Chapter 100: Execution of rebel relatives and Wang Yue
Two days later, it was the day to execute the relatives of these regicide rebels.
Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Liu Wentai, etc. were all taken to the execution ground, where they would witness the execution of their relatives!
These murderers who killed Emperor Hongzhi because of their own interests in the past will also have to face the price of having their loved ones killed!
Just like the pain they brought to the Ming Dynasty Prince Zhu Houzhao!
The first group are Liu Jian’s relatives!
These relatives of the Liu family who used to dominate under Liu Jian's protection were now just prisoners, being held on their knees on the execution ground.
At that time, the cold wind was biting and snowflakes were flying, and Liu Jian also saw his relatives shivering in the snow in prison clothes just like him.
Liu Jian even saw his eldest son, Liu Dong, then a member of the Ministry of War's vehicle driving department, kneeling in the snow. Liu Jian, who had always doted on his eldest son, couldn't bear his son being implicated by him, so he immediately cried heartbreakingly. Get up: "As a father, I'm sorry for you! As a father, you shouldn't do such evil things!"
At this time, Liu Jian's relatives were only begging for mercy and did not hear Liu Jian's cries, and a group of them were executed in the blink of an eye!
Click!
Immediately, heads fell to the ground!
The blood melted into the white snow, and also incorporated the sins owed by the Liu family into it.
"Bring it on again!"
The official from the Ministry of Punishment who was in charge of supervising the beheading gave an order, and another group of Liu clan members were brought up. Liu Dong was in this group, and he also shouted desperately: "Spare my life! I don't want to die yet, I am willing to be killed." The treacherous minister Liu Jian has severed the relationship between father and son. I hope your majesty will spare his life.”
Liu Dong's shouting was naturally useless.
"Cut!"
The supervisor gave the order, and another batch of heads fell to the ground, and the gurgling blood splashed into the snowy air, like wintersweet blooming in winter.
……
At this time, in the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houzhao was holding a red pen, looking at the batches of lists that he needed to collude with, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
The people on these lists are all relatives who rebel against the party.
As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houzhao was in charge of the power of life and death for everyone in the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, these people also needed him to deal with them.
Although this gave Zhu Houzhao a powerful and satisfying feeling, it also made him feel that the pen in his hand weighed as much as a thousand pounds.
Zhu Houzhao knew that every time he eliminated a group of people, it meant that a group of people would be killed.
He had to admit that these people did not participate in the regicide case, and could even be said to be unaware of it. However, according to the national laws and values of this era, these people should be implicated.
Moreover, Zhu Houzhao also knew that since he lived in this era of human rule and became the emperor of this era, if he wanted to protect his own life, and if he wanted to prevent the Ming Empire from collapsing in his own hands or even getting better, he would not be merciful!
What's more, if we look closely, none of these people are innocent. They formed the gentry group behind these rebels. They are the most direct exploiters of the people of the Ming Dynasty. These rebels also chose to kill for their own benefit. Killing the king, it can be said that the death of Emperor Hongzhi was basically caused by these people who formed the gentry group.
Now, Zhu Houzhao wants to suppress the gentry group and reduce the extent of the empire being swallowed up by the powerful. The easiest way is to kill!
If we don’t take advantage of the legitimate reasons to kill a lot of people now, we really won’t have many opportunities to do so in the future!
Speaking of innocence, wouldn’t the common people who died under the enslavement of these people be even more innocent?
Isn’t Emperor Hongzhi innocent?
No matter!
kill! kill!
kill!
Zhu Houzhao recited it silently three times in his mind, and finally resolutely continued to check out the lists of those who were eager to be executed.
Every time Zhu Houzhao killed a group of people, a group of relatives who rebelled against the party were taken to the execution ground, and then with a click, a group of heads fell to the ground. The gentry, which was parasitic on most ordinary people in the empire and exploited labor resources, killed another group. .
Although this method is rough and cruel, it is indeed very efficient.
You know, even if one of these big squire families is a slave, he will need the income of hundreds of households of tenant farmers to support them a year, or even more.
Li Dongyang also saw the execution scene of his fourth brother Li Dongming at this time.
Xie Qian's eldest son Xie Pi, who relied on his father's status to become a Hanlin editor in the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, and Xie Qian's younger brother Xie Di, who made money for the Xie family in Guangdong and Guangxi maritime trade, were all executed.
Liu Wentai and other relatives of Liu Daxia and others were executed!
At this time, these people finally experienced the pain of losing their loved ones, and also let the entire ruling class of the Ming Dynasty know the consequences of killing the king!
After Yongle, the Ming emperors were too friendly to these people, so friendly that these civil servants and gentry forgot the consequences of disobeying the emperor.
In the past, Liu Jian's wife dared to reveal her wealth in front of Zhu Houzhao, but now she can't buy her own life even if she spends another 60,000 taels.
……
While these accomplices were being executed, Wang Yue, who was in desperate need of punishment, was also taken to the execution ground specially built for him.
All the officials from the twenty-four yamen of the Ming Dynasty gathered here to watch Wang Yue being executed by Ling Chi, including Liu Jin, Gu Dayong, Ma Yongcheng and other eight tigers who were now in high positions.
Wang Yue felt extremely uncomfortable when he looked at the eunuchs who were looking at him as if they were watching a play. Especially Liu Jin, who was not even qualified to carry his shoes in the past, was now wearing his old clothes and taking his place as the ceremony attendant. The supervisor printed the eunuch's position. When Liu Jin looked at him and smiled, Wang Yue felt as if he had been slapped in the face.
However, Wang Yue could no longer change any facts at this time, and what awaited him was death by a thousand cuts!
The executioner caught Wang Yue with a net and squeezed the fat Wang Yue hard until lumps of Wang Yue's fat meat were squeezed out. At this time, the executioner had already taken out a knife. , like the surgeons of later generations, he skillfully cut into the protruding piece of fat on Wang Yue's chest. The blood immediately flowed, and the pain made Wang Yue scream with his teeth bared:
"Ah! It hurts!"
Coupled with the cold wind blowing, the cut was already painful. Now that it was poured into Wang Yue's wound, it immediately increased Wang Yue's pain tenfold like salt!
Wang Yue kept crying and howling, and at the same time he began to instinctively continue to beg for mercy: "Spare my life! My lord, spare my life! This old slave has confessed his crime!"
Wang Yue's cries became louder and louder, resounding throughout the execution ground.
At first, Liu Jin and other eunuchs were a little excited to see the miserable situation of Wang Yue who was about to put him to death in the past, but after watching it for a long time, they also felt scared, and they were secretly glad that they did not side with Wang Yue and go against His Majesty.
Wang Yue cried for three days before he gradually stopped crying, and the eunuchs also watched for three days. After Wang Yue was executed, all the eunuchs in the entire inner court were ten times more afraid of Zhu Houzhao than before. .
In addition, Zhang Yu, Lu He, Zhang Zhao and other former great eunuchs were also sentenced to death one after another!
Next is Liu Wentai, the third cabinet minister of the foreign dynasty.
(End of chapter)