Emperor Qianlong: the beginning of his glory

Chapter 55
Although Weng You, Pan An, and Qian Bao didn't understand what they heard, the emperor's military guerrilla assignment was solid.No faction in the Jianghu has endured this kind of Long En!Moreover, they also set the number of open halls to accept disciples and the number of grain ships to be carried, and the establishment of a door is an iron-clad ten thousand-year camp.With this gold-lettered signboard, you can travel on the Yangtze River and canals, and become one with the government.Not to mention the small gangs such as the Axe Gang, Lantern Festival, Wusheng Laomu Association, Wuwei Gang, Tongyuanjiao, Zhengyangjiao, and Baiyangjiao, even the largest Hongmen gang in the world has suddenly become a pheasant Guild... All three of them blushed with excitement, and kowtowed to thank each other.

"Go down and discuss with your senior brothers again, and we need to formulate gang rules." Qianlong said with a smile, "You are the Jianghu gang, so you should act according to your true colors. Help the imperial court to manage good luck and food, assist local officials to do some things to arrest bandits and robbers, and to improve the law and order of Sui. If you do well, I will naturally reward you. Li Wei will be sick now, and I will report to him in the future. Let Liu Tongxun take care of the trivial matters—go ahead!" After the three of them retreated in fear, Qianlong turned to Li Wei and asked, "How can I deal with it this way?"

Li Wei knew in his heart that Qianlong didn't want all the gangs and factions in the rivers and lakes to live in peace at all.The imperial court wanted to reap the benefits of the fighting gangs without spending a penny or a soldier--such a strategic plan, such a far-sighted scheming, thanks to him being in a hurry, he managed it with ease!Although Li Wei understood Qianlong's intentions in his heart, he didn't dare to point it out.He hurriedly replied: "Master's arrangements are extremely good! However, the Hong Gang is much more powerful than them, and it seems that they should be comforted."

"Take good care of your illness and don't think about it." Qianlong didn't answer Li Wei's words. He got up with a smile, and put a pillow for Li Wei himself. The son said: "Don't worry about things in the future, if you find Lafayette, I will know."

Li Wei was very moved, seeing that Qianlong was about to leave, he hurriedly said: "Master, this slave is in a state of confusion, I just forgot one thing to play." Qianlong turned around and stared at Li Wei, but didn't say anything.Li Wei hurriedly said: "Just now, Pan An told the servants that Prince Li invited the three of them to a banquet, and each of them rewarded 100 taels of gold. He also said that the Qing Gang guards are all stragglers, and each of them should accept [-] disciples, and he will distribute them Give monthly cases... and ask them to help purchase something, the servant can't remember clearly."

"Oh." Qianlong glanced thoughtfully out of the window, smiled lightly, and said, "I see. This is also Hongxi's kindness. You can rest in peace and rest in peace. If you have anything to write, write it in secret."

Liu Tongxun received the imperial edict to execute the criminal Liu Kang, and immediately went to the signing room to look for Shi Yizhi, but saw Qian Du was talking to Shi Yizhi, and as soon as he entered the door, he smiled and said, "What are you in a hurry for? Li Wei also only got a fine salary of three years." Punishment, you were just an official at the time, and you were a circumstantial witness in the case. There is a crime of "inappropriate", and a recovery is certain. I met Fu Liuye yesterday, he was going to Shanxi, and said that you were familiar with criminal names and wanted to take you Go. I said that Qian Du's business is not over yet. The sixth master fought first and wiped out Tuotuo Peak, and he will probably recover." Qian Du stood up, listened respectfully, and said: "That's what Shi Da Si Kou said just now . Thank you two adults for your cultivation!"

"What's wrong with Qian Du?" Shi Yizhi asked in surprise, "Just now we were chatting and laughing, and we were so polite when we saw you!" Liu Tongxun said with a smile: "But, we are very casual on weekdays, who would have thought he would What's wrong?" Qian Du realized that he had lost his composure at this moment, and said with a smile, "I have been a prisoner of Lord Yanqing for more than half a month, and I am used to standing up and scared. At that time, your face looked like this—" He Twitching his cheeks, he shook his head and said, "I still think of it like a nightmare." Shi Yizhi and Liu Tongxun couldn't help smiling when they saw his imitation, and Shi Yizhi sighed: "The control of birds is true, it's true. Young I heard from my great-grandmother that the big pagoda tree in front of our land temple became a spirit, confusing passers-by. Two carpenters were drunk, one with a back saw, and the other with an axe, shouting loudly all the way: "The temple of Xiuguan Emperor lacks a beam. Go, cut down the locust tree Gouri, and sure enough, the locust tree turned into a puff of smoke and escaped——Qian Du is not that tree, and Liu Tongxun is naturally a carpenter!"

The three chatted and laughed, Qian Du got up to leave when he saw that the two chief officials of the Criminal Department were about to discuss matters.But Liu Tongxun stopped and said, "You are an old criminal name. It's not too late to go after considering it." Then he told about Qianlong's decision to impose Ling Chi on Liu Kang and cut out his heart to pay homage to He Luying, and said: "In the law of the Qing Dynasty If there is no punishment for cutting out the heart, who would do this job? People all over Beijing will watch this torture, how can order be maintained?"

Shi Yizhi had a upright character, but he didn't have many ideas. He held the tea and thought about it: "What do you need so many people to watch? Why don't you ask for an order, according to the previous emperor's practice of killing Zhang Tinglu, and let all civil and military officials watch the punishment, and the common people will not accept it." How much trouble would it be to let him enter the arena?"

"The emperor will definitely refute Da Sikou's idea." Qian Du said, "The reason why the emperor is so powerful this time is because some people say that the emperor and the late emperor can't work together, and he wants to use this case to silence those people. The decree clearly says 'to the public to the Ming'. That's what it means. If you don't let the people see it, how can you show this? According to my idea, don't kill at the entrance of the vegetable market. Find a geomantic place with a lower terrain: one can be buried for congratulations The second is that you can perform torture in front of the grave and pay homage on the spot. People are crowded because they can’t see, and the surrounding terrain is high, so they can be seen, and Shuntian Mansion is also easy to protect the field, so nothing will happen.”

Shi Yizhi thought it was very reasonable. "Cutting out the heart to sacrifice" naturally had to be in front of the grave, and it was not easy to drag He Luying's coffin to the entrance of the vegetable market to be sacrificed, so he smiled and said: "Just do it like this. Shuntian Mansion Governor Yang Zeng made a decision, so he also handled it together. I will be imprisoned by Tongxun. But I can’t find the executioner who is on a red mission.” Liu Tongxun said with a smile: “As soon as the trial is over, I no longer have the status of an imperial commissioner. You are still the supervisor. It’s good to be on a red mission Do it, find someone who has been sentenced to Ling Chi, and he will definitely not be relentless!" Shi Yizhi was born as a weak scholar, and he was in charge of the Ministry of Punishments not long ago. He has never been imprisoned before, and he is really afraid of seeing such torture. Hearing Liu Tongxun's easy words, he couldn't help it Shivering, he said: "You are still here to supervise the execution. There is no order from above to dismiss you!"

"I went in to see the emperor, and asked the sage if he wanted to visit the execution ground in person, but the master said, 'A gentleman does not go near the kitchen'." Liu Tongxun laughed, "It seems that you are also a 'gentleman', afraid of hearing the wailing of cattle and sheep. Like Liu Kang Such an extermination of the law of nature, I can kill a hundred of them with peace of mind!" Qian Du said beside him: "People say that the late emperor was harsh in nature, but in fact he was very kind. He wrote seven characters of "miserable" with his hands, and cut at the waist has been abolished forever. In the Yongzheng Dynasty, only the houses were ransacked, and not many people were killed. The officials who supervised the beheading were afraid of seeing the punishment. In fact, in the previous Ming Dynasty, Ling Chi, Cutting into pieces is commonplace. When Wei Zhongxian was cut up, 330 three knives were ordered. On the first day, only [-] knives were cut, and the scales of the fish were cut to the calf. At night, they were taken to the cell for further chopping. This kind of thing should be seen as a criminal name. Look. It doesn't matter if you look too much."

Qian Du spoke with gusto, spitting everywhere.Shi Yizhi's face turned pale when he heard this, and his palms were covered with cold sweat.

The room fell silent for a moment, and the three of them were silently comparing the characteristics of Yongzheng and Qianlong's administrations.

"That's how it is." After an unknown amount of time, Liu Tongxun woke up from his daze, "It's all settled, and I'll make arrangements." After saying that, he got up, and Qian Du got up to say goodbye embarrassingly, and came out with Liu Tongxun.

Qian Du did not go to see the execution of Liu Kang.As usual in Liu Kang's case, he was dismissed and awaiting investigation. Now that the case is cleared, he has to seek redress as soon as possible.He didn't have a deep personnel relationship in Beijing, and he went to Fu Heng's mansion several times. Because Fu Heng was going to Shanxi on a business trip, there were constant guests at home, so he couldn't get involved at all.After being punished, Li Wei got better from his illness, and he went to visit him a few times, only to comfort him.Li Wei didn't care about the matter anymore, and said some innocuous words.Qian Du spent more than 20 days in boredom. He had to wait for the officials to draw up a bill, and he didn't dare to wander around; he was also anxious to know the news, which made him restless and confused.On the first day of March, the proposal for the recovery of the Ministry of Officials finally came, and he returned to the Ministry of Criminal Justice to serve as the head of the Autumn Trial Division.Only then did Qian Du feel relieved, and hurriedly reported to the ministry, met with Shi Yizhi and Liu Tongxun, went to the department for a while, invited his colleagues to drink, and arranged business, and then he calmed down.He calculated that Le Min was going to the south of the Yangtze River, and it was almost time to leave. He was someone who needed to be taken care of, so he prepared 20 taels of broken silver, and took a bamboo silk sedan chair to Zhang's butcher shop in the west of Xuanwu Gate.

At this time, it is March in Yangchun, the wind is warm and the sun is warm, the vegetable borders on both sides of the road are green, willows are hanging down, a stream winds south, and the grass on the bank is green.Thinking back on what I have experienced for more than a month, the sounds of evacuation, confinement, interrogation, the sound of fire sticks being thrown on the ground, the sound of boards hitting meat, the sound of prisoners hissing, and the sound of threats from the hall are still in my ears, and Qian Du is like waking up from a nightmare.It is very pleasant to be in this bright world with the spring breeze blowing against my face.From a distance, I saw the black cloth cover of Zhang's butcher's shop hidden in the shade of willows, and there was an endless stream of green men and red women coming and going for outings. It was time for business, but there was no soup pot meat case in front of the door, and the shop door was not wide open. , only two door openings flashed, it seemed that someone was at home.Qian Du waited for the sedan chair to stop, he got down, and walked forward, he could faintly hear a woman weeping inside, and an old lady's persuasion, he stepped harder, and asked loudly: "Is Lord Le there?"

(End of this chapter)