Great Tang Dynasty

Chapter 567 Amending the Law
The palace, the imperial study.

Li Shimin felt a little strange seeing Qin Tian coming.

"Why did Qin Aiqing suddenly enter the palace?"

"Your Majesty, there was a murder case in the capital a few days ago. Now, I have sorted out the situation of the murder case. Please take a look at it."

Hearing that it was such a thing, Li Shimin frowned slightly. Indeed, a murder case is a major event, but to him, Li Shimin, it was nothing. He usually deals with state affairs, not murder cases.

What is Qin Tian making himself think of such a murder case now?
However, although Li Shimin was a little puzzled, he still picked it up and looked at it, and after he finished reading it, his brows frowned slightly.

"Qin Aiqing, what do you mean by letting me see this?"

"Your Majesty, when the Tang Dynasty was first founded, it was still a state of war among various countries. For the sake of social stability, the laws were stricter. But now that the Tang Dynasty has been established for ten years and has unified the north and the south, if such a heavy law is still used , I'm afraid there is something wrong, this murder case was caused by too severe punishment, of course, it cannot be ruled out that this person has some violent tendencies, but the law, I think it really should be revised."

To show Li Shimin the situation of this case is to let Li Shimin consider the revision of the law, but after listening to it, Li Shimin frowned slightly, a little hesitant.

For an imperial court, the law is very important, and revision never happens overnight. The law represents the highest dignity of the entire Tang Dynasty, and it cannot be violated, nor can it be amended at will.

Even if Li Shimin wanted to change it, he had to get the consent of different departments in the DPRK and China.

"Qin Aiqing, it's just a case. Is it necessary to make major revisions? Once the law is revised, it will have a great impact on Tang Dynasty."

Speaking of this, Li Shimin paused, and said: "If the reform is relaxed, some criminals may be released from prison early. If they have evil in their hearts, won't this endanger Datang?"

In Li Shimin's view, when dealing with criminals, one cannot be merciful, otherwise if they are released, they will continue to do evil. Wouldn't that harm other people?

Qin Tian naturally knew about this situation.

"My lord, treacherous and evil people also have kind hearts. Of course, there are many people who will not repent, but it is not ruled out that some people will repent. However, the current situation in Tang Dynasty is that there are many people who are not worthy of the death penalty. They were all sentenced to death, which is a bit unreasonable, so I think it should be revised."

Speaking of this, Qin Tian raised his head and glanced at Li Shimin again, and said: "As the Son of Heaven, the Holy Majesty should have a heart of benevolence, so that the people will love and respect you even more. Your Majesty's benevolence can affect the world."

Qin Tian knew very well that Li Shimin was a virtuous monarch, but he was not a benevolent monarch. There were only two or three people in China who could truly be called benevolent monarchs, and the most famous one was Song Renzong.

But Li Shimin is definitely not.

However, although Li Shimin is not, Qin Tian still hopes that he can be more merciful. The law is loose, sometimes it is not a bad thing. Perhaps, this will make many people feel that the cost of crime is low, but at the same time it will also give people hope.

Hope, sometimes more important.

Now Li Shimin needs to give hope to the people, and also needs to show his benevolent side to the people.

Perhaps, he did not wipe out Li Jiancheng's old party, which made many people feel that he was benevolent, but these were too far away for ordinary people in Datang.

Li Shimin looked at Qin Tian, ​​and after a long time, said: "Let's go, accompany me to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice."
-
The Xingbu prison in summer is very hot and smelly.

As soon as Li Shimin walked in, he couldn't help but want to vomit. It was the first time he smelled this smell, which was different from the smell of blood wafting from killing enemies on the battlefield.

The smell of blood is sometimes unpleasant and pungent, but the smell here makes people feel uncomfortable all over.

The two walked quickly, and Han Xiao, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment who heard the news, hurriedly greeted them.

"My lord, why are you here?"

"Let me take a look at the prisoners in this large prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice."

Hearing this, Han Xiao was a little strange. He was so good-looking. What kind of prisoners could be held in the prison? They must all be criminals, and there were not many people who were wronged.

However, Li Shimin wanted to see it, and Han Xiao didn't dare not let him see it.

"Does the Holy Majesty want to look at the death row criminals, or light criminals?"

"Death-rowed prisoners." Li Shimin wanted to see what crimes these death-rowed prisoners had committed. Han Xiao didn't think there was anything wrong when he heard this. After he agreed, he glanced at Qin Tian, ​​but Qin Tian looked calm and told him Can't see a clue.

A few people walked along the prison, getting hotter and smellier as they walked. Inside the cell, there were prisoners shouting loudly about being wronged and wanting to get out.

The voice was a little noisy, Li Shimin frowned slightly, and seemed a little displeased. Seeing this, Han Xiao felt a little uneasy, but he also felt wronged. These criminals were all arrested and sentenced according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, and there were not many One is wronged, as a prisoner, who wouldn't cry out for injustice?

Soon, they came to the end of the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, where there was a relatively large cell, in which all prisoners were detained. Of course, they were not serious death-row prisoners. Major death-row prisoners would be detained in other places.

After Li Shimin appeared, the reactions of these condemned prisoners were very different from those of other prisoners. The other prisoners were all crying for injustice and wanted to get out, but these condemned prisoners were very quiet, and everyone's eyes were dim.

Obviously, after they were sentenced to death, they had already lost hope for the future. Since they were going to die sooner or later, why bother to struggle? What's the use of struggling?

"Open!"

The jailer quickly opened the door of the cell. After Li Shimin came in, the condemned prisoners didn't fluctuate too much, they just raised their eyes to look at Li Shimin, and now they are half dead and half squinting.

Seeing this, Han Xiao frowned slightly, and immediately shouted: "Bold, why don't you kneel down when you see the Holy One?"

Li Shimin was wearing single clothes, not the emperor's clothes, so the condemned prisoners didn't know him, but when Han Xiao said this, the condemned prisoners were stunned for a moment, some couldn't believe it.

"You... are you really my Great Tang Emperor?"

A prisoner asked tentatively, and Li Shimin nodded: "Yes, I am Li Shimin, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty."

At this time, the originally silent cell suddenly became noisy.

"My lord, I don't want to die, I don't want to die..."

"There are elders in my family and younger ones. They still need me to support them. Please forgive us, my lord."

"My lord, please forgive me, we don't want to die..."

When Li Shimin's appearance gave them hope, they suddenly seemed to be different people.

(End of this chapter)