Chapter 36 5.inescapable

Jin Zhijun didn't know that when he said "after Fang Xiaoru's death, the seeds of reading will die", someone had already said this sentence first, and this was Song Xiance and Li Yan. The flowers of the Ming Dynasty have faded, and the flowers of the Shun Dynasty are blooming.Just this flower blooming and falling, reflecting the vicissitudes of the world, and also reflecting the warmth and coldness of the world——Zhu Ming's music ended in such a turbulent way, so bleak and impersonal, it was the dream of the two of them. unexpected. "Manchurians, civil and military, and toasts, who didn't talk about loyalty and filial piety at that time? But now the emperor and empress are martyred, and only monks chant scriptures before their funerals. Why are those scholars not as good as monks?" Song Xiance first sighed.

Li Yan shook his head again and again and said: "What kind of scholar, after Fang Xiaoru's death, the seeds of reading are gone." When Chengzu Zhu Di launched the "Battle of Jingnan", he led his troops south to fight for the throne with his nephew Emperor Jianwen. Yao Guangxiao, a monk of Daoyan, served as the guardian of Yanjing. If you refuse to surrender, I hope that your Majesty will not kill him. If you kill the filial Confucianism, the seeds of reading in the world will die.Although Chengzu promised at the time, he failed to fulfill his promise after all-Fang Xiaoru, who refused to draft the imperial edict for him, was killed by him in the end, and the ten clans punished him in parallel.People loyal to Jianwen, such as Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, Tie Xuan, Jing Qing, etc., were put into a frying pan, and some were cut alive. Jie, everyone learned how to be good, not only did not want to be buried for the descendants of Chengzu, but there were so few people who risked their lives to cry for their souls.

Li Yan brought up these past events, thinking that Zhu Ming had suffered retribution.However, Song Xiance shook his head and said: "Speaking of which, although the scholars have failed Chongzhen, Chongzhen has not failed the scholars. Over the years, you can see that the ministers around him are changing like a revolving lantern. Fifty years have changed. The so-called government is expensive and persistent, so how can the administration be consistent when changing prime ministers like a revolving door? During the seventeen years he was in power, he was in power. Just like the blood vessels in the human body are not connected, so I say that Chongzhen's failure is nothing more than the inability to recognize and employ people, and the unfair rewards and punishments, so it is no wonder that scholars usually keep silent and refuse to accept orders when they are in danger."

The two commented on the gains and losses of Chongzhen, saying that although it was Chongzhen, they hoped for their own emperor. From this, it is natural to talk about the feelings of going to Beijing for three days. It is said that everything that should be settled at this time should be settled. Even the order in Nine Cities should be orderly. , this time Song Xiance seemed even more reserved. Seeing that there was no one around, he still kept his voice down as much as possible, and said mysteriously: "Ren Zhi, for some reason, I feel something is wrong with Shan Ren." Li Yan couldn't help but said in surprise: "What's wrong?"

Song Xiance said: "The emperor entered the palace for the first time that day, you may not have noticed something wrong?" Li Yan couldn't help being more confused, looking at Song Xiance's face, he said, "Which area are you referring to?" An elusive light appeared on Song Xiance's face, hesitating, he said hesitantly: "The emperor is in his prime, walking like a dragon and walking like a tiger, full of energy, he has overcome all the important passes, difficulties and obstacles step by step in these years, Why not sooner or later, but when I stepped into the Huangji Hall, I had to fall heavily. This is the last threshold. It is only one step away from the dragon chair, but I haven't crossed it. This is the worst! omen."

So that's the case, Li Yan couldn't help laughing.Four years ago, Song Xiance presented a prophecy to Li Zicheng, saying that "Eighteen sons, the main artifact", "the old lady, Li Jizhu".Therefore, Song Xiance was highly valued in the Dashun Army.When Li Yan heard about it afterwards, although he was also very impressed, he was probably the only one who didn't mean what he said - he usually doesn't believe in these nonsense things, but he understands the function of Shinto teaching, so although he sees through it, he doesn't say it. What's more, if you put it bluntly, your life is still in danger.Thinking about today, Song Xiance brought up the "omen" again, and he valued the emperor's fall very much. Li Yan thought it was funny. What's the matter? If you walk carelessly, you will inevitably fall sometimes. What about association?He thought, Song Xiance should be concerned about the things he should be concerned about, like yesterday when he discussed Wu Sangui, he tried his best to push him to speak, but Song Xiance hesitated to speak, although he talked about Wu Sangui, but he didn't say anything deeply and thoroughly. When it came to the point, he planned to send Tang Tong there later, knowing it was wrong, but kept silent. Thinking of the advice he had given him, Li Yan understood that Song Xiance had been in the Jianghu for a long time, and he was so sophisticated, he should really laugh at him, so , smiling slightly, said:

"You are a bull-nosed Taoist who pretends to be gods and ghosts. Before this, you still offered pictures to prophesy, saying that the Eighteen Sons are the master of the artifact, Li Jizhu. Since things are predetermined, why are there omens so hard to say?" Unexpectedly, Song Xiance showed a sly smile, and said eloquently: "Let it be, why bother to delve into the theory of prophecy? Didn't the mountain people tell you that things in the world are changing all the time, there is no fixed change?" Auspicious hexagrams, and there is no fixed and unchanging hexagrams of bad luck. Fortunes come with misfortunes, and misfortunes rely on blessings. Therefore, in the sixty-four hexagrams, there are hexagrams for hardship and hexagrams for relief. , is a book that focuses on changes, so the spectators also say "follow the heart", and the divination often says that there are variables in the hexagrams. The hard work of the day after tomorrow, but relying solely on fate?"

Li Yan nodded involuntarily, thinking, this sounds like human speech, but after careful consideration, he discovered the ghost behind Song Xiance's smiling face, so he said: "Old Song, I thought that those who really didn't believe in Bodhisattvas were the monks and Taoists in the temple, because only they knew that the Bodhisattva didn't actually predict anything to them, but I didn't expect that you, who have been pretending to be gods and playing ghosts all your life, were actually frightened by ghosts. thing." Song Xiance glared at him and said, "What do you mean?"

Li Yan said: "What do you mean, you understand it yourself, but let me tell you, if you want to talk about contingency, you should focus on the major affairs of the court, not on these small incidents that happen by accident. You should not care about it." Concern, just go to the edge of the horns, I really don't know what your intentions are?" Song Xiance looked at Li Yan and swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and said helplessly: "You are here again, let it go, the mountain people know what you want to say, haven't you only been in the city for three days, what's the hurry?"

Li Yan sneered and said: "No hurry, no hurry, Wu Sangui has a large army, lives in Xiongguan, and there is Manchu Qing behind him, this matter is not trivial, we should not dare to delay for a moment, but we hold the court up and down, don't take it seriously, discuss it again and again, To actually assign Tang Tong to go, isn't this a child's play house? Wu Sangui may not be clear, this Tang Tong is just a surrendered general with no power or position, can he believe what he said? What if something happens? , we will be caught off guard." Song Xiance said lightly: "Of course it seems urgent to you, but you are not in a hurry, what can you do?"

Li Yan also said: "Also, it has been three days now, and the overall situation has been settled. These more than 100,000 people should withdraw from the city. They can no longer be mixed together like this, otherwise there will be big troubles. According to me As far as we know, just last night, in an alley in Dongcheng, more than three hundred women died of the humiliation because they refused to rape, how will it end if this continues?" Song Xiance finally fell silent, and it took a long time before he sighed and said, "Ren Zhi, let's do it, if we speak face to face, the emperor may not listen to it, why don't we write down everything we want to say in the last statement." This is exactly what Li Yan thought, and he nodded immediately. He didn't want to go out of the Donghua Gate, but when he got to the street, he saw a large group of men and horses coming in front of them, each holding a bright sharp knife, and escorting a long line of prisoners.The two couldn't help speeding up their pace, rushed to the front, and finally saw clearly that the captured prisoner was Zhu Chunchen, Cheng Guogong, who was sent by Emperor Chongzhen to guard Desheng Gate.In fact, Zhu Chunchen was also one of the ministers who opened the door to welcome the surrender, because he was deeply trusted by Chongzhen. When Chongzhen died, he left a will to assist the prince. The eunuch took it back and put it on the case of the cabinet. It was discovered by the Dashun army during the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, Liu Zongmin believed that Zhu Chunchen was a trusted aide of Chongzhen and intended to fight against the Dashun Dynasty. He was arrested at that time, and today All the doors were copied and chopped. Right now, Zhu Chunchen was tied up, his neck was tightly tied by the rope, his face was pale, his fingers were black, and there was a beheading mark on his head. Walking on the street, behind him was a long line of prison cars, loaded with Zhu's family, including the grandson who was only a few months old. Where the prison cars passed by, pedestrians not only looked terrified, but also dodged one after another. It was the shops on both sides that had opened. , also slapped and pulled the door of the shop. Looking at all this, Li Yan kept shaking his head, and said, "Old Song, the items I want to write include these. In order to stabilize the order in the capital and stabilize people's hearts, the murder should be delayed, and the punishment should be avoided. .” Song Xiance said: "Okay, after I finish writing, I will also sign my name." But without waiting for Song Xiance and Li Yan to make a statement, mass arrests have already begun in the capital, and the officials of the Fan Gaomen mansion were really hard to escape, and they were sent one by one to Wu Xiang's mansion, because the general wanted to interrogate the prisoners and interrogate the confessions in person. Jin Zhijun was also one of the earliest people to be arrested, because he was not only the person Liu Zongmin wanted to arrest, but Lu Zhiqi also reported to Liu Fangliang when he saw that he had been looking for him in the future, and Liu Fangliang immediately sent someone to arrest him, so he After returning from the palace gate, before entering the house, a rope was thrown down, tied him tightly, and immediately sent him to Wu Xiang's residence. I saw the spacious hall of the Marquis Mansion, which has now become the Hall of Hell, with a case table set up in the hall, instruments of torture under the hall, and a group of soldiers, holding shining knives and sticks, standing on both sides, staring at the two sides; They were the senior scholar Chen Yan who led the crowd to persuade him to come in early in the morning, and the senior scholar Fang Yuegong who wanted to escape even though he did not persuade him to come in. Many former Ming officials who were awaiting trial were tied up in the two corridors, including Zeng Yinglin and Shi Kecheng. people. Since entering the city, Liu Zongmin has always felt aggrieved, wanted to kill people, wanted to quarrel with Niu Jinxing and other civil servants, wanted to vent to everyone, but there was no chance, no excuses, today, the opportunity finally came, although the object was transferred, but he could have fun .So he sat in the hall in person, accompanied by Liu Fangliang and Gu Dacheng.He didn't notice Jin Zhijun at the gate of the palace early in the morning. At this moment, because he was interrogating Chen Yan, he saw that Jin Zhijun understood. Liao Yang, the pawns who detained him locked him with Zeng Jiulin. When Jin Zhijun saw Zeng Yinglin, he felt deeply guilty——Emperor Daxing had him in front of his soul, but Prime Minister Niu’s mansion did not have him, and he was not seen in the palace gate, let alone his friend. This is an indomitable man. Facing life and death, he staggered and said that the only death is the only one that has been difficult through the ages. Instead of not keeping the leader after losing his integrity, why did he die by scolding the thief? People, if you are tired of material desires, your body loses concentration, so why is it that you stagger? But right now, he couldn't allow him to think about things before and after. With the hall's prestige, everyone was awe-inspiring.Chen Yan was the first to be interrogated.A man in his sixties is a leader in the literary world, a leader of a group of surrendered ministers, persuaded by the palace gate, elegant and elegant, with that appearance, he is full of hope that he can make a comeback, and he will take up the pen again; it is miserable at the moment, wearing an old black silk gown with a hair on his head. The Tang scarf he was wearing had been removed and put aside, revealing the crepe bun and chestnut-colored hair, like an old Confucian teaching Mongolian children, or like the evil ghost in the play "Wat Pot".Looking at the officials in Gaojutang, he knows Liu Zongmin and Liu Fangliang, but this is the first time Gu Dacheng has seen him. This person is about 30 years old, he is a thin man with a dark complexion, but when he stares at Chen Yan, he looks very Fierce, like looking at enemies. Jin Zhijun thought, what is there to judge? One dynasty has one emperor and one courtier, and this dynasty does not use that court.In this case, there is no need to chant, since you want to kill, then kill, what is there to copy?But he looked at it for a long time, and gradually saw the way—it wasn't like asking for a confession, but just asking for money. The case had been going on trial for a while. He shouted at Chen Yan: "No money? Huh, you can coax the ghosts to go. If the prime minister has no money, there will be no water in the river!" At this time, Chen Yan didn't dare to play tricks like he did in front of Chongzhen, he just kowtowed repeatedly and said, "General, the prisoner pledged five thousand taels, and there is really nothing more." Liu Zongmin slapped the table and shouted: "Five thousand taels? You are begging for food. Hmph, there is no fifty thousand taels. I told you today that you don't have a good body." Liu Fangliang on the left also said: "Don't ask any more, just clip it." Chen Yan kowtowed like garlic, and said: "General, the prisoner really can't afford much. The prisoner hasn't been a bachelor for long, so the emperor, no, no, Chongzhen forced him to become an official, old minister, no , Prisoner, the prisoner is already in his sixtieth year, so I hope you can spare this humble life in this way." Liu Zongmin patted the table and said: "Sixties, how about sixties, isn't it just Laobie, I will take Laobie first today." Said and waved.Immediately, two hands like iron towers came up, clamped Chen Yan's arms, dragged and threw Chen Yan, like throwing a broken sack, and threw Chen Yan by the courtyard. With a white wooden stick and a string of leather hemp rope, Chen Gelao, the dignified chief assistant, was clamped in just a few strokes.As soon as Chen Ge put on the stick, he screamed like a pig. Liu Fangliang on the side became impatient and said to a sergeant: "This old turtle is abominable, give him a mouthpiece, and wait an hour before asking." Fan Zi took the order, took out a small piece of wood from his body, and stuffed it into Chen Yan's mouth when he was screaming, so that blood flowed from Chen Yan's mouth and tears were streaming down his face. His body was shaking under the stick, but he could only whimper. Woo sound. General Liu ignored Chen Yan, raised his hand, and moved Fang Yuegong with two fingers to one side. Fang Yuegong knew that it was his turn, and he probably understood what the so-called interrogation was about, so, So he crawled forward a little, and immediately after giving his name, he went on to say: "Official Yue Gong, 10,000 taels of military pay." Liu Zongmin in the hall snorted again, flipped through the notebook in his hand, found Fang Yuegong's name, looked at it and said, "Fang Yuegong, you are happy, ten thousand taels, aren't you also a bachelor? If you are the Minister of the Ministry of War first and then become a scholar, you are the most profitable officials, your family property is only worth 10,000, and Chongzhen's country is also lost." The officials on the left and right also laughed, and Liu Fangliang said, "It's only 10,000 taels, thanks to you being the prime minister." At this time, several other arrested criminals arrived. When Gu Dacheng saw it, he couldn't help being anxious. He slapped the table and said, "I'm both a minister and a bachelor. If you don't have a hundred thousand, you can get eighty thousand. One tael less is fine." No, otherwise, climb to the side by yourself." Fang Yuegong couldn't help but kowtow again and again and said: "General, let me tell you the sinners." Liu Zongmin said: "What kind of love is above and below, and Lao Tzu!" Immediately, two big men came up from the left and right, and they couldn't help but follow suit. Jin Zhijun knew what Fang Yuegong's "love" was.He had close contacts with Fang Yuegong on weekdays, and even though he knew he was doomed, he still couldn't help but said: "General, Fang Yuegong's ability to pay 10,000 is already the limit." Liu Zongmin didn't realize that the man locked below was not only not afraid, but also spoke for others, so he was not surprised, so he pointed to Jin Zhijun and said, "Why do you say he only has 10,000?" Jin Zhijun kowtowed his head and said: "Fang Yuegong used to be the magistrate of Songjiang, with a reputation of incorruptibility. At the time of the apocalypse, he was framed by Wei Zhongxian because he was unable to bribe Wei Zhongxian, saying that he was short of the treasury. At the thirteenth level, he was only the fifth-rank Huangtang. When he fell to the eighth level, there was no way to downgrade. He is honest and upright, and has never had money in his heart, and if he can give out ten thousand taels of silver, it should be all he has." When Liu Zongmin heard it, how could he believe it, so he pointed to Jin Zhijun and said: "Nonsense, since he was an official under Chongzhen for another seventeen years, and he was also a minister and a prime minister, how could he have no money? Ming Dynasty If you don't have a good thing, you will be interrogated right now, and if you don't pay 350,000 yuan, you won't have a good life." With a wave of his hand, two soldiers came up, dragged Jin Zhijun into the hall, and kicked him to kneel down. Jin Zhijun thought to himself, if he had known this situation, he would have died sooner, so he stood up stiffly, He held his head up and said: "General, in the Ming Dynasty, it is true that corrupt officials were rampant, otherwise it would not have been like this, but not all of them were corrupt officials. In the so-called clutter, there is no grass to hide, and on top of evil trees, how can it be?" Lack of good birds? That is to say, among the officials, there are those who are in the same rank and help each other with evil, and there are also those who are clean and honest. Since your army is doing justice for the sky, it should be treated differently, and it should not be indiscriminate and upright Corrupt officials are boiled in one pot." Liu Fangliang patted the table and said, "My good fellow, I didn't kill you in Juyongguan, but came here to sell my words." Only then did Liu Zongmin find out that he was the governor of Changping, so he pointed to him and said, "How dare you contradict me, you corrupt official. I'm afraid you are tired of work." Jin Zhijun said unyieldingly: "It's a bad step. I'm not a corrupt official. If I want to help my salary, I'm afraid my family can't even get a hundred taels of silver." Liu Zongmin didn't realize that Jin Zhijun was not afraid of death, so he couldn't help being surprised, thinking, this man is a man, since Wang Zhixin said that honest officials are not afraid of death, we should see if he is true or false.Just as he was thinking, he didn't want to raise his head, and saw Chen Yan who had just picked it up, his face was pale, sweating profusely, and he kept nodding to him, although he couldn't speak, but there was a "woo woo" sound from his nostrils. So, he left Jin Zhijun first, turned to the side and ordered: "The old turtle thinks he is going to confess, let go of his bridle, and see what he has to say?" The soldiers under his command stepped forward and took out the wooden block from Chen Yan's mouth, but before loosening the clamp, Chen Yan spat out blood and said repeatedly: "General, please spare the criminals. The criminals are willing to pledge 40,000 taels of silver." When Liu Zongmin heard it, he couldn't help but said with a smile: "Forty thousand, well, that's about the same. Did you get it by corrupting the law, or by selling an official?" Chen Yan refused to admit corruption, and argued strongly: "General, this is the salary of the criminals for these years." Liu Zongmin was coughing and rinsing at this time, and there was a mouthful of thick phlegm in his mouth. He spat it on his face and said, "Salary? How much is your salary for a year? How much do you need to maintain the ostentation of this great scholar? You can't do it without being corrupt." Take out 40,000 yuan at once? The duck is still stubborn when it’s dead. See if you are stubborn, and fight with me again.” As he spoke, he waved his hand and ordered another punishment. Seeing this, Chen Yan said again and again: "General, greed, greed, came from greed, from criminals." So, Liu Zongmin asked him to talk about the methods of corruption, and Chen Yan had to give one or two examples, which were nothing more than the story of selling officials to sell nobles. Liu Zongmin couldn't help laughing when he listened, and said: "How, have you not been wronged? You dog officials are thieves yourself, but you call others thieves. You deserve to be thieves calling for thieves." Chen Yan could only nod his head and said, "Yes, yes, we are real thieves." It wasn't until he said this that Liu Zongmin nodded. Although he didn't order him to be released, he signaled to loosen the sentence, then pointed at Jin Zhijun's nose and said: "See, you are all such cheap bones. It seems that you also want to try." Gu Dacheng also said: "Clamp it up, and see if he's still hard." But Jin Zhijun said unyieldingly: "I have never been a thief, even if I will be pinched to death, I will neither change my words, nor will I be able to give out a hundred taels of silver." Liu Zongmin patted the table and said, "You said you were not a thief, but you became an official, and you are still a governor. Nine out of ten officials are thieves. You said that there is no one hundred taels of silver in your family. If I found more than one hundred taels What about two?" Jin Zhijun said: "You can be beaten or killed as you please." Liu Zongmin thought about it for a while, and then said: "I didn't fall for your trick, you must have hidden the money. If I go, won't it be in vain?" Jin Zhijun said with a smile: "Silver can be hidden, but other things can't be hidden. It's really a poor house. Look at the house, look at the furnishings, look at the food and clothing in the kitchen, and see if there are groups of servants and women, and the skin is tender." Liu Zongmin said that he was no good, and couldn't help but grin his teeth with hatred, and said: "You are stubborn, I don't believe that a governor will not have a hundred taels of silver in the family. If it is true, I will let you reinstate the officer." As he said that, he was about to send someone to his house immediately.At this time, Liu Fangliang on the other side had remembered that in Changping, Lu Zhiqi said that he was an upright official, and he also respected the upright official. He wanted to push the boat to release him, but later he escaped privately and went to Chongzhen's mausoleum to cry bitterly, feeling angry , he winked at Liu Zongmin and said: "General, don't rush to search for now. This person may have transferred his family property long ago, and if he can't find it, he has fallen into his tricks. Why don't you catch him first and wait until you find out the facts." Seeing this, Liu Zongmin just shook his head, so the two who had just clamped Fang Yuegong turned around, and clamped Jin Zhijun again.At this time, Jin Zhijun, while letting the group of people be executed, glanced at Fang Yuegong. Fang Yuegong was already in his early sixties, and his health was not good, so the soldiers picked him up. With a scream, he fainted. The two big men here did not allow him to think about it, they had already pinned him to the ground, with his feet stretched out, and one of them dragged the tongs. These were three wooden sticks about three feet long, one end was connected with iron bars, and the other end was loosened. After his feet were clamped, the end was tied tightly with hemp rope, and every time Jin Zhijun pulled a hoop, he felt a piercing pain. After the big man had tightened the rope, he tapped his shin with a wooden stick. After tapping once, he asked a question, but he gritted his teeth and did not answer.Every time he knocked, it was like being cut by someone. The pain went straight to his forehead, so he had to bite his lip desperately, and blood flowed from his lip immediately. I don't know about personnel. I don't know how long it took before he was finally woken up by the splash of cold water. Looking up, there were many soldiers with swords standing around him. He had already been loosened from the stick, and was dragged to the corridor on the left side of Wu's house. Zeng Yinglin was squatting beside him, As soon as he saw Jin Zhijun regained consciousness, he quickly lifted his head and said in a low voice happily: "Brother Qifan, you finally woke up." When Jin Zhijun saw him, he said weakly: "Brother Yushu, if I had known today, I would regret it." Zeng Yinglin knew that he was saying that he hadn't done it early, and he felt the same way. He was arrested less than half an hour after Jin Zhijun was arrested, but because too many people were arrested, it was too late to interrogate him, so he had to wait to be slaughtered. Lamb, wait on the side.He understood his situation and said: "It's time, it's useless to say anything." As he said that, he moved a spittoon beside him and said softly, "Brother Qifan, take a few sips. This is Huilong Tang. I prepared it for you and myself. Drinking it can relieve pain and prevent you from becoming disabled." .” Jin Zhijun knew that the so-called "Huilong soup" was human urine.It is said that this is a secret recipe handed down by the predecessors. The minister who received the imperial staff used this thing to stop bleeding and reduce swelling.He glanced at the spittoon and saw that there was half a bowl of clear yellow urine in it. He couldn't help feeling sick, so he frowned. Seeing it, Zeng Yinglin persuaded him softly: "At this moment, I don't care about it anymore. This is a good thing. Drinking it will save you a little pain." After hearing what he said, Jin Zhijun looked at his legs again. His legs were swollen as thick as a bucket at this time, and the black and blue lumps were one piece here, one piece here, and when he touched it, he felt hot. pain.So under Zeng Yinglin's persuasion, he finally closed his eyes again, picked up the spittoon, and took a big gulp of the "Huilong Soup", a strong smell rushed to his forehead, his heart was blocked, and he just drank it Spit it all out again.Pushing back the spittoon, he moaned: "Yu Shu, forget it, at this point, it's better to die quickly," Zeng Yinglin seemed to be talking to himself and said: "It's a good thing to be able to die, but I'm afraid I won't be able to die for a while. Did you see that those who tortured were all the eunuchs of the East Factory and the school captain of Jinyiwei. If there is a way, he can tell you to die immediately, or he can tell you not to survive, not to die." Hearing that the torturers were from Dongchang and Jinyiwei, Jin Zhijun just remembered, no wonder these faces are familiar, they are from Dongchang, the executioner of Dongchang, probably the reincarnation of bull head and horse face, this was ordered by the emperor before The Minister of Punishment is now ordered by the bandits to punish the ministers, as if it was destined, and the scholars of Zhu Ming Dynasty were really cheap, even if the court died, they still could not escape the fate of the torture rod.This is really a bastard world where there is no right and wrong, no distinction between good and evil, loyal ministers deserve death, and treacherous ministers have no good life. Thinking of this, Jin Zhijun murmured: "Hey, Yang Wenru (Lian), Zuo Yizhi (Guangdou) and others died in the eunuchs, and there is still a day of rehabilitated. My generation just died like this. It is really worse than grass and trees." Zeng Yinglin didn't want to be heard by the people around him, so he came closer and whispered: "Don't think about it, this is a robbery, Huang Chao killed eight million people, and those who can count will not escape." Hearing what he said, Jin Zhijun couldn't help raising his head and glanced around. He saw people everywhere, and the hall was like a court meeting. Even the relatives of the emperor and the nobles who don't often go to court also came.The east and west flower halls, corridors and corridors are full of these fearful people.The old and the young, the rich-looking ones, the clean and free-spirited ones, the potbellied ones, and the well-dressed ones—all of them usually sit in sedan chairs when they go out, and they need help when they walk. They took out other instruments of torture and lay there one by one, screaming and moaning. Among these people, the general officials performed a little better. The most unbearable ones were the relatives of the emperor. Whoever drinks three times and reprimands others, how can there be a whip and stick to be tortured?How often have you suffered so much?That's why I screamed like ghosts, and even died shortly after the execution; , Most of the people who shouted in the hall were this group of people. The hardest thing is the officials with good conduct on weekdays. They are poor all their lives, indifferent and self-satisfied. The servants in the family may know that you have no money, and your colleagues admire your integrity, but it is hard to explain it here. The official is so big that he has no money. Who will believe it?Talk about incorruptibility and incorruptibility, but there is no engraving on your head; the common saying: money stops you, but life stops you if you don’t have money, which is most applicable here. If you can’t get money, you will be punished immediately—— The Marquis Wu's Mansion, which was usually full of singing and singing, is now the Hall of Yama, where ghosts are crying and wolves are howling. At this time, there was another scream from the right. Jin Zhijun saw that it was still Chen Yan, who was being fingered at the moment. Two big men had already raised his fingers and pulled the rope vigorously. Every time he pulled, he would kill him. Screaming like a pig.Jin Zhijun couldn't help but wonder, but held back his pain, moaned and asked: "Isn't that Mr. Chen Ge all right after handing over the silver, why did he startle again?" Zeng Yinglin told him in a low voice that after Chen Yan handed over the 40,000 silver, he was fine. When he didn't want to go to his house to collect the silver, his servant came forward and quietly told the officials who collected the silver that there was something wrong in the back garden of Chen Yan's house. A cellar, hiding a lot of yellow and white things.As soon as Liu Zongmin heard that it was a fire, he immediately sent someone to dig. Under the guidance of this servant, he dug out a cellar, which contained more than 30,000 taels of gold, more than 200,000 taels of silver, and several buckets of jewels.This time, Liu Zongmin couldn't forgive Chen Yan anymore. Apart from taking all his treasures, he also clamped him up again. It seemed that Chen Yan could only wait to die. Jin Zhijun thought, no wonder Chen Yan refused to return to his hometown immediately after he became an official. It turned out that he couldn't let go of this end, but when Chongzhen persuaded him to take the lead in donating, why didn't he even want to take out 10,000 taels of silver? Zeng Yinglin also said that just now Li Yuzhi, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was chased for 80,000 stolen goods, and Li only handed over 30,000.His son borrowed 20,000 yuan from a fellow villager at the Qianmen Dashilan firm, but Liu Zongmin still refused to let him go, so he was first punished with a rod, and then brain-strapped. Yinwen was also weak and sick, so he died immediately after being put on the clamp. Unexpectedly, in just half a day, Jin Zhijun executed the two of them. While he was sighing, Liu Zongmin shouted angrily, slapped the tables and chairs, and then burst into wailing. When people heard this, they were also very worried.Because he couldn't see what was going on in the hall through an old locust tree, Zeng Yinglin told Jin Zhijun that the person who was being interrogated was Wei Zaode, the chief assistant. When he heard that it was Wei Zaode, Jin Zhijun got up and leaned against the door to watch, although his whole body was still in pain like a fire.At this time, Liu Zongmin felt tired after sitting in the hall for a long time, so he came down from the hall. He had already figured out the origin of Wei Zaode's number one scholar, so he pointed to the tip of Wei Zaode's nose and asked: "I heard that your kid was able to win the No. 1 Scholar because of the word 'knowledge of shame', which catered to Chongzhen's taste. So, you became the prime minister of Chongzhen after being named No. 1, but you are so greedy for life and afraid of death. Chongzhen died. You will not die, this is your 'knowledge of shame'? It can be seen that you are a shameless guy, now I don't care whether you know it or not, if you don't donate a hundred thousand silver, I will not forgive you." Wei Zaode said: "This minister was only appointed in February this year. He was ordered to be in a dangerous city. The dynasty is already in jeopardy. How can there be any desire to collect money? Who will give money?" Jin Zhijun thought, this is the truth, Wei Zaode's conduct is not good, if he is the chancellor of Taiping, if he has the opportunity to collect money, he must do his part, but unfortunately, when he is lucky, Chongzhen's defeat is already set, who will give him away? money with him.But Liu Zongmin was too lazy to listen to him, so he just stopped drinking: "No money? Pick it up!" At this time, all the soldiers came up to clamp people.In the rush, Wei Zaode suddenly said loudly: "General, please don't get angry. The criminals have a little girl, who is a little pretty. I would like to treat the general as a concubine." Liu Zongmin has not yet understood what a "jibroom concubine" is.But Liu Fangliang understood what he heard, and couldn't help being furious. He was slapping the table and ordering an additional sentence. While watching the trial, Wang Qiguo was also angry, and kicked Wei Zaode with his toes, cursing again and again: "It's so shameless, and you still say 'shame', your little girl can only be a bitch." At this time, two captains who were tortured came up and dragged Wei Zaode down, and then heard the sound of "pat, clap, clap" on the mouth and Wei Zaode's wailing. Thinking of the trial of Wei Zaode, I don't know whose turn it will be again, the prisoners waiting for trial can't help fighting each other...