Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 408: The Doctor Is Not Punished (Special thanks to the 2 monthly tickets from Rabbit, the author of the Book Club!)

Guo Jizhou smiled and said:
“Father, Mother, the Princess is right.

Yes, the weather is too hot. If I bring Taier here, I’m afraid he won’t be able to stand it outside. I beg you to forgive me, father and mother.

Please ask Father and Mother to go to the palace to see Taier. He is enjoying the cool air in the harem. "

Chai Zongxun nodded and said:
"Good! After becoming a father, Zhou'er also knows how to take care of his beloved concubine's children. I am very pleased.

Let us set out for the Palace of King Song now!"

The imperial carriage traveled for more than an hour and entered the magnificent Luoyang city and stayed in the Palace of King Song.

Luoyang City was built as the Eastern Capital during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty and has since become a prosperous place in the country.

After Chai Zongxun put down Wang Quanbin's rebellion in the fourth year of Kaixi, Luoyang entered a period of rapid economic development, with its total economic output and population continuing to increase.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Revenue, by the end of the 30th year of Kaixi, Luoyang's commercial scale had ranked fifth in the country, only behind Bianliang, Yangzhou, Jinling and Chengdu.

The population was 900,000, ranking third in the country, after Bianjing's 3.2 million and Nanjing's 1.1 million.

Chai Zongxun was traveling in the carriage all the way. He saw that Luoyang City was densely populated, with many shops, and more than half of the people were wearing gold and silver. He couldn't help feeling relieved.

As soon as the imperial family arrived at Prince Song's mansion, they went to the backyard to visit the eldest grandson of the emperor, Guo Meitai.

When Chai Zongxun and others entered the hall, Guo Meitai had just finished drinking the milk fed by his wet nurse and was lying on the bed playing.

Chai Zongxun looked at her with surprise, and saw that Guo Meitai was quite strong and fair-skinned, with a pair of eyes like black gemstones, flashing with a lively light.

Just as Chai Zongxun was about to pick up Guo Meitai, Empress Dowager Fu and Queen Fu had already snatched him up and teased him non-stop.

Guo Meitai was in the arms of the two girls, looking at them with a sweet smile from time to time, which made the two girls overjoyed.

Chai Zongxun stretched out his index finger in front of Guo Meitai's face. After a while, he stretched out his small hand and grasped Chai Zongxun's finger tightly.

Chai Zongxun said happily:
"Tai'er is so strong! He has a handsome face and bright eyes. He will definitely be a great talent for the country when he grows up!"

Empress Dowager Fu, Queen Fu and others all nodded in agreement.

More than an hour later, Guo Meitai fell asleep, and all the imperial family members went into the harem of Prince Song's Palace to rest, except Chai Zongxun who sat down in the main hall of Prince Song's Palace.

King Song Guo Jizhou led all the ministers of the royal palace and stood respectfully in the main hall.

Chai Zongxun raised his hand and said with a smile:
"Zhou'er and all the nobles, please sit down quickly!
This is my family dinner. Queen Fu and I have come here specially to visit Zhou'er. My dear ministers, please don't be restrained."

After everyone thanked him several times and sat down, Chai Zongxun looked towards Wang Zhuo and Lu Mengzheng in the hall. He saw that both of them looked quite relaxed, but they looked a little older than when they parted in Bian Jing the previous year.

Wang Zhuo was born in the third year of Tiancheng in the Later Tang Dynasty (928), and this year is the thirty-first year of Kaixi (990), and he is 62 years old.

Lu Mengzheng, who was born in the third year of Kaiyun in the Later Jin Dynasty (946), was already 44 years old, and almost half of his hair was gray.

Chai Zongxun said:

"Grand Tutor and Lord Lu, since you two followed the King of Song to the Kingdom of Song, you have managed the country's affairs in an orderly manner, the country's business is thriving, and the people live and work in peace and contentment.

I heard the good news while I was in the palace, and I was very relieved."

Wang Zhuo and Lu Mengzheng both said:

"This is all due to your majesty's benevolent governance that benefits the people. We, the ministers, are just following your orders. If the government is honest and upright and the government does not oppress or harm the people, then the people will be self-disciplined and prosperous."

Chai Zongxun sighed:
“Fate plays tricks on us.

The two of you were originally the best ministers in the court of our Great Zhou Dynasty. Unfortunately, Zhou'er...

My two beloved ministers have made great contributions in assisting King Song in governing the country, and I will reward you generously.

Since the Grand Tutor was already a duke, he was given an additional fief of 3,000 households.

"Lord Lu was promoted to Duke, and his fief was increased by 2,000 households. I hope you two will continue to work hard to ensure that my son Zhou lives a smooth life and that the State of Song enjoys long-term peace and stability!"

Wang Zhuo and Lu Mengzheng both bowed deeply and said:
"Thank you, Your Majesty! We will do our best to assist His Royal Highness the King of Song, govern the State of Song well, and ensure that the worship of the Guo family, the founder of the Song Dynasty, continues!"

After everyone had lunch together, Chai Zongxun woke up from his nap and summoned Wang Zhuo and Lu Mengzheng to the main hall in the backyard.

Chai Zongxun said:

"You two dear ministers are both great talents for the country. As the saying goes, a bystander sees more clearly. What suggestions do you have for the administration of our Great Zhou court in the past few years?

You can speak to me freely now."

After the two of them pondered for a moment, Wang Zhu spoke first:

"Your Majesty has always been benevolent in his administration, with Heaven and Earth at his heart and the people at his foundation.

Today, our Great Zhou is a prosperous era with thriving industries, a strong country with rich people, and a great love of poetry and wine!

In my opinion, the only thing that can be improved is that after decades of prosperity, a group of important ministers and nobles have been formed in the court.

For the sake of the country, I think Your Majesty should imitate the military's "retirement system" and set limits on the term of office and retirement age of important officials, so as to prevent the emergence of powerful families that are strong enough to threaten the imperial power and the country in the future generations!"

Lu Mengzheng said:

"Your Majesty, I would like to express my support to the Grand Tutor Wang.

I believe that the so-called "no punishment for officials" system is very likely to breed privileged families, encourage their power to become powerful and difficult to control, and also has a very adverse impact on the fairness of the country's laws.

I think it should be reformed.”

“Punishment shall not be imposed on officials” was first mentioned in the Book of Rites: Quli.

By the Sui Dynasty, the new five-punishment system of flogging, caning, imprisonment, exile and death was formally formed.

Crimes that cannot be directly punished by laws need to be decided by the emperor, which gave rise to another concept: the "Eight Discussions" also known as the "Eight Executions".

The "Eight Discussions" were eight types of people whose crimes had to be submitted to the emperor for judgment. If these people were guilty, they would first choose to commit suicide. If they felt they still had a chance, they would "put a plate of water and a sword" to ask the emperor for judgment. The water in the plate represented fairness, and the sword on top represented willingness to be punished.

If the emperor gave him the sword, it meant that you should commit suicide, so that your dignity would be preserved and you would not be punished.

What are the eight types of people?

One is to discuss the relatives; the relatives here refer to the royal relatives.

The second is to discuss the execution of old acquaintances; "old acquaintances" specifically refers to the emperor's old acquaintances. Who dares to execute the emperor's old friends casually?
The third is to discuss the appointment of virtuous people; this refers to people with great virtues and who have a great influence in society and must be handled with extreme caution.

The fourth is to discuss the appointment of capable people; it refers to people with great talents. If you kill one less talented person, you must be cautious.

The fifth is to discuss the merits of the people; it refers to people who have made meritorious contributions.

The sixth is to discuss the dignitaries; it refers to high-ranking officials.

The seventh is the diligent person who serves the country particularly hard.

The eighth is the guests of discussion: descendants of the previous emperor.

This system, after being implemented for a long time, became a tool for princes and nobles to evade the law.

Chai Zongxun was very pleased and said:

"What you two dear ministers have suggested is a good strategy!
Only by bringing the privileges of princes and nobles into the scope of law can we prevent the powerful groups from growing stronger from generation to generation and prevent the country's laws from being relaxed from generation to generation!

I will consider it for a few months, and when I return to Beijing, I will implement your suggestions into the system."

(End of this chapter)