Chapter 32: Jiangzhou Massacre

  King Wang stood on the high platform, took out a bamboo slip and read aloud in rhythm: "The earth is thick with virtue to carry all things, heaven is broad-minded to govern the universe, the heavens have a way, people follow the norms, Minister Liu Zhang replaces the Son of Heaven to govern Yizhou, diligently fulfills his duty, replaces the heavenly punishment for crimes. Now there are officials in Jiangzhou, Zhang He, Yuan Kuai, Han Chang and 26 others, who cleverly take the people's fat, dance in the official circle, steal the wealth of the great Han, damage the reputation of the Son of Heaven. According to the law of the great Han, they should be beheaded."

  Zhang Ren drew his sword and raised it to the sky, immediately soldiers brought Zhang He and others to the center of the square. Twenty-six executioners raised their large knives, only then did Zhang He and others realize that Liu Zhang was serious. As death approached, their usual arrogance vanished, their faces turned pale with fear, they wanted to shout something but found their throats unable to produce any sound.

  Zhang Ren's command to behead, 26 knife-wielding men chopped down, 26 heads rolled on the ground, Deng Heng and Fei Zhao closed their eyes, the surrounding crowd gasped in shock. These were officials who had been tyrannizing Jiangzhou for over a decade, some for nearly twenty years, saying cut and cutting without any warning yesterday.

  The heads of the Yuan and Han tribes, who had been stirred up by Zhang's words, were now completely gone, their bodies trembling in the scorching sun. They kept asking Zhang a question to which they already knew the answer.

  "Old Zhang, what is Liu Zhang doing? What is he doing? Will we have trouble? Speak up."

  Mr. Zhang's lips began to tremble, and his eyes only had Zhang and that bloody head, constantly muttering: "This is impossible, this is impossible, Liu Zhang must be scaring us, must be scaring us, forcing us to support the four sciences, we're fine, we're fine."

  The governor recorded the case of Deng Chang, who cleverly took and seized wealth, misused the treasury's silver, with a huge amount, and the commoner Deng Chao, who forcibly robbed people's daughters, forced debts and killed people, according to the Great Han law, should be beheaded.

  Deng family juniors Deng Chang and Deng Chao were pushed forward by four Eastern State soldiers, with the executioner's knife raised high. The two men shouted in unison, their voices piercing the air: "Clan leader save me! Brother Deng Xian save me! I don't want to die..."

  A mournful cry echoed throughout the execution ground, except for Liu Zhang closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair, everyone else was heart-wrenching. Deng Xian tightly grasped the hilt of his sword, his eyes fixed motionless on the front. Originally thought that Deng Heng did not know the current situation, trapping the Deng clan in an irreparable disaster, now this result is already the best, what else can be said? Deng Heng dared not open his eyes, thinking only, for the sake of the whole clan, I couldn't save you either.

  Two more heads rolled down, the heads on the grass were like watermelons in a watermelon field, scattered all over the place. Many people didn't dare to look again, but couldn't bear to leave either. The crowd of people gathered grew larger and larger.

  Wang Lei changed another bamboo slip: "Liu He Ma's family, domineering in the countryside, forcibly occupying peasants' land, oppressing tenants, conniving with their own clan members to harm the countryside, following Zhang's family, Yuan's family, and Han's family, gathering crowds to make trouble, resisting the Pastoral Office, colluding with Zhao Wei to rebel, according to the Great Han Law, exterminate the clan."

  "Severely." The two words had barely left his mouth when the entire hall erupted into a deafening commotion, with tens of thousands of people whispering to each other in unison. The aristocratic families who were being held captive turned pale and trembled like leaves in the wind, their eyes filled with infinite fear. The patriarchs of the Yuan and Han clans were speechless, their minds racing with a single thought: if the aristocratic families who had followed them into this mess were to be exterminated, what would happen to themselves?

  More than 200 people were divided into two groups, the first group was taken to the executioner's knife, women and children cried out in anguish, some fainted at the sight of the gleaming blade, being dragged forward by the Dongzhou soldiers.

  Everyone around was shocked, and the common people no longer had a single word of discussion. Many people around the execution ground closed their eyes, and the aristocratic young man who was being held down could not make any movements except for fear, only staring at the two hundred large knives in the center, with cold light piercing through his heart.

  Zhang Ren raised his long sword, just then two officials from Jiangzhou stepped forward and knelt down on the stone steps, saying: "Your Excellency, do not extend punishment to wives and children, do not execute the elderly and weak. We beg you to show mercy, only punish the main culprits, and spare those innocent women and children."

  Two men knocked their heads at the same time, although they were usually oppressed by the officials of the clan, but now they couldn't help standing up to plead for mercy when they saw such a miserable scene. Another dozen or so civilians struggled to push open the long spears of the Dongzhou soldiers and knelt behind the two officials, pleading for the clan's sons.

  When officials came to plead for the powerful families, Liu Zhang's expression didn't change at all. But when the common people risked their lives to come and plead, Liu Zhang's eyebrows twitched. Had he really become like Wang Mang, slaughtering the aristocracy and making even the common people his enemies?

  A young man cried out: "Governor, please spare Ma Xiaolian! They are a good family, I dare to guarantee their innocence with my life. They have never done anything wrong and often help the villagers. Governor, don't kill innocent people indiscriminately!"

  A beautiful woman also cried out: "Please spare my fiancé, we grew up together, I know his character best, he would never commit any crime, please have mercy."

  A group of people knocked their heads together.

  Zhang Ren's raised sword hesitated, and he looked inquiringly at Liu Zhang: "My lord, this..."

  "Kill." Liu Zhang slowly and laboriously squeezed out a single word.

  Zhang Ren raised his sword, ready to strike. The young man and woman saw the long sword about to fall and were shocked to death. The young man shouted: "Governor Zhang, I am Ma Xiaolian's fiancé. If you want to kill me, kill me too! You are a ruthless official who kills people without blinking."

  "How dare you be rude to our lord!" Leng Qian gripped his sword and was about to step forward, but was stopped by Yang Huai beside him.

  "Wu Jun." A woman's shout came from the execution ground: "What nonsense are you talking about? My father doesn't think highly of you at all, and he won't marry me to you. Give up, Governor Zhou, I have nothing to do with him, nothing at all." Then there was a burst of sobbing from the woman.

  The people around were all moved, and some began to shout: "Let them go, let the governor of the state release them."

  Zhang Ren's sword was suspended in mid-air, Liu Zhang's hand grasped the armrest tightly, after a long while, he forced out a breath, "Zhang Ren, I told you to kill, didn't you hear?"

  Zhang Ren felt the sword in his hand was so heavy for the first time, and he couldn't help but close his eyes. The long sword slashed down with great force, and two hundred heads fell to the ground instantly. A burst of heartbreaking wails and cries erupted from the execution ground, and Yang Huai beckoned to the soldiers to drag the civilians away.

  "In the vicinity of Huang's village, they indulged their family members in unlawful activities... According to the great Han law, annihilate the clan."

  "The Yangjiang Wu family indulges in lawlessness among their relatives... According to the Great Han Law, annihilate the clan."

  ………

  As the bamboo slips were read out one by one, heads fell to the ground one after another. The execution grounds were soon filled with heads, and blood flowed into the moat through the ditches on the grassy field. The water in the moat turned red along with the grass, and the sunlight shone upon it. The air was filled with a bloody smell, and the surrounding crowds of people were silent as if they had lost their voices.

  Fresh blood flowed like a stream, flowing in front of the head of the Han family, and the head of the Han family fainted.

  "We support the four scholars' uprising, we support the four scholars' uprising, spare the governor's life!"

  Many of the nobles began to wail loudly, they had been pampered and indulged, death was too far away and too terrifying for them, but now, the bloody scene made them dizzy, the taste of waiting for death made them collapse, they no longer cared about anything, regardless of the conditions, they were willing to agree, as long as they could survive, even if it meant losing everything.

  But it's too late.

  As Zhang Ren's long sword fell again, two hundred heads fell to the ground once more. The number of heads on the execution ground had already exceeded one thousand.

  Fei Zhao finally knew how Liu Zhang would suppress the opposition to the four branches of officialdom within his own clan, and these heads were placed here. Even if Fei Zhao wanted to oppose the four branches of officialdom, there was no one in his clan who would follow him.

  ，！