The Four Great Cases of Wu Zetian

Chapter 30

The punishment of the three criminals who went to the killing field was discussed by the second minister in Shandong
It is said that Yan Liben will present Di Renjie's talent and all the cases.

Empress Wu came to the imperial court one day, and the advising officer presented Yan Li, the governor of Shandong, with the original. After reading it, Empress Wu said: "Di Renjie is a native of Taiyuan, Shanxi. Emperor Gaozong was in power and once cited Mingjing. This person is the former emperor. Juzi should have been used a long time ago. At this time, Yan Liben has already been promoted to join the army in Bianzhou. Shao Lihuai completed the two cases of the Zhou family and beheaded Ling Chi respectively. Once the case is over, he will immediately go to the new post." With this decree, Before January, it was transferred to Changping by the governor of Shandong.When Di Gong received the letter, he immediately set up an incense table in the lobby, and looked at the palace to thank him.

The next day, it was reported that the officials of Qihe County bought a strange object called a wooden donkey. Set up instruments of torture to scare the women among the people.What is the intention of you, Mr. Di, to set up such a tool? It is a very subtle and secret matter that the Bi Zhou family killed Bi Shun, except for the adulterer Xu Detai and the adulterer Bi Zhou family, No one knows, even if the sky net is restored, it is sparse but not leaky, and there is nothing to do, and the truth is judged. It can be seen that men and women in the world must not have evil thoughts.Mr. Di wanted to be vigilant against the secular world, he was afraid that the people in the city would not know the nature of the city, even though he had heard rumors from people, it would not be true if he saw it every day, so he came up with this idea and put out this wooden donkey.Its shape is more than three feet high, as short as a bench, with four feet down, four rolling wheels under the feet, and a crossbar more than four feet long and six inches wide on it.In the middle of the face, there is a donkey saddle of willow wood, on which is tied a wooden pestle with a round head, but it can be moved up and down. As long as the wheel moves, the pestle will agitate.A donkey's head and a donkey's tail were built at the front and rear ends. They were sent to pick up the pattern and built it overnight.On the third day, Mr. Di got up early, changed into Yuanfu, put on a big red shawl, and sent all the guards and executioners to serve in the lobby.Then he issued three bangs and was promoted to the court.After marking the prison card, the bound hands entered the prison, brought out Shao Lihuai, verified his integrity in the hall, and gave him wine and meat.

Then he brought Xu Detai out of the prison, pity that he is a child of a noble family, he was tortured in the hall a few days ago, and it was extremely painful. Sitting in the prison this day, he suddenly saw two servants, one holding the card, and the other coming forward, He patted on the shoulder and said: "Congratulations on your birthday!" He split his hands and tore off the red clothes, then grabbed his braids and dragged him out of the prison.When Xu Detai arrived at this time, he knew that he wanted me to be decapitated. Thinking back to my parents sitting at home with no one to serve them, they only had evil thoughts for me for a while, and sent them to today’s punishment. Day after day.When they got to the hall, Di Gong ordered them to be tied up, marked with the word "hanger", and guarded.Then Fang marked the female prisoner. When he arrived at the women's prison, he raised Bi Zhou's family, tied his hands behind his back, and planted a sign. The two men led the wooden donkey, and carried her to sit on it at the entrance of the hall. Tie it to a stool and put the wooden pestle down.At this time, Zhou's soul was out of his body, frightened like a dead person, his snow-white face turned into a gray-black skeleton, and he was at the mercy of others.

When Di Gong saw her on the wooden donkey, he first ordered the two people to stick to the rope in front, and the two people beside him to take care of each other. Then he ordered the guards of the city camp to line up with the small team of the yamen to open the way in front, and then All the servants continued to break the gongs and drums, beating and moving forward.

After Di Gong waited for these many people to go, Fang ordered people to push Shao Lihuai away first, with Xu Detai in the middle and the wooden donkey at the end. The two led them out of the yamen.Di Gong sat in the sedan chair and escorted the criminals. The executioner held a big knife and lined up in front of the sedan chair, and many military officers behind him rode forward.In and out of the city, women, young and old, crowded the streets and alleys to watch this matter first. They all hated Zhou and said, "you are a vicious woman, and you have today. I expect she will ask for imprisonment for such a shame. At that time, he was already frightened to death; when he was murdered that day, how could he have the heart to do it! At this time, he still failed and suffered the felony of Ling Chi. Look at this pale face, like death, if you are angry, you will be confused by this wooden donkey After a while, the wooden pestle will be thrown in a row, and the urine and excrement will be scattered." A person next to them couldn't help laughing, and said: "You are right, she is really happy today, I don't know Even if she wanted to piss at this time, she couldn't do it anymore. Otherwise, wouldn't the two people next to her be defiled?" They were chatting and laughing, when an old man behind said: "They have already regretted it. It's too late, you still make fun of it. The ancients said it well: "It is still a violation of heaven to do evil; self-inflicted evil is unlawful." She is also a self-inflicted dead door. It can be seen that in life, no matter rich or poor, no one should break the law They kept their own place and worked patiently with Bi Shun. Although they were poor for a while, they were monogamous until they grew old together. How could Ann not turn poverty into wealth? She had this evil thought, which not only harmed Bi Shun, but also You harmed that Xu Detai, not only that Xu Detai, but yourself. This is to say that all evils will be rewarded in the end, and we only compete for the early and the late. You can only use her as a warning, and you can't make fun of her." Everyone. Discussing here, I saw the three prisoners walking over earlier, and there were some enthusiastic people who followed him behind, watching the three prisoners being executed, they crowded all the way to the outside of Ximen City.

When they arrived at the court, all the soldiers were lined up on all sides, and two public cases were set up in the middle, the first one was the magistrate Di Gong, and the lower one was the city guard.Mr. Di got out of the sedan chair and sat down. The executioner first pushed Shao Lihuai to the ground and knelt down to the two mounds. The person in front dragged his hair, and the executioner next to him held a big knife. He only heard that Yin Yangsheng had arrived at the case and announced the noon hour. , the sound of gunfire from all sides, the head has already landed.The executioner then pushed down the corpse with one leg, lifted the head, and asked the county magistrate to examine the head before Di Gong's case.Di Gong tapped it with a vermilion pen, and then threw the human head so far away.Going back in front of Xu Detai, he also knelt down like that, took out a soft hemp rope, made a circle, put it on Xu Detai's head and neck, one person at the front and one at the back, tied two small wooden sticks to the rope, and twisted each other stand up.I have a pity for a son of a family who is also a literati and scholar. He was sent to death because he went astray.I saw three twists and three releases, he was already dead, the tongue was sticking out, it was five or six inches long, dragging outside, as for the protruding eyes, it was really scary.When the executioner saw that he was out of breath, he just stopped and let go.That's why many people pushed the Zhou family to the ground, cut off the head first, and treated him as Ling Chi.At this time, above the execution ground, the sound was like a sea of ​​people, and the sound of guns and guns was endless.It took about half an hour to finish.

Except for Shao Lihuai, everyone came to collect the body. The families of those two families had all prepared coffins and were ready to be buried. Only Detai's parents, together with Mr. Tang Dezhong, wept bitterly.

When Di Gong saw that the punishment was completed, he guarded the camp in the same city and returned to the city. After he went to the county temple to burn incense, he returned to the office.When he was promoted to the hall, the doorman came in and reported: "Now there are officials from the Fuyuan, who are waiting in the lobby, and said: I am ordered by the Fuxiantai, and I am here by imperial decree. Please come to the lobby to receive the decree." Di Gong heard this. , I was very surprised in my heart, I don't know why, so I had to order someone to set up an incense table, changed my court clothes, came to the lobby, and bowed three times and nine times.

The official stood aside and opened a yellow cloth bundle. There was a yellow leather box inside, and he asked for an imperial decree, which was enshrined in front of the case.It was Empress Wu Zetian, who loved talents and envoys. Before Di Gong went to Bingzhou for a new post, she was promoted to governor of Henan Province and transferred to Tongping Zhangshi.After accepting the decree, Duke Di looked at the palace to thank him. He was about to offer the decree in the hall, and then invited the official to sit in the study. After offering tea, he had a rest overnight.

In the morning of the next day, the new appointment had arrived, and Yin Shou was handed over immediately, and a day was chosen for departure.All the gentlemen of the county, as well as men, women and elders, all climbed the road and exchanged tears. Duke Di comforted them before leaving the city.

It took more than one day on the road. On this day, I arrived in Shandong and announced that I would resign.When Governor Yan Liben saw him coming, he immediately ordered someone to open the middle door and greeted him at the bottom of the steps. Duke Di hurried forward to greet him.After that, he said to Yan Liben: "Your Excellency is the Shangxian Yamen, why welcome you! Treating me with such humility makes Di, a humble official, feel very uneasy." Yan Liben said: "Your Excellency is the talent of the prime minister. Qiankun should be above my generation. And in terms of officials, they were divided into bureaucrats a few days ago, and today they are in Futai, Henan.

"Mr. Di was humble for a while, and then sat down to offer tea. After chatting for a while, Mr. Di asked: "After the official introduced the Ming scriptures, he released the Changping county magistrate. Although I have received the great kindness of the country, I am taking on this important task. I don't know how the current government is doing. Who is evil and who is right among the court officials? Seeing that he asked this question, Yan Liben couldn't help sighing, and seeing no one around, he immediately said with tears: "Now Empress Wu is facing the court, and the erotic palace is indescribably filthy.Zhongzong was relegated to Fangzhou far away, and the emperor's honor was reduced to a prince.Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi, both of humble origins, actually obeyed what they said and interfered in the government affairs, and Zhang Changzong and other gangsters, who were sad and unreasonable, went in and out of the palace, and made ugly remarks. It's not that we dare to ban it.At present, such veteran officials as King Luo Bin and Zhang Jianzhi are powerless people who want to be loyal.Seeing that the Tang family and country were sent to this woman's hand, I thought about it a few days ago before I was dismissed. Only adults can establish a court, so I tried my best to recommend it, hoping to work together to make up for the disadvantages and save the side, so as to preserve the unity of the country.At that time, not only the late emperor was grateful, but also the people of heaven were also grateful. "As he spoke, tears could not help but flow from his eyes. After listening to the words, Di Gong said: "Don't worry, my lord. There is an ancient saying: 'The king insults his ministers to death. "At present, Empress Wu is facing the court, Zhongzong has been relegated, and he has been moved to the post of Pingzhang, which is the autumn of my loyalty to the country.If we go here, we will not implement Nawu Sansi, Zhang Changzong and others, and we will not be able to treat the emperor's queen land. "Speaking, it's not the same color as before, and it's boring.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Di had this intention. Before entering Beijing, something happened to Zhang Changzong, so he went as usual and suffered a lot of embarrassment. He didn't know what happened next.

(End of this chapter)