Chapter 301: Defection
All the members of the He family were actually beheaded.
He Tingfang's wife, son, daughter-in-law, grandson and granddaughter were all taken to the execution ground.
Except for He Tingfang who was kidnapped, He Yanqing whose whereabouts are unknown, and He Yan who was confined to Prince Gong's Mansion, all of them were beheaded.
More than ten heads rolled down, spilling a large amount of blood.
The people watching from the audience were deeply saddened to find that the beheading of the rich man was no different from that of an ordinary death row prisoner.
One strike and death is inevitable.
Some people looked around during the execution, wondering if anyone would come to rob the execution ground.
After all, everyone heard that the traitor He Tingfang was kidnapped, so maybe someone came to kidnap him at the execution ground today.
There are many such plots in those legendary stories.
Not to mention the common people, in fact, even the Dali Temple Minister and Murong Yu had some similar thoughts, thinking that the day when the He family was executed might attract He Tingfang to show up, or allow them to catch some clues that could be tracked.
But the facts disappointed everyone.
No one came.
By the time the executioner washed the blood off the knife, no one showed up to rob the execution ground.
The crowd of onlookers dispersed.
There were only two or three corpse tailors still waiting, wanting to see if they could make a big deal today.
Every year, people are beheaded on the execution ground, and some prisoners' families hope that their loved ones can be buried with a complete body.
After collecting the body, they would ask a mortician to sew up the deceased's severed head, so that at least there would be a complete body for burial.
The corpse tailor saw that many people were chopped up today, and they were from wealthy families, so he thought he could make a lot of money.
But later, the corpse tailor discovered that the He family did not even have a relative or friend who came to collect the body.
The government servants frowned as they collected the corpses and said to the several corpse tailors standing nearby, "
"You will have no business today."
"The He family has committed a serious crime. Anyone who dares to get involved might end up in jail. Who dares to collect the bodies?"
The yamen runners loaded the bodies of the He family onto donkey carts and pulled them out of the city, all the way to a mass grave in the suburbs, where they dumped the bodies into the woods.
After throwing it away, he patted the bad luck off his body and left quickly.
As soon as the bailiffs left, several people ran out of the woods and ran straight to the corpse.
Their clothes were tattered, even the patches they had put on were worn out, and their hands and feet seemed to be a little disabled.
When these people saw the corpses of the He family, their eyes lit up, like hungry wolves seeing a piece of fat meat, and they quickly stripped off the inner clothes of the He family members.
They were very skilled and this was not the first time they had done this.
They are the poorest people in the rural villages, physically disabled and struggling to make a living.
Every time someone was beheaded in the capital, they would come to the mass grave and wait.
When they heard that corrupt officials were beheaded, they were extremely happy.
Because although these wealthy families had their homes confiscated and nothing was left, their inner garments were still made of good materials.
Satin is precious. You can take it back and sell it. Maybe you can exchange it for several bags of rice!
Someone who had come here for the first time was watching from the side, hesitantly saying,
"The dead are the greatest. Isn't this a bad thing?"
The others, holding the silk pants they had just pulled off the corpse, laughed heartily:
"What's wrong with that?"
"When they were alive, they skinned the people. Now when they're dead, we skin them. This is called... taking from the people, returning to the people. Hahahahaha..."
In the bright sunshine, the mass grave exuded a sickening odor.
Joyful laughter echoed over every corpse in the forest.
They shook their heads and imitated the scholars as they read:
"Wonderful—wonderful—"
…
Midsummer turns cooler.
The cicadas' chirping subsides and the summer flowers begin to fall.
A month passed.
The troops mobilized by the imperial court from various regions have already marched northward into the Guannei Road and engaged in a head-on confrontation with the army of the Tiele Khanate.
Dayu's military advisor blocked the Tiele Khan's advance southward, and the two sides were in a stalemate.
Murong Yu kept a close eye on the war in the north, and every three to five days, a war report would be sent back to Chang'an.
It's hard to say whether Murong Yu's health is better or worse than it was a month ago.
He no longer vomited blood or coughed.
But my limbs were so weak that it was difficult to walk a few steps.
Murong Yu no longer went to the imperial study to handle government affairs, and asked people to send all memorials to his bedroom.
In addition, he often summoned Crown Prince Murong Zhen to read memorials to him and approve them on his behalf.
"Father, I'm here." Murong Zhen was summoned again in the afternoon of that day.
Murong Yu nodded slightly, motioning Murong Zhen to sit on the couch by the window, where a pile of memorials was already waiting:
"Zhen'er, did you have a good time studying with Master Zhang in the East Palace this morning?"
Murong Zhen sat down beside the couch and said, "Your Majesty, recently, Grand Tutor Zhang and I have been discussing the methods used by wise and benevolent rulers to suppress rebellions. His analysis is profound and detailed."
A smile appeared on Murong Yu's gloomy face: "Good, Zhen'er is becoming more and more like a crown prince."
"I only hope to share more of your father's worries and relieve him of his burdens."
Murong Zhen picked up the memorial on the table and began to read.
As he read, his brows furrowed slightly.
My headache started again.
Headaches have almost become a daily part of his life.
Especially when he sees people he doesn’t like or does things he doesn’t like, his headaches become more frequent and severe.
He didn't like talking about wise rulers and ways to quell rebellions with Grand Tutor Zhang, nor did he like reading memorials to his father in the Ganyang Palace filled with the smell of medicine.
My father has lost a lot of weight since he fell ill. His yellow robe is wrapped loosely around his body, and the wrinkles on his robe reveal his decay. He no longer has the majesty he once had.
Such a father doesn't look like a king who can rule the country at all.
Murong Zhen didn't want to become like this in the future at all.
Murong Zhen had just finished reading two memorials when a new battle report was urgently delivered to the hall.
Eunuch Wang held the battle report in his hands and asked, "Your Majesty, do you want the Crown Prince to read it?"
Murong Yu nodded.
But when Murong Zhen started to read the battle report and took a quick glance, his face became even uglier than Murong Yu on the bed.
Murong Yu noticed something was wrong: "Did they lose the city?"
Murong Zhen read the battle report again before turning his head stiffly:
"Father...it says here that He Tingfang is in the Tiele Khanate's army...it also says..."
Murong Zhen swallowed his saliva.
"...It's said that of the four military divisions transferred north, the troops led by General Qian and General Hong were instigated by He Tingfang to defect in the middle of the battle, joining forces with Tiele Khan's army to capture the city! Dayu's troops were outnumbered and lost two cities in a single day."
Upon hearing this, Murong Yu clenched his knuckles tightly around the quilt and shouted angrily:
"Assholes! Every one of them is an asshole. How dare they rebel!"
"I offered them high positions and generous salaries, yet they betrayed me and joined the enemy!"
Murong Yu was so angry that he stood up from the bed and wanted to grab the battle report to see it with his own eyes.
But his footing was unstable. After getting out of bed and taking a few steps, he tripped over the corner of the table and fell directly to the ground, looking very embarrassed.
The news of the army's defection could not be concealed.
Everyone in the government and the country heard about this. Many people were furious and cursed He Tingfang and his defecting troops for selling out their country for personal gain.
But scolding was useless. If we didn't try to stop them, the enemy would reach Gyeonggi Province within a month.
Not to mention that there is also the Hunxie Kingdom in the northwest, which is trying to bypass the Xue family army to get a share of Dayu.
The next day, when Murong Yu brought Crown Prince Murong Zhen to court, the court officials discussed a delaying tactic.
They sent envoys to negotiate with the Tiele Khanate to see what the Tiele Khanate's demands were.
After all, the Tiele Khanate has not invaded Dayu in nearly a hundred years, so it should be easier to deal with than the Hunye Kingdom in the northwest. As long as their demands are met, a temporary truce can be achieved.
After Dayu has calmed down and gathered more troops, it will not be too late to take it back from the Tiele Khanate.
Although Murong Yu did not want Dayu to pay compensation or cede land during his reign, he had to admit that this was the best solution he could think of at the moment.
Don’t fight for a temporary win or loss, and try to get it back later.
The imperial court sent envoys to the place where the two armies were facing each other at full speed overnight.
Half a month later, news came back from the envoy.
The Tiele Khanate agreed to a truce, but with three conditions:
1. Territory cession: Qingzhou and Yanzhou in Guannei Province and the area north of Cizhou and Luzhou in Hedong Province were ceded
2. Indemnity: One million gold, one thousand pieces of silk, and ten thousand dan of corn
3. Marriage: The Khan of Tiele Khanate wanted to marry Princess Ning'an of Dayu
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