Seeing Zhu Ping'an come out and get humiliated and return with nothing, Zhao Qiu, Zhao Daying and the other military officers were all very happy. Seeing Zhu Ping'an get humiliated, they felt as if they had eaten a dragon's liver and phoenix's marrow, and they were extremely happy.
"Lord Zhao's uncle and nephew used this trick of cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron and replacing the day with a secret, which was a good move." The officials of the Yan Party who knew the inside story looked at Zhu Ping'an with a gloating look, and praised him with a low laugh. His uncle and Zhao Qiu were close friends, and he was very close to Zhao Daying. During lunch, he had already received a hint from Zhao Daying and knew the inside story.
"Hush, Brother Wang, please be careful with your words. Lord Zhao is acting in accordance with the regulations of preserving the head. He is acting uprightly. How can there be any accusation of subterfuge?" Another official hissed, reminding the official surnamed Wang to be careful with his words, but he also had the same gloating expression on his face.
"Oh, yes, yes. Hahaha..."
Official Wang nodded while trying not to laugh. He couldn't hold back his laughter when he was halfway through his speech. It felt good to tamper with Zhu Ping'an's head in front of him and watch him get humiliated.
"He, Zhu Ping'an, still wants to turn the tables with the heads. Haha, what a foolish dream. Turn the tables? Go ahead! If he, Zhu Ping'an, can still turn the tables with this batch of heads, I'll write my name backwards... But it seems he doesn't have the ability to do so, haha."
"Open the coffin quickly, finish the examination as soon as possible and go back to hold a celebration banquet for Lord Zhao..."
Zhao Daying and the others were already confident of victory at this point, and were already thinking about where to get a table of food and wine and call in a few of the top prostitutes to celebrate properly.
Wang Xueyi, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, who was sitting in the presiding judge's seat, squinted his eyes and glanced at Zhu Ping'an and the others, then nodded and said, "Okay, since all the gentlemen have confirmed that everything is correct, then let's open the coffin."
"Open the coffin."
Captain Zhang took orders and led his men to open the coffin.
After wedging out the stone nails and scraping off the sticky rice glue, the officer lifted up the lacquered blackboard cover and placed it under his feet. The lacquered blackboard cover had been treated for corrosion, and the layer of black paint on it served to isolate the air.
When the cover was lifted, a stale smell mixed with lime hit the face.
Although Zhu Ping'an could conclude that the head in the coffin had been replaced, Zhu Ping'an still took into account the feelings of Liu Dadao, Liu Dachui and others. After the coffin was opened, Zhu Ping'an bowed towards the coffin to show his respect. After all, Liu Dadao and others thought that the head in the box was their relatives.
The dead are greatest.
If the heads inside are innocent victims of the Ming Dynasty, please rest in peace. I, Zhu Ping'an, will do my best to seek justice for you and pay tribute to your souls in heaven.
If the heads inside are Tatars or people who deserve to be punished, I advise you to turn over a new leaf, be a good person in your next life, do more good deeds, and atone for your sins in this life...
Zhu Ping'an bowed and came to the coffin, only to see that the box was filled with stone powder, and the heads were buried in the stone powder.
Stone powder is quicklime.
This was a common method of preserving heads in ancient times.
Since the iron-blooded Qin Dynasty in ancient times, people have used heads to test their merits, and they also have a lot of experience in preserving heads. The most commonly used methods are preservation with lime and wood ash, of course there are also salting, frying, lacquer sealing and other methods.
Zhu Ping'an had seen relevant records in modern times, and he also carefully reviewed relevant materials in the Hanlin Academy Library a few days ago and did his homework.
Preserving heads with quicklime is a relatively mature antiseptic method in ancient times. The method is relatively simple, but the preservation effect is very good. First, the head must be wiped clean of blood, and then the brain is taken out and placed in the sun for one to two hours. After the blood is dry, the head is completely immersed in quicklime and sealed for preservation.
In fact, it uses the principle of quicklime absorbing water to keep the coffin dry and alkaline, avoid bacterial growth, and prevent it from rotting. At the same time, sealing the coffin with glutinous rice glue and completely immersing the head in stone powder can isolate the air to a certain extent and prevent rotting and deterioration.
Fortunately, this is the way.
Zhu Pingan was slightly relieved when he saw the way the head was preserved. This method was the least destructive to the head and would be less difficult to verify and identify.
"My Lords, please look."
Two coroners from the Ministry of Justice took out the heads from the coffins one by one, brushed off the stone powder on the heads with a brush, and placed them on the wooden board. Fifty-nine heads were arranged in three rows. The coroners had been dealing with these things for years and had never blinked an eye.
But other officials do not have such determination.
Faced with so many heads at once, many officials did not dare to look over here.
"Sir Zhu, if you are afraid, don't try to hold on. It would be bad if you scare yourself to pee your pants." Zhao Daying was fearless at this time. He walked up to Zhu Ping'an with his arms folded, and teased with a sneer.
Fear
Zhu Pingan looked at the idiot and then at Zhao Daying with disdain. Even if you, Zhao Daying, were scared to the point of peeing your pants, I wouldn't. Have you seen The Grudge, The Ring, Hanako the Ghostly Tribe, Silent Hill, or Saw? After experiencing these modern horror classics, Zhu Pingan's heartbeat wouldn't fluctuate much when he looked at these heads.
"You seem to talk a lot. Are you feeling guilty?" Zhu Ping'an replied indifferently.
"You are feeling guilty." Zhao Daying shook his shoulders disdainfully and sneered.
While Zhu Ping'an was fighting with Zhao Daying, the coroner had already divided the head onto three wooden boards for everyone to examine.
"Guilan, Xiaogouzi..." Liu Dadao's face was filled with tears. The 1.80-meter-tall man cried like a child and staggered among the heads looking for his wife and children.
However
He was disappointed.
He searched all the twenty heads on one wooden board but couldn't find any. He then looked carefully at the thirty-nine heads on the other two wooden boards one by one, but still couldn't find any.
Then Liu Dadao stood there with a confused look on his face, muttering: No, it’s not right, it’s not like that at all, Guilan, Xiaogouzi, where are you
Liu Dachui and the others also looked at the fifty-nine heads displayed on the wooden board with a confused look on their faces.
These heads were completely different from what they had imagined, and none of them were their relatives.
on the contrary
These heads all seem to be Tatars. They are easy to identify because they all have Tatar hairstyles, with the most prominent feature being shaved heads. The hairstyles of foreigners are completely different from those of the Ming people, and you can tell them apart at a glance.
Some heads were in the Tatar "Huhele" hairstyle, with the hair around the top of the head shaved off, a row of short hair left on the forehead, and the hair on the back of the head and on both sides of the tufts braided into whips; some had loose hair and braided into small braids; some had hair hanging down on both shoulders... ...
You can tell at first glance that he is not of my kind.
"These are all Tartars."
"The heads presented by Lord Zhao are all Tatars."
There were many officials who were familiar with the Tatars at the scene. Many officials had seen the Tatars from afar on the city wall when the Tatars besieged the capital last year, and could recognize that this was the Tatar hairstyle. So when they saw these heads, they all nodded.