In the period of feudal society, the emperor held the highest leadership in the country, the power was also very large, the imperial power at that time was inviolable and untouchable, and if you were not careful, you might lose your head, and a person who lost his head was a small matter, and it was likely that he would be planted by the Nine Tribes.
The Jiu Clan can be said to be the most cruel punishment in ancient times, a person who commits a crime will involve all those related to him to be killed, and for those innocent people, it is simply a disaster from heaven. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there were even cases of the "Ten Tribes", and people who had neither blood nor in-laws such as teachers and friends were also killed.
Many people ask, are the relatives and friends of those people stupid? Why not run? In fact, it is not that they don't want to run, but they can't run. First of all, ancient societies were different from today, passing on information to each other for as little as days and as many as months. Even if your relatives who are officials have committed crimes in the capital, you don't know.
Secondly, if you successfully escape, then the survival rate is also very low, in ancient China, their transportation is not particularly convenient, can take them to escape only horse-drawn carriages, so when they live in a city, rarely go outside, because there are often wars outside, so most of them are afraid to easily go out of the city.
Finally, the ancient population was very poorly mobile, and once a stranger came to a place, it often attracted the attention of the government. In addition, in ancient times, there were corresponding punishments for those who did not report the information, so whistle-blowing became a very common thing.