"Dad, I'm going out wearing new clothes. Is it the Chinese New Year?"
"Yes, today is a good day, even better than the Chinese New Year!"
"Then I'm going too!"
"Don't interfere blindly. Dad was elected as a representative. Do you understand the representative? He went to observe the trial! The emperor is here, do you understand?"
"..."
"Husband, why are you carrying the spiritual tablets of your father-in-law and mother-in-law? Aren't you going to hear the trial?"
"I just want my parents in heaven to hear with their own ears who killed them all!"
"..."
"Those damn profiteers will definitely be punished. You guys must be smart and grab some pieces of meat."
"That's for sure. I also want those Jianlu meat."
"The ambition is to eat the meat of captives when hungry, and the blood of profiteers is the thirst for laughter and talk!"
"..."
In short, most families in the capital have been waiting for this day for a long time, and they went out saying hello early in the morning.
The crowd is like water droplets, gathering into a stream, and eventually flowing into the sea of people on the other side of the Meridian Gate.
However, on the Meridian Gate side, because the emperor wanted to conduct a public trial in person, not only the soldiers of the Five Cities Military and Horse Division were already under martial law, but also on the side close to the Forbidden City, the Yongwei Battalion and the Jinyi Guards were dispatched.
Those who are not selected as spectator representatives, regardless of whether they have money or not, and whether they have power or not, can only watch from a distance outside the isolation line. The attending representatives were put into the venue after strict inspection and arrived at the designated location to wait.
Outside the isolation line, before the time came, most people were whispering and whispering about today's grand occasion.
"In the past, the arrest of the rebel leader was not as grand as today, and this public trial is unheard of. Do you know why?"
"Needless to say, it must be because these traitors and rebels are even more hated this time!"
"By the way, even the She'an Rebellion in Southwest China and the Prince Ning's Rebellion in the Zhengde Period were just dedicated to the Imperial Ancestral Temple. There has never been a public trial like today. Not only because of these Shanxi merchants, but also the Jianlu captives have caused us even more harm. , there is another reason, do you know?" The fastest updated PC version:/
"What other reasons are there? If you have anything to say, just say it quickly. What are you doing in hiding?"
"It's boring for you to talk! In fact, let me tell you, it's because some rich people don't believe it, insisting that the court has no money, and framed the rich Shanxi merchants. In order to set the record straight, today's public trial is held .”
"Who the hell is talking nonsense? The newspaper clearly stated it, how can you make it up?"
"No matter how clear it is in the newspaper, it's not as convincing as a public trial, right?"
"That's true! But really speaking, in the past few months, the imperial court has been raiding homes continuously. I did the math. There are Wang Dehua, the former eunuch in charge of the ceremony and the admiral of the East Factory, Wang Zhixin, the eunuch in charge of the imperial horse, and the commander of the Jinyiwei. Luo Yangxin, Jiading Uncle Mansion also counts, right?"
"Of course, there are also Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo, and by the way, Chen Xinjia, the Minister of the Ministry of War, Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant, and Wu Changshi, the doctor of the Ministry of Personnel..."
"Hey, if you think about it this way, the imperial court will really have to confiscate countless homes... No wonder someone would think that!"
When the people in the square whispered to this point, their voices became even lower. However, it was boring and the topic was very attractive to them, so many people continued chatting.
"The imperial court doesn't even collect taxes. Where does this money come from? Look, tax collection is not as fast as confiscating homes!"
"Yes, the imperial court has really made a fortune during this period of time!"
"Yes, otherwise, where would the money come from to resettle the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong? Where would the money come from to reorganize the Beijing camp and issue military pay?"
"But the money from confiscating the house will eventually be spent, right? What will we do then?"
"So, those rich people are worried. What if the court has no money and is targeted by the court?"
"But you can't say that. Those whose homes were confiscated, who didn't deserve it? As long as those rich people are upright and not afraid of slanting shadows, what are they afraid of?"
"That's why there is a public trial this time! Not only will it be shown to us, but it will also be spread to the south. There are more wealthy people there, so they are more worried."
"It makes sense. Even if there is no need for a public trial, it has been clearly stated in the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, I believe the court. But it is difficult to say in the south. But once the public trial is over, will the southerners still dare to distort the facts?"
"Not to mention, many of those who spread rumors in the capital are from the south. They even secretly said that these things were all caused by Duke Xingguo! They said that the reason why Duke Xingguo won the favor of the emperor was because of him You can raise money for the court without hurting the people! And the court is short of money right now, so this is a good match!"
"Hey, it seems true."
"So, some people are slandering Duke Xing Guo! They say that he only knows how to ransack homes and knows nothing else. He is Lai Junchen of the Ming Dynasty, who is a cruel official who has never been seen in the past dynasties!"
"..."
When it comes to Zhang Mingwei, the discussion among the crowd is polarized.
To sum up, ordinary people who have no money or power will generally refute this statement. The example is nothing more than Zhang Mingwei's previous handling of refugees.
And many of those who are rich and powerful agree with this view, thinking that Zhang Mingwei knows how to confiscate homes!
When the crowd started to argue around Duke Xingguo, they suddenly heard someone shouting: "Coming, coming!"
Upon hearing this, everyone spontaneously stopped talking and looked up.
On the road from the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, a group of soldiers were escorting prison cars one after another.
The so-called enemies are extremely jealous when they meet.
The appearance of Shanxi merchants and Jianlu immediately threw all the topics of Duke Xingguo out of their minds. Their eyes were like sharp swords, stabbing at the people in the prison car, stabbing them three times.
The eight major Shanxi merchants in the prison car could not help but tremble when they faced the anger of the people again.
They had seen such a formation before!
If they smuggled things strictly prohibited by the imperial court into Liaodong from the very beginning and provided information, they knew that the imperial court would not let them go. They are mentally prepared for this.
However, when faced with the "welcome" from the people of the capital, the "enthusiasm" that rushed towards them was far beyond their expectations.
What's happening here? Where are the people? What happened?
Really, they were all confused!
When they were imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, because the emperor wanted a public trial, the prison guards did not insult them, but there was deep hatred in their words and deeds. This makes the eight major Shanxi merchants even more puzzled!
There are so many people who are strangers to each other, why do you hate yourself so much?
As far as they thought, the most they did was to be hated by the court and the emperor. But what happened to this situation now?
Naturally, they didn't know that Zhang Mingwei used his writing skills to show the direct and indirect consequences of the harm caused by Shanxi merchants to the world.
No, when watching the prison cars of these Shanxi merchants approaching, this time, someone finally started to curse loudly instead of spitting. After all, there is only one chance to scold him, and there will definitely be no chance to scold him again after the public trial.
At this time, when the eight Shanxi merchants heard their scoldings and saw some people even holding up spiritual tablets to scold them, they suddenly understood. But in this case, they were a little dumbfounded. Is this something that is reviled by thousands of people and will be infamy for eternity?
Even the legendary Qin Hui couple who knelt at the Yuewang Temple in Lin'an probably never "enjoyed" such treatment, right? Looking at this posture, it is very likely that the final result will be worse than that of Qin Hui and his wife?
Thinking of this consequence, these Shanxi merchants, who had already had the consciousness of death, suddenly shuddered.
If it was just death, they had definitely thought that if they were to commit the crime of interfering with prisoners, they would definitely die if they were discovered by the court. Even if the whole family is buried with them, they are mentally prepared.
However, even after death, they were still in a state of infamy, even worse than Qin Hui and his wife. They probably had not thought about it beforehand.
But at this moment, whether they had thought about it or not, it no longer mattered.
Amidst the scoldings of thousands of people, three cannons were fired, and hundreds of civil and military officials lined up from the Forbidden City and stood separately under the Forbidden City. Needless to say, this is a prelude to the public trial that is about to begin.
Sure enough, the soldiers who were maintaining order began to shout loudly to silence the Meridian Gate Square.
The eight major Shanxi merchants got this opportunity and finally took a breather, but they found out, what kind of scene is this? Why is such a big scene, they can't understand it?
To their surprise, even Emperor Chongzhen came out.
When the voice of "Long live my emperor, long live the emperor" rang out in the square, the eight major Shanxi merchants were shocked again.
If this kind of scene ends better than Qin Hui and his wife, unless the sun comes out from the west!
Emperor Chongzhen felt exactly the opposite to them. Faced with the roar of the mountains and the tsunami of shouts of "Long Live the Mountains", and watching so many people salute him, to be honest, he liked this scene.
"Sir, this public trial idea is really good!" Emperor Chongzhen had already made up his mind before the public trial started.
Next, naturally, Emperor Chongzhen began to publicly try the eight major Shanxi merchants in accordance with the public trial matters arranged for him by Zhang Mingwei.
To show the majesty of the emperor in front of so many people, to expose the cancer on Ming Dynasty to the public, and then to kill them, to win the support of so many people, to be honest, Emperor Chongzhen was very dedicated.
Huang Yunfa's confession came first, and there were truckloads of physical evidence. More importantly, when these Shanxi merchants were arrested, they were also arrested together with the Jianlu sent by Liaodong to contact them.
Not to mention, even if the eight major Shanxi merchants refused to plead guilty, some of them, the group of Shanxi merchants who were colluding with the captives, would plead guilty. For example, the wife and children who were heartbroken by Fan Yongdou, etc.
This public trial was not because the facts of the crime were unclear, but because they were made public and aroused the people's resentment towards the criminals and gratitude to the court.
After the entire process was completed, Zhang Mingwei, who had been standing behind Emperor Chongzhen, walked to the front desk. Clearly, he had something to say.
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