The capital, Xisi Archway.

Xisi Pailou is located in the northwest of the Imperial City, less than four miles away from the Imperial City.

Since Emperor Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing, criminals had been executed at Xisi Pailou throughout the Ming Dynasty.

It was Caishikou during the Qing Dynasty.

At this time, there were crowds of people near Xisi Pailou, and ordinary people flocked to the streets to watch the excitement.

Today’s excitement is different from usual!

The emperor wanted to chop off the heads of officials, and among those who were chopped off were nobles and court officials. On weekdays, they were high above and controlled the lives and deaths of ordinary people.

Today these people have become prisoners, and I must watch them die with my own eyes to feel relieved.

With the arrival of Chongzhen's imperial carriage, the entire Xisi Pailou Square fell silent in an instant.

The Wucheng Bingmasi, Jinyiwei and Dongchang guards on the periphery drove the people to thirty-five steps away and surrounded the city on alert.

There was a row of tables and chairs on one side of the empty space.

The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, the Minister of the Supreme Court, and the Left Censor-in-Chief were sitting in rows. When they saw Chongzhen coming, the three of them stood up to greet him.

After the ceremony between the emperor and his subjects, Chongzhen ordered in a cold voice: "Bring the prisoner up."

Following an order, several factory guards and royal guards escorted Zhang Jinyan and Wang Zhengzhi to the center of the execution ground. More than a hundred soldiers escorted more than a hundred people from the three clans of Zhang Jinyan and Wang Zhengzhi to the side.

Although Wang Zhixin found evidence of Zhu Chunchen's assassination of the emperor, Chongzhen did not want to kill him today. The court was too treacherous, so he decided to let the bullet fly for a while.

"Bring Zhang Jinyan and Wang Zhengzhi!" shouted Zhang Xin, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

Two Jinyiwei pushed Zhang Jinyan to the execution platform. Zhang Xin asked, "Zhang Jinyan, Wang Zhengzhi, do you plead guilty?"

"It's unfair! It's unfair!"

"I am innocent! Your Majesty asked me to plead guilty, but how can I plead guilty if I am not guilty? You can always find excuses to accuse me! I am innocent!"

The two of them shouted out almost at the same time. Although their voices were hoarse, their tone was extremely firm.

The onlookers were somewhat stunned.

The emperor supervised the execution and the two men cried out for innocence at the execution ground. Did they refuse to plead guilty or were they really wronged?

A sly smile flashed across Zhang Xin's lips. He snorted coldly, "You two have committed heinous crimes, and you still refuse to admit your guilt. You are so stubborn that you deserve to die!"

"Come here, it's already three quarters past noon, please verify your identity..."

He was about to order the execution when someone in the crowd shouted.

"Mr. Minister! Why don't you let him speak out about his grievances? Is this how the court does things?"

"If one day we are framed, will we have the same fate?"

"The bandits are coming. We cannot let a bad guy go, and we cannot kill a good guy by mistake! If we kill someone by mistake, we will be digging our own grave. How can we just sit there and watch?"

Zhang Xin's face suddenly changed, and he slammed the table fiercely: "How dare you! Who is making a noise? Arrest him!"

The soldiers in charge of guarding the surrounding area immediately stepped forward to control the dozen or so scholars and brought them in front of Zhang Xin.

"Who are you to disturb the execution ground? According to the law, you should be beaten with fifty military sticks!"

Although the leading scholar had a childish look on his face, he was not afraid at all. He stood up and shouted, "We are tribute students from the Imperial College. We came to watch after hearing about this incident. When we saw the prisoner crying out for justice, we stood up!"

"Gongsheng?" Zhang Xin frowned.

Gongsheng all had meritorious service and enjoyed many privileges: they did not have to kneel when meeting the county magistrate, did not have to be tortured during interrogation, and were exempt from corvée labor, etc.

"Students are not allowed to discuss politics, have you forgotten? Leave quickly, otherwise I will report to the director of the Imperial College to set the record straight." Zhang Xin threatened.

"Mr. Shilang, haven't you heard the saying that a gentleman can be reserved but not cowardly, and can speak out against injustice?"

Zhang Xin was stunned for a moment and subconsciously looked behind him.

The passion of the people was dampened a lot by these few words.

Although they are happy to see officials being killed, they do not want to see anyone being wrongly killed. No one can guarantee that they will not be the next victim.

Chongzhen saw all this and sneered in his heart.

These officials didn't dare to come forward to plead for mercy, and actually let a group of students from the Imperial College cause trouble. They were so cowardly.

He stood up and ignored the others, and said to Zhang Jinyan: "Zhang Jinyan, what grievances have you suffered? Tell me about it."

Zhang Xin seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw. He swallowed hard, moistened his throat, and said with tears in his eyes, "Your Majesty, yesterday in the court, Your Majesty borrowed money from the civil and military officials to supplement the military pay. I was just confused and said the wrong thing, but I was accused of deceiving the emperor. I... do not accept it!"

"Although tens of thousands of taels of silver were found in my house, they were all accumulated by my ancestors, and some were borrowed by me for circulation. The IOUs are still there, so how can I be accused of embezzlement?"

"Okay!" Chongzhen raised his voice and said to everyone present: "I ask you, why did you lie to the emperor when you borrowed money?"

"Are you afraid that I won't pay you back, or are you hoping for the Ming Dynasty to fall?"

"I'm afraid... I'm afraid that His Majesty won't return the money!" Zhang Jinyan didn't care about much else anymore. He just said whatever he wanted to say in front of so many people. If he didn't say it now, he would have no chance.

"No, you are not afraid that I will not pay you back, but you are hoping that the Ming Dynasty will fall. Only when the Ming Dynasty falls will I be unable to pay you back."

"Do you think that I only convicted you of corruption for the money? You have not only coveted money, but also your career and your life! As far as I know, you have been colluding with the bandits and have become their running dog!"

"In February, the bandits conquered Taiyuan, captured Jin Wang Zhu Shenxuan, and killed Governor Cai Maode. You lied to the military and said Taiyuan was still being defended! You delayed my order to summon Wu Sangui to the throne."

"In February, the bandits fought fiercely with our army at Ningwu Pass for several days and captured Ningwu Pass at the cost of 70,000 casualties. Zhou Yuji and 7,000 soldiers died in the battle."

"You lied to the military intelligence again, saying that the bandits retreated to Ningwu Pass! I missed the opportunity to recruit soldiers and prepare for war in the capital."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!