Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 232: Complete settlement, all of you die!

Upon receiving the order, Fei Ju immediately took out the interrogation materials obtained from the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard and announced Yu Shen's charges.

"Yu Shen, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, colluded with the border generals, secretly transferred troops to the capital, participated in the mutiny, launched a coup, and committed high treason!"

"Your Majesty, please make the decision!"

Zhu Youtang said slowly with a cold face: "Skin him and stuff him with straw, and kill all nine clans!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After Zhu Youtang gave the order, executioners from the Ministry of Justice came out and carried out the punishment sentenced by Zhu Youtang.

After the executioner set up the platform, he carried Yu Shen, who was lying on the ground, onto the platform.

The person in charge of the execution was Han Baoniu, a skilled executioner in the Ministry of Justice.

After Yu Shen fell off the cliff from the city wall, his limbs were broken and his bones protruded from his skin.

And these past few days, no one treated his wounds, they just kept him alive.

Yu Shen's wounds were now infected, oozing pus and maggots, destroying a good piece of human skin in vain.

Han Baoniu felt quite regretful, but as a skilled man, he had already figured out how to peel off Yu Shen's complete skin.

He started with the wounds on Yu Shen's limbs, peeling off the skin from his limbs first, and then peeling off the skin from his torso...

Han Baoniu stabbed Yu Shen with his knife, and Yu Shen, who had already fallen into a coma, was immediately awakened by the pain and screamed heart-wrenchingly.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!!"

Yu Shen's wailing was so loud that it made people tremble with fear and feel weak all over.

Yu Shen struggled desperately, but his limbs were broken, he was weak and powerless, and his body was tied up so tightly that he could not move at all.

Han Baoniu's hands very steadily scratched Yu Shen's body, separating his flesh and blood.

If the physical pain only made Yu Shen feel painful.

But what he saw before his eyes, the pain that touched his soul, made him feel despair!

At the same time that he was being tortured by skinning and stuffing straw, the Jinyiwei were also executing his family.

His wife, his son, his daughter, his old mother... without exception, all were escorted in front of him, knelt in a row, waiting for execution.

The execution of family members was not so cruel, it was just beheading.

So the people in charge of the execution were ordinary factory guards. They held knives and swung their knives at Yu Shen's family members who walked towards them one by one!

The next moment, blood splattered five steps away and heads rolled down!

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Yu Shen let out another heart-wrenching scream, and tears of blood flowed from his eyes.

All of Yu Shen's family members in the capital city have been cleared out, leaving no one behind.

Only he knew how much regret he felt at this moment.

But Zhu Youtang's punishment was far from over.

If they said they wanted to kill all of Yu Shen's clan, the factory guards would not even let a dog in his family go.

After the execution today, the factory guards will rush to Qiantang County to kill all the members of Yu Shen’s nine clans!

Zhu Youtang will not leave even a single descendant of the Yu family behind!
After sentencing Yu Shen, Fei Ju continued to read out the next person to be punished according to the list.

"Xu Pu, the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, and the Minister of Revenue, formed a clique for personal gain, colluded with border generals, smuggled arms, accepted bribes, deceived the emperor, and resisted investigation!"

"Your Majesty, please make your decision!"

As soon as Fei Ju finished speaking, Xu Pu, who was kneeling before the ministers, was dragged to the side of Yu Shen by the guards.

Seeing Yu Shen being tortured and looking at his painful appearance, Xu Pu's face turned pale as paper and his whole body was shaking violently.

The fear in his heart had been accumulating since the Second Battle of Tumu.

Until today, the fear in his heart finally reached its peak!
Zhu Youtang stared at Xu Pu for a long while before he slowly said, "Lingchi death, exterminate all three clans!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After Zhu Youtang gave the order, the factory guards grabbed Xu Pu, tied him to the execution rack, put a fishing net on him, and squeezed out his flesh.

Xie Xiaoyan, the old executioner in charge of the execution, sharpened his knife and walked slowly towards Xu Pu.

Xie Xiaoyan has a lot of experience with the punishment of lingchi.

If he carries out the execution, he will definitely make 3,600 cuts.

Xie Xiaoyan stretched out the knife, gestured at the flesh on Xu Pu's body from a distance, and smiled as he tried to comfort the extremely frightened Xu Pu.

"Master Prime Minister, don't be afraid. I have experience in slow slicing."

"We, Mr. Xie, have really made it big. One day, I can even cut off the body of the Prime Minister."

"Don't worry, Prime Minister. I will use all my life's skills to perform a perfect Ling Chi this time."

"I will never let you die before I cut you 3,600 times."

It would have been better if Xie Xiaoyan did not comfort Xu Pu. This comfort immediately broke Xu Pu's defense and he wailed in fear.

"No! No! Don't come over here!"

"Your Majesty! Please give me a quick death!"

“As long as Your Majesty can give me a quick death, I will be willing to work like a slave in my next life to repay Your Majesty’s kindness!” “Ahhhhhhhh!!!”

"..."

Just as Xu Pu opened his mouth to beg Zhu Youtang for mercy, the knife in Xie Xiaoyan's hand had already fallen on Xu Pu's body, cutting off a small piece of skin.

In an instant, Xu Pu howled in pain and tears burst out.

After Xie Xiaoyan cut off a piece of meat, he continued to cut the flesh on Xu Pu's body without stopping.

In an instant, blood and flesh flew off Xu Pu's body and he screamed in pain.

At the same time, the factory guards brought Xu Pu's family members in the capital forward as they had done before.

Kill them one by one in front of Xu Pu!

Xu Pu looked devastated, screaming and shouting, his voice shrill and mournful.

The officials present were trembling all over, feeling despair and regret in their hearts.

Regret is the most useless and cheapest emotion.

After Fei Ju shook his body, he continued to report the charges against the next official.

"Liu Daxia, the Minister of War, formed a clique for personal gain, colluded with border generals, smuggled arms, accepted bribes, deceived the emperor, and resisted investigation!"

"Your Majesty, please make your decision!"

The crime Liu Daxia committed was similar to that of Xu Pu.

But Zhu Youtang did not rush to sentence Liu Daxia. Instead, he stared at Liu Daxia and said coldly: "Not only that, but there is another crime, hiding imperial secrets!"

"Liu Daxia, do you admit your guilt?"

Zhu Youtang did not forget that Liu Daxia not only privately kept the ancient documents of Annan, but also the nautical charts drawn by Zheng He when he sailed to the West.

A nautical chart is so precious.

These are extremely detailed nautical maps that were drawn after Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, which cost him a huge amount of financial, material and human resources, and even the lives of countless crew members, and took decades to draw.

This nautical chart records the route from Nanjing, passing through the Jiugang Xuanweisi, to Hormuz and other 16 Middle Eastern and European countries.

The nautical charts record in detail the routes, the direction of monsoon winds, the influence of ocean currents, the distribution of reefs, and the customs and habits of the countries along the way.

It can be said that this nautical chart is a priceless gold mine. Whoever masters it will have the golden key to open up safe shipping routes to Western countries.

This is a real treasure hidden in the sea, absolutely priceless!
When Liu Daxia heard the charges Zhu Youtang said, he broke out in a sweat.

He immediately understood the meaning of Zhu Youtang's words, and the fear in his heart was even greater than the fear of death.

Not only Liu Daxia, but also Yu Shen and Xu Pu who were being tortured, Xie Qian who was still waiting for execution in the rear, and a group of southern officials.

They all looked at Zhu Youtang in shock, with deep fear beyond death in their eyes.

Zhu Youtang, why did you suddenly mention this matter?

All of a sudden, all the officials' attention was focused on Liu Daxia.

Being stared at by hundreds of people, Liu Daxia wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and replied tremblingly: "Your Majesty, I...I don't understand what you mean."

Seeing that Liu Daxia was still pretending to be stupid, Zhu Youtang could not help but angrily slap the armrest of the dragon throne beside him.

"Still playing dumb? Hand over Zheng He's navigation charts to me!"

It is a well-known fact that Liu Daxia privately kept Zheng He's navigation maps.

During the Tianshun and Chenghua periods, Emperor Yingzong and Emperor Xianzong twice sent people to ask Liu Daxia for the book, but Liu Daxia said both times that he had burned it.

Now Zhu Youtang asked Liu Daxia for the nautical chart again. Liu Daxia naturally refused to give it and would rather die than give it!

"Your Majesty, I have already burned the nautical chart. I really don't have it!"

"Besides, during the Yongnian period, the eunuch Sanbao went to the West several times, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and grain, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians died."

"But the income is too little, and the expenditure is insufficient to cover the income, which consumes the national strength of the Ming Dynasty in vain!"

"Going to the Western Ocean is a temporary bad policy. If there are any nautical charts, they should all be destroyed to eradicate them. Never go to the Western Ocean again!"

"In addition, Emperor Taizu has ordered that the Ming Dynasty should close its borders and never open the sea. I burned the nautical charts to implement Emperor Taizong's will and put an end to the malpractices of Emperor Yongle. What crime have I committed?"

As Liu Daxia spoke, he kowtowed repeatedly. His words were sincere and meaningful, and he spoke as if they were the truth.

When the southern officials around heard this, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Knowing that Liu Daxia had kept the nautical chart, these southern officials could rest in peace even if they died.

But Zhu Youtang didn't believe even a single punctuation mark in the nonsense Liu Daxia said.

Going to the West is definitely profitable, and it’s a huge profit!
Since going to the West was not profitable, where did Zhu Di get the money to build palaces, move the capital, repair canals, compile books, and launch five expeditions to the northern desert?
Did this silver fall from the sky?

And Emperor Taizu's ban on the sea is even more nonsense!

That’s right, Zhu Yuanzhang once issued an order to close the sea, and it was very strict, to the point where no ship was allowed to go out to sea.

But this ban is aimed at the general public!

The common people of the Ming Dynasty, landlords, gentry, nobles, officials... everyone is not allowed to go into the sea!

In the entire Ming Dynasty, there is only one family that can go into business, and that is the Zhu family!

To put it bluntly, Zhu Yuanzhang's ban was intended to allow the emperor of the Zhu family to monopolize all maritime trade in the Ming Dynasty!
It was not the imperial court that monopolized shipping, but the Zhu emperor who monopolized shipping.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well how huge the profits from maritime trade were!
Such a lucrative industry must be firmly held in the hands of the Zhu family, and no one else must be allowed to get involved!
(End of this chapter)