In the eighth year of Xuanhe in the Song Dynasty, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, it was the Shangyuan Festival, an auspicious day of the zodiac, and everything was suitable.
Early that morning, people from all over the city of Tokyo came out of their homes and headed straight to the Xiangguo Temple area in the east of the inner city. It wasn't even Tatsuki, but the streets and alleys on that side were already occupied by crowds of people. The people among them found it difficult to even turn around. But even though it was so crowded, more people came from all directions. Even people outside Bianjing, who heard the news, all came over.
In fact, what was to be carried out in front of Xiangguo Temple today was too important and too sensational. It was simply something that had never happened in the hundred years since the founding of the Song Dynasty. The imperial court, or rather General Sun, the Marquis of Yue, actually wanted to kill dozens of important officials of the imperial court, including Cai Jing, Liang Shicheng, etc., and their families here. What a spectacular and relieving scene it was, and how unexpected it was. To put it bluntly, this is something I wouldn’t even dare to think about in my wildest dreams.
Not to mention Taishi Cai Jing and Taifu Liang Shicheng, there is a certain official on this list who is not known to everyone. That is the existence that all the people in the world can only look up to. They have indeed done too many things that have harmed the country and the people, but neither the court nor the people have been able to do anything with them, let alone letting them pay with their lives, that is, removing them from their official positions so that they can no longer do anything. It is a luxury to use the power in your hands to harm the people.
Because everyone knows that the Song Dynasty has made a national policy since the founding of the country by Taizu, and the court will not kill scholar-bureaucrats! What are scholar-bureaucrats? They are those scholars who have achieved fame, and they are officials of all sizes in the imperial court. Therefore, although there have been one after another party disputes in the imperial court over the past hundred years, most of the losers were demoted and few actually died because of it. Therefore, how many corrupt officials have appeared in the Song Dynasty over the past hundred years, even if they are found to have evidence, But in the end, they were let off lightly. Many officials may have bullied the people and committed heinous crimes, but in the end they escaped the sanction of the law...
Everyone knows that this rule is very problematic, but because it was established by Emperor Taizu, no one has ever dared to overturn it. But today, Yue Hou Sun Tu used extremely tough methods to completely overthrow him, and in this killing, dozens of officials and their families were killed. How can this not attract the people in the city to rush to watch, and how many people with unaccounted grievances are waiting for the moment when these evil guys are killed.
If you say that today will be celebrated by the whole world, it will become the most important Shangyuan Festival in the history of the Song Dynasty. I am afraid that countless people will nod in agreement. Now, all we have to do is wait for the time to come and for those corrupt officials to be dead.
In everyone's slightly excited and anxious mood, time slipped by little by little, and it was already time in the blink of an eye. With the sound of gongs, a huge team slowly came along the long street filled with people. After seeing the Sun-shaped military flag in front of them, the people who originally occupied the entire street quickly retreated to both sides like tofu cut through by a sharp knife, clearing the way forward and allowing this group of soldiers to move forward. The team can move through quickly.
After the hundreds of elite cavalry in front of them passed by on horseback, there were even more elite soldiers and generals behind them, numbering in the thousands. And those surrounded by them in the center of Gai were all wearing heavy shackles and all shackles. , a prisoner in prison uniform. this
I don't know whether it was because their bodies could not bear such shackles, or because they were frightened in their hearts. All these prisoners lowered their heads, and their steps were extremely slow. The soldiers on the side had to use their spears, spears, and whips to drive them away from time to time. He would move forward step by step, looking completely lifeless.
If the identity of these criminals had not been known earlier, no one would be able to believe that these were the high-ranking officials in the past just looking at their embarrassed appearance. The guy at the front of the team, who had to take several deep breaths with almost every step, and whose beard and hair were all white, was actually the Grand Master Cai Jing and Cai Cai, who was famous all over the world, and the one who followed behind him had shorter steps and a paler face. The one on paper is actually Liang Shicheng...
When the people slowly recognized their identities, there was a period of silence at first, then anger and sharpness, and curses in various tones came from all directions. Mixed in among them were various rotten vegetables, leaves, rotten eggs, and unknown sources. The stones and bricks they picked up fell like raindrops on these treacherous ministers and dog officials who were causing harm to the country and the people. The beatings made them groan miserably and their steps became more and more messy.
Seeing that the people's commotion was getting worse and worse, it seemed that many people were going to rush out at any time and kill these dog officials with their own hands. Only a few soldiers waved their weapons and shouted, stopping the people from further actions. At the same time, the soldiers beside these prisoners unhappily lashed their whips again, driving them towards the front court at a faster speed. Being implicated by these prisoners, even the soldiers were stung by a lot of rotten vegetable leaves. Where are the eggs
The road was not originally too long, but due to the behavior of the people and the crowding, it took the entire team half an hour to cross. Fortunately, the family members of the criminals behind did not arouse too much hatred from the people. They were able to calm down and they could pass quickly. Otherwise, it would have taken more than noon just to bring people into the execution ground.
This scene fell into the eyes of Tong Mu, who entered the execution ground from the other side and was already sitting on the execution platform, which made him feel more confident: "The people's support can be used. No wonder Saburo was eager to kill these guys as soon as he entered Tokyo. It does make some sense. As long as we win the hearts and minds of the people in the city and the country by killing them this time, we will be able to gain the support of countless people if we want to further implement our own strategy."
While thinking, his eyes quickly swept across the crowds of people around him, and he felt a little nervous: "But today's execution is bound to encounter twists and turns. Let me see how many stubborn people there are in the city. Look. How much noise will you make? But no matter what your methods are, as long as you dare to make a move today, I will let you be buried with him!"
As soon as her thoughts changed, Tong Mu glanced at a three- or four-story restaurant on the side, then quickly withdrew her gaze, began to sort out the items on her desk, and straightened her clothes and robes, slowly He stood up.
Because at this time, hundreds of prisoners and their family members had been brought into the execution ground and were forcibly pushed down by the soldiers. They knelt in dozens of rows. Behind each person, there were people holding ghost-headed swords with firm eyes. The Han soldiers in the army were obviously the executioners of this execution.
The execution scene today is really huge. Even though
However, it was impossible to find such a large number of executioners in Tokyo, so Sun Tu simply summoned some bold and ruthless soldiers from the army to carry out today's execution. And after knowing that those who were to be killed today were powerful officials such as Cai Jing and treacherous men, all the officers and soldiers in the army became even more enthusiastic, and they had recruited all their men in just half a day. Among them, the most eye-catching one was a man who was also wearing a prison uniform, but standing behind Cai Jing. He was so special among the soldiers waiting for execution.
Just when the people outside noticed this strange phenomenon and began to speculate and discuss, Tong Mu had already raised the imperial edict in his hand after shaking his robe, and a soldier beside him also put a loudspeaker to his mouth. , so that his voice can spread as far as possible to the surroundings: "Dear fellow citizens of Tokyo City, I am Tong Mu, by the order of His Majesty, General Sun, the Marquis of Yue, has come to supervise and execute Cai Jing and Liang Shicheng, the traitors of the imperial court. and their family members. Originally, General Sun should personally supervise the beheading of this scene, but yesterday he suffered nearly a hundred military sticks for upholding military law, and the club wounds occurred again in the evening. It was really difficult to get up, so I could only supervise the beheading on my behalf. I hope you don’t misunderstand me.”
As soon as these words came out, the people around him started buzzing with comments, most of which were full of praise for Sun Tu. Yesterday, the fact that he was willing to accept the cane in public in order to uphold military law has spread to every corner of Tokyo through word of mouth. Everyone respects Sun Tu even more, so even if he did not come today, it did not make everyone feel dissatisfied at all. I respect him even more.
Tong Mu only paused for a moment before speaking again: "These prisoners in front of me have all been greatly favored by the imperial court, but for many years they have not thought about serving the country and the people. Instead, they have committed many injustices and harmed countless people. Just in front of me In a few days, we have received thousands of complaints against them, and it is not an exaggeration to say that their crimes are too numerous to list.
"After seeing this, the Marquis of Yue was filled with righteous indignation, so he went to the palace to see the emperor, listed the serious crimes committed by Cai Jing and others, and asked the emperor to issue a decree to sentence them to death. Although we have not killed scholar-officials in the Song Dynasty for a hundred years, Cai Jing The crimes committed by these people are too serious. If they are not killed, the people will not be angry, and if they are not killed, it will not be enough to uphold the law of the country. So today, I have a special order to kill the evildoers to thank the world!"
After a pause, he actually opened the imperial edict. After clearing his throat, he read the eloquent edict loudly...
The countless people around, whether they understood or not, all tried their best to prick up their ears and listen. Everyone was so excited that their faces were red and their bodies were trembling, but no one said anything, as if they were afraid of being beaten. It seemed like this solemn scene was interrupted.
However, in this solemn and solemn environment, there are still many people who are out of tune with everyone around them. With their expressions flickering, their bodies are still moving forward subconsciously, trying to get as close as possible to the court in front of them. If anyone looks carefully at their lowered hands and cuffs, they will find a cold light shining there.
In the Xiangguo Temple, on top of the seven-story tower, a man with an ordinary face looked far away in the direction of the execution ground, and then quickly cast his gaze further away, towards the city of Tokyo: "Young Master Ninth should be arriving soon. And the surprise troops along the way are about to be launched. Success or failure, life or death, only depends on today!"