Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Settlement

The first to deal with is Wei Zhongxian's family members, such as his nephew Wei Liangqing, a fool who doesn't understand farts, who has also been made a duke (Ning Guogong), and Hakka's son Hou Guoxing (commander of Jinyiweidu), all pulled Go out and chop. Next was his trusted eunuch. After all, everyone had a similar physical structure and worked together in a gang. They were considered half-relatives, and they were given priority. There are a total of four people in this group, namely the eunuch Wang Tiqian, the eunuch who holds the seal, Li Yongzhen, Li Chaoqin, and Liu Ruoyu, the eunuchs who hold the pen.

As the top criminals, these four should be beheaded, but in the end, only two died, and one was killed. The first person to die was Li Chaoqin, who hanged himself with Wei Zhongxian, not a homicide, but a suicide. The only one killed by him was Li Yongzhen.In fact, this brother is quite clever. As early as the end of September, when Eunuch Wei was still proud, he sniffed out the wind and didn't even go to work. He started to build a bunker at home and sealed the yard tightly, leaving only small holes. Delivering food, nesting in it every day, even if killed. Enduring to the end is victory.

Li Yongzhen did not see a day of victory. At the end of October, when he heard that Wei Zhongxian had left, he was overjoyed and tore down the wall to let the wind out. I was happy for a few days, and then heard the news that the emperor was going to clean up Eunuch Wei, panicked, and it was useless to build a bunker. So he resorted to a trick - bribery. Of course, bribing Chongzhen was useless. He took out more than 100,000 taels of silver (60-80 million RMB at the current market price) and gave them to the personal eunuchs around Chongzhen, including Xu Yingyuan and Wang Tiqian. Both took it.

Soon after, he got the news that Xu Yingyuan was dismissed by Chongzhen, and Wang Tiqian sold him out. Among the four dead eunuchs on the death list, the most mysterious one is Wang Ti's death. This person is Wei Zhongxian's hardcore, killed Wang An, and persecuted the Donglin Party, he is busy, and he is the leader of the Eunuch Party. But the strange thing is, when I looked through the final conviction results of the eunuchs hundreds of years ago, I was surprised to find that he was only ranked seventh (out of a total of eight) based on his great achievements and misdeeds, and he was charged with flattery and support , He was released without even paying the fine.

Xu Yingyuan, who had served Chongzhen for more than ten years, just said a few words, and his conviction was higher than him (fifth class). This seemingly incomprehensible phenomenon has a simple answer: Wang Tiqian rebelled. According to historical data analysis, Wang Tiqian may have "revolted" very early, so Chongzhen has always been familiar with Wei Zhongxian's psychological activities and struggle strategies. After being an undercover agent for so long, it is time to rest. So he accepted the money, filed a complaint, and reported to Chongzhen the next day. After learning about it, Li Yongzhen decided to run away.

Let's run, the next day, can you still go to Africa? Ten days later, he was arrested and brought to justice. After entering the cell, Eunuch Li was still restless and planned to commit suicide. He committed suicide four times bravely, but strangely failed to die four times. Finally, he was dragged to the execution ground and killed with a knife. The last one on the list is Liu Ruoyu. This man should be the most deadly. He joined the eunuch party in the early years and has always been a confidant. He has done all bad things. He is not an undercover agent or a traitor. He confesses frankly and has no statutory circumstances such as voluntarily returning stolen goods. It is impossible to die .

But he didn't die. Because although Liu Ruoyu committed a heinous crime, he has a characteristic: he can write. Prior to this, most of the documents of the eunuch party were all in his hands. In other words, he was considered a technician, and he knew a lot of things, so Chongzhen kept him to write confession materials.Eunuch Liu was very dedicated and successfully completed this task. His "Zhu Zhong Zhi" has become the most important historical material for future generations to study Wei Zhongxian. As long as you read the Water Margin carefully, you will find that after the Liangshan heroes recruited security, Song Jiang died, the most capable Li Kui died, and the smartest Wu Yong also died. Most of the survivors were skilled, such as Miracle doctor An Daoquan and his like.

The above facts clearly tell us how important it is to learn a technology at ordinary times. After dealing with the monsters, the next thing is the scum, mainly the "Five Tigers" and "Five Biao". The five tigers are civil servants, namely (ranked in order): Cui Chengxiu, Minister of the Ministry of War, Tian Ji, the former Minister of the Ministry of War, Wu Chunfu, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Ni Wenhuan, Minister of Taichang Temple, and Li Xielong, the deputy capital censor. Wu Biao are military officers, namely: left governor Tian Ergeng, Jinyiwei commander Xu Xianchun, governor Tongzhi Cui Yingyuan, right governor Sun Yunhe, and Jinyiwei officer Yang Huan.

I won't say much about these ten people. Their glorious deeds are too numerous to enumerate. For example, Tian Ergeng was the mastermind of the persecution of the "Six Gentlemen" and killed Zuo Guangdou and others. Nailed into Yang Lian's forehead.In today's words, it is enough to shoot a few back and forth. Because these ten people had been committing crimes and crimes, and the people were very angry, Chongzhen ordered them to be arrested and sent to the judicial department for processing. After investigation by the Ministry of Criminal Justice and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and a detailed joint trial, the results are as follows:

Cui Chengxiu is dead and will not be pursued. Among the other nine people, Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun participated in the investigation of the crimes of Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others. As a result, people died due to negligence and were imprisoned. case closed. This judgment can only be described in one word - shameless. Chongzhen was very dissatisfied, and immediately ordered a retrial. The emperor expressed his position and did not dare to be negligent. After careful interrogation again, he was re-convicted as follows: Among the above ten people, except Cui Chengxiu who died, Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun were sentenced to death with a suspended death sentence due to their negligence, and were imprisoned. The remaining seven were all exiled to the army.

In view of the reaction from the masses, the above-mentioned persons were involved in corruption crimes. In order to show their majesty and deter criminals, they were fined 5,000 taels for Ni Wenhuan, 3,000 taels for Wu Chunfu, and 1,000 taels each for Li Xielong and Tian Ji.case closed. After reporting it, Chongzhen became angry. Putting nails into the ears and breaking the ribs of the whole body is negligence causing death. After so many years of greed, the fine is only five thousand or three thousand. You think I am easy to coax, right? What's even more strange is that the cases were all judged, and some parties didn't show up at all, such as Tian Ji, who went out for a walk every day, very carefree. In fact, it is quite normal for the case to be tried like this. The case was interrogated by Su Maoxiang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and Cao Sicheng, Zuodu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Su Maoxiang is an eunuch, and Cao Sicheng is also an eunuch. It is indeed difficult for him to let the eunuch party judge the eunuch party. Out of anger, Chongzhen changed people, and he handed over the task of investigating and punishing eunuchs to Wang Yongguang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials. But Wang Yongguang was more amusing than the first two. He refused to die under the order, saying that his ability was limited and he could not undertake the task. Because although Comrade Wang Yongguang is not an eunuch, he does not want to offend the eunuch. According to the thinking of Su Maoxiang, Cao Sicheng, Wang Yongguang and countless eunuchs, the situation is very good. There are eunuchs inside and outside the court, and no one dares to try the case. The handling of Wuhu and Wubiao can be delayed slowly. , Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun were sentenced to death, and the others were released if they could. That's right, if the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Supervision, and the Minister of Personnel do not interrogate, then only the emperor will interrogate. A few days later, Chongzhen directly announced the verdict against the five tigers and five bulls. Compared with the previous two verdicts, it was simpler: Tian Ji, kill!Wu Chunfu, kill!Ni Wenhuan, kill!Tian Ergeng, kill!Xu Xianchun, kill!Cui Yingyuan, kill!Sun Yunhe, kill!Yang Huan, kill!Li Xielong, kill! Cui Chengxiu is dead, dig it out and poke the corpse! All the above ten people ransacked their homes!Confiscate all property! What causes death, what imprisons, what exile, return his mother to the nearest, what steal five thousand taels, go to death! Cao Sicheng, Su Maoxiang and other eunuchs originally had some ideas and planned to say a few words, only to find that Chongzhen hadn't finished talking. "Cao Sicheng, censor of Zuodu, eunuch, dismissed and investigated!" "Shangshu Su Maoxiang, dismissed from office!" Play with me, play you to death! Immediately, Chongzhen ordered Qiao Yunsheng to take over as Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and academicians Han Kuang and Qian Longxi to take charge of the case. It took a lot of pains to single out the above-mentioned people to do things. Qiao Yunsheng and the eunuch party have always been at odds with each other. Han Kuang, a veteran Donglin party, is really sorry for himself if he doesn't deal with it to death. Sweep up, leave no one behind! A few days later, after an investigation, the cabinet reported the list of eunuchs, a total of more than 50 people, and the results were extremely fruitful. However, this time, Chongzhen was even more angry. He immediately convened the cabinet and severely reprimanded: There are not enough people, be honest! The ministers were very surprised, they are all in their fifties, isn't that enough? Since the emperor said it wasn't enough, let's get some more. The next day, the cabinet sent another list, this time there were more than sixty, so I should be satisfied. This time, the emperor didn't talk nonsense, he slapped the table: the number of people is wrong, if you dare to fool me, you will be punished as a protest! Chongzhen was right, these few brothers in the cabinet really fooled him. Although they both have enmity with the eunuchs, and the emperor supports them, but there are too many eunuchs. No matter, then fool around: "We are foreign ministers, and the personnel affairs in the palace are not clear." Chongzhen sneered: "I don't think I don't know, it's because I'm afraid of offending people (especially afraid of resentment)!" Strange thing, Chongzhen has just arrived, how does he know the number is wrong? Chongzhen helped them solve this puzzle. He sent someone to carry out several packages, threw them in front of the cabinet ministers, and said: "Let's see." The moment they opened the package, the ministers understood that this time they couldn't afford to be blamed. Inside the package are countless memorials about hooking up with Wei Zhongxian. It is obvious that Chongzhen has not only read it, but also counted it. If you can't get past it, you can only do it with your life. In this way, from December of the seventh year of Tianqi (1627) to March of the first year of Chongzhen (1628), after four full months of tossing, the eunuch party was finally completely laid down. The final list has a total of 261 people, divided into eight categories. The two special prize winners, Wei Zhongxian and Hakka, were charged with the first rebellion and dealt with as Ling Chi. The six first prize winners, headed by Cui Chengxiu, were accused of being an accomplice to a traitor and punished by beheading. Nineteen second-prize winners, charges: making friends with close servants, punishment: execution after autumn. Eleven third-prize winners, charges: making friends with close servants, second-class, treatment: exile. In addition, there are thirty-five winners of the fourth prize (military criminals against evil), sixteen winners of the fifth prize (military criminals who flatter and support him), and one hundred and twenty-eight winners of the sixth prize (befriending close servants and second-class ones). There are 44 winners of the seventh prize (civilian eulogy), each of whom received exile, fixed-term imprisonment, dismissal and other rewards. The above prize-winning results were notarized by Comrade Zhu Youjian, a notary of Daming Beijing, and are valid. Regarding this list, many history books are quite critical, saying that there were not enough people arrested and some eunuchs were let go. People who say such things have a problem with their heads. I did some calculations. At that time, there was only one minister and two deputy ministers in the six departments of the imperial court (four in the Ministry of War), four divisions in each department (thirteen in the Ministry of Punishment and thirteen in the Ministry of Household Affairs), and each division director ( There is one doctor, one deputy director (Yuanwailang), and two directors (principals). There is also the Metropolitan Procuratorate of the big yamen, plus the censors from all over the country, there are only 150 people, and the number of other departments is even smaller. The total (not counting the local government) will probably not exceed 800 people. There are only so many people, and more than two hundred and sixty people were taken away at once, isn't that too much? In fact, people also have difficulties. After all, Eunuch Wei is in power, and if he doesn't say a few good things, he can't get through. Now that the leader has changed and he has admitted his mistakes, he will be pulled down. However, Chongzhen refused to be pulled down, not only he was unwilling, but also some people were unwilling. This certain person refers to the person in charge of finalizing the case. Everyone is in the court, usually you come and go, it is inevitable that there is a bit of a festival, now with a pen in your hand, saying that you are an eunuch, you are an eunuch, this is a great opportunity to dig a hole, if you don’t rectify it, it will inevitably be a bit unreasonable. For example, Han Kuang, a university scholar, is not active in investigating eunuchs, but he is unambiguous about punishing people. Those who have scolded Eunuch Wei are not necessarily eunuchs, and those who have scolded him must be eunuchs. Write it in! What's even more funny is that due to the large number of people and the large number of paperwork, some brothers were given an oolong. It was Zhang Juzheng who scolded Zhang Juzheng back then, but they were recorded as Donglin Party. After two strokes, they became eunuchs. In addition, there are several interesting characters on this list.For example, the classmate Lu Wanling who was going to set up an archway for Wei Gonggong in the Imperial College, he is not a fart official, he probably has never even seen Wei Zhongxian, because he was so popular, he was even rated as second-class, and he was dragged together with the five tigers and five bullies Go out and chop. Yang Weiyuan, who was the first to impeach Eunuch Wei, was rated as third-class and sent to the army because of his meritorious service in reporting. Chen Eryi and Yang Suoxiu, who played funny roles in the case, also failed to run away. According to the plot, they had nothing to do with them. In view of the wonderful oboe performance, the emperor specially approved the sixth prize and sentenced him to fixed-term imprisonment. , Exempt officials for the people. Generally speaking, although this list has some problems, it is quite improvised. It promotes righteousness and punishes the wicked. Although it does not wrong a good person, it also does not let most of the bad people go. In fact, Chongzhen and Wei Zhongxian had no enmity, and the case was handled because Eunuch Wei was in the way, and the emperor didn't like it, so he got rid of it. But some people are different.It's not enough to kill the dead. It's enough to kill the dead and kill the living! Huang Zongxi is an excellent representative of some people. As the eldest son of Huang Zunsu among the "Seven Gentlemen", Huang Zongxi is very talented. He is not only proficient in Confucianism, but also knows arithmetic and astronomy.It is said that there is nothing that flies in the sky or runs on the ground that he does not know. He is known as the master of learning in the past three hundred years, and he is also known as Gu Yanwu and Wang Fuzhi. What is even more speechless is that Huang Zongxi also understands economics. He found through research that every time the agricultural tax law is adjusted, whether it is the two-tax law or the one-whip law, no matter how good the motivation is, it will eventually lead to an increase in tax revenue and an increase in the burden on farmers. In other words In other words, no matter how it changes, it will eventually increase. This principle was later summarized by Qin Hui, a professor of the Academy of Social Sciences, and named "Huang Zongxi's Law". After investigation, the State Council of the People's Republic of China adopted this law and completely abolished the agricultural tax in 2006, breaking this vicious circle. There is nothing good about it. But these four words were not appropriate for Huang Zongxi at that time, because he was neither kind nor generous. At that time, the imperial court happened to interrogate Xu Xianchun and wanted someone to testify, so they called Huang Zongxi. That's how things went wrong. Xu Xianchun said that he deserved to die, but he really did. He hit people in the ribs with a hammer, nailed people's ears and heads with nails, and most of the six and seven gentlemen died in his hands. perverted tendencies. This person has always been ruthless and ruthless, no one dares to provoke him, Yang Lian is so tough, Mr. Xu has no stage fright, he dares to gnaw hard bones, and goes into battle himself, he is a bit of a tough guy. But what is disappointing is that when it was the turn of this perverted tough guy to go to prison, he was persuaded on the spot, and immediately showed his specialty of only beating people, but not being beaten. He doesn't have the backbone of Yang Lian before, let alone put a nail on the forehead, give him a few slaps, and immediately faint, he is really useless. Fortunately, Chongzhen's prison is still relatively civilized, at least more civilized than when Xu Xianchun was there. Beatings are fine, but hammers, nails and other things are not used. According to the situation, it is cheaper to kill them after the trial. he. But cheap is not so easy to find. At the beginning of the interrogation, Xu Xianchun and Cui Yingyuan, one of the "Five Biao" accomplices, were passed on first, and then passed on to Huang Zongxi. When Huang Zongxi came to the court, he was not angry when he saw his enemy, he acted quite calmly, replied, testified, and the whole set of procedures was completed, and he did not leave. Everyone was very strange and looked at him. Don't worry, don't go yet, the fun has just begun. When Huang Zongxi came, in addition to his mouth to testify, he also brought one thing - an awl. After the interrogation, without saying a word, he picked up the awl and rushed to Xu Xianchun. At this moment, Xu Xianchun showed a rare innocence. He didn't know what use an awl could be used during the trial, but just stared blankly at Huang Zongxi who rushed over, waiting for his answer. The answer was a scream. Huang Zongxi finally showed his ferocious face, holding an awl, and frantically poked at Xu Xianchun's body, and Xu Xianchun, a coward, begged for mercy on the spot, rolled all over the floor, and started screaming. The reason why Mr. Xu yelled was because of his wishful thinking: this is the lobby of the Ministry of Criminal Justice after all, under the watchful eyes of everyone, can you all watch him beat up prisoners? The answer is yes. Whether it was the chief judge or the jurors, no one made a move, and no one stepped forward to stop them. Everyone watched the scene in front of them with great interest. Huang Zongxi kept stabbing and Xu Xianchun kept shouting, just like in TV dramas The most old-fashioned line: You shout, even if you shout your throat, no one will come to save you! Because everyone remembers that this person once drove steel nails into Yang Lian's ears and forehead, and no one stopped him at that time. But the situation began to change. Xu Xianchun's voice became quieter and blood flowed, but Huang Zongxi became more and more vigorous. If this continued, Mr. Xu was stabbed to death, Huang Zongxi had a good time, and everyone took the blame. So Xu Xianchun was pulled away, Huang Zongxi was pulled away, and his awl was confiscated. The trial is over, revenge has been avenged, anger has been released, and it's time to stop. Huang Zongxi didn't think so, he turned his head and ran towards Cui Yingyuan again. In fact, in this trial, Cui Yingyuan was the juror, but he ran into the villain Huang. Although he didn't get punched, he was punched and kicked, his nose was bruised and his face was swollen. At this point, the chief interrogator finally decided that Huang Zongxi should be driven away, so he sent someone to pull him away, but Huang Zongxi became addicted, and before being pulled away, he even grabbed Cui Yingyuan's beard and pulled it out alive. down! Xu Xianchun, who committed atrocities in prison back then, finally tasted the taste of atrocities. What awaited him was the final blow. Any kind of butcher is ultimately just a coward. Xu Xianchun and the others were all on the official list to die, and those who didn't die seemed to be better off dead. For example, the backbone of the Eunuch Party, Cao Qincheng, the young minister of the Taipu Temple, finally took his life and went home to take care of the elderly. As a result, everywhere he went was full of saliva (the people struggled to spit on his face), and he couldn't stay any longer. I took a house to live in, but when someone found out, they beat me hard again and drove me away. There is also Gu Bingqian, an old eunuch. The people in his hometown have deep feelings for him. As soon as Wei Zhongxian fell, the people rushed into his house and burned his house. . And those who were not on the list, but should die, did not escape.For example, Huang Zongxi, after beating Xu Xianchun, sent people to find the two guards who killed his father, and killed them. Daming is a society ruled by law, and anyone who kills someone must be approved by the judicial department or pay for his life, but Huang Zongxi found someone to do these two guards himself, and no one seems to care, there is really no law. Huang Zongxi made such a fuss, and then it became lively. The so-called "Six Gentlemen" and "Seven Gentlemen" all had sons. First, Wei Xuelian, the son of Wei Dazhong, wrote a letter to defend his father Wei Dazhong, then Yang Zhiyi, the son of Yang Lian, wrote a letter to defend his father Yang Lian, and a few days later, Zhou Maolan, the son of Zhou Shunchang, wrote a letter to defend his father Zhou Shunchang. By the way, the letters written by the above-mentioned persons did not use pen and ink, but a special material - blood. This is also very particular. Since ancient times, all strange injustices have been written in blood, and it seems that it is not enough to use them. But Comrade Chongzhen quit. He brought up blood-stained things, and he was a little frightened. He immediately ordered: I know your grievances, but the documents written in the memorial are written in ink, and writing in blood is not in compliance. From now on, it is strictly prohibited Write blood again. But he was still reasonable. In September of the second year of Chongzhen (1629), he ordered to restore the honor of the martyred Donglin party members, posthumously confer official positions, and confer posthumous titles. Yang Lian's posthumous title is Zhonglie, and this word is enough to honor his life. At this point, the seven-year-long Eunuch Rebellion finally came to an end, and the most powerful and evil force in the history of Ming Dynasty fell.Even if it was once arrogant, even if it was once arrogant. Justice delayed is still justice. In this world, the so-called gods and destiny are all farts to Wei Zhongxian. In him, there is only one thing - superstition. Do not believe in morality, benevolence and righteousness, retribution, and evil will prevail over good. Superstitious belief in oneself, superstitious power, superstitious authority, superstition can do whatever one wants, superstition will win forever. And after reading history books for more than ten years, I believe in at least one thing - the way of heaven. From the moment of birth in nature, there has been an eternal law. Spring grows, winter withers, and the cycle repeats itself. The same is true in the human world, from its beginning to its demise, the rules remain unchanged, it is the way of heaven. Behind the countless corpses and rivers of blood, life and death in the history books, I saw it, it is always there, watching us quietly, no matter the ups and downs, no matter how time goes by. It tells me that in this filthy, chaotic, and dirty world, fairness and justice exist after all. The way of heaven is permanent, from its beginning to its demise, it remains unchanged forever.