The Executioner: The Interweaving of Wealth and Loneliness
Executioner, this ancient profession has always been filled with awe and curiosity. They carried out executions in silence with sickles in hand, and at the same time became a symbol of fear in the hearts of many. They fought to the death with the prisoners, but they themselves fell into a lonely situation with no destination.
Engaging in the profession of executioner actually has certain risks. First, ancient societies were generally superstitious that people who practiced this profession had ugly faces and bad images. This left the executioners few candidates, and they became lone heroes in society.
And because his hands were stained with too much blood, the executioner was mostly lonely for life, unable to have an heir. They pay a huge price for family life and often become marginalized in society.
But why would anyone want to pursue the profession of executioner? The main reason is that executioners can earn relatively high wages. In ancient times, we cannot know what kind of remuneration an executioner could get for cutting off a person's head, but in the late Qing Dynasty, an executioner could get 4 silver dollars for killing a person, which was an absolutely high salary. In contrast, at that time, it was a problem for ordinary people to earn half a silver dollar a month.
The executioner's salary is not earned anytime, anywhere. In ancient times, the beheading of death row prisoners was often carried out only in the autumn, and the execution was carried out immediately only when there was a "beheading decision". We thought that the executioner could complete the decapitation in an instant with a single sword, but this is not the case.
Before the executioner performs this act, there will be a special master to teach him the tricks of beheading and the way to make money. And after visiting the master, it is also necessary to satisfy the master by asking for bribes. For the same person, the executioner can choose to let the prisoner die quickly, or he can let the prisoner slowly leave this world under the blade. Everything is in the hands of the executioner.
This also led to conditional death row inmates' relatives bribing executioners to get prisoners to die quickly. According to data, in 1914, the Beiyang government promulgated the Law on the Punishment of Bandits, which stipulated that the death penalty should be shot by gun, making shooting the main way to carry out the death penalty.
The last executioner in history, Deng Haishan, worked for the Changsha County Office in Hunan Province, and it is reported that the number of thieves killed by Deng Haishan's hands reached at least 200 to 300. After each mission, Deng Haishan was paid at least four silver dollars.
After receiving his salary, Deng Haishan and the members of the Public Office Garrison enjoyed drinking and eating meat together, and supported a group of bottomless friends with their high salaries. However, when he tried to join the Good Hall, he was refused on the grounds that he had killed too many people and was not qualified to enter the Good Hall.
Deng Haishan's master once told him, "Kill ninety-nine, and then you must stop." Unfortunately, Deng Haishan did not listen. It is said that Deng Haishan eventually cut off the heads of at least 300 prisoners. His hands were stained with too much blood to join the Good Hall, and in the end he ended up with a tragic end, childless and lonely for life.
The profession of executioner is full of honor and pain. They have used their lives to uphold justice for society, but they have also fallen into the vortex of loneliness. They are a respectable being that deserves our deep reflection and reflection.
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