Chapter 158 The Significance of the Death Penalty

If the new issue of the official gazette brought a great uproar to the officialdom, then the common people had a different picture.

The people seldom cared about officialdom, they only cared about things that were closely related to their lives.

The latest issue of the newspaper came out at the same time as the official gazette.

The headline on the front page of this newspaper was that Zhao Jun, as a representative of the Political System Institute, wrote an article about "The court severely cracked down on crime and eliminated evil."

In addition, there were contributions from Lü Yijian, Wang Zeng, Fan Zhongyan and others, all condemning the poor security environment in Bianliang.

On the West Street of the Outer City, a limping middle-aged Confucian scholar walked into a wine shop. His name was Hong Wen. He was a poor scholar who made a living by writing for people on the street and occasionally worked as a teacher.

He entered the wine shop, put out a few copper coins, and said, "Shopkeeper, give me a pot of wine and a plate of broad beans."

"Mr. Hong."

The shopkeeper sympathized with his experience and gave him a little more wine and a little more broad beans every time. He put the things on the counter, then smiled and said, "Sir, are you doing well recently?"

Hong Wen smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "After my leg became lame, no one wanted me to be a teacher anymore, so I could only make a living by writing on the street. Fortunately, no one in Bianliang is collecting fees now, otherwise I would not be able to survive."

"Sir, don't worry, you have to be open-minded about everything, as the saying goes, there is always a way out."

The shopkeeper thought for a while, took out another newspaper from under the counter and said, "This is the newspaper delivered this morning. It says that the Imperial City Department is now recruiting clerks with generous treatment. , sir, you can go and have a try. "

"Oh?"

Hong Wen was writing on the street, with no stable income and one meal a day. When he heard about this, he took the newspaper and said, "Will the Imperial City Department want a lame person like me?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Our director has always been kind-hearted. The Imperial City Department has recruited a lot of new people, basically all victims of Wuyou Cave Gui Fanlou and many black societies. If you tell them about your story, they will definitely want you."

"Hmm."

Hong Wen nodded without comment, and stood by the counter, drinking, eating broad beans, and reading the newspaper.

Nowadays, except for restaurants and teahouses that subscribe to a few copies of newspapers and put them inside to attract business, most people can buy them directly on the street, but he can't afford it.

He was from a poor family. Last year, when he was setting up a stall, he couldn't pay the fees, so he was beaten and his leg was lame by the people of the black society branch of Gui Fanlou on West Street. He didn't even have the money to treat his leg, let alone go to the street to buy newspapers, so the news was very delayed.

At this moment, the news in the newspaper is still the recent crackdown on gangsters and evil forces, and the court has ordered that these gangsters and evil forces should be severely punished, and most of them will be beheaded to serve as a warning to others.

Then there is a long list below, which is the first batch to be sent to the execution ground.

One of the names caught Hong Wen's eyes.

Liu Kuixi!

Hong Wen took a deep breath, put the newspaper back on the counter, drank the wine in one breath, and walked a little bit. When the shopkeeper turned around, he had already seen him leaving the wine shop.

"Sell newspapers, sell newspapers! New morning newspapers, big news, another batch of prisoners are going to be executed."

The newspaper boy walked through the streets and alleys, shouting hard.

If it were in the past, children like them running on the street would be the most unsafe. If they were not careful, they might be kidnapped and disappear in the sea of ​​people in Bianliang.

But in Bianliang today, even if there is a fight on the street, there may be a group of Kaifeng government officials coming up to arrest people at any time.

Therefore, at this time, Dongjing City has become the best time for public security since the founding of the Song Dynasty.

There are more people coming and going on the street, including the elderly, children, and women, especially children, who dare to play near their doorsteps even without adults.

The morning market is lively, and the arrival of newsboys has injected fresh vitality into the market.

"Oh, our governor is really bold. He wants to kill so many people. He is really eliminating harm for the people."

"The last time Liu the scoundrel who bullied me was beheaded by the governor. Now that Dongjing City has Zhao the governor, let's see which scoundrel dares to make trouble again."

"Look at the name on it, Liu Kuixi, isn't this the leader of the West Street Yijie Society? I heard that they are actually behind Guifanlou, and he is also the leader of the Guifanlou branch."

"And this one, Wang Long, is the president of a branch of Wuyou Cave. Look at this one, Li Sancai, also known as Li Sanlang, is the leader of the Axe Society . "

"Great, these people should be killed. The higher-ups said that including the last batch, this is only the second batch. There will be a third and fourth batch in the future. This time, more than 200 people were killed. It was really exciting. We must go and see it."

"When will the knife be used? Did the higher-ups say so?"

"They said that the execution will be carried out in three days, and it will be the execution ground outside the east city last time. I'm afraid they will kill thousands more people there in the future."

"Okay, I must go and see it then."

In the tea stalls and wine shops, many people in Bianliang who were having breakfast picked up the newspapers in their hands, and they were all very happy.

The people of Bianliang have suffered from these evil forces for a long time.

Because these evil forces will not provoke the dignitaries, but for ordinary people, it is a disaster.

Even if there are no children in the family and women are abducted, those people will collect protection fees.

Whenever you set up a stall, open a shop, or do business on the street, these evil forces and government officials will come to collect a fee, making the people miserable.

Those with good business can still make a living, but those with bad business like Hong Wen can't make much money. The other party also charges him fees. If he can't pay, he will be beaten. For poor people, it almost costs their lives.

So in the past, whether it was ordinary people in Bianliang or small vendors, they had to suffer the oppression of these people.

Now Zhao Jun not only cleared out the corrupt officials in Kaifeng Prefecture, cut off the hands of Kaifeng Prefecture yamen runners who stretched out their hands to ask for money, but also cleared out the evil forces in Bianliang, so that they would not have to pay money and be beaten.

Under such circumstances, the security environment of the entire Bianliang is almost brand new. The business atmosphere is good, and more people are willing to go out shopping on the street, which will naturally promote economic development.

Especially the night market. Although the night market was prosperous in the past, it was often accompanied by more darkness and evil. Now it is much safer for people to go to the streets, and there are naturally countless vendors doing small businesses, which is becoming more and more lively.

It is estimated that GDP has increased a lot.

Three days passed in a flash.

In these few days, the officialdom and the people in Bianliang have presented two situations.

The officialdom was talking about the reform, while the people were more concerned about the fact that the evil forces had been wiped out.

Officials and officials, people and people, they told each other, and the two pieces of news quickly spread throughout Tokyo.

Now the Ministry of Justice has completed the reform, and its nature has changed from the original idle department to an institution responsible for formulating laws and formulating rules and regulations for various departments, and more than 100 officials have been transferred in.

The employment problem of more than 100 idle officials was solved at once, which immediately excited the redundant officials in Bianliang, and they began to make connections again, hoping to make good connections in advance.

However, since it is still in the early stage of the reform, only the Ministry of Justice has completed the reform and is formulating regulations for the new department, so there are not so many departments.

But it is obvious that at least the vast majority of officials support the reform.

There are more than 10,000 redundant officials in the Song Dynasty, most of whom are scattered in local areas. For example, the deputy envoy of Huangzhou Tuanlian, to whom Su Shi was demoted, is one of the idle officials, and there are also one or two thousand in Bianliang.

It is estimated that after this reform, not only will the one or two thousand people be resettled, but even idle officials may have to be transferred back from the local areas to fill the vacancies.

On November 10, in the early morning, the two sides of East Street were already crowded.

Kaifeng Prefecture is not only the government office of Bianliang, but also an administrative agency, equivalent to the capital city government in later generations. It is not only responsible for arresting thieves and criminals, but also urban planning.

But unfortunately, the successive powerful governors of Kaifeng Prefecture obviously have no awareness of this aspect, or it is difficult to plan a better city. Illegal buildings in Kaifeng Prefecture have always been a big problem, since the time of Zhao Guangyi.

At this moment, there are already many illegal buildings on the street. Various sheds, shops, and rain shields extending from the houses on both sides make the streets narrower and narrower. In addition, there are so many people that there is only a gap in the middle.

The beheading team of Kaifeng Prefecture and the Imperial City Department was still good when they came out of the cross street outside Xuande Gate. When they arrived at East Street, they were blocked by water and the team of carriages could not move forward at all.

"Make way, make way!"

"Don't push, stand at the back!"

"If you block the prisoner car team, it will be considered as a robbery and you will be arrested on the spot!"

At the front of the motorcade was a middle-aged official in a red robe, looking majestically ahead.

Both the Political System Council and Kaifeng Prefecture attached great importance to this beheading, so both sides sent people, one to supervise the beheading and the other to lead the beheading.

The Political System Council sent Gao Jimin, the deputy envoy of the Imperial City Department, and Kaifeng Prefecture sent Zhang Tan, the co-governor of Kaifeng Prefecture. Zhang Tan was the co-governor of Kaifeng Prefecture as well as the fifth-rank official of the Ministry of Personnel. He was the second most important person in Kaifeng Prefecture after Fan Zhongyan.

Under his majestic glance, the people on both sides of the street were separated by the left and right guards, and finally a road was made.

But when the motorcade passed by, there was chaos again.

Someone shouted, "Look, the person in the prison car is Liu Kuixi."

"And Wang Long."

"That's Li Sancai."

"They are all big shots."

"Big shots, they are also big shots?"

"Aren't they?"

"You common people only know a few hooligans who are making trouble on the streets, and you don't know any real big shots."

"Then tell me who the big shots are?"

The people who were watching the excitement on the street were talking about it.

One of the men pointed at the prison car proudly and said, "Look, that man is Han Yuan. He used to be the prosecutor of Kaifeng Prefecture. Later, he went out to be the governor and was captured by the governor's office. His uncle is the former deputy prime minister Han Yi."

"It's him?"

The people around looked over and saw a middle-aged man wearing death row clothes sitting in the prison car. Although his face was haggard and his hair was white, he could still vaguely see the appearance of a high position and a life of luxury.

The skin alone was completely different from the rough and dark appearance of ordinary people, and was much better than the other gangsters who had to fight with others for territory all year round.

"Smash them!"

With a loud shout, the scene was instantly in chaos.

All kinds of vegetable leaves, rotten eggs, and small stones were thrown at the prisoner carts, forcing the Kaifeng government officials and the Imperial City Guards to quickly push the crowd back to maintain order.

In the chaotic downtown, the prisoner cart team was struggling to move forward like a rat crossing the street. If it weren't for Zhang Tan and Gao Jimin's loud scolding, I'm afraid these prisoners would have been smashed to death by the angry Bianliang citizens before they were sent to the execution ground.

This situation continued until we left the city. The area outside the city was much wider. After finally passing the Xinsong Gate, thousands of people followed us through the back gate. The execution ground outside the city was also crowded.

Many people started to grab viewing positions early. This grand scene was more lively than the Cuju competitions held by the various Cuju clubs in the city or the government.

"Here they come."

"Today, the people who were beheaded are from the Axe Club. These beasts should have died long ago."

"I was bullied by the people of the Yijie Society. It's a pity that the person who beat me will not be killed today, but it's good to kill their heads."

Outside the city of Bianliang, on the willow bank, this time it was not the morning breeze and the waning moon, but a dense sea of ​​people.

The eastern suburbs is a slope located at the foot of the mountain. At this moment, the execution platform has been built. The outer perimeter is still surrounded by chevaux de frise, caltrops and the like to prevent the people from rushing to the execution ground and disrupting order.

Five hundred soldiers led the way, and with the addition of a thousand Kaifeng government servants, the execution ground was guarded tightly, while the periphery was three layers inside and three layers outside, and some people even climbed up the trees to watch.

This time Gao Jimin was the supervising officer, and Zhang Tan was the chief officer. As they sat on the high platform built not far away, batches of prisoners were also escorted up.

In theory, beheading in ancient times would be done at 3:30 noon.

However, there were too many people to be beheaded this time. This batch was to kill more than 300 people. If more than 300 people were killed every day, it would take nearly a month.

So they didn't waste any time, and finished the beheading early and stopped early, and they had to continue beheading tomorrow.

Gao Jimin and Zhang Tan discussed it and executed it immediately.

So batches of prisoners were escorted to the platform, many of them were almost paralyzed and unable to move, some were scared to wet their pants, some cried loudly, some had numb faces, and some cursed non-stop.

The yamen runners didn't care about them. Two or three people grabbed one of them, dragged them to the execution platform, and then pressed them to the platform to prevent them from moving.

"Behead!"

When the group of twenty people were in place, Zhang Tan threw down the sentence in his hand without hesitation.

"Kill!"

The executioners shouted angrily, chopped down fiercely with the big knife in their hands, and the heads flew off in an instant.

The blood dyed Xingtai red, and then the bodies were dragged away and replaced by the next batch.

In the crowd, a man was staring at the stage. His surname was Wang. He was a small boss selling cloth. His leg was broken by the big boss of the Axe Society.

Last time, the boss of the Axe Society, Li Sanlang, came to the execution ground to see the brothers who were beheaded, but he didn't expect that this time he would be replaced.

Boss Wang stared intently, and when the second group of people came up, he finally saw the figure he wanted to see.

He shouted excitedly: "Li Sancai, you have come to this day. I have said long ago that you will get retribution."

As excited as he was, there were many people who had been oppressed by these evil elements.

Someone in the crowd cried with joy: "A Ping, the Zhao Popi who bullied you has finally been beheaded, and you can rest in peace."

Someone said with tears streaming down his face: "Father, did you see it? You were seriously injured by that beast and died soon after. Do you see it now? He will be beheaded too."

"Liu Kuixi, you deserve to die, you should be cut into pieces."

Someone was even more excited and shouted fanatically: "This knife is a bargain for you!"

Li Sancai, Liu Kuixi and other people whose names were called raised their heads blankly.

They vaguely saw familiar faces in the crowd.

They were the people who had been oppressed by them, the inferior people who had been regarded as lambs by them.

Now they are happily watching them outside and watching them die.

"Puff!"

As the executioner's knife fell, these villains would never see this world again.

The whole world became even more enthusiastic and excited.

All kinds of happy cries, the long-suppressed rage in the heart, the frustration, at this moment, were released completely!

This is the meaning of the death penalty!