Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 3 The Art of Beheading

Chop wood, chop wood hard, chop wood hard every day.

Use a machete to cut the wood into one-foot long pieces, and then split it into pieces.

This is the technique that Chen Gu now practices every day.

The firewood was brought back from the wealthy families in the county town, and one could earn three cents for chopping one hundred kilograms of firewood.

Because Chen the Assassin was small and weak, even though his arms were swollen and sore and his hands were covered with blisters from chopping wood every day, he could only chop 300 kilograms of firewood in a whole day and earn nine cents, which was just enough to buy a kilogram of rice.

But Chen Gu did not dare to be negligent at all and never got tired of it, because he could eat two kilograms of rice a day, and also have some side dishes.

So, it was Liu Er who paid for his upbringing.

It was the early spring of 1800, just a few days after the Chinese New Year. Emperor Qianlong had finally died the previous year. Emperor Jiaqing, who had been in office for four years, finally had real power, and he killed Heshen and obtained a huge sum of million silver dollars.

This county town was Jiangjin County under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, and was under the Chongqing Prefecture of the East Sichuan Circuit. It was located on the Yangtze River upstream of Chongqing City.

As for more advanced technologies, Chen Gu himself does not understand them. Due to super male syndrome, Chen Gu only received nine years of compulsory education and has not learned much.

The excessive population and primitive farming methods meant that ordinary people could only live in houses with mud walls and thatched roofs, wear tattered clothes and straw sandals, and could only survive on sweet potatoes, vegetables and radishes.

Chen Gu really wants to be like other time-travelling protagonists and make money by relying on his own knowledge that is greater than that of people of this era.

It’s just that too much energy is consumed on physical work every day, leaving not enough energy to support mental work.

This is a bit difficult!

Although this body is weak now, his mind is very clear. This allows Chen Gu, who once suffered from super male syndrome, to think about problems calmly. This unprecedented feeling makes Chen Gu very happy.

A weak body can be strengthened through exercise, but calm thinking is innate, and wisdom is the first thing a person should have.

Money represents various resources. The most important thing is that money can buy other people’s time and make them work according to your will.

But after careful consideration, he found that it seemed not feasible. After all, the Qing Dynasty had all the common things it needed, such as salt, sugar, iron, cloth, soap, and explosives, and the technology was also very good.

Chen Gu could only think about some things in the intervals between chopping wood. As for resting at night, he usually fell asleep immediately and had no energy to think about anything.

The above is the information that Chen Gui has found out in the past few days.

This year the United States will begin presidential elections and smallpox vaccinations.

Of course, these are too far away from Chen Gu. He doesn't want to think about anything now. He just focuses on chopping wood, eating and growing up every day.

Of course, the whole world is also undergoing drastic changes. This year France has become a republic, and Napoleon will be elected as the first consul.

What Chen Ju didn't know was that there were nearly one billion people in the world at that time, and more than 300 million of them were under the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

Science is advancing and political systems are changing.

Occasionally when I sit down to rest, I also think about how to make money.

After thinking for a while, Chen Gu had to pick up the machete and continue chopping wood, because Liu Er had looked at him for the second time.

As the only executioner in the county, this job was very easy for Liu Er as it fully met the three elements of high pay, little work and being close to home.

With a monthly salary of two taels of silver, one could buy two hundred kilograms of rice. One's life was much better than that of ordinary people. Although one could not say that one was rich, at least one had enough food and clothing, and could occasionally enjoy a good meal. If one had work to do in autumn, one's income would increase greatly. If one had no work to do, one would be idle all year round.

Liu Er didn't even have to report to the county government office. He only had to go there on the first day of every month to collect his salary.

The only thing Liu Er needs to do every day is to practice his swordsmanship.

Unlike Chen Gu who was practicing chopping wood, Liu Er was chopping incense, the kind of incense that was commonly used for visiting graves. After lighting it, he would chop it down with a knife just enough to extinguish the burning incense head, while the rest of the incense would not be damaged at all.

After the incense is extinguished, light it and chop it again. Do this twenty times a day and the task can be completed in less than half an hour.

According to Liu Er, this is to practice the control of strength, because chopping off the head is not a random act.

Usually, the prisoner's family would give some bribes to the executioner so that he would leave the prisoner's body intact, which means not cutting off the entire neck.

Unless a superior like the county magistrate gives special instructions, beheading will never result in a scene where heads roll down like in movies and TV dramas.

There are many things to pay attention to when beheading. The standard procedure is to chop off the prisoner's head in its entirety so that the prisoner dies with minimal pain while keeping the body intact. The next best option is to chop off the entire head so that the prisoner's body is not intact.

The most cruel method is to hit the prisoner with a blunt knife, causing him to suffer both physical and psychological pain before he dies, and to feel the great terror and despair between life and death.

Of course, a blunt knife is usually only prepared for those who have committed heinous crimes, with the purpose of appeasing the public anger.

Seeing Chen Gu start chopping wood again, Liu Er put away the machete in his hand and went into the house to cook.

After spending a few days with Chen Gu, Liu Er was quite satisfied with him. He didn't talk much, but he worked hard and focused. He was very diligent. Although he didn't respect him much, he never overstepped his boundaries and would try his best to complete any instructions he gave.

That’s enough. After all, it’s impossible for him to be like a biological son.

Breakfast was simple, a pot of rice, a plate of pickles, and a bowl of carrot soup. Although there was no meat, the portion was enough.

This was already the standard of food for an average small landlord's family. After all, in that era, even a landlord could not have meat every day.

Liu Er only ate one bowl of rice per meal. Even though it was made of coarse porcelain, he finished it earlier than Chen Gu. "After dinner, follow me to the riverside to learn some new things!"

"What have you seen?" Chen Gu couldn't help but be a little surprised.

"Dead man!" Liu Er said sparingly.

"Why is there a dead body by the river?" Chen Gu asked with a frown.

Although the public security in this world is certainly not as good as that in later generations, the death of a person is no small matter, right?

"The world is not peaceful. The Yangtze River is so long, it's rare for someone to die!" Liu Er said calmly.

The world is not peaceful?
Weren’t the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong eras prosperous?

Qianlong just died not long ago!
Chen Gu did not inherit the original owner's memory, and he did not know enough about this era, so he could not say much. His code of conduct was to observe and listen more, so as not to arouse suspicion.

After dinner, Chen Gu washed the pots and bowls, then went out with Liu Er, first entered the main street, then left the city from the west gate, and then arrived at the riverside.

It took only about ten minutes. Jiangjin County is a large county with an area of ​​more than 2,000 square kilometers and a registered population of over 200,000.

But the county town was very small, with the east-west city walls only a little over one kilometer long, which is similar to a township in later generations.

(End of this chapter)