I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 961 The Emperor Wants to Rule Officials by the People

"Emperor Taizu was originally a commoner from Huaiyou. With his intelligence and bravery, he had the ambition to save the world and bring peace to the people. He took advantage of the opportunity and was followed by heroes.

Expel the Tartars and restore China. Suppress the rebellion and destroy the strong. A great cause was accomplished in fifteen years.

His great achievements will go down in history."

Zhu Yijun paused and continued.

"But I also know that there are people in the society who are making a fuss that Hongwu went too far in killing ministers. The legislation was too strict, the punishments were too harsh, and the killing of the people of the capital by the two parties was quite damaging to the harmony of nature.

That’s right, during the Hongwu reign of Emperor Taizu, the Hu Weiyong case and the Lan Yu case implicated tens of thousands of high-ranking officials and famous scholars, and the aristocratic families and scholars in Jiangnan were almost wiped out.”

Everyone listened quietly, with mixed feelings in their hearts.

It is not quite clear why Zhu Yijun mentioned Emperor Taizu, nor do they know what the connection is between Emperor Taizu and this consultation conference of representatives from all walks of life, but they couldn't help but complain wildly in their hearts.

Your Majesty, you are doing no worse than Emperor Taizu!

Emperor Taizu simply treated the meritorious officials and the scholars from aristocratic families as grass to be mowed down, one after another, without mercy.

Your Majesty, you are even more cruel. You even treat members of the royal family as grass. There are hundreds of thousands of royal family members, and you killed some, imprisoned some, and turned a large number into civilians. Now there are only one or two thousand royal family members registered in the imperial book. The number is almost as small as when the country was first established during the Hongwu period.

Nobles, officials, and great scholars from aristocratic families were killed in large numbers. Not to mention the aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River, all the local families in Shandong, Shanxi, Huguang, and any other province with a little history and roots had a replacement.

The key is to kill people and destroy their hearts!
Emperor Wanli achieved more great things than Emperor Taizu, and he also killed more people than Emperor Taizu.

Zhu Yijun continued speaking.

“I also know that even some famous scholars in the southeast secretly accused Taizu of being tyrannical, cruel, murderous and immoral.

But they didn't have the courage to say it openly, so they used their best technique, the Spring and Autumn style, to belittle Emperor Taizu by recalling the violent Yuan Dynasty.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, famous scholars in Jiangnan publicly commemorated the violent Yuan Dynasty.

Why did the Yuan Dynasty have light punishments and low taxes, and rarely use weapons? The living were well cared for, and the dead were buried.
What is the great virtue of Yuanzhen? The great virtue of Qianyuanxiang, the great culture, the great world
What is the Yuan Dynasty? Since the Yuan Dynasty, people have been more literary, but their tools and abilities are not enough.
Even in the Jiajing period, there were people shaking their heads and saying that the Yuan Dynasty did not have to guard the borders, taxes were light and people had enough food and clothing, and that they had enough food and clothing and were able to sing and chant.

These cultural scums who have been nailed to the pillar of historical shame, I disdain to mention them today, what I want to say is that the standpoints are different, and of course the words are completely different. "

Zhu Yijun's resonant voice was transmitted to everyone's ears through two electric loudspeakers. Those who were smart and knew some inside information guessed something.

"Taizu liked to use strict laws in order to control the noble officials very strictly. In fact, he never abused the common people. He was afraid of abusing the people, so he was careful to abide by the law and succeeded in many cases.

The taxes in Jiangnan were one or two times heavier than those in other places. Some people fabricated a story that the people in Jiangnan had previously supported Zhang Shicheng in resisting the royal army, so Taizu imposed heavy taxes on them as a punishment.

absurd!

Why don't these people say how much the fertile fields in the south of the Yangtze River produce per mu, and how much the dry and barren fields in the north produce per mu? The yield per mu in the south of the Yangtze River is two or three times that in the north, and there are far fewer natural disasters than in the north, and the days of good weather and good harvests are far better than in the north.

You gain more, so why can't you pay more taxes?

You complain every day that the imperial court allocates your grain to the soldiers in the nine border areas, and you keep saying that it is better to feed it to dogs!

I think their consciences have been eaten by dogs. Without the hard work of the soldiers and civilians guarding the nine borders, how could you have your peaceful lives and live a life of drunkenness and dreams?
But in the minds of those people, foreign invasions don’t matter. At most, they can just beg for mercy and surrender once, and then they can continue to enjoy wealth and glory.”

Zhu Yijun's words were profound.

“My Emperor Taizu was born into a poor family.

In the third year of Zhizheng in the Yuan Dynasty (1343), when Taizu was six years old, a drought occurred in Haozhou, and in the spring of the following year, a severe locust plague and epidemic occurred.

In less than half a month, Emperor Renzu Chun (Zhu Yuanzhang's father), Empress Chun (Zhu Yuanzhang's mother) and his eldest brother, Prince of Nanchang (Zhu Xinglong, originally named Zhu Chongsi) died one after another.

Suffering from misfortunes one after another, the family had no money to buy a coffin, and even no land to bury their relatives. Emperor Taizu lamented in the "Emperor Taizu Gaohuangdi of the Ming Dynasty Imperial Tomb Stele", "There is no coffin for the funeral, the body is covered with shabby clothes, and it is covered three feet high. What food and drink are there to offer as sacrifices!"

Later, Emperor Taizu went to Huangjue Temple and became a monk. When he was 17 years old, he was driven out because the temple was short of food. He was called wandering, but in fact he was begging.

Zhu Yijun spoke word by word.

“Before Emperor Taizu started the rebellion, he had experienced the sufferings of the people and was well aware of their hardships.

He also traveled around and saw how corrupt officials and evil gentry bullied the people.

After achieving great success, he rectified the rules and regulations, made the laws and regulations clear and complete, and cleaned up the internal affairs. During his 31 years in power, he killed tens of thousands of noble officials, powerful families, and famous scholars, but he treated the poor people with great favor, regarded them as the foundation of the country, and was afraid to hurt them.

Only those scholars who could read and write became famous scholars and later powerful families, officials at the highest level and gentry at the lowest level, who annexed land, oppressed the people, and invaded the countryside with impunity.

Emperor Taizu had personally experienced the viciousness of these officials and gentry, so he pointed the knife in his hand at these people and swung it down fiercely.

Taizu established strict laws and harsh regulations, such as hanging with 80 strings of cash for breaking the law. Since then, the country was in an uproar, and scholars and writers said that the people were living in misery under the harsh laws.

I see, officials and scholars are not making a living."

When everyone heard this, they felt mixed emotions, especially the officials and literati.

"Taizu reigned for 31 years and implemented harsh laws for 31 years, which had far-reaching effects. During the Chenghua period, the official style was still relatively clean. However, after the Hongzhi period, the official style of the court began to deteriorate, and local tyrants began to act arrogantly.

Corrupt officials are rampant, evil gentry are arrogant, and the government is corrupt.

During the Jiajing period, although Emperor Shizong had achieved a revival, the officials and gentry were one and the same, penetrating into every aspect of the government and the public, forming an impenetrable network. The officialdom became increasingly corrupt, and corrupt officials were everywhere.

Hai Gong once petitioned in anger to restore the ancestral system of skinning and stuffing with grass.

When everyone heard this, their hearts trembled.

Zhu Yijun continued, "During the Wanli New Deal, the official style and administration were not the best in history, and many cases of corruption and embezzlement in the central and local governments were investigated and punished.

But overall, I am still very confident that it is clean and efficient.

I know that the first is to use new systems and laws to regulate and constrain the officialdom, and the second is the rapid economic development, all walks of life are in a booming stage.
But historical lessons tell me that although Emperor Taizu enforced strict laws and killed many corrupt officials, in the end it was all in vain.

why?
No matter how strict and harsh the system and laws are, they still need people to enforce and supervise them. As long as they are human, they will inevitably have their own interests. If they have interests, they will have positions, and their butts will be crooked.

Using officials to control officials will ultimately result in nothing.

What should I do? "

Zhu Yijun's voice was like a spring thunder, rolling over everyone's heads.

Everyone then understood that the emperor was going to try out new laws in an attempt to solve the millennium-old problem and curb officials' corruption and lawlessness.

"Using officials to control officials is not a long-term solution, so is there any better solution?
It is stipulated in the "Three Great Edicts" of Emperor Taizu that the people can tie up corrupt officials and bring them to the capital to be punished. Even if they have no written warrant, the customs must release them immediately and no one can stop them. If the officials and anyone else dares to stop them, their entire family will be executed.

There is also a regulation that from the provincial governor to the county officials, if they privately make up excuses to harm the people and steal their money without the order of the court, the elders in the country and other places in the villages and markets are allowed to go to the capital together to file a petition, stating the incompetence of the officials and clearly pointing out the facts, so as to discuss the crimes and cultivate more virtuous people.

In the 18th year of Hongwu, Chen Shouliu and three others from Changshu County tied up Gu Ying, an official who was corrupt and cruel to the people, and brought him to Beijing to report the incident. Emperor Taizu immediately rewarded Chen Shouliu with 30 ingots of banknotes, two pieces of clothing for each of the three people, and exempted him from miscellaneous labor for three years. He also warned local officials: Anyone who dared to retaliate against Chen Shouliu would be executed along with his entire family.

At the beginning of summer in the 19th year of Hongwu's reign, Yang Fengchun, the leader of the archers in Jiading County, murdered the common people. Guo Xuaner and his companions, a commoner in the county, took the "Great Edict" to the capital to file a complaint.

When passing through Chunhua Town, the inspector He Tianguan made things difficult for Guo Xuaner and his companions, refusing to let them pass, and instructed Ma Dewang, the leader of the archers in Chunhua Town, to demand money from them.

Finally, according to the punishment in the Great Edict, Ma Dewang was beheaded and He Tianguan had his feet chopped off.

Zhu Yijun glanced at the meeting room, which became even quieter. Everyone was quietly waiting for the next step. What exactly was the new system of official appointment that the emperor was going to implement?

"From the above measures, it can be seen that Emperor Taizu had doubts about the idea of ​​governing officials by officials, and had the idea of ​​governing officials by civilians, but due to historical limitations, he did not go further and form an effective and perfect common method.

The exploration of establishing a system of government by the people has fallen into chaos.

In many places, there were local gentry and powerful people who gathered together tenants and unruly people to settle personal grudges, eliminate dissidents, and tie up local officials who had grudges against them and bring them to Beijing, resulting in many unjust cases.

Not only was justice not upheld, but the local gentry and powerful people were allowed to further bully the local people.

There are also local hooligans who maliciously exploit the system of civilians taking officials, designing traps, or grabbing evidence to extort money from local officials, and running rampant in the countryside.

In the end, this system came to nothing and disappeared into history.”

When Zhu Yijun reached this point, he picked up the teacup and took a few sips of tea, leaving time for everyone to digest his words in silence.

After waiting for more than a minute, Zhu Yijun continued speaking.

"But I think the idea of ​​Emperor Taizu to establish officials by civilians is correct. I want to improve it, institutionalize it, and rationalize it. Today's political consultation conference of representatives from all walks of life in Shanghai is an attempt.

How to try it?

Invite representatives from all walks of life to come together to make an in-depth summary, analysis and discussion of the problems encountered in the past two years of Huzhou's governance. Make an in-depth explanation and discussion of Huzhou's governance plan for the next five years.

There is also the Huzhou Provincial Government, which has to explain clearly in front of everyone how much tax is collected each year, how much is paid to the central treasury, how much is budgeted, and where it is spent.

Has the Censorate conducted effective supervision over official conduct and discipline? Has it conducted investigations and collected evidence against officials and relevant government offices that have caused great public outrage? Can you give an answer to representatives from all walks of life?
There are also the Procuratorate and the Court, which sound very mysterious. Could the relevant officials come forward and give a detailed explanation to representatives from all walks of life on what the statutory procedures for public prosecution and judicial trial are, and what are the basis and principles for prosecution and trial?

It's impossible that you judicial personnel understand while the common people are confused.

How can our administration and judiciary be as free from corruption as possible? Transparency is one of the keys.

What is transparency? It means that every step is clear, obvious, traceable and substantiated.”

Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

"I have heard an argument that no matter what method is used, it is impossible to eliminate favoritism, corruption and bribery. The implication is that if this is the case, why bother with so much effort!
What a joke.

Everyone is going to die anyway, so just lie there and wait to die.

Our pursuit of justice and happiness is never satisfied. It is precisely because of this pursuit that our Chinese nation and Chinese civilization have come step by step to where we are today and stand tall in the world.

This is also the fundamental reason why we have been working hard to implement new policies and laws.”

Zhu Yijun paused for a few seconds and then continued.

"The Political Consultative Conference of Representatives from All Sector is an experiment. What I really want to do is..."

(End of this chapter)