Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 488: Beheaded!

If things are big and dramatic, they can’t be easily resolved, as that would make people feel that they are unreliable, so even if an agreement is reached, it must end in a big and dramatic way.

The first thing is to post a notice to announce it to the world. Simply put, the common people and students have won, and the noble families are willing to give up their positions and will take the exam with ordinary people in the future.

This was a huge victory, and it might seem unremarkable, but it foreshadowed that the first step in breaking down the barriers of family background had been taken.

Is it difficult to compete with those children of aristocrats? Of course it is. They have had the best resources since childhood, with famous teachers, a large number of books and a strong learning atmosphere. For them, the provincial examination is unnecessary and they can even directly become test makers.

But what about the common people? They also had the burden of family labor. Some could not afford paper and pens, so they could only practice calligraphy on the ground with branches. Some could not afford to pay for textbooks, so they could only lie outside the private school and secretly listen to the teacher's lectures inside.

The high cost of education and the inability of their families to make ends meet pose a huge obstacle to their advancement.

But this is not a problem, because before this, even if they had lofty ambitions, they could only look at the dam blocking the river and sigh in despair. But now, the door that would never be opened for them has opened, and it is not just a crack, but half open.

After that it was the usual competition and each team was determined to be the winner. If this cannot be called a glorious victory, then I really don't know how to describe it.

"Xia Daosheng is right. Throughout history, all reforms have involved bloodshed and sacrifice. We must continue to fight them!"

"I don't think it's the kind of fight you say. If it's your turn to sacrifice, are you willing to do it?"

"I am willing!" The young man stood up and slammed the book "Liaoyuan" on the table with great enthusiasm: "If there is no light in the world, I will turn myself into a candle!"

"Oh? Then let me ask you, why are you fighting?"

The young man pondered for a moment and was speechless. Then the person who asked the question took the Liaoyuan on his desk and opened it to page 6: "Here it is."

The young boy leaned over to look at it, and saw a line of words written on it. He read it out softly: "Establish a mind for heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the people, carry on the lost knowledge of the past sages, and bring peace to the world for all eternity."

The person who asked the questions was none other than Xia Lin. He came out for a stroll today. After Lao Zhang was no longer in danger of life, his tense nerves relaxed. When he went to see Lao Zhang in the morning, he found that he was touching his girlfriend's butt while drinking medicine. Xia Lin knew that the damn Zhang Zhongchun was fine, so he came out for a stroll in the afternoon to drink some tea, get some fresh air and take a walk.

Then he met a group of young people who were talking about current affairs, but they had not even realized the so-called fighting spirit. However, this kind of thing could not be rushed, so Xia Lin just chatted with them normally.

There happened to be a commotion outside at that moment, and then a large number of detectives with knives drawn rushed over on the street. The people in the teahouse leaned over to look, and after those gorgeously dressed detectives had gone far away, they sat back down.

"Someone is going to be in trouble."

"What's going on?"

"I heard that the person who assassinated Zhang Zhongchun has been found, but he has been protected by someone. He should be arrested now. Whoever it is will be in big trouble."

As he expected, this time the people from the Investigation Department directly surrounded the house of a newly rich family in the capital, and then the people inside were brought out one after another.

This time, both sides of the street were full of people, everyone was cheering and applauding, and the scene was extremely lively.

Everyone almost forgot how many years it had been since such a thing happened. First, Buddhism was destroyed, and then the wealthy families were shot. Although most people didn't understand, they could feel that things were really going to change this time. The destruction of Buddhism didn't really matter to most ordinary people, and they were just watching the excitement, but the attack on the wealthy families really made them realize this.

What they have done is too numerous to list, but the law has never had any effect on them. In their eyes, the lives of ordinary civilians are no different from those of pigs and dogs, and killing is just commonplace for them. The rotting corpses floating in the Qinhuai River in the market, the bones in the dry wells, and the broken bodies in the wilderness are all their crimes, but they have never been punished.

But today, they were finally dragged out of the luxurious courtyard in shackles, just like the ordinary people they dragged into the courtyard. They cried and begged for mercy, and their voices were so shrill that they reached the sky. This made everyone realize one thing, that is, when they are desperate, the voices made by the nobles are no different from those of ordinary people.

Those who don’t know much about it applauded, and those who know about it also applauded, because this represented a signal - someone was going to take action against these blood-sucking gadflies.

During this process, the people who once protected them never showed up again, and no one even stepped forward to say a word for them. This also meant that this family had been betrayed by their class and group and had become an object to offset debts.

Xia Lin was in the crowd at that moment. He saw that there were many people in the prison van. Although many more elderly, weak, women and children would not be arrested, they would still be driven out of their luxurious houses and become the refugees they once hated the most.

At this moment, it was as if the Dream of the Red Chamber had come true. Everyone watched helplessly as a wealthy family was destroyed. The common people did not sympathize with them, but only found it interesting and gratifying, because when these people walked out, their clothes were still luxurious, and this set of clothes could probably equal the income of an ordinary family for several years. Why?
"We should take off their clothes as well."

Such discussions were heard in the crowd, right next to Xia Lin's ears.

"No need, that would be unsightly."

"Then take off the clothes of those young ladies."

Xia Lin looked back in astonishment, but he couldn't find the person who spoke. The people are very creative, but... their moral bottom line is really low.

"You know what, this was done really well. I felt that if Xia Daosheng had raised his arms and shouted loudly while the emperor was away, he would probably have become the new emperor."

"But don't talk nonsense, she is the new queen."

Damn it... Xia Lin turned around and looked for the person who made the sound. He would grab the person and beat him up if he found him. But there were too many people here and he couldn't tell where these messy noises came from.

By the next day, the matter was settled. The assassination of an imperial official should have resulted in the extermination of all nine clans, but Xia Lin still gave them the last bit of decency. Not only were the nine clans exterminated, but the main culprit, accomplices, and sheltering criminals, a total of nineteen people, were sentenced to beheading.

The Ministry of Justice completed the review in just one morning. The Dali Temple submitted the final review to the central government. In the afternoon, the three ministers of the central government approved it. That was the last morning of the deadline agreed by Gao Shilian. The people of Jinling could watch the spectacle of beheading again.

Nineteen people were blindfolded and taken to the execution ground. There were huge crowds of people around them. They were worried that they would be switched, but no one expected that there would be an identity verification step at the end.

Some of the people who came to watch the execution were the family's former slaves, and some were low-class people who were oppressed by them and had to sell their children. Their faces could be remembered even if they were turned into ashes, so when the hoods were removed, there was a cheer from the audience.

The huge guillotine was pulled to a high point by two people with a rope, and then the master of the family was pushed up first. Then the executioner began to read out aloud the charges against the man. Anyway, one crime was punishable by death, ten crimes were also punishable by death. The more crimes they had, the more people felt that they deserved it.

The old man had his eyes closed and had no expression on his face, as if he had accepted his fate. It was not until the moment the tall guillotine was released and his body was split in two that he cried out in pain.

The sight of the half-dead body crawling on the ground scarred many people psychologically. After seeing the miserable state of the head of the family, the other people waiting for execution finally couldn't hold it anymore. They started to apologize in fear or cry and wail.

But it was too late, everything was too late. From the moment they stabbed Zhang Zhongchun seven times, the solution had already been written into the sentence. They still used the tickets of the old era to take a good seat on the big ship of the new era. It was just a pity that this time the helmsman of the ship kicked them away without any surprise.

This even includes their staunchest allies, those people who usually call each other relatives, but at this moment no one dares to defend them.

The execution of the nineteen people took a whole morning. The executioner poured buckets of water on the execution table, and pink blood flowed everywhere along the gutter.

The people gradually dispersed and everyone was satisfied.

The court gradually resumed its functions the next day. The loss of 3,000 people did not seem to affect the overall operating efficiency. The vacancies of 3,000 people had already been filled. This made everyone realize that their usual tricks were no longer effective. If you don't do this job, there are plenty of people who will.

Among the newly promoted people, less than one-third were children of aristocratic families, the rest were from the New Party and the Floating Party, and there were about a thousand people who were directly filled from the common people who had been suppressed in the files over the years.

The balance in the court was restored for a while, and everyone tacitly agreed not to mention the matter again. However, the six departments investigating the case were still working at high speed, and they had to give an explanation to the world.

At the same time, Emperor Jingtai was already in the Green Forest Army camp. He had been here for half a month. He just went out for a walk and came back to sleep every day. He had nothing to do. This place was the worst hit by the disaster but the management was in good order. He had no say...

"Zhuo Heng." Emperor Jingtai asked boredly, "Accompany me to the worst-hit area tomorrow."

"Okay, but that place is dirty and messy, your majesty must be prepared."

"It's okay. If it looks good again after the disaster, I would be suspicious."

(End of this chapter)