left side, and when the apprentice counted "two", he threw the meat the size of a copper coin on the ground and said, "Thank you!".

Li Guangdu's chest had two bloody holes in the shape of copper coins, but the amount of blood on them was very small. It is said that the legendary executioner can make only one bloody pearl.

A executioner next to him dipped a rag made of sheep belly into salt water to stop the bleeding and clean up the blood for Zhu Guangdu, but he wanted to prolong the number of knives for the prisoners as much as possible and prolong their... suffering time.

Li Guangdu felt as if his body was constantly being burned by a small fire, and before he could react, another piece of meat the size of a copper coin was missing from his chest.

If he could see his body, the third knife was cut on the side of the first knife, only a thin line separated it, so it was also called "fish scale cut".

King Qi Zi walked to the edge of the execution platform again, and when the apprentice counted "three", he threw the meat from the tip of the knife into the air and said, "Thank you ghost!"

As the knife went down, the blood pearls seemed to be getting less and less. An assistant next to him, Qi Xie, kept using a towel made of wool belly and salt water to stop the bleeding and clean up the blood, which seemed to be proceeding in an orderly manner.

Du Ming, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, sat on it and witnessed the entire execution process. At this time, he was even more afraid of the person in the Forbidden City. After all, he was also afraid that this kind of torture would fall on him.

At that moment, he even suspected that Zhu Youtang did it deliberately for himself to show him that he should always be loyal to the emperor.

There is a break every ten knives, and there is a yell. This is a technical job.

Some of the onlookers couldn't take it anymore and left, some watched with relish all the time, and many people joined in to watch later.

The people who came belatedly saw that the hand of Qi took out something from the bamboo basket. It turned out to be human lungs and liver, which were directly hung on the rope hanging from the forked thick wooden pole.

"Three thousand 590 five!"

"Three thousand 590 six!"

"Three thousand one hundred and fifty seven!"

……

King Qizi kept cutting the lungs and liver, and the disciples beside him were still counting each cut.

Although Li Guangdu couldn't bear it anymore, he would not lose a thousand cuts.

"Three thousand six hundred!"

As the last knife fell, the piece of liver was also inseparable, and the entire execution officially came to an end.

Two assistants beside him, Qi Zishou, hung up Li Guangdu's head and body separately, and the cut meat will be sold, which is said to be a good medicinal material for medicine.

In addition to the overall skeleton of Li Guangdu's body, there are remnants of reticulated skin and long strips of muscles on it, as if the skeleton is covered with the auspicious uniform of special forces.

At this point, the first Annam in history who suffered from the Lingchi of the Ming Dynasty was born.

The reason why Zhu Youtang imposed such cruel punishment on Li Guangdu was not only to demonstrate to the foreign vassals that the suzerain's majesty is irreversible, but also to show the world that the monarch's power cannot be desecrated.

After all, if Ming wants to take the road to a strong country, it cannot do without harsh punishment and cruel laws to a certain extent.

History has already proved that a certain virtuous monarch's "Regulations on Interrogation and Punishment" abolished the death penalty for corruption, and what he got was not the integrity and self-discipline of his courtiers, but even crazier collective corruption.

April, this is a restless month.

When Li Guangdu was severely tortured, Zhu Fu, the son of Duke Cheng, faced an even more severe situation.

Dongchang, in prison.

Similar to the Prison of Beifu Township, there are no windows here, and torches are needed for lighting all year round.

After Qin Conggui's ruthless performance during this period, he has successfully taken the second position in the East Factory, because he has a close relationship with Hongzhi, and now the governor wants to give him a little favor.

After finding his own position, he cherishes the opportunity in front of him very much, so he has already determined to become a person like Wang Zhi.

Tan Conggui was sitting in front of a prisoner. Although the air here smelled weird, he was still sipping tea slowly, with a vicious vigor from the inside out.

"Eunuch Tan, this prince has absolutely no intention of having an affair with a foreign vassal! This prince has already made it very clear that the reason why he gave the Xuefeng knife to Li Guangdu was to trick Li Guangdu into using the Xuefeng knife to kill Wenjin, the envoy of Zhancheng. Venting anger can also solve a strong enemy of Zhancheng!" Zhu Fu already looked a little embarrassed, but he refused to admit his guilt.

Qin Conggui looked at Zhu Fu who was still thinking of getting rid of the crime, and asked calmly: "Zhu Fu, the miscellaneous family came here today, and I don't want to hear these sophistry anymore! Today I just ask you: Is that Xuefeng knife owned by you?" Put it in the hands of the Annan mission, did you know that the Annan mission left Beijing with the Xuefeng knife and did not stop or report it?"

"That's right, but...!" Zhu Fu found out that these two things were true, so he could only say helplessly.

Tan Conggui glanced at his accompanying eunuch, then continued to drink tea and said, "Since it's all true, then just sign it, it's useless to say more!"

"This son did not secretly communicate with foreign feudal clans!" Facing the confession sent over, Zhu Fu knew that he still had to plead guilty, so he defended himself again.

Qin Conggui handed the teacup to another accompanying eunuch, looked deeply into his eyes and said, "Zhu Fu, now that things have come to this point, do you think it's important whether you have an affair with a foreign feudal lord? Daming is fighting again, even if you are as Lingchi as Li Guangdu, you are not wronged at all! Today, His Majesty only pursues you for stealing the Xuefeng knife and giving it to Annan's envoys, and you can be merciful to your Duke Cheng. Don’t you feel satisfied? I really want His Majesty to reveal everything you have done, and submit your case to the Sanju Division for trial, so that you can be at ease if you are wiped out and become a full family in the Duke’s mansion?"

Zhu Fu's mouth trembled, and the last trace of illusion was shattered.

He was born as the son of a high-ranking prince, plus he was born with intelligence, so he always thought that he was the chosen one. In terms of intelligence, he would never lose to anyone, including the one in the Forbidden City.

It was this arrogance that caused today's disaster.

Even Li Jin, the Marquis of Xiangcheng who was closest to him, chose to lie far away after learning the whole story.

Although he always wanted to defend himself, he already knew in his heart that the consequences of this matter were much more serious than expected, and he inadvertently chose a path of no return.

Not to mention that his plan violated the imperial taboo from the very beginning, even though it was not his original intention to let Li Guangdu bring the Xuefeng knife back to the Li Dynasty, it did almost lead to a big mistake.

It is a better result for them to become the government of the country.

Zhu Fu knew that Xue Fengdao's matter could not be denied at all, so after some consideration, he still chose to sign the confession.

Tan Conggui took a look at Zhu Fu's confession, and knowing that the dust had settled, he was about to leave this stinky prison.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and said seriously: "Zhu Fu, you have to remember one thing!"

"What?" Zhu Fu looked very frustrated.

Tan Conggui looked into Zhu Fu's eyes, and warned solemnly: "From now on, don't say that you instigated Wenjin to commit suicide! Whether it is Xuefeng Dao or Wenjin's motive for suicide, these have nothing to do with you, and Wenjin He is a good minister who sacrifices righteousness, do you understand?"

If it is really necessary to carry out a major cleansing, Zhu Fu's clever "layout" will not be too much to ransack all the houses of Duke Cheng's mansion.It's just that in the face of the country's righteousness, Zhu Youtang still cares about the country.

Only Wen Jin, the Zhancheng envoy, sacrificed his life for righteousness, so that Li Kuangdu's arrogance can be compared, and Daming naturally became the incarnation of the justice envoy.

Naturally, Champa has nothing to say about this result. It is something that the people of Champa should be proud of such a good minister.

As for Li Chao, if he didn't want to follow in the footsteps of Hu Chao, then he had to accept the result.

What's more, Li Guangdu blatantly resisted the decree and killed the emperor's army is solid evidence, plus he dared to insult the Ming emperor, the consequences would naturally be disheartening.

That's why, starting from Daming's actual interests, the truth of Wen Jin's suicide must be hidden, and Zhu Fu naturally wants to keep his mouth shut on this matter.

"Understood!" Zhu Fu felt bored in his heart, and replied somewhat perfunctorily.

When Qin Conggui heard that Zhu Fu's tone was wrong, he stopped and warned seriously: "Zhu Fu, this secret is kept for you, Duke Cheng! pursue it, but I'm afraid it will be a different matter at that time!"

"I won't say it!" Zhu Fu realized that the matter was far more serious than he thought, and Dang even expressed his stance.

Following Zhu Fu's confession of "connecting with foreign vassals", Zhu Yi, who was far away in Nanjing, was treated like a cheater.

So far, in April of the first year of Hongzhi, there were only the British and Dingguo palaces left in the capital, and the once prominent Chengguo mansion was also scattered.

(End of this chapter)