Huangming

Chapter 129 Thorn School Annihilates Profiteers, Bixie Melts Gold

Inside Xuexiang Tower, the music abruptly stopped.

Marquis Guo Yinglin of Wuding abruptly pushed away the courtesan in his arms, staggered to his feet, and the effects of the alcohol instantly dissipated.

His eyes widened, and he pointed at Zhang Zhiji, shouting angrily, "Zhang Zhiji! Are you fucking crazy?! You dare to take it out on us grandpas?!"

Marquis Xue Lian of Yangwu kicked over the table, and porcelain plates and wine cups shattered on the floor with a crash.

His eyes were bloodshot as he ripped open his brocade robe to reveal the soft armor underneath, and sneered, "Good! Good! Zhang Zhiji, we thought you were a brother, the kind who would go to great lengths for us, but we never expected you to stab your brothers in the back!"

"You little beast! Even your father, the Duke of England, wouldn't dare touch me, who do you think you are?!"

After saying this, Marquis Yangwu Xue Lian pulled a short blade from his boot, its cold light gleaming menacingly.

Marquis Zhu Guobi of Funing was the slowest to react, and he only came to his senses when the soldiers of the Standard Battalion held their swords to his neck.

He struggled, his crown askew, and hissed, "Zhang Zhiji! You set a trap at the banquet, utterly shameless! I will petition His Majesty to have your entire family executed!"

Before he could finish speaking, a sharp blade pressed down on his throat, silencing him instantly, with only his Adam's apple bobbing violently.

The residents downstairs were in complete chaos.

Some people, drunk, drew their swords to fight, but were so numbed by the sleeping potion that their limbs went weak and they fell to the ground before they could even draw their swords; others fled in panic to the window, only to be shot through the corner of their robes by an arrow and pinned to the carved railing.

A corpulent commander slumped to the ground, his trousers soaked, and wailed, "Young Duke, spare my life! This humble general is willing to offer up all his wealth!"

Zhang Zhiji stood with his hands behind his back, a cold smile playing on his lips.

He crushed the pearl earring that had rolled on the ground with his foot and said slowly, "Why are you three marquises so angry? His Majesty has long known that the capital garrison is corrupt. The evidence of your crimes of embezzling salaries, letting soldiers become bandits, and seizing farmland has already filled three guard rooms of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"You dare to petition His Majesty? It's as if His Majesty wants your lives!"

He suddenly leaned down, stared at Guo Yinglin's distorted face, and said softly, "Marquis Wuding, the body of the tenant's daughter you forcibly took last month is still in the mass grave, isn't it?"

Guo Yinglin's pupils contracted sharply. Before he could even offer a rebuttal, he suddenly heard the sound of orderly military boots marching outside the building.

The deputy commander of the Henan standard battalion strode in, clasped his hands, and said, "Reporting to the Duke, the capital garrison has been brought under control, and all thirty-seven who resisted have been beheaded!"

Upon hearing this, Xue Lian jumped up, but was firmly held down on the table by four soldiers.

Veins bulged on his forehead as he roared, "Where's Zhang Weixian?! Tell him to get out here! I'm a hereditary marquis; without a joint trial by the three judicial authorities, who dares to touch me?!"

"The Three Offices?"

Zhang Zhiji slowly pulled out a bright yellow silk cloth from his robes and sneered, “His Majesty’s decree: ‘Execute the parasites of the Beijing Garrison on the spot!’”

Zhu Guobi suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, saliva mixed with blood spilling from the corner of his mouth: "What a cunning way of discarding a useful tool after it has served its purpose! Your Majesty has only been on the throne a short time, yet you dare to turn against the nobles? How did the late Emperor die? Could it be that he..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Yongzhen emerged from the shadows like a ghost, his shrill voice piercing the clamor: "Marquis of Funing, for speaking ill of the late emperor, slap yourself!"

Two agents from the Eastern Depot immediately pounced on him, and each time they struck Zhu Guobi's mouth ten times with an iron ruler, leaving it a bloody mess.

Zhu Guobi's mouth was bruised and swollen, and he could only stammer and mumble when he tried to curse.

Outside, the north wind whipped up snowflakes that rushed into the blood-soaked lobby.

Zhang Zhiji turned and walked towards the building entrance, his scarlet cloak sweeping across the still-damp bloodstains on the steps.

Without turning his head, he waved his hand: "Take him to the drill ground. Do whatever you want with him!"

These useless nobles think they are so important, but in reality, the emperor can kill them and that's it. As long as they are not stripped of their titles, not many people will resist.

On the contrary, because they died, their brothers were able to inherit the titles, and the newly appointed nobles would be extremely grateful to the emperor.

This person!
Once you lose sight of yourself, the only outcome you'll face is death.

The next day.

The sky is about to brighten but is not yet clear.

The sky was overcast, with no sign of the sun.

The heavy snow fell like cotton wool, and the Jingying military training ground outside Kaifeng was shrouded in a somber atmosphere.

The cold wind whipped up snowflakes and lashed at everyone's faces. Marquis Guo Yinglin of Wuding was dragged, staggering, to the center of the drill ground by two standard battalion soldiers.

He struggled to lift his head and saw Li Yongzhen, the eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, standing on the high platform with his hands behind his back. His scarlet python robe fluttered in the wind and snow, like a demon of death.

"Marquis Guo Yinglin of Wuding!"

Li Yongzhen's high-pitched voice pierced through the wind and snow.

"In the 47th year of the Wanli reign, he forcibly seized a thousand acres of fertile land and drove seven tenant farmers to their deaths; in September of the first year of the Taichang reign, he allowed his troops to plunder merchant caravans and embezzled 30,000 taels of military pay; last month, he even tortured and murdered a woman and dumped her body in a mass grave. The evidence of his crimes is conclusive. According to the law, he shall be executed immediately!"

"fart!"

Guo Yinglin's eyes were bloodshot, and a roar burst from his throat.

"I am a hereditary marquis! Without a joint trial by the three judicial authorities, who would dare to kill me?!"

He suddenly broke free from the soldiers and stumbled towards the high platform.

"Zhang Weixian! You and your son framed me! I'll haunt you even as a ghost!"

However, his hands were bound at this moment, and two soldiers from the Henan General Battalion dragged him directly to the execution platform.

Duke Zhang Weixian of England remained calm and said, "You still remember that you are hereditary nobles, but have your actions benefited the country or the people? You deserve to die. His Majesty has granted me the power to act expediently and to decide the life and death of nobles. What else do you have to say?"

Guo Yinglin continued to curse, but Zhang Weixian no longer wanted to listen to the dying man.

"Behead!"

Zhang Weixian waved to the executioner on the execution platform.

puff~
The pot-bellied executioner held hot wine in his mouth and sprayed it onto the executioner's dagger.

Two soldiers from the standard battalion held Guo Yinglin firmly down on the execution platform. Guo Yinglin struggled desperately, but could not break free of his restraints and could only watch helplessly as the executioner swung his executioner's blade.

"puff!"

The demon head blade has already swept across!

A column of blood shot into the sky, a head rolled onto the snow, and Guo Yinglin's ferocious expression froze on his face. The headless corpse swayed, then crashed to the ground, its blood instantly staining the three-zhang-long snow.

The drill ground was deathly silent.

Marquis Yangwu, Xue Lian, collapsed to his knees.

He stared at Guo Yinglin's head, which had rolled to his feet, its bulging eyes fixed on him.

"Marquis Yangwu, Xue Lian!"

Li Yongzhen's voice rang out again, like the King of Hell calling for his men.

"You colluded with Shanxi merchants to smuggle ironware, and secretly communicated with the Jurchens; you embezzled military rations and illegally occupied military registers; you forcibly abducted women to be your concubines, and tortured and killed their husbands."

"I plead guilty! I confess to everything!"

Xue Lian suddenly began to kowtow frantically, his forehead slamming against the frozen ground with a loud thud.

"Please, my lord, have mercy! I'm willing to offer all my wealth to fund the army! I'll even accept exile to Liaodong. No, I'll go to the Nine Garrisons as a foot soldier! I beg you!"

Before Guo Yinglin died, he still had confidence, thinking that Zhang Weixian wouldn't dare to kill him and was just trying to scare them.

However, Guo Yinglin's death made him realize that this was not a drill, and Zhang Weixian really wanted to kill him.

He is afraid!

He was really scared!

All he wants now is to survive!
Li Yongzhen sneered. "Afraid now?"

late!

He flicked a roll of yellow silk from his sleeve: "His Majesty's decree: Xue Lian's crimes are unforgivable, he shall be executed by slow slicing!"

"Do not!!!"

Xue Lian's screams were swallowed up by the wind and snow.

Four executioners dragged him to the rack, and a gleaming knife sliced ​​across his chest. As the first piece of flesh flew up, his screams were no longer human.

In a corner of the drill ground, several commanders were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, their crotches oozing a foul-smelling liquid.

When Marquis Zhu Guobi of Funing was brought to the front of the platform, his mouth had already been beaten to a pulp with an iron ruler, and he could only make a "ho ho" sound.

Li Yongzhen glanced at his bloodied and mangled face and said slowly, "The Marquis of Funing is quite bold, daring to speak ill of the late emperor just now."

Zhu Guobi shook his head frantically, his face covered in snot, tears, and blood.

"late."

Li Yongzhen waved his hand and said coldly, "Marquis Zhu Guobi of Funing is guilty of unforgivable crimes. His reckless criticism of the late emperor is an even greater crime. He shall be skinned alive and stuffed with straw, and all prisoners under his command shall be beheaded!"

On the east side of the drill ground, rows of wooden stakes had already been erected.

The bound retainers of the Marquis of Funing cried out in deafening wails.

With a flash of light, more than a dozen heads fell to the ground, their blood splattering on the snow like blooming red plum blossoms.

"My lord, spare my life!"

Suddenly, a commander broke free from his soldiers and pounced at Zhang Weixian's feet.

"This humble general is willing to serve you like a slave! Please spare my life."

The Duke of England turned away indifferently, his scarlet cloak sweeping across the man's tear-streaked face.

"If I had known this today, why did I do it in the first place?"

Zhang Zhiji kicked the commander aside and shouted, "Continue the execution!"

The Duke of England executed nobles.

Once this begins, there is no turning back.

Regardless, the British Duke's Mansion is now completely tied to the Emperor.

Since that's the case, then we can't let personal feelings get in the way.

They can only be the most steadfast imperialists!
The wind and snow are getting stronger.

The initial curses and resistance have now turned into desperate sobs.

Some laughed maniacally, some stood frozen in shock, and many more lay prostrate on the ground, their foreheads pressed against the frozen earth mixed with blood and mud, writhing like maggots and begging for mercy.

As Li Yongzhen gazed at the darkening sky, he announced the final batch of verdicts in a shrill voice: "The rest are to be exiled to Tieling Guard, to depart immediately!"

The chains rattled as the prisoners were driven toward the frozen Yellow River crossing.

They looked back at the drill ground: there, headless corpses were piled up like small mountains, and soldiers from the standard battalion and the British Duke's personal guards were pouring buckets of kerosene on them.

The moment the torch was thrown in, flames shot into the sky, melting the snow within a radius of ten feet.

The acrid smell lingered in the wind and snow.

Under Zhang Weixian's swift and decisive actions, the 20,000 corrupt Beijing garrison troops who had marched south were completely wiped out.

There are hardly any high-ranking officers left in the Beijing Garrison.

The retainers and subordinates of these nobles and commanders were either punished and beheaded or exiled to Liaodong.

After a series of reductions and reorganizations, the 20,000 soldiers of the Beijing Garrison were reduced to less than 5,000.

Three thousand of them were close confidants of the Duke of England.

After reorganizing the Beijing garrison, Zhang Weixian did not relax.

Because he received the message.
Wang Tiqian, the eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and Wan Wei, the Imperial Son-in-Law, have arrived at the Prince of Fu's residence in Luoyang!

(End of this chapter)