Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 100 Re-implement the "Imperial Edict"!
Zhu Youtang sat on the dragon throne with the "Imperial Edict" in his hand and read it carefully from beginning to end.

The contents inside surprised him so much that he even forgot the time.

After I finished reading, I found that the imperial study was already lit with bright palace lanterns and there were several heaters placed around it.

"Yes, that's exactly what I want!"

Zhu Youtang closed the last page of "The Great Edict of the Emperor" and had a comprehensive understanding of it in his mind.

In general, "The Great Imperial Edict" is a set of regulations specifically for the punishment of officials who have committed crimes.

Although the scope of application of "The Imperial Edict" is all Ming Dynasty subjects.

But 80 percent of the content is about how to punish officials.

Crimes punishable by corruption account for about half of all crimes.

The details include cases of cruel extortion of the people and embezzlement of taxes and grain.

The case of selling out government officials and privately enslaving civilians.

The case of arbitrarily disturbing the people and embezzling commercial taxes.

Falsely reporting disaster information and embezzling relief funds.

Second only to the crime of corruption among officials was the punishment of the landlords for embezzling money and grain, and the gentry for evading grain taxes.

For example, the Youth League Bureau made lists, falsely collected revenue, created various names, arbitrarily levied taxes, accepted stolen goods, falsely sent land and grain, embezzled money, misappropriated relief funds, and extorted money for favors.

The biggest difference between it and the "Great Ming Code" is that the punishment for officials in the "Imperial Edict" is several times more severe!
The book "Imperial Edicts" lists thousands of cases of clan extermination, lingchi, and beheading!

There are more than 10,000 cases of crimes including beheading and public execution!
There are dozens of types of torture including clan extermination, lingchi, beheading, beheading, tattooing, tendon picking and finger removal, exile, military service, castration and slavery!
Those who were executed were mainly corrupt officials, powerful people who harmed the people, and relatives who bullied the people!

At the same time, for the same crime committed by officials, the punishment in "The Imperial Edict" is several times more severe than that in "The Great Ming Code"!
Taking embezzlement as an example, according to the "Great Ming Code", embezzlement of more than 80 strings of cash will be punishable by hanging.

But in "The Imperial Edict", the victims were skinned and stuffed with straw!
The so-called skinning and stuffing with straw means tying the corrupt officials to a chopping board and peeling off their skin completely while they are still alive.

The peeled human skin was stuffed with straw to make a human skin scarecrow, which was placed at the entrance of the government office or the local land temple.

Used to warn successor officials not to engage in corruption and pervert the law!
In addition, many crimes in the "Great Ming Code" should only be punished with flogging or caning, but the "Imperial Edict" increased the severity of the crime to death!
Judging from Zhu Yuanzhang's hatred for officials all over the world, more than half of the crimes written in "Imperial Edicts" were punishable by death, but the methods of death were different.

At the same time, for the sake of his people, Zhu Yuanzhang was able to better protect his own interests and had the courage to confront officials and gentry who dared to oppress the people.

It was specifically stipulated in the "Imperial Edict" that anyone was allowed to hold the "Imperial Edict" to arrest officials who disturbed the people and escort them to the capital, where Zhu Yuanzhang would personally oversee the matter!

Any officials and leaders along the way who dare to stand in their way will have their entire families executed!

In the 18th year of Hongwu, Chen Shouliu, a farmer from Changshu County, Nanzhili, was bullied by Gu Ying, the magistrate of Changshu County. In anger, he and his relatives and friends tied up Gu Ying, put the "Imperial Edict" on Gu Ying's head, and sent him to Yingtian Prefecture to be punished.

Along the way, they traveled over 200 miles and passed many government offices, but no one dared to stop them!

After Chen Shouliu entered Beijing, Zhu Yuanzhang received the news and was very happy.

Zhu Yuanzhang personally tried the case, and eventually Gu Ying was found guilty of corruption and thrown into jail.

At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang also rewarded Chen Shou with 60 to 30 ingots of silver, exempted him from miscellaneous duties, and gave two pieces of clothing each to other accompanying personnel.

Later, in order to prevent other officials from retaliating against Chen Shouliu, Zhu Yuanzhang specially issued an imperial decree.

"Anyone who dares to fabricate charges and harm Chen Shou and his six brothers will have his entire clan executed!"

"If Chen Shouliu uses the name of the court to commit illegal acts, local officials have no right to judge him and he must be brought to the capital for trial."

From then on, until Zhu Yuanzhang's death, no official in Changshu County dared to engage in corruption, accept bribes, and oppress the people!

And that’s not all. In order to let the people of the Ming Dynasty know the power they hold, Zhu Yuanzhang specifically issued an edict.

Every household has a copy of "The Imperial Edict", which is passed down from generation to generation and recited!

If anyone has the "Imperial Edict" at home, the punishment for flogging, caning, imprisonment or exile will be reduced by one level!
Those who do not have "Imperial Edict" will be given an extra level!
Those who refuse to accept will be exiled and never allowed to return!
To make it easier for illiterate farmers to know their rights.

Zhu Yuanzhang specially printed "The Great Edict of the Emperor" into a book and asked Ming officials from all over the country to go door-to-door to explain the contents of "The Great Edict of the Emperor" to illiterate people.

He also gave the "Imperial Edict" to local farmers.

Even during the imperial examination, Zhu Yuanzhang would deliberately choose questions from "The Great Imperial Edict".

Force all the scholars in the world to read, understand, interpret and learn "The Imperial Edict"!
During the Hongwu period, "The Great Imperial Edict" was the most widely used law in history, and almost every household had a copy.

When the people saw the "Imperial Edict", they felt as familiar with it as if they had seen Zhu Yuanzhang.

Unfortunately, such a strict law that always takes the people into consideration and opposes officials was immediately shelved after Zhu Yuanzhang's death.

The wise and sage ruler Zhu Yunwen, in his enthronement edict, directly abolished the "Imperial Edict" on the grounds that the rules were too harsh!
All subsequent matters shall be subject to the Great Ming Code.

Zhu Yunwen was so anxious that he abolished the "Imperial Edict" before he even officially ascended the throne.

It can be seen how much civil servants all over the world hate "The Imperial Edict"!
Now Zhu Youtang has found this "Imperial Edict" and brought it to light again.

It just fills the gaps in the temporary transitional bill regarding official penalties.

It just complements the "Regulations on Criminal Interrogation" issued by the Cabinet.

This constitutional amendment is a good one. Just relying on the "Ming Dynasty Law", we are no longer afraid of killing Ming Dynasty officials.

Then use the "Imperial Edict" to kill him again!

It just so happens that we can start with the example of the Wang brothers and re-promote "The Imperial Edict"!
Zhu Youtang looked at the "Imperial Edict" in his hand, and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes.

……

Zhu Youtang returned to the Qianqing Palace with the "Imperial Edict" in his hand, and asked the Shangshenjian to send some food.

After finishing his meal, Zhu Youtang was about to go to bed when a young eunuch from the Imperial Household Department came to report, "Your Majesty, the Western Factory Supervisor Wang Zhi wants to see you."

"Let him in."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Soon, Wang Zhi walked into the Qianqing Palace with a serious face.

"This humble minister has neglected his duties, please punish me!"

Zhu Youtang's eyes fixed: "What happened?"

"Your Majesty, Wang Qing, the Duke of Chongshan, could not bear the torture and has died in the West Factory Prison."

"This is the confession written by Ryan Wang Yuan."

As Wang Zhi spoke, he presented the secret letter in his hand to Zhu Youtang.

An earl died in Xichang Prison due to torture, which should have been a very bad thing.

But Zhu Youtang did not take this little matter to heart.

Zhu Youtang's originally anxious heart was put at ease again, and he smiled helplessly: "I thought it was something else, but it turns out that it's just the death of Wang Qing."

"Although there is only one Wang Yuan left among the three Wang brothers, the effect is almost the same."

Zhu Youtang took the secret letter, unfolded it and read it, then sneered, "Three hundred thousand acres of land, the Wang brothers really have a big appetite."

Wang Zhi reported again: "Your Majesty, Qin Lu wrote to say that they found a lot of unowned fertile land around Shuntian Prefecture in the past few days."

"Especially in the area from Shuntianfu to Jinmenwei, Changping, Huairou, Miyun, Tongzhou, Yongqing, Wuqing, and Xiqing, the most fertile farmland has been abandoned."

"These fertile fields originally belonged to some officials, but now all of them have fled. The land is now ownerless and covers an area of ​​nearly one million mu."

Zhu Youtang frowned slightly: "Abandoning good farmland for no reason?"

"Could it be that these fields are also good farmland that those officials forcibly occupied?"

"Now that the Wang brothers are in jail, are you rushing to abandon the land to save your life?"

"I don't know." Wang Zhi replied, "Some of the owners of these fertile fields, that is, the officials, ran away recently, and some have been away for several months."

"The West Factory is organizing a manpower capture operation now. Once these escaped officials are caught, we will be able to find out the origins of these fields."

Zhu Youtang nodded: "Okay, investigate the matter of abandoning the field as soon as possible."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"By the way, when you go to court tomorrow, bring Wang Yuan and Zhang Hai to the court and sentence them in public."

Zhu Youtang threw the secret letter in his hand to Wang Zhi again: "Back off."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After receiving the order, Wang Zhi respectfully left the Qianqing Palace.

……

Beijing.

Xu Pu's home.

In Xu Pu's study, the four cabinet elders all had sad faces and sighed.

"Lord Xu, is it feasible to amend the constitution?"

"We just reduced the sentences for some crimes, but His Majesty ordered us to revise them."

"If we can't even pass the Criminal Law, how can we revise the Ming Dynasty Code?"

"And even if the Great Ming Code is successfully implemented, will His Majesty abide by it?"

Xie Qian was already having second thoughts in his mind, and he believed from the bottom of his heart that in the eyes of a tyrant like Zhu Youtang, there was no such thing as law.

Even if the "Da Ming Hui Dian" was successfully implemented, Zhu Youtang would overturn the table, fail to govern the country according to the law, and execute officials at will.

But Xu Pu was not discouraged, but became even more passionate.

"Yu Qiao, I'm afraid you are wrong."

"Your Majesty's strict review of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance just shows that Your Majesty has a strong sense of law."

"If we downplay the amendment of the law, it would be an act of contempt for the law."

"The gradual relaxation of laws and regulations is an inevitable trend."

"Think about the Imperial Edict during the Hongwu period, and then look at the current Ming Code. This is already a victory for our ancestors."

"If we can turn the Great Ming Code into the Great Ming Code, it will be a great achievement that will go down in history!"

"If this is accomplished, it will not only affect you, me and the officials of the world, but also the officials of the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years to come!"

"Will future officials not sing our praises?"

Thinking of the contents of "The Great Imperial Edict" during the Hongwu period, Liu Jian, Xie Qian and Li Dongyang turned pale and shuddered together.

The Hongwu period was the most fearful period for officials.

Among them, "The Imperial Edict" played a very important role.

Anyone who has read "The Imperial Edict" would not think of being an official during the Hongwu period.

Fortunately, the civil servants of the Jianwen Dynasty corrected the mistakes of Emperor Taizu in time and made Zhu Yunwen abolish the "Imperial Edict".

This incident has made these later officials grateful to this day.

And now, they are also doing such a great cause that will be passed down through the ages.

Thinking of this, the three cabinet elders became full of energy again.

(End of this chapter)