As autumn deepened, the sky was filled with dark clouds, as if the ink in an inkstone had been spilled, and the spreading haze did not dissipate. Four or five civil servants and military officers walked up the stone steps of the magnificent Jinxiang Palace. In front of them, a small-eyed civil servant straightened his official hat with one hand, and walked into the wooden door with a serious expression while holding the file in his hand.
The group walked through several halls, waited for a while outside the Yangde Hall, and then walked in. Guo Shao had a bare head, like a monk, with smoke coming out of his head, and two palace maids were tidying up the towels beside him.
Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Several people clasped their fists and said.
Guo Shao made a gesture to signal them to stand up. The eunuch Yang Shiliang next to him walked over, took the thick stack of files from Wang Pu, and placed them on the table in front of Guo Shao.
The two palace maids lowered their heads, took a few steps back, and walked out of the palace with their things.
Guo Shao flipped through the thick file in front of him. It was filled with tiny handwriting, almost all of which were names. Guo Shao didn't recognize most of the people listed.
Countless lives are now just a bunch of text symbols to him.
Between the rice paper and the black characters, a bleak mood permeated because of people's emotions. No one said a word, only the occasional rustling sound of flipping papers could be heard.
Guo Shao looked at it for a long time. Perhaps Wang Pu and others were so tired that their legs were numb from standing, but he was still not in a hurry. Guo Shao looked at it several times, trying to find something wrong in the files, but he found nothing because he was not familiar with the names. He tried another method and roughly estimated the number of people in the files. The number of people to be executed or exiled was not 10,000, but at least 8,000.
Finally, Guo Shao stroked his bald head, reached out to pick up the brush, dipped it back and forth in cinnabar a few times, and wrote on the file: Approved.
Yang Shiliang immediately put another imperial edict in front of Guo Shao. Guo Shao read it through. It was an imperial edict written by the Hanlin Academy, which was meant to express anger at the three rebel forces for colluding with the enemy country. Guo Shao signed it again.
When Wang Pu and others got their things back, they finally said: "I obey your order."
Guo Shao had a complicated expression and waved his hand, saying: You guys go and do it.
The group bowed and left.
He was still sitting in front of the desk, looking at the cinnabar on it, which was as red as blood. The dense handwriting he had just seen was still in front of his eyes. For a moment, all his hatred for Fan Zhi, the Zhao family, and the greedy and disloyal officials disappeared like the wind.
But there is one most sinister behind the scenes who has not been punished: Xiao Siwen
The Liao man Xiao Siwen was not only Guo Shao's biggest enemy, but also a damn despicable man. Guo Shao is still sick and unwell. He almost lost his life and everything because of this guy's unscrupulous means.
The bloody smell just dispersed Guo Shao's hatred, but it was aroused again by Xiao Siwen.
Guo Shao took a deep breath and looked at the map on the opposite wall. After calming down, he still felt that he could not lose his composure. He pointed his finger at the big map, as if gesturing in the air to get more war horses from the northwest, and then use Liuhua Fort as a stronghold, and the cavalry as the tip of the knife, so that the Liao Kingdom would have a lot of trouble from a grand strategic point of view.
However, what needs to be done now is to first resolve the pressure of the Liao army in western Liaoning and maintain the situation of development in the northeast.
Outside the northern city of Tokyo that day, the Yellow River was faintly visible. A large group of people were tied up in a long line with ropes on the post road, and were driven to walk slowly and miserably. There were cavalry in front and behind, and a team of infantry lined up to accompany them. In addition, officials and generals from various government offices, as well as eunuchs were present.
When they arrived at the bottom of a mound, a large earth pit had been dug, and nearby sat dusty government clerks. Then an official began to read out the names one by one. The prisoners, with dishevelled hair and dishevelled clothes, were driven to stand in three rows, still tied together. They stood there trembling with despair on their faces. Under the watchful eyes of the infantry and cavalry, no one escaped. Their hands were tied to each other, so there was no chance of escape.
After a long boring reading of the names, the civil servant said: The criminals present will be executed for treason, and their families and relatives will be exiled to Pingxia Province.
He did not ask the criminal standing in front of him, but asked the civil and military officials present. Everyone agreed, and no one objected. So the civil official waved to a young general and then turned and left.
There were too many prisoners, so the executioner was not the executioner, but a garrison guarding Tokyo. The general shouted, and the infantry marched in three rows with muskets in hand, standing less than ten steps away from the other side, raising their guns.
Bang Bang Bang
Bang Bang Bang
There were three rounds of gunpowder explosions, the wind was filled with smoke and blood, screams were heard everywhere. The infantry drew their swords and pistols, rushed forward to slaughter the people who were not dead on the ground, and then threw the bodies into the nearby pit.
In the execution ground outside Dongjing City, all the people who died were men. But outside Xuzhou City, it was different. There were men, women, old and young. In addition to old women, there were also children.
An old woman with gray hair and tattered silk clothes had a look of hatred in her eyes. She raised her head and shouted, her voice hoarse and tragic: Guo Shao, you ungrateful thief who plotted to usurp the throne, my whole family will turn into evil spirits after death and come to take my life!
The surrounding civil and military officials all looked at her, their attention drawn to her. But everyone was indifferent. No matter whether what the woman said made sense or not, the victory or defeat was already decided. Justice does not lie in people's hearts, but in strength.
Her voice has become distorted, her features have been twisted, she screams, one day, retribution will come
Suddenly a knight rode up, swung his whip and shouted: "Stop yelling!"
The civil servant behind him said: "Shut up your mouth and take him to the execution ground quickly." After saying this, he looked up at the sky, as if he was estimating the time.
The knight jumped off his horse, took a dirty cloth, and stuffed it into the old woman's mouth without saying a word.
Several officials were still discussing, and one voice said: Her son was originally a general of the imperial army, and was very powerful in his time, but he didn't have the luck to succeed.
The casual words quickly disappeared in the noise. The changing dark clouds in the sky seemed to be mocking the absurdity of fate in the world.
The capital and Xuzhou were both in a bloodbath, and a large number of men, women, old and young were driven on the long journey west to Pingxia, causing chaos and panic. However, Yingzhou was much quieter at this time.
The officials of the Zheng Palace had been replaced, and most of the original officials had died on the bank of the Yellow River. But the palace was still peaceful, and no one dared to go in and harass it.
The newly appointed official of Xuanhui Southern Court was sitting in the duty room of the inverted cover room inside the gate. This job was basically idle and there was no money. If it was normal, he would have nothing to do. But the new official did not dare to slack off at all, because there was no one left under the previous chief official, which was really a bit scary.
At this moment, a clerk hurried in and whispered something in the chief officer's ear. The chief officer's expression changed and he immediately stood up: "Please come in, please come in!"
They have already come in, and I dare not stop them.
As soon as he finished speaking, a man with no hair on his face, a civil servant, walked in. The chief officer of the Zheng Palace knew the civil servant, who was a powerful official in the Xuanhui South Courtyard, and hurried forward to greet him.
The messenger pointed at the eunuch next to him and said: This is Eunuch Yang from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Eunuch Yang looked straight ahead and said calmly: "An eunuch has been here before. You have seen it.
Several people were stunned and looked at each other. The chief official of Prince Zheng's Mansion shook his head and said: No, what eunuch? I didn't see him. Have you seen him
Didn't see
Eunuch Yang then took out the secret decree and asked the chief officer to check it carefully in front of the envoy from Xuanhui Southern Courtyard.
That night, there was a commotion in Prince Zheng's mansion. Someone shouted, "Oh no! Prince Zheng is seriously ill and is dying."
The fast horse rushed to the capital overnight to report that the King of Zheng was imprisoned in Yingzhou. Normally, no one cared about him, but his death was a big deal. After all, he was a man who had sat on the throne.
Not long after, the emperor issued an edict praising King Zheng for his virtue, burying him with great honor in the imperial tomb of the previous dynasty, and making the news of King Zheng's death public to the whole world.
In just a month, many things happened in Daxu. A duke of the highest status, a prime minister, and a king died one after another, and thousands of people were implicated. The storm seemed to sweep across the entire Central Plains.
There are all kinds of strange folk sayings, and everyone has their own opinions. I am afraid that there will be many stories in the unofficial history in the future.
However, there is only one official conclusion: Emperor Daxu fell ill, and three parties colluded with the Liao Kingdom to plot a rebellion, but the rebellion was suppressed before it started; Li Chuyun was poisoned by the remnants of the rebels and the Liao Kingdom's spies; Prince Zheng died suddenly of illness, and the Daxu royal family buried him with great honor.
There is no way to find out who Zhong Li really is. Only speculation and unofficial history remain. The truth will be buried in the dust like countless past events.
As for the death of King Zheng, many people would not believe that he died of illness. The cause of death must be attributed to Guo Shao, but it doesn't matter. The former royal family has lost power and is easy to be used by others. It is not wrong to let him die with dignity. After all, most rulers would do so. Moreover, the Daxu royal family did not slander King Zheng's reputation and let him maintain his status and be buried in the imperial mausoleum. It is not mean.
It was cloudy in Tokyo, and the entire Central Plains seemed to be shrouded in dark clouds. There were so many dead souls and so many right and wrongs, and the world was always unclear.
Guo Shaoyao thought back to those days when he was full of passion and ambition. He wanted the world to be under the sunshine, to establish a reasonable order, to distinguish between good and evil, and to ensure justice and fairness.
Unfortunately, after so many years, and even though he has supreme authority over life and death, he still makes all major events so unclear and confusing.
The sky outside the window grew darker and darker. After being cloudy for many days, it finally began to raindrops as big as beans. Then, heavy rain poured down onto the eaves of countless palaces. The rain flowed along the tiles, and the accumulated water flowed across the brick floor. Guo Shao seemed to see countless bloodstains being washed away.