Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1642
Xu Cifu suddenly jumped out to remind everyone to discuss the matter as it stands, but with just this action, the spirits present immediately began to speculate on his intentions for doing so.

In other words, successful politicians seem to have studied criminal psychology, because in the eyes of politicians, no matter what another politician does or says, the first thing that needs to be considered is the motive of the other party.

Xu Guo's motives are not difficult to guess.Although the alliance between him and Shen Li can be regarded as a force in the real school, after all, it only relies on their two signature figures, and there are really too few capable generals under the two of them.The fault is that both of them are in high positions, otherwise they would definitely not be able to compete with Yu Yin, the third chief assistant under Gao Yushi.

What's more, in addition to the three first assistant Yu Yin, Gao Yushi has already demonstrated his all-round talents in civil and military affairs, and his reputation among the nine generals is unparalleled in the world.Unless the imperial court is already at ease, his status in the eyes of the emperor will never be shaken.

Under such circumstances, Xu Cifu, as another faction within the pragmatism school, could not hope to overthrow Gao pragmatism, but could only hope that the power position of high pragmatism would not continue to expand.Therefore, he jumped out and said these words must be because he did not want to see the power of Mengyuan Jinglue being too inflated.

Wu Dui spoke immediately, coughed lightly, and said slowly: "What Cifu said is very true, and it is reasonable to discuss the matter according to the facts. But in my opinion, the current problem is not above the power boundary of the Meng Yuan Jinglue position. It's about whether Shang Fangjian's power should be limited... If you think there should be, why is it?"

Xu Guo frowned when he heard this, and doubted Wu Dui's intention in his heart: Could it be that you want to say that imperial power is unlimited?
But after thinking about it carefully, I feel that Wu Dui should not ignore the "principle" like this-you are also a civil servant, don't you know whether the imperial power should be restricted or not?Isn’t the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty exactly what we civil servants have been trying to limit for the past 200 years?It's just that this can't be said clearly. After all, the emperor himself is the embodiment of "heaven", which is inviolable and supreme in principle.

But even so, it is debatable whether the Shangfang sword representing the emperor also enjoys full imperial power. After all, it is only a sword bestowed by the emperor. The imperial power it represents is naturally incomplete.

All of you present are well-educated people, and they all know the origin of "Shang Fang".The so-called "Shangfang" used to be a department under the jurisdiction of the "Shaofu" official office in charge of the clothes, food, housing, transportation and utensils of the emperor and royal nobles in the imperial palace. In charge of the emperor's imperial sword and other utensils.

The organization began in the Warring States Period and continued after the Qin and Han Dynasties. There is a record in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" that "Shang Fangling has one person and six hundred stones".It can be seen that the so-called Shangfang sword and Shangfang sword are high-quality swords cast from the imperial palace.This kind of sword is usually hidden in Shangfang. It is made of selected materials and exquisite in workmanship. It is painted with dragon and phoenix patterns.

According to the "Han Shu Zhu Yun Biography", Zhu Yun once wrote to the emperor: "The minister is willing to give Shang Fang a sword to cut the horse, and cut off one of the courtiers to punish the rest." This historical material is about Zhang Yu, the teacher of Emperor Han Cheng, the prime minister, and Marquis of Anchang who corrupted the law. , Occupying fertile fields and oppressing the common people, Zhu Yun asked the emperor to give Shang Fang the horse-slaying sword to kill Zhang Yu, so as to make a warning to everyone.

But it didn't work out. Emperor Cheng thought that he had committed an offense against the superior. In a rage, he ordered the guards to drag Zhu Yun out and behead him.Zhu Yun clung to the railing of the palace, but the guards used too much force and tore him and the railing apart.Fortunately, there were honest officials nearby at that time who spoke well of Zhu Yun, so that the disaster of killing him was avoided.And "Zhu Yun Zhelan" has become an idiom allusion that loyal ministers dare to advise.

It can be seen from this that the Shangfang Sword would not be easily given during the Han Dynasty. "Book of Later Han·Cai Lun Biography" also records that Cai Lun (the one who improved the papermaking technique) was promoted to Shang Fang Ling and supervised the production of Shang Fang Sword.And Cai Lun later said that "the weapon used by the emperor should not be used by the ministers for private use" and so on.

As for the power represented by the Shangfang Sword, until the Tang Dynasty, most of the officials who were awarded the Shangfang Sword by the emperor had not been able to decide to kill without asking the emperor for instructions.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin added a yellow robe and seized the power of the Later Zhou Dynasty. He began to implement the privilege of Shangfangjian, giving a few senior generals the power to "kill illegally if I come in person."According to the records of "Wu Jing Bei Yao" in the Song Dynasty: "In the system of this dynasty, every time the general goes out to challenge, he will be accompanied by his sword, and those who violate the order will be killed."

Not only the Song Dynasty, but also the Liao and Jin dynasties also had examples of using the sword to kill, but it was mostly in the military and political fields, mainly to solve the problem of military commanders who were far away from the capital and court when they went out to fight. The actual problem of fighter jets is also the origin of "the general is out, and the king's life is not accepted".

However, before the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the emperors adhered to the principles of cautious use and military use of Shangfang swords, and the power of military commanders to kill was also subject to certain restrictions.For example, in "Song History Chen Zhizhong Biography", when Zhao Kuangyin bestowed the general Cao Bin Shang Fangjian, he ordered: "Below the deputy general, those who do not obey orders can be killed."

In later generations, Bao Zheng was probably the first to become famous for making TV dramas, but in fact, the Song Dynasty did not use the "Shang Fang Sword" in the judicial field, or specialize in punishing privileges.

Bao Zheng, the prefect of Kaifeng, used the leading guillotine, tiger-headed guillotine, and dog-headed guillotine to deal with the law-breaking emperor's relatives, corrupt officials and local bullies respectively.In the TV series, it is also said that Baogong, the prefect of Kaifeng, has a Shangfang sword that "cuts the faint king at the top and the courtiers at the bottom". This is obviously the result of excessive artistic processing.

The root cause is probably due to the existence of the Shangfang sword in history, coupled with the people's incomparable respect for upright officials and the expectation that Bao Qingtian would punish the evil and promote the good. In fact, the use of the Shangfang sword in the Song Dynasty was not common.

In the Yuan Dynasty, there was also Shangfang Sword, but it was more used as a symbol and reward of imperial power, and there was a grand ceremony of awarding the sword.For example, during the reign of Emperor Shizu Kublai Khan, the Taoist Zhang Liusun cured the queen's illness with miraculous medicine.Zhang Liu and Sun Guci didn't dare to take the title, so they took the title of Shangqing, and ordered Shangfang to cast a sword as a gift, and built Chongzhen Palace in Xijing to be in charge of temple affairs.It can be seen that this fashionable square sword has not been widely used in national government affairs and military conquests.

In the seventh year of Zhiyuan (1270), armed rebellions against Mongolia broke out in Sichuan and Shaanxi. The senior official and the prime minister suggested that the general Shang Fang should be granted the power of "special killing" with the sword to suppress the bandits, and the court was ready to adopt it.

However, at this time, Gao Ming, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy and a censor, raised objections.He believes that: the Yuan system ordered the world to report death row prisoners, and they must be approved before execution. This is a practice of prudently using punishment and caring for people's livelihood.Now if we follow the request of the Ministry of Education, "it will open the way for the world to kill without permission, which will greatly harm the benevolent government."Kublai Khan adopted Gao Ming's suggestion that he should not kill indiscriminately and suppress the people, and did not grant the conquest general the privilege of "exclusive killing".

The Shangfang swords of the previous dynasties were more symbolic than practical, so what about Daming?The elders of the pavilion looked back and found that Shang Fangjian really started to "show power" since the Ming Dynasty.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the main symbol of power for the generals to go to war was the king's order flag given by the emperor, but the king's order flag can only be done cheaply, and has no right to kill.

This is actually quite normal. After all, there has been a basic idea in all Chinese dynasties called "human life is at stake."You have to ask, where does this kind of thinking manifest itself?In the Ming Dynasty, if criminals were to be executed, it generally required the emperor's imperial pen and Zhu Zhu to approve it. Giving Shang Fangjian gave officials the power to kill people directly. Of course, this is a very large authority.

However, there is a problem here. Although the Shangfang sword was not as rare in the Ming Dynasty as it was in previous dynasties, it was from the Wanli Dynasty that Shangfang sword was given frequently and the right to kill was really started.To be more careful, it can be said that it started from the "Three Great Signs of Wanli".

For example, the most clear record in the original history is that Shang Fangjian was bestowed on Wei Xuezeng during the Boba Rebellion. The original text of "Shenzong Veritable Records" is this: "...and give Wei Xue Zeng Shangfang sword to cut down those who don't die in battle to suppress the military law. Shangqiu was responsible for learning to punish the thieves for several months. While playing with the generals, there is still the desire to wait and see. Use the army in order to use it, and I will give you a sword, and the general who does not want to die will be beheaded in front of the army."

It has been said many times before that Emperor Wanli has a characteristic, that is, once he decides to employ people, he is absolutely unambiguous in terms of power, and will not be shaken by early defeats.Unless this person holds great power and is unfavorable in doing things for a long time, it will arouse the emperor's anger, and then let it go, kill what should be killed.

In the past, Gao Yushi was awarded Shangfang sword when he went to war, but his authority was also limited to the generals, so the Korean and Chinese officials did not express any dissatisfaction, just like Wei Xuezeng who worshiped Pingbo in history.

Later, the number of Shangfang swords began to increase, and almost all the civil servants and coaches in the three major campaigns were given Shangfang swords.For example, Li Hualong, the governor of Pingyang Yinglong, and Xing Jie, the manager of North Korea, were all among them.Of course, Yang Gao was probably the most famous among the ministers who were awarded the Shangfang Sword in the last years of Wanli. Since this matter is too famous, there should be no need to repeat it.

However, the Wanli Dynasty bestowed Shangfangjian on the occasion of a major event. To fight a big battle, it is necessary to mobilize many soldiers and horses under the command of one person, so it is understandable to bestow Shangfangjian.However, something went wrong at the end of the Ming Dynasty, especially the emperor Chongzhen, who gave swords like Chinese cabbage, which finally led to a matter that has been debated until later generations, that is, Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong.

In fact, Yuan Chonghuan's killing of Mao Wenlong was essentially a matter of defining "Shang Fangjian's authority".In other words, whether the Shangfang sword in Yuan Chonghuan's hand could kill Mao Wenlong - the question was not whether it was done right, but whether it could.

It is precisely because the privileges of Shangfang Sword are not clearly stipulated, so in fact, the power of each Shangfang Sword bestowed is not necessarily the same, depending on what the emperor's imperial decree says.

Before Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, the recorded privileges of Shang Fangjian were roughly the same.At the end of the Wanli period, Yang Gao’s Shangfang Sword was first granted by someone who applied for a sword for Yang Gao. At that time, it was officially recorded that “those below the commander-in-chief who do not die can practice military law.” However, although the emperor approved this application, he later granted Shangfang the sword. At that time, the authorization statement was changed to "those who are not willing to die under the general will be killed first and played later."

Although the premise is "there are those who don't want to die", the scope has been changed from "below the commander in chief" to "below the general", and the rights have been changed from "be engaged in military law" to "kill first and play later".Yang Gao’s Shangfang sword, when granting the right to "cut first and then play" and pointed out the premise of "those who do not die", also used a long paragraph of words to show from the background at that time and the reciprocal statements of the monarch and ministers what is meant by "do not die". "Desperate"—in fact, it is mainly aimed at those who are greedy for life and fear of death, and those who are deserters.

Xiong Tingbi’s Shangfang sword in the early years of the Apocalypse, the official record of the application text is "...Jiachen Shangyu: The cabinet ministers please use the Jinglue Shangshu Xiong Tingbi to be ordered to specialize. With a sword, if the soldiers don't need to die, the deputy commander will go down first and then play."

However, the emperor's authorization statement for bestowing Shang Fang's sword after the application was approved was changed to "Xiong Tingbi still bestows the sword, and those who do not want to be killed by the commander will cut it first and then play it."Although the premise remains the same as "those who don't want to die", the scope of authorization has been changed from "below the deputy commander" to "below the general" at the time of application.

Yuan Yingtai's one has an additional premise that can be cut first and played later.Because he first told the emperor about his bitterness, saying that it is not easy to lead the team if people lose their minds.So the emperor gave a little consolation, and gave Shang Fang a sword saying, "Below the generals, those who violate temperance, those who don't want to die will be killed first and then play."

So here comes the first question, what is the scope of "below the general"?In fact, it is below the commander-in-chief—have you never seen a general called a commander?
Mao Wenlong is of course the chief soldier, and not just the chief soldier.The commander-in-chief is just a job, and more importantly, Mao Wenlong's management officer has already done his best-he is the left governor, a top general.What's even more paradoxical is that Mao Wenlong himself has a Shangfang sword!

Shang Fangjian vs. Shang Fangjian, isn't that the same thing?But it wasn't true, the civil servant Yuan Chonghuan invited Shang Fangjian, and in front of a large number of arrogant soldiers under Mao Wenlong's command, he calmly killed their coach.

No one in the audience dared to jump out to object, not even Mao Wenlong dared to move, so Yuan Chonghuan was allowed to be killed!
Feeling a little chilly down the spine?However, this is a civil official, the civil official when the law was not abolished.

Civil officials killing military generals are like killing pigs and dogs, and the court officials will not have any objections. However, it is inexplicable that after Yuan Chonghuan reported the matter to the court and expressed his guilt, Chongzhen actually expressed his approval for such behavior: "... Being able to think carefully about the situation, pronouncing crimes and rectifying the law is related to the safety and security of the border, and the outside world is not in control, so there is no need to prosecute. All handling matters are handled in accordance with the imperial edict, and still obey the law."

Whether the killing was right or not, later generations have their own conclusions, but Emperor Chongzhen believed that Yuan Chonghuan had the right to kill, which is regarded as an official characterization.As for whether the characterization is accurate or not, and what serious consequences have resulted, these are actually off-topic.Anyway, when Yang Sichang went to suppress the thieves later, he simply made a rule for himself, saying that the chief soldier would not kill if he "doesn't have to die", and only took the seal of the commander and replaced it with a general - which shows how much Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong. The impact is so serious that another top civil servant wants to limit his power by himself.

The elders of the courts are proficient in history, and they are familiar with various systems, and they can find reasons from the standpoint of their own needs.

Xu Cifu said: "There is no such abuser in the previous dynasty, why is my dynasty alone?"

Old Wu Ge said: "Jing Lue Meng Yuan is the hope of the second ancestors, and the world's Zhongxing is doing this. May I ask if there is a story to imitate the previous dynasty?"

At the end of the fight, Shen Shixing finally managed to smooth things over, and as always, he said peacefully: "Everyone has his own reason, why not be the same? I mean that if the supervisor does not want to be ordered, he will be relieved of his military handle and replaced by a supervisor; the deputy envoy will not use it." It is ordered to pick off the black yarn immediately, and Jian Yi will be replaced by an official; the rest will all use Shangfang sword to do it, how about it?"
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(End of this chapter)