Chapter 198: Tragic

Zhuang Chao was beheaded by Xia Ping'an all the time, his eyes were still wide-eyed, as if he couldn't believe that the newly arrived Daozhou governor actually dared to kill him.

The blood on the neck of the headless body spurted out about a foot high. After shaking twice, it fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The villagers in Changyun Villa who were armed with swords and clubs completely pissed themselves when they saw this scene.

The officials in the governor's office were also frightened. They had thought that Xia Pingan was demoted to Daozhou as an admonishing official and was just a civil servant. How could they have imagined that Xia Pingan was decisive in killing and not inferior to the generals.

Before the governor's office returned, Xia Ping'an had already killed two people on the way.

This new governor dared to fight to the death with the prime minister in the court. It is said that the prince and the students of the Imperial Academy interceded with his majesty and finally saved him from death. But when he got there, he was even more difficult to offend. With this method and courage, It is definitely not something that ordinary people can fool.

A villager's hand shook, and the stick he was holding fell to the ground. His face turned pale, and he knelt on the ground, "Don't, don't, don't kill me..."

Seeing that some villagers dropped the guy on their hands, the other villagers followed suit and quickly threw the guys on their hands on the ground and knelt down to beg for mercy.

This governor even beheaded the owner of Changyun Villa. To kill little shrimps like them, just one sentence is enough.

"The chief culprit has been killed, and the threats will never be pursued. It is none of your business..." Xia Pingan threw the bloody Tang Dao to Xue Yue, who was also stunned, and then said loudly to the people around him, "Lead the way for me." , go to Zhuangzi to see where the robbed children are. All the officials from the governor's office will go in with me to rescue the robbed children. All the government officials will guard the entrances and exits of Changyun Villa. No one can be released without my order. In and out..."

Hearing Xia Ping'an's words, the worried veterans in the governor's office suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. The governor said that the culprit has been killed and the threats will never be pursued, which means that he is not prepared to continue this matter in Daozhou. The investigation was expanded to include them. If we really wanted to investigate, this matter involved too many things. The governor even took them in to "rescue the robbed children". That was treating them as one of his own and giving them the opportunity to make meritorious deeds.

Of course, if you follow the governor in to "rescue the robbed children", then the basis for assassinating the adults today is enough to kill one person with a stick and one person with a sword. It means that everyone agrees that those children were "privately plundered". In the future, we will discuss this issue Above all, all officials in the governor's office must speak the same language, advance and retreat together, make meritorious deeds and bear responsibilities together.

Anyone who dares not to go in with him may become the second Wang Qi. In this situation, the governor also considered asking all the government officials to guard the gate of Changyun Villa to prevent those common people from entering. After arriving at the villa, he was incited to steal property, smash, smash, loot and burn, which got out of hand.

This kind of governor made all the officials in the governor's mansion respectful and fearful, and they no longer dared to think about it.

Seeing Xia Ping'an walking towards the gate of Changyun Villa with the villagers, the officials of the Governor's Mansion also rushed in, for fear of being left behind, the government officials of the Governor's Mansion also stood guard at the door of Changyun Villa to maintain order. , not letting those restless people enter together.

"Where are those kidnapped children? Take me there!" Xia Pingan said directly as soon as he entered Zhuangzi.

The servants in Zhuangzi saw a group of officials and servants from the governor's mansion rushing in with murderous intent. The "armed" villagers in the village were so frightened that their faces were as pale as quails, and no one dared to stop them. They all stood aside with their heads lowered. .

Zhuangzi was very big and had a certain aura of wealth. After being led around by a group of villagers, Xia Pingan finally came to the backyard of Zhuangzi and saw the children who had been kidnapped.

Even a hard-hearted person can't help but tremble when he sees the scene in the backyard of the village.

It is recorded in the history books that the training of dwarfs in Daozhou is to put snatched children in jars to restrict the growth and development of the children, so that the children grow into dwarfs and become artificially disabled. Xia Ping'an was a little skeptical when he read it in the history books before, but now he sees it , couldn't help but almost shed tears.

This method of training dwarfs is simply cruel...

Xia Pingan saw fifty or sixty children, each of whom was packed in large and small tin cans. The tallest tin can was less than three feet high, and the smallest tin can was only over a foot high. Only the children The children's heads could be exposed from the tin cans, and all the children's hands and feet were curled up in the tin cans, like pickles being pickled, unable to move at all.

There are people watching here, and those children who are put in iron cans and who dare to cry will have their mouths slapped with a board.

In addition to the children in tin cans, there are also twenty or thirty dwarfs less than one meter tall, who are being trained like circus clowns to learn various fancy juggling skills and sword-playing. , pill jumping, handstand, rope walking, giant beast dance, big bird trick, upper pole on the car, top pole, human-animal fight, five cases, seven plates, fish and dragon spread, lion play, swallowing knives, spitting fire, etc. skill.

The person in charge of training here was an old man. When the old man heard that Zhuang Ding said that Zhuang Chao had been beheaded by the new governor, he was so frightened that he knelt down. Those who were training the dwarfs also knelt down one by one. He kowtowed in front of Xia Ping An, his face turned pale with fear.

The dwarfs who were being trained were all at a loss and just stood aside hesitantly.

"My lord Mingjian, it's really not just our business. I am here to listen to the owner's instructions and help the owner train the dwarf puppets to be presented to the court. We really don't know the rest..."

Xia Pingan took a deep breath, "Get up first and release the children trapped in the tin cans..."

"Yes Yes Yes……"

Those people quickly released the children trapped in the tin cans one by one.

The children were trapped in small tin cans, and they pooped and peed in the cans. Many of the children's bodies had ulcers, and most of them had various skin diseases.

In an iron can, snakes and insects were found along with the child. The child who was put in the iron can already had wounds from snake bites on his body.

"Why are there snakes and insects in the tin can..." Xia Pingan asked the old man.

"Sir...this...this is our ancestral method of training people. If you don't obey, throw snakes and insects into the iron jar. The snakes and insects will bite but will not kill you..." The old man's body trembled and he told Xia Ping An explained, "Other children will be obedient when they see things being thrown into the tin cans of disobedient children, and they will not feel uncomfortable being locked in the tin can..."

Throwing snakes and insects into tin cans is psychological training. It would be unacceptable for children to be locked in tin cans. But if those children find that there are no snakes and insects in their tin cans, they will feel very lucky and feel very good. Luck, little by little, develops the habit of obedience in people, and develops them into dwarfs both physically and psychologically.

"How long are these kids going to stay in the tin?"

"When they are sixteen years old and their bodies no longer grow, they no longer need to be kept in tin cans. Then they can be released to train in various acrobatic skills..."

"Where do they usually sleep?"

"Just sleep standing up in the tin can..."

It took more than ten or twenty years for living and healthy children to be tortured into dwarfs and turned into "tributes" and "specialties" and sent to Chang'an City for the entertainment of the emperor and the wealthy families. This tragic thing happened in the "Datang Dynasty" The ugliest scene in "The Golden Age", and it has lasted for hundreds of years.

It was a dispensable pleasure for the emperors in Chang'an City after dinner. When it arrived in Daozhou City, it became a big mountain weighing on the heads of the countless people in Daozhou City. Anyone who dared to oppose it was an enemy of the Tang Dynasty and the imperial court. To be an enemy of the emperor is to be an enemy to the officials and local tyrants and evil gentry in Daozhou City.

In order to gain promotion and make money to please their superiors, local officials in Daozhou City launched this "project" regardless of the lives of local people, turning Daozhou, which originally did not "produce" dwarfs, into the "hometown of dwarfs" in the Tang Dynasty. .

Xia Pingan wanted to kill someone, but he no longer knew who to kill...

After calming down, Xia Pingan directly ordered the officials around him, "Go to the city to find a doctor to treat the children here. At the same time, seize and inventory the properties of Changyun Villa, and then find the families and parents of these children and let them come." Lead people..."

After hearing this, an official next to him couldn't help but stepped forward and reminded in a worried low voice, "Sir, it's the day of tribute soon. Daozhou used to pay tribute to dwarfs to the court every year. If you let all these people go, Now, the observers and the imperial court are asking why there are no tributes from Daozhou. I wonder how you are going to deal with it? This is no small matter..."

In this era, if a local official dared to withhold tribute from the court and the emperor, it would be more than just a remonstrance. It would challenge the order of the entire court and officialdom. It will definitely create huge waves and at the same time bear huge pressure.

The official who reminded Xia Pingan wanted Xia Pingan to notice that this matter was not that easy to handle.

It’s easy to release these people now, but what about Daozhou’s tribute? For officials, paying tribute is a big deal.

"Daozhou will not turn the children of the people of Daozhou City into dwarfs to pay tribute to the court this year, and will not do so again in the future. This tribute matter will be stopped by myself. The higher-ups will investigate. I will bear all the problems and will not affect you. , even if the court takes my head away, my decision will not change..." Xia Ping'an said loudly to all the officials in the governor's office, "When you serve as an official, you must benefit one party. This statement is my creed. , I encourage you all!"

When the officials in the governor's office heard Xia Pingan's words, they were shocked. The governor actually dared to withhold tribute.

The strike of tribute in Daozhou City will surely shake the entire officialdom of the Tang Dynasty and Chang'an.

After being shocked, the officials of the governor's office looked at Xia Ping'an and had a different feeling. For the sake of the people of Daozhou City, the new governor had put his life and death aside.

An official was silent for a moment, with complicated eyes, and suddenly bowed to Xia Ping'an and said, "As long as your Excellency remains in office as governor, I will let you control me at your command..."

"I will let you be driven by your Majesty..." Other officials from the governor's office also bowed to Xia Ping'an one by one and said in unison.