After Zhu Zaiming issued the arrest order, the 1st Brigade of the 1st Standing Division stationed in Jinling went to the villages and towns under the command of division commander Chen Deng to arrest the people.
The steam troop carriers designed by the Ministry of Works traveled through the countryside, and countless officials, big and small, ran around like frightened rabbits.
Unfortunately, no matter how they try to escape, they are always chased and intercepted by the enthusiastic village secretary elected by the villagers.
From cities to the countryside, there is no place for these corrupt officials anymore.
In just one day, the 1st Brigade captured more than a hundred officials in various places.
Their property was searched one by one by Jin Yiwei, and the silver coins buried in the ground and the hidden bank accounts were gradually discovered.
These people, including relatives and relatives who did not report the information but instead enjoyed it as a matter of course, were caught by the soldiers on steam troop transport vehicles and sent to Chaoyang Avenue in batches.
Chaoyang Avenue connects the Forbidden City and Chaoyang Commercial District. It is a straight road of one mile.
Two rows of old crooked neck trees were planted on both sides of the road.
Chaoyang Avenue is particularly lively today, with a large number of Ministry of Industry officials and Jin Yiwei digging holes.
Steam transport trucks pulling old crooked neck trees purchased from various places were parked on both sides of the avenue.
When the enthusiastic residents of Jinling learned that the emperor was going to die, they carried small stools, grabbed a bag full of melon seeds, and crowded into Chaoyang Avenue to watch the show.
Some residents who had nothing to do even carried their own hoes and shovels to help Jinyiwei dig the big hole.
"That official, look at whether I dug the hole correctly!"
Several residents thrust their shovels into the ground and called a guard with construction drawings to come and see the result of digging the hole.
Jin Yiwei came over, gestured twice, and said with a smile: "Thank you for your help. The pit is in the right place, but the size is 8 centimeters too small. Please help dig it bigger so that the old crooked neck tree can be planted." Go down."
"Okay, just take a look, my brothers have nothing to do today, I promise to dig a good job for you!"
A few enthusiastic residents spit some saliva into their palms, picked up their shovels and started digging into the pit.
The surrounding onlookers were pointing and pointing. They were chewing melon seeds and pointing at the people digging the hole.
With everyone's enthusiastic construction, some pits that have been accepted have begun tree planting operations.
The steam transport truck dragged the old crooked neck tree to the pit. Jin Yiwei tied up the trunk with ropes and wrapped them around the wooden piles buried around it.
"One, two, three, pull!"
Everyone followed the leader's slogan and pulled the old crooked neck tree upright, with its roots slipping into the pit.
After confirming that there was no problem, Jin Yiwei untied the rope tied around the roots and asked someone to backfill the pit.
Gradually, an old crooked-neck tree stood beside Chaoyang Avenue.
"I'm hanging on someone, I'm hanging on someone!"
A carload of officials was transported along Chaoyang Avenue. Jin Yiwei opened the door and the officials, all wrapped in chains, were dragged under the tree.
They cried, their tears couldn't stop flowing, and their cries were like killing pigs.
When Jin Yiwei hung the prepared iron chain on the tree.
The surrounding onlookers were excited.
Among them were residents of Jinling City, curious people who came all the way from the suburbs, and foreign friends who came to Jinling for business.
Some were wearing thick cotton-padded clothes with their hands in their pockets, some were climbing on the roof of the steam train to eat melon seeds, and some were nondescript foreigners wearing Hanfu.
When everyone saw Jin Yiwei connecting the lock on the back of the prisoner's neck to the chain hanging from the old crooked neck tree, they couldn't help but let out a uniform shout.
"One, two, three, pull!"
As the chains were tightened and the officials' toes gradually lifted off the ground, their cries became louder and hoarse.
"good!"
"Just hang it like this, don't take off your clothes, and don't throw rocks at them, lest you kill them."
"Yes, our Ming Dynasty is a beacon of civilization. We care about human rights the most. In order for them to hang on the tree for a few more days, we cannot harm them."
"You guys, seriously, I cry to death."
The masses are booing, while the corrupt officials are in tears and regretting it!
Because there are too many corrupt officials, Jin Yiwei estimates that the number of corrupt officials across the country will be arrested according to the list, and the number will exceed 6,000.
That's it, not all of them have been captured yet.
There are only so many crooked-neck trees on Chaoyang Avenue, which are simply not enough for these officials to share.
Therefore, Zhu Zaiming could only say sorry to these officials.
The single-family "Chongzhen brand" old crooked neck tree cannot be arranged for them. Everyone can only squeeze into an "apartment" and hang more people on one tree.
After all, we were all grasshoppers on the same rope before, so we should have a good relationship and know each other.
Hanging together is also a good thing to have a companion on the road to Huangquan.
After hanging a tree, Jin Yiwei hung up the corrupt officials one by one according to the "old crooked neck tree hanging form".
The crowd enjoyed watching it very much and gave their sincere blessings to these corrupt officials who were happy to propose their "new houses".
On both sides of the center of Chaoyang Avenue are the luxurious old crooked-neck trees prepared by Zhu Zaiming for senior officials.
These old crooked neck trees are very tall, the highest is 26 meters. They are dug from Beibei Mountain and are ancient red sandalwood trees. Their value is immeasurable.
Jin Yiwei offered Li a price of 30,000 silver coins for a house near Chaoyang Business District, and successfully acquired the second-largest old crooked neck tree in the Ming Dynasty.
This tree was planted in the "luxury villa area" on the right side of Chaoyang Avenue.
Since ancient times, the left has been respected. On the other side of Chaoyang Avenue, the second oldest tree, is the oldest crooked neck tree in the Ming Dynasty.
This tree was dug by Zhu Zaiming from the north. It was the same tree that Chongzhen hung.
The Emperor of Ming Dynasty passed away, which is a very high honor.
Ordinary officials are not qualified yet.
At least he must be a waiter.
Chongzhen has 99 old and new crooked neck trees for his own use.
The surrounding area was surrounded by people eating melons. Even foreign friends who were familiar with the history of the late Ming Dynasty abandoned the Ming etiquette they had learned in the past and tried their best to squeeze through the crowd to get a glimpse of the real face.
The tree is very ordinary, but it carries the history of suffering.
Wang Defa and a group of ministers were hung on the tree. Among them, the eldest officials were the two cabinet ministers.
They were the two ministers who originally proposed Zhu Zaiming to abolish Jin Yiwei.
At this time, they had cried all their tears. They were hung on the tree and swayed in the wind, and from time to time they heard low wailing.
"The crying wasn't very loud, it wasn't miserable at all."
Some people murmured, much to the amusement of the Jin Yiwei who was blocking the crowd.
The Jin Yiwei said with a smile: "They don't have the energy to cry anymore. The tears that should be shed have been shed long ago in the prison.
Fortunately, His Majesty was kind and sent a lot of old ginseng, but they were gone before they were hung up! "
When the people heard this, they suddenly realized and praised Zhu Zaiming as a loving father.
Some people with good eyesight saw what seemed to be whip marks on the necks of several ministers, and their eyes lit up and they shouted loudly.
"Look, everyone, they really enjoyed being whipped in the prison~"
"Where is it? Why can't I see it?"
"Uncle, don't look at how old you are. You can see ghosts from such a distance..."
Everyone was talking about it and it was very lively.
The entire Chaoyang Avenue is crowded with people, gongs and drums are noisy, and firecrackers are blasting...
It was really a blast of firecrackers. I don’t know who started it. I bought a firecracker from the commercial street next door and hung it on the old crooked neck tree to set off.
Some people with spare money in their pockets followed suit and ran out to buy firecrackers.
The owners of the firecracker shop were puzzled. It was more than a month before the New Year, so why were sales so high?
With no choice, the boss could only place another order for the firecracker factory in the suburbs, and did not prepare more firecrackers. The boss believed that he would not be able to stock up much in the days before the New Year.
This is all small money!
