I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 780: The Minister of Justice and the Chief Censor

Zhu Yijun continued, "Just now you talked about the Yang Kaitai case. What you said was very pertinent and to the point, which made me feel very gratified.

In my opening remarks at the plenary meeting of the Advisory Bureau this morning, I mentioned rule of law, the case of Yang Kaitai, and also mentioned that Marcelo could understand my good intentions of governing the country according to law and expressed his admiration a few times.

Some of my words were meant to hit the stupid head of the person sitting there. In fact, in my Ming Dynasty, there are still many knowledgeable people who see through my good intentions, including Hai Gong and Prince Jian. "

Wang Yi'e quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty's praise makes me flattered."

Hai Rui said calmly, "Your Majesty, thank you for the compliment."

Zhu Yijun smiled and continued, "My opening remarks this morning were full of emotion, and they actually came from my heart.

Different cultural environments foster different ways of thinking. Marcelo came from Europe and was a Portuguese nobleman who received education since childhood. When he came to the Ming Dynasty and observed the Yang Kaitai case, he understood the essence of the spirit of the rule of law without any guidance.

Many of our ministers are so stubborn that they are flattered by their wooden heads, granite heads, reinforced concrete heads! They are stubborn and always insist on the rule of man based on benevolence and virtue, and reject the rule of law based on justice.

I am very puzzled. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the spirit of rule of law has been deeply rooted in the bones of our great Chinese nation. How come thousands of years later, like the Shang Dynasty tripods and Han Dynasty jades buried in the dust of history, it is hard to see them in our officials and scholars?
After thinking about it, I still agree with what I said just now: different cultural environments will cultivate different ways of thinking.

So I was thinking that we should not only vigorously promote new learning and reform the roots of thought, but also be open to all ideas, take the essence of various civilizations in the world, remove the dross, absorb and digest them, and integrate them into our cultural environment.

The Ming Dynasty has its eyes on the world and its ambitions to conquer the world, so it should not be complacent. "

Wang Yi'e nodded and said, "Your Majesty is right. The Ming Dynasty is powerful, so it is confident. Confident people tend to be humble. Our civilization is long and vast, like the ocean, so we don't mind hundreds of rivers flowing into it, because they will eventually become part of the ocean."

Zhu Yijun laughed and said, "Zijian is right!"

Hai Rui stroked his beard, his expression remaining serious.

"So this is what the emperor is thinking. When the emperor asked the Hanlin Academy to open the Tongwenguan, Wanli University to establish the Foreign Language Research Institute, and Nanjing University to establish the Foreign Language Institute, I was against it.

Confucianism is all-encompassing and implicitly conforms to the laws of nature. Even if it has some flaws in its application to the new era, the academic thoughts of the former Qin Dynasty, the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties, and the many wise men, can't find a suitable source to carry forward their academic thoughts?

Li Zhuowu did a very good job. After eliminating the pedantic and outdated Confucianism, his new school absorbed Laozi's dialectical thought; Xunzi's "control the destiny of heaven and use it", "man can conquer nature", "respecting rituals and honoring the virtuous will make you a king, emphasizing laws and loving the people will make you a hegemon"; Mozi's materialism and logic; Guanzi's materialism of "the sky does not change its constant, the earth does not change its rules" and other pre-Qin thoughts, and finally formed a new school with dialectical materialism as the core. "

Zhu Yijun nodded and continued speaking.

"The new learning and new thought led by Mr. Zhuo Wu has made good progress and has been quite effective. It has now become the mainstream thought of the Ming Dynasty and is guiding a new ideological revolution. This is very good.

Many people say that his new school is new Confucianism, which is new wine in old bottles and has not completely broken away from old ideas. I would like to ask them why they want to completely break away from them.

When a baby is born, the umbilical cord connecting it to the mother is cut and it becomes a new independent individual. Does that mean it is completely severed from its parents?

Our Chinese civilization has been nurtured and developed for three thousand years. Confucianism has become a prominent school of thought since the Western Han Dynasty. Firstly, it absorbed the teachings of hundreds of schools of thought, even the academic thoughts that poured in from overseas, and combined the strengths of hundreds of schools of thought; secondly, it was the choice of the times and it also adapted to the times.

The times are changing, and the old Confucianism is not suitable for the new era. What should be abandoned should be abandoned, but what should be retained should be retained. At least the Confucian virtues of benevolence, courtesy, faith and justice are of great benefit to personal moral cultivation and guiding people to be good.

Do we no longer need morality or kindness when we develop industry and commerce and carry out the industrial revolution?

Mr. Zhuo Wu has done a very good job. He has put morality where it should be put, epistemology where it should be put, and worldview where it should be put. It is no longer a hodgepodge like before, where everything is linked to morality, and in the end nothing is clear! "

Hai Rui and Wang Yi'e listened very carefully to Zhu Yijun's clear voice.

Both of them knew that the new theory was created under the leadership of Li Zhi, or rather he was the editor-in-chief, responsible for organizing it into a complete and self-consistent theory.

In fact, the core ideas of the new learning all came from the emperor.

This is an open secret.

Hai Rui was filled with emotion. He sighed and said, "Now I can understand the good intentions of the emperor. After so many years of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, many people's brains have been cast into granite. They actually believe that the principles of heaven are more important than fairness and justice. But the principles of heaven in their minds have become accomplices in exploiting the people and committing perverse acts."

Zhu Yijun looked at Hai Rui in surprise. He could not believe that during his few years as the governor of Jiangsu, where he was at the forefront of the conflict between old and new ideas, his thinking had undergone such a great transformation.
"Mr. Hai, I thought you would continue to stick to your own opinion, but I didn't expect you to change so quickly."

Hai Rui gave a faint bitter smile and said, "Your Majesty's words shame me, an old minister.

Sometimes the barriers in your heart need a heavy blow from the outside world to break them down.

In the case of Yang Kaitai, I saw the trick at a glance, and after reading the case files, I knew that Yang Kaitai was wrongly accused. But no matter how I hinted and explained, the people in the Yangzhou Procuratorate and the Court of Justice always insisted on their own views.

I originally thought that these bastards dared to accept bribes from Gou Shide under my nose, and were corrupt and abused their power for personal gain. I asked the inspectors of the Supervision Bureau to investigate, and found that these guys did not accept money from Gou Shide privately, they just thought Yang Kaitai was guilty.

Prejudice is like a prison and arrogance is like a pair of shackles, imprisoning prosecutors, judges and prosecutors in their own cages, making it impossible for them to see fairness and justice.

These guys who should have had a scale in their hearts, the weights are no longer evidence and law, but party struggles, their own future, their own likes and dislikes, currying favor with the powerful, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. The only thing missing is the justice that the people desire most!
After much deliberation, I decided to transfer the case to the Huzhou Court on the grounds of judicial recusation, and communicated with Li Yuanjiang (Li Sanjiang) to ask the famous Shanghai Procuratorate to be the defense party.

After hearing these inside stories, Wang Yi'e asked curiously, "Mr. Hai, what you did is equivalent to exposing the shame of the Yangzhou Court of Justice and the Procuratorate and Judicial Bureau. Are you ashamed?"

Yes, after the Luzhou Administrative Court's review and judgment, it was determined that the Yangzhou Administrative Court's previous judgment was a miscarriage of justice, and that the Yangzhou Procuratorate and Judicial Bureau had wrongly accused an innocent person. As their superior, Hai Rui, the governor of Jiangsu and the head of a province, was of course ashamed.

Hai Rui said calmly, "Is my little bit of dignity more important than justice?"

Wang Yi'e stood up solemnly and bowed to Hai Rui solemnly.

Hai Rui smiled and accepted the gift calmly.

After Wang Yi'e sat down, Zhu Yijun continued, "Rule of law has been implemented for several years, and I feel that it is difficult to move forward and the results are not good. It is estimated that only the judicial institutions in Huzhou can hand in an answer sheet that satisfies me.

Luanzhou and Tianjin can barely deliver a passable result. As for other places, even Yangzhou, the best place in Jiangsu Province, is like this, so I can't count on other places.

Now that the new policy reforms are underway and the cabinet led by Prime Minister Zhang is on the right track, I have nothing to worry about. With the booming industry and commerce and the rapidly improving economic situation, we must speed up the pace of building a country ruled by law.”

Wang Yi'e nodded in agreement: "Your Majesty is wise. On my way to Beijing, I went down the river, passed through Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Nanjing, and chatted with some old friends. I found that economic cases were emerging in various places.

Both the plaintiff and the defendant cried out for injustice, and the local judicial officials who were supposed to uphold justice were either helpless or confused. The conflict continued to intensify.

The reason is, as the emperor said, new productive forces are constantly developing, but the new production relations required have not developed accordingly.

The booming industry and commerce, the Industrial Revolution, and free trade were all unprecedented situations, and the problems that arose also left many judicial officials with a Confucian background at a loss as to where to start.

Although they have excellent memory and can recite the laws promulgated by the court by heart and can explain the judicial procedures clearly, their true colors are exposed when they encounter actual cases.

"I have discovered that Yang Kaitai's case is everywhere in the Ming Dynasty. The contradictions are piling up, and the resentment is deepening. Your Majesty, I think it cannot be ignored."

Hai Rui went on to say: "Conflicts and resentments in the world come from injustice. Only by upholding justice can we ease conflicts and resolve resentments, so that the people can be united and live and work in peace and contentment!"

Hai Rui's powerful words left Zhu Yijun speechless for a long time.

Hai Rui is still the Hai Rui in his mind.

He had the Ming Dynasty in his heart and put the people of the world first. Therefore, in the turbulent and changing times, this old minister who seemed pedantic and stubborn in the past became one of the first important officials to change his mind and accept new ideas.

Zhu Yijun said happily: "Okay, since the three of us, the emperor and his subjects, have reached an agreement, then the following matters will be easy to discuss.

To establish a sound system of rule of law and reverse the current unfavorable situation, I think the key lies in two places: one is the Ministry of Justice, and the other is the Court of Justice.

The Ministry of Justice was responsible for the prosecution and judicial departments and was the most important judicial administrative department in the Ming Dynasty. It not only had a police department responsible for the preliminary investigation of criminal cases, but also had a prosecution and judicial department that exercised important prosecution and judicial powers.

Relatively speaking, the procuratorate and the courts can proactively ensure judicial fairness, while the courts can only passively ensure judicial fairness. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice should play an important role in the rule of law and must become a pioneer in the construction of the rule of law. "

Zhu Yijun paused and continued, "Prince Jianchuan was previously the Minister of Justice and completed the transformation of the Ministry of Justice, establishing a police department from top to bottom. He made great achievements.

However, Zhang Xiang needed a strong assistant to carry out the new policy reform, so he moved Jianchuan Gong to be the left chancellor. Yiquan Gong (Guo Qian) was appointed as the minister of the Ministry of Justice.

To be honest, I am not satisfied with the work of the Ministry of Justice in the past two years. It just so happens that Lord Yiquan is old and frail, and he took the initiative to resign. I also happily agreed, and then I thought of letting Zi recommend you to serve as the Minister of Justice. "

Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Yi'e and said solemnly: "I hope that after you go to the Ministry of Justice, you will continue the police construction of Jianchuan Gong. But the most important thing is to build a qualified procuratorial and judicial team to vigorously promote the construction of rule of law."

Wang Yi'e was mentally prepared.

This transfer back to the capital will be a new starting point. Wang Yi'e is actually satisfied to be in charge of the Ministry of Justice, which is very important among the six ministries.

The Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng, and the left and right chancellors Wang Chonggu, Wei Xueceng, Wang Guoguang, and Pan Jixun all had no health problems and it was impossible for them to vacate the positions.

Then becoming one of the six ministers is the best choice.

Wang Yi'e had thought before that the Ministry of Works, Ministry of Rites, and Ministry of Revenue would definitely not let him go because his major was not suitable.

The Ministry of Personnel wanted to go, but Wang Yi'e felt that another person had a better chance of becoming a celestial official.

Then the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Justice have the greatest chance.

When the emperor asked him about the Yang Kaitai case just now, Wang Yi'e guessed in his heart that the Minister of Justice would not be able to escape.

"I sincerely obey the Holy Will."

Zhu Yijun nodded and turned to look at Hai Rui, "Duke Dazhou wants to step down. I hope Duke Hai can take charge of the Censorate."

Wang Yi'e was shocked and couldn't help feeling envious.

To succeed Zhao Zhenji as Chief Censor, he would definitely be given the title of Grand Secretary of the Council of State Affairs and become one of the three great ministers.

Now everyone in the court and the country knows that the four Grand Secretaries are known as the Four Giants, but in fact the first three are the real giants, holding the power of prime minister, namely the Prime Minister of Government, the Prime Minister of Military Affairs, and the Prime Minister of Justice.

The fourth Grand Councillor is actually used for balancing, and its main function is to strengthen the Prime Minister’s voice in the Advisory Bureau.

Seventy percent of military and national affairs depend on the decision-making and execution of the cabinet, so the cabinet must have a greater say.

Hai Rui put down his hand that was stroking his beard and asked solemnly, "Your Majesty, how should we arrange for Lord Zhao?"

"I intend to change the Court of Justice into the Constitutional Court, under which will be the Bureau of Regulations. The Attorney General will be changed into the Constitutional Court.

Shi Lugong was appointed as the Senior Official of the Constitutional Council, Dazhougong was appointed as the Senior Official of the Left, and Guo Qian, Lu Tong, and Ma Fang, who were to retire at the same time, were appointed as the Senior Official of the Constitutional Council. The remaining officials who retired from the third rank and above were promoted to the Senior Official of the Constitutional Council.

After retirement, he was not idle. In accordance with the continuous development of state governance, he led the Regulations Bureau to draft and revise laws and regulations, conduct preliminary deliberations, and then submit them to the Advisory Bureau for discussion. Finally, he approved them and issued them by imperial decree.

Hai Rui said nothing.

Zhu Yijun asked, "Mr. Hai, I intend to hand over the Censorate to you. I mentioned this in my letter to you in the first month of the year, and I also asked you to think about how to carry out the work of the Censorate.

More than three months have passed, and I believe that Duke Hai has considered this matter over and over again. Now, I want to hear your thoughts."

Wang Yi'e was shocked. The emperor really respected Hai Gong so much that he actually told him the secret in the first month of the year.

But to be fair, Wang Yi'e felt that Hai Rui was the most suitable person to take charge of the Censorate.

He turned to look at Hai Rui, and like Zhu Yijun, he was looking forward to Hai Rui's speech.

(End of this chapter)