Chapter 109 Punishment

At three quarters past the hour of You, Qi Yuanjing commanded the troops with confidence and ended the war at sea ahead of schedule. The new weapons demonstrated extraordinary power. The entire battle went smoothly without any hindrance. Even the subsequent reserve troops were not used. It can be said that this was the most successful command battle that General Qi had ever had in his many years of military service. But when the task was completed and he was directing his men to clean up the battlefield, he finally encountered the biggest shock, or trouble, of this trip - the Prince of Mu came in person and showed him the crucial evidence of the assassination and the deadly list.

The facts were so thoroughly prepared, with all the witnesses and evidence available, that Qi Yuanjing no longer needed to ask any more questions. But because the evidence was irrefutable, he felt his scalp tighten after reading it over:

"How could this be--"

Assassinating the imperial envoy to disrupt the army and spy on intelligence, even if Qi Yuanjing was not very familiar with the Da'an Law, he knew at a glance that the crime would definitely be a punishment of confiscation of property, extermination of the clan, and beheading, with no upper limit; and considering the thickness of the list, he was naturally horrified, so after thinking about it, he could only think of one question:

"—how many?"

"Not that many." Mu Qi listed them one by one: "According to the list, there are 1,589 people who committed high treason. But 302 of them have already fled overseas, and I'm afraid they can't be caught. Of the remaining 1,287, about 800 are involved in collusion with the Japanese and rebellion, and the court needs to send people to torture them. The remaining people who are directly related to the assassination are only 400 to 500."

"Only four or five hundred people"!

Unlike sensitive serious crimes such as colluding with the Japanese and plotting treason, assassinating an imperial envoy in the army was a violation of military law and could be dealt with on the spot by the generals without having to notify the court. But if such a crime is dealt with by military law, there is only one outcome and there is absolutely no reason to argue about it.

"What the prince means is..."

"I mean, let's give them some leniency and settle the matter here." The prince said calmly, "The country is based on leniency and benevolence. Although we must enforce the law, since military law can be used at our convenience, let's just punish them directly. It can also be considered a reward of grace. What do you think, General?"

grace? Qi Yuanjing was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out; but when his gaze followed the prince to the two corpses hanging high on the mountain, he fell silent - according to the "Great Edict" of Emperor Gaozu, the captured assassins should have been tortured to death or skinned and stuffed with straw, but the leather workers and butchers who were summoned refused sternly when they heard the news, and their reasons were very sufficient: not to mention that they had only killed pigs and sheep and had never skinned a person, even if they really followed the order and did this business, their reputation would spread in the future. Would people still be willing to buy things from their butcher shops? The reputation of several lifetimes is ruined in an instant, and no one is willing to do it no matter how big the profit is. In the end, the army was helpless and had to settle for the next best thing: hastily executing the person by beheading.

Facts have proved that craftsmanship also changes with the times; after the market demand created by Emperor Gaozu disappeared, the two intangible cultural heritages of lingchi and skinning were also lost and could never be revived.

So it's really a huge grace to solve the problem here. There was no reliable executioner to be found in Shandong. Even if they wanted to use torture, they did not have the technology to do so. They could only be lenient and quick, and at most behead the person. Skinning and lingchi were eventually changed to normal beheading. How could this not be considered exceptional leniency?

This is certainly a privilege of military law, but it goes against the original intention of criminal law. So the prince pondered for a moment and sighed:

"It's called leniency, but in fact it's still indulgence... We shallow and mediocre people are really ashamed of the Emperor Gaozu."

Qi Yuanjing was speechless. After a moment of silence, he could only utter one sentence:

"It's not that bad."

"I'm not trying to flatter you." The prince shook his head. "General Qi, just look at the list and you'll know. There are so many people colluding with the Japanese in Shandong and the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang that the disease has already penetrated deep into the skin. Why has the situation developed to this point? It's because ministers like me who are content with the status quo have been perfunctory and indulgent in the central government, which has caused trouble for generations! Just think about it, if we could have acted with great force and enforced the law impartially when the crime just began to sprout, and peeled off a few skins and hung them in the government office according to the Great Edict, would things have come to this point?"

He questioned Emperor Gaozu in childhood, understood Emperor Gaozu in youth, and now strives to become Emperor Gaozu - no matter how cruel and ruthless Zhu Yuanzhang was, he could only peel off dozens or hundreds of human skins in a major case; now a list involves thousands of people, and there is no telling how many potential criminals there are. Comparing the two, which is more serious?

When things first started, killing a dozen people would have been enough to deter everyone from doing their job; as the whole court has been perfunctory and shirking its responsibilities until today, ruthless action must be taken to prevent future troubles; and if we continue to harbor such cowardice and compromise today, the harm that will be suffered by the country and civilization in the future will be so tragic and terrifying that it will be unbelievable, and no one can bear it.

In a sense, the endless rebellion by Japanese pirates, the hundreds of thousands of officials and civilians along the coast who were ravaged and murdered, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives over decades, were they not killed by the negligence and so-called benevolence of the higher-ups? In comparison, Emperor Gaozu was not only far-sighted, but also compassionate and willing to save the world.

It is said that Buddha has a boat for all salvation and a pestle for subduing demons. Just based on this compassionate heart of killing one to save ten thousand, people's stay in Huangjue Temple is not in vain.

Of course, given the status and position of the crown prince, he was qualified to take the blame and say "the ministers are festering an abscess and leaving trouble behind" (although everyone knows who is festering an abscess and leaving trouble behind), but it was not convenient for Qi Yuanjing to respond. He was silent for a moment, and could only say:

"Your Highness has a good idea, but there is no need to rush. Although there are military laws, if we solve too many problems at once, is it too much..."

"The general is not afraid of death, is he?"

The prince smiled and turned to look at the sea. At this time, the sky was gradually darkening and the sea waves had long since calmed down. But with the little afterglow of the setting sun, one can still see the crimson waves rising and falling with the sea breeze, as well as the scattered wood pieces and pale body parts - compared to the "Fei Xuan Zhen Jun", the modified "Fat Man" is more direct and more terrifying; the iron nails and gravel stuffed into the rockets are quickly ignited after the explosion, piercing the wooden boat and cutting off the limbs, creating a very wide death zone. After three or four "Fat Man" rockets, the invading Japanese pirates were almost wiped out, and not even a few were left alive. Such a massacre is no more cruel than executing hundreds of criminals.

Qi Yuanjing hesitated for a moment and could only confide his true feelings: "...After all, we still have to consider the opinions of the Central Committee."

Unlike the Prince of Duke Mu, who has high attack, strong defense and a resurrection coin as a buff monster, Qi Yuanjing really climbed up step by step from the bottom of the generals. His commander is an official of some rank, but he is of no use in the capital. There is a huge difference in status, so of course their concerns are different. The Crown Prince can do whatever he wants without worrying about the old men in the court, but Qi Yuanjing doesn't dare to do that.

"Don't worry about that." The prince said lightly, "If it were in the past, the court would prefer peace and not want to start a large-scale case for no reason, so they might be willing to show mercy; but now, the hostility of the court towards the Japanese pirates has been revealed, so it is more appropriate to make a big move."

Although he still didn't quite understand the reason why Master Feixuan and Emperor Wanshou suddenly changed their attitudes, Lao Deng's straightforward emotions could not be misjudged - if we start counting from the year before, then up to now, the emperor has spent a lot of money on the anti-Japanese war, and has invested at least one million taels of silver!

Where the money is, there the attention is. Before this year, the only one who had the honor to be so highly valued was probably Zhenjun, who was obsessed with the great cause of cultivating immortals. Zhenjun's decades of persistence and diligence in cultivating immortals and refining elixirs were certainly well-known. If he could devote half of this diligence and persistence to the fight against the Japanese pirates, it would not be difficult for him to achieve success. As I said, Zhenjun is just bad, not a loser. As long as he solves the problem of subjective initiative, he can actually do things.

The logic of peace is very different from the logic of war. In peacetime, everyone pursues superficial glory. In order to maintain the court's image of benevolence and mercy, not too many people can be sentenced to death in a year. But once the war machine starts, the death of tens of thousands of people is commonplace, and if the Ministry of Justice kills a few more people, it will no longer attract attention.

This is the key point of information gap, which cannot be made up by a little caution. In fact, judging by the fury and rage the emperor was displaying now, he might even want to kill a few more people.

This killing intent might be called cruel under normal circumstances, but now it is precisely efficient. If Lao Deng can really perform exceptionally well and achieve what he wants, maybe even Mu Qi will have to respect him a little - no matter how selfish Lao Deng is, as long as he is willing to do his job, he is the good Deng that everyone likes. With his ruthless methods and kind heart of a bodhisattva, if he could really accomplish this great task, it would mean that Master Feixuan and Emperor Wanshou have achieved the right result, and it would be worth it for everyone to have endured him for decades.

"If we want to make a big move, we must refer to existing battle examples." The prince said slowly: "And now, there may be only one or two generals with experience in naval warfare. General Qi, you should understand this."

Lao Deng tried many things to make his move, but he never dared to give up the military power; as long as Qi Yuanjing could remain loyal and demonstrate his ability, it would only take a short time for him to rise to the top. The promotion of generals is based on the emperor's will. What can the court officials do to interfere? !

Qi Yuanjing certainly understood what this meant. He could even guess why the prince insisted on using military law to chop off these hundreds of heads - the response measures are always changing with the situation; when smuggling just showed signs, one or two human skins might be enough to deter the scoundrels; but judging from the list alone, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang and other places have been colluding with the Japanese pirates for at least ten years, and the network of interests is intricate and intertwined, forming an unimaginable network of interests; if one wants to intimidate such a network of interests and ensure the future safety of the rear, perhaps four or five hundred heads may not be enough.

Of course, when it really is not enough, we will have to be more ruthless.

"I may not be able to live up to the expectations of the Crown Prince." After a little thought, General Qi still did not reject this clear hint: "But for national affairs, I dare not refuse."

"That's good." The prince smiled.

The two sides had reached a consensus. Qi Yuanjing raised his hand and called for his personal soldiers to assign the arrangements of military law. He knew the prince's thoughts very well and knew that the execution must be carried out in public for the most effective deterrent effect. So he specially sent people to the county to summon officials and people to watch this major event. He also ordered people to quickly prepare wood and build a high platform and wooden frame for execution on the spot. After he gave the instructions one by one, the prince suddenly remembered something and called him again.

"Yes, I vaguely remember that it is clearly stated in the Great Edict that although a general cannot obey the orders of the emperor when he is away from home, emergency matters can be handled by military law without asking for instructions. But after understanding the matter, the whole story must still be submitted to the cabinet, right?"

Qi Yuanjing bowed his head and said, "That's right."

"That's quite a bit of trouble."

"I don't dare."

I can only not dare to do it anymore. In fact, writing a report afterwards is the most painful, most tangled and most troublesome procedure, not to mention that Qi Yuanjing was a military officer and had never experienced those twists and turns of formalism. If you really want to go through them one by one, it may take seven or eight months.

"Don't worry too much." The prince smiled and said, "How about this, the emperor has issued an imperial decree, ordering me to take charge of the cabinet's confidential matters. Now that Lord Yan is not here, I can also handle it on behalf of the cabinet. After you kill the man, just send the official documents to me and I will approve it."