History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 965: The Story of Taizu 4 - Chuan Minggui
"Kawamiya Incident"

In November of the fourth year of Kaibao (971), Zhao Kuangyin "had something to do in the southern suburbs". After the suburban sacrifice, he awarded rewards to the accompanying soldiers as usual. However, a small accident happened during this period. The inner palace guards of the Sichuan class gathered together to cause trouble.

After regaining Sichuan and Shu, Zhao Kuangyin carefully selected more than one hundred brave warriors from Meng Chang's personal guards, and reorganized them into the "Sichuan Class Nei Dian Zhi" to serve as his own personal guards. Their salaries were higher than those of other personal guards, and their usual rewards were also higher than those of other guards. This was considered a conciliatory policy of Zhao Kuangyin.

In this reward, Zhao Kuangyin gave each of his followers a reward of 5,000 coins.

All the entourage and bodyguards cheered and shouted long live the emperor, but unexpectedly, the "Chuanban" were unhappy and thought they were treated unfairly, so they gathered together to beat drums to protest their injustice, and a "Chuan Minggui" movement broke out.

Like many traditionally disadvantaged groups, what they are fighting for is not equal rights, but privileges. Not being treated preferentially is abuse, and not being treated specially is discrimination. We are usually treated better than other pro-military forces, so why are we all treated the same this time? Isn't this discrimination against us? Are we inferior just because we are from conquered lands? Are we pariahs raised by stepmothers? Isn't this bullying the honest people?

When Zhao Kuangyin heard about this, he was furious and immediately ordered the beheading of more than 40 people who had caused the trouble, and the exile of the rest to Xuzhou. The name of "Chuanban" was revoked from then on.

At that time, Zhao Kuangyin had a general of the imperial guards named Li Chengjin (Zuo Feilong Shi), who had worked for Li Cunxu, the Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang. He said that the imperial guards' riots over pay were a frequent occurrence during the reign of Emperor Zhuangzong.

Zhao Kuangyin seemed to be thinking about something, and asked, "Zhuangzong conquered the Central Plains with his bravery, but he did not rule for long. Why is that?"

Li Chengjin said that Zhuangzong liked hunting, and every time he came to the suburbs, there would always be soldiers of the imperial guards who would stop him and say that their meager wages were not enough to support their families, and they hoped that their boss would help them. However, Zhuangzong would always ask his followers to reward them with large amounts of money. Therefore, Zhuangzong had grace but no authority, and he encouraged the imperial guards to make excessive demands.

Zhao Kuangyin nodded and said that Zhuangzong had fought bloody battles for 20 years before he won the world, but he could not restrain these minions, so they were greedy and insatiable, and when the crisis came, they were afraid of death and refused to fight for their master. I am raising soldiers today, of course I will not hesitate to reward them, but if anyone breaks the law, I will only kill them!
Gathering together to demand pay may seem like a way to defend rights, but in fact it is a demonstration against the emperor and a threat to him.

Making trouble for the military pay is greed, and gathering people is rebellion. The emperor could tolerate greed, but not rebellion. Li Cunxu's twenty-year battle of Jiahe destroyed the Later Liang Dynasty and became famous all over the world, but his end was so miserable. With Li Cunxu's previous experience, the "Chuanban making trouble for the military pay" incident touched Zhao Kuangyin's sensitive nerves.

"Reduce the Harem"

In May of the fifth year of Kaibao (972), the flooding of the Yellow River in the Chanzhou area had lasted for more than half a year. As if things were not bad enough, while the court was providing disaster relief, heavy rains continued, causing breaches in many places. The old dams were overwhelmed, and the new dams that were repaired were of little help. Emergency reports of flood disasters continued.

Zhao Kuangyin ordered Yingzhou militia commander Cao Han to go to the disaster area to take command. When leaving, Zhao Kuangyin said sadly that the Yellow River was flooding and the rain was endless, and the flood situation was very grim. I have been burning incense and praying for several days, begging God that if he must bring down a disaster, please let me bear it alone and not harm my people!

Upon hearing this, Cao Han immediately knelt down, kowtowed hard, and said, "In the past, Duke Jing of Song also said something similar, and the disaster stopped. He was just a small prince, and your majesty's concern for the millions of people in the world will surely move the heavens, and the disaster will stop soon!"

After sending Cao Han away, Zhao Kuangyin called Zhao Pu again and said that the floods continued. Was it because of the shortcomings of the current politics? Tell me what I did wrong and I will change it.

Zhao Pu's answer was quite conventional. He said that since your majesty ascended the throne, you have been concerned about the country and the people, working day and night, and you must eliminate any evils you hear about and practice any good you hear about. As for the floods and natural disasters, it must be the fault of our ministers! Long live your majesty, and we ministers will die a thousand times.

Zhao Kuangyin said that there might be too many people in the harem. I checked yesterday and there were more than 380 people. So, tell them that if they are willing to go home, they will be given travel expenses. It should be emphasized that the "harem" here does not only refer to concubines, but also includes maids who serve concubines, cleaning ladies, etc.

After the order was issued, 100 people applied for resignation and were all "sent away with generous rewards."

Zhao Pu and other ministers all shouted "Long live the wise emperor!"

"Unforgivable"

In May of the fifth year of Kaibao (972), a wanted criminal named Fan Yichao was arrested, and a sensational family massacre became a top trending topic.

During the reign of Guo Wei in the Later Zhou Dynasty, Fan Yichao, a native of Shanzhou, killed twelve people from his village (from the same village) Chang Guzhen's family over a trivial matter. Chang Guzhen was still young at the time and escaped in time. The suspect Fan Yichao fled for fear of the crime and was not arrested until more than ten years later. Chang Guzhen then went to the government to appeal for justice and requested severe punishment for the murderer Fan Yichao.

However, the relevant departments wanted to write off Fan Yichao's crimes under the pretext of "amnesty", which caused an uproar across the country.

Zhao Kuangyin personally came to the scene and said, "How can someone be pardoned for killing twelve people in a family? Kill them!"

There are no more details in the history books, which is puzzling. As explained in the previous part of this book, usually, "amnesty" does not apply to all criminals. Many crimes are not included in the amnesty, namely the so-called "ten unforgivable crimes", such as treason, murder, arson, poisoning, etc. A tragic case like this one that killed 12 people and wiped out an entire family is definitely one of the ten unforgivable crimes. I really don't know which amnesty provision the relevant department cited.

In addition, this case reminds me of the "Kunshan counter-killing case." Do you still remember the verdict before the High Court intervened and the shocking remarks made by other local courts and so-called legal professionals? I dare not talk about other places, but the official microblog of the Intermediate People's Court in my city made a shocking and chilling statement. The gist of it was that according to the law, according to the law, according to the law, the dragon slayer defended himself excessively and was suspected of intentional injury. In short, he must bear criminal responsibility. I advise you to abide by the law and don't fight each other, don't fight each other, don't fight each other...

If you say the dragon slayer is innocent, then you are a legally ignorant person who has lost his mind. Morality cannot interfere with the law, human feelings cannot be above the law, the law is greater than people, blah blah...

As we have seen, the High Court, like our great ancestor Zhao Kuangyin, brought justice to the people. The dragon slayer was acting in self-defense and was not guilty. The official Weibo account of our city’s Intermediate Court also quickly deleted that professional, rigorous, and serious statement.

Brother Long from Kunshan was passionate and heartbroken, and he made outstanding contributions to advancing the legal process in our country. I really hope he died a few years earlier.

The debate between law and justice has existed since ancient times. The law is to uphold justice and serve the people, not to be a cold set of rules and regulations. Rigidly applying templates and nitpicking is not the spirit of justice, but rather a ruthless trampling of justice. "Strictly follow the system", then do we still need people to enforce it? Give a piece of cake, or call a dog, it will do.

(End of this chapter)