The capital was shaken, and everyone was frightened.
When the state machine is fully activated, life appears extremely fragile in front of it.
The killings last night were just appetizers. Most of these people were killed immediately if they made the slightest resistance during the capture process.
The orders of the Jinyiwei are very clear, but anyone whom the Jinyiwei thinks has a sense of resistance will be killed directly on the spot. The main reason for this is that there are too many people involved. For some insignificant things, there is no need to go to the prison cell. It's a trap.
When the imperial edict cannot hold it, the only option is to send it to the Five Cities Military and Horse Division.
After all, the imperial prison is in the Jinyiwei Yamen, in the palace. The dungeon is not big. It is mainly used to arrest important personnel, mainly officials.
Those who can go to the imperial prison must have some status.
Those beheaded corpses were handled by the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Department.
According to statistics, nearly a thousand people died that night, and these people were just incidental and were not even included in the case files.
And the news that His Highness Taisun was assassinated began to spread throughout the capital.
"His Royal Highness Taisun is such a good person, how could someone want to assassinate him?"
"Yes, that is the great Bodhisattva who saves the suffering. I heard that the Qunying Chamber of Commerce was built by His Highness Taisun."
"Really? I said why the wages for recruiting workers are so high. It turned out to be His Highness Taisun. His Highness Taisun is really a good person."
"I came from my hometown in Henan to escape the epidemic. My relatives over there wrote a letter saying that His Highness Taisun personally went to Henan and suppressed the plague. The plague had to take a detour when seeing His Highness Taisun. "
"What are you talking about? It's not a detour. It clearly dissipated directly. Your Highness Taisun is the reincarnation of the god in the sky. He is blessed by the God of Liberty. If the plague is seen, it will not disappear."
"It makes sense, but I have some news here, don't you know it?"
"What's the news? Please tell me quickly."
"Say it quickly, there is no difference between making people's appetites and destroying their wealth."
"Hehe, you don't know, Your Highness the Grandson, that is the eldest son of His Highness the Crown Prince. No one has heard of him before. That's because he passed away ten years ago."
"But God couldn't stand it anymore. On the night of the burial, the stars in Xiaoling changed drastically, and the earth dragon rolled around, so he managed to rescue His Highness Taisun."
"This is a real resurrection from the dead, but I lost my memory after resurrecting from the dead. This also led to wandering for more than ten years. In the past few months, I was found by His Highness King Yan."
"Oh my god, is what you said true? It turns out that His Highness the Grand Sun is really a person favored by God."
"It's unbelievable, but it is true that I have never heard of His Highness the Grand Sun in the past ten years or so. This is somewhat true."
"That's somewhat true, but it's really real and there's nothing false about it."
The discussion about His Highness Taisun quickly aroused heated discussion throughout the capital. In this era without communication, news was spread by word of mouth.
The popularity of Xiaoling in the past few months has made almost everyone in the streets of the capital aware of it, and this revelation was easily accepted by the people.
Of course, such revelations were not spread casually. Within half a day, most of the people in the capital knew about it. Jin Yiwei's contribution was certainly indispensable behind this.
Zhu Yuanzhang's secret manipulation is also indispensable.
In terms of reputation, Zhu Yuanzhang has been able to work to this day. Even under all kinds of massacres, he can still have such a high reputation among the people at the bottom and win the support of most people. This is evident in his methods.
As the persons involved in the case were arrested and brought to justice, the three-divisional joint trial in the usual procedure has arrived.
Of course, this is just a process, and the main groups targeted are foreign ministers and officials.
The most miserable among them were the foreign ministers of the Japanese country and the foreign ministers who occupied the city.
The two foreign ministers were directly implicated.
Among the foreign ministers of the Japanese state, someone came over in July this year and wanted to start a tribute transaction with the Ming Dynasty, but they were always rejected.
Not to mention Champa.
Twenty-three years ago in Hongwu, there were several tribute trades, but after that, they were always the target of being gathered because of disturbing the border.
What happened this time was just the right time to take action against them.
There were not many officials involved, not even a hundred people.
Most of these officials were provided by the Qunying Chamber of Commerce, and to a large extent, they were the principals behind those chambers of commerce.
Among them, officials from the Jiangnan region accounted for 80%.
The interrogation was very simple, just asking a few questions and that was it.
There is no need for signatures or deposits, as long as the process is recorded by three departments, and even oral confessions are omitted.
Under Zhu Yuanzhang's instructions, this time the case regarding the assassination of the grandson must be done quickly.
The case must be closed within three days.
No one dares to violate such an edict, so there can be no in-depth investigation.
Until the morning of the third day, thousands of people were pressed to the square outside Chengtianmen.
It was the square where the grandson's canonization ceremony and military parade were held before.
As always, there were huge crowds of people, each with a lot of crying.
Rows of prisoners were dressed in prison uniforms. They waited until three quarters of noon and then beheaded them in public.
According to the instructions from above, there could be no less than 3,000 people, so the total number of people who were beheaded today was 3,697.
Without exception, all were sentenced to death and executed immediately.
It is hard to imagine in the capital, or the entire Ming Dynasty, that the assassination of the grandson was solved just like this on the third day.
The speed is so fast that it is the first in ancient and modern times.
"The auspicious time has come for execution!!!"
With a shout, the execution began.
At this moment, in Kunning Palace, Zhu Ying looked at the memorial in front of him and had not written for a long time.
Looking at the sky, Zhu Ying knew that there were more than 3,000 people outside the palace. Because of his tragic death, Zhu Ying couldn't bear it after all.
When he was in the Western Regions, he dared to return to the enemy alone and killed hundreds of enemy invaders.
He also dared to fight to the death with foreigners on the grassland.
But such bloody methods were a very normal phenomenon in ancient times, and even the people watching didn't think there was anything special about it.
Many prisoners who were executed almost cursed at Gu Shuanggui, not Zhu Yuanzhang, let alone Zhu Ying.
However, Zhu Ying felt extremely uncomfortable.
"Your Highness, please take a sip of the longan and lotus seed soup."
Ye Yueqing held the soup bowl and said softly.
Zhu Ying hesitated slightly, took a sip and drank it all. Only then did some of the depression in his heart dissipate.
He knew very well in his heart that what the old man said was right.
In today's era, we want to maintain the royal majesty, maintain the dominance of the old Zhu family, and maintain the supreme emperor's authority.
The person who offended must pay a heavy price in blood.
Only in this way can officials and people have a sense of awe.
In fact, if it were not for Da Sun's thoughts, more than thousands of people would be involved in this assassination case. It is feared that tens of thousands of people would be implicated before Zhu Yuanzhang's anger could be relieved.
Zhu Ying didn't understand that people who had been on the battlefield for many years had already taken a dim view of life and death and the implication of innocent people.
What matters is the final result.
As for the process, it doesn't matter.
This is the emperor, the real emperor.
When the emperor was angry, he laid down millions of corpses.
In later generations, it was just an idiom, but today, it is indeed a real thing, with rivers of blood flowing out.
And the people have long been accustomed to it.
"What are you doing, grandpa? He's at Chengtianmen, watching the beheadings."
Zhuying asked.
Ye Yueqing shook his head gently and said: "Your Majesty is in Qianqing Palace at the moment."
Zhu Ying immediately understood the meaning.
As usual, the old man would be handling political affairs in the Huagai Palace, but at this time, he was obviously waiting for him.
After a slight hesitation, Zhu Ying stood up and walked towards Qianqing Palace.
"Your Majesty, why don't you go and see His Majesty the Grand Sun? Your Majesty is acting like this. This servant feels very uncomfortable."
In the Qianqing Palace, Liu He persuaded His Majesty.
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head slightly and said: "We can protect the great grandson for a while, but we cannot protect the great grandson for the rest of his life. In the end, the great grandson will have to bear the responsibility himself."
"Some things can only be shouldered by the eldest grandson himself. We are getting older and older. We just want the eldest grandson to grow up quickly."
Zhu Yuanzhang's tone was full of regret.
He has been raising his eldest son for thirty-seven years. In all aspects, he is already the best heir. As an emperor, he has delegated a large amount of power to his eldest son.
But who would have thought that at such an age, with half of his body already buried in the ground, he would end up with a white-haired person giving a black-haired person a gift.
Da Sun is excellent.
But in some aspects, it is still not enough.
In fact, in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, personal excellence is not the most important thing for an emperor.
Balance and royal majesty are the factors that Zhu Yuanzhang values.
There will never be a shortage of smart people in this great world. How to control them and make them loyal to the Ming Dynasty and the old Zhu family, so that the Ming Dynasty can be passed down for eternity and the country can continue, is crucial.
So at this point, Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well that he could not comfort Dasun and asked him to bear this experience by himself.
As an emperor, sometimes you have to be ruthless.
At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally had no intention of reviewing memorials or handling government affairs, so he waited peacefully in the Qianqing Palace, the place closest to his grandson.
At this time, footsteps came.
The familiar voice made Zhu Yuanzhang immediately realize that it was his eldest grandson who was coming.
Without any hesitation, Zhu Yuanzhang turned around and looked, and it turned out to be Da Sun.
"Grandpa, your grandson worries you."
Zhu Ying bowed her hands and said sincerely.
Some words don't need to be said in detail, and you can naturally understand the meaning.
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said: "What can we worry about? I believe that this matter will not trouble Dasun too much."
"That's right, let's not talk to the eldest grandson. The eldest grandson naturally understands. It's almost dinner time now, but we heard that you didn't eat today's breakfast. You must be hungry."
"We asked Guang Lusi to prepare meals a long time ago, Liu He, why don't you hurry up and have the meals delivered."
Liu He said quickly: "I obey the order."
Then he immediately trotted out to deliver the message.
At this moment, Liu He also had a smile on his face.
Being able to see His Majesty and Grandson happy, he was naturally extremely happy.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the eldest grandson's expression carefully, nodded secretly, then walked to the desk, took a few files, handed them to the eldest grandson and said: "These are the files of your fourth uncle, your cousin Li Jinglong, and Yun Wen. .”
"Take a good look. If you have any ideas, just tell us."
These files were naturally recorded by Jin Yiwei and Liu He.
No one would find the matter of assassination simple. Zhu Di and Zhu Yunwen, when it comes to the inheritance of the throne, naturally cannot completely avoid suspicion.
Necessary inquiries are inevitable.
Zhu Ying nodded, took the file, and looked at it carefully.
In fact, in Zhu Ying's heart, she also wanted to know whether the King of Yan, Zhu Di, was involved in this.
Zhu Di was Zhu Ying's first suspect, and only he had this strength, or this method.
Although Zhu Ying has not suppressed Zhu Di too thoroughly since entering the palace, except for transferring Yao Guangxiao, a key figure, he has not done much.
But this does not mean that Zhu Ying is completely relieved about Zhu Di.
Zhu Di in history seems to have been forced, but there is a saying that goes well, if the king wants his ministers to die, the ministers have to die.
Zhu Di, who goes against the rules of a monarch and his ministers, does not have a good reputation.
The first thing Zhu Ying read was the dossier about Zhu Yunwen, and the key to it was naturally Huang Zicheng.
However, judging from Jin Yiwei's investigation, although Huang Zicheng has certain suspicions, fundamentally there is no other connection to the crime.
The relationship between Huang Zicheng and the literati in Jiangnan was pretty good. This was the key point, but that was all.
Before and after the incident, Huang Zicheng was almost always in the Hanlin Academy, working with many Hanlin scholars to compile new classics.
This is what Zhu Ying meant before.
And Zhu Ying also believed that neither Zhu Yunwen nor Huang Zicheng had the strength, let alone the courage.
The key lies in Zhu Di.
Judging from the files, there is nothing suspicious about Zhu Di.
Including Li Jinglong.
Li Jinglong's behavior in the recent period is recorded in detail in the dossier. He did have contact with Jiangnan literati, but according to feedback, he was mainly working as a lobbyist for King Zhu Di of Yan.
For Zhu Di, he went to win over officials who went to join the vassal overseas.
The scholar who usually no one cares about has become the treasure of the feudal kings at this time.
After reading the dossier, Zhu Ying also understood.
This matter seems to have nothing to do with Zhu Di.
Although he was a little surprised that the people in the Chamber of Commerce actually had the idea of inspiring to assassinate him, but with the facts in front of him, there was nothing to say.
At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his eldest grandson who put down the file, half-smiling but not smiling.
Zhu Ying and the old man looked at each other and understood immediately.
What the old man means is extremely obvious.
After thinking for a while, Zhu Ying said: "It seems that this matter has nothing to do with Fourth Uncle and Yun Wen."
Zhu Ying knew in his heart that at this moment, the old man was effectively handing Zhu Di and Zhu Yunwen directly to his disposal.
Whether there is a connection or not is just a matter of his words.
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled very happily.
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