As the last feudal dynasty, in order to maintain its feudal rule, the Qing Dynasty will inevitably use a so-called legal means, that is, punishment!
The "Great Qing Laws" are actually laws formulated with reference to the "Great Ming Law", and the punishment of criminals is carried out in five statutory ways: flogging, rod, disciple, stream, and death.
Regarding the death penalty, China has not lacked torture since ancient times, such as car cracking, cannon burning, peeling, lead filling, Ling Chi, etc., and in the Qing Dynasty, it still retained cruel methods such as waist beheading, Ling Chi, beheading, and killing corpses. In particular, Ling Chi's execution, also known as "a thousand knives and a thousand slashes", such as Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang, generals of the Northern Expedition of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, such as Zhang Luoxing and Lai Wenguang, the leaders of the Twist Army, such as Kang Xiaoba, the last Jiangyang thief in the Qing Dynasty who was executed by Ling Chi.
During the Yongzheng period, Yu Hongtu, the main criminal in the Kechang fraud case, was sentenced to waist beheading, and he was also the last prisoner in Chinese history to be beheaded by the waist. Before he died, he rolled on the ground in pain, dipped his fingers in the blood of his lower body, and wrote seven "miserable" words in a row, which reached the ears of the Yongzheng Emperor, feeling that it was really cruel, so he abolished the waist beheading.
Of course, this abolition of waist chopping is not recorded in the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty".
In fact, the abolition of these tortures was in the late Qing Dynasty, with the intervention of Western powers, the Rulers of the Qing Dynasty were influenced by Western ideas on the rule of law, so torture was abolished.
Along with these tortures, there is a system that was a nightmare adjective in the past and is now highly admired by many, and that is the punishment of sentencing last than the death penalty : exile.
When we see historical dramas, we often hear the emperor say this:
"Sent to Ninguta, enslaved with the armored people, never allowed to enter the customs!"
Many people have heard that after being assigned to Ninguta, they often choose to commit suicide, are people who are not afraid of death, but afraid of exile?
Regarding exile, depending on the dynasty, the title is also different, at least there are "migration", "exile", "exile", "distribution", "third-rate", "dispatch" and other penal names.
As early as the qin shi huang period, there was such a punishment, for example, in the ninth year of qin shi huang, the marquis of Changxin rebelled and was executed by qin shi huang, and at the same time, more than 4,000 family members were stripped of their titles and moved to the tomb.
This alternative punishment is also reflected in Tang poems, such as Li Deyu's "In the Path of The Cliff State":
"Ten thousand miles away, a thousand will not return." Where is Cliff State? The ghost door of life is closed. ”
In fact, exile before the Qing Dynasty was also very common, and Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty was also exiled to Huizhou, Guangzhou. In the Song Dynasty, exile in Hainan was only a lighter punishment than the manchu beheading, but it did not hinder Su Dongpo, who actively integrated into the life of the locals, regarded this place as a second hometown, and even wrote the verse "I am originally dan'er, parasitic in Western Shuzhou".
There are also some Ming Dynasty novels that often mention exile punishment, such as "Water Margin", which is about the Song Dynasty, and Lin Chong is exiled to Cangzhou, which is also well known to us since childhood. The book even mentions that exiled prisoners should have tattoos on their faces, such as the word "prisoner", which will accompany the shame of the prisoner's life.
So as feudal rulers, why did they often use the punishment of "exile"?
In fact, this kind of punishment is combined with Chinese Confucianism, and it is also a kind of benevolence that the rulers pride themselves on, called:
"I can't bear to be tortured and killed, and I will go far away."
To symbolize that what you are doing is benevolent government, it is prudent to punish, reduce the rate of heavy punishment, reduce the blood in your hands, and create an image of a benevolent and righteous king.
In addition to political considerations, there are also economic considerations, after all, in the era of people as the main productive forces, the role of one person is still very large. The areas that are distributed are often barren lands, low productivity, and the people are ignorant, and the distribution of these criminals to the past can build the local area, increase the local economy, and strengthen cultural exchanges.
As a means of domination, exile naturally has the role of maintaining social order and stability, and it can be said that it has always been in an important role in thousands of years of history.
For the place of exile, it is also the more remote and the worse the environment, the earliest time there was no development in the south, and the distribution place was often the south. By the time of the Qing Dynasty, the south had developed very richly, while the north had become a backward place.
So back to our topic, in the Qing history dramas, there is often mentioned in a place, that is, the exile of Ninguta!
For example, in the Biography of Zhen Huan, Zhen Yuandao and his family members were personally ordered by the Yongzheng Emperor:
"Zhen Yuandao and his family members exiled Ningguta!"
In the Yongzheng Dynasty, Xiao Guoxing was also exiled to Ningguta by order of the Kangxi Emperor in the case of the unjust case of the Punishment Department.
And when prisoners hear of this punishment, they often smell discolored, and even commit suicide before being exiled.
Regarding Ninguta, in everyone's impression, it seems to be a tower, but in fact, it is not, Ninguta is a place name. Its location is almost in the area of Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, where "Ninggu" means "six" in Manchu, "tower" means "one" in Manchu, and it means "six" in conjunction, but not six towers.
Wu Zhaoqian's son Wu Qichen, who was also assigned to Ningguta, wrote in the Ninguta Chronicle:
"According to legend, there used to be six brothers, each occupying one side, and Manchuria called six Ninggu, one a pagoda, and its Yanninggu Pagoda and Six Yuhuayan also."
Although Ninguta is the land of the Manchurians, it is still relatively desolate in general. The emperor of the Qing Dynasty sent prisoners here, first, this place is relatively remote, belonging to the Great North, a bitter cold place. In addition, the climate here is cold and the environment is harsh, and distribution here can play a punitive role.
For example, Wang Jiazhen wrote in the "Miscellaneous Records of Observations and Stories in the Research Hall":
"Ninggu Pagoda, in the north and south of the Liaodong Pole, goes to Beijing for seven or eight thousand miles." Its land is heavy with ice and snow, not the world, and Chinese there is no one who reaches its land. ”
Moreover, Ninguta is also considered a military town, and since it is a major town, it is indispensable for construction, and construction needs people. Therefore, some dirty work, or some work that others do not want to do, is given to the exiles, and the demand is still great.
Of course, if you really go to Ninguta, it will not be worse than death, after all, there are human beings there, and when we were children, we also read about the Northern Wilderness:
"Sticks beat roe deer scoop fish, pheasants fly into the rice pot."
In fact, what really makes people worse off than dead is the process of exile in Ninguta:
"People say that Huangquan Road, if you go to Ninguta, there will be ten Yellow Springs and you will not be afraid!"
That is to say, the whole road of exile is very difficult, wearing torture equipment, eating and sleeping all the way, starving, and overcoming the cold and beasts, many people have died before they have reached Ninguta.
"The land is heavy with ice and snow, and it is not a resurrection, and it is nine deaths for a lifetime."
But these will not let everyone smell the color change of Ningguta, and the reason why everyone really smells the color change is because of the appearance of a person, this person is called Wu Zhaoqian.
Wu Zhaoqian is the person who was once assigned to Ninguta, lived in Ningguta for twenty or thirty years, and also integrated into the local life, it can be said that he lived quite comfortably, for example, he once wrote:
"During the Ninguta period, the displaced people could not be bad, did not pay grain, and when their lives were difficult, they could still get relief; the displaced people were often the guests of the officials, often accompanying them to banquets and drinking..."
So he should use it as a positive example to prove that Ninguta is not bitter, why does it make everyone more afraid of Ninguta?
In fact, before this, everyone did not pay close attention to Ninguta, and they did not know what kind of life Ningguta was, but Wu Zhaoqian's poetry made everyone understand Ninguta. However, Wu Zhaoqian himself, who asked for help from friends many times, went through ups and downs, and returned to his hometown, and when he returned, he was also unsatisfied with the water and soil, and soon he died.
Instead, this evolved into a concept called the "Wu Zhaoqian" phenomenon.
Since he was a cultural man, his experience was also disseminated, and at this time Ninguta was no longer just a place name, but a symbol of imperial power. If another person is sent to Ninguta, this is an insult, and the literati can not be killed, they can not be rich, but they cannot be without backbone. The distribution of Ninguta became a symbol of bonelessness, and under the concept of relocating the land at that time, when people went there, they were equivalent to losing their souls.
That is to say, before Wu Zhaoqian, people were not sensitive to the distribution of Ningguta, and after Wu Zhaoqian, people began to taboo the word. On the one hand, I really don't understand, and on the other hand, I take it for granted that even if I don't lose my life, my soul is lost.
Therefore, once they hear that they have been assigned to Ninguta, many people would rather commit suicide than go, and over time, Ninguta has become a miserable place in everyone's mouth!