Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 95 Edicts and Martial Law
Splitting the Ming Law also has another purpose, that is, Zhu Youjian can more easily modify or add certain laws in the future.

Otherwise, once the changes are made, it will be the entire Ming Dynasty law. The movement will be too great and it will be more difficult to pass.

So he wanted to split up the Ming Dynasty Law to make it easier to modify it in the future.

However, Yuan Keli also raised a question that put him in a dilemma:

"What level should the edicts issued by the past emperors be set at?"

"Is it equivalent to a law or a regulation?"

This is a major issue related to the level of the emperor's edict and the boundary of power. If Zhu Youjian said that the emperor's edict belonged to the second level, it would be equivalent to admitting that the emperor also had to abide by the Ming Law. In the future, the ministers will try their best to amend the Ming Law, restrain the emperor, and realize the establishment of a constitutional monarch.

Zhu Youjian was unwilling to fall into this trap now. After thinking about it, he said:

"The emperor's edict can be regarded as a temporary law and usually cannot violate the Ming law."

"But if necessary, certain laws and regulations can be abolished by edict and replaced by edicts issued."

Yuan Keli was disappointed and said angrily:

"Your Majesty, what is the difference between doing this and before?"

“Why bother to split and revise the Ming Code?”

"After the revision, His Majesty issued an edict to abolish it, so why do we need to revise it?"

Zhu Youjian also felt that this was a bit of a rogue move, so he could only make concessions and said:
"Then add a time limit and some laws can be temporarily replaced."

"The edicts of the previous emperors are also handled according to temporary laws."

"If it needs to be used, it should be sorted out and added to the law."

"If there is no need to continue using it, then it will not be continued."

Now Yuan Keli was satisfied, knowing that the authority of the Ming Law could be guaranteed, and the emperor would abide by the Ming Law in most cases.

However, he still made a request, hoping that the emperor would clearly stipulate the time limit:
"How long is the time limit? Your Majesty, please clarify!"

Zhu Youjian said:
"It is temporarily set at three years, and the maximum time for an abolition is three years. The time must be clearly stated in the edict."

"After time has passed, if the edict is no longer extended, the abolished laws and regulations will naturally be restored."

"If the edict is extended, it will also be up to three years."

"After up to nine years, a court meeting will be held to discuss whether to amend the law and replace it with the content of the edict."

"We cannot always use edicts to replace the law, nor can we know that there are problems with the law but can only continue to implement it."

Reluctantly agreeing with this, Yuan Keli felt that it was much better than the previous arbitrary edict replacing the Ming Law.

But he also made a request that the edict must be a formal edict drafted by the cabinet and not refuted by the Sixth Section, so that the emperor could promise not to issue an edict without Zhongzhi, and that the Jinyi Guards incident would not happen again.

Zhu Youjian was unwilling to promise easily and said:
"If emergencies such as rebellion or rebellion occur and I need to issue an edict, the formal edict process may not be available in time."

"Can't I still have the power to issue an edict when facing the enemy?"

"If we want to temporarily recruit and surrender the rebels, will my edict be effective?"

Hearing that the emperor wanted to agree, Yuan Ke immediately said:
"It was a time of war, so His Majesty was naturally in charge of everything."

"But usually His Majesty has to use formal edicts."

Zhu Youjian didn't believe Yuan Keli's statement that the emperor had monopoly power during the war. There have been many war-torn times in history. How many emperors have monopolized power?

In order to ensure his own power and to deal with the subsequent turmoil, Zhu You recalled the martial law laws of later generations and said:

"If there is a war, it will threaten me as the emperor."

"I have the authority to issue martial law edicts to end the chaos and monopolize all power." "During the martial law period, everything is kept simple for the purpose of quelling the war."

"I have the power to issue edicts directly and replace some laws with edicts."

This was a power that only immediate emperors like Taizu and Chengzu had. Of course Yuan Keli was unwilling to agree.

But Zhu Youjian insisted on this, otherwise he would never promise not to succeed. Zhongzhi has little effect on civilian officials, but it is somewhat useful on military generals. Just like the previous appointment of Jin Yiwei Palm Seal, not many generals dared to refuse the imperial edict.

In the previous canonization of Shuntian nobles, Zhu Youjian actually used the decree, but it was later recognized by the court.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian was unwilling to make promises easily, lest he be considered to have no political credibility if he broke this promise in the future.

Political credibility is easy to say, but there are countless breaches of promises in history. But just like no one believed in the credibility of the Sima family after Sima Yi broke the oath of Luoshui, he must bear the corresponding consequences after breaking the oath.

Zhu Youjian didn't want to be thought to have no credibility, so he wouldn't commit easily. If you want to make yourself promise not to issue an edict, you have to exchange the martial law system.

Finally, after a stalemate for a period of time, Yuan Keli thought of the previous events and knew that if the emperor did not make a commitment, he might issue an edict in the future, which would cause greater damage to the court's rules and even cause chaos.

So he could only give in and said:

"His Majesty has the authority to promulgate martial law during times of war, but it should be stopped immediately after the war is over."

Zhu Youjian shook his head and said:

“How is it possible to stop martial law immediately?”

"Who knows whether the war will stop temporarily or be completely quelled?"

"Martial law can only be lifted after a period of observation."

"Furthermore, after the war, the people are uneasy and there is a possibility of plague. It is necessary to impose prohibitions and directly issue edicts."

This is a realistic consideration. Yuan Keli has been on the battlefield and knows that the troubles caused by war are not only during the war, but more after the war, so he backed down and said:

"It can be extended for a period of time, but not for more than three months."

Zhu Youjian bargained and said:
"Three months is too short. The distance is far and it's not enough to cover a round trip!"

"Maybe the enemy's follow-up army is behind and is about to attack. It's just that the news spreads slowly."

"It will take at least three years to be completely sure whether the war is over and people's livelihood can be restored."

"After three years, I will hold a court meeting to decide whether to extend martial law."

A court meeting was held to decide whether to extend martial law. Yuan Keli agreed very much with this point and immediately said:
"Then a court meeting will be held within six months after the war stops to decide whether to extend martial law."

Six months is still too short, Zhu Youjian said:
"It's better for each of us to take a step back and set it at one year for the time being!"

"At least one crop can be harvested in a year. After the war, there will definitely be food shortages and people will flee."

"I can issue an edict during the martial law period so that all people can cultivate the land and harvest food nearby."

“After the martial law ends, the land will be returned to the original owner according to the title deed.”

This was a legitimate reason. After thinking about it, Yuan Keli felt that he could agree. But in order to prevent the emperor from casually issuing martial law for one year, he continued:

"If there is no war after the promulgation of martial law, the martial law will end within three months at most."

"Martial law can only be maintained for one year after the war."

Zhu Youjian nodded in approval and confirmed the final terms of the martial law system:
"The emperor has the right to issue martial law when he senses war, and he has the power to monopolize all powers and issue direct edicts."

"If there is no war within three months and no military reports of war, the emperor will need to convene a court meeting to decide whether to extend martial law."

"If a war breaks out, the emperor has the right to extend the martial law for one year and hold a court meeting after one year to decide whether to extend the martial law."

(End of this chapter)