Chapter 76 5. True or false "Seven Killing Monument"

After Zhang Xianzhong occupied Chengdu, he sent envoys to recruit local officials and squires to meet him in Chengdu, and ordered: "If the common people dare to hide officials, Ling Chi; if the gentry dare not go to the court, Ling Chi." In addition to the squire himself, his family members were also detained and went to Chengdu, but as soon as these people arrived in Chengdu, the whole family was killed. In addition, Zhang Xianzhong also ordered the academic officials from all over the country to lead the local students to Chengdu to take the exam-the wives of the academic officials should also lead the wives of the students to Chengdu, it is said that they want to take part in the examination.But this group of people could not avoid a tragic end: the men were killed as soon as they arrived; all the women were sent to the brothels, and after being humiliated, they were also killed.

It is said that Zhang Xianzhong once took out a big yellow flag measuring one foot in length and one foot in length and width, and asked the students to write the word "handsome" all over the page. kill. Wang Zhidao, a student from Jiajiang, tied grass as a pen, stored ink in a large vat, soaked it for three days, and proposed straight writing, which was not a little bit uncomfortable.Mr. Zhang Xianzhong looked at it for a long time, and he also felt that the writing was good. There was really nothing to find, so he changed his words and said: "You are so talented, and he will be the one who wants to see me every day." He ordered this Wang Zhidao to be pulled out and chopped Drop it and sacrifice the banner he just wrote.

Anyway, there is a reason to kill, and there is no reason to create a reason to kill. This story comes from "Shu Bi", one of the must-read books recommended by Mr. Lu Xun for young people. This Mr. Wang Zhidao is the great-grandfather of Peng Zunsi, the author of "Shu Bi". He was only 27 years old when he died. The stories that have been passed down from ear to ear are still worth believing. Zhang Xianzhong referred to the officers and soldiers as "thieves". Those who were captured were tied up and thrown into boiling water pots, or executed in a hurry.If the executioner in charge of the execution is not skilled enough, and if the skin is sticky, another person will peel off the skin of the executioner.

There are also squires who have been crushed into meat sauce by stone mills. Yan Ximing, a scholar of Zhang Xianzhong's Wenhua Palace, told his old man that he did not have many heirs before, mainly because of problems with his work targets: "All women were plundered by soldiers, not worthy of holiness." , Suggesting him to remarry a wife who has both ability and beauty.At present, there is a ready candidate, the youngest daughter of Chen Yan, the last prime minister of the Chongzhen Dynasty, who has both talents, virtues and looks, and seems to be qualified to be the queen of the Daxi Dynasty.

Mr. Zhang Xianzhong thought that this marriage would not be too disadvantageous, so he agreed. A few days later, news suddenly came out from the palace, saying that Empress Chen wanted to "vegetate monks". In layman's terms, she just wanted to invite monks to have a vegetarian meal, and sometimes she simply gave money, which was a way to do good deeds and show off her pomp ——This was also a common thing in the big families at that time. It is said that the great monk rewards ten taels of silver, and the young monk rewards six taels of silver.The monks in Chengdu were overjoyed—and didn’t even think about it, is Zhang Xianzhong’s food delicious?

It is said that some people took the opportunity to shave off their hair and join the ranks of monks, and there were some who offered bribes—a child begged the monk: "I would like to be ordained as a novice monk, and I would get six gold coins. I should give you half a thank you!" The temple received the money, and the soldiers closed the temple gate, and every ten monks tied a string with a rope, and all of them were killed. Most of the clan clans of the Prince of Shu were in Guanxian County. Zhang Xianzhong sent troops to surround Guanxian County, and slaughtered all the clansmen and civilians.

Wouldn't the officials who surrendered have a better life?Not necessarily. There is a Mr. Jiang Dingzhen who is very proud of being the secretary of the Ministry of Rites and the president of the examination in Zhang Xianzhong's court.To welcome the Spring Festival, Zhang Xianzhong asked him which door should be used for the old man. The Mr. Jiang was full of knowledge and blurted out: "Go to the East Gate." Son, the boss was not happy to hear this "dong", and asked him where it came from.Mr. Jiang is having fun, I am good at testing allusions, "publish "Da Ming Hui Dian""!

This pissed off Mr. Zhang Xianzhong to death—you still know that there is "Da Ming Hui Dian"?Immediately ordered that this guy be dragged out and beaten with a hundred army sticks. Mr. Jiang had a student, He, who was willing to take fifty sticks for him.As a result, on the second day, both the teacher and the student's family were ransacked and beheaded. Even worse, Gong Wanjing, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, angered Zhang Xianzhong, the dignified Minister of Defense, with a small incident, and was actually skinned.The specific operation process is said to be as follows: firstly, an incision is made from the back of the victim's neck, a slit is cut down the back to the anus, and then the skin is slowly torn to the sides, and the fleshy skin is torn between the back and the arms Connected together, spread out left and right, a bit like bat wings.People who have been stripped in this way have to wait for more than a day before they can die.Peeling is a very meticulous work that requires considerable skill and patience—the operator itself is quite risky, and if the peeling is not good, he must fill in himself—if the person who is peeled is unfortunately scared to death before the work is completed, responsible Those who are skinned will be skinned by others.

It is said that Sun Kewang once curiously asked the skinned person how he felt, and the other party said, "Die happily, cool all over!"However, according to this method of death, it is painful if it is painful, but not necessarily fast, and it is definitely not "happy". After Mr. Gong Wanjing was skinned, his skin had to be filled with grass, and he put on his usual clothes to parade in the streets.Mr. Zhang Xianzhong's logic is: "Civilian officials are afraid that no one will do it!" A magistrate of Jiajiang County in the Western Dynasty wanted to flatter Zhang Xianzhong by sending lychees to him.But this old man somehow got hotheaded, removed the lychee core and put it in salt, thinking that it could be preserved for a longer time.Zhang Xianzhong was furious and ordered his close minister Wang Ke to kill the idiot.He pleaded with his left and right, saying that the county magistrate is a countryman who has never seen lychees. Although he is confused, he is not guilty of death. Zhang nodded, um, you are right.Immediately, an edict was issued: "Wang Ke, come back and spare the Guizhi County in Jiajiang!" This edict later fell into the hands of someone in Ziyang, and it was still there in the Qianlong period. The original text of the edict is recorded here, and the language is quite plain and approachable. .

He also pretended to hold the imperial examination and asked the local officials to send all scholars to Chengdu, and those who did not want to come had to be escorted.After they came, they called names in Daci Temple, pulled out all those taller than four feet and killed them, and the pens and inkstones they left behind piled up like a mountain.It is said that only two scholars were too young to reach the height of the rope, so they were left as secretaries.One of the children was Ouyang Zhi, a native of Jiading, who was coerced by Zhang Xianzhong to northern Sichuan. After Zhang Xianzhong was defeated by the Qing army, he escaped by chance.

It is said that Zhang Xianzhong also recruited martial arts candidates, driving all the candidates to the playground, and throwing out more than a thousand bad horses, so that the candidates for martial arts can find one to ride.Then, the onlookers who contributed to the army clamored in unison, and the golden drums sounded in unison. The horses were frightened and galloped wildly. Zhang Xianzhong has done this several times to open a subject to obtain a scholar, but it's not always such a terrible prank. At least one time, he officially selected Zhang Dashou, the number one scholar, with both civil and military skills, and a magnificent appearance. His subordinates all flattered him, saying that I, Emperor Daxi, was a genius in the world.Zhang Xianzhong was very happy, and rewarded the number one scholar with gold coins, and when he was giving the banquet on a whim, he also approved to reward him with all the gold and silver utensils on the table.Early the next morning, the number one scholar entered the court to thank him, and Zhang Xianzhong rewarded the first house with ten beauties and twenty servants.Early tomorrow morning, the number one scholar came to the court to thank him again. Zhang Xianzhong frowned and said, "I love this donkey, but when I see him, I love him so much. Hurry up and clean it up with me." Don’t teach him to come see me again.” As a result, the champion gentleman was slaughtered in a daze. It is said that Zhang Xianzhong once saw the gods in person and said to him: "Heaven connects everything with man, and man has nothing with heaven." He added two more sentences: "Ghosts and gods are clear, think about yourself." It is called the "sacred oracle stele". From the reading of the inscription on the stele, it does mean exhortation.However, some historical materials also record the inscription as: "Heaven connects everything to man, and man has nothing to do with heaven. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill." It is called the "Seven Killing Monument".It is said that there are some stone tablets engraved with these two kinds of inscriptions, but which one is right and which is wrong has become a historical mystery. The "Monument of Seven Killings" is just a legend whose truth is not known, but the personal experience left by the person concerned really tells us the truth of history. The production of Shu brocade, which was once famous all over the world, also declined due to the great turmoil in the late Ming Dynasty. Only Sun Kewang left behind thirteen weavers, and later brought them to Yunnan.The so-called "Tonghai satin" in Yunnan is the relic of Shu brocade handed down by these weavers.