Chapter 901: Death with a stick at the Meridian Gate
It's drizzling in the sky.
The dark clouds are low.
Hong Chengchou knelt at the Meridian Gate, the majestic main entrance of the Forbidden Palace, with bright yellow glazed tiles and vermilion palace walls, forming a large concave shape.
The Meridian Gate is located in the middle and faces the sun, and its position is Ziwu.
Meridian Gate Tower, also known as Wufeng Tower, was the old name of the palace gate tower along the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
At this time, the emperor was standing on the Five Phoenix Tower, and the princes, ministers, and relatives were also standing on the left and right. On the East and West Yanchi Tower, there were countless civil and military officials below the third rank.
In the square below, countless imperial guardsmen were dressed in gorgeous and bright red cotton armor uniforms, loaded with guns and ammunition.
Hong Chengchou's heart was at peace. Along the way from Liuqiu to Beijing, those anger, fear and other emotions had slowly dissipated. The brothers' companionship along the way also allowed them to finally untie their respective knots. Before he was about to
Before his death, his brother finally forgave him and gave him complete peace of mind.
Death is not terrible.
Compared with when he was captured by the Tatars after the defeat of Shiqian Songjin, his state of mind was also different. At that time, he resisted alone, and after being captured, he went on a hunger strike and refused to surrender. But after all, he was still somewhat unwilling to do so. When the Tatars persuaded him to surrender,
The way he dusted off his clothes convinced the Tatars that he did not want to die. In the end, the Tatar emperor personally came forward to persuade him to surrender and finally convinced him.
And now, ten years later, after experiencing these ten years and passing the age of sixty, his mood is different. He had even expected that this day would come, but it was only now that the judgment was delayed.
The Meridian Gate has been renovated in recent years and looks very solemn and majestic.
The vermilion palace walls match so well with the red cotton armor of the Forbidden Army, and the bright yellow of the glazed tiles of the Wufeng Tower complements the bright yellow dragon robe of Emperor Shaotian upstairs.
Hong Chengchou, this world-famous name, will eventually be buried in darkness, but no matter what, he will definitely have a strong mark in the history books. Let future generations talk about his merits and demerits. Today, he will still be favored by the emperor.
trial.
This is the final judgment.
Upstairs at Wufeng Tower.
The people standing around the emperor were almost all from the Conglong Yuanxun faction, mostly from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, with the eastern Zhejiang faction accounting for the majority. These were the Yuancong faction when the emperor raised his army, and they were the first to support the emperor, and now they are also
The new dynasty occupies the best position.
These heroes of eastern Zhejiang looked at Hong Chengchou kneeling in the square below, with an unconcealable sense of contentment in their brows.
The emperor returned from his western tour and suddenly began to purge. Those who had surrendered the captives and thieves, those who supported their own troops, those who had separatist regimes as kings, and those who had repeatedly done so, would finally be liquidated. This was the happiest thing for the Founder's faction.
matter.
Most of the founding faction, especially those from eastern Zhejiang, had low official positions and many were just common people. They did not want to be slaves to the subjugation of the country and rose up to resist. They followed Zhu Yihai in the Northern Expedition and restored the Ming Dynasty. In their bones, they hated Wu Sangui, Liu Zeqing and many other people who had surrendered.
General, I hate people like Qian Qianyi and Hong Chengchou who are in high positions but betray their country and surrender.
He hated the local treasures Li Chengdong, Zhang Guozhu, and Li Ji when they met these rebellious ministers and traitors, especially those from Shunying Xiying.
The composition of the Eastern Zhejiang Founding Faction is actually quite typical. It is mainly composed of gentlemen from Eastern Zhejiang Township, and then landlords, farmers, and even merchants and government officials join in. There are people from all walks of life, but there are fewer big bureaucrats. Most of those big bureaucrats are capitulationists.
, such as Qian Sanbin, Zheng Zhiyin, etc.
The founding fathers had meritorious service, and they could only become the founding fathers of the new dynasty by being passionate and righteous. However, Hong Chengchou, Qian Qianyi, Wu Sangui, Li Jiu, Sun Kewang, Li Chengdong and other rebellious officials and traitors could also change themselves and continue to steal in the court.
Being in high positions, they have always been very dissatisfied.
The Founder's faction and those people themselves had always been at odds with each other, but it was only under the suppression of Emperor Zhu Yihai that factional strife did not form.
Now that the settlement is finally over, the Founding Fathers are naturally happy from ear to ear and raise their hands and feet in approval.
Zhu Yihai also noticed the expressions of Wang Zhiren, Zhang Mingzhen, Wu Kai, Wang Xiang and other great veterans of eastern Zhejiang. These military generals were more direct, and their happiness was all on their faces without any concealment.
In contrast, Song Zhipu, Ke Xiaqing, Chen Hanhui, Yu Ying, Qian Sule, Sun Jiaji, Xiong Rulin, Zhang Guowei, Zhu Dadian, Zhang Wenyu, Qi Biaojia, Liu Zhouzong, Huang Daozhou and other civil servants did not show anything on their faces, but they
On the matter of the emperor's purge, he did not stand up to speak for Hong Chengchou and others. This is also an attitude in itself.
As for Ruan Shicheng, Ma Shiying, Yang Wencong, Liu Kongzhao, and Zheng Zhilong, let alone these people. Although they are not from the eastern Zhejiang system, they are also among the early ones who defected to support Zhu Yihai, and they have a big relationship with Qian Qianyi, Hong Chengchou, etc.
The difference is that although they have been accused of being traitors or separatist pirates in the past, these people have one thing in common, that is, they have never surrendered.
Even if Ruan Shicheng and Ma Shiying lost Nanjing, they still supported the Queen Mother and ran to Hangzhou. When King Lu, who was already in charge of the country, wanted to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, they followed Fang Guoan south to eastern Zhejiang and did not surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Yang Wencong and Liu Kongzhao were both defeated in Zhenjiang.
Then he went down the river and even went to the sea without surrendering.
Although Zheng Zhilong had secret contact with the Tatar envoys in Fujian, he supported Zhu Yihai and never surrendered.
Based on this, no matter how others scolded them in the past, these people are not being purged this time, and they do not need to be entered into the criminal record.
Although the Zhejiang East faction also looked down on them, and even kept a somewhat clear-cut distance from them, at least they had a surprisingly consistent attitude towards those who fought against Qian Hongwu and others together.
Now Qian Qianyi and others have the same title, the guilty party surrendered ministers.
In Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Taiji of the Qing Dynasty, Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty, and Shaotian of the Ming Dynasty, Hong Chengchou, who held the highest rank in the four dynasties of the Ming Dynasty, was a high-ranking official, minister, and senior scholar. Hong Chengchou, who served as the superintendent and scholar of economics, was waiting for the last moment very calmly.
A poor boy who has lost his father since he was a child, cannot afford to wear shoes, and sells tofu in the streets. It is enough to achieve this in this life, and he will die without regrets. He does not have a strong family background, and does not have a prominent family background. He can
Having reached this point, even if he is to be executed now, it doesn’t matter.
He should have this kind of luck in his destiny, and he must also have this kind of calamity.
When I met Huang Taiji at the age of fifty, there was no danger. But when I met Zhu Yihai at the age of sixty, I couldn't survive.
He looked at the emperor in bright yellow robes on the Wufeng Tower. He admired Zhu Yihai very much. He was a distant branch of the royal family and was only a general who controlled the country. However, when the Ming Dynasty collapsed, he was able to turn the tide and support the general.
It is indeed beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.
Although he was the famous king of Lu in the Ming Dynasty and the bloodline of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang gave him the greatest capital, he still had to have enough skills. Emperor Chongzhen's conditions were much better than him when he came to the throne, but after more than ten years of hard work, he was completely defeated.
The country is in trouble.
King Fu Nanjing succeeded to the throne, but the Hongguang Dynasty only lasted for one year.
King Lu only served as a supervisor in Hangzhou for one day before taking the initiative to open the city and surrender. King Yiyang, who was supported as a supervisor on Chongming Island, claimed to have an army of hundreds of thousands, but he could not even make a splash, and the rest
There are many clans in Taihu, Jiangxi, Qinling, and Guilin who want to take advantage of the chaos to rise up and claim to be governors and emperors, but none of them have succeeded.
Only Zhu Yihai, after the Qing army defeated Nanjing and Hangzhou, still dared to kill the Northern envoys in Taizhou and raised the flag. He was even able to decisively go out to contact loyal ministers and loyalists from all sides, and even crossed the river directly to penetrate into the Wu region. At that time, there should have been no
Zhongyuan, who was saved, was stunned by his tossing method, which gave him a new lease of life.
Hong Chengchou lamented that it was a pity that he did not meet Zhu Yihai earlier.
Ma Shiying followed the order and went down to Wufeng Tower and came to Hong Chengchou.
The two faced each other, one was kneeling in prison clothes, looking quite embarrassed, while the other was wearing brocade clothes and jade belt, looking rich and powerful.
"Hong Jiuheng, can you plead guilty?"
"Admit it!" Hong Chengchou was very happy. Up to now, it was just a formality. The emperor wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, so he happily cooperated in exchange for the preservation of the Hong family.
Ma Shiying nodded.
The two actually had a good relationship before, and even had some sympathy for each other. Hong Chengchou was a Jinshi candidate one year earlier than Ma Shiying. He was a Jinshi candidate at the age of twenty-three and achieved success at a young age. Ma Shiying was two years older than Hong Chengchou and was a Jinshi candidate three years later. He was a Jinshi candidate at the age of 20.
When he was eight years old, he was in the same middle school as Ruan Dacheng.
After becoming a Jinshi, Hong Chengchou worked as an official in the Ministry of Justice for six years, and Ma Shiying stayed in the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing for several years. After that, their resumes were actually similar. They both held local posts and performed well. Later, they were governors in the Chongzhen Dynasty.
, governor, appointed throughout the feudal territory.
During the Chongzhen Dynasty, both of them were relatively capable local frontier officials. They were relatively pragmatic and capable, and much better than those civil servants who only talked and talked. Therefore, the relationship between the two has always been good.
At the end of Chongzhen, Hong Chengchou supervised Ji Liao, rescued Songjin, was defeated and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, joined the banner, worshiped the crown prince Taibao, the Minister of the Ministry of War and the censor of the right capital of the Duchayuan, entered the left side of the inner courtyard to manage military affairs, and was awarded the bachelor's degree of the secretarial academy.
After the death of Chongzhen, Governor Ma Shiying of Lu Feng, together with Shi Kefa, the Minister of the Ministry of War of Nanjing, Gao Hongtu, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs of Nanjing, and the four towns in Jiangbei, supported King Fu to succeed him. Because of his meritorious service, he was promoted to Dongge University Scholar and Minister of the Ministry of War, and to the right of the Metropolitan Inspectorate.
Deputy Capital Censor.
A few years later, both of them held important positions in the Shaotian Dynasty such as Grand Bachelor.
But now, Hong Chengchou, who is still a great scholar of the dynasty and even the father-in-law of the emperor, has become a prisoner waiting to be executed. Although the emperor also admitted Hong's daughter into the palace, this could not change his ending.
Surrendering or not surrendering became the biggest dividing line between them.
"Let's do it!"
Hong Chengchou said calmly, already prepared.
Ma Shiying looked at Hong. This was a senior he once admired very much, and was even his role model. He had always used Hong Chengchou as an example and tried to catch up with him, but now, Hong's fate has happened.
He turned to look at Wufeng Tower.
The emperor is sitting on the throne, looking extremely majestic.
Hong Chengchou took out his pocket watch.
Noon has arrived.
"Hong Chengchou, the saint thought that you had made some contributions to the country after your surrender. Now you are only killed, not as much as the family. You are sentenced to death and all your property is confiscated. Your wives, concubines, and children will be moved to Suiye, and each of you will be given twenty acres of land.
, and each person took 20 pieces of silver to settle down. The other nine Hong clans, the three clans of the Hong family, the three clans of the father, the three clans of the mother, the wife and the three clans, all moved to the frontier to settle. Their fields and houses were confiscated, but the gold and silver were returned in small pieces... I miss you.
My mother is very old, so I have been given the privilege to stay in Beijing and be supported by your third brother Chengzhen."
This treatment was much better than that of Geng Zhongming, Wu Sangui and others. Geng Zhongming committed suicide in Dongjiang because he did not go to Beijing for trial. The emperor implicated his nine tribes, confiscated all his property, deprived him of all official positions and titles, and directly exiled him to the frontier.
Because of Wu Sangui's rebellion, his fate was even worse. All his brothers, nephews, and others were executed, and the remaining women were made slaves. The property of the nine tribes was confiscated, their titles were deprived, and they were sent to the frontiers to serve as soldiers.
Qian Qianyi finally admitted it, and the treatment was a little lighter, just killing him.
Now Hong Chengchou's treatment should be lighter.
His wives, concubines, children, etc. did not need to be slaves and were still free. They just moved to the border areas. Even the rest of his clansmen who had official positions and titles were only demoted to the third class and then hired according to their talents in the border areas where they moved. They could still serve as officials.
, it’s just that they can only be hired in the border areas, but at least the treatment is still very different, especially since these tribesmen can keep part of their property and take it with them.
"Can Cheng Zhen be implicated?" Hong Chengchou asked.
"Hong Hanlin is waiting for an imperial edict. He has always been loyal to the court and the saint, so naturally he will not be punished. The saint has just promoted him to the lifelong title of Marquis of Nan'an County. The imperial court has also received the saint's special decree to cancel the first-grade imperial concubine.
, and also give the imperial edict to the county’s wife.”
Hong Chengchou was a first-class minister and originally had the title of Duke of the country. His mother naturally received the imperial concubine's imperial concubine. Now he was tried and sentenced to be executed. Originally, his wife, children, brothers, etc. were also to be executed, but the emperor's special decree did not allow Hong Chengchou to do so.
After being implicated, he was promoted to a lifelong marquis.
Hong Chengchou's mother was given the imperial concubine's royal title as a result of her son's dukedom. Instead, she received the imperial concubine's royal title from her third son's county marquis title, and she was served by Hong Chengzhen. This was considered a special reward for Hong Chengchou's cooperation.
Otherwise, Hong Chengjun would also be implicated and deprived of his official position, let alone his mother.
After hearing this, Hong Chengchou finally felt relieved.
"Come on, don't worry anymore."
Ma Shiying looked at Hong Chengchou and said with some emotion, "It is the will of the saint to change the execution from waist to death with a staff!"
After hearing this, Hong Chengchou was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and kowtowed to Wufeng Tower.
"Thank you Holy Grace!"
If you cut him in half, you will die without a whole body.
Although beating to death with a stick is more painful, the stick has special significance in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty's court stick is the most famous, and civil servants also like to contradict the emperor who is not afraid of the court stick. Even many young officials of the Ministry of Science and Technology like to contradict the emperor.
He also likes to deliberately contradict the emperor and deceive the emperor. If he gets a beating with the imperial rod at the Meridian Gate, he can gain a lot of fame immediately. This is the shortcut to the official career. After all, the imperial rod rarely beats people to death. At most, he suffers a little flesh and blood.
bitter.
Therefore, once upon a time, although the imperial staff was used by the emperor to punish officials, it seemed to be an honor.
Today, the emperor ordered Hong Chengchou to be executed with a cane. Hong Chengchou thanked him. Firstly, he thanked him for leaving his whole body, and secondly, he felt that this method of death would save him the dignity of a minister.
Ma Shiying waved.
The executioner came forward with his imperial staff, gave the order, and immediately raised his staff to beat him. There was no fancy work or any effort to show off the execution, it was just a real beating with one staff after another.
The minimum stroke of the imperial staff is thirty, and the maximum is one hundred strokes.
The two Imperial Guards gave each of them eighteen blows, for a total of thirty-six blows. The back of Hong Chengchou's spine was covered in flesh and blood, and he had long since lost his breath.
Ma Shiying watched that scene with a lingering heart. Perhaps to Hong Chengchou, changing the waist to death with a stick was a sign of divine grace, but to him, a bystander, he felt that each stick was an interruption to the dignity of the ministers.
, it was also a deterrent warning to all the ministers and officials who were watching the execution.
Hong Chengchou, what a great person he was once, was now beaten to death in Meridian Square.
He was a little flustered and short of breath, and his face was pale.
It's still drizzling in the sky.
The dark clouds are still low.
Hong Chengchou lay wet in a pool of blood and made no sound.
Upstairs in the Wufeng Tower, the emperor was sitting on the throne with an expressionless face. His Highness the Crown Prince, who was standing next to him, looked uneasy when he saw that this minister was killed with a stick on the spot.
Wang Zhiren and other heroes, who had been somewhat proud just now, now all had solemn expressions.
Although the imperial staff hit Hong Chengchou, it also made them feel shocked.
