Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Li Bao conquered the southeast very quickly, and the civil servants sent by the Ming Dynasty were also very fast.

As the territory expanded by three provinces, a large number of officials were promoted and transferred to Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi in batches. Many officials who were raised in the Hanlin Academy were also sent out to serve as county magistrates or county magistrates, and some even directly served as state judges.

Bai Chongyan, who had been the prefect before, although his official position was still the prefect, was transferred to Hangzhou prefecture this time, and also held the position of senator of Zhejiang Province.

Among all the old friends, Bai Chongyan was promoted relatively slowly, mainly because Ju Ming still wanted him to train.

This time, Ling Guxu became the envoy to Jiangxi. When Jiangxi stabilized from the war, he could be promoted to the chief envoy of Jiangxi immediately. The two chief envoys who have contributed to the land donation will be transferred from their current positions, thus completing the control of Jiangxi by the Ming Dynasty.

Mingzhou (Ningbo).

A group of Korean envoys set out here. Due to the relationship between the monsoon and ocean currents, they did not take a sea ship to go north, but went to the Yangtze River through the Jiangsu and Zhejiang water networks.

The diplomatic level of Goryeo in the Northern Song Dynasty was initially lower than that of Xixia.

During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, he not only united with the Jin Dynasty to conquer the Liao Dynasty, but also cooperated with Goryeo to control the Liao Dynasty. As a result, Goryeo's diplomatic status surpassed that of Xixia.

Fearing being plundered by the Liao navy, Goryeo requested a change of shipping route. In the past, they landed in Shandong, but later they moved to Mingzhou. A dedicated Koryo Department was set up in Mingzhou City to be responsible for conducting tribute trade with Koryo.

At present, this group of Korean envoys have been under house arrest in Mingzhou for a year.

Li Ziliang, Li Yong, Quan Tong and other envoys still do not understand why they are under house arrest.

Li Ziliang was an old acquaintance who often traveled to the Song Dynasty as envoy, and was received by Song Huizong many times. Quan Tong even graduated from Taixue of the Song Dynasty, and was granted a Jinshi status by Song Huizong himself.

Song Huizong was obviously in Hangzhou, very close to Mingzhou, but why did he insist on putting them under house arrest?

In fact, it's very simple. Song Huizong didn't know how to face the Goryeo envoys, so he just ignored them in Mingzhou for the time being - the Goryeo envoys were ordered to contact the Song Dynasty to fight against the Jin Dynasty.

Change ships on the Yangtze River and head north via the canal.

Li Yong said worriedly: "We still don't know what's going on in the country. We should go back to the country first to ask for your Majesty's instructions, and then go to Bianliang to meet the new emperor of China."

Li Ziliang said: "There should be no problems at home. I heard that the Jin army was defeated at the hands of Prince Zhu. I thought there would be no room to send troops to attack Baozhou (that is, Baozhou, Yizhou in North Korea, on the other side of the river from Dandong)."

Li Yong asked Quan Tong again: "Who is Prince Zhu?"

Quan Tong shook his head and said: "I don't know much about it. When Prince Zhu was the Imperial Academy in Tokyo, he was responsible for managing the outer and inner houses, and I was already a student in the upper house at that time. However, Prince Zhu is very famous in Tokyo. He is Tanhualang, who was in the fifth year of Zhenghe, invented Tanhua coal and Tanhua stove, and also improved movable type printing. I don’t know what happened after that. I was granted the status of Jinshi and returned to my country."

Li Ziliang ordered: "Since you have this relationship, you should make good use of it. If you have the opportunity to meet Prince Zhu in private, you can give him the apprenticeship ceremony. I think it should be able to shorten the distance."

The relationship between the Jin Kingdom and Goryeo has been changing over the years.

At the beginning, the Jin State regarded Goryeo as the country of its parents, and the two countries united the Song Dynasty to fight against the Liao Dynasty.

Immediately afterwards, Jin Guo wanted to treat Gao Li as brothers. Jin Guo was his brother and Gao Li was his younger brother. Goryeo refused and regarded it as a great shame and humiliation.

After Emperor Tianzuo was killed and fled to the grassland, the Jin Kingdom began to force Goryeo to become a vassal and demanded Baozhou on the south bank of the Yalu River. Goryeo was furious because of this, and began to deploy heavy troops on the border, and openly accepted the Jin Kingdom's generals and fugitives.

Last year, Goryeo officially surrendered to the Kingdom of Jin and recognized the Kingdom of Jin as its father. But he resolutely refused to hand over Baozhou, and secretly contacted the Song Dynasty to attack the Jin Kingdom - these were the envoys in front of him.

In just ten years, Jin Guo transformed from the son of Goryeo to the father of Goryeo.

Winter is a good season for building water conservancy projects. When the Korean envoys passed through Huainan, they saw water conservancy projects being carried out everywhere along the way.

Li Ziliang was greatly shocked: "China's new dynasty should not be underestimated, and we must make good friends with them. The Jin Dynasty is a barbarian, and it is a great shame and humiliation to regard the Jin Dynasty as our father. As soon as the time comes, we should tear up our credentials and make a father-son treaty with China. , and then take advantage of the weakness of the Jin Kingdom to occupy the land north of Jiangbei (North of Yalu River)!"

Quan Tong has been studying in Tokyo for several years and has always been a fan of China. He immediately echoed: "China is prosperous and powerful, and it should be my father of Korea."

What did Gao Li say at this time?

The king was called Wang Gou. Because he wanted to avoid someone, he later changed his name to Wang Kai. This can reflect their attitude towards China, even if Goryeo has surrendered to the Jin Kingdom.

All the way to the Gyeonggi region, water conservancy projects were still being carried out everywhere, which shocked these Koryo envoys even more.

In fact, water conservancy projects along the way from Gyeonggi to Lianghuai should have been implemented long ago.

Because Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty drained local finances, and water conservancy was not as good as Huashigang, water conservancy facilities across the country were in disrepair. Floods occur almost every year in the Jianghuai area, which is closely related to the disrepair of water conservancy.

Now that the new dynasty has been established only one year ago, a large number of local water conservancy projects have been launched.

First, the enthusiasm of officials is mobilized. As long as they do their job well, they can be promoted.

Second, the imperial court canceled all kinds of exorbitant levies and miscellaneous taxes, and canceled the tribute and flower and stone regulations, which gave the people a chance to breathe. The local officials took the opportunity to impose corvées, but as long as they did not force them excessively, the people would not resist. After all, no one wanted to encounter a flood.

Third, there were too many displaced people affected by the disaster, and the local government needed to provide work-for-work relief, so it coerced and lured wealthy households to spend money and diverted a large number of displaced people to repair water conservancy projects. Once the water conservancy is repaired, it will also be beneficial to the wealthy households, and they can even join forces with officials to seize land.

Compared with the decline of the Huizong Dynasty, in the first year of the founding of the new Ming Dynasty, there was prosperity in various places.

Also arriving in Beijing at about the same time as the North Korean envoys were Li Yan and Cai You.

Cai You tried to return to his hometown in Fujian and live the rest of his life in anonymity.

But before he left Zhejiang, he was reported by his own followers. Because Zhang Pu, the newly arrived chief envoy of Zhejiang, ordered the whole province to post sea arrest documents and issued rewards to all the treacherous officials in the small southeastern court.

As for Li Yan, he was captured by the mountain people.

Several eunuchs fled together. Song Huizong did not have the habit of bringing money, but they all had gold and silver hidden on their bodies.

But these are the bad things about gold and silver!

Copper coins were too heavy and cheap, and they didn't bring them with them. They were so hungry that they had to use gold and silver to buy food. But they escaped to the mountains again and used gold and silver in the mountain village. It was strange that the villagers did not suspect them.

"Go quickly, don't dawdle!"

A whip was struck and Cai You almost fell down. The yoke was too heavy.

When Cai You saw the Tokyo city wall again, he had mixed feelings and couldn't help crying.

Several eunuchs, including Li Yan, also got off the boat one after another. Knowing that they were about to die soon, they began to cry bitterly on the shore.

The Korean envoy happened to be on the dock, and Quan Tong said, "That one seems to be Cai You."

Li Ziliang couldn't help but sigh: "I also saw him at the imperial banquet. At that time, Academician Cai was so elegant, but I didn't expect that he would end up like this."

"Let's go quickly. Don't have any contact with this person." Li Yong said.

…

Court meeting.

Cabinet minister Zhai Ruwen was the first to take the lead: "Now that the traitor has been captured, some people have suggested that Ling Chi be used as a punishment, otherwise it will not be enough to vent the public anger. I believe that Ling Chi will harm the peace of the world, and not only cannot it be a regular punishment, but it cannot be used occasionally. .”

Liu Yao, the Minister of Punishment, said: "How can we deter Xiao Xiao without using harsh laws? Cai You does not need Ling Chi, but although Li Yan is not the Six Thieves, he is worse than Yang Jian, one of the Six Thieves. He must be punished with Ling Chi." !”

The two got off to a good start, and the other officials expressed their opinions one after another.

The split between those who support Ling Chi and those who support abolishing Ling Chi is almost 50-50. There are still some who are arguing with Xini that Li Yan should be punished, but this kind of punishment must be cautious in the future.

Zhang Gen did not speak. Zhu Guoxiang asked: "What does the Prime Minister think?"

Zhang Gen said: "Whether it is late or not is a trivial matter, and it can be handled in accordance with the law. The most urgent task is to formulate the "Ming Dynasty Criminal System" so that the officials who judge the case have laws to follow."

Vice Minister Gao Jingshan was ill this winter and his health was getting worse. A chair was specially arranged for him during this court meeting.

Gao Jingshan stood up from his chair: "Your Majesty..."

"My dear, just sit down." Zhu Guoxiang said.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty." Gao Jingshan sat back slowly, "I think that what Prime Minister Zhang said is true, and it is time to compile the "Da Ming Xing Tong". But the punishment of Lingchi should still be abolished. The old Song Dynasty also said that shen This punishment was initially only used for treason and harvesting, but it quickly became widespread after Xining, and some were even punished for lying!"

Lingchi comes from "Xunzi". It was not a criminal law at first and was used to describe a slowly rising hillside.

China has had many corporal punishments since ancient times, but the more common severe punishment is dismemberment. It reached a peak during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the prototype of Lingchi appeared.

By the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the Lingchi method gradually took shape and was abused by the separatist forces.

In the early Northern Song Dynasty, this punishment was used with caution, but once it was opened, it would become widespread.

It is said that if civil servants were not killed in the Song Dynasty, they were not committing a heinous crime.

In the eighth year of Xining, the chief secretary of Yuyao, the training envoy of Xiuzhou regiment, the medical officer of Xiuzhou, and the observation and promotion officer of Hezhong... These civil servants were not only sentenced to death, but also sentenced to death for being suspected of treason.

However, from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, Ling Chi was never written into the law, and it was actually lawless to base the judgment on.

It was not until the Southern Song Dynasty that Ling Chi was written into the supplementary regulations, and it was not until the Yuan Dynasty that it began to be written into formal laws.

Zhu Guoxiang looked at his son: "What does the prince want to say?"

Zhu Ming came out holding the wat tablet and said: "The two prime ministers are mature and prudent, and I also think that the laws of this dynasty should be established first. As for Ling Chi's punishment, it is better to abolish it. If someone really wants to rebel, how can Ling Chi stop him? In my opinion , there is actually no difference between one chop and a hundred cuts. The bloody mess is really unsightly. Why not add another one, when a very serious crime is committed, the family has no right to dispose of the body. After the person is sentenced, the body must be handed over To the School of Medicine for medical students to perform dissections.”

This point of view was so tricky that the officials were very confused after hearing it.

Moreover, most officials cannot understand doctors dissecting corpses and think it is a great disrespect for the corpse.