Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 72: Only One Person in the World (Part )
"Miss, do you really want to go in?" Ding Baiying took off her hat, patted the snow on it, and put it back on.

"Of course." Zhang Shirui shook off the snow balls stuck on her gray-black velvet cloak, and then walked towards the Jinyiwei in front of the barricades.

"Please put your weapons in this basket." The Jinyiwei general flag-taker who was in charge of guarding the east side of the barricades pointed to the bamboo basket on his right.

"Confiscate the weapons?" Ding Baiying asked.

"We're not confiscating it, we're just storing it temporarily. You can come back and claim it after the ceremony." The general flag officer removed the linen covering from the basket, brushed off the snow, and then covered it back. "Of course, if you forget, you can also come to the Jinyiwei Command Headquarters to claim it."

"Ha! I'd better not forget it." Ding Baiying put his long sword next to Zhang Shirui's sword.

"Go ahead." The general flag signaled his captain to let them in.

Seeing the two women go in, the braver crowd around them finally took a brave step. They couldn't be blamed for being timid. In the minds of ordinary people, the Jinyiwei Yamen was basically the Hall of Hell. If someone lifted their robe to show the Jinyiwei badge hanging at their waist and asked you to go and cooperate with the investigation, then you should quickly tell your family to prepare for your funeral.

But this is pure demonization. When the Jinyiwei asks people who have not committed any crime to cooperate with the investigation, they are probably not asking for your life, but for your money. They just ask your family to prepare the money, and it is too awkward to prepare a coffin.

"Let's go. If we don't go in now, we'll only be able to see the backs of other people's heads." After Harald Brandt urged, the other business representatives around him also began to agree.

"Okay." Long Huamin nodded. He realized that the role of a leader was huge. After the two pagan women he had met a few times entered, people began to pour in from the barricades in all three directions.

"Why doesn't he have to hand over his weapons?" A young man who looked like a scholar put his four fingers together and pointed at Lu Wenzhao and his group who had just entered.

"You're not armed, so why are you talking so much nonsense?" The flag-gatherer guarding the checkpoint frowned and said impatiently, "If you don't want to go in, turn around and get out! Don't block others."

"You!" The scholar wanted to argue, but seeing the ferocious look in the Jinyiwei's eyes, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Upon entering the Daming Gate, the Jesuit delegation was immediately struck by the imperial presence. Strong, golden-armored generals stood in two rows, guarding the unused imperial path. They stood guard every five steps, their gaze fixed, seemingly unfazed by the passing crowds, even those with blond hair and blue eyes, who stood out from the crowds of ordinary Chinese. With their right hands supporting their swords and their left holding their flags, the generals stood like pillars, supporting the sky above the Thousand-Step Corridor.

The human-shaped pillars extend from the inside of the Daming Gate to the Jinshui Bridge in front of the Chengtian Gate, and then split to the left and right of the two Chang'an Gates in front of the Jinshui River, dividing the protruding corner of the imperial city into three areas.

Arriving at the Jinshui River, they discovered two execution platforms, each 15 zhang long and 10 zhang wide and high, had been set up in the open space beyond the bridge. The platforms were divided by the imperial road and were completely empty: there was neither a gallows nor a beheading platform, not even a prisoner.

Soon, the road from Daming Gate to Jinshui River was packed with civilians who had come to witness the execution. To leave enough space for the next action, the soldiers guarding Daming Gate allowed 1,500 men into each of the two gates before admitting no more. However, the Jinyiwei guarding the square chevaux de frise remained undisturbed, waiting until the chevaux de frise was also filled with civilians before closing the three entrances.

The people who didn't get the chance to enter didn't leave, because they still had to wait for the results of the execution. Every public trial, public sentencing, and public execution was a carnival for the people.

The wind was howling and the snow was falling like hail.

"Ding!" The bell tower in the north of the Imperial City rang the signal for noon. In a moment, the sound spread to the Drum Tower.

Immediately afterwards, bells and drums rang out together, creating a powerful sound wave between heaven and earth.

The sound waves spread and broke through Bei'an Gate, Xuanwu Gate, and Shunzhen Gate successively.
As they reached Jianji Hall, the sound of bells and drums was suddenly reinforced by horns. The trumpeters from the Bell and Drum Department, starting at Jianji Hall and continuing all the way to Chengtian Gate, blew one after another on the massive trumpets, which required a person to carry them to maintain stability. The sound of the trumpets didn't fade away, but rather grew in intensity. By the time they reached Chengtian Gate, the waves of sound from the bells and drums had coalesced into a thunderous, earth-shaking wave.

When the last two trumpeters blew the trumpets, the emperor climbed the stairs to the Chengtian Gate Tower, surrounded by the three ministers of ceremonies, six cabinet ministers, nine ministers, and fifteen military heroes.

The emperor stood still, and all voices fell silent. The two doorways to the left and right of the central gate of Chengtian Gate opened simultaneously, and civil and military officials filed out. They arrived at the open space behind the execution platform on both sides and stood facing Chengtian Gate with their heads bowed.

All officials stood still, and the two outermost doorways of Chengtian Gate suddenly opened. Fifty prisoners, escorted by executioners, slowly walked onto the execution platform.

The shackles and hinges collided and rubbed against each other, making a sharp and mournful sound, which echoed with the solemnity between heaven and earth.

Everything was ready, and the middle gate of Chengtian Gate was opened. People then discovered that the Han generals had posted guards every five steps, holding spears and flags, stretching from Daming Gate all the way to Huangji Hall.

"Silence!" Five hundred Han generals shouted in unison.

"Silence!" Then, the guards stationed every six feet on the southern wall of the Imperial City shouted in unison. The noise outside the corner of the Imperial City was instantly stopped.

At this time, apart from the sound of the sky and the earth shaking, the only sound was the sound of slow and heavy footsteps at the southern end of the imperial city.

The emperor, holding the jade sceptre that "punished the criminals and appeased the people," ascended the execution platform, which was as high as the parapets. The platform was a full ten feet away from the parapets, but to the people who were gazing at the emperor from afar, it looked as if the emperor was standing right at the edge of the city wall.

The eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department placed the Emperor's Sword, held in both hands, on the sword rack next to the execution platform. He then took a deep breath and shouted, "Kneel!"

This call was relayed by two high-ranking military officers behind the viewing platform on either side. Then, two of them passed it on to four others, then eight, sixteen, and thirty-two. Finally, five hundred Han generals and a thousand guards along the south wall shouted at the top of their lungs, "Kneel!" The sound shook the roof tiles!

Starting with the two princes, the three secretaries of rites, six cabinet ministers, nine ministers, fifteen military honors, hundreds of civil and military officials, three thousand people in the imperial city, and tens of thousands of people in the central city, all knelt down facing their lord.

"Long live our emperor! Long live him! Long, long live him!" The sound shook the heavens and earth, and spread throughout the capital!

"Even if Jesus were to return to the world, he wouldn't be welcomed like this." Seeing this scene, Johann Adam Schall von Bell, who had traveled to Nanjing to find Father Ginnig and then to Beijing with him, was deeply shocked. He knelt unconsciously, facing the emperor, and murmured in a tone almost reverent: "If the Creator named 'Heaven' truly has a son, it can only be the emperor."

From this moment on, he finally understood the meaning of the divine right of kings and the interaction between heaven and man.

(End of this chapter)