After going through the psychological warfare of keeping the eagle awake, Zhu Ping'an enjoyed another example of killing a chicken to scare the monkey.
After coming out of Zhaomo Suo and following Doctor Zhai to the office of Minister He Ao of the Ministry of Justice, Zhu Ping'an was unable to see Minister He because he was not in the office but in a lobby of the Ministry of Justice hearing a case.
The case was jointly tried by the Ministry of Justice and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, with another Langzhong from the Ministry of Justice's Qinglisi presiding over the trial. Minister He of the Ministry of Justice was present in the hall to hear the trial. Also present in the hall was Wei Boyang, a fourth-rank assistant of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In addition to the officers from the Ministry of Justice, there were also several captains of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the hall.
Although the title of Jinyiwei Xiaoliu was used by the guards, they were just ordinary Jinyiwei. Xiaoliu was equivalent to the "soldiers" of other guards. Jinyiwei Xiaoliu was selected from the civilians, that is, the martial arts masters of the civilians. They were responsible for carrying the ceremonial guards, summoning officials before the emperor, and handling official affairs. Jinyiwei had its own prison, which was similar to today's trial and adjudication, and Jinyiwei Xiaoliu was very familiar with it.
Because Shangshu He was attending a trial, Doctor Zhai took Zhu Ping'an to a room near the lobby to wait temporarily. After the case was over, they went to meet Shangshu He.
Zhu Ping'an was sitting in a position where he could see the caning scene outside the lobby.
"Please, Lord Qu."
A prisoner in white prison clothes and with a terrified look on his face was "invited" out of the hall by two Jinyiwei with a grin on their faces. They called him Lord Qu, but there was no respect in their expression. They carried the prisoner called Lord Qu out as if he were a chick.
"Etiquette does not extend to common people, and punishment does not apply to officials... I am a seventh-rank county magistrate, you can't do this to me..." Lord Qu, dressed in prison clothes, shouted and struggled in panic.
The position was not far away, and Zhu Ping'an could see everything very clearly. He could even see the folds on Lord Qu's prison uniform, and he could also hear the conversation between County Magistrate Qu and the Embroidered Uniform Guards clearly.
Etiquette does not extend to common people, and punishment does not extend to officials... Forget it. So many officials have been made into lanterns and hung as flags, let alone ordinary punishments.
"Oh, my Lord Qu, never mind that you are a seventh-rank magistrate, I have beaten even a third-rank official. We are all rough people and we don't understand things like common people are not treated politely and officials are not punished. We only know to follow orders." One of the Jinyiwei glanced at Magistrate Qu, curled his lips in disdain, and replied with a forced smile.
While they were talking, the two Jinyiwei did not affect their hands at all. They carried County Magistrate Qu, who was wearing prison clothes, to a bench in the courtyard.
"Mr. Qu, would you like to lie down on it yourself, or let us help you?" When they arrived in front of the bench, the Jinyiwei let go of County Magistrate Qu and looked at him with a smile.
"I... I'll do it myself! Sweep the dust off, sweep the dust off!!!" County Magistrate Qu knew he couldn't get away with it, so he gritted his teeth in hatred, brushed the dust off his body, and lay down on the bench.
"The Wanping County Magistrate disobeyed his superiors and talked nonsense about state affairs. He was sentenced to 60 strokes of the cane. Considering that being an official is not easy, the cane will be reduced to half the amount."
Just as Magistrate Qu was lying on the bench, a minor official from the Ministry of Justice came out from the lobby, showed a warrant in front of Magistrate Qu, and read out the punishment imposed on Magistrate Qu with an expressionless face.
The Ming Dynasty used a caning system of ten strokes per sentence, with the minimum being sixty and the maximum being one hundred. The order just read out indicated that Magistrate Qu was to be caned sixty times, but because of the preferential treatment given by the officials, the sentence was reduced by half, to thirty strokes.
“If you want to accuse someone of something, you can always find a pretext.”
County Magistrate Qu snorted and remained silent.
After the announcement, two Jinyiwei each took out a thick and long thorn stick, about three feet long. The end used for hitting people was thicker, as thick as a human fist, and there were dried blood stains on it.
"It's a little lighter. The iron-covered and barbed court stick is more comfortable to hold in your hand..." The Royal Guard deliberately weighed the stick in his hand twice in front of County Magistrate Qu, and said in a threatening tone.
"Sir Qu, do you have anything to say?" Another Jinyiwei looked at County Magistrate Qu, winked, rubbed his fingers, and asked meaningfully.
Is this a bribe
Hehe... Zhu Ping'an curled the corners of his lips slightly when he saw this scene. As the history books said, there were many tricks in caning and imperial caning, and 361 other trades were born besides the 360 trades, because caning was definitely a skill, and the officials and Jinyiwei who did this job all relied on their skills to "make a living", such as this Jinyiwei.
Jinyiwei who could carry out caning had all been trained before, and they had to learn this skill by paying tribute and giving gifts. According to miscellaneous historical records, it took Jinyiwei several years of practice to master this skill. They mainly practiced two methods, one was to be light on the outside and heavy on the inside, and the other was to be heavy on the outside and light on the inside. When practicing, they had to make two dummies, one of which had tofu in it, and the other had to have blue bricks in it, and both were dressed in clothes on the outside. Putting tofu in practice was to practice being heavy on the outside and light on the inside. Jinyiwei would only be considered proficient if they could beat the clothes on the outside into pieces, making a loud banging sound, while the tofu inside was not damaged at all; putting the turning head in practice was to practice being light on the outside and heavy on the inside. Jinyiwei would only be considered proficient if they could beat the clothes on the outside without damaging the turning head at all, while the turning head inside was beaten into pieces.
In this way, if someone bribes them or gives them gifts before the execution, or the superiors hint that the beating should be light, they will adopt the method of heavy outside and light inside, beating the person until it looks like the skin is torn, but in fact it is only external injuries and the person will be alive and well after a few days of rest at home. On the contrary, if there is no bribery or gifts before the execution, or the superiors hint that the beating should be heavy, they will adopt the method of light outside and heavy inside, beating the person until it looks like the skin is red and swollen, but the internal injuries are very serious and even bones can be broken.
The rod is in my hand, and the severity of the punishment depends on my thought.
People who were beaten would often pay for a lighter beating, which gave rise to Article 361.
Of course, if you have no money or don’t know the trick or are an honest person, then you will have no choice but to take the beating.
"snort!"
County Magistrate Qu snorted coldly and said nothing more, his actions making everything clear.
"Haha, in that case, Lord Qu, please bear with it. We are only following orders. Please forgive us for any offense." Seeing this, the Jinyiwei sneered and spoke politely, but his actions were definitely ruthless.
Snap
The cane fell heavily on County Magistrate Qu's buttocks with a fishy smell.
In an instant, County Magistrate Qu stretched his neck like a goose, and cried out in pain with veins on his forehead exposed.
One, two, three, four…
As the cane fell again and again, County Magistrate Qu's screams became more and more miserable. In the end, all that could be seen was the shape of his mouth. He was in so much pain that he could no longer make a sound, and could only open and close his lips reflexively.
In an instant, the white prison uniform on County Magistrate Qu's buttocks was soaked with blood.
"This is the magistrate of Wanping. It is said that he slandered his superiors in public during the imperial inspection some time ago and defamed the imperial inspection several times..." Doctor Zhai told Zhu Ping'an about the past of magistrate Qu at the right time, and then quietly looked at Zhu Ping'an's expression.
Killing the chicken to scare the monkey
No doubt about it.
Disobeying superiors, criticizing government affairs, haha… This scene was definitely a warning to others, and Zhai Juntao brought him here on purpose. Zhu Pingan sat at the table, watching the execution outside calmly, as if he was watching a movie, with a faint smile on his face.
This made Doctor Zhai very disappointed.