Chapter 123 Signed

Perhaps the shock was too severe. After witnessing the torture of lingchi on the first day, the officials in Jinling either took leave or fled away. In half a day, they all disappeared, leaving only the Prince of Duke Mu to "take charge of the situation." Despite this, the execution ground was still open every day, and there were crowds of people outside the ground, with spectators blocking the way - the Jiangnan area suffered particularly severely from the Japanese pirates, and the hatred in their hearts was inexplicable. Only by witnessing this most brutal torture with one's own eyes could the resentment be eliminated in the event of a disaster; so people from all over the country came in droves, even if they had to sleep in the open and work hard, they must see the end of the bandits.

In fact, although fifty or sixty Japanese pirates were skinned (or chopped) at the execution ground within three to five days, the onlookers cried and wailed, but they were still not satisfied. They even dared to ask the executioner for the ashes of the Japanese pirates' bodies. After taking them back, they asked the Taoist priest Zhang to set up an altar and suppress them under the portraits of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong, inviting the spirits of their ancestors in heaven to skin the dead Japanese pirates again in the underworld.

This kind of thing is actually not very polite. After all, the case is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, and there is no reason to distribute it at will after slicing the skin off. But now the high officials in Nanjing were hiding their heads and wishing they could become invisible, and of course they were unwilling to get involved in such trivial matters, so the petition was thrown back and forth and finally landed on the head of the prince of Duke Mu. The prince did not delay and actually approved this rather excessive request on the same day, and his reason was quite legitimate - he said that he had paid a respectful visit to the Xiaoling Mausoleum, and cast the hexagram three times in front of the tomb of Emperor Gao, and all three times were very auspicious; this showed that Emperor Gao was very pleased, and his spirit in heaven also approved of this approach. The Emperor Gao is pleased to hear this. If you don’t agree, who do you think you are?

Of course, no one could shake the soul of Emperor Gao down from the sky to inquire about the situation, so although the top leaders of Jinling were quite dissatisfied with this behavior of meddling in other people's affairs, they could not say much. Two days later, even the last bit of resentment was forgotten - after being secluded for several days, Mito, the elder of the Japanese shogunate, finally wrote out the names of all the traitors he was familiar with and their basis, which directly dealt a big blow to the Jiangnan officialdom.

Just as everyone expected, Mito clan was at the end of his rope and had resorted to evil deeds. After realizing that he had no chance of turning things around, he simply vented his anger hysterically, and wrote out everything that should and should not be written, whether it was life or death, with a sense of madness that was like a broken jar being thrown into the water - on the one hand, it was a desperate madman who was dragging others down with him when he was about to die; on the other hand, it was a sad state of mind of a dying struggle: Mito clan thought that after a letter of exposure of this level was submitted, no matter what the result was, it would definitely greatly disrupt the political situation in the Central Plains; China was already safe, and the four barbarians were on their own. On the other hand, if the political situation in the Central Plains was unstable, Japan might have a little chance... right?

Of course, regardless of whether the plan succeeds or not, this will be the final ripple in Japan. The secret lines and allies that he had painstakingly built up over the years were betrayed, and his foundation was destroyed and shaken, which was tantamount to cutting himself in the aorta. However, it has come to this point, what's the point of worrying about these things?

As soon as the list was written, it was immediately sent to the ship. Ever since Mito broke down and revealed shocking information at the execution ground, the shocked prince quickly made arrangements. He moved the key figures back to the wooden boat moored in the port overnight and asked Qi Yuanjing to dispatch sailors to surround the boat. No outsiders were allowed to enter the boat except Hai Gangfeng and a few others. They were confined to the boat for many days and were not allowed to leave. Even the daily food and water were delivered by two attendants, a man and a woman, in turn, and no one else was allowed to touch them. They were on guard against someone who would become desperate and die together with the Mito clan after being shocked by them. That would be a loss.

Although he was on high alert and had a plan in mind, when he actually received the list drawn up by Mito, Mu Qi was speechless and shocked: It can only be said that the Japanese are indeed gamblers since ancient times. After confirming the disparity in strength and having to struggle to the death, the information they spit out was so fierce and sufficient that they left no way out for themselves. Just looking at the names in the first few columns of this list, if Mu Qi had not had the foresight to bring the people back and take care of them in advance, he would probably have been punished by heaven a thousand times!

Could the final wave of the Japanese pirates be so violent?

If the list was true, it would be a matter that Nanjing alone could not handle. The crimes confessed in the first few pages alone were enough to implicate most of the bureaucrats above the fourth rank in Nanzhili, Zhejiang and Fujian over the past twenty years, whether retired or not. As for the royal family, wealthy families, and powerful people involved, their numbers were so numerous that they could almost rewrite the entire order of several provinces.

So, there is only one question now:

“Is this list genuine?”

Liu Li, who came to deliver the list, flipped through the list, his face changed with horror, and after a long while he finally managed to utter a word.

"It still needs to be verified." Mu Qi replied helplessly: "But it is very likely true. This person has ulterior motives and must be using the list to trigger a wave of suspicion. In this case, the content of the list must be correct. Otherwise, his credibility will be questioned, and the effectiveness of his provocation will be greatly reduced."

When politics comes to the end, everything is basically clear. In fact, the intelligence and strategies of our side and the enemy's side are almost the same. Both sides can easily see the other side's intentions in the confrontation, but they are forced by the situation and are helpless. Before and after the Edo Battle, the Japanese side had always understood the sinister intentions of the Mu family's various arrangements, but they had no choice but to obey the rockets pressing down on their heads. Similarly, Mu Qi now saw through the vicious plot of the Mito family, but as long as he wanted to clean up the traitors and protect the victory, he had to swallow this sweet bait and had no choice but to pay the price -

"According to the system of the Great Edict, those who secretly communicate with the Japanese pirates have only one way to go, which is execution. Even if they are relatives or nobles, the most they can get is to be given poisoned wine and white silk." Mu Qi sighed, "But regardless of other things, if all the people on this list are executed, then the people who are killed may..."

The ones on the list only include the main culprits. Behind the culprits are those with connections, involvements, and accomplices. If we chop them off one by one, the number of heads will be so huge that it will be too numerous to count. Judging from the number of people alone, it may be comparable to the "Three Major Cases" in the last years of Emperor Gaozu. It can also be regarded as a good story for descendants to emulate their predecessors - bullshit!

"Do you really want to kill so many?" Liu Li was almost incredulous: "Can you kill them all?"

Mu Qi hesitated for a moment: "...It's hard to say."

"Don't play tricks in front of me!" Liu Li said angrily, "Why is it so difficult to say?"

"I'm not kidding, it's just hard to say." Mu Qi said, "Under normal circumstances, it's impossible for the emperor to kill so many people - they are high-ranking officials, royal family members, powerful people and clans. They are not killing criminals who colluded with the Japanese, they are killing the ruling class itself. But this is only a normal situation, and now, now-"

——In this season, Master Feixuan is so strong that it’s a bit unfair.

Again, the Eastern Expedition against the Japanese pirates was a great success, and what was gained was not some illusory prestige, but real deterrence - Zhenjun proved to the whole world with eloquent facts that he had already controlled a private army that was independent of the imperial court, and that this private army was powerful enough to suppress Haibo and open up new territories, and of course it was enough to break the balance of the imperial court for more than a hundred years and create unspeakable terror.

A normal emperor generally cannot change the foundation of the ruling class, just as a person cannot lift himself up by his hair, but what if there is sufficient external force involved?

Imperial power is a bug in the political system. Based on historical experience, such rash intervention of external forces will often add fuel to the fire and create even more incredible bugs. For example, Emperor Xiaowu went crazy in his later years and killed princesses and princes, the Wei family and the Li family, the three dukes and the nine ministers. He picked up a machete and chopped from head to toe, killing all the ministers and officials on the road. Isn't it much more exciting than a mere list of people who had colluded with the Japanese? But even with this unscrupulous killing method, what can the civil and military officials in the court do to Emperor Wu?

The emperor is of course the true dragon emperor, but the true dragon emperor also has a threshold. Only after crossing this threshold can he be truly free and unrestrained. And the most fortunate or unfortunate thing is that, under various coincidences, Fei Xuan Zhenjun seems to have just crossed this threshold - from then on, the only thing that can restrain the emperor is his own will.

This is the true state of being able to make decisions on one's own will and having no taboos.

"But Fei Xuan... will Lao Deng go on a killing spree?" Liu Li said, "Of course the Great Edict has clear provisions, but at this point, the Great Edict can no longer restrain him, right?"

Mu Qi sighed: "What do you think?"

"In terms of the pros and cons, I'm afraid I won't do it. Lao Deng may not be such a person with high moral standards and a heart for the country. Killing people will have consequences after all."

Yes, killing people does have consequences. Emperor Wu dominated the world and was invincible, but the moon waxes and wanes, and the sun wanes at noon. No matter how powerful and fierce the emperor's majesty was, it could only make people fearful and afraid to speak, but it could not eliminate the resentment and anger in their hearts. The more people were killed, the greater the resentment, and the greater the resentment, the stronger the rebound. After a lot of hard work, Emperor Wu finally passed away. Immediately, there were rumors among the people that the Han Dynasty would eventually be handed over to the rightful emperor. They sharpened their knives and went straight to the Liu family, without any excuse. Even with the efforts of Huo Guang and Emperor Xuan to cover it up, this resentment finally caused a serious disaster - which of the Confucianism and prophecies that Wang Mang relied on to get to power was not a masterpiece of Emperor Wu?

This is what they call every sip and every bite is predestined; cause and effect are cyclical and retribution will come inevitably. Even someone as powerful as Emperor Wu could not escape this cycle.

So, if we learn from history, the truth is actually very obvious. True Lord Feixuan could certainly kill without any scruples; but after a hundred years of ascending to heaven, don't blame others for counterattacking; in the final analysis, the emperor took up a knife and chopped everywhere, which was originally damaging the foundation of the ruling class. If the foundation is unstable, the earth will shake and there will always be unexpected results. As for the so-called "collaboration with the Japanese" - with so much infighting in the court, who would care about collaborating with the Japanese?

Mu Qi could only sigh a second time:

"You are quite right."

Although Liu Li had expected this, he was still a little disappointed: "So it was still a small matter."

"That's hard to say."

Liu Li was about to get angry again, but he was stunned again: "What do you mean? Do you think Lao Deng doesn't understand this?"

"Master Feixuan is extremely smart, shrewd and experienced. If you can understand the truth, he can certainly understand it better." Mu Qi said: "So he must know that if he wants to plan for the long term and consider the eternal succession of the throne, it is best to keep things quiet. Don't be stupid or deaf, and don't be a fool."

"So it's better to make a big deal out of a small matter!"

"But there is only one question." Mu Qi said, "Do you think Master Fei Xuan is the kind of person who is far-sighted and considers future generations?"

"So what—"

Before Liu Li finished speaking, he suddenly swallowed the second half of his question. He was stunned for a moment, and then a look of sudden realization gradually appeared on his face:

"You mean..."

"I mean, with Master Fei Xuan's intelligence, he must understand the consequences of killing people." Mu Qi said softly, "But understanding the truth is one thing, but does it mean that we must restrain our desires and do things according to the truth? If we really could restrain ourselves and return to propriety, why would Lao Deng have caused such a commotion that every family was wiped out?"

That’s right, Master Fei Xuan is extremely intelligent and has a sharp eye, and is one of the best figures in the world; but he is also selfish, malicious and cruel, and is also one of the best in the world. If he could control his desires and think long-term, he would not have done the mess of Xuan Xiuxian Dan from the beginning - on the other hand, since Xuan Xiuxian Dan did not care if it caused chaos in the world, why would he care about a mere few hundred or thousands of heads?

If one hears the truth in the morning, then it is alright to die in the evening; or it is said that after death, even if there is a flood, it is alright - for those who believe in hearing the truth in the morning, such as Zhenjun, the primary pursuit is to enjoy themselves in this life and to be clear-minded; as for the long-term plans for future generations, those will have to be put off for a while.

Therefore, as long as the burning desire of Fei Xuan Zhenjun and Wanshou Emperor was aroused, Lao Deng might not bother to care about any sequelae and would kill people directly - after all, the head could not grow back after being cut off, and even if there were remnants of Lao Deng who intended to overturn the verdict after his death, there was nothing that could be done about it.

...Besides, as long as productivity develops fast enough, the Da'an court might not even have to wait until the sequelae erupt; as long as the changes come fast enough, the sequelae will no longer be sequelae, which is also part of the wisdom of future generations.

As for how to stimulate Lao Deng's desire, we'll have to wait and see. Of course, Mu Qi had some vague guesses in his mind, but they still needed to be confirmed.

"I will write to the cabinet and request that the criminals on the list be investigated for the crime of colluding with the Japanese." He thought for a moment: "As for now... let's sign the treaty first."

·

In September of that year, after lengthy negotiations, representatives from China and Japan drafted the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Nanjing, based on the Black Ship Agreement on the outskirts of Nanjing. Although consensus had already been reached on the treaty, the debate between the two sides was still extremely fierce, almost to the point of arguing over every word and every cent. Until the Prince of Mu, who was ordered to lead the negotiations, came forward and ended the discussion with force. The Japanese representative, Mito clan, was not very angry and is said to have left a famous saying at the time:

"The superiors won't allow me to refute it? Why bother negotiating?"

Mu replied, "You can refute it, but you cannot change a single word. Your Excellency wants to quickly conclude a peace treaty, and so do I. Otherwise, your Majesty the Emperor does not mind what the Japanese name is. There are more than 60 transport ships anchored in Shangyu now, with 2,000 rockets. Several ships have been exported today, and military supplies are ready. If we don't quickly conclude a peace treaty, disaster will come at any moment!"

Mito remained silent, trembling faintly and looking pale, and the peace treaty was finalized.

On September 18th, representatives signed a peace treaty under the title of Emperor Xingxian, signed by Mito clan and Prince Muguogong on behalf of both parties respectively. Mito remained silent throughout the whole process, his expression as stiff as death; and the victorious prince also maintained a certain heavy and stagnant sadness. When it was time for him to sign, two attendants, a man and a woman, stood by him. They held three brushes respectively and dipped the brushes in ink for him to write his lengthy title - his title of nobility, his official position, and then his name.

The first pen used to write the title was a wolf-hair pen bestowed by Emperor Gaozu. The pen holder was made of Lantian jade and the pen cap was made of rhinoceros horn. It was rare, gorgeous and unparalleled in the world. It was used to comfort the spirit of Emperor Gaozu in heaven.

The second pen that writes the official title is the blue pen used to judge cases in Jinling City, deciding life and death and judging good and evil. Now, the ink is falling slowly, perhaps to demonstrate the majesty of the national law.

The third pen... the third pen used to write my name was bought from outside the city. It was ordinary, and even the tip of the pen was not very smooth. The man who sold this bamboo pen was originally from Zhejiang, but his family was destroyed after the Japanese invasion. He could not travel far to escape the disaster, so he made a living by selling small businesses.

The prince carefully wrote down the last stroke, scanned the treaty from beginning to end, and sighed:

"...No matter how much we try to make amends afterwards, the dead can never be brought back to life. From now on, I hope there will never be such a sad thing again!"

After saying this, he put down his brush, stood up and left without looking back.