Chapter 211 Sun Jiao Seeks Survival, Gongfu Seeks Glory (I Ask for a Guaranteed Monthly Ticket)

Squeak, squeak...

The wheels rolled forward on the blue brick street, and the prison car made a noisy sound.

The escort team walked through the blue brick street and headed towards the four western archways, but many onlookers had already gathered on both sides of the street.

Lingchi, this is the most cruel torture.

The number of people who were subjected to Lingchi in the Hongzhi Dynasty increased significantly. The first person to be subjected to Lingchi in the first year of Hongzhi was the Annan envoy Li Guangdu, and then the eight Shanxi merchants who intended to buy 10,000 horses and camels from Mongolia last time.

Now, Sun Jiao and Sun Bao, who obstructed the court's land reclamation, also suffered this most severe torture and were about to be cut into pieces.

In the capital, the struggle on the surface has gradually disappeared, but the intrigue in the dark has always existed.

Hongzhi is no longer the wise ruler of the original history. Due to the many killings, he has even been silently labeled a tyrant by the scholar-official class.

In fact, they also privately belittled Hongzhi's repeated use of slow slicing to execute people, but such voices did not ferment at all.

Whether it was the Annan envoy Li Guangdu, or the eight Shanxi merchants who betrayed their country for money, or even the fact that hundreds of officials were beheaded in one day in Yangzhou, it was all their own fault.

As for Sun Jiao and Sun Bao, since they committed the evil act of assassinating the imperial envoy, especially since the two of them were appointed officials of the court, how could they be supported without being slow slicing?

"Dare to assassinate the imperial envoy, the imperial grain is really fed to the ungrateful!"

"They actually want to stop the land survey, they must have hidden hundreds of acres of land at home!"

"Hundreds of acres of land? Not to mention Huguang, even some people in our capital have hidden thousands of acres!"

"The land survey is aimed at their officials and local wealthy families, the court should kill all those who hinder the land survey!"

...

The people in the capital looked at Sun Jiao and Sun Bao who appeared in the prison car, but they had no sympathy or mercy, and they condemned them one after another.

The officials and gentry class did want to do everything possible to obstruct the court's land survey, but ordinary people actually supported the land survey. After all, let alone hidden land, they should be thankful that the local officials did not deliberately exaggerate the area of ​​land.

As for whether Hongzhi was a tyrant who executed Sun Jiao and Sun Bao by slow slicing, if he was such a tyrant, then he hoped to have another dozen.

When the prisoner car arrived at the Sixi Archway, it was already crowded with people and also seemed very lively.

Although this time was not like Li Min who killed the most corrupt official in the Ming Dynasty, nor like Li Guangdu who first set the example of lingchi for envoys, it is the nature of Chinese people to love to join in the fun.

Sun Jiao and Sun Bao were arranged under the South Archway. Several yamen runners opened the prisoner car and took the people down, and then forced them into a large basket.

Facing death, and the most cruel way to die, the two people were already trembling with fear.

"The Emperor, in accordance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims: Sun Jiao, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Personnel, because the Anlu Sun family has a lot of hidden land and is unwilling to register and pay taxes to the court, instigated the clan members and the unruly people to obstruct in every way, and also colluded with Sun Bao, the commander of Zhongzhou Guard, and other branches of the Sun family to murder the imperial envoy to prevent the land from being measured... Now the facts are clear, the Sun family's behavior is abominable to both humans and gods, and they are an evil clan in China. All male members of the Sun family should be beheaded, and the main culprits Sun Jiao, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Personnel, and Sun Bao, the commander of Zhongzhou Guard, should be sentenced to death by slicing. According to the law, they should be cut into pieces 3,600 times. This is decreed!" The official of the Ministry of Justice stood on the execution platform and read aloud to the onlookers.

On the execution platform, the people supervising the execution this time were Du Ming, the Minister of Justice, and Wang Xiang, the assistant of the Jinyiwei of the Northern Pacification Division, but there was not much joy on their faces.

They all knew very well that although Sun Ming had reasons to hinder the court from measuring the land, he dared to do such a bad thing and almost succeeded. There must be a bigger figure behind the scenes manipulating this matter.

However, the whereabouts of Sun Jiao's two sons were unknown, and Sun Jiao seemed to be threatened, but he never spoke up to reveal the person behind the scenes. In addition, Zhu Youtang did not agree to make a deal with Sun Jiao, which resulted in no substantial breakthrough in this case.

When things developed to this point, Emperor Hongzhi seemed to have lost all his patience. He chose to slaughter the Sun family, and designated Sun Jiao and Sun Bao as the masterminds of the assassination of the imperial envoy, putting an end to this incident.

Du Ming and Wang Xiang knew that now that Sun Jiao was beheaded, this clue was completely cut off.

The two saw that it was a done deal, and this incident really needed to be explained to the world, and at the same time, it was necessary to clear the obstacles to measuring the land by beheading the Sun family, so there was nothing to complain about.

It can only be said that the enemy is too cunning. They have already found Sun Jiao, a key figure, but they can't find him.

Since there is no need to check the time for lingchi, when they saw Sun Jiao and Sun Bao being taken to the execution platform, they were ready to order the two men to be cut into pieces.

The two executioners were already in place. They put all the knives they needed in a bamboo basket and were silently sharpening their knives on the sandstone.

The knives were not big, but they looked very sharp, which made the onlookers secretly afraid.

When Sun Jiao was about to be stuffed with hemp peach pits, he saw the sharp knives on the bamboo basket, and his desire to survive surged. The miserable scene of Li Guangdu being lingchi emerged in his mind, but he changed his mind temporarily and said: "I confess, I confess everything, as long as Your Majesty can let me go!"

When Wang Xiang heard this seemingly acceptable condition, he couldn't help but feel a little moved, and cast an inquiring look at Du Ming, the Minister of Punishment next to him.

Du Ming, the Minister of Punishment, was unmoved, and said calmly: "Your Majesty cannot negotiate with a treacherous and evil person! Come, put him in the net bag and prepare for execution!"

"Du Shangshu... Your subordinate... Your subordinate says that your subordinate confesses everything, but please stop the execution immediately and take your subordinate back to the prison first!" Sun Jiao's heart had collapsed, but he compromised again.

At this moment, he no longer hoped to get away with it, as long as he could survive. Even if he could only live one more day, it would be better than being executed by slow slicing now.

Wang Xiang saw that Sun Jiao was willing to confess, and also knew the importance of finding out the mastermind behind the scenes, so he turned his head and looked at Du Ming and said: "Du Shangshu, he seems to be really willing to confess!"

"Sun Jiao, do you really want to confess everything?" Du Ming was not in a hurry to make a decision, and asked Sun Jiao, who was full of desire to survive, with righteous words.

Sun Jiao looked at the extremely sharp blade in the hand of the executioner, and hurriedly nodded while crying, saying sincerely: "I confess everything and am willing to serve as a witness. Please stop the execution!"

The face of the Minister of Punishment Du Ming showed a serious expression of thinking, and he looked at Sun Jiao who was begging seriously.

In fact, there is a certain risk in this matter. As the Minister of Punishment, he can certainly stop the execution, but if Sun Jiao regrets again and refuses to confess, then he will easily be blamed for disturbing the emperor.

Du Ming thought for a moment and made a decision immediately: "I will believe you for a while!"

Puff!

At this moment, the situation on the execution platform suddenly changed, and a stream of blood splashed up.

Tens of thousands of onlookers stared in disbelief. No one expected that the executioner in charge of the execution would suddenly cut Sun Jiao's throat.

Sun Jiao's eyes were wide open, looking at the assailant in front of him in disbelief. His hands and feet were tied at this time, and he just hoped that the wound on his neck would not be too deep.

"What's going on?"

"Why did the executioner kill Sun Jiao?"

"Does this executioner have a blood feud with Sun Jiao?"

...

Seeing the executioner unexpectedly cut Sun Jiao's throat with the sharp weapon in his hand, the people present never expected this to happen, and they couldn't help but speculate.

Plop!

After Sun Jiao was stunned for a second or two, his throat moved but he couldn't make a sound. His whole body fell heavily on the execution platform, but his eyes were filled with unwillingness.

Wang Xiang was the first to react, pointing at the soldiers below and angrily ordered: "Quick, take him down!"

After committing the murder, the executioner seemed to have thought of a way out, so he rushed towards the South Archway and planned to escape from the narrow alley in front.

A soldier holding a spear saw the executioner running towards him, so he unexpectedly stabbed the executioner.

Puff!

The executioner's body was pierced, and a trace of blood flowed out of his mouth.

"Dead!" Wang Xiang came to Sun Jiao's body, originally holding on to the last glimmer of hope, but after using his fingers to detect the breath, he shook his head bitterly.

Du Ming glanced at Sun Jiao's body, and then his eyes fell on the body of the executioner. The executioner's vitality was obviously stronger, but after holding on for a few more seconds, he also fell in a pool of blood.

Du Ming and Wang Xiang looked at each other silently, realizing that the mastermind behind the scenes was more difficult to deal with than imagined, and he had already been on guard against Sun Jiao's sudden change of mind on the execution platform.

In fact, in view of the earlier poisoning incident, they waited in the prison of the Northern Pacification Division, but it seemed that the other party had already known about it and never sent poisonous food.

But no one expected that on this execution platform, the mastermind behind the scenes had anticipated this situation in advance and actually prepared a backup plan here.

But everything was too late. Although Sun Jiao changed his mind temporarily and they were very close to exposing the mastermind behind the scenes, Sun Jiao had now been successfully silenced.

On the execution platform, Sun Bao suddenly looked at the executioner next to him in fear.

The executioner in charge of executing Sun Bao suddenly found that everyone was looking at him. He swallowed hard and looked innocently at Du Ming, the Minister of Justice, and Wang Xiang, the assistant of the Jinyiwei.

"What are you doing there? Hurry up and execute him!" Du Ming didn't understand why the executioner was so slow, and immediately ordered in a deep voice.

In fact, Sun Bao was about to face Lingchi now. He was afraid that the knife in Kuizi's hand was actually wrong. Instead, he should hope that Kuizi would use that knife to give him a quick death.

Three thousand six hundred knives, Sun Bao's body was dismembered one by one in front of everyone's witness, suffering the most cruel torture in the world.

"Since he has been silenced, the Ministry of Justice and the Northern Pacification Office should stop here!" Zhu Youtang seemed very calm after learning about the execution ground.

Although it is important to eliminate the internal tumor, it is still necessary to focus on dealing with external events.

The Mongolian delegation has arrived in the capital. In addition to paying tribute to Dayan Khan and Manduhai, they also want Naiksi to be a concubine to ensure that the north can get a few years of peace.

As for the southwest, he now has to find out the specific situation of the granaries in various places as soon as possible to prepare for the conquest of the Le Dynasty.

In fact, what he cares most about is that the Ming Dynasty and North Korea opened a market on the island of Chanji. This is the first step for China to become a textile center, so it is not allowed to be anything.

In the Dingguo Mansion, there was a sense of separation in the mansion.

Xu Shiying has accepted the appointment of the court and became the first governor of Donghai in the Ming Dynasty.

Today is the day of departure. He handed a crystal clear jade pendant to his wife and said, "Keep this jade pendant safe! If the transaction with Cotton Cloth to go to the island is not smooth, then you can sell this jade pendant to maintain the expenses of our Duke's Mansion!"

Duke Dingguo Mansion is actually superficially prosperous. Not to mention that the current Duke Dingguo Xu Yongning was almost convicted for madness, and the previous Duke Dingguo Xu Xianzhong also did not get a real job.

The status of military honors is actually closely related to favors. Since the Duke Dingguo lineage has not served in the army for decades, and this situation will even continue for more than ten years, the Duke Dingguo Mansion is now more like a symbol.

Although the Duke Dingguo Mansion's annual salary of 2,500 shi of rice is not small, the Duke Dingguo Mansion also needs to eat and drink, and Duke Dingguo Xu Yongning ran to the street to smash things and demand compensation, so it has long been out of money.

Since the Dingguo Mansion used most of its fields to grow cotton this year, this batch of cotton became the raw material for the United Weaving Factory, and the preparation of the United Weaving Factory had already emptied the last family of the Xuguo Mansion.

Who would have thought that the great Ming Guogong Mansion now only had enough to sustain the expenses for more than half a month.

If they used the United cotton cloth to exchange for a large number of valuable goods from North Korea and sell them in the capital, it would be fine, but if things did not go well, not only would their United Weaving Factory lose all their money, but their Dingguo Mansion would also have no rice to eat.

That's why, for the sake of the entire Dingguo Mansion's financial resources and livelihood, this time they came to Canzhi Island to trade with North Korea, but they could only succeed and not fail.

"Well, I know!" The beautiful woman took the ancestral jade pendant and nodded gently.

The convoy at the door of Dingguo Mansion was ready. After all, it was a great Duke's Mansion. Among the accompanying personnel were several guards with strong martial arts skills and a very shrewd old housekeeper.

The old butler will go to Chanzhi Island with him this time, and comfort Xu Shiying who is full of worry: "Prince, you don't have to worry too much! As long as the trade with North Korea goes smoothly this time, we can exchange our cotton cloth for their ginseng, Chinese medicine and fur goods, and then we will make a lot of money when we bring the goods back to the capital!"

Xu Shiying looked at the old butler, and reluctantly smiled and said: "With Butler Sun here, everything will go smoothly this time!"

Since his father got crazy, the huge Dingguo Mansion seemed to be in chaos, and the Dingguo Mansion was once in a state of no rice to cook. Fortunately, this Butler Sun stepped forward.

It was under the management of this Butler Sun that the Dingguo Mansion not only did not fall to the point of selling the ancestral property, but also the shops under his name are now running well.

This time, the emperor called on the Dingguo Mansion to form a joint weaving factory with the Ministry of Industry, and it was also the old butler who first stood up to express his support, so it also increased the confidence of everyone in the Dingguo Mansion.

When Xu Shiying passed by West Chang'an Street, he also looked towards the direction of Xiyuan, and was very grateful to Emperor Hongzhi for giving him such an opportunity.

Whether for the honor of his ancestors or to repay the trust of Emperor Hongzhi, he went to Canzhi Island this time to create a new world for the Ming Dynasty.