After the captain of the Jinyiwei shouted to take off his clothes, the captains of the Jinyiwei came forward. One of them held down the prone Yang Jisheng, while the other lifted up Yang Jisheng's shirt without saying a word, and took off his pants, exposing his buttocks and thighs.
The purpose of stripping is to humiliate dignity and to punish someone mentally.
When Emperor Hongwu created the imperial caning, he designed the stripping part for the purpose of humiliating the personality and dignity of disobedient ministers. In ancient times, scholars believed that their bodies and hair were given by their parents. The mental damage caused by being stripped and exposed in public can be imagined. The dignity of the scholars was completely shattered by the stripping and caning.
"Life is short, like grass and trees withering in autumn. We come naked and leave naked. How wonderful, how wonderful..."
After being stripped of his clothes, Yang Jisheng remained calm and unmoved. He shouted "Great!" twice with a righteous tone and calmly welcomed the beating.
"Lord Yang, you are truly a righteous man!"
"Master Yang, well done!"
The crowd outside the government office was shocked by Yang Jisheng's noble character and his courage to face death with indifference, and they admired him very much.
"You are still stubborn even when you are about to die! Humph..." Wang Xueyi sneered. In his eyes, Yang Jisheng was already a dead man.
"Put down the stick!"
After Yang Jisheng was stripped of his clothes, the captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard stood in front, pointed his toes inward, and shouted loudly.
"Put down the stick!"
The Jinyiwei captains who were carrying out the beatings were divided into two teams, standing on both sides of Yang Jisheng, and shouted in unison with the Jinyiwei captains.
Then, the captain of the Jinyiwei who was in front walked up to Yang Jisheng and placed the court stick in his hand on Yang Jisheng's buttocks.
"beat!"
The captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard shouted.
"Huh!"
The captain of the Jinyiwei raised the stick in his hand high, shouted loudly, and hit Yang Jisheng's buttocks with the stick.
“Bang!”
The imperial cane hit Yang Jisheng with a sound like muffled thunder, which made him feel painful as if his bones were being torn into pieces.
Even Yang Jisheng's body was shaking from the beating.
When the cane left Yang Jisheng's buttocks, it tore off a large piece of skin and flesh, blood splattered everywhere, and a purple-black bruise instantly appeared.
The officials and people who watched the execution were all terrified, and some even couldn't help shedding tears.
However, Yang Jisheng gritted his teeth and did not utter a cry of pain, because he did not want Wang Xueyi and other members of the Yan Party to gain any sense of pride from his cries of pain.
Wang Xueyi had been watching, and when he saw the effect of the caning, his face suddenly became as bright as a flower, and he couldn't help but shouting "good!" in his heart. This is how the caning should be done with "heart"! Yang Jisheng, you are dead!
The first Jinyiwei captain who carried out the execution was beaten with the cane five times in a row, and was then replaced by the second Jinyiwei captain.
The second Jinyiwei captain beat Yang Jisheng even harder. When he swung the court stick down, it was even more frightening than the first captain's. The effect of the beating also seemed to be more severe than the first one. Yang Jisheng's buttocks were beaten to a bloody mess and blood was flowing.
However, in fact, the second Jinyiwei captain let up and stopped the moment he hit Yang Jisheng. Although it looked like he had beaten Yang Jisheng's buttocks to a bloody mess, it was only a superficial injury, and breaking up the blood clots would help with recovery.
In this way, the captains of the Embroidered Uniform Guard came forward one by one to carry out the court caning, one "beat with all his heart" and the other "beat hard".
In this way, with the combination of reality and illusion, and the exquisite skills of the Jinyiwei, people like Wang Xueyi, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, did not notice that the Jinyiwei were slacking during the imperial caning.
However, the Jinyiwei let it go half way. The fifty canings were "beaten with all their heart" and the fifty canings were "beaten hard", but caning was still caning after all!
During the beating, Yang Jisheng was beaten unconscious twice. During the last few beatings, blood came out of his mouth and nose. He was dying and lay on the ground motionless. The beating made Yang Jisheng like a rag sack, swinging up and down without a sound.
Seeing this, Wang Xueyi thought that Yang Jisheng had been beaten to death, and his mouth was grinning with joy to his ears.
You should know that the mortality rate of people caned with a stick in the court during the Ming Dynasty was very high. Generally speaking, the mortality rate of people caned with a stick 30 times was 30%, and the mortality rate of people caned with a stick 100 times was 90%, and there were very few records of people surviving. Not to mention "beating with all your heart" 100 times, so Wang Xueyi believed that Yang Jisheng had been caned to death.
However, Wang Xueyi was ultimately disappointed.
After the last beating of the cane, Yang Jisheng, who had been silent, actually began to tremble his fingers.
Then, under Wang Xueyi's incredible and unbelievable gaze, Yang Jisheng slowly moved from one finger to the whole hand, and finally supported himself on the ground with difficulty, raised his head and looked at Wang Xueyi.
"Pooh!"
Yang Jisheng raised his head and looked at Wang Xueyi, his lips moving. He tried his best to scold him, but he was already out of breath. In the end, he just made a "Puh" sound, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fainted on the ground.
Damn! You are such a stubborn person. How can you be so stubborn? A hundred strokes of the cane didn't even kill you!
Wang Xueyi's face was as black as the bottom of a pot! He was so angry that he almost went crazy! He could only curse Yang Jisheng for being so unlucky!
You are lucky this time!
Anyway, you will not be able to escape death in ten days!
Wang Xueyi cursed in his heart, he did not find that the Jinyiwei had "let go" in the court beating. Of course, Lu Bing was also an old fox and an experienced politician, if he wanted to let go, how could he let anyone find out
After the execution of the imperial beating, Yang Jisheng, who had fainted, was picked up by the Jinyiwei, half-dragged and taken to the Jinyiwei Beizhenfusi Prison, leaving two long and shocking trails of blood on the way.
The trial ended here.
Zhu Ping'an was worried about Yang Jisheng, so after the trial, he went straight to the Northern Pacification Prison to visit Yang Jisheng.
The death rate from beatings in the Ming Dynasty was too high. Although the Jinyiwei had let Yang Jisheng off today and Zhu Ping'an knew the history, Yang Jisheng was beaten too severely today. He was bleeding from his mouth and nose, and was gasping for breath. He finally fainted, and there was no sound when he was carried away. Zhu Ping'an was really worried.
"Your Excellency, I am truly sorry. It is not that I am being rude, but I have received a death order from above. Yang Jisheng is of great importance. No one is allowed to visit him or send anything in. I am just following orders. I hope your Excellency will forgive me."
After arriving at the Northern Pacification Prison, Zhu Ping'an was stopped outside the door by the prison officer. He was not allowed to offer silver, even when he raised the offer to fifty or even one hundred taels, but the prison officer still refused to give in.
In the end, Zhu Ping'an had to settle for the second best and changed his idea. He used a large sum of money to bribe the imperial prison official to inquire about Yang Jisheng's situation. After learning that Yang Jisheng had woken up, Zhu Ping'an was slightly relieved.