The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

Faced with the old woman's sudden attempt to please him, Pan Feng was quite helpless. After all, she was his wife's mother, and the woman had used their family's household registration to join the army in Beijing.

"Auntie, if only you would marry Cuihua to me!"

"You can do whatever you want!"

The old woman didn't say much upon hearing this. She picked up the rolling pin beside her, smiled, and continued rolling the dough.

Pan Feng watched this scene thoughtfully.

……

The next morning, new notices were posted on the signs in the streets and alleys that had been used to request instructions from the government, and the names and portraits of the old master and others were on them.

An elderly man who could read and write was holding a sesame seed cake in his hand, which he kept warm in his sleeve. As he passed by, he habitually tried to explain it to the people around him, following the customs of the Ming Dynasty.

After watching it, I started cursing myself!

"Oh dear, those twenty-three beasts! Especially these teachers, daring to be role models! Bah!"

As the old man ranted on, the locals' thirst for knowledge surged. One elderly woman buying vegetables threw a rotten vegetable leaf at him.

"Old Wang, tell me what's going on? Have those Manchu barbarians come back again?"

Hearing the old woman's words, everyone fell silent; this was almost a nightmare that they could never shake off for the rest of their lives.

Old Wang rubbed his eye that had been hit, and seeing that some people were pale with fear, he hurriedly stretched out his hand to wave them away.

"Oh dear, it's not those Manchu barbarians who've returned!"

"Instead, the people on these posts are all bondservant slaves of the Eight Banners, who want to continue being slaves. So they use their literacy to stir up trouble among us ordinary people, trying to make us rebel against the current emperor!"

"The Han Dynasty is so good to us now, not only giving us landless people land, but also renting out the best fields to us at low prices. Yesterday, on New Year's Day, they even issued such a thick new imperial calendar, yet they want to bring back those Manchu barbarians. They're simply beasts, worse than beasts!"

Upon hearing this, the people around who had received favors from the imperial court were filled with righteous indignation and began to curse, spewing out all sorts of vulgarities and incomprehensible profanities.

If Liu Mu were here, he would definitely find that this is much dirtier than the curses of middle-aged women in later generations!

Pan Feng's brother-in-law, the chubby boy, who was passing by, couldn't recognize all the characters on the sign and quickly went up to ask him.

"Anything else? Anything else?"

Old Wang coughed twice upon hearing this.

"Our Emperor has specially prepared the finest tonics. At noon today, these scoundrels will be subjected to a slow, agonizing death by a thousand cuts at the Meridian Gate!"

The original residents of Beijing are no strangers to the practice of slow slicing. Over the years, it has been performed publicly several times, and each time the public was allowed to watch. One blind old woman even jabbed her cane twice.

"It would be best to execute all these Manchu barbarians by a thousand cuts. This old woman can't see them, but I want to hear them!"

Amidst the shouting and cursing in the alleyways, the sun quickly rose to its highest point, and a two-meter-high platform had been erected at the Meridian Gate.

Even the people behind can see it perfectly from this height!

Pan Feng had already changed into a blue round-necked tiger-themed robe, with a white jade belt around his waist, and sat imposingly at the front of the high platform.

As the time drew closer, the wealthy families in the inner city had already set out benches and were sitting down.

Meanwhile, a large number of people from the outer city entered the city, and the middle section of the city wall had been gradually opened up since three months after the people entered the capital last year.

Of course, people from the outer city can only enter the areas of Bordered Blue Banner and Plain Blue Banner. Other areas are not yet open to prevent people with ulterior motives from doing bad things.

For example, hiding soldiers in empty houses!

People these days have really good legs. They can walk from the outer city to the Meridian Gate without even breaking a sweat, and they're all in high spirits. Watching an execution is better than watching a storyteller.

Pan Feng glanced at the sky and realized it was almost time, so he stood up, took a command arrow from the table, and threw it in front of the bondservants.

"Execute!"

As Pan Feng gave the order to execute, three old men, almost toothless, sat on a wooden board and began sharpening a short knife, which resembled a scalpel.

At the same time, twenty strong young executioners, carrying a stove and three ginseng roots that were fifty or sixty years old, came up on the platform and then approached the prisoner with a knife and a fishing net in hand.

The old scholar had already wet himself. This kind of torture was used on the Han people by his master, and he cheered along. He never expected it to be his turn today.

Seeing Pan Feng's familiar face, the old master frantically shook his body, trying to beg for mercy, but his mouth was covered by a rope, and he couldn't utter a sound.

This rope can not only gag you.

It can also prevent them from biting their tongues and committing suicide.

As the old scholar's shirt was removed, the executioner used a fishing net to cover his entire body. As the rope was tightened, the flesh was squeezed out, just enough for the knife to cut off.

"ah!!!"

With a heart-wrenching scream from the old master, all the executioners began to carry out the punishment.

Because the Meridian Gate is recessed, like a trumpet, their screams were amplified.

The people below watched as if they were watching a horror movie. The timid ones would cover their eyes with their hands, then curiously open a crack, only to be frightened into covering them again.

The richest families from two years ago were the most vocal in their complaints. In those chaotic times of war, the Tartars plundered a great deal of their wealth, and some families were even robbed.

One of the fat men shouted at the performers on stage in a genuine Shanxi accent.

"Good, good, well done!"

"You guys on stage, cut me even harder! Afterwards, go to the Wang family to collect your reward—one tael of silver each, and I, Wang, will not delay payment!"

Upon hearing this, the executioner on the platform cut even more vigorously with his hands, from the thigh to the calf and then to the arm. Before long, he had finished cutting, making more than three hundred cuts. Then he went to the side to slice ginseng.

The three old men then staggered forward, nodded in satisfaction at the small knife pointing at the sun, and began to use it on other parts of the body.

It turns out that these three old men were the masters, ensuring that every one of the five hundred cuts was executed flawlessly. The young executioners didn't have such exquisite skills.

One of the men cutting the old master's flesh, after making more than a hundred cuts, immediately shouted at the executioner beside him.

"He was given ginseng slices and kept breathing; he's about to die!"

The executioner dared not delay and immediately stepped forward to pry open the old scholar's mouth and stuff the soaked ginseng slices inside.

The old master, who was originally unable to utter a sound, suddenly cried out in pain again a few minutes after taking the ginseng slice!

The old man who was cutting the flesh nodded in satisfaction. After making another twenty or so cuts, he carried out the final execution on the old master, plunging the knife into his heart.

After a full hour, the execution by slow slicing was completed. Dozens of people were immediately taken to the platform to be cleaned, as the previous blood had already entered the groove below the platform.

This is to prevent the blood of prisoners from defiling the moat.

The people gradually dispersed.

……

Meanwhile, in Heilongjiang, Aguda lay prostrate in the snow, motionless yet with a rosy complexion.