In the inner square of Zhengyangmen, even though it was extremely hot during the sweltering summer season, the news that Liu Jin was about to be executed still attracted tens of thousands of onlookers. Watching murders has always been an attractive activity, not to mention
This is the punishment of Ling Chi.
The so-called Ling Chi is commonly known as the crime of "death by a thousand cuts", which is the most cruel torture in history. Ling Chi is not about the act of killing the prisoner itself, but about the process.
Cutting off the prisoner's flesh piece by piece, delaying the death process of the prisoner to the maximum extent, in order to reflect the cruelty of punishment and make the world frightened and not dare to commit another crime. This is the meaning of the existence of Lingchi punishment.
It is said that a top executioner, the most successful executioner, requires 3,557 knives on the prisoner's body. The prisoner will die only after 3,557 knives.
Of course, there are no executioners with such good skills and prisoners who can resist so well, let alone Liu Jin, who has already lost half of his life. He simply cannot bear so many knives.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty was famous for its harsh punishments. The Ming Law at the beginning of the founding of the country stipulated that several categories of people must be punished with punishment. The first is those who conspire and rebel, and the second is those who kill their elders. The third
The third is a wife who kills her husband. The fourth is a person who kills multiple people and the other party is not committing a capital crime. The fifth is a slave who kills his master.
In short, Lingchi was a very common punishment in the early Ming Dynasty. Later, some people felt that such a punishment was too harsh, so they narrowed the scope of application. In recent decades, Lingchi was rarely punished. After Zhengde came to the throne, this was still
First example.
The sun was shining brightly, and Liu Jin was stripped of her clothes, revealing her fair and fat body, her hands, feet, and body tied to a wooden post.
The executioner is Li Gui, a senior executioner from the Ministry of Punishments, known as Mr. Gui, whose skills are outstanding in the industry. It is said that the prisoners he handles can't even feel the pain of death. His skills are self-proclaimed as a school, and he even has apprentices to teach his skills.
Your Lord was bare-chested and carried a big bamboo basket on the wooden platform. He looked calm under the spotlight. Liu Jin is certainly the protagonist today, but he is also the protagonist.
"Eunuch Liu, I'm Li Gui, I will serve you. As the saying goes, no one dies in life since ancient times, it's just sooner or later. There is no need to regret or be afraid. If you relax, it will be easier for me to operate, and you will suffer less. I just hope
Please don't ruin my reputation. At the end, I will give you the most refreshing ending. Hello, I am good, everyone. How about it?"
"Wow wow wow wow." Liu Jin twisted her body and screamed.
"You agreed? Very good." The gentleman nodded with satisfaction and began to take out a pack of knives from the basket and lined them up on the long table next to him.
He has all kinds of knives, ranging from a long bone-picking knife to a sharp blade as small as a small finger, to a sharp blade as thin as a cicada's wings. These are Lingchi's knives. As the saying goes, there is a hierarchy of knowledge and expertise.
, as a top executioner, you naturally have to have your own style. This is not only reflected in the execution itself, but also in these tools.
The muscles and textures of each part of the body are different, and the knives used are naturally different. The looseness, tightness, and knives are different, which will affect the effect of the execution. If the cut pieces of meat are not of the same size, if they are seven
The big one and the small one were all covered in blood. It was a bad execution.
The common people watched curiously as your master played with the knives, arranged them in order, sprinkled them with spirits, and checked the blades. Some people were waiting for the start with interest, while others looked at Liu Jin and imagined Liu Jin at this moment.
mood.
Liu Jin's mood can only be expressed in four words: soul-crushing. As a person who usually grimaces every time he bumps into someone, how can he be in a good mood if his noble body is to be cut into pieces by these knives in front of him? When your master is playing with these sharp and sharp things.
When he picked up the knife, Liu Jin was already incontinent.
He wanted to faint, but his mind was very clear. This is called not being able to survive, but not being able to die. Liu Jin burst into tears, suffering from being unable to speak or move. He never thought that he would end up like this.
end.
"If I could go back in time, would I still choose that way?"
"Yes, I will. Otherwise I would have died then."
"But what have I gained? In the past five years, I have been loyal to the emperor and the Ming Dynasty. I want to do something. Is this wrong?"
"Perhaps my fault is not that I murdered the late emperor, but that I should not think that I am a normal person. I am just a eunuch. Just an ideal eunuch."
"They want people to stay in their own positions. They just don't want to see a eunuch sitting on top of them. My mistake was that I didn't position myself correctly. Otherwise, the incident would not have come to light."
"That Zhang Yanling... I shouldn't have provoked him. I shouldn't have thought of being superior to him. I had murderous intentions first, and that's why I provoked him to fight for my life. I shouldn't have been like this."
"Your Majesty, Liu Jin is loyal to you and thinks of everything for you. Do you treat me like this? If you leave me, will you still be eaten by these people?"
"..."
Liu Jin's mind was so awake that it ached, thinking about these things over and over again. But at this moment, regret, pain, fear, self-blame and all other emotions were meaningless. The outcome was already determined.
After a long wait, noon is approaching. Amid the carriages and horses, Supervisor Yang Tinghe led a group of officials to arrive by car. Today Yang Tinghe specially wore brand-new official uniforms. Although he was hot and sweaty, he didn't care. Today is
His big day.
The officials sat down, and Yang Tinghe looked at Liu Jin, who was naked and tied to a wooden post in the sun. Liu Jin also happened to raise her head and look at him. When their eyes met, Yang Tinghe smiled.
Liu Jin also laughed, opening his bloody mouth and laughing so hard that it made people's hearts tremble.
Yang Tinghe frowned and shouted in a deep voice: "Noon is approaching, prepare for execution."
"Noon is approaching, prepare for the execution." Someone repeated loudly.
Li Gui bowed and said: "I will obey my orders, little man."
Li Gui picked up a sharp sharp knife, spat, and walked slowly towards Liu Jin. The crowd became excited and stared at his hand closely.
But when Li Gui walked up to Liu Jin, he said in a deep voice: "Eunuch Liu, let's begin."
After saying that, the sharp knife in his hand cut into Liu Jin's fat and drooping left chest.
"The first cut. The left breast." Li Gui shouted, his movements were as fast as lightning. With just a flip of his wrist, a piece of left breast meat as big as a fingernail stuck to the blade and was cut off.
"Second knife. Left upper arm."
Li Gui shouted, and with clean movements, a piece of flesh about the size of a fingernail was cut off from Liu Jin's left arm.
"The third knife, left thigh."
"The fourth knife, left arm."
Li Gui cut one by one, changing the knife three times quickly. According to Ling Chi's rules, first left, then right, then chest, then arms and thighs. Each time, he only cut off a piece of flesh the size of a fingernail, ten cuts in a row.
Afterwards, ten pieces of copper coin-sized pieces of flesh and blood of the same size were neatly placed on the edge of the copper basin.
The ten swords flowed like clouds and flowing water, as if dancing, with graceful postures. The people watching made a sound of satisfied admiration. This is what they were waiting for. Many old people sighed and wanted to cry.
"How many years have I seen your craftsmanship? The sword never grows old. The last time I saw it, I was still in the Chenghua year. My youth is back."
Ten cuts and a short break. Your Majesty put down the knife, took out ten white-faced steamed buns from the basket and wiped the blood on the wound. After wiping the blood, he took first-aid powder and sprinkled it on Liu Jin's wound to stop the bleeding.
Liu Jin is in a good mental state. Although it hurts a lot, your craftsmanship is superb, and Ling Chi has just started. He cut ten pieces of flesh the size of a fingernail, which is really nothing.
"Some want to cure tuberculosis with blood-soaked steamed buns, and some want to take revenge by eating the flesh of traitors, and they steal money on the execution platform. One tael of silver for a piece of meat, and a hundred pence for a steamed bun." Your Excellency shouted loudly.
This is the privilege of the executioners. They can use this opportunity to make some extra money. Generally speaking, some people want blood buns, but no one wants human flesh unless it is used as medicine. But this is Liu Jin's meat, and he has killed so many people.
People, many enemies came here specifically to watch how their enemy died. They really wanted to drink his blood and eat his flesh.
For example, Dai Mian's family came all the way to the capital to watch. Dai Mian's daughter, Dai Su'er, walked directly to the stage, paid ten taels of silver, and wrapped all ten pieces of Liu Jin's meat into balls.
The execution lasted until the evening, with a total of three hundred and sixty cuts.
Even though the swords your master had struck were not critical, they were all superficial. Liu Jin had already fainted from the pain several times. His whole body was covered in blood and flesh.
After being escorted back to prison that night, Liu Jin regained her composure and even drank two bowls of gruel.
The next day, another three hundred and sixty cuts were made.
Liu Jin didn't want to drink porridge at night. He was already so angry. The flesh on his limbs was almost cut, and the bones could almost be seen. But he was scattered with first aid and wrapped in bandages, but he still couldn't die.
.
On the third day, it was originally planned that the final blow of 360 knives would kill Liu Jin. But Liu Jin could not hold on. The execution was late in the afternoon. When your master was cutting off the meat on Liu Jin's right rib, he discovered that Liu Jin
There was no reaction.
Your Lord knows that Liu Jin is gone. When he checked his breathing, he found that Liu Jin had died.
Mr. Gui cursed angrily. He couldn't give himself a perfect ending, which really made him feel as sick as swallowing a fly. Originally, he was intoxicated by it. It would be great to have a perfect ending today. But now it's an anticlimax.
But in any case, the person was dead, and Ling Chi's punishment was over. The officials of the Ministry of Punishment who were supervising the beheading on the third day were reported. The official of the Ministry of Punishment came forward to check and confirmed that Liu Jin was dead. Ling Chi was immediately declared to be over. Liu Jinxiao's head was cut into pieces according to the rules.
, cut into eight pieces, put them in bamboo baskets and sent them to the mass graves outside the city for disposal.
As news of Liu Jin's death spread, firecrackers were heard all over the city to celebrate Liu Jin's death.
That night, Zhu Houzhao left the Leopard Room and went to Liu Jin's daily residence in the palace. He was silent for a long time and ordered people to pack Liu Jin's bedding and clothes, throw them in an empty place and set them on fire. Then he went to the Queen Mother's Palace alone, kowtowed and offered incense in front of his father's memorial tablet, and told
My father's spirit is in heaven, and his murderer has been executed.