Peach and plum spring breeze and a glass of wine

Before life and death, everyone is equal.

At the critical moment of life and death, no matter whether he is a fourth-grade prefect or a seventh-grade county magistrate, he can no longer deal with it indifferently. Everyone's hands are swollen and their voices are hoarse from shouting...

Hearing that each prison officer said that there were still major cases to be reported, the flag officers guarding the prison cells did not dare to hide and report the situation, so they reported the situation in the prison layer by layer to Yang Ge.

Yang Ge had to take time out and go to the prison in person.

When the jumping firelight illuminated the bright red four-clawed python robe on his body, all the prisoners who had eaten three dishes and one soup went crazy instantly. They beat the cell door frantically and shouted desperately who they were and what they had. A major case needs to be reported, lest others take advantage of it and miss the last chance to survive.

"quiet!"

Yang Ge channeled enough energy and shouted angrily to suppress all the roars.

All the prisoners shut up in response, only opening their frightened eyes and looking pitifully at Yang Ge. Some even took advantage of their age and forcibly rubbed their red eyes and wiped away tears...

The world is finally quiet.

Yang Ge breathed out gently, pressed Shang Fang's sword and said calmly: "I don't know if you really have a major case to report, or if you are just fabricating it to delay your life... But I want to say something ugly. At the front, the merits and demerits are not equal, the damn person, no matter what he reports, he must die!"

As soon as the words fell, the prison was about to explode again.

Yang Ge summoned his true energy again and forcibly suppressed their objections: "You are all scholars who read the books of sages and sages in order to gain fame. I can't think of how to interpret the eight words 'killing people to pay for their lives, and paying debts for money'." I need Yang to talk more!”

"Whether you accept your fate or not!"

"Anyway, your retribution has arrived, it's time to hit the road."

"But what I want to say is that to this day, I still want to believe that when you read the books of sages and seek fame in the past, you all thought about making decisions for the people and benefiting the country."

"It's just because of a mistake in thought, a wrong move, it's just because the officialdom is turbid and we have to join in the same trend..."

"That's why we ended up where we are today."

"At the last moment of your life, I hope you can look back at the past and sum up your life."

"As long as...as long as you still have the slightest bit of conscience, just vomit out all the sewage and dirt hidden in your hearts before setting out on the road. You will be able to walk faster, and those who come after you can also take you as your example. Quit.”

"Not to mention the previous causes, at least in the last moments of your lives, this difficult world has become a little better because of your repentance."

“It may not have changed much, but it must be getting better!”

"It can be regarded as the last time for you to look back at the time when you were studying hard in a humble window and determined to serve the country and the people..."

"The path you have taken step by step to reach today is yours. There is not much that Yang can do. He is just to report your most regretful performance to His Majesty, and for the sake of your conscience, give him Your descendants will be given a lighter punishment."

"That's all Yang said. Whether you say it or not is up to you to decide for yourself!"

After speaking, Yang Ge turned around and shouted: "Here comes someone."

A small flag officer stepped forward in response: "I'm here to serve you!"

Yang Ge: "Whoever is willing to repent, find a quiet place for him alone, give him paper and pen, and get him a bottle of wine."

The flag officer loudly received the order: "I humbly obey the order!"

Yang Ge waved his sleeves and left in a hurry surrounded by a group of embroidered warriors.

There was a long silence in the prison.

The prisoners, who were driven crazy by the horror between life and death, seemed to have their spines ripped away by Yang Ge's words.

After a long time, some people started laughing crazily, while others sat on the ground in despair and burst into tears...

There were also people who huddled in a dark corner, struggling for a long time with red eyes and clenched fists. Finally, they stood up and banged the cell door vigorously: "I want to drink, get me a bottle of wine!"

When someone saw that he was about to give up, they were shocked and helplessly persuaded him in a low voice: "Brother Jifu, think again!"

"Think twice about you bitch!"

The person who knocked on the door angrily turned around and roared at the person trying to persuade him: "If you hadn't dragged me into the water, how could I have ended up in this situation!"

The face of the person trying to persuade him changed, and he immediately said angrily: "Shall we drag you into the water? If you are really such a loyal minister, can we drag you? When you are making money, you only hate me for not giving you a small share. , now you blame us? Has your conscience been eaten by dogs? "

The person who knocked on the door screamed with veins popping up on his face: "If you guys hadn't suppressed me like crazy, how could I have collected your dirty money? Did I feed my conscience to the dog? Did your conscience feed the dog?"

The person trying to persuade him angrily rolled up his sleeves and tried to persuade him physically. At the right time, the cell door opened, and several muscular warriors in embroidered clothes walked in with a sinister smile and moved their wrists: "Is this official in good spirits? Let's go and accompany you. Brothers, let’s go out and chat!”

The face of the person trying to persuade him changed greatly, and he hurriedly waved his hands and said: "My officer... no, I was wrong. I shouldn't have spoken. Please forgive me, my lord, please forgive me!"

It didn't matter what he said, a few big and muscular men would push him to the ground with a "snap" sound and drag him out like a dog to death.

In front of the prisoner who knocked on the door, a small flag officer stood in front of the cell door with a smile and made a "please" gesture to him: "Master Song, let's go. I've heard about Yangzhou for a long time." The cloud liquid is sweet and refreshing, and thanks to Master Song, we can have a taste of it today!"

The prisoner who knocked on the door stepped out of the cell door in one step and walked forward with a steady gaze. As he walked, he said loudly: "Drink some dick juice. I am from Shanxi and I want to drink Fenjiu!"

The little flag officer followed him, holding his forehead with a headache and said: "Yes, yes, we will send someone to find Fenjiu for you..."

The prisoners in the other cells looked at him intently.

Some people looked coldly and remained unmoved.

Some people's eyes were red, as if they were moving...

The Analects of Confucius says: When a bird is about to die, its cries are mournful; when a man is about to die, his words are also kind.

Yang Ge's seemingly silly and innocent words really hurt the cold and cruel hearts of some people.

It was like waking up from a big dream, with a big belly, fat head, big ears, and filthy body. Suddenly, I saw the handsome young man from the past with red lips and white teeth, white clothes and white clothes, and high-spirited.

People looked for him thousands of times, but suddenly looking back, he was there in the dim light...

Life is short and only a dream comes true!

…

"The guilty minister, Yangzhou Prefecture, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province, is sentenced to the sixth rank of Song Shen, and I pray for the holy peace."

The night wind howled, and the lights were like beans. Song Kun, the general magistrate of Yangzhou, was sitting in the dark and narrow hut, and he wrote the first line of the love letter with a trembling pen.

There were only a dozen words, but it seemed that he had exhausted all his life's energy. After writing the last word "安", he could no longer continue, so he had to put down his brush, lift the wine bottle on the desk and take a big drink at the spout.

With the help of alcohol, he picked up the brush again.

But just as he was about to start writing, his mood broke down again, and he dropped the pen and cried "woo woo".

In the last moments of life, all the splendid wine, wealth, and high spirits of the past have disappeared like smoke from cooking fires in the dusk.

Instead.

It is the call of admiration for children when they are young.

It is the simple and warm smile of my wife back then.

It was the scolding that the old father secretly wiped away tears when he said goodbye.

It was the old mother who was nagging intermittently under the heat of the big iron pot.

It’s the crooked-necked jujube tree in front of my hometown, which is covered with sweet dates.

He suddenly realized that he had come so far over the years...

He knew he was wrong.

But there is no going back.

The cry of "Woo" spread into the night and merged with the wind, echoing repeatedly in the dark prison.

It caused countless prisoners to stay up all night and burst into tears...

At this moment, they finally peeled off the armor of power and revealed their true colors.

Some people are thinking, if time can go back, if life can be regretted, what will he do...

Some people are also thinking that if he is given another chance, he must do things more rigorously and climb higher...

It's a pity that time can't be turned back, life can't be regretted, and no one will give them another chance.

The sky will eventually light up.

What is supposed to come will eventually come.

When the narrow cells were opened again, the embroidered warriors who came to collect the scrolls were shocked to find that the official inside had aged by more than ten years overnight.

Some people even have their hair turn gray overnight...

…

When the sun hits three strokes.

Hundreds of warriors in embroidered clothes dispersed into Jiangdu City, beating gongs and drums as they walked along the streets and alleys, summoning the people of the city to go to Caishikou at noon to watch the execution.

The common people in Jiangdu who didn't understand the reason took to the streets in groups and flocked to Caishikou.

Even now, many people are still questioning whether this was a formality, and whether the imperial envoy brought death row prisoners from elsewhere to replace those corrupt officials...

Corrupt officials are also officials!

Those are all the stars in the sky descending to earth!

Except the emperor, who can kill him?

In all the dynasties, have you ever heard of mass executions of officials in the state capital?

Rumors spread throughout the city.

Even Yang Ge, who was in the lobby of the government office, heard no less than ten versions of the rumors, including some superb methods of "building plank roads openly and concealing warehouses secretly". Even he felt that it was eye-opening.

He didn't send anyone to explain anything...

He knew that ten thousand explanations were no match for killing an official in front of them.

Besides, he didn't have the energy to fight with these gossips.

Yesterday, he hired more than twenty flag officers to help him check the documents.

But in the end he was still uneasy and personally reviewed all the documents of the 456 corrupt officials detained in Yangzhou.

After all, there is only one chance. He neither wants to let go of an official who deserves to die, nor wants to wrongly accuse an official who does not deserve to die...

It was finally confirmed that 327 corrupt officials were involved in human life cases.

This number, this ratio.

He couldn't believe it but had to believe it!

He carefully reviewed the criminal records of those involved in human life lawsuits, and found that as long as they accumulated money to a certain extent, they would naturally cross the line of human life.

There are even several corrupt officials among them who have amassed millions of dollars and half the city. They have no idea that they are involved in human life lawsuits. When asked, their eyes will darken or they will look confused until all the personal and material evidence is placed in front of them. , then he remembered that he had indeed ordered that matter.

It is true that he just moved his mouth, but the people under him actually killed others and helped him clean up the aftermath. He only took money and land, without a drop of human blood on his hands...

Yang Ge felt that it was definitely unrealistic for these people to honestly say that they had no idea that the people below had killed people.

They just don't care, don't care, are accustomed to it, and are careless...

The same human beings, the same flesh and blood body raised by the same mother and father...

But they seem to be completely different from the poor people.

Obviously, some of them have gone through hardships...

Yang Ge couldn't understand. He only felt angry, as if there was a fire burning in his heart that could not be suppressed or put out...

Even the love letters, which were stained with tears and had sincere words and sad cries, were delivered to him. He just glanced at them and put them on the shelf.

At noon, the Caishikou Dharma Ground was already crowded with people.

When the time came, Yang Ge, wearing a four-clawed vermilion python robe, a Shangfang sword hanging at his waist, and a half-mask of an evil ghost, stepped onto the execution ground surrounded by a large number of warriors in embroidered clothes.

"Bring it up!"

As soon as Yang Ge's buttocks sat down, he shouted loudly.

Immediately, two muscular men in embroidered clothes dragged a prisoner who was still struggling fiercely, wearing a prison uniform and a rag stuffed in his mouth, to the execution ground.

"Bring the prisoner Yang Yuting!"

The two men in embroidered clothes shouted loudly and dragged the prisoner to the execution platform. One of them lifted up his messy long hair and shouted: "Verify his identity!"

"It's really Mr. Yang..."

With just one glance, the crowd of Yangzhou people in the execution ground exploded!

They don't recognize others, how can they not recognize Yang Yuting?

This guy has been an official in Yangzhou for more than ten years, from the seventh grade county magistrate to the prefect, how could they not recognize him!

Was it so exciting right from the start?

"quiet!"

Dozens of embroidered warriors who formed a human wall to block the crowd stood up and shouted.

The boiling crowd quickly quieted down.

Yang Ge waved his hand, and a broad-minded man in embroidered clothes came forward with Yang Yuting's slip and read loudly at the top of his voice: "The prisoner Yang Yuting, the former magistrate of Yangzhou, has colluded with Yongtai Lianghao and Changchun since September last year. The Feng Gang controlled the grain roads and drove up grain prices, seeking huge profits and causing harm to thousands of miles. In June this year, the prison officials ordered the housekeeper Yang Wangcai to rob Zhang Liu, a woman in Wutong, and assassinate Zhang's family of nine. In July this year, the prisoners In order to seize the secret recipe of Youyu Winery, the official ordered the government to arrest Liu Mao, the head of the Youyu Winery, to frame the Qian family of Youyu Winery, and was beaten and sent to an unjust prison to die..."

The document of only five to six hundred words contained forty-five bloody lives. He opened his mouth to kill people, but kept his mouth closed and was thrown into death row.

The people under the high platform became quieter and quieter as they listened, and their eyes shone brighter as they listened.

They don't know what's going on elsewhere.

But they have heard more or less what happened in this document, and some even recognized the sufferer mentioned in the document and knew what was going on...

Is this imperial envoy... serious?

After the prisoner's case was read out, Yang Ge raised his hand, and the embroidered warrior who was holding Yang Yuting down immediately reached out and removed the rag from his mouth.

Yang Ge: "Prisoner Yang Yuting, all the witnesses and material evidence are there, what else do you have to say?"

Yang Yuting shook his head with tears in his eyes, and roared with a ferocious face: "There is no need to accuse me of any crime. I am unjustly accused. I am the magistrate of Yangzhou and a fourth-rank imperial official appointed by your majesty. I am a dog." You have no right to kill me!"

Yang Ge was too lazy to listen to his barking anymore. He grabbed a red-headed arrow and threw it out with an expressionless expression: "Cut!"

"Snapped."

The sound of the arrow hitting the ground was obviously very small, but it rang in the ears of everyone present at the same time. Countless people's bodies trembled following the sound, and they were stunned.

And the two embroidered warriors who held Yang Yuting down waited for a long time, but they would not be stunned!

As soon as the token landed, the two men quickly pushed Yang Yuting's head into the execution platform and inserted the bolt.

Then the two of them stepped away together, and an embroidered warrior pulled out the oxtail knife from his waist with a "clang" sound.

The sharp oxtail knife faced the bright sunshine at noon in late autumn, reflecting a dazzling light, attracting everyone's attention.

Until then...

There are still people who are suspicious, suspecting that this is just a formality.

There are still people waiting, waiting for the sword to save someone.

"Pfft."

The sharp long knife was swung down, Dou Da's head rolled down, and the gushing blood splashed on the faces of the melon eaters in the front row of the audience.

"Ah? It's really killing!"

"Fuck, they are serious!"

"Urine, Mr. Yang is so fucking pissy..."

The exclamations surged from the front row to the back like a tidal wave. Countless people couldn't tell whether they were shocked or excited, clenching their fists and having goosebumps all over their bodies.

As Yang Ge expected, killing an official in front of them is more useful than explaining ten thousand sentences...

On the execution ground, Yang Ge, who was once frightened by a dead head and had nightmares for several nights, was now staring at the headless corpse that was still spurting blood, but his eyes were as cold as ice, without any trace of emotion. ripple.

He waved his hand expressionlessly: "Take the prisoner!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a strong man stepped forward and pulled the dead body away from the execution platform.

At the same time, two more strong men dragged a living dead man with urine and feces to the execution platform: "Prisoner Mei Ren brought..."

Another admirer in the audience shouted loudly: "Ah, it's Lord Tong Zhimei!"

The tide of shouts once again spread from the front row to the crowd in the back who could not clearly see the execution ground.

"Prove your identity!"

"Convict Mei Ren, a former Yangzhou magistrate, has been colluding with Yongtai Grain Company and Changfeng Gang to control grain channels and drive up grain prices since September last year, seeking huge profits and causing harm to thousands of miles away..."

"cut!"

Another red-headed token fell into the law field.