Chapter 110 Execution Ground
Military law is always brief. With the list and ready-made evidence in hand, the army did not have to go through any complicated and tedious procedures. In just one day, they captured all the criminals within a hundred miles. Not a single one escaped. The more than 300 suspects who fled far away ran too fast and used too many tricks to take away all the ships, horses, gold and silver, indirectly blocking all escape routes, leaving the remaining criminals with nothing to do.
Of course, even though they are in trouble, these accomplices are not without their own delusions. With rockets hanging overhead, they dared not put up a last-ditch resistance, but they still thought that the law would not punish the masses, and even planned to reveal some information in exchange for their lives. But it was not until he was driven by soldiers to the parade ground on the coast that he finally felt something was wrong - there was a huge crowd of people outside the parade ground, surrounded by civilians who had been summoned from nearby; a high platform was built in the middle, with three tall gallows placed in the middle, and flagpoles on both sides with stiff corpses hanging on them: because of the cold weather, the assassin's body had not yet rotted, so it was just right to be used as a prop. Naturally, the effect of such a terrifying and hideous prop was extraordinary. The first prisoner who was tied up in took a look at it, and immediately his soul flew away, and he almost collapsed and could not move.
When facing death, there are always people who can muster up the courage. A few scholars who were a little educated were quite cunning. They rolled on the ground a few times and cried out in a shrill voice:
"How dare you, soldiers, break the law! You dare to kill people without a trial or verdict!"
The escorting soldier was not angry. He just picked up the man and slapped him in the face, then pointed to a large piece of white paper hanging outside the platform. On it were written huge red characters, which clearly stated the provisions of Emperor Gaozu's "Great Edict"; the commander of the troops was under the authority of the Foreign Affairs Office, and there was no need to delay in enforcing military law, and of course there was no need to waste time with local officials - the entire army had worked hard for several days to prepare, so how could they make a mistake in such a crucial procedure?
The student felt dizzy, but he still gritted his teeth and refuted:
"Emperor Gaozu also said that we should rule the world with benevolence, and not kill everyone. You used military law to kill people, which seriously violated the emperor's will, and you still dare to show off here! Even if we are evil spirits, we will complain to the underworld--"
To be honest, it is a bit difficult to put Emperor Gaozu together with "benevolent rule" and "not killing everyone". However, the soldiers were obviously well-trained and did not argue with the prisoner at all. They just slapped him again and pointed to the big notices posted inside and outside the parade ground. After being with the bureaucrats in the capital for a long time, one can predict all their means. The prince had been prepared and summoned the people from all sides in advance and announced a bottom-line policy: according to common sense, the four or five hundred people arrested now should all be executed and no one should escape. However, in order to respect the kindness of the emperor, they are still willing to show leniency. During a public trial and sentencing of a criminal, as long as ten people can stand up and list ten reasons why the criminal should not be put to death, and the onlookers do not object, then the prisoner can be temporarily spared from death to see what happens next.
God sees as the people see, and God hears as the people hear; this was the idea Zhao Fei promoted when dealing with war criminals and accomplices on a large scale after the war. For minor crimes, local officials can make the decision; for more serious cases, the Ministry of Justice must review them, and for even more serious cases, the imperial power needs to intervene. However, for such serious crimes as colluding with foreign countries, treason and surrendering to the enemy that almost subverts the fate of the nation, even the emperor cannot decide. It can only be left to God - the so-called will of heaven is the will of the people. No one can save those who are wanted to be killed by God; and if God decides to show mercy, it is not the turn of the imperial power to interfere.
As long as there were ten righteous people, the city of Sodom could be saved; similarly, as long as the criminals present did ten good things that convinced the local people, they could save their lives. Of course, if one cannot even say ten good things, then the execution would not be too unfair.
When the state machinery is functioning intact, it is certainly taboo to allow public opinion to directly influence the judiciary. However, the coastal areas of Shandong had been colluding with Japanese pirates for more than a decade, and the state apparatus had basically been rotten to the point of complete collapse. Under such tragic and horrific circumstances, there was certainly no question of the dignity of the law. Be it populism or incitement, instead of suppressing it by force, it is better to let the people who have been harmed on all sides vent their anger. If your mood is at peace, everything will go smoothly, and you will avoid an irreversible situation in the future.
However, for the prisoners, such a merciful catch-all clause seemed more terrifying than the death penalty, so much so that the old student stared at it for a moment, but suddenly struggled desperately, and let out an extremely shrill and loud terrifying howl, which was more piercing than a pig being slaughtered; so much so that Mu Qi, who was sitting alone in the distance, covered his ears and frowned:
"What happened to this old Deng?"
"Are you scared?" Zhao Fei is very experienced: "Some things are like this. Once the psychological defense line collapses, everything is over..."
"It doesn't have to be that bad." Liu Li interrupted, "Even if no one is willing to protect him, the most he can do is die. He was able to roll around before, so why is he collapsing now?"
"Because death is different from death itself." Zhao Fei said softly, "As long as this rule can be enforced, it means that the people below can speak. Once they can speak..."
Before she could finish her words, the old student had been dragged onto the platform. The soldiers behind him pulled his hair and lifted up his face, showing it back and forth to the audience. The sky was bright and the people in the audience could see the old student's twisted and hideous face clearly; but in an instant, the buzzing sound gradually disappeared, and the audience who were crowded together all around suddenly fell silent - a kind of weird, solemn and hideous silence.
Then, a shrill cry suddenly rang out from the crowd, and a white-haired old man ran out from outside the field, knocked over the railing outside the platform, and tried desperately to squeeze inside; fortunately, the soldiers guarding on all sides were quick-witted and grabbed the man and dragged him down quickly. However, the old man struggled desperately, howling and cursing in a dialect that was difficult to understand, but his anger and resentment were still evident in his words. Before being dragged off, he even threw a stone onto the stage with all his might.
Liu Li was greatly surprised: "Why is there such a big reaction? The higher-ups haven't read out the charges yet, right?"
Mu Qi flipped through the list in his hand and finally found the entry related to this old student. He read it out loud:
"Jin Wu, a student, once assisted the Japanese pirates in smuggling people... Oh my god."
No wonder there is no need to read out the charges. A person who has harmed the whole village like this must have already become a devil that everyone wants to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin. The devil is so powerful, does he still need outsiders like these to educate him?
Of course, the necessary procedures still need to be followed. The specially selected soldiers read out the man's crimes aloud at the top of their voices and presented various evidences that they had copied hastily. But the people below obviously did not want to listen to these empty words; the old man's hasty behavior seemed to ignite some long-suppressed emotions, and the several hundred-word charge had not been read out halfway, when the discussions in the crowd had turned into noisy, furious curses and shouts, and more victims squeezed out of the crowd with all their might, crying and wailing, trying to rush onto the platform and eat the devil alive with knives, stones, nails and teeth; the soldiers who maintained order tried their best to stop them, but stones and sticks still flew out from everywhere, hitting the dead flesh lying on the platform like raindrops.
Once you allow people below you to speak, you can no longer control what they say. Of course, they may say nice words to save good people, but more often they vent their anger - anger that has long been accumulated, anger that is as hot and fierce as magma. In the past, this kind of hatred was suppressed, forgotten, and deliberately ignored, but as long as there is a tiny spark as a trigger, it will immediately have the power of a tsunami!
Time is wasted, I will die with you!
This violent shouting and yelling was more terrifying than a tsunami and easily drowned out the few lonely people on the stage. The old student collapsed on the ground, his life or death unknown, and the soldiers supervising the execution and guarding the prisoner were sweating profusely, their hands holding down the prisoner almost trembling - he was condemned by thousands of people, but his death came to an end without any cause; even if he was just an innocent innocent in the incident and had nothing to do with himself, as long as he was there and felt the wild and intense to the point of incomprehensible anger and malice, he would still instinctively feel fear.
According to the regulations, after reading the charges, one has to wait for a quarter of an hour to see if anyone is willing to speak up to save the prisoner. But seeing the commotion in the audience, several victims almost broke through the human wall formed by the guards, Zhao Fei quickly spoke:
"Let's do it. Don't delay any longer. If the emotions get aroused, these people might just rush onto the stage and tear the prisoner to pieces!"
"tear--"
"It means exactly what it says." Zhao Fei said, "I encountered this once in Hebei. At that time, the defense force was insufficient, and the furious crowd rushed over and directly snatched the prisoner away; and then - then we only found part of the prisoner's organization."
She sighed deeply: "Believe me, you will never like that kind of scene."
Mu Qi's mouth twitched, but he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and threw down the order. The guards standing in the distance immediately raised the red flag as if they had been pardoned. Then the well-prepared executioner immediately came on stage, dragged the prisoner who looked like a dead pig to the guillotine, and then closed the knife -
There were flashes of blood, and the audience cheered loudly, the sound shaking the whole area.
Liu Li's eyes twitched slightly:
"I'll go."
Of course, all he could say was "I'll go." If one only looks at the surface, this may just be an absurd scene of a mob shouting for blood; but as long as one carefully looks through the list and evidence, one can clearly understand that such carnival and joy are nothing more than a distortion aroused by the resentment and hatred of blood, and bloody hatred can only be repaid with blood after all.
Repaying evil with good is one of the greatest justices in the world, and outsiders like them have no right to be generous to others.
Mu Qi took a deep breath and felt a sense of manic anger in the cool breeze. He flipped through the roster again:
"The next one is Sun Zhihe, a warehouse clerk who resold old grain to the Japanese pirates and hoarded it to make a profit..."
·
Compared to previous estimates, the formal trial process was actually much faster. Contrary to what one might imagine, there was no debate or questioning of evidence in the public trial - in fact, the little evidence provided on the list might be just the tip of the iceberg. Judging from the reactions of the people below the stage, the prisoners being interrogated probably had bigger and more sinister crimes that had not yet been revealed; crimes that would start with the death penalty and end with lingchi. Therefore, every prisoner who is pushed onto the stage will basically have no sympathizers. All they get is thunderous anger and frantic shouts, and people wish they could drag them down and cut them into pieces. At this point, the executioner's clean and neat beheading became a kind of mercy. The culprits who had committed crimes in the village no longer dared to resist and could only submit to being killed.
However, such a rich and intense atmosphere was quite emotionally draining. Even if he just sat on the sidelines and gave orders to kill people step by step, Mu Qi's forehead was still covered in cold sweat and his nerves were extremely tense. If he had some kind of delusion before, thinking that he could control the situation steadily, then now, when the emotions of many people were boiling like fire and the surging crowds on all sides rushed towards him like waves, he couldn't help feeling dizzy and trembling, so much so that the desk seemed to be swaying up and down - after uncovering the seal of public opinion, you can realize how amazing and terrifying the power of the masses is; you think you can control it, but in fact you are just a small boat on the vast ocean, and you can only go with the flow...
Therefore, he has only one choice:
"Death penalty, next."
"Death penalty, next."
"Death penalty, next."
…………
Over forty people were killed quickly within an hour, and only two were pardoned - these two people had only recently started collaborating with the Japanese and had not had time to do many evil things; they were also willing to lend some food and grain to distant relatives on weekdays. Therefore, when the charges were read out, the crowd was not very angry, and several people were willing to raise their hands to guarantee him. Of course, according to the previous regulations, there were only three or five people who acted as guarantors, so it was impossible to save the person; but Zhao Fei strongly suggested that he stop in time and set up two examples to calm the murderous aura. So Mu Qi thought for a moment and decisively spared the man, saying only that he would continue the investigation the next day.
He killed like this for half a day without stopping, literally killing so many people that heads rolled down his spine, the water turned red, and the entire platform was red. After waiting for a long time until the sun set, Mu Qi could not wait to get up and ordered his men to quickly dismiss the people and wait until later to hold the trial. These civilians who were invited to juror the case were not there for nothing, as they could get half a stone of rice for each day of judging, all of which was paid from the confiscated property. Now that the case in the morning has been concluded, I have to go back and have lunch before I can take advantage of the excitement in the afternoon.
Perhaps he was venting his anger after killing so many people. The people did not resist the order, but followed the soldiers obediently to get food and rice. Seeing the frenzied crowd dispersed, the prince breathed a sigh of relief, looked back at the platform, and shuddered again - dozens of balls on the platform were neatly stacked to form a pyramid more than half a meter high, and underneath was a pool of blood.
Of course, this thing actually has a very elegant and beautiful name...it is called Jingguan.
It is said that the heads of the Japanese pirates in the naval battle were cut off and made into a memorial stone, but they were burned not long after being piled up. It is far less exciting than the current close-up scene.
Mu Qi barely suppressed his nausea and waved to call for his personal guards:
"Where's General Qi?"
The guards saluted and said, "The general is still lingering at the county magistrate's place."
When the army is dispatched to hunt down the criminal, it will of course lead to fierce conflicts with local authorities. Originally, this kind of thing required long-term adjustment, but after the Prince of Mu came forward, he directly suppressed it with the oral order of Master Feixuan. Execute first and report later. This is a special permission granted by the emperor. Do you understand?
Finally, a group of local officials were invited to the yamen for "tea", accompanied by Qi Yuanjing throughout the whole process - although he had the imperial permission, General Qi would certainly not be able to withstand the harm, so it would be better to send him away to avoid getting in the way. But precisely because of this, Mu Qi had no one else to share the burden and almost bore the greatest shock alone.
Even though the sea breeze was howling and the smell of blood was not strong, Mu Qi was still stunned for a moment before he sighed:
"In the county government? How about this, you go and ask General Qi whether he has finished writing the official document. After it is written, I will sign it directly and send it to the capital. Move quickly, there are still more than 400 people to be killed!"
·
Yan Donglou hurriedly walked into the study, only to see the room filled with steam and the aroma of tea. It was just that Lord Yan had taken a break from his busy life and was making tea for pleasure.
Yan Donglou hesitated outside the door for a moment, then gritted his teeth and stepped over the threshold:
"Prime Minister, something happened in Shandong!"
He pulled out a piece of white paper from his sleeve and presented it with both hands.
Since Yan Ge Lao was promoted to the position of Prime Minister, Yan Donglou's official position has risen rapidly. In addition to his main position as the Minister of Works, he also took on a concurrent position in the Ministry of Public Security, which allowed him to inquire about memorials from various places in advance and make him extremely well-informed. Yan Donglou could handle ordinary small matters easily, but now he was in a hurry and alarmed his own father, so it must be a big matter.
The elder sat cross-legged in the mist, squinting his eyes as he looked around at his newly acquired pottery pot. He looked contented, as if he had no concerns about worldly affairs. He simply replied:
"Shandong? That means someone named Mu is in trouble again. But he is always in trouble, so why are you so nervous?"
"But this is a big deal." Yan Donglou replied carefully: "From the news, it seems that the prince and Qi Yuanjing killed a lot of people in Shandong, and they were all subject to military law, beheading first and reporting later..."
"The military discipline is extremely strict. As long as we can win the battle, killing a few people doesn't matter."
Lord Yan still didn't care. He just picked up the teapot carefully, prepared to wash the tea set with boiling water, and then slowly poured in the tea powder after heating it. But seeing Yan Donglou's strange expression and still hesitant to speak, he finally frowned:
"How many have you killed?"
"Four, four or five hundred..."
Elder Yan's wrist trembled, and a stream of hot water rushed down and poured directly onto his thigh.
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