Zhou Gong Temple is located four miles outside the west gate of Luoyang City. It was built in the late Sui Dynasty. It is a temple built to commemorate the most saint in the world - "Yuan Sheng" Zhou Gong Ji Dan.
It is a four-entry courtyard facing north and south. There is an archway in front of it, followed by Lingxing Gate and Ji Gate, and then in sequence are Yuansheng Temple, Dingding Hall, Huizhong Temple, and Ancestor Hall. pattern.
In addition, there are wing rooms on the east and west sides in front of the main entrance of Zhougong Temple, and on both sides of the main entrance are the bell tower and the drum tower. After entering, there are two side halls on the east and west, and nearly a hundred houses and shops in the front and inside.
In the hall of Dingding Hall, there are five sacred statues of Duke Zhou, his younger brothers Zhao Gong and Bi Gong, the eldest son Boqin, and the second son Junchen.
On the walls around the hall, the scattered perspective method of Chinese painting is used, and six pictures are used to depict the battle of Zhou Gong Muye, assisting the king, conquering the east to quell the chaos, enfeoffing the princes, building Luoyi, making rituals and music, etc. Six great achievements.
Now it has become the residence of King Chuang Li Zicheng. He had previously ordered people to dismantle the statues of Duke Zhou and others in Dingding Hall and turned it into a meeting hall. The small courtyard of Ancestor Hall behind Huizhong Temple became Li Zicheng's living room.
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On December 12, the 13th year of Chongzhen reign in the Ming Dynasty, the sky was approaching Shen hour. There was already a sea of people in front of the Zhougong Temple in the west of Luoyang City. People were crowded from the Zhougong Temple to the outside of Xiguan.
Although Bao Jiqiang arrived later, he was not an ordinary citizen in the city. He was seen squeezing left and right in the crowd. After a while, he entered the third row, but he did not dare to go any further. Push forward.
He stood behind two rows of people and silently stared at the square in front of Zhougong Temple. He looked at the rows of armored and armed thieves in front of him, and listened to the discussions of the people around him.
It turned out that not only King Fu and the former Minister of War of Nanjing Lu Weiqi, but also more than 400 officials and generals in Luoyang City, as well as numerous gentry, landlords and wealthy businessmen, were all detained in the temporary military prison set up in Zhougong Temple.
Even the Henan branch patrol soldiers Wang Yinchang, the prefect Kang Menghui, the county magistrate Zhang Zhengxue and other officials were among them. Only the Henan general soldier Wang Shaoyu was escorted by his own soldiers and rushed out of the city and fled.
Now Lu Weiqi and King Fu have been taken into the court in the Zhougong Temple, and they are probably being interrogated by King Chuang and other generals. It is said that after the trial of King Fu and Lu Weiqi today, they will be beheaded at the old execution ground outside Xiguan. To relieve public anger.
The remaining military officials such as King Yinchang, the prefect Kang Menghui, the county magistrate Zhang Zhengxue, as well as other officials, big and small, wealthy gentry, landlords and wealthy businessmen, etc. will be interrogated one after another in the next few days. Anyone who has done many evil things will be interrogated in this Zhougong Temple. Behead him beforehand to resolve the people's grievances.
Bao Jiqiang sneered at this statement in his heart. He remembered that his grandfather, the general, once said that bandits committed destruction in the name of justice. Every time they broke into a city, they would first kill the officials, then steal money and food, and then they would He shoveled down the city and ensnared the people for his own use.
No matter how well he puts it, he still cannot escape from the nature of rogue bandits, who only know how to destroy, wander around to plunder food and plunder people, and do not care about production at all. To ordinary people, they are simply the third largest disaster after drought and locust plague. .
Suddenly, there was an uproar of people around, and a group of tall and tall thieves were seen walking out of the Lingxing Gate. They were carrying more than ten large wooden boxes. Random speculations started to spread from the crowd.
The wooden boxes were opened one after another, and inside were all the land account books, land deeds, slave sales contracts, etc. copied from Prince Fu's mansion.
A young general from the army strode forward and announced that all the documents in Prince Fu's Mansion were invalid. From now on, there would be no more Wangtian or Wangzhuang in the world.
Then the thieves piled the documents and books together and lit a raging fire. Seeing the paper ashes flying, the onlookers all clapped their hands and cheered. Many people were so excited that they shed tears. Some elderly people even He knelt on the ground and worshiped.
They all speculated on the name of this young general. Some said that he was "Zhang Nai", while others said that he was the adopted son of King Chuang, "Li Shuangxi". In short, there were different opinions, but no one named him. Not allowed.
Then I saw Fu Wang Zhu Changxun and Lu Weiqi being pushed out with five-flowered clothes. Their coats had been stripped off, their loose hair was pulled up to their heads, and there were death flags on the backs of their necks. They were each tied up by two men with round waists and wide bodies. The thieves and soldiers stood up.
Bao Jiqiang suddenly heard a hateful curse coming from beside him:
"Yeah, I told your mother to be domineering and arrogant all day long. I didn't expect this to happen!"
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On the execution ground outside the West Pass of Luoyang City, there were thieves and infantry standing every five steps to prevent the onlookers from crowding into the high platform where the execution was executed and the empty space in front of the platform.
In the outer circle of Xiguan execution ground, there are teams of cavalry guarding the execution ground from a distance. Although they knew that no one would come to rob the execution ground, they still arranged it like this, just to show it to the people of Luoyang. It’s just King Chuang’s military horses and might.
On both sides and behind the high execution platform, there were rows of infantrymen standing neatly with guns. They were all wearing cotton armor with dark blue crotches, and there was a round circle in the center of the front and back of the crotch. White cloth with the word "Chuang" embroidered on it.
Under the high platform of the prison and around the execution ground, flags were flying and spears were like a forest. The tips of the spears were shining with dazzling light under the setting sun.
An old farmer with a white beard sighed softly: "Oh, this killing place has only killed thieves since ancient times, but today it is going to kill the king. Even Prince Fu can kill him, which I didn't dare to think about earlier. Yes!"
A middle-aged man with a beard next to him snorted coldly through his nostrils, and then said: "It doesn't matter what your damn skills are, whether you are the son of a dragon, the grandson of a dragon, a king or a marquis, you usually dominate and show off your power. Yes, you have been riding on the heads of our common people for a long time, but now if you are in the hands of King Chuang, they are not worth a penny."
A young strong man also laughed and said: "Well, wasn't that King Wan'an in Yongning already killed by King Chuang? Don't think that this King Fu is the 'today' uncle, he cut it with a knife and there was a click. As usual, the melon seeds fell on the head, the blood was splashed on the yellow sand, and the body was thrown to the dogs to eat. There is a chicken thief who is so lucky!"
Another middle-aged man said even more angrily: "Since ancient times, the princes have become rich and the people have suffered. The world has been in chaos for more than ten years, and I don't know when it will end."
Another young man answered and said: "I see that King Li Chuang is the destined emperor. Today, I will kill the old guy King Fu. Tomorrow I will join the army of King Chuang, and in the future I will kill him as one of the founding heroes of the country..."
Beside them, there were several people talking quietly, and a thin old man said with a cane: "In the past, people only killed people during the winter solstice every year.
But seven years after Chongzhen was conquered, this rule began to get messed up. It was a major matter of human life, and if someone was sentenced to death, he had to report it to all levels and wait for instructions from the Ministry of Punishment before he could execute the criminal on the winter solstice. Killing someone is not as simple as killing a chicken or a dog..."
The old man sighed and continued: "In this place, more than a hundred people were killed at one time in the past few years. We ordinary people, when encountering a famine, are really hungry and have no choice, so we steal some. Grain,
However, regardless of whether the crime was serious or minor, the officials were all assigned to join the bandits and join the bandits. They did not submit the case to the Ministry of Punishments for approval and killed them as soon as they were told. It is said that this is "the most important code to govern in troubled times." "
A man next to him couldn't bear it anymore and said angrily: "We are all poor people who were killed. Does it mean that any of the sons of any family were beheaded?"
A middle-aged man with a gall neck even said: "Huh, it's better for Prince Chuang to come. As soon as Prince Chuang came, he turned this damn world upside down, and even beheaded the normally aloof Prince Fu and Lu Shangshu. They really only kill officials, not civilians."
A hungry man with a slightly swollen face also interjected: "This is called walking on behalf of heaven!"
