Chapter 54: Watching the Execution

Early the next morning, Chongzhen, in plain white dragon robes, again left the palace gates with Wang Cheng'en and the others.

They first made a detour to the front of the Chengtian Gate to check on the feverish progress of the Loyal Martyrs' Shrine foundation work, reckoning the shrine's construction could likely be finished before the snows came.

Then the party headed straight for the the the Caishikou execution ground execution ground execution ground.

By the time they reached the the Caishikou execution ground execution ground, it was still early, so Chongzhen went to a restaurant Wang Cheng'en had arranged beforehand.

The moment he entered, the restaurant's manager came over, knelt, and performed the ritual salute: "Your subject Chen Baoguo, Centurion of the the the Caishikou execution ground execution ground Precinct in the Western City Chiliarchy of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, kowtows before Your Majesty!

Long live Your Majesty, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

Only then did Chongzhen truly realize just how far the Embroidered Uniform Guard's reach had extended before that genuine idiot of the original history, the original Chongzhen, had abolished it.

Just looking at the chubby manager before him, with his utterly harmless, cherubic face, who would ever guess this man was a Centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

Seen this way, if he made good use of the Guard for espionage and intelligence gathering, he could probably learn any information he wished to know.

Once Chongzhen had gone up to the second floor, the manager hung out the sign saying the establishment was closed for the day. As for the restaurant's interior, it was now filled entirely with Embroidered Uniform Guard lieutenants and agents from the Eastern and Western Depots.

On the second floor, the Chongzhen Emperor sat drinking tea by a window. Seeing that every commanding height opposite the teahouse was under Embroidered Uniform Guard control, he felt a wave of reassurance.

Yet as he sipped his tea, another matter crossed his mind: the Ming execution ground had originally been at the Western Four Archways; he wondered whether moving it here to the the Caishikou execution ground execution ground on his own whim would affect the common folk who sold vegetables here.

Those damned Manchu-Qing pigtail dramas had misled people, making him mistakenly think the Ming also executed people at the the Caishikou execution ground execution ground.

He immediately felt that worrying about this was sheer boredom on his part. If the common folk couldn't sell vegetables here, they could go elsewhere — it was just one street, hardly a matter of any importance in a city as vast as the capital.

With that thought, Chongzhen put it out of his mind and simply waited with full attention.

By the time the first half of the double-hour of Chen had passed, the the Caishikou execution ground execution ground was already packed solid with capital residents who had come to watch the excitement.

At this point, quick-witted peddlers appeared, baskets slung over their arms, threading through the crowd. Some sold eggs, others sold melons, fruits, and vegetables, and they all made a tidy little profit.

There were also petty thieves hoping to take advantage of the dense crowd to open for business and filch a purse, but some were caught in the act and inevitably received a thorough beating before being handed over to the soldiers the Five Wards Military Command had dispatched to keep order.

Sitting on the second floor, Chongzhen watched the peddlers hawking eggs below and the thieves caught red-handed and beaten instead. He felt this was life, this was the scene he wanted to see every day — not scheming against those crafty old foxes in the court.

It was just too damn taxing. I'm only a programmer with an IQ of eighty, all right?

Since I can't out-scheme them, I'll just have to raise the butcher's knife!

As the double-hour of Si drew near, a line of prisoner carts appeared in the distance. The carts held imprisoned men and women, young and old.

Leading them were over fifty members of Zhou Yanru's nine degrees of kinship.

Following them were the nine-degree kin, young and old, of figures such as former Vice Minister of War Hou Xun, former Grand Commandant of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Luo Yangxing, former Vice Minister of Rites Qian Yiqian, and Imperial Academy of Medicine physician Chen Renzhong, along with the nine-degree kin, young and old, of the late former Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao, plus the ten degrees of kinship, young and old, of a certain Wang, a former Imperial Academy student.

In total, they numbered over seven hundred souls, all locked in heavy cangues, standing in the prisoner carts as the carts creaked forward.

Inside the prisoner carts, not a trace of their usual refined elegance remained. Every one of them was disheveled and bedraggled, in utter wretchedness. Watching this, Chongzhen felt considerable vindication.

But then Chongzhen noticed that in several of the carts, there were young women in the full bloom of youth holding infants. Disregarding the public setting, they forced down their shame, lifted their clothes to expose pale breasts, and nursed their children.

He supposed they wanted the children to have a full belly before death, so that even in death they would not become starving little ghosts.

Chongzhen sighed inwardly at the greatness of maternal love. He hastily gave a few instructions to Wang Cheng'en, who stood attending nearby. Only after Wang Cheng'en had departed to carry out the order did Chongzhen resume watching below.

The prisoner carts were led by runners from the Shuntian Prefectural Office clearing the way, while soldiers of the Five Wards Military Command formed a human wall behind them to prevent anyone from charging the carts.

Following closely behind were the civil and military officials of the Great Ming court, though their expressions were uniformly grim.

Zhou Yanru and the others had already been executed by slow slicing by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and now the nine-degree kin of these men could not escape death either. For a moment, a sense of fox grieving at the hare's death was unavoidable.

When the common folk saw the prisoner carts approaching, the eggs, melons, fruits, and vegetables they had just bought from those quick-witted peddlers finally came in handy.

In the simple, even naive logic of the common people, an emperor who abolished levies, cut taxes, and removed the border-supply surcharges was absolutely a wise sovereign, and anyone who opposed a wise sovereign had to be a damnable bad official, a corrupt official — scoundrels whose deaths were not worth regretting.

Their family members and kin were surely the sort who deserved to go to hell even after death.

And so these prisoners suffered a miserable fate. Eggs and vegetable leaves hurled at them were one thing, but what was with those people throwing radishes? A hit on the head from one of those things raised a huge lump — they couldn't even have peace right before dying.

Chongzhen observed that the soldiers of the Five Wards Military Command merely formed a human wall but remained quite courteous toward the common people. Even when struck by errant eggs, melons, fruits, and vegetables thrown by the crowd, they did not get angry.

He could not help but feel quietly pleased, sensing that his earlier talk about soldiers being the people's own had not been in vain — it had produced some effect.

When he saw the blackened faces of those court officials, his heart felt even more exhilarated. Serves you bastards right for courting death! Now you've dragged yourselves and your entire families into the grave, haven't you?!

It was not until well past the third quarter of the double-hour of Si that the prisoner carts finally finished creaking and rattling past, and the court officials ascended the execution platform.

Chief Grand Secretary Wen Tiren, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, and the freshly appointed Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Xu Xianchun sat in the front, while the remaining officials sat behind them.

Seeing that the double-hour of Wu was approaching, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review bellowed: "Verify the identities of the condemned!"

Men were promptly dispatched to inspect. Before long, they reported back: "Reporting to Your Excellency, the identities of all condemned have been verified and confirmed correct. The total count is seven hundred and sixty-nine souls."

Hearing this, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review bellowed again: "Bring forth the condemned!"

The condemned were then led down from the prisoner carts. First, ten males were selected from among the nine-degree kin of Zhou Yanru. Runners dragged them over and forced them to kneel on the execution platform.

Seeing the condemned in position, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review bellowed once more: "Executioners, take your positions!"

It was now near the end of the tenth month, and the weather had turned cold. In the morning, a breath would form white mist; even at noon, the air felt chilly.

Yet those brawny, barrel-chested executioners seemed utterly oblivious. Each was stripped to the waist, holding a ghost-head broadsword reversed in his grip, the blade covered with red cloth to keep its edge from seeing the light.

All ten executioners walked behind the ten condemned men and spread out in a single row.

Seeing that the double-hour of Wu had arrived, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review bellowed again: "Fire the cannons! Beat the drums!"

Immediately, three thunderous cannon blasts sounded — Boom! Boom! Boom! — and accompanying the cannon fire came three rolls of the drums.

Once the cannon and drum sounds ceased, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review continued his bellow: "The double-hour of Wu has arrived — carry out the execution!"

This is today's second update. There will be a third update later to repay the debt — how honorable We are, no? Hand over the recommendation tickets, bookmarks, top-spot votes, and tips in your hands. Otherwise, We will release Xu Xianchun to go have a chat with you all.

(End of chapter)