He Became King Sejong’s Lifelong Prime Minister - Chapter 108

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Great Fire of Hanyang (7)

A certain sage of the internet once evaluated the death penalty system like this.

‘Even if the death penalty is not carried out, its mere existence has the effect of deterring budding criminals as the highest legal punishment.’

I agree with his words.

Even if the death penalty is not executed, it certainly has the effect of making rotten-hearted bastards who are about to commit crimes think twice before doing evil deeds, whether murder or theft.

Of course, I don’t know how much crime prevention effect the death penalty system had on these arsonists who were caught here…

But after seeing how the guy who was dragged out before them gets beaten up when he doesn’t speak properly, their thoughts will certainly change a lot.

An enormously loud scream burst from the mouth of the guy I was torturing with Juri.

“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”

Upon hearing this sound, all the composure remaining on the faces of the arsonist bastards completely disappeared.

They say even animals tremble when they stand before a slaughterhouse, knowing they’re about to die, and though these are vicious bastards worse than animals, seeing their comrade being tortured seems to have made them properly realize their situation.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I have any intention of forgiving their crimes or showing them any mercy.

“Tighten the Juri more. Twist it until the bones are completely exposed!”

“Yes, Chief Inspector My Lord!”

“Don’t kill him, just torture him until right before death. To the point where they regret being born into this world, where not being dead yet becomes their greatest sorrow!”

If these bastards had even the slightest extenuating circumstances, I wouldn’t torture them to this extent.

But there are absolutely no extenuating circumstances.

So what can I do, you’ll have to die as miserably and painfully as possible.

That’s the only chance to make your worthless lives even slightly valuable.

Receive cruel punishment and become living exhibits, showing the residents of Hanyang directly what happens when you set fire to perfectly good houses.

This should have quite a crime prevention effect.

The guy I was torturing with Juri lost consciousness.

His shin bone was exposed, and blood he had shed pooled beneath his legs.

“Pour cold water on him immediately to bring him back to consciousness!”

“Yes, My Lord!”

When I splashed cold water on him, the bastard came to his senses.

“Please, please spare me. No, please just kill me quickly. I was truly wrong, I’ll never do it again. Please, please, please just kill me quickly.”

“Why would I kill you quickly to give you comfort?”

I really love Japan’s death penalty system.

Personally, I think Korea needs to import their death penalty system.

In Japan, they execute by hanging, but they carry it out at a time when the death row inmate ‘completely doesn’t expect it.’

They keep death row inmates locked in prison for as short as 2-3 years, or as long as over 10 years.

So when the death row inmate thinks ‘I probably won’t be executed’ after seeing that the execution hasn’t been carried out for so long, that’s when they execute them.

Because the people they murdered also met sudden, unexpected deaths at times they never anticipated.

They execute suddenly so that the death row inmates can feel exactly the same emotions – what an excellent method this is.

I too will make these bastards taste fear and terror as similar as possible to what the Common People who died in the fire felt.

‘Realize the weight of the sins you committed.’

“You bastards probably set the fire just to steal a Seom of Rice or a bolt of silk. Because of that, countless people burned to death. The sight of them moaning with their entire bodies charred black, begging to be killed, was truly like Hell itself. They died suffering such agony despite committing no sins, so if you bastards who committed sins as heavy as Mount Tai die comfortably without experiencing the same pain, wouldn’t that be truly unfair?”

Just because I do this doesn’t mean the dead will come back to life.

Yes, this is nothing more than my Tantrum, if we’re being honest.

However, this fact will be a great comfort to the bereaved families who lost loved ones in this fire and the disaster victims who lost their homes.

The fact that those bastards couldn’t die comfortably when they died will make their hearts feel much lighter.

“Hey there! Bring several Millstones immediately, and bring washboards used for laundry too! Make this Criminal kneel on the washboard and place the Millstones on his legs!”

The tools I ordered were quickly delivered to the Uigeumbu.

They made the Butcher, whose shinbone was already protruding, kneel on the washboard with his arms bound.

And immediately the Millstone was placed on top of his legs.

The sound of his shinbone, thighbone, and pelvis being crushed and his screams echoed throughout the Uigeumbu.

Blood from his body flowed like a river beneath the washboard.

In the middle, he lost consciousness again, so we splashed water on him to wake him up.

After repeating the cycle of screaming and fainting several times, half a sijin (1 hour) had already passed.

“Stop for a moment. I’m curious if you’re now ready to speak properly. Who else conspired with you bastards in this matter?”

“Dalse, Mireuk, Bonno, Gaettong, Makgu… who live in Baenamu Valley near Namchon…”

“Quite a lot of them.”

“Yes, My Lord…”

When Master Juri and Dr. Millstone combined their efforts, proper sounds finally came from the beast’s mouth.

Among the internet stories I’ve seen, there was a joke that even foreigners who don’t know Korean would quickly learn Korean if they were put through Juri torture…

I thought that might actually be a quite credible story.

If we mobilized various high-grade interrogation tools here, we’d get even better results.

“Now, is there anyone among the others who wants to confess before suffering this fate?”

“This is really all of it. Besides those bastards, there’s no one else…”

I’m not Gung Ye, but I could tell that this garbage arsonist bastard was spouting possessed nonsense.

Fine, let’s see you continue. I won’t just sit still either.

“If you don’t tell This Magistrate everything honestly, the next ones to receive this torture will be your wives and children.”

Upon hearing my words, the arsonists suddenly raised their voices and shouted.

“We’re the ones who committed arson, so why would you bring our innocent wives and children to torture them? This doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s because you set fire to Hanyang, and because of that, the Royal Palace and Jongmyo were in danger of burning. Moreover, over a thousand people burned to death and one-fifth of Hanyang was completely burned down. If this isn’t treason, then what is?”

Upon hearing the word treason, the arsonists’ faces all turned deathly pale.

I guess they finally realized they were truly fucked.

Well, not that I have any intention of sparing them anyway.

And for this case, I’m going to apply guilt by association very severely.

Their wives and children are innocent except for having the wrong husband and father, but even so, for this case, I can’t stop it either.

‘I’m also somewhat reluctant to torture wives and children.’

It’s already unfair to lose your head for the crime of having the wrong family, but adding torture to that really doesn’t seem right.

However, using them to threaten these bastards is a separate matter.

“If you don’t want to watch your wives and children suffer all kinds of torture with your own eyes wide open right there on the spot, then spill everything right now. There must not be even the slightest thing you hide.”

Whether they properly understood my words, after that the bastards spilled everything very smoothly without hiding anything.

As a result, we succeeded in catching all the bastards related to this arson.

And very heavy punishments were handed down to all those involved.

**

Countless people gathered at Jongro Market.

For Joseon people who usually lacked entertainment and things to enjoy, executions had been regarded as entertainment, and it was naturally accepted to applaud when a death row prisoner’s head flew off in one stroke.

But now there wasn’t a single person happy that those who deserved to die were being executed for their deadly crimes.

That was because the suffering experienced by Hanyang Citizens was far too great.

In front of the gathered people, the official in charge of the execution recited what deadly crimes the death row prisoners had committed and how they would be executed.

And the arsonists, no, the wives and children of the arsonists were dragged out first.

In the original history, only the male family members of arsonists who caused fires were subjected to collective punishment and beheading, but because the scale of the fire had become seriously large and due to the enraged King Sejong and King Taejong, the scale of punishment had grown larger.

“Because of these arsonists, countless Common People living in Hanyang lost their families and had no choice but to watch them die while shedding tears. Therefore, His Majesty has commanded that the arsonists suffer the same pain. Behead their children first and then behead their wives.”

Over 100 arsonists were tied to the execution pyre and forced to watch their wives and children die first.

“No! This can’t happen!”

They screamed, but the beheading was carried out in an instant.

The arsonists now experienced firsthand the pain of those who lost their families because they set fires.

There wasn’t a single person in Hanyang who sympathized with the death row prisoners’ suffering.

“Light the fire!”

Neither Joseon nor the Ming Dynasty had any cases of using burning at the stake as a method of execution.

However, with the unanimous agreement of both the king and his ministers that these scoundrels should not be given an easy death, burning at the stake was decreed for them.

As the flames blazed fiercely and their bodies burned away, their groans and screams echoed throughout the market guild.

People threw stones wildly at the scoundrels.

“Because of you bastards, our mother passed away! Oh, mother…”

“Bring back our Makdong, you sons of bitches!”

Just as they were nearly dying in the flames, the executioner and others stepped forward and suddenly extinguished the fire.

The Hanyang citizens who witnessed this scene were momentarily bewildered, then burst into cheers all at once.

“Long live! Long live His Majesty who did not let those bastards die comfortably!”

“Tear their limbs apart!”

“Yes, this is it!”

This was Kim Dae-bung’s idea, thinking that killing them nicely with just burning at the stake alone was insufficient.

The concept was to make them directly experience the pain of burning to death, then tear their limbs apart while still alive to double their suffering.

Following his idea, all those who set fire to Hanyang and those who tried to commit evil deeds taking advantage of the fire paid for their crimes and died.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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