The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 467 Crime and Punishment

On the last day of July in the first year of Taichu, the ruler of the Great Qi Empire, Emperor Liu Zhaosun, met with the head of the empire's intelligence, Zhang Dong, at the Yongfu Palace in Shenyang.

Zhang Mazi had a white cloth wrapped around his head and walked a little unsteadily, but this did not prevent his sinister and cruel temperament from being revealed.

Emperor Wuding first asked about Zhang Dong's injuries. After learning that his subordinate had basically recovered, he went straight to the topic of today.

"Is Dudu dead?"

"Your Majesty, according to your Majesty's decree, he was only severely tortured, not killed."

Liu Zhaosun nodded with satisfaction. The Qing emperor could not die until the musk spice from Jakarta was transported to Liaodong, because this precious spice was one of the necessary materials for making mummies, and a dead mummy was not a good mummy.

"I said last time that I would kill a group of people after the war. Do you remember?"

Zhang Dong nodded, his axe-cut face remained calm, and instead he looked at Emperor Wuding with anticipation.

"First, pry open Du Du's mouth and make him identify several Da Qi rebels. Here is the list of rebels I want, a total of 38 people. The specific charges are up to you."

After Emperor Wu Ding finished speaking, he reached out from under the inkstone and took out a piece of rice paper covered with names. The densely packed names on the white paper looked like stranded tadpoles, dying.

Zhang Dong carefully took the list and glanced through it. He found that most of them were officials who had objected to the "New Economic Policy" and the "Qi Dynasty Land System." They were primarily from Liaodong, the original Kaiyuan staff. There were also some newcomers from Shandong and Henan. Zhang Dong suddenly saw a familiar name, and the spy chief frowned. His expression changed slightly before quickly regaining his composure.

"Based on Du Du's confession, we will charge them with appropriate crimes. Then, we will follow the clues and find their accomplices. Submit the list to me for review. We will implicate workshops, chambers of commerce, the military, civil affairs, and farmers' associations. We will start with the military, then the civil affairs. We must not implicate too many people. We must use one faction to fight another, using leverage to counteract a larger force, to avoid causing panic."

"I understand."

Zhang Dong silently remembered the emperor's instructions and folded the papers and put them away.

The emperor waved his hand, and the eunuch Dongfang Zhu and the high priest Francesco came up together.

"Let Eunuch Dongfang and the High Priest assist you in handling this matter. Make sure it is absolutely safe."

The three of them saluted the emperor together and slowly retreated.

After the three men left, Emperor Wu Ding squinted his eyes, shrank his majestic body back into the armchair, and continued to conserve his energy, like a black bear extremely tired after hunting.

Empress Dowager Jin Yuji walked silently to the side of the retired emperor, looked at her husband with a complicated expression, looked at the unrecognizable Emperor of Da Qi in front of her, sighed deeply, turned around and was about to leave.

Liu Zhaosun opened his eyes and said to the empress dowager as she walked away:
"stop!"

"Empress Dowager Cisheng, you also have things to do,"

Jin Yu Ji stood there when she heard the sound, her back to Liu Zhaosun, crying silently.

"Haven't you killed enough people?"

The time traveler suppressed his inner sorrow and said to his woman expressionlessly:
"Don't interfere in my affairs! Go to the young emperor, rule from behind the scenes, stabilize the court, and continue to be the good empress dowager."

~~~~~
Emperor Du Du of the Qing Dynasty was lying on a bed without a mattress, his whole body tied up with ropes.

The pale yellow whale oil lamp illuminated Dudu. The Tatar felt the strong light on his face, and his whiskers trembled violently.

Du Du opened his eyes for a long time but still felt as if he was in another world. Since he was captured, he had hardly seen day or night.

After being beaten for several days, he was brought here, and a hoarse-voiced barber came to shave Dudu's head and cut off his rat-tail braid at the roots.

A eunuch who called himself Dongfang Zhu led a group of eunuchs in, slapped him, twisted his ears, pulled his hair, and asked Du Du to stand on one foot and shine a whale oil lamp on his face until the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors' eyes were filled with tears. Du Du knew that Liu Zhaosun was insulting him.

The eunuchs under Dongfang Zhu, holding willow branches, tortured Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong over and over again, without stopping. They asked about Nurhaci's rebellion against the Ming Dynasty, the old slaves' conspiracy to rebel, and the atrocities committed by the Jianzhou Jurchens in Liaodong.

One question could be asked to Dudu over and over again for half an hour until the Tatar finally burst into tears.

The eunuchs raised their shrill voices and threatened the Qing emperor that they would continue to torture him if he hesitated to answer or dared to conceal anything.

Sometimes the eunuchs would call up the surrendered Eight Banners generals, a half-beaten-to-death Niulu Ezhen of the Zhenglan Banner, or a Jiala Zhangjing of the Zhenghuang Banner, and suddenly communicate with the emperor in Jurchen, calling Du Du's name in Jurchen, and asking him to confess all his crimes as soon as possible for the sake of Changshengtian and Emperor Wuding.

After being tortured like this several times, Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong suffered a mental breakdown and completely surrendered.

No matter what Dongfang Zhu asked him to say or what crime he asked him to confess, Du Du would agree.

"In the 47th year of the Wanli reign, I was defeated at the Battle of Hunhe and surrendered to the Ming army, betraying the Jianzhou Jurchens."

"In the second year of Taichang, I sent people to sneak into Kaiyuan and plotted to assassinate Emperor Wuding."

"In the first year of Chongzhen, I colluded with the Rakshasa demons on the condition of ceding Sakhalin Island."

·······
Until Dongfang Zhu left, Du Du kept chattering to himself like a frightened mouse.

As Francisco prepared the herbs and gauze to make the mummy, there was a bang and the door opened.

The spy chief Zhang Dong walked in, followed by his younger brother Li Zicheng.

Zhang Dong looked up at Francisco and said coldly:
"The Emperor has ordered that I personally interrogate Du Dujin before turning him into a specimen."

Francisco shrugged politely and retreated with his men.

Zhang Dong watched the high priest leave the interrogation room, asked Li Zicheng to close the door, and leaned over to Du Du, who looked terrified, and said:

"His Majesty the Emperor wants to eliminate a group of people. All those suspected will be severely tortured. I haven't done torture in a few years, so my hands are not very good at it. So I'm looking for you to practice with me first."

After Zhang Dong finished speaking, he waved his hand for Li Zicheng to come forward. Li Zicheng had picked up the tongs and was already standing in front of Zhang Dong.

"Punishment,"

"Wait a minute, if any of your bones are broken, remember to remind me, I won't hold back."

Li Zicheng clamped the legs of Du Du.

"Let me ask you a question."

Zhang Dong continued, "If you lie to me or make excuses, you'll pee in pain right away. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Du Du said.

Zhang Mazi's attitude was not as harsh as before. He took out the note from his pocket and spoke in a gentle voice full of patience.

"These people colluded with the Qing and betrayed Great Qi during our emperor's southern expedition. Can you describe their crimes in detail?"

(End of this chapter)