Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 100 Execution of the Rebel Relatives and Wang Yue

Two days later, the relatives of these regicide rebels would be executed.

Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Liu Wentai and others were all taken to the execution ground, where they were about to witness the execution of their relatives!

These murderers who killed Emperor Hongzhi for their own interests in the past will also face the price of having their loved ones killed!

Just like the pain they brought to the Ming Crown Prince Zhu Houzhao!
The first batch is Liu Jian’s relatives!
Those Liu relatives who once acted arrogantly under the protection of Liu Jian were now prisoners, forced to kneel on the execution ground.

The wind was cold and the snow was flying. Liu Jian also saw his relatives shivering in the snow in prison clothes just like him.

Liu Jian even saw his eldest son, Liu Dong, who was then the Deputy Director of the Military Department, kneeling in the snow. Liu Jian, who doted on his eldest son, could not bear to see his son implicated, and immediately cried out in pain: "I am sorry for you! I should not have done such a wicked thing!"

At this time, Liu Jian's relatives were only concerned with begging for mercy and did not hear Liu Jian's cries. In the blink of an eye, a group of them were executed!
Click!
People’s heads fell to the ground immediately!

The blood melted into the white snow, and also melted into it the sins owed by the Liu clan.

"Bring it up again!"

The official in charge of the execution shouted an order, and another group of Liu clan members were brought up. Liu Dong was among them, and he also shouted desperately: "Mercy! I don't want to die yet. I am willing to sever my father-son relationship with the traitor Liu Jian who killed the king. I hope Your Majesty will spare my life!"

Liu Dong's shouting was naturally useless.

"cut!"

At the order of the executioner, another batch of heads fell to the ground, and the gurgling blood splashed into the snowy sky, like wintersweets blooming in winter.

……

At this time in the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houzhao was holding a red pen, looking at the names of people he needed to collude with, and he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

The people on the list are all relatives of the rebel party.

As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houzhao held the power of life and death over all people in the Ming Dynasty, so these people naturally needed him to decide.

Although this gave Zhu Houzhao a sense of power and satisfaction, it also made him feel as if the pen in his hand weighed a thousand pounds.

Zhu Houzhao knew that every time he executed a group of people, a group of people would lose their heads.

He had to admit that these people did not participate in the regicide, and could even be said to be unaware of it, but according to the laws and values ​​of that era, these people should be implicated.

Moreover, Zhu Houzhao also knew that since he was living in an era of human rule and had become the emperor of this era, he had to be ruthless if he wanted to protect his own life and if he wanted to prevent the Ming Empire from collapsing in his hands or even become better!

What's more, if you really look into it, none of these people are innocent. They formed the gentry group behind these rebels. They were the most direct exploiters of the common people of the Ming Dynasty. These rebels chose to kill the emperor for their own interests. It can be said that the death of Emperor Hongzhi was fundamentally caused by these people who formed the gentry group.

Now, Zhu Houzhao wants to suppress the gentry group and reduce the degree to which the empire is swallowed up by the powerful. The simplest way is to kill!

If we don't kill a large number of people now when we have a legitimate reason, we won't have many opportunities to kill them in the future!
Speaking of innocence, aren't the common people who died under the enslavement of these people even more innocent?
Isn’t Emperor Hongzhi innocent?

do not care!
kill! kill!

kill!

Zhu Houzhao repeated it silently three times in his mind, and finally resolutely continued to check off the names of those who were to be executed.

Every time Zhu Houzhao executed a group of people, a group of relatives of the rebels were taken to the execution ground. Then, with a click, a group of heads fell to the ground one after another. The gentry who parasitized on the majority of ordinary people in the empire and exploited their labor resources were also killed.

Although this method is rough and cruel, it is indeed very efficient.

You have to know that any one of these big gentry families, even a slave, would need the income of hundreds of tenant farmers a year to support him, or even more.

At this time, Li Dongyang also saw the scene of his fourth brother Li Dongming being executed.

Xie Qian's eldest son Xie Pi, who became a Hanlin editor in the 18th year of Hongzhi by relying on his father's status, and Xie Qian's younger brother Xie Di, who made money for the Xie family through maritime trade in Guangdong and Guangxi, were both executed.

Liu Wentai and other relatives of Liu Daxia were all executed!

At this time, these people finally experienced the pain of losing their loved ones, and the entire ruling class of the Ming Dynasty also knew the consequences of killing the king!
After Yongle, the Ming emperors were too friendly to these people, so friendly that these civil servants and gentry forgot the consequences of rebellion against the emperor.

In the past, Liu Jian’s wife dared to show off her wealth in front of Zhu Houzhao, but now even if she spends another 60,000 taels, she cannot buy back her life.

……

At the same time as these accomplices were executed, Wang Yue, who was waiting to be tortured to death, was also taken to the execution ground specially built for him.

All the inner court officials from the twenty-four yamen of the Ming Dynasty gathered here on this day to watch Wang Yue being executed by slow slicing, including the eight tigers who are now powerful, such as Liu Jin, Gu Dayong, Ma Yongcheng, etc.

Wang Yue felt extremely uncomfortable when he saw the eunuchs who were looking at him as if they were watching a play, especially when Liu Jin, who was not even worthy of carrying his shoes in the past, now wore his old clothes and replaced his position as the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department. When Liu Jin looked at him and laughed, Wang Yue felt as if he had been slapped in the face.

However, at this point Wang Yue could no longer change any facts, and all that awaited him was death by thousands of cuts!

The executioner caught Wang Yue in a net and squeezed the fat Wang Yue hard until Wang Yue's fat flesh came out in clumps. At this time, the executioner had taken out a knife and skillfully cut the protruding fat flesh on Wang Yue's chest like a surgeon in later generations. Blood immediately gushed out and Wang Yue screamed in pain:
"Ah! It hurts!"

Coupled with the cold wind, which was already painful, and now as it poured into Wang Yue's wound, it was like salt being sprinkled, causing Wang Yue's pain to increase tenfold!
Wang Yue cried and howled non-stop, and at the same time, he instinctively began to beg for mercy: "Please spare my life! Your Majesty, please spare my life! I admit my guilt!"

Wang Yue’s cries became louder and louder, echoing throughout the execution ground.

At first, Liu Jin and other eunuchs were somewhat excited to see the tragic scene of Wang Yue, who had wanted to kill them in the past, being tortured to death. But after watching for a long time, they became frightened and secretly thanked their luck that they did not stand on Wang Yue's side and oppose His Majesty.

Wang Yue cried for three days before he gradually stopped, and the eunuchs also watched for three days. After Wang Yue was executed, all the eunuchs in the inner court were ten times more afraid of Zhu Houzhao than before.

In addition, former eunuchs such as Zhang Yu, Lu He, and Zhang Zhao were also executed one after another!

Next was Liu Wentai, one of the three cabinet ministers in the outer court.

(End of this chapter)