Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1310: Punishment for Guilt

The conversation between the emperor and his ministers at Yu Jin's residence soon spread through various channels in the capital. Putting aside the considerations of various statuses, the emperor's remarks were also recognized by many people of the time.

Some say that the grace of a gentleman will be cut off after five generations, but most of the time, people still hope that the family business and achievements they have gained through their lifelong efforts can be passed on smoothly to ensure that their descendants will prosper and never run out of money.

Although this is destined to be just a beautiful fantasy, there are always various accidents happening in reality, which can cause a family to decline in status or even be wiped out, but there are still many people willing to work hard for it.

The court's criminal department enforced the law strictly this time, and many powerful families were not exempted. These people might not dare to question it outwardly, but they must have complained in their hearts. They were diligent in the king's affairs and made contributions to the country, but their family members and children still broke the law and were punished, just like the common people. The court treated the meritorious people so harshly, which was really disappointing!

But now the emperor's speech was not a stereotyped talk about the significance of abiding by the law to the long-term stability of the country, but it linked everyone's family affairs. These dandy boys who violated the law were not only criminals of the country, but also bastards of the family, and were the culprits that affected the development of a family!

  If it was simply a violation of the law, people would not necessarily take it too seriously. As long as it was not a serious crime of plotting rebellion or subverting the country, other situations could be laughed off. In such a big dynasty, can't there be room for a few dandy boys who acted ridiculously? If other children can be tolerated, why can't my family?

But if a family has a prodigal son, the feeling is different. Because every bit of bad consequences and damage caused by the son's ridiculous behavior must be borne by their respective families, directly affecting the further development and growth of their respective families, and it is even possible that their families will decline from prosperity. This makes people unable to look at it with an open mind.

In particular, His Majesty the Emperor cited the Northern Qi Dynasty as a vivid, highly contrasting and reference example, which made all the nobles realize that if they indulged their own children in breaking the law and taboos, it would certainly affect their own family fortunes, and if other families' children were rebellious and broke the law, thus affecting the development of the country's fortunes, it would also be damaging their common interests!

Therefore, if you want to pass on this achievement, you must not only discipline your own children strictly, but also require your colleagues to be strict with their parents. If the first point is occasionally impossible, then the second point is something that everyone can do. Being strict with others and lenient with oneself is a natural result of human laziness.

Li Tai did not expect that this banquet would bring about any significant changes in social customs, as social customs can only be improved through long-term supervision and guidance. However, his remarks could bring about considerable improvements in the law enforcement environment.

Previously, everyone had some resistance to the strict law enforcement of the Criminal Department, believing that this would restrict their freedom and infringe upon their privileges and interests, so that they involuntarily put themselves in a position slightly opposed to the court.

However, Li Tai's words pointed out that the court's interests have always been consistent with theirs, and their official titles and salaries all came from the court's grace. Only when the country is long-term stable and peaceful can they be rich and live long.

As for those illegal acts, they not only undermine the stability of the country, but also harm their common interests. The court imposes sanctions through criminal orders, and they should also criticize them morally instead of confusing their own well-being with the fate of those prisoners out of excessive empathy.

  Those prisoners are scum who endanger the family business and are parasites that consume the country. If they are allowed to exist without being severely punished, the positive benefits brought to the country by the loyal and diligent service of the civil and military officials in the court will be squandered by these scum's repeated indulgence, and eventually the fortune of the entire country will go from bad to worse!

As long as these noble ministers can realize this, the environment for criminal law enforcement will naturally become clear, and there will be no complaints in the country and the situation will not be unstable.

  In the final analysis, the national law is not aimed at suppressing these noble ministers, but the bottom line of their respective family education and the final guarantee of the official privileges they enjoy. If you wantonly challenge the national law, you are betraying and damaging the common interests of everyone!

Of course, not everyone can accept this set of opinions, but even if there are one or two dissenting voices, it is not enough to stir up collective resistance and criticism against the strict law enforcement of the criminal justice system, especially it is difficult to blame the court for being mean and ungrateful. Even if they are stubborn and stubborn, it only makes them seem lonely and unapproachable.

After the Supreme Emperor held a banquet for all the ministers at Yu Jin's residence, the criminal courts in the capital area accelerated the pace of law enforcement and trials, and several cases that attracted much attention and had been pending were successively judged.

The most popular case in recent times is the case of Yang Zhong's son-in-law and daughter.

In this case, Dou Rongding's concubine openly violated the street cleaning style and beat and injured the law enforcement officer Wu Hou. Although the nature of the matter was very serious, it was not to the extent that the person should be beaten to death. In particular, even if this prostitute deserved death, she should not be lynched.

After the trial, the first thing that happened was a fine of 100,000 coins for all the violations combined. All the people involved were sentenced to one to three years in prison. The main offender, the prostitute Wang from Guangzhou, was sentenced to the maximum sentence of three years in prison. Because she could no longer bear the punishment, she was fined an additional 30,000 coins, bringing the total fine to 130,000 coins.

As early as the Western Wei Dynasty, Guanzhong had already begun to implement new coins, and the coins that were implemented at that time were the Tongzhi Wuzhu coins. Now the Tang Dynasty court has newly minted Kaiyuan Tongbao coins, and the old coins can be used together with the new coins as long as they are of sufficient weight. Because Kaiyuan Tongbao is a newly minted coin of the country, the value of the coin is high now. One hundred and fifty coins can be exchanged for one piece of silk. According to this current price, just walking against the flow in the street and injuring people will be fined nearly nine hundred pieces of silk. Gao Aocao had half of his elbow removed, and the punishment was relatively severe.

Of course, it doesn't matter whether it is strict or not. If the prostitute Wang had died quickly, she would have been waiting in line to re-enter the cycle of reincarnation. It's just that I don't know whether she will go back and act arrogantly in the next life, or whether her Dou Lang will kill her with a stick directly.

In this incident, Dou Lan, the Wannian County Lieutenant who clearly covered up the violation, was not spared and was directly punished by being stripped of his position and imprisoned. He was not allowed to hold an official position again and was exiled to Longyou.

If the standards of the Kaihuang Code had been followed, Dou Lan would not have received such a severe punishment. But he was unlucky because he violated the street cleaning style, and he was caught in the midst of the eradication of favoritism and corruption, and he was not eligible for the laws of discussion and reduction of punishment. In an instant, he went from a promising young man to an exiled prisoner.

Dou Rongding also violated the law by shielding his slave and concubine, and was also severely punished. Not only was his official title reduced, but he was also fined 300,000 coins. But this was not the most important thing for him. His biggest crime was to beat his concubine to death with a stick. In addition, this woman was not included in the list of prisoners of war in Qingzhou, but was secretly kept by him. Therefore, his previously demoted official title was completely stripped and he was also sentenced to exile.

Although Yang Zhong's daughter Yang was not directly involved in the criminal case, she forced her husband to kill a slave and was also guilty. Therefore, she was stripped of her rank as a woman of noble birth and sentenced to one year in government service. However, because her father Yang Zhong asked to give up his fief to atone for his crime, Yang Zhong reduced his fief of a thousand households. Yang was required to stay at home and reflect on herself and report to the government on the first day of the first lunar month.

The fiefs of the Western Wei were just numbers, no matter how impressive the number was, there was no real fief. The Tang Dynasty stipulated that the county dukes could enjoy 100 households of real fiefs, and the kings and dukes could enjoy 500 households. The basic standard was 10 to 1, that is, if the fief was 1,000 households, the fief was 100 households.

Naturally, Yang Zhong enjoyed the top-level fief of 5,000 households. After the reduction of 1,000 households, he directly lost one county duke's real fief. In order to protect his daughter from being punished with hard labor, Yang Zhong spent a lot of money. I just don't know if there will be discord in his family again after this incident.

Yuwen Zhi, Yu Lan and other playboys who had been detained were sentenced again. Since they kidnapped Gao Xi before the street cleaning ceremony was issued, and they still held official titles when they committed the crimes, they were also subject to the law of reducing and redeeming their sentences. Therefore, they were only sentenced to flogging and fined.

After being whipped and paying fines, these people simply reunited with their families for a while, and then immediately embarked on the journey of exile. The journeys were long and short, and it was unknown when they would be able to return to Chang'an in the future. For a while, they could not help but shed tears and regret.

Compared with these rising stars, Gao Yanzong, the son of Gao Cheng who committed the murder first, did not have such good luck. No matter how prominent his position was before, he was now just a commoner in Chang'an. No matter how notorious Cui Jishu was, he still needed to pay for his murder, so Gao Yanzong was sentenced to death without any suspense.

However, it was probably that Gao Yanzong's fate was not to end. On the eve of his execution in autumn, Ningzhou reported the discovery of rich copper mines in Dianchi Lake. Coincidentally, the court needed a large amount of copper to mint the newly minted Kaiyuan Tongbao to maintain currency circulation. Therefore, the Southern Yunnan Copper Official Bureau was newly established, and Li Xian, the younger brother of Li Qianzhe from Shannan, was appointed as the governor of Ningzhou and concurrently in charge of the copper official.

The establishment of the Southern Yunnan Copper Official Post naturally required a large number of personnel to go there, so the imperial court issued an order that all prisoners, big and small, except for those guilty of the ten heinous crimes, who were willing to serve and be punished at the Southern Yunnan Copper Official Post would have their sentences reduced by one level, including the death penalty, and they could redeem themselves through accumulated labor.

Going to southern Yunnan to open a mine is undoubtedly a very hard job, but compared to a long prison sentence or even the death penalty, it is undoubtedly an excellent way out. So after the order was announced, the prisoners in the country responded in droves, including Gao Yanzong.

"Brothers, there is no need to send me off. I am leaving now! The money you have paid to the government will be personally retrieved for you when I return! I will change my ways and never let you down again!"

In the group of prisoners who were about to go to Tongguan in southern Yunnan, Gao Yanzong clasped his fists towards his brothers and said that in order for these prisoners to go to southern Yunnan, they would need their family members to guarantee the government. Serious criminals like Gao Yanzong would need to pay 100,000 coins as an official salary, which would be returned annually according to their years of service.

After surviving a great disaster, Gao Yanzong has become much more mature. Looking at the brothers who came to see him off, he patted his chest and said with a serious face. When Gao Xiaowan and others heard what Gao Yanzong said, they were all in tears for a while, and nodded repeatedly to encourage him.