Chapter 4640 Abolition of 'Penalty and Redemption'
"It's simply lawless! Is Henan Prefecture still under the rule of the Tang Dynasty? But it's still under my rule? A bunch of bastards who have a family but no country, no king and no father, they are extremely domineering!"
In the imperial study room of Wude Palace, Li Chengqian shouted loudly and was furious.
First, the news came back that the Hedong Salt Pond had resumed production and updated the salt production technology. The court was shocked. Li Chengqian almost celebrated with several important ministers. Such a perfect recovery of the ownership rights of the Hedong Salt Pond and the elimination of hidden dangers made the Hedong family obey. , which is a good start for the central government to suppress the various factions.
The private agreement is not worth mentioning. Anyway, in the poor family at this stage, the common people cannot pose a threat to the family in the imperial examination. It is better to use this as a concession to the Hedong family, and both sides get what they need.
As for whether the children from Hedong will flood the court because of this... it is not a big problem. If there are no children from Hedong, there will also be children from Shandong and Jiangnan. They are all children of aristocratic families, and everyone is the same.
However, when Xu Jingzong's superstition arrived from Luoyang, Li Chengqian became furious.
Li Ji shook his head, sighed, and remained silent.
It has been a long-standing pattern that aristocratic families control local governance. The situation in the government can be said to be "the central government governs the clan, and the clans govern the people." The aristocratic families play a great role. However, the Luoyang family not only openly resisted the imperial decrees, but even instigated , instigating farmers and people to fight against the central government, but it is rarely done and the nature is extremely bad.
But what if he is furious?
A strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. In the final analysis, the implementation of central government decrees still depends on the aristocratic families in various places. Without their support, the central government decrees are just a piece of waste paper...
You can't just raise a butcher's knife to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, right?
Fang Jun had to compromise with the Hedong family despite his tough tactics in Yanchi, Hedong. You can know the serious consequences once force is used...
Liu Jie said in a deep voice: "Nowadays, many people have lost their land and are living dependent on aristocratic families. If the aristocratic families lose their land again, I don't know how many people will live in poverty and starve. Therefore, the matter of measuring the land has already touched the aristocratic families." The bottom line of the clan, how could they not fight back? Fortunately, Xu Shangshu kept calm and did not make a big move, otherwise the whole of Henan would have been completely corrupted. In the opinion of the humble minister, this decree is still questionable, at least. The implementation must be postponed, otherwise the impact will be too bad and will shake the country and the country."
Ma Zhou disagreed: "If you change your course when you encounter setbacks, if things go on like this, where is the authority of the central government? You cannot retreat when you encounter difficulties. Since the Henan family dares to resist the central government's orders so rampantly and domineeringly, treating angels as if they are nothing, then they should use stronger measures. To fight back will definitely dampen his arrogance."
Liu Jie asked back: "What's the wise opinion of Ma Shizhong?"
Ma Zhoudao: "The 'Three Law Division' is now in Yanchi, Hedong, a hundred miles away. It can be ordered to return to Luoyang immediately, continue the previous review, and deter the officials of Henan Prefecture."
"What if Henan officials resign collectively? Since they dare to instigate farmers to fight against the central government, they will naturally do anything."
"They dare not. Just from the fact that they encouraged the farmers to stand up and all of them stayed aside, it can be seen that they also have scruples. Once they resign collectively, they will openly defy the central government and the imperial power. If they lose their morality, they will lose their hearts.
When the time comes, the whole world will criticize and slander them, and they will not be able to bear it."
"What if you allow yourself to be scrutinized and then plead guilty? You don't dare to resign, but you will be dismissed from the head office after pleading guilty, right?"
"Then His Majesty will issue an imperial edict that all officials who have been 'redeemed' will never be used again after being deposed! The system of 'redeeming' has long been a loophole manipulated by the aristocratic families. Sooner or later, it will be deposed. It is better to take this opportunity to get rid of it once and for all."
Liu Jie was furious: "Are you crazy? Did you know that once such an imperial edict is promulgated, it will cause even greater turmoil?"
"Redemption" is an ancient system that allows officials of a certain rank and status to redeem themselves with fines after committing crimes, and then they can also be qualified to serve as officials, but they have to be demoted or hired without pay.
This is the privilege of aristocratic families.
Once this privilege is banned, all the aristocratic families in the world will suffer losses, and the obstruction they will encounter can be imagined.
Ma Zhou said firmly: "The whole world is not the king's land, and the shores of the land are not the king's ministers. His Majesty has the world in his mouth, and he has a word for it. Anyone who dares to disobey the imperial edict should be punished for treason! The central government governs the world, and not only must
Show it with benevolence, and more importantly, declare it with authority. If a center without dignity is worshiped by the people of the world like a clay sculpture, it will be smashed to pieces without any scruples sooner or later."
At the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the aristocratic families not only built the framework of the entire empire, but also maintained the operation of the entire empire, and played a great role. However, time has changed, and the current aristocratic families have become obstacles to the development and progress of the empire, and even threaten the development of the empire.
If the empire wants long-term peace and stability, it must be suppressed and weakened at all costs.
However, as the cornerstone of the empire, the aristocratic families have unparalleled influence, and no one dares to act rashly. Even the wise and powerful Emperor Taizong can only do it slowly and fearfully.
But what Fang Jun did in Yanchi, Hedong, made people understand the weakness of the aristocratic families - when the imperial power was concentrated and the center was strong, the so-called aristocratic families would find it difficult to shake and would be timid.
This is very exciting. It is time to strike while the iron is hot and forge ahead with determination. How can we go against the grain and rest on our laurels?
In his opinion, Liu Jie, the prime minister, was only interested in forming cliques and political struggles, and was completely useless in governing the country and the world.
Liu Jie turned to Li Chengqian and said in a sincere tone: "Your Majesty, please don't listen to such nonsense. The stability of the world is hard-won. This is the time to win over all the noble families in the world and make them the strongest cornerstone of your Majesty's imperial power. How can we be so harsh?"
It is not the way of a benevolent king to suppress someone and not allow him a chance to recuperate and recuperate."
He has always been uncomfortable with radicals like Fang Jun and Ma Zhou. These people only know how to forge ahead and pioneer and innovate. They seem to be famous officials in the world and have made great contributions to the country. In fact, they have no idea about political changes and compromises. They blindly
What are the benefits of violent attacks that sharply intensify conflicts and pit the central government and local governments against each other?
Have you forgotten the two rebellions and mutinies that His Majesty encountered when he came to the throne?
It is right to suppress the clan and cut off its power, but this path must be taken slowly and perseveringly, rather than "seizing the day and night" as Fang Jun calls it...
Li Chengqian looked calm, but he was in a dilemma. He felt that both of them were reasonable, so he looked at Li Ji and asked, "What do you think, Mr. Ying?"
Li Ji sighed secretly, "His Majesty is good at everything, but he is not the quality of a wise king because he has no independent opinion. However, no one is perfect. How can there be a perfect king with good character, clear advance and retreat, and good decision-making?"
"I think that according to Ma Shizhong's words, we can declare to the world to outlaw the system of 'punishment and redemption'. Law is the basis for the country to rule all peoples. For this reason, it must at least be 'fair and just' in form, and let people All the people in the world see that 'princes who break the law are guilty of the same crime as the common people'. As long as everyone abides by the law, why worry about the instability of the world?"
Since ancient times, every dynasty and every generation has formulated laws that claim to be "fair and just." However, has there ever been a true sense of "fairness and justice" in the world? In the final analysis, laws are only formulated for the purpose of more important rule. Just the people.
But at the very least, all people in the world must think that the essence of the law is to demonstrate fairness. Only in this way can everyone abide by the law, so that behavior can be regulated and speech can be restrained. However, a system like "punishment and redemption" blatantly breaks the law. The justice of the law makes it a matter of course that "a doctor cannot be punished" and naturally gives a certain class privileges that are not within the scope of the law.
As long as class exists, privileges cannot be eliminated, but the fewer privileges, the more fair and just the law seems, which can make the country stronger.
Li Chengqian happily accepted the advice: "In this case, I will ask my disciples to draft an edict to abolish the system of 'punishment and redemption', and inform the world, so that everyone in the world can feel my determination to treat everyone equally, and also demonstrate the justice of the law."
He is not good at making decisions, but when people around him prompt him to make up his mind, he can readily accept advice and follow it.
Due to his personality, he lacks the domineering spirit of "I am the only one", has soft ears, and lacks self-persistence.
This is a bad thing, but it's also a good thing.
Emperors with "righteous ideas" tend to go their own way and refuse to listen to advice. They rarely make mistakes, but once they make a mistake, it is a big mistake that shakes the foundation of the country. They refuse to listen to repeated advice and do not correct their mistakes even if they know they are wrong. For example, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty...
Liu Ji remained silent, feeling deeply alone and helpless. In particular, his political disagreements made him deeply worried.
In his view, it is not appropriate to blindly stick to established laws, but it is also a mistake to change and depose the foundation of the country one by one. Governing the world depends on the word "stability", and wanting "stability" ”, it is necessary to compromise in the political game.
There is no turning around, no compromise, just blindly pioneering and enterprising will inevitably touch the interests of the aristocratic families. Without the support of the aristocratic families, the cornerstone of the empire will be lost, and the world will be in chaos.
It is correct to suppress the valve, but it is a big mistake to cut off the valve...
However, this did not dampen his belief, but instead strengthened his fighting spirit.
Immediately, the servant Ma Zhou considered the words, drafted the edict, and circulated it to everyone.
The issuance of government decrees should have been drafted by the Menxia Province and reviewed by the Zhongshu Province. Under normal circumstances, such a government order that deprived the privileges of aristocratic families would not be approved by the Zhongshu Province. Even if the Menxia Province had the emperor's approval to issue it, it would definitely It was refuted by Zhongshu Province, but now that Zhongshu ordered Liu Ji to be present, it was impossible to do anything against the emperor's will, so there was no way to refute it. After Liu Ji nodded, it was handed over to Shangshu Zuo, the actual controller of Shangshu Province. Pu She Li Ji was awarded to the world.
A decree abolishing the privilege of "penalty and redemption" quickly went through the prescribed procedures in the imperial study room, and became a formal imperial decree, which was promulgated throughout the world.
In the process of issuing this decree, Henan Prefecture was the first to bear the brunt, and someone rushed to deliver it to Luoyang...