Chapter 91 The twenty-eighth round of Wumen court stick blood flies like rain

"The prisoner!" A small school stood on a temporary wooden platform in front of the Meridian Gate, and let out a creepy cry.Immediately, a group of brocade guards poured out from the three duty rooms next to the left door. They escorted Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian, Ai Mu, and Shen Sixiao, who were wearing iron and wooden shackles, and pushed them to the wooden platform. forward.A long table was placed on the wooden platform, and Zhu Xixiao, the governor of Jinyiwei, presided over today's execution.Letting a prince do it himself shows that the emperor attaches great importance to this court staff.According to the emperor's will, officials of the fourth rank and above in the capital all came to the scene. Hundreds of officials were divided into hatchbacks according to their ranks, each of them looked stern and said nothing.Around the square, three steps, one post, four departments and one outpost were full of Jinyiwei soldiers.

On the brick floor in front of the wooden platform, four pieces of felt had already been spread, and on each felt was spread a long roll of very strong white woven cloth - this is also the rule of the court rod, the person who is rode lies on the white cloth, and when the rod is lifted, After that, the executioner only needs to drag the white cloth, and the victim will be dragged out of the Meridian Gate Square and handed over to the family members who have already been waiting there. Wu Zhongxing and the other four were escorted to the four felts and stood facing the wooden platform.It has been 11 years since Emperor Longqing ascended the throne to the current five years of Wanli, and there has never been a creepy court ceremony held outside the Meridian Gate.It was a tragedy that hadn't happened in many years for four people to suffer the cane together.Therefore, the atmosphere in the square is particularly depressing.Although Zhu Xixiao is the commander-in-chief of Jinyiwei, he has never experienced a battle, and rarely sees bloody scenes. Therefore, today he looked very nervous. He glanced at the four "criminal officials" in front of him and made a gesture , spit out two words:

"Unloading." "Unload the shackles—" the principal shouted the order. A few cavalrymen stepped forward and skillfully unlocked and removed the shackles.There was only a clattering and clattering sound, and the iron and wooden shackles on the four people's necks were removed.Because their hands have been pulled up for a long time, their elbow joints are stiff and numb. Once the shackles are removed, their upward-bending hands cannot be put down for a while.Ai Mu and Shen Sixiao didn't have to suffer for a day, so they moved their hands faster. Ai Mu shook his arms lightly, looked at Zhao Yongxian who was standing next door and still raised his hands, and said:

"Brother Ru, when you close your eyes and grit your teeth, your hands will come down." "Come here and help me pull it off." Zhao Yongxian was telling a joke, but Ai Mu believed it to be true, but he forgot that he was in the execution ground, and was about to go there. The executioner stretched out his stick and slashed at his chest. Hole.Although Zhu Xixiao acted cautiously, he regarded the actions of Zhao Yongxian and Ai Mu as a provocation to him, the chief criminal officer, or contempt, so he turned fear into anger, and reprimanded: "You criminal officials, you are not afraid to be punished!"

Ai Mu refused to show timidity in front of all the ministers, so he protested loudly: "What is our crime for maintaining the rules and regulations of the court?" "Presumptuous!" Zhu Xixiao raised his voice, showing his true qualities of a handsome man without anger, "Decree!" "yes?" An eunuch walked up to the wooden platform from the side, unfolded the yellow scroll, and read aloud: Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian, Ai Mu, Shen Sixiao, etc., opposed Zeng Shichu, Chen Sanmo, etc.'s proposal of seductiveness, and they were known as the day to defend the rules.In fact, it is far from hearing the emperor and his ministers.Although the shackles are shown to the public, I still don't want to repent.Today, Wu Zhongxing and Zhao Yongxian, who wear brocade clothes and guards, are sixty, and their posts are reduced to gangsters; Zhang Aimu and Shen Sixiao are eighty.Three thousand miles away.Immediately after being sentenced, he was expelled from the capital.Do not stay.Thank you!

When the eunuch announced the decree, there were as many as a thousand people of all kinds in the square, but there was no sound.Many officials present couldn't believe that such a severe punishment was a decision made by a fifteen-year-old emperor.But they couldn't allow them to think about it, the sound of the declaration had just...stopped, only to see Zhu Xixiao wave his hand, and the little school beside him roared again: "Execution—" Before the sound could be heard, the guards in brocade who had already stood in front of the criminal officials rushed forward, and extremely skillfully overturned the four of them to the ground, making them lie down on the white cloth with their faces covered with bricks.

"Open your mouth!" A soldier yelled, and the four of them didn't come back to their senses. Zhao Yongxian, one of them, raised his head and wanted to say something. Immediately, a soldier quickly stuffed a sandalwood stick about five inches long into his mouth. Son, there are fine hemp ropes on both ends of the stick. The soldier grabbed the two hemp ropes and tied them tightly around the back of his neck. The sandalwood stick opened Zhao Yongxian's mouth and blocked it tightly, let alone shouting. , can't even hum.This is also an indispensable link in front of the court rod, because the iron thorn and sandalwood rod will tear your skin and flesh in just a few hits. If you keep your mouth shut, you won't be able to shout even if you want to.In a blink of an eye, all four people "bited" a sandalwood stick in their mouths.

Next, their hands were clasped to death with iron rings tied with hemp rope, and then they were torn apart.Tensioned hemp ropes were fastened securely to iron wedges improvised into the brick floor.After the mouth and hands were dealt with, the four of them could no longer move.The next procedure is to take off their pants-although this is indecent, it is an indispensable part.Gein, if a person subjected to rod punishment wears trousers, the shattered pieces of cloth will be deeply embedded in the flesh with one stroke of the rod. Even if the stick man survived, he couldn't clean it because he was polluted by cloth dust.Wounds are also difficult to heal.Therefore, the act of taking off the pants is for the sake of the prisoner.

The trousers were taken off, and the four bare buttocks were exposed in broad daylight. Fortunately, there was not a single woman present, but the high-ranking bureaucrats who pretended to be elegant still felt that this kind of blasphemy was unacceptable, and many of them closed their eyes. Eye. All preparations in front of the court rod are in place.The small school checked them one by one, and returned to the stage to report to Zhu Xixiao.In fact, Zhu Xixiao himself had already seen it clearly.Squinting his eyes, he looked again at the four fleshy buttocks that were shining under the sun, as well as the two executioners in front of each criminal. The terrifying words of the firmament:

"hit!" "hit--" This sound echoed in the high wall in front of Meridian Gate.Some closed eyes suddenly opened, and some opened eyes quickly closed again. Almost at the same time, the eight torture sticks were raised together. "Snapped!" "Crack!" "Crack clap clap!" The sound of a heavy blunt weapon hitting the flesh: dull, hoarse, but irresistibly penetrating: When the first stick went down, all four of them raised their heads at the same time. Because it was the first stick, they could respond quickly to the pain—like a ladle of boiling oil splashed on their buttocks:

The minced meat flew horizontally and blood spattered. However, all the officials watching the execution could not hear the heart-wrenching wailing, and the victim's mouth was blocked.Because their bodies were also chained to death, they could not be seen struggling or writhing. "ninety……" "Twenty, twenty one..." "Forty-five, forty-six..." There was a soldier who was loudly reporting the number of blows with the stick, and every number shouted was like a heavy hammer, hitting the heart of every observer.However, these numbers have no effect on the tortured persons themselves. After a dozen blows, they all passed out. "Forty-nine, fifty..." "Fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty!" As soon as this number was reported, Wu Zhongxing and Zhao Yongxian's cane punishment ended, and Ai Mu and Shen Sixiao had to beat 20 more canes. The two people who stopped the canes were lying there bloody and horrible, and the two who continued to be caned, let your canes fall like thunder, they didn't move, each stick seemed to hit cotton.It should be known that these execution soldiers (including their squad leader, the junior officer standing beside Zhu Xixiao) were all bribed yesterday——Zhao Zhigao's group of ministers entrusted someone to find them, and secretly stuffed them A lot of money, begging them to show mercy today.The small school promised to keep the four of them alive.Otherwise, if the execution soldiers do bad things, they can crush your bones within ten sticks, and kill you within thirty sticks.Today, the execution soldiers did use tricks in secret. Although on the surface they raised the rod high and swung it down very violently, the moment they approached the victim's body, they stiffened their wrists and poured the force into the rod. A lot has been recycled.Moreover, they try not to land on the joints when they cast their sticks.Even so, after all, the sandalwood stick with iron barbs is too powerful. Although the victim can save his life, the bloody and bloody living crime is still horrific. "Seventy-eight." After shouting this number, the executioners slowed down the sticks in their hands, and they were all sweating profusely. These soldiers with big arms and round waists were also panting from exhaustion, and their arms were weak. "seventy-nine!" "eighty--" When the last number was shouted, the narrator dragged on the lingering sound for a very long time. During this dragging sound, the execution soldier carried eight bloody sticks and walked into the guard room next to the left door one by one.The officials on both sides of the execution ground all let out a long sigh of relief. During the entire execution period, Zhu Xixiao was sweating profusely from nervousness, and now his vest was cold: he glanced at the four bloody men lying on the ground, hurried over, and said "san" to Xiaoxiao. The small school took another step forward and shouted: "Officials, this is over—" Immediately, officials from both sides rushed towards the Duanmen like a tide.They neither talked to each other nor dared to stay here for a while.In a short while, all the officials watching the sentence retreated: In fact, neither Zhu Xixiao, the judge of the sentence, nor the thousands of officials watching the sentence, nor the four prisoners knew their ruler—— Fifteen-year-old emperor Zhu Yijun, under the guidance of Feng Bao, secretly boarded the Meridian Gate Tower since Chenshi.They watched the entire execution from behind the wooden window lattices covered with tulle. When the bloody scene appeared, Feng Bao worried that the emperor would be frightened, so he whispered from the side: "Long live, don't look at it, this scene is too bloody." However, Zhu Yijun stared at the execution ground intently, and said in an extremely excited tone: "Big companion, why are you so worthless!" "Long live, you?" Zhu Yijun turned his head and stared at Feng Bao, with a murderous look in his eyes that did not match his age, and said word by word: "Big companion, until today, I have only tasted what it's like to be an emperor." Feng Baoru was scalded by the scorching flames, and his whole body trembled.He suddenly felt that the Zhu Yijun in front of him was no longer the little emperor with a childish face and a childlike heart. His heart was sour, and tears rolled from the corners of his eyes. "Big companion, why are you crying?" Zhu Yijun asked in surprise. Feng Bao hurriedly wiped away his tears, and said with a smirk, "I'm so happy to see that the Long Live Lord has grown up;" "I remember that when I was eleven years old, Mr. Yuanfu Zhang taught me that to be the emperor, one must conquer the world with benevolence and strengthen the world. A few years ago, rich people and strong soldiers practiced benevolent governance. This is the beginning of Vega adding to the world. I just smelled a little blood, and your companion thought I was afraid, isn’t it a joke. If you can’t even see this blood, how can you act like the emperor?” Zhu Yijun discussed while watching the court stick, his expression seemed to be watching a wonderful excerpt.Feng Bao wished in his heart that the execution soldiers would stick to death these "criminal officials" who had committed chaos, but usually he didn't even dare to watch chickens being killed.Therefore, when he saw this bloody scene, his stomach turned up and he wanted to vomit.Zhu Yijun probably saw Feng Bao's fear, so he taunted: "Big companion, you really have a bit of a woman's kindness." Feng Bao giggled with helplessness on his face. Suddenly, he pointed in the direction of the Duanmen door and said to Zhu Yijun: "Long live, look!" Zhu Yijun looked over and saw a young official in ninth-rank official uniform passing through the end gate alone and walking into the empty square.Zhu Yijun couldn't help asking curiously: "What is this man up to?" The young official who walked into Meridian Gate Square alone was named Zou Yuanbiao. But after saying the court stick, in order to prevent riots at the scene, the criminal judge immediately ordered the venue to disperse. After all the officials had dispersed, the small school asked the soldiers to drag the four bloody men out of the ground and hand them over to their families.The soldiers dragged the white cloth on the felt to the end gate, leaving four streaks of bright red blood on the square. The family members of the four "criminal officials" had been waiting outside the Duanmen gate since before dawn, and now seeing the four being dragged out, all of them were ripped apart and breathless, they burst into tears.At this moment, outside the Duanmen Gate, besides the family members, there were also many young officials who had friendship with the "criminal officials" or some young officials who sympathized with them, also came here.They did not forget the doctors who were invited to treat them. Amidst the sky-high wailing, the doctors began to rush to treat them.Although these four people were unconscious, their mouths were all open, because the wooden sticks they were "biting" in their mouths were taken down, and the jaws couldn't move when they were unconscious, so they couldn't close them.This provides convenience for the treatment.The doctors soaked the prepared anaconda gall in a small cup of rice wine and poured it into their mouths.There has always been a folk saying that the gall of the anaconda snake can make people recover their yang: swallow the gall of the snake snake, and then bandage them.The torture stick hit the lower body, the buttocks and legs were smashed, and Bai Lili's bones were already exposed.This tragic injury caused many of the female relatives present to faint from fright.The doctors encountered difficulties in bandaging. Fragments of minced meat were everywhere, and they could not replant them. The only thing they could do was to apply a large amount of tuna medicine to stop bleeding and pain. Zou Yuanbiao also rushed to wait outside Duanmen very early, and now seeing the scene of rescue, he felt burned inside.He is a new Jinshi who has just been awarded in the Autumn Grand Ceremony this year. He has been assigned to the Ministry of Punishment to observe politics in less than two months after he put on the make-up uniform.Before passing the Jinshi examination, he was well-known in his hometown of Jishui County, Jiangxi Province. His teacher Hu Zhi was a Jinshi during the Jiajing period, and he learned from Wang Yangming's mind learning.Zou Yuanbiao inherited the teacher's mantle and advocated the theory of peace and harmony to help the world and govern the country by doing nothing. Therefore, he was very dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng's reforms in the administration of officials and finance, and considered it tyrannical.After the turmoil of seduction happened, he paid close attention to it, but because he was a Jinshi of the new department, he was very quiet, so not many people paid attention to him. Even Ai Mu, who was in the Ministry of Punishment, just regarded him as a hot-blooded young man who joined in the fun and did not pay enough attention to him.Yesterday, when Ai Mu pondered about filial piety, the Emperor was furious and sent a decree to hand over their court sticks, Zou Yuanbiao hardly thought about it, and rushed to write a letter of protest all night, planning to present it to the emperor again after today's court sticks. Seeing that Wu Zhongxing and the other four people had recovered their breathing under the treatment of the doctors, Zou Yuanbiao raised his foot and walked towards the Duan gate. The soldiers guarding the gate stopped him from passing. "The Ministry of Punishment has an emergency, so I sent it to the emperor." After hearing this, the soldiers dared not stop him any more, so they let him go. At this time, the Meridian Gate Square was empty, and some soldiers were cleaning up the blood on the ground: beside the four felts, there was a stall of accumulated blood, and the pieces of flesh were separated.Zou Yuanbiao came to the front and stood there for a long time facing the blood on the ground. At this moment, a soldier came up to intervene and told him to leave quickly, so he walked to the Zuoye door with tears in his eyes. "What are you going to do?" asked the Imperial Guard on duty at the Zuoye Gate. Zou Yuanbiao replied: "The Ministry of Punishment handed it over." Hearing that it was handed over, the eunuch in the door turned around and asked, "What is it?" Zou Yuanbiao was afraid that the eunuchs would not dare to submit the report, so he lied and replied: "As for the execution of the prisoner in winter, the Ministry of Punishment will ask the emperor for instructions." The eunuch didn't ask any further questions, took the booklet and went back to the door.At this time, Zhu Yijun, who was still staying on the tower, had sent someone down earlier to see what Zou Yuanbiao was going to do, so he took the note from the eunuch and ran back upstairs quickly. Hearing that the person who came was Zou Yuanbiao, this year's Xinke Scholars and Criminal Affairs Officer, Zhu Yijun asked suspiciously: "Why did the Ministry of Punishment send a Guanzheng to hand over the paper? Read it quickly, what does this paper say?" Feng Bao unfolded the booklet, and just after reading the inscription "Remonstrating Zhang Juzheng for Seizing Love", his face changed drastically. "What's wrong?" Zhu Yijun asked. "Another attack against Yuan Fu Duoqing." Feng Bao replied cautiously. "Really?" Zhu Yijun touched the soft mustache that had just grown on his lips, and said with a sullen face, "Read!" Feng Bao sipped a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and just said, "For the chief assistant Zhang Juzheng's affair, Zou Yuanbiao, the Minister and Punishment Department, once again resisted the remonstrance day", and then stopped. He looked at Zhu Yijun's expression and saw that there was no sign. Only then continued to read: Your Majesty thinks that being upright is beneficial to the country? Although being upright can be a talent, academics are biased.Although the ambition is to do it, it is too much for one's own use.Those with perverse facilities, such as enrollment in prefectures and counties, are limited to fifteen or six people. Some Secretary Xi pointed out that the number is even worse, which means that the number of talents is not wide.There are also fixed quotas for the execution of prisoners in various ways, and the number must increase for the fear of punishment, which means that the punishment is too excessive.The ministers keep their salary and use it, and the lesser ministers are afraid of crimes and keep silent. If there is someone who dares to speak today, he will be repelled tomorrow... "Presumptuous!" Hearing this, Zhu Yijun finally couldn't help roaring, "A member of the Ministry of Punishment who observes politics dares to discuss government affairs indiscriminately. Come!" "The old slave is here!" Feng Bao hurriedly leaned forward and replied. "Decree Jin Yiwei, hurry up and catch Zou Yuanbiao, don't let him run away." "Yes." Feng Bao agreed, and ordered his companions to accompany him.Hurry down and pass the decree. "Keep reading!" Zhu Yijun ordered. Feng Bao nodded, and continued to follow the order: Chen Fu read the imperial edict: "I have not yet completed my studies and my ambitions have not yet been determined. If my husband goes away, all my previous achievements will be wasted." 'Your Majesty's words are indeed the blessings of the boundless clan.However, those who have become sages in Ganzhong, who are the assistants of sages, are not alone in the right.There are many people who have more knowledge and character than those who are upright.Guan Juzheng said: "There are extraordinary people in the world, and then they do extraordinary things." 'If going to funerals is a common thing, and those who don't bother to do it, wouldn't the five constant principles of human beings be lost? If you don't care for your own life, and don't run for your own death, you still call yourself "I am an extraordinary talent" in the world, isn't it? Doesn't it make the world's scholars feel cold? It can be inferred from this that one must have the heart of a beast, and then he is an extraordinary person... "Don't read any more," Zhu Yijun's lips were blackened with anger, he firmly grasped the chair wing, and said through gritted teeth, "This Zou Yuanbiao, I wish I could kill him." Feng Bao was worried that Zhu Yijun would really order to kill people on the spur of the moment, which would inevitably cause chaos in the court, so he quickly knelt down and said: "Long Live Lord, killing people is absolutely impossible." "Why?" Feng Bao was worried that if he didn't clarify the reasons for a while, it would cause even greater anger on the emperor, so he said an unexpected reason: "This Zou Yuanbiao dared to take the risk after seeing the four of them being beaten to death. This shows that he is ready to die." "what?" "If Lord Long Live ordered to kill him, it would have fulfilled him. If he died for resisting remonstrance, scholars all over the world will regard Zou Yuanbiao as a hero. This is the honor Zou Yuanbiao wants to get." "Hey, there are such strange people in the world after death." Zhu Yijun felt unbelievable, but he still adopted Feng Bao's suggestion and said, "Since he wants to die, I won't let him die, my friend, pass on the decree." , taking Ai Mu and Shen Sixiao as examples, this Zou Yuanbiao imperial staff will be sent to the army three thousand miles away. Execute immediately!" "The slave obeys the order." Feng Bao agreed and went downstairs to deliver the decree in person.As soon as he walked out of the door, Zhu Yijun called him again, and said fiercely: "You spread my words to all the yamen. After Zou Yuanbiao, whoever dares to oppose my purpose of seizing love will be killed without pardon!" end of volume three 2002.8.16.