Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Imperial City, Council Hall.

Zhai Ruwen said: "The previous dynasty treated scholars leniently, which resulted in many officials being corrupt. The new dynasty should indeed impose strict laws. But the Ming Code is too strict and unreasonable."

"Take Xu Fuyan's three sons. They have not separated their families. The eldest son and the second son are both upright officials. Repeated investigations by the Supervisory Office and the Ministry of Punishment only found that they received some gifts. According to the "Da Ming Law", The third son has committed a serious crime and is listed in the household registration register. The two honest brothers will also be exiled."

"I would like to ask the officials and the prince, exile two honest officials for no reason. Is this what a wise king should do?"

"If the laws are implemented in this way, the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty will be in turmoil, and even honest officials will be afraid of being implicated by their families. Will it have the opposite effect? ​​No matter how good your political performance is, no matter how honest you are as an official, you may be executed and exiled. Then simply eat in the corpse position, or even enjoy corruption as soon as possible."

"A good law should not force good people to become bad people!"

"Good laws should not make things difficult for law-abiding people."

“A good law must be reasonable and easy to enforce.”

"Let's take the former Song Dynasty as an example. In order to prevent officials from exploiting the people, officials were not allowed to buy daily necessities inside and outside the city. If a county magistrate wanted to abide by the law, he could not even buy a writing brush in the county town. He had to send servants to the small town. Shangmai. Who obeys such a law? May I ask His Highness the Crown Prince, did you obey this law when you were the prefect of the previous dynasty? "

Ju Ming did not answer immediately, and he also realized that there was a problem with the "Da Ming Law".

The imperial examination in the Song Dynasty was too childish, and there were many benefactors. There might be more than ten people in one clan serving as officials, but the founding of the Ming Dynasty admitted these people.

If a family is connected, once a major case occurs, it will cause turmoil in the officialdom of the country.

That's why Ju Ming revised the "Da Ming Code" and carried out continuous sitting according to the household registration book.

Otherwise, Xu Fuyan and his two brothers are all officials, and their sons have eight other officials. If a son who is not an official commits a crime and brings in eight officials, what is the difference between him and a tyrant? It would be strange if the scholars in the world don't start a riot!

Now we have changed to sit together based on the household registration book, but we still have the same problem when it comes to major cases.

Xu Fuyan was a founding hero, and his two sons were also local officials. Neither the father nor the son are corrupt. Is it reasonable for them all to be implicated because of a bastard who has never been an official?

Even if the responsibility is investigated, it will be Xu Fuyan himself who bears the responsibility, because the younger son is making money in the name of his father.

What does this have to do with Xu Fuyan's eldest son and second son who are far away from the capital?

Ju Ming turned to look at his father.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "You decide for yourself."

Ju Ming thought for a long time and said:

"Xu Fuyan, the Minister of Punishment, dismissed all his official positions, deprived him of his writing since birth, and took back the house and land he was awarded at the founding of the country."

"Xu Fuyan's little bastard son, behead him immediately!"

"According to the amount of stolen money revealed during the interrogation, a fine of five times will be imposed. The money will be paid by Xu Fuyan."

"Xu Fuyan's eldest son and second son were ordered to serve and return home. Their children and grandchildren can take the imperial examination. But the children and grandchildren of the younger son are not allowed to take the imperial examination for three generations!"

"Who has any objections?"

The ministers looked at each other, they still felt that the punishment was too severe.

This is a minister-level Conglong hero, so he can be ordered to retire. He actually dismissed all official positions and deprived him of his family background, which was so merciless.

But no one spoke out to object again, because the prince had already made concessions.

From the perspective of Xu Fuyan's eldest son and second son, they were really wronged. He worked diligently for the court and was not greedy for money. He lost his official position for no reason.

As for Xu Fuyan himself, he deserved it. Who told him to be lax in raising his children?

And even the official seal of the Ministry of Punishment cannot be guarded well!

Xiao Chu asked: "What about the Xu family's verdict? What about the other prisoners?"

"Everyone will be treated accordingly," Zhu Ming emphasized. "As long as one person in the same household registration register commits a serious crime, the rest will be dismissed from office. Even if the households are divided and the son commits a felony, the father will be dismissed from office!"

The expressions of all the ministers softened a lot and they were no longer so worried.

After amending the "Da Ming Code" in this way, many fewer people will be exiled in this year's major cases.

In fact, there are still serious problems. For example, when the Ming Dynasty was in decline, an official named Wang Anshi embarked on reforms. The "Da Ming Law" would become a tool of the conservatives. They tried every means to induce Wang Anshi's son to commit serious crimes, and then dismissed Wang Anshi from office according to the law.

After the corruption in the officialdom has been stopped, the "Ming Law" will have to be changed in the future.

Except for serious crimes such as treason and treason, they cannot be held together casually. If one person commits a crime, the other person will be held responsible. He should be beheaded or exiled. Random implication will cause problems.

"Let's talk about Li Bangyan again," Zhu Guoxiang said.

Ju Ming said: "His family is different. His two sons in Beijing and several sons who were officials outside were all found guilty of evildoing. Those sons should be beheaded or exiled, and their families should also be punished. They will be exiled together."

"As for Li Bangyan himself, he will be dismissed from all positions, all rewards will be withdrawn, and his birth certificate will be deprived. When his house is raided, he will be left with 100,000 yuan, so that he and his wife can return to their hometown for retirement."

After hearing such a punishment, even those who had a grudge against Li Bangyan felt that Prince Zhu was too cold-blooded.

Li Bangyan was considered a founding hero, but all his sons were beheaded or exiled. In addition to Li Bangyan and his wife, the rest of the family will also be exiled.

His official status was also stripped away, and there was no honor left.

What's the use of leaving 100,000 yuan for retirement?

Li Bangyan had embezzled at least one million guan during the Song Dynasty, but now his house was confiscated and only 100,000 guan was left. It was a true loss-making transaction!

Does Ju Ming favor military commanders?

Sun Li, who was thrown to Zhenyuan Fort, also had his property confiscated, but he could still lead troops in the barbarian land.

…

Xu Fuyan, who had waited impatiently for four months, finally received his punishment.

When Xu Fuyan heard the words "deprived of his birth certificate," he fainted. This was no different from sentencing him to death.

He didn't even dare to commit suicide because he still had luck in his heart.

Maybe in a few years, the prince will regain his original writing?

A few days later, the execution ground on the outskirts of Beijing.

Xu Fuyan seemed to have aged more than ten years. He sat in the carriage and refused to get out, unable to bear to see the tragic scene of his youngest son being killed.

A servant rushed back from the execution ground: "My lord, the executioner didn't dare to accept the money. He said he promised to give him a good time."

Xu Fuyan was stunned.

In the past two months, so many people have been beheaded, and the government's crackdown on corruption actually scared the executioners.

Li Bangyan, who was on the other side of the execution ground, not only did not give any money, but also shouted to the executioner: "These two unfilial sons, please don't let them die too quickly. Don't kill them with one knife, chop them with a few more to keep their memory!"

"Li Bangyan, I'm going to fight you!" His wife, filled with grief and anger, rushed up and pulled Li Bangyan's beard.

Li Bangyan pushed his wife away and wailed angrily: "My money, my house, and my farmland have all been lost to these two bastards. What's the point of leaving a hundred thousand yuan? Count all the real estate and shops. , I have two million balls! It’s gone, it’s all gone, what’s the point of living for me? Wuwuwuwu…”

Did you embezzle two million yuan in the previous dynasty?

The people who were watching the excitement around the execution ground looked at Li Bangyan with angry eyes. I don't know how much support they had here.

"Those two birdmen from the Li family, don't chop them to death with one knife, chop them with more chops!"

"The officials did a good job of plundering. All the property of such corrupt officials should be confiscated, and not a penny should be left to them!"

"Kill the corrupt officials, kill the corrupt officials!"

"..."

Faced with the shouts of the onlookers, the executioner actually obeyed the public opinion and chopped all Li Bangyan's sons to death twice.

Wang Chongyang had already entered the Imperial College at this time, and all the Imperial students, including him, came to watch the execution. There are also Kaifeng Prefecture's government schools and county schools. The teachers brought the students to the execution ground. At this moment, all of them felt a chill in their necks.

The students were almost numb. This was the seventh wave in the past few months, and they didn't know how many people the emperor and the prince wanted to kill.

Just last month, a case was reported in the Ministry of Industry, which was revealed by local officials.

From the third-rank official to the unranked official, six people were executed, eleven were exiled, and many were imprisoned.

Last month was the Ministry of Household Affairs, with nine people executed and fifteen people exiled.

The previous month was the official department, four people were executed and 12 people were exiled.

The above are only officials, and staff are not included.

All ministries fell into a state of paralysis for a short period of time. Officials were quickly promoted to supplement them, but they were unable to adapt to the new work quickly.

More than 20,000 field troops from the front lines in Shaanxi, Shanxi and Youzhou were transferred back to Kaifeng - so many civil and military officials were killed that Ju Ming was afraid that some would be forced to rebel!

All the royal family members of the former Song Dynasty were under house arrest.

Including Zhao Huan, who was already serving as an agricultural officer, was also ordered not to wander around to prevent anyone from using his name to cause trouble.

Even if Ju Ming agreed to amend the "Da Ming Code" and many people who were sentenced to consecutive exiles have been freed, there are still too many people involved in the case.

And, the more you check, the more you get!

A large number of prefectural and county government offices have been shut down, and there is a shortage of officials and minor officials who cannot work at all.

After the revision of the Ming Dynasty Laws, those family members were exempted from the joint sitting. Let’s look at the misdemeanors who paid fines to avoid jail time because the cells were full. So far, 1,274 people have been executed, 9,615 have been exiled, and 4,428 people have been imprisoned (not all of them are officials, there are also many merchants and gentry who have been exonerated.)

These are only the ones that have been decided, and a large number of cases are still being tried.

In all provinces, prefectures and counties across the country, officials are panicked and cannot handle government affairs normally.

When everyone goes to work in the Yamen every day, the first thing they do is read the newspaper. Slowly search through the newspapers to see which official has died again, mainly to see if there are any relatives of his.

If he had not negotiated a truce with Jin Guo, Ju Ming would never dare to do this.

In order to reassure officials, Ju Ming announced changes to the Ming Code and notified the local authorities through official documents and official newspapers.

Which of these officials is not smart?

Many people have guessed the prince's intention, which is to kill a group of people in the founding of the country, clean up the country's officialdom, and correct the corrupt atmosphere.

This year, the "Da Ming Code" was revised, and people were exiled or dismissed from office according to their household registration records.

After the official system improves, it is expected to be revised again. By then, one person will be responsible for the crime, and at most it will include parents, wives and children. Brothers should be fine.

The panicked officials finally felt a little relieved.