Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 54

Zhu Chunchen wanted to argue when he heard the sound, but he opened his mouth but didn't know how to defend?

Could it be that I am lying to you because I don’t have any money in Wei Chen’s house? I just don’t want to buy that treasure!

Can the emperor be deceived by just one of your ministers?This crime of deceiving the emperor is still very serious. Whether the family is confiscated and the clan is exterminated depends on the emperor's mood!
However, if he did not tell the truth, he would not be able to bear the charges mentioned by the emperor, such as recruiting troops and planning a rebellion!
After weighing it in his mind, Zhu Chunchen decided to tell the truth, which might reduce his guilt. Even if he was killed, his family might not be implicated.

However, before he had time to speak, he heard Wang Chengen shouting from the top of the city: "Twelve pairs of armor have been copied from Zhu Chunchen's secret room!"

After he finished speaking, twelve royal guards in brocade uniforms carried twelve sets of armor to the foot of the Meridian Gate and displayed them in front of everyone.

Private ownership of crossbows and armor is strictly prohibited, otherwise it is considered treason.

The Boar Skins of Liaodong, known as the Thirteen Armors, began to rebel and have occupied all of Liaodong, becoming a serious problem for the Ming Dynasty.The current critical situation of the Ming Empire can even be said to have been caused by the Boar Skin Rebellion.

Therefore, when these armors were displayed, everyone was shocked.

There were people who actually knew that Duke Cheng Guo was just stingy and refused to give him money, but now they didn't dare to think so.

In fact, these twelve sets of armor are very sophisticated at first glance, and they are only the private collection of Chengguo Gong of the past dynasties.After all, he was a knighted military commander who fought on the battlefield, so he naturally had a fondness for armor.

However, if you expose your secret possession of armor, then the problem becomes serious.

Not to mention, there was a mutiny in the Duke Cheng's mansion, and he faced off against the imperial soldiers who ransacked the house.

Once these few things are connected and charged with rebellion, it is impossible for anyone to complain for them.

No, Emperor Chongzhen was furious on the Meridian Gate Tower, and immediately shouted: "When the Ming Dynasty was in crisis, the three princes were deeply favored by the emperor but did not want to serve the country. Instead, they used their power for personal gain, accumulated money, hid their armor, and raised their children in secret. Private soldiers, intent on treason, are outrageous to both humans and gods!"

Having said this, he shouted loudly: "Where are Tang Tong and He Zhen?"

Tang Tong and He Zhen were just downstairs at the Meridian Gate. When they heard the emperor's roll call, they immediately clasped their fists and responded loudly: "The general is here!"

Emperor Chongzhen looked down and shouted murderously: "Anyone involved in the rebellion will be executed at the Meridian Gate!"

Tang Tong was stunned for a moment after hearing this, but He Zhen immediately clasped his fists and accepted the order without hesitation: "The last general will receive the order!"

When Tang Tong heard He Zhen's voice, he didn't dare to be negligent and quickly followed suit.

Then, they immediately ordered their men to take action.

When Zhu Chunchen, Xu Yunzhen and others heard this, they were frightened out of their wits and cried loudly: "Your Majesty, please spare your life, Your Majesty, please spare your life..."

Fan Jingwen, the newly appointed chief minister of the cabinet, also hurriedly came out and reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the Meridian Gate should not be stained with blood!"

Generally speaking, executions are carried out through the Meridian Gate and then to the vegetable market.

If all the soldiers who rebelled this time were executed, there would be a river of blood in front of the Meridian Gate!

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen ignored him at all. He just glanced at the civil and military officials and shouted coldly: "Anyone who dares to commit the same crime as them will suffer the same fate! From now on, I will think about it every time I pass the Meridian Gate!" Why go to the vegetable market to behead someone? ?Just because there are the most people there!The purpose of choosing a wet market for execution is to let more people know about it and serve as a warning.

Based on the same reason, this time to establish prestige is to establish the prestige of hundreds of officials. Emperor Chongzhen wanted to kill chickens and scare monkeys here at the Meridian Gate, so that every time these civil and military officials in the late Ming Dynasty passed by here, they would think of these beheaded people. .

Just the heads of the three princes were enough to shock them for a while!

If you want to say whether the three princes are really treasonous, few people will believe it.They can actually understand every crime.

For example, if you use power for personal gain, no one does this, so don’t criticize anyone!

Not to mention saving money. Which official doesn't want to save money, and how many officials will donate it?
As for hiding armor, this kind of illegal thing, in this era of broken laws and regulations, it is not impossible that other officials are doing similar things.

There is also a private soldier who is secretly raised, and they are all disciples of the Duke's Palace. There are three Duke's Palaces, hereditary for hundreds of years, and a thousand people are not too many.In this day and age, as long as you have money, who doesn’t have a horde of servants?
It is precisely because of this that most civil and military officials looked at the execution scene with fear.If he was afraid that what he had done would be brought to light by the emperor, he would definitely end up like this!
In fact, if the laws of the Ming Dynasty were strictly followed, if nothing else was said, those who corrupted 60 taels would be skinned and stuffed as straw. In front of the Meridian Gate Tower, few officials would still be alive.

"Your Majesty is wronged. Your Majesty, spare your life. Your Majesty..."

Duke Cheng, Duke Ding, and Duke Ying cried and begged for mercy, but it was of no use. Each of them was served by two strong soldiers. The third soldier raised his sword and died on the Meridian Gate Square.

Then the soldiers who participated in the rebellion were all executed.

Suddenly, in the Meridian Gate officialdom, the head rolled on the ground, and it was really like a river of blood!

Emperor Chongzhen on the Meridian Gate Tower looked at this scene. To be honest, it was his first time to see such beheading, and he felt a little queasy.

However, he knew that if he wanted to survive, he had to accept it all and get used to it.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen opened his eyes wide, encouraged himself in his heart, and continued to watch this scene.

Immediately, he found that many officials had their heads lowered and did not dare to watch the execution.

So Emperor Chongzhen shouted loudly: "Are you too guilty to look at it? If you have a clear conscience, let me look at you. This is the consequence of treason!"

Upon hearing this, the princes, nobles, civil and military officials immediately raised their heads and did not dare not look away. However, it was easy to see under the noon sun that many people's faces were pale.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw this, he snorted coldly in his heart with contempt for these officials.I don't know why, but his physical discomfort has eased a lot.

Although nearly [-] prisoners were executed, there were more soldiers executing them. Two people served one, and one more person was executed, and all the prisoners in front of the Meridian Gate were quickly executed.

After Tang Tong and He Zhen handed over their orders, Emperor Chongzhen glanced at the ministers below and said loudly: "I was able to detect their rebellion in time because Taizu gave me the advice in his dream and made arrangements early, otherwise the bandits were about to approach the capital. When this happens, there will definitely be a catastrophe.”

The princes, nobles, civil and military officials below were all stunned when they heard this.They didn't expect that the emperor would speak like this again.

Before they could recover, they heard Emperor Chongzhen calling the names loudly on the Meridian Gate Tower: "Li Banghua, the censor of the left capital, Wang Jiayan, the assistant minister of the Rongzheng and War Department, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment, Meng Zhaoxiang, Shi Bangyao, the right deputy censor of the capital, Dali Temple Minister Ling Yiqu..."

　Thanks to Snow Leopard Missile for the 1500 starting coin reward, and thanks to Mr. Unreliable for the 500 starting coin reward!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)