On September 14, the first year of Xuande, after negotiations, Zhu Gaoxu led his troops into Fengyang Mansion without fighting to worship his ancestors. Zhu Gaoxu was the grandson of the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. He wanted to worship his ancestors, the eunuchs and civil and military officials who stayed in Zhongdu.
It was difficult for the officials to find any reason to refuse, and besides, they did not want to be enemies with the King of Han.
Zhang Ning and others followed the army all the way. Nanjing should have been under martial law. It was not easy to enter the city privately. It was useless to go in. Only after the Han Dynasty's army occupied Nanjing could they manage to use Zhu Heng's relationship to
The Zhang family members were rescued from prison.
There was another follower beside them: Zhao Erhu. Apart from saying that he wanted to rebel, Zhang Ning told him the actual situation. He was a wanted criminal. But Zhao Erhu still wanted to follow him, maybe because he was a stable man in his hometown.
Those who do not come down are also hindering their kindness.
The group of people stayed temporarily with the army in Fengyang. In the evening, Zhu Heng returned to his residence and talked to Zhang Ning as usual. Seeing that Zhu Heng was hesitant to speak, Zhang Ning said: "If Zhu Butang has something to say, tell him directly.
That’s it.”
Zhu Heng then said: "Some of the people we sent to Nanjing before were expelled from the city and returned."
Zhang Ning calmed down and followed his intention and said: "It is not a bad thing. Although the envoy was driven away, it shows that the officials in Nanjing did not want to offend the King of Han. Otherwise, they should arrest all those people and even behead them to show their determination."
"That's right. But..." Zhu Heng said, "The people who came back told the news that people from the Ping An family... were executed by Ling Chi."
Zhang Ning was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously repeated: "Ling Chi?"
Zhu Heng said: "Commonly known as killing with a thousand cuts, the criminals are stripped naked and tied up in the market. The executioner has to cut a thousand pieces of flesh from their bodies before they die. It usually takes several days of pain to finish, and some even kill them at night.
You have to sprinkle salt water on the wound, which is extremely painful... This is one of the most severe punishments in the Ming Dynasty, worse than being put in a frying pan."
The bloody scene of human flesh falling piece by piece with the knife emerged in Zhang Ning's mind, and he murmured: "There are two women in my uncle's family, and here... there is also a little girl of several years old. The child will also be killed.
Treat it like this?"
Zhu Heng sighed, and after a while he said apologetically: "I guess that the message written by Brother Ping'an was spread out, and the emperor knew that it was you who wrote it, and the emperor was so angry that he would use this severe punishment."
Veins were popping up on Zhang Ning's forehead, his eyes were red, and they were filled with tears. After the soul piercing, he never regarded Zhang Jiujin's family as relatives, but at least he got along with them, and they were very familiar people around him...
The most unacceptable thing is the little niece. At an age when she didn’t understand anything, Zhang Ning pinched her cheek and bought her a small toy when she went back. None of the five members of the family were treacherous or evil, they were all kind-hearted.
An ordinary person was subjected to such bloody and cruel methods. Zhang Ning's heart trembled.
"Brother Ping'an..." Zhu Heng said nicely, but he opened his mouth but didn't know how to comfort him.
"I want to calm down alone and say goodbye." Zhang Ning stood up, feeling dizzy.
Zhu Heng said hurriedly: "Come here, let Mr. Ping An rest."
A servant came in to help Zhang Ning, but he pushed him away. Zhu Heng personally followed him out of the living room, followed him to the side room entering the courtyard, and stopped after explaining to Zhang Ning's entourage.
When Fairy Peach Blossom saw Zhang Ning walk straight into the Nuan Pavilion and sit down slumped, her expression was extremely abnormal, and she quickly asked Lao Xu: "What did Mr. Zhu say?" Lao Xu whispered: "The Zhang family members were killed, and Lingchi was executed."
Fairy Peach Blossom's expression changed, and she remembered the time when she tried to save someone but failed.
No one dared to disturb Zhang Ning, so they could only look after him outside. He sat on the chair for a long time and didn't eat dinner.
Zhang Ning knew about some inhumane punishments in ancient times. He also figured out the absurd "rationality" of this matter. Even if Zhu Zhanji did something inhumane, no one would say that he was wrong;
Just like Taizong ordered living people to be thrown into a pot of oil and boiled into bones, it still did not affect his ability to become a great emperor.
Maybe under normal circumstances, killing a few people is not such a big crime in comparison.
Zhang Ning tried hard to recall the face of Zhu Zhanji he had seen before. This young man who was less than thirty years old was still related to him by blood. But Zhang Ning no longer had any feelings for him. Maybe one day this person could
If it falls into his hands, he can also taste the taste of killing a thousand swords.
At this moment, Zhang Ning became cold-hearted, and a hatred quickly took over his body and mind, stimulating his angry youth nature, and he hated all the rules of this society to the extreme.
"Come here, sharpen the ink." Zhang Ning turned around and found that his voice was hoarse.
The Peach Blossom Fairy hurried in and accompanied him carefully to serve him with his pen and ink. She spread the paper in front of Zhang Ning, put the brush dipped in ink into his hand, and whispered: "Sir, why don't you beat me and scold me?"
Let’s have a meal.”
"Bullshit!" Zhang Ning said, and then said, "It's none of your business. I never wanted to blame you. Don't think about it too much." His speech was clear and he seemed to be much more normal.
Zhang Ning wrote the note and said, "Let everyone prepare. We will leave here directly after we leave the city tomorrow. I will leave a note for Zhu Butang in the room."
Everyone was dead, and Zhang Ning felt that there was no need to continue to follow the King of Han. He just wanted to go back and rebel.
The relationship between the Zhang family and him was not as good as a normal relationship, but what happened also aroused Zhang Ning's great hatred. And those survivors who had been tortured by Emperor Yongle were all their relatives. He
I believe that this group of people are out-and-out anti-social elements and can definitely serve as staunch supporters in the early stages of the uprising, even if they feel no hope of success.
The next day, when Zhu Butang went to the Central Army, Zhang Ning took his entourage and took the horses out for a walk. With the stamped letter from Zhu Heng, Zhang Ning and others had no difficulty walking around the city and leaving the city. As soon as they left the city, they walked along the
He went up the Huaihe River and rode his horse straight to the west. When the Han king's men found out, they couldn't catch up, so they probably didn't bother to pursue him.
A few days later, the group turned south, crossed the Yangtze River, and entered the territory of the Huguang Chief Envoy Office. The way back was getting closer and closer.
One day, everyone rested in an inn. Seeing that Zhang Ning was unhappy, the Peach Blossom Fairy stayed in his room and said, "I feel the same way as Mr. Ping An. I have also lost a family member."
After hearing this, Zhang Ning remembered that Taohua Fairy and Fang Ling were together, and they should also be the descendants of Jianwen's legacy. He had not asked in detail before, but when he heard her comforting him, he couldn't help but ask: "I heard Miss Fang said
, your original surname is Wang, right?"
Peach Blossom Fairy nodded and said: "My real name is Wang Xiangu..."
When Zhang Ning heard this, she almost couldn't be happy if she hadn't been in a bad mood these past few days. She asked again: "Have you heard of Wang Jingzhi?"
Zhang Ning thought for a long time and shook his head helplessly.
Fairy Peach Blossom said: "My late father's nickname is Jingzhi, and he was second in the palace examination in the second year of Jianwen. Originally, he should have been a Jinshi in terms of writing, talent and learning, but because of my father's poor appearance, Emperor Jianwen looked down upon him and gave the top prize to Hu Guang. Later in Nanjing
The city was broken, Hu Guang surrendered to Zhu Di, and his father drank poisoned wine at home to repay the emperor's favor. Zhu Di still refused to let go of our family members. The men were arrested and killed, and the family members were either working as camp prostitutes or official prostitutes. Later,
I was rescued by my late father's friend and wandered all the way in the world, and finally joined Peng Tianheng, a former imperial guard of the Forbidden Army who was engaged in private salt business."
"I was the one who killed Peng Tianheng." Zhang Ning said.
"He also brought the blame on himself. He hasn't done many good things in these years." Fairy Peach Blossom said disapprovingly, "But for us who are running around in the world, there are things that we can't do without today or tomorrow."
Zhang Ning said coldly: "In the case of the imperial meal poisoning case when Yongle was in power, Peng Tianheng just sent the palace maid to death, and he also raped her before. How could this be said? And how did he treat Zhao Erniang? This person and those
Are there any differences between brutal people in power?”
"So I think he brought it upon himself." Peach Blossom Fairy Wang Xiangu no longer argued with him.
At this moment Chunmei walked in and saw Zhang Ning talking there, she smiled: "It's been a long night with nothing to do. I asked for a pair of horse tags from the shopkeeper. Let's play cards with the three of us."
Although they were both from the world of martial arts, Fairy Peach Blossom didn't quite like what this crazy woman did, but she wanted to make Zhang Ning think more openly, so she agreed, "Are you betting on money? I don't have much money."
"It's a waste of time, I'm not interested in gambling." Zhang Ning waved his hand.
Chunmei smiled and said, "I thought of an interesting bet. Let's bet on clothes."
"Ah?" Peach Blossom Fairy was stunned.
Chunmei added: "If you lose, take off one piece of clothing. Isn't it interesting? Mr. Ping An?"
Fairy Peach Blossom blushed immediately, glanced at Chunmei, and then glanced at Zhang Ning out of the corner of her eye. Zhang Ning also looked stunned, then shook his head and said: "Stop joking, you all go to bed early, and get up early tomorrow to get on your way."
The two women had no choice but to say goodbye and exit the room. As soon as they left the room, the Peach Blossom Fairy said angrily: "At this time, you are still joking like that. Fortunately, Ping An has a good temper, otherwise you would be more attractive."
Chunmei smiled and said nothing.
The next day, a group of seven people continued on their way, three men and four women, including the little girl whose nickname was Xiao He. Zhang Ning kept his promise and took the girl with him when he left Fengyang Mansion without even saying hello to Zhu Heng.
I guess Zhu Heng wouldn't take it seriously. The only problem is that this little girl can't ride a horse, so several other women are carrying her. Fortunately, the weight is quite light, and the horses can bear it.
A few days later, after bypassing the important town of Wuchang Prefecture, they entered the territory of Changde Prefecture, but found that there were roadblocks at important pass, and the situation seemed a bit abnormal. Zhang Ninghuai had a forged road guide, but in order to avoid accidents, they simply detoured from the west into Changde
Territory boundary. This road is relatively far, passing through Shimen County. The advantage is that Shimen County is a remote county in the state capital, and the government's governance is relatively weak, and there are not too many inspections on the road.