The prince is more stable

Chapter 508 Ming Zhengdian Punishment
Outside Zhending City, tens of thousands of people gathered.

Not only Chen Shou and his men couldn't understand it, but even tens of thousands of people couldn't understand why they were not sent back home directly, but instead gathered together, set up tents outside the city, and stayed there for three days.

Only Zhao Xiaoqian has the answer to this question, and this was his decision.

Gather the people and let them see with their own eyes that the criminal officials are executed and punished according to the law.

One is to avenge the people, and the other is to calm the people's hearts.

Tens of thousands of people were relocated, hundreds died, and the rest were almost reduced to serfdom. The people were deeply resentful of the court. If we did not act decisively at this time, and if someone with ulterior motives fanned the flames, who knows what the consequences would be.

If things develop to this point, it will not be resolved by simply killing a few criminal officials.

Zhending Prefecture was under the jurisdiction of Zhao Xiaoqian. He was even more unwilling to mobilize the Dragon Guard Camp and point their guns at his own people one day in the future. The wisest choice was to nip the disaster in the bud.

On the open space outside the West City, a stretch of empty land was covered with endless sheds, and tens of thousands of people gathered together according to their village household registration units.

Near the city gate, there is a row of stoves with porridge cooking on them. Behind them are several large jars of soy sauce containing bundles of pickles.

This is the diet of tens of thousands of people these days. It is not rich, but it is enough to fill them up.

In the afternoon, Zhao Xiaoqian rode his horse to the outside of the city under the escort of Chen Shou and other imperial guards.

A high platform was temporarily built outside the city. Zhao Xiaoqian came to the outside of the platform, walked up to the platform, and looked around at the densely packed people.

The people who knew Zhao Xiaoqian exclaimed at the time, and then people whispered to each other. Soon, Zhao Xiaoqian's identity and name spread throughout the area.

Then people began to get restless and gathered towards the platform unconsciously.

Zhao Xiaoqian sat on the high platform and turned his head to look at Chen Shou with an expressionless face.

Chen Shou nodded in understanding, and then a row of executioners wearing red clothes and red hats, holding big swords, walked out from the bottom of the platform.

The crowd became more excited when they saw this. Some people came to watch the fun, while others seemed to understand something and rushed towards the bottom of the stage frantically.

The garrison troops under Shao Jing separated the crowd in time. They divided tens of thousands of civilians into several blocks to avoid being trampled.

Zhao Xiaoqian looked up at the sky and said, "It's almost time to invite the prisoners to come forward."

Chen Shou hesitated and said, "Sir, it's past noon today, it's not appropriate to carry out the execution. Why not wait until tomorrow..."

Beheading at noon is a government rule. It is said that this is because the Yang energy is at its strongest at noon. The souls of criminals beheaded at this time will be harmed by the Yang energy, and they will not be able to be reincarnated after death, let alone become resentful or evil ghosts.

It would be very unlucky to miss this time for execution.

Zhao Xiaoqian sneered: "I don't believe this. Even if Han Wei and the others really turned into evil spirits, let them try. I killed people today to eliminate harm for the people and accumulate merits. People with merits have no taboos."

…………

Outside the Zhending City Prison, dozens of prison vans were parked in a row.

Han Wei and dozens of other imprisoned officials were brought out by the jailers within less than a day of being imprisoned and loaded onto prison vans one by one.

The prison van is a simple walking wooden cage in which prisoners can only stand, and their hands and feet are shackled.

Han Wei was the first to be taken into the prison van. At this moment, his face was ashen and he didn't say a word.

Wang Yuan and others behind him didn't know the reason and their attitude remained arrogant.

After being shackled in the prison cart, Wang Yuan angrily shouted at the imperial guards escorting them, "I am the Minister of Revenue. Don't you understand the rule that officials cannot be punished? If you want to escort us to Bianjing, you should treat us with courtesy. How can you shackle us in a prison cart?"

The imperial guards ignored him, handcuffed him on the prison cart, and turned around to handcuff the next prisoner.

Wang Yuan was so snubbed that he flew into a rage, "How dare you! Zhao Xiaoqian's men have been spoiled beyond measure by him. Has Zhending Prefecture become Zhao Xiaoqian's empire? The imperial guards only know about the Prince of Hejian, but not the imperial family of the Song Dynasty?"

This statement was a bit serious, basically equivalent to pointing at Zhao Xiaoqian's nose and accusing him of treason.

The imperial guard who was putting on the shackles finally couldn't bear it anymore and turned around and walked over. Under Wang Yuan's astonished gaze, the imperial guard raised his palm and slapped Wang Yuan hard, making Wang Yuan scream and his left face swell up quickly.

Then the imperial guard looked into his eyes coldly and said slowly, "His Royal Highness is merciful and will give you a quick death. Don't seek unhappiness for yourself."

After saying this, the imperial guards turned and left.

Wang Yuan cried out in pain, then realized what the imperial guards meant by that. Could it be...

His whole body trembled violently. Wang Yuan looked at Han Wei in the prison car in front of him and cried, "Brother Han, Han Wei! What does he mean by this? What does Zhao Xiaoqian mean by giving us a quick death?"

In the first prison van in front, Victor Han closed his eyes in despair, not wanting to pay attention to this idiot.

People are standing on the prison van and are shackled. Don’t you understand what it means?

Would the escort to Bian Jing be so grand?
Until this moment, Han Wei still had some hope. He still couldn't believe that Zhao Xiaoqian had the courage to kill more than 40 officials.

If this gets to Bian Jing, the entire Song Dynasty will explode, and the court officials will frantically impeach and accuse Zhao Xiaoqian. Zhao Xiaoqian will definitely be held accountable. No normal person would pay such a huge price to vent the anger of the people. Does Zhao Xiaoqian really dare to do this?

Or was it that the so-called beheading, the so-called legal punishment, was just a deliberate gesture by Zhao Xiaoqian to humiliate him, and he would definitely stop at the last moment?

Han Wei didn't understand what Zhao Xiaoqian was thinking. He just hoped that Zhao Xiaoqian really just wanted to humiliate him and didn't mean it for real.

Over forty officials were escorted onto the prison van. The leading captain clapped his hands and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness has ordered that the prisoners be paraded around the city as a warning to the public before being taken to the execution ground outside the city."

The prison van started slowly. The imprisoned officials were shocked and angry. Until this moment, they still refused to believe that Zhao Xiaoqian dared to kill the officials. They were still cursing and were unwilling to accept it.

An hour later, the prison cart circled the city, exited the west gate, and arrived at the foot of the platform. Seeing more than forty officials leaving the city on the prison cart, the tens of thousands of people gathered below the platform were completely excited.

"It was them! They were the ones who ordered the people to be relocated. Those who refused to leave were beaten to death on the spot!"

"It's these damn officials who said they were going to divide the land, but ended up detaining us, beating and scolding us..."

"Hundreds of people died because of them. These crooked officials deserve to die!"

With the appearance of Han Wei and others, the crowd became angry and agitated. The soldiers of the Xiang army tried their best to push the crowd out and prevent them from approaching the platform.

Han Wei and more than 40 others were escorted to the platform. Looking at the row of executioners in red coats and red hats behind them, all the other prisoners, except Han Wei, finally realized what was going on. Their faces turned pale and they could barely stand. Some of the more timid ones even wet their pants. A yellow puddle of urine clung to the ground.

"Zhao Xiaoqian, you, how dare you!" The criminal official stared at Zhao Xiaoqian in despair and murmured.

Zhao Xiaoqian sat with his legs crossed and ignored him.

When the executioner methodically tied up the criminal officials with hemp ropes and made them kneel facing the people, Han Wei finally couldn't help but speak.

"Zhao Xiaoqian, that's enough. Can we stop here? We acknowledge our mistakes and are willing to return to Bianjing to confess our crimes. We are also willing to write a confession and sign it. Please spare our lives, okay?"

Looking at Han Wei's pleading, and thinking about his arrogant and domineering behavior in the prison today, Zhao Xiaoqian smiled coldly.

"Voluntarily confessing? Very good. Come, fetch some paper and pen, untie the gentlemen, and have them write a confession in front of the people."

The imperial guards brought paper and pen, and Han Wei and others were cheered up. They realized that this might be their last hope of survival.

Who wouldn’t confess?

After arriving in Zhending Prefecture, they wrote down everything they had done word for word, and finally signed and handed it over to the imperial guards.

They would confess to whatever crime they were told to confess. As long as they could return to Bianjing alive, they would not admit to these confessions, saying they were forced to confess, and would only receive sympathy.

More than forty confessions soon fell into Zhao Xiaoqian's hands.

Zhao Xiaoqian glanced at him casually, and the smile in his eyes deepened.

"Thank you all very much. With these confessions, which were written in front of tens of thousands of people, their authenticity can be verified. They can finally help me get out of this situation." Zhao Xiaoqian said with a smile.

Victor Han was shocked and said in a lost voice: “You, you regret it?”

"What do you want to regret? Did I promise you anything beforehand?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked in confusion.

Han Wei and a group of convicted officials were shocked, and then their expressions fell into deep despair.

It turns out that the last hope of survival is nothing but a mirage.

They would not die again, and before they died they gave Zhao Xiaoqian evidence to help him clean up the mess and escape.

They are all a group of pure and innocent people!

Zhao Xiaoqian looked up at the sky, then stood up and walked to the front of the platform. He announced, "Investigation has revealed that Han Wei, the transport envoy of the Western Hebei Route, and Wang Yuan, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, among a total of forty-two officials, committed numerous crimes while on duty in Zhending Prefecture, killing over four hundred people."

"This crime is unforgivable. To appease the wrath of 160,000 people in Zhending Prefecture, Han Wei and his men must be executed swiftly and severely. There is no need to bring them to the capital or to go through the Dali Temple for trial. They should be executed today."

As he spoke, Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly knelt on both knees facing the direction of Bianjing and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, I, Zhao Xiaoqian, pay my respects to the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty. My actions today are for the sake of the country and the people of the Great Song Dynasty. I acted in an emergency. My sincere heart is witnessed by the sun and the moon."

After saying this, Zhao Xiaoqian stood up and when he looked at Han Wei and others again, murderous intent was growing in his eyes.

A small arrow-shaped token was thrown to the ground, and Zhao Xiaoqian shouted: "Come here, identify the offending official and execute him!"

Below the stage, the people became increasingly agitated, and the crowd erupted in thunderous applause.

Chen Shou stood at the edge of the platform and called out the names loudly.

"Han Wei, Wang Yuan, Chen Su, Zhang Huizhen, Shen Wei, verify your identities."

The five convicted officials were grabbed by their hair by the imperial guards and pulled hard, exposing their necks.

A murderous gleam flashed in the executioner's eyes, and he swung his knife fiercely. The head fell to the ground instantly, and the headless body fell to the ground, still twitching unwillingly.

The people in the audience became more and more angry, and shouted that the killing was well done, and that His Royal Highness the Prince was truly the upright ruler of Zhending.

Chen Shou waved his hand expressionlessly, "Clean up the heads and bodies of the criminals and prepare them for burial. Bring up the next batch."

Then Chen Shou continued to call out names, killing five people in a group, and then he would take over the next group.

The surviving prisoner had completely collapsed mentally at this time. His legs collapsed limply to the ground, and he cried loudly, his ugly appearance was extremely ridiculous.

However, no matter how loud you cry, you will eventually be stabbed.

Half an hour later, all 42 criminal officials were beheaded, and their heads and bodies were embalmed.

Zhao Xiaoqian looked at the cheering and excited crowd below the stage, but his face showed no sadness or joy.

Looking up at the clear sky and white clouds, Zhao Xiaoqian murmured, "Old Master Ge, this is what I have to tell you. Are you satisfied?"

The white clouds transformed into various forms, and were finally blown away by a breeze, disappearing into the sky and earth without any regrets.

(End of this chapter)