Song Mingyue

Chapter 139
The cold wind is bleak, and the winter solstice is approaching, and the winter in Bianliang is gradually coming.

On the river extending in all directions, a thin layer of ice will form in the morning.Because of the freezing, water transportation will stop soon. Although land roads are equally spacious, the transportation volume is not as good as water transportation.The seasonal utensils from various places in the Song Dynasty, once they reach the frozen river, less will be transported in. There are also many people in Bianliang City relying on this water transportation to eat, and their vitality will be cut off in winter, so at this moment, the boats on the river are transported to and fro. Shuttle, busy non-stop, everyone wants to take advantage of the river to completely freeze, bring in more things... The freezing days come as they say, there is no certain number.

In this most romantic and prosperous city in the world, the winter scene is already hundreds of times more prosperous than any other capital city. The officials in Bianliang City, which is used to the flamboyant and rich, are still ordinary people. The wind, singing and singing every night among the painted boats, offering incense in Buddhist temples and Taoist temples, and holding wine and high gatherings between pavilions and corridors.

On the Bian River, the fleet that came from a long distance crossed the Cao River where the thin ice had just melted, and transported the southern seasonal, overseas rare treasures, and new rice and fresh fruits.There are many idlers by the river, cheering when they see a boat coming. Each boat transports wealth, treasures from the Song Dynasty and even overseas, and colorful decorations to decorate the magnificent scene of Bianliang.Even the most miserable citizens of Bianliang, by telling these merchants to run errands together, can have both wine and meat.

This is exactly what Zhao Hao regrets the most. There are no disaster victims here, no real poor people, except for people who are too lazy to cramp, but even if that kind of people give relief, they may not get merit points...

The warm sunlight shone on the vermilion gate of the Zhao Mansion, and it opened again after a while, and the two people who came out were Zhao Hao, Fang Baihua, Zhao Dian, and a few house slaves, leading the horses slowly out .

There was already a carriage waiting at the door, Zhao Hao got into the carriage, Fang Baihua, Zhao Dian and the others got on the horse, and the group of people walked slowly towards the west of the city.

Today is three days away from the winter solstice, which is an extraordinary day for Zhao Hao and others.

Fang La and other rebel leaders will be executed today!

The group of people hurried on, and soon arrived at the Tai'an Tower in the west of the city, where a pavilion had already been reserved.Zhao Hao shared a room with Fang Baihua, and Zhao Dian shared a room with several servants.

Both of them are the pavilions on the top floor facing the street, leaning on the windows of the pavilions and looking out, you can clearly see the execution ground.

Beheading is one of the means of carrying out the death penalty in ancient times, that is, decapitation.The so-called owl's head or abandoning the market is actually beheading, but the owl's head refers to beheading and hanging the head on a high pole for public display, and abandoning the market refers to the execution of prisoners in the downtown area.Since the Qin Dynasty, beheading has been officially included in the legal code.After the Sui Dynasty until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the execution method of the death penalty was mainly beheading, which was lighter than Ling Chi and heavier than hanging.

In the mid-Western Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu believed that "the sky has four seasons, and the king has four politics, and celebrations, rewards, punishments, and punishments correspond to spring, summer, autumn, and winter."God's will is "to allow virtue and not to punish", and "before virtue and then punishment", so rewards should be carried out in spring and summer, and punishment in autumn and winter, that is, "beheaded after autumn", which is generally carried out after the autumn frost and before the winter solstice.From then on, "Qiudong Execution" was included in the law and institutionalized.

The execution time of the day is generally selected during the day, even at night, it is necessary to wait until dawn before doing it.In the Tang and Song dynasties, executions were often carried out after the sun died down in the afternoon, which is the saying in "Tang and Six Dynasties? The Ministry of Punishment" that "the execution will be carried out after the sun has passed".The time of Riyi is the Wei time in the ancient 12 hours, corresponding to the modern 24 hours system is 13:15 to [-]:[-], "Weihou" in winter, the sun begins to set and it is almost dusk.Choosing this time should be for the sake of the deceased, so as to facilitate the death row inmates to "reincarnate".

On the whole street, there are people watching the excitement on both sides. The people in the capital were born at the feet of the emperor. Although not all of them may be rich, they still don’t have to worry about three meals. The Fangla uprising far away in the south of the Yangtze River, for them It is said that the distance is too far, and it is impossible to tell whether the Di Fangla uprising is in favor or against.

For the first time in many years, I saw dozens of people beheaded at once. As the Han people who like to be melon-eating people the most, they naturally would not let go of this opportunity to watch the excitement.

Those who do small business, of course, will not let go of this opportunity to make a fortune. They squeezed through the crowd with their baskets in their arms, and screamed: "Melons and fruits, snacks, wine, bacon, seafood, mazzarella, sauced duck!" Legs, candied haws, are they sold out..." Many people donated money, not only to satisfy their greed, but also to show off.

The sound of horses' hooves, the sound of footsteps, and the rumbling of wheels, a group of people and horses came slowly, and beside them, Qiu Ba held up knives and guns and kept driving away the people rushing to the road, so as not to block the road.

Zhao Hao and Fang Baihua were leaning side by side on the pavilion window, Fang Baihua's eyes were fixed on the direction of the car and horses, but Zhao Hao had to focus on two things, watching downstairs while keeping a close eye on Fang Baihua I was afraid that this aunt would rob the execution ground by jumping down and shouting "Keep people under the sword".

Although it is two or three feet high, I am afraid that half of my legs will be crippled if I jump down, but who knows if this little girl will have a cramp in her head...

Dozens of prison cars rolled in like trains, and there were at least 4000 or [-] guards on both sides of the guards, each with bright armor, swords and guns held high, and horse soldiers in the team, holding bows and crossbows, condescending and eyeing.

As soon as the prison van arrived, more civilians poured out and surrounded the street with shoulders and backs, making it impenetrable. They had no other idea, but wanted to see what the rebels who were making trouble all over the south of the Yangtze River looked like. A stranger with a blue face and fangs, two or three feet tall.

The speed of the prison car was very slow, and there was an executioner standing on both sides of the prison car. Seeing so many people, the executioners felt a little uneasy, and put ghost-headed knives on the necks of the rebels.Before leaving, the Privy Council issued an order that if someone wanted to hijack the prison car, he could be given a big head in the blink of an eye, and he would be executed on the spot.

The imperial guards on both sides are like facing a big enemy, no one knows if there are remnants of the rebels hidden among the people, and they can't afford to walk around without the rebellious prisoners.

The people on both sides were the happiest, especially the people in the front, who were extremely excited to see the face of the rebel.

Some of the rebels are tall, burly, and extremely burly, and some people think that this man can beat tigers and leopards, and can break a big tree with one punch; Dou Chengbing and the like; especially when they saw Fang La's prison car, because the words "Fang La" were clearly written on it, the crowd made a commotion, and there were many opinions. Some people naggingly concluded that Fang La was the rebirth of Chi You...

Although the escort parading team moved forward at a slow pace, they still escorted the prison car to the Shicao intersection before noon, where the execution ground had been set up.

The Imperial Guards took dozens of prisoners wearing shackles and anklets out of the car, and divided them into two rows, one row facing south and facing north, the other row facing north and facing south, and the two rows stood back to back, waiting for the prison officer to be executed. Come for surgery.

All the common people also followed, and the place was completely surrounded by water.The imperial guards in charge of security were very nervous, their bows and crossbows were all pointing at the people watching the execution, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.

There was commotion at the intersection on the east side, countless pairs of eyes looked over, and the crowd surged.

The battalion commander in charge of security got nervous, and shouted loudly: "The supervisor and execution officer is here! Block them all, and come out in another way!"

The imperial guards drove away the people occupying the road with swords and guns, and shouted: "Back! Back!" But the crowd still did not disperse.

On the other hand, the imperial guards guarding and beheading the officers had experience. Someone lifted the whip and beat them randomly on both sides. Sure enough, except for the miraculous effect, a passage was created.

It was Tong Guan who came to let the officer be executed, and he saw this fellow in a purple robe and a high crown, coming proudly, followed by a group of officials, big and small, and a group of forbidden soldiers like wolves and tigers, rushing to the court in a mighty manner. Come on the court and sit down on the podium in the east.

Fang La and the others, on the other hand, looked calm, standing awe-inspiring, without squinting, as if death was at home.

On the attic, Fang Baihua's eyes were already red, her face was unpredictable, her silver teeth were clenched tightly, tears were only rolling in her eyes.Zhao Hao on the side was extremely nervous, his hands ready to go, ready to pull back the woman who couldn't control the impulse to jump out of the window.

Suddenly, Fang Baihua turned her head and said to Zhao Hao: "Brother got up early, the journey must be full of hunger and thirst, I want to bring food and drinks to him, how about it?"

I'm going... Are you kidding me, you little bitch, are you an idiot? After half an hour, everyone will be gone, so why bother with hunger and thirst...

But Zhao Hao knew that it would be unreasonable to reason with Fang Baihua at this time, and if he accidentally provoked her, he might jump off...

Zhao Hao said indifferently: "If you go in person, Sheng Gong must be worried, and you can't feel at ease for a while... As for the food and drink, I will arrange it myself."

After finishing speaking, he stretched out his hand and pointed, and suddenly there was a woman in armor and a long sword in the pavilion.

"The last general, Hua Mulan, pay homage to the lord!"

The heroine Hua Mulan, with a power of 86, is fairly handsome, but she is not considered a beauty. She exudes a heroic spirit all over her body, but she is somewhat similar to Fang Baihua.

Zhao Hao ignored the stunned Fang Baihua, frowned, and said in a deep voice, "Take off the armor and long sword."

Hua Mulan said yes, and quickly took off her armor, abandoned her long sword, and appeared in front of Zhao Hao in casual clothes.

Zhao Hao asked the store again for a large basket of food and wine, and handed it to Hua Mulan.

After a while, downstairs in Tai'an, there was already a tall woman in red, carrying a large bamboo basket full of wine and vegetables, walking towards the dense crowd outside the execution ground.

Seeing the three layers of the crowd blocking the way, Hua Mulan stretched out her ape arms, and she separated the dense crowd and forced her way in. All the people were tossed around by her along the way, but they didn't drink any wine.

Fang Baihua, who was leaning on the pavilion window, was stunned and speechless.

(End of this chapter)