Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 610 Even if there are tens of thousands of people, I will still go.

Since Emperor Taizu, only a handful of people have been able to enjoy the punishment of lingchi in the past hundred years.

When Chang Yantai was wrapped in a fishing net and pressed onto the execution platform, many people in the audience were trembling and had wet their pants.

Fortunately, it rained heavily today, so apart from the smell of urine, it was impossible to tell from the outside who was frightened into incontinence.

Three thousand six hundred cuts, the knife drops and the flesh falls.

The expert in torture among the Dragon Guards didn't even blink when he cut the execution platform with his sword. Blood mixed with mud and water dripped from the execution platform, and finally mixed with the water on the ground, spreading out and finally flowing to the feet of the officials below the platform.

"what……"

Someone finally couldn't bear it anymore, and when the blood touched his feet, he screamed and tried to run away.

"What a coward! Someone, tie him up next to the execution platform and let him watch carefully."

Teacher Xu at this moment was even more stern than Jia Cong had imagined.

Even though his official robe had been soaked by the rain and his finger joints were turning white, he still sat indifferently on the podium, pursed his lips, looked indifferently at the punishments on the stage, and stared coldly at the officials and gentry below the stage with different expressions.

When the frightened official was dragged to the execution platform and tied to the pillar, the imperial guards even carefully pried open his eyes so that he could see more clearly...

“Ah, ah, ah, ah!”

vomit~
Finally, someone couldn't bear it anymore. When he saw a piece of meat flying into the screaming person's mouth, he bent over and vomited.

Unfortunately, even if they wanted to vomit, Xu Jin would not allow them to take their eyes off the execution platform.

The strong men of the imperial guards straightened the backs of those who were bent over, opened their eyes, and made them look directly at the "flesh-slicing" punishment on the platform.

After cutting him with hundreds of knives, Xu Jin finally ordered a suspension of the punishment when he saw that Chang Yantai was about to die.

"It's finally over, ugh~"

"Is Xu Jin a fucking devil? Ugh~"

"Blast him, you must blow him! Ugh~"

"Suppress Chang Yantai, give him ginseng soup and apply medicine, and continue tomorrow!"

Xu Jin's cruelty to Chang Yantai made everyone in the audience shudder.

But something even more cruel was happening behind the scenes. Xu Jin was still firmly seated on the platform, waving his hand and saying, "Bring up the criminal, Lü Man, and continue the execution!"

boom!
The people in the audience were struck by lightning and stood still in a daze.

"Watch carefully, and see what it means that the law of nature is vast and nothing can escape it, and what it means that the law of nature is clear and the law is ruthless!"

Even with heavy rain, it still couldn't stop the people's hatred for the corrupt officials and tycoons who harmed the people.

As the punishment continued, the group of officials and gentry who were originally forced by Xu Jin to come and watch the execution were soon surrounded by the people of Kaifeng one after another.

By the time Lü Man had been cut with hundreds of knives, there were already thousands of people surrounding the execution platform.

When today's punishment came to a temporary end, Xu Jin walked directly onto the execution platform, stepped on the minced meat, and glanced coldly at the pale-faced officials and gentry.

"Look carefully to me, all of you, no matter you are dukes or scholars. As long as you dare to do something harmful to the people, the Emperor's Sword in my hand can kill dukes and dukes, and you too!"

"If the Luo River destroys Luoyang, I will kill a hundred people. If the Yellow River embankment is not protected, everyone I have summoned today should be prepared to risk their lives to block the water of the Yellow River."

Xu Jin suddenly drew his sword and, in front of everyone's shocked gaze, slashed it across the palm of his left hand.

As blood dripped, Xu Jin made his oath to the onlookers.

"I am Xu Jin, ordered by the emperor to inspect the military and political affairs of various prefectures and provinces, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, and the cabinet minister... I hold the emperor's sword and sit in Kaifeng. The flood in Henan is urgent, and the Yellow River is flooding. I know that everyone is worried that the Yellow River embankment will collapse like the Luo River, destroying the city... I swear here that as long as I am here, the embankment will not collapse. Kaifeng City is as solid as a rock..."

"As long as the people in the city are here, I will never abandon the hundreds of thousands of Kaifeng citizens."

"Even if I die, my disciples will still be here."

Jia Cong stood up, took the sword case from his personal soldier, opened it, took out the golden mace, and walked to his teacher.

He raised his golden mace high and shouted, "I am Jia Cong, the Marquis of Kaifeng. Your Majesty has bestowed upon me the title of Imperial Cat. I am here to protect the people of the world and to catch those who bring disaster to the country and its people. I swear today that if the Yellow River embankment is not protected and the people suffer, all those who eat the emperor's food in Kaifeng will be dragged by me to fill up the Yellow River embankment!"

Compared to Xu Jin's way of pacifying the people, Jia Cong's words frightened the officials below the stage even more.

But at the same time, it also made the people more convinced, because what they were most worried about now was that the officials in the city blocked the news and secretly ran away before the levee collapsed.

Now with these words from the Imperial Cat Jia Cong, I feel at least a lot more at ease psychologically.

After all, the officials did not run away, which proves that the Yellow River embankment is still stable, and the people are safe.

……

The doctors in Kaifeng City have been particularly busy these past two days, running back and forth between the mansions of the major families in the city.

After Jia Cong waited for his teacher to finish drinking the medicine in the bowl, he helped him lie down again.

The officials in Kaifeng were frightened and fell ill, while Xu Jin's days of hard work and the rain had triggered a hidden illness, and he collapsed in front of his desk.

Several senior doctors gave almost the same diagnosis: if the patient continued to be ill, his life would be in danger.

"Teacher, I will leave the rest to you. Please take good care of him. If he really gets tuberculosis, it will be fatal."

For diseases like tuberculosis, it is not easy to kill a person in this day and age.

Jia Cong forcibly took over the imperial envoy's office and issued a strict order not to disturb Xu Jin's recuperation.

Not only did he forbid Xu Jin from supervising executions again, he also personally wrote an urgent letter and had it delivered to the capital at an express speed of 800 miles.

How can you treat people like animals?
In the past few years, Teacher Xu Jin has been working non-stop, either inspecting local areas or running around in accordance with imperial orders. Even though he has become ill from overwork, he is still worried about investigating the flood.

Looking at the empty desk, Xu Jin's face was filled with bitterness.

"I had thought I could hold out for a while longer, at least to get through this flood season, but I didn't expect the burden to fall on your shoulders in the end."

Jia Cong patted his shoulder and replied with a smile: "I am young and strong. I can run a horse on my arms. I can take on this task."

Heh~ cough cough~
Xu Jin cooperated with his apprentice, laughed twice, and then started coughing violently.

Jia Cong hurriedly handed him the cup of water to moisten his throat.

"You, do you really not know or are you pretending not to know?"

Xu Jin drank a few sips of water, suppressed his cough and slowed down, then continued: "This is an offensive job, and the offended people are from Henan to the capital. You have seen clearly what happened in Luoyang. This time, many heads are being killed. It is not good to be a butcher! I was supposed to bear this reputation myself, so why do you have to rush forward yourself?"

And there was one more thing that Xu Jin originally planned to do himself.

Relocating hundreds of thousands of people to release flood water and relieve pressure will be infamous for generations if not handled properly.

Not to mention anything else, just the past few days have seen both slow slicing and immediate execution. Xu Jin used the most iron-blooded means to stabilize the people's hearts in Kaifeng City.

Along with it came letters of impeachment against him.

Just from the news that the Dragon Guards had inquired about, many people were scolding Xu Jin for being ruthless and ungrateful, and calling him a modern-day butcher.

If words could kill, all eight generations of the Xu family's ancestors would have been killed time and time again.

Jia Cong was very clear about the consequences behind his iron-blooded approach.

But he doesn't care!
Because for some people, it is impossible to deter the filthiness and cruelty in their hearts without iron-blooded means.

How much money did Luoyang embezzle?

The amount of silver stolen by rats from the Yellow River embankment was at least millions.

With a few hundred thousand taels of silver, they dared to dig the Luo River embankment. With millions of taels of silver, wouldn’t the Yellow River embankment be dug up completely?

Jia Cong's determined gaze made Xu Jin both relieved and worried.

His students said firmly: "If I reflect on myself and do not shrink, even if I am wearing a loose and wide robe, I will not be afraid; if I reflect on myself and shrink, even if there are tens of thousands of people, I will go."

……

Heavy rain, stop and rest.

The water level of the Yellow River continued to rise, and finally in mid-July, it overflowed the dam and began to spread in all directions.

Jia Cong knew that if he didn't find a way to release the flood water and reduce the pressure at this time, the entire Yellow River embankment would be washed away by the flood.

Fortunately, after holding out for more than 20 days, Guide Prefecture and two counties in Shandong and Nanzhili that were originally planned to be used for flood discharge had completed their relocation.

Hundreds of thousands of people heeded the call of the court and brought their families to the highest places in their counties.

When Jia Cong rushed back to Guide Prefecture from Kaifeng, the county town of Yucheng had been emptied, and all the officials and civilians in the county had been moved to an unknown mountain in the county.

The originally lush forest had now become a temporary camp.

Dai Ting's official robe was covered in mud, and the dark circles under his eyes showed that this people-friendly county magistrate had not had a rest for a long time.

After seeing Jia Cong coming back, she hugged him and burst into tears.

"My Lord, Yucheng County is gone!"

As the magistrate of Yucheng County, the parent official of 100,000 Yucheng people, he had to lead the people of the entire county to give up their homes and properties, and go up the mountain with their families and luggage.

For the sake of the overall situation, the same thing happened to Yucheng County as well as the three nearby counties including Xiayi.

Nearly 400,000 people lost their homes for the sake of the greater good. When a hole was opened in the Yellow River embankment and the flood destroyed their homes, I don't know how many people's hearts were bleeding.

When Dai Ting received the news that the county town was flooded, he suppressed all his grievances and resentment in his heart.

He could only wipe away his tears and comfort the people under his rule with red eyes...

Jia Cong patted Dai Ting on the back, comforting this people-friendly official who was born as a juren but was more outstanding than many jinshi masters.

"Yucheng County will never disappear. This is the rebirth of the phoenix. The reborn Yucheng County will be more prosperous than before, and the people of Yucheng County will live better than before. A country thrives in adversity. The people of Yucheng County, the people of Xiayi County, and the 400,000 sons and daughters of the Celestial Empire who sacrificed themselves for the greater good will be forever recorded in the annals of history and will be remembered for thousands of years!"

Jia Cong dragged Dai Ting and walked into the resettlement camp.

It was noon when he arrived at a canteen that could accommodate a thousand people. The canteen was full at this time, and was crowded with people who came to receive food.

"It's the Marquis, the Marquis is back!"

During his short stay in Yucheng County, the Imperial Cat Jia Cong gained unparalleled trust from the people of Yucheng County.

The Marquis said that he would lead the people of Yucheng County to snatch back the ripe crops from the hands of God.

he made it!

The Marquis said that he would lead the people of Yucheng County to defend the Yellow River embankment.

He did it too!
The Marquis said that he would ask the court to properly resettle the people of Yucheng County.

He also did it!

Although the resettlement camp was not as comfortable as home, the imperial court sent bags of fine rice, meat and vegetables were available for every meal, and there were even sheep that were said to be donated by men from the grassland. The ones with milk were given to the children, and the fat ones were turned into mutton, which was cooked into broth and eaten by them.

A simple school had even been built in the camp a long time ago, with teachers giving lectures to the children, and it was said that even the final exams would proceed as normal.

Jia Cong smiled and waved as he walked through the crowd to the rice pot.

Open the lid, and you’ll find pork stewed with vermicelli, fresh mutton soup, and big, soft steamed buns…

"Very good, very good, let's do it. Don't be stingy with the food, let the people eat as much as they can!"

Jia Cong picked up a spoon, found a basin and banged it a few times to suppress the noise in the cafeteria.

"Fellow villagers, fellow villagers..."

Everyone's attention was drawn to Jia Cong, who said with a smile, "Seeing that everyone is living a good life, I feel relieved..."

"Our fellow villagers in Yucheng County, as well as Xiayi, Feng, and Pei counties, have given up their homes for the Yellow River embankment and the interests of the court... You are all great!"

"The court and the people of the world will never forget your contribution. The flood submerged our homes, but it cannot submerge our future. The court will definitely rebuild Yucheng for you, rebuild a stronger Yellow River embankment than before, and rebuild a happier home than before!"

If Jia Cong's declaration were made elsewhere, some people might doubt its authenticity.

But in Yucheng County, the people applauded after hearing what Jia Cong said, out of trust in him.

"We believe in the Marquis!"

"We believe in Lord Royal Cat!"

Bang Bang~
Jia Cong knocked on the basin in his hand again, pulled Dai Ting to his side, stuffed a shovel into his hand, and then waved the big spoon in his hand at the people lined up in an orderly manner.

"Okay, since you all trust me, then just stay here in the camp... Come on, everyone line up, I will distribute food to you with your county magistrate. After everyone has eaten their fill, we can renovate the camp and make it more comfortable for everyone to live in!"

……

Xu Jin’s illness cannot be cured in a day or two.

After receiving Jia Cong's urgent report, the capital city immediately sent important officials out of the capital and rushed to Kaifeng regardless of wind and rain.

Before Jia Cong left, Hai Gangfeng, the cabinet minister, the Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, and the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, personally rushed to Kaifeng Prefecture.

When the officials in Kaifeng City heard that Hai Gangfeng was going to replace Xu Jin, they were stunned.

My goodness, I finally heard that Xu Jin was going back to Beijing and Jia Cong was going to Guide Prefecture, and I thought I could finally take a breath, but I didn't expect something even worse to happen.

Hai Gangfeng's cruelty was even more difficult for them to accept than Xu Jin and Jia Cong.

Because whether it is Xu Jin or Jia Cong, they will temporarily put aside the investigation of the embezzlement case of river management silver for the sake of the overall situation and focus on the Yellow River floods.

Hai Gangfeng was different. After handing over his official duties, he stuffed Xu Jin into the carriage and sent him to the Jinxiangwei camp stationed outside the city with an imperial order.

The Grand Secretary of the Cabinet ordered the Jinxiang Guard to take over the defense of Kaifeng city.

He also ordered the accompanying officials to take over the affairs of the Henan Provincial Administration, the Henan Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office, the Kaifeng Prefecture Government and other government offices in Kaifeng City.

All officials in the city were brought to the imperial commissioner's headquarters for investigation.

(End of this chapter)