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Chapter 739: Litigation
Hong Tao certainly didn't want to pay back the debt, nor did he think that what his ancestors did was necessarily right, so policies that hindered the country's development must be changed. Whoever dared to use Zhu Yuanzhang's words as an excuse could go to the mines to dig stones.

Even if it means breaking up the country and killing oneself, one must do it. This is the unshirkable responsibility of an emperor. One cannot avoid doing it because of fear, nor can one retreat because of the trouble.

In fact, there are many people who are not afraid of death, but there are few who are not afraid of confiscation of property and hard labor. When Emperor Jingyang announced that he would revise the Ming Code, the opposition in the court was loud enough to shake the tiles off. Several officials from the Hanlin Academy and the six departments even wrote memorials to curse the emperor for being disloyal and unfilial.

But when these people were raided by the Imperial Guards and their entire families were sent to Luanzhou to mine without pardon, no one dared to talk nonsense about this matter except for a dozen real men who submitted petitions to resign.

"I tried to reason with you but you didn't listen. Instead you cursed. How can you be a saint? Since you don't want to reason, I won't talk anymore.

From now on, anyone who submits a petition to resign must submit a detailed property statement, clearly stating all income earned over the years as an official, and the full text will be published in the newspaper. Anyone who reports something false will be rewarded with 10% of his property confiscated after verification by the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang.

This will definitely appear in the revised Ming Dynasty Law. Let the world judge whether you are gentlemen or villains. If the people like corrupt officials, then I will follow you and dig into the corners of the Ming Dynasty so that I can win the title of a wise ruler and be praised by the world a hundred years later. "

Hong Tao then used naked threats to test everyone's character in front of all the civil and military officials at the grand court meeting. The result was very disappointing. All fourteen officials who resigned submitted petitions to plead guilty, claiming that they would devote themselves to the court and use up their last bit of energy and blood, and would die at their posts.

Having paved the way for the revision of the Ming Code, Hong Tao returned to the position of emperor and handed over the specific work to the highest judicial organs of the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple. They first completed the preliminary work of the revision, eliminated the conflicting or overlapping laws and regulations, and then decided to add or reduce them according to the actual situation.

This step was relatively easy, and it took only ten days to complete, with more than 700 laws and regulations left. But the next step of adding and removing was extremely difficult, so much so that Yang Lian and Gao Panlong were also tied up, and after two decades of delay, the progress was basically zero.

The day before yesterday, I finished reading the report on the revision progress of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple. Today, I summoned the two chief officials to the palace to make a face-to-face report. This is both a pressure and a statement. This tells the court officials that procrastination is useless, and at the same time, it also serves as an example for the person in charge so that they have something to rely on.

"I took some time to read it briefly, and there is one article that I don't quite understand. The first chapter of the Criminal Law is about litigation. All lawsuits between the military and civilians must be reported from the bottom up. If anyone goes beyond the jurisdiction of the official in charge and files a complaint with his superior, he will be flogged fifty times."

Since we are going to discuss legal issues, Hong Tao can't just talk nonsense. As the saying goes, sharpening a spear before a battle is better than sharpening it. In the gaps between dealing with military system reform, military service, training new troops, and paying close attention to the movements of various northern troops, he took the time to flip through the criminal law volume, and then the problem came up.

The so-called "judgment bypassing" means appealing to a higher level. For example, if you lose a lawsuit at the local county government but are not convinced, you go to the higher-level department of the county to continue to appeal, which is "appeal bypassing".

The ancient imperial court had different attitudes towards this kind of phenomenon. For example, the Tang Dynasty issued a clear order to prohibit the extension of litigation, while the late Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty allowed it. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a change. In principle, it was allowed to extend the litigation, but in fact, a very high barrier was set up, so that most people did not dare to extend the litigation. Anyone who extended the litigation, regardless of the truth of the injustice, was first caned fifty times. Caning has existed since ancient times and is one of the five punishments. The caning in the Ming Dynasty inherited the Tang system and was divided into three types: caning, caning, and interrogation caning. All of them were rattan or wooden boards with different diameters, one end larger than the other, three feet and five inches long.

The cane is the thinnest and lightest, with a diameter of 32 cm at the big end and 3.2 cm at the small end, made of redbud branches. In other words, cm is equal to mm and cm is equal to mm), which is about the same thickness as a pencil and about meters long.

There is a country in later generations that still retains this kind of punishment, Singapore, which calls it caning. It seems that after a few canings, people can't stand it, and medical staff must be present to be ready for first aid at any time.

Hong Tao had never been hit by a bauhinia branch, but he had been hit on the back by a willow branch of similar thickness. With just one blow, his attitude instantly changed from unruly to submissive, which lasted for at least three or four days, and a flesh dragon thicker than the branch swelled up on his back.

This was a sixth grader. If it was an adult, he would have been spanked 100 times. Hong Tao felt that the legal claim was less than million yuan, so he should not file the lawsuit. It was not a matter of injustice, so he had to bear with it. Otherwise, if his butt was broken and then infected, he might die.

Hong Tao had not deliberately tested whether the people of the Ming Dynasty were more resistant to beatings than himself, but with such a horrible punishment in front of them, most people who wanted to scare off would surely be deterred. In addition, due to the long journey and unfamiliar roads, it was not easy for the lower-class people to file a complaint.

Emperors and officials of all dynasties in history always talked about ruling for the people and pleading for the people. They even invented various honest officials to prove that they were not fooling people. For example, Bao Zheng and Hai Rui did make many people believe them.

But these people seem to lack something in their brains, such as logic. Don't they ask themselves, since Bao Qingtian and Hai Qingtian love the people so much, why don't they propose to the emperor to change the rules of Yue Li to make it more convenient for the people to appeal?

Some people say that Justice Bao and Justice Hai cannot do it alone... Yes, one person cannot fight against the entire system. But have they ever mentioned changing the rules of cross-litigation? It doesn't have to be changed, just the intention is enough.

If they did, why didn't they write about it? Wouldn't that highlight their character of standing up for the people? If they didn't, this is a bit interesting. The upright officials who always claim to be standing up for the people, and who are also legal workers, actually ignored the rules that specifically prevented people from filing complaints.

Further reasoning, if they encountered people who violated the law, would they also first give them fifty lashes and then ask about the case? This is likely to happen, otherwise they would have violated the law themselves.

Yang Lian and Gao Panlong also wanted to be a judge. Now Hong Tao wanted to ask them whether it was the behavior of a judge to impose fifty lashes on the person who filed a complaint without asking any questions. If not, why didn't they delete it from the law and keep it deliberately?

(End of this chapter)