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Chapter 740: The Caning
"There are many false accusations in civil lawsuits. If there are no restrictions, the drum for reporting grievances will continue to ring day and night, leaving those who truly have grievances at a loss as to what to do." The principle behind the regulations on appealing to higher levels was explained by Yang Lian. The meaning is very clear. It is used to screen out those who are sincere in appeals from those who make false accusations, and it does sound reasonable.

"How many miles is it from your hometown to the capital? How many days does it take?" Hong Tao did not comment on whether Yang Lian's explanation was correct, but turned to ask Wang Chengen.

"Your Majesty, my hometown, Xingtai County, is nearly 800 miles away from the capital. It would take an ordinary person at least ten days to get to the capital."

"Minister Yang, did you hear that it takes ten days for the people of Zhili to come to Beijing. If they were not wronged and had nowhere to appeal, who would be willing to abandon their home and career and leave their hometown to appeal?

Most people didn't have much surplus food at home, and even if they went to the capital to file a lawsuit, they would need a lot of money for food, lodging and transportation. If they lost the lawsuit, they would be ruined without being flogged.

I think it is better not to add obstacles to the people in order to save the trouble of officials. As long as the grievances meet a certain standard and are not trivial matters, you can go to the prefecture or the capital to appeal.

But we can't keep suing endlessly. The Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple can add some clauses to revise this law to eliminate some unreasonable complaints. Ming officials are already rich enough to be arranged in Nanjing. How can they be too busy? Anyone who is too busy can resign. "

With Wang Chengen's answer, Hong Tao began to talk business. He counted on his fingers and explained the difficulty of litigation from the perspective of human nature and logic.

The fear of unruly citizens filing lawsuits is simply a case of officials protecting each other. They are afraid that if they let the lawsuits go, the officials' actions in the local area will be more easily known to the court.

What officials fear is what they themselves encourage. With the current size of Jinyiwei, Dongchang, Statistics Department and Bihu, it is still not possible to monitor officials on a large scale. What to do? It's too easy. Encourage the masses to be their own eyes and ears.

As for whether the officials' workload would increase, that's right. If they can do it, they can do it. If they can't do it, they can resign. But the prerequisite is that after resigning, they must accept a comprehensive investigation by the Jinyiwei. Anyone who is not afraid of confiscation of property and hard labor can give it a try.

It is impossible for you to run away after being corrupt. I cannot raid all of your homes on a large scale, but I can torture you by gradually increasing your workload, reducing your benefits, and making supervision more and more stringent. Just bear with it.

"I obey your order..." Yang Lian and Gao Panlong looked at each other, and neither of them could persuade them anymore.

The main reason was that the emperor always spoke the truth, and every word pointed directly to the shortcomings, making it difficult for people to distinguish. In particular, topics about the officialdom in Nanjing must not be taken up, as if you were to get involved, you would end up in trouble.

The civil and military officials in the court were all clear-headed, knowing that the emperor had been coveting Nanjing's officialdom for a long time and was just waiting to find an excuse to dismiss him. If he accidentally said the wrong thing, he would immediately become hated by everyone.

"And the imperial caning should be abolished. The ancients said that a scholar can be killed but not humiliated. As the backbone of the Ming Dynasty, using spanking to threaten people and stop them from speaking is too filthy.

But as a court official, you should not be so outspoken as to accuse your colleagues or even your superiors for personal gain. From now on, the six departments of the Imperial Censorate can still report on matters they hear about, and all of their memorials will be sealed and submitted to the Imperial Household Department for my personal approval. "

Another thing that Hong Tao disliked was the imperial caning. I don't know what Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking. He actually liked to see men being beaten, mostly old men's buttocks. There are many ways to punish, why do you need to do this kind of childish and useless work? By the way, there is another thing that must be restricted, that is, the impeachment of the censors. This thing has become a tool for parties to curse each other during the Wanli Dynasty, and it does not play a role in supervising the ethics of officials.

Don't you like to scold? Well, you are not allowed to scold openly in the future. You can only write secret reports to the emperor and tell tales behind his back. And you have no right to ask whether or not to deal with it, or how to deal with it.

What, you're afraid that the emperor will punish you unfairly? Well, for the sake of fairness, all censors must first be thoroughly investigated by the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang. Only after they have proven that you and your immediate family members are innocent, can they accuse others of their faults.

In fact, this method is much more effective than the caning in the court, because it conforms to human nature. Most people would rather be caned than see the bad things they or their family members have done publicized. They are even more unwilling to see the wealth accumulated by generations disappear in an instant, and to cause their descendants to work in the mines until they die.

"I obey your order..." Yang Lian and Gao Panlong looked at each other again, still unable to refute. It was a bit treasonous to describe the imperial caning as dirty. The emperor could say so, but as a subject, he really couldn't say a word.

As for whether the power of officials should be restricted, this topic is no longer necessary to discuss. Since the tenth year of Jingyang, the impeachment of the six departments has basically lost its effect. No matter how overwhelming the petitions are, the emperor will not respond.

It is not the emperor's fault that he was biased. In two major cases of suspected treason, officials from the Six Departments were heavily involved. How could they still be trusted? The number of officials added to the Six Departments was decreasing year by year. They were already in a semi-abandoned state, and there was no basis for winning them over.

In addition, Emperor Jingyang's working style did not seem to require the Six Departments to remind and correct it. After years of cleaning up by Wang Zhizhen, although there were only more than 50,000 Jinyiwei left, nearly half less than before, their work efficiency had increased N times, almost replacing the Six Departments and the Censorate.

The discussion lasted from morning to dusk, and when it was almost time for dinner, Yang Lian and Gao Panlong were allowed to leave the palace and go home. However, the tight ring was not loosened yet, and they had to go to the palace again to ask questions after a month with the second edition of the Ming Dynasty Law.

"Call Wei Zhongxian, Zhang Ran, and Wang Zhizhen!" The ministers left, but the emperor still couldn't rest and started the next step. This is the life of a dictator, he has to do everything himself, he can't trust anyone, and he has to use everyone.

The "Re-Enfeoffment Order" and the revision of the "Ming Code" are both shaking the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, that is, touching the roots of the bureaucratic group and the gentry group, which is more dangerous than changing the six ministries and the military system. Resistance will come from all sides, both overt and covert, and it is far from enough to just have the final say in the court.

In order to push these two changes forward and complete them smoothly, we need both overt and covert measures. The navy, army and new army are overt, while the Imperial Guard, the East Factory, the Imperial Stables, the Bikko and the Statistics Department are covert.

From this moment on, all these secret agencies must be mobilized, keep a close eye on key areas and personnel inside and outside the court, report any abnormalities immediately, and try to nip any possible accidents in the bud.

Only after this dangerous period has passed and the foundations of traditional forces have been fundamentally undermined, can the new policies continue to expand their scope and the emperor have the confidence to command the entire country.

(End of this chapter)