Ming Dynasty: Is a mere unruly commoner rebelling against heaven?

Chapter 103: Skinning and Stuffing with Straw, Lingchi Execution, Immediate Execution! (Part 2)

Inside the execution grounds at Caishikou, Vice Minister Fei Ju of the Ministry of Justice had already received the news and prepared for the execution.

Three executioners from the Ministry of Justice stood ready, the leader being Xie Xiaoyan, who had executed the Zhou brothers.

This man's Lingchi technique was unparalleled, making him the perfect choice for carrying out the Lingchi execution.

Besides them, an acquaintance, Liu Zong, had been kneeling in the execution ground for a long time.

When Zhang Hai and Wang Yuan arrived at the execution ground, Fei Ju immediately threw down the token.

"Liu Zong, beaten to death with sticks!"

"Wang Yuan, Lingchi execution!"

The executioners in charge of carrying out the executions immediately began their work after receiving the order.

Xie Xiaoyan stripped Wang Yuan naked, tied him to a wooden stake, and tightened a fine fishing net around Wang Yuan's body.

"My life, Xie Xiaoyan, is truly worth it; I've Lingchi'd three marquises alone, hahaha."

Xie Xiaoyan laughed as he excitedly carried out the execution.

On the other side, the executioner responsible for executing Zhang Hai couldn't contain the excitement in his heart, his hands trembling with anticipation.

The punishment of skinning and stuffing with straw had been rarely used since the Hongwu era.

By the first year of Hongzhi, there were not many executioners who knew this skill.

This executioner, named Han Baoniu, was taken in as a disciple by an execution official of the Ministry of Justice from a young age, who passed on his lifelong execution skills to him.

As the saying goes, love what you do; Han Baoniu, having been exposed to punishments from a young age, gradually became fond of the cruel punishments recorded in ancient books.

He had studied various methods such as combing, weighing scales, drawing intestines, leftover skin, boiling, waist chopping, foot cutting, sawing, spine breaking, and lead pouring, among others.

But the one that fascinated him the most was the cruel punishment of skinning and stuffing with straw.

Unfortunately, because no one had been subjected to this punishment for too long, the skill of this cruel punishment had gradually been lost.

However, Han Baoniu indeed had some talent; he learned this skill by relying on the descriptions in books and practicing privately while slaughtering pigs and sheep.

What made him feel regretful was that even though he had learned this nearly lost skill, he had no opportunity to use it.

And this regret could finally be resolved by his own hands today.

Han Baoniu tied Zhang Hai to the execution rack, held a sharp knife, and carried out the execution on Zhang Hai's body according to the method he had figured out.

For a time, the screams of Wang Yuan and Zhang Hai echoed incessantly.

"Ah, ah, ah! Kill me! Kill me quickly!"

"I can't take it anymore! Please kill me! Kill me!"

"Ah, ah, ah! It hurts! It hurts!"

"…"

Compared to Zhang Hai and Wang Yuan, whose screams persisted, Liu Zong, who had only screamed a few times, was incredibly fortunate.

His punishment was being beaten to death with sticks; after a few blows, Liu Zong could only groan a few times at first, and then he was mostly exhaling and barely inhaling.

After a dozen or so blows, Liu Zong was completely dead.

Zhang Hai and Wang Yuan, who were being tortured, envied the already dead Liu Zong immensely.

How much they wished that the person lying on the ground being beaten to death with sticks at this moment was themselves!

…

While Zhang Hai and Wang Yuan were being executed, the West Depot's agents were already on their way to confiscate their properties.

Wang Yuan's family had already been confiscated, but this time, the Wang brothers' three generations of relatives were to be escorted to the execution ground for execution.

As for Liu Zong's wife and children, by the time the West Depot's agents found them, they had already been killed by Wang Yuan.

This time, the West Depot mainly confiscated Zhang Hai's family, and Zhang Hai's family was in the capital.

The West Depot was extremely skilled at confiscating homes, first arresting people, then investigating finances, and sending them to the imperial treasury.

After a series of procedures, another third-rank official vanished into thin air.

Zhang Hai's wife and children, the young women were sent to the Jiaofang Division, the remaining old people were demoted to slaves, and the men were demoted to military status and sent to the border towns to garrison.

The border was often at war, and there was a great need for the descendants of criminal officials to serve as cannon fodder.

At the execution ground, the three generations of Wang's relatives had been escorted in.

In front of Wang Yuan, they were beheaded one by one as a warning to the public.

Wang Yuan was terrified and extremely grieved!

The Jinghai Wang family, who had been tyrannical for more than twenty years, was completely wiped out on this day!

The most terrifying thing about Lingchi and skinning and stuffing with straw is that their execution times are very long.

So long that it takes two or three days to complete, and during this period, the minor officials of the Ministry of Justice will also feed the person being executed rice porridge to prevent them from starving to death.

On the second day, Zhang Hai's skin was completely removed, and he finally died.

On the third day, Wang Yuan, who had suffered three thousand six hundred cuts, finally died as well.

On the fourth day, a straw man made from Zhang Hai's skin appeared at the gate of the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen.

This straw man was used to warn all officials in the capital not to be corrupt officials again!

…

Turpan Basin.

Xu Chang led an army of 130,000 men, marching firmly towards Gaochang City.

"Governor Xu, this place is still three hundred miles away from Gaochang City, and Gaochang City has already cleared the fields, there is nothing around."

Xu Chang ordered with a cold face: "Understood, continue marching for another hundred miles."

"Yes!"

The scout took the order and left, and the Ming expeditionary force continued to approach Gaochang City step by step!

Since Akhema Khan massacred the Ming people of Hami Garrison, the relationship between Ming Dynasty and Turpan Khanate has been irreconcilable.

And Xu Chang had already received two orders from Zhu You樘 from Ma Jinzhong.

First, Ming Dynasty does not accept any peace talks, only accepts the head of the Mongol Great Khan.

Second, all males in the Turpan Khanate, taller than the desk, will be beheaded!

Specifically stated: the desk is placed upside down on the ground.

With Zhu You樘's order, Xu Chang was even more confident in completely eliminating the Turpan Khanate!

Gaochang City was originally the place of the Uyghurs, but after Genghis Khan established the Mongol Khanate, the Gaochang Uyghurs voluntarily surrendered to the Mongol Khanate.

So from the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Turpan became the territory of the Mongols, and its main resident ethnic group also changed from Uyghurs to Mongols.

The Eastern Chagatai Khanate had cultivated Gaochang for many years. Since Akhema Khan led a team to split from the Eastern Chagatai Khanate and established the Turpan Khanate, he has used Gaochang City as his headquarters.

Gaochang is Akhema Khan's last bottom line, and he must defend it to the death!

Since Akhema Khan led his team back to Gaochang City seven days ago, he has been constantly sending people to inquire about the location of the Ming army.

Hoping that the Ming army could change their minds and withdraw from the grassland.

But to his disappointment, every time the scout brought back news that the Ming army was approaching Gaochang City by dozens of miles...

Akhema Khan was almost driven crazy!

They have always been the ones attacking the cities of Ming Dynasty, how can there be any reason for Ming Dynasty to attack their cities?!

It's not that the Ming army does not have the strength to attack Mongol cities.

But these Mongol Khanates had no concept of cities at all before.

They themselves are nomads, living by water and grass, and do not build cities at all.

If Ming Dynasty wants to attack a city, there must be a city to attack.

But the nomadic situation of the Turpan Khanate has changed under the influence of Yunos Khan.

Because Yunos Khan himself is an out-and-out city faction.

He likes city life very much and has settled in many cities.

When his father, Wais Khan, died that year, Yunos Khan and his younger brother, Yesen Buqa, competed for the Khanate.

Yesen Buqa insisted on the traditional nomadic tradition and received the support of the Dughlat tribe.

Yunos had close relations with the Timur Empire and tended to move the political center westward to areas with developed agricultural civilization.

So the Eastern Chagatai Khanate split for the first time, and Yunos Khan established a settled Turpan Khanate.

Subsequently, Yunos Khan defeated the son of Yesen Buqa and reunified the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

After Yunos Khan's death, Akhema Khan and his brother, Mahamud Khan, launched another battle for the Khanate.

Finally, Mahamud inherited the Eastern Chagatai Khanate and settled in Aksu City.

And Akhema Khan once again split from the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, established the Turpan Khanate, and settled in Gaochang.

And this settlement, although more comfortable than the nomadic period, also brought a devastating disaster.

For example, right now, the Ming Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of troops are pressing down on the border. If it were before, they would have packed up their tents, driven their cattle and sheep, and run away.

But now, hundreds of thousands of people in Gaochang City, their food, drink, and use, are all in Gaochang City.

He can't run away, he must defend Gaochang City to the death!

"Great Khan, just received news that the Ming army is less than three hundred miles away from Gaochang, and the Ming army will arrive at Gaochang in three or four days at most!"

Yalan ran into the royal tent covered in sweat, looking very anxious.

At that time, none of the people of the Turpan Khanate who invaded Hami Garrison thought that Ming Dynasty would pursue them so relentlessly this time.

Even if they had returned to Turpan, the Ming army still did not let them go.

Akhema Khan was in a state of confusion, shaking his head repeatedly: "How could this happen? How could this happen?"

Yalan asked: "Great Khan, what should we do?"

"Should we fight, or should we make peace?"

Akhema Khan rubbed his temples painfully, thought for a while, and said through gritted teeth: "Whether it is war or peace, we must be fully prepared!"

"You immediately go to the city to gather all the people, all males over the age of fourteen must prepare their war horses and scimitars, ready to go to war at any time."

"At the same time, let the women who do not have combat capabilities slaughter cattle and sheep and make military rations."

"Then let people write a letter and send it to the generals of the Ming army as soon as possible."

"The letter will say that as long as the Ming army withdraws, I, Akhema Khan, am willing to surrender to Ming and offer ten thousand cattle and sheep to show my sincerity."

"And from then on, the Turpan Khanate is willing to become a vassal and pay tribute to Ming Dynasty every year."

Akhema Khan's face was gloomy, and he almost gritted his teeth to say these words.

In their opinion, becoming a vassal to the Ming Dynasty and paying tribute every year is already the biggest compromise.

Even Yalan was in a heavy mood: "Great Khan, isn't this too much of a concession?"

"It doesn't matter, the Ming Dynasty attaches the most importance to face, I will give him this face."

Akhema Khan's face was gloomy: "The Ming Dynasty will definitely not be able to maintain such a large expeditionary force for a long time."

"When the Ming Dynasty withdraws its troops, we will settle the old and new scores together!"

"Great Khan is wise, I will go and do it!"

Yalan bowed and saluted, then walked out of the royal tent to carry out Akhema Khan's orders.