Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 284: Liu Wentai was skinned alive, new bidding system!

Under the blue sky.

The West Market Archway is surrounded by red buildings and black tiles.

The ordinary people were whispering to each other and were indeed as happy as if it were New Year's Day.

To be exact, they are happier now than during the Chinese New Year.

Because it's for them.

This is truly a pleasure that hasn’t happened in a century!
of course!

These cheerers were not happy because someone had been killed, but they were happy because the law of the country was respected and they saw a glimmer of justice and hope.

After all, the person being executed this time was not an ordinary person.

If the person being executed is an ordinary citizen, people would generally suspect that he was wronged or that he deserves sympathy.

Therefore, ordinary people were not very interested in the punishment of ordinary people.

Many people even feel disgusted, saying that the imperial court kills people at will, which is not humane at all!
But at the moment, those who were executed were top-level officials like Xie Pi and Xie Zheng, and noble figures like Liu Pu.

Naturally, no one would doubt that there was any injustice or anything worthy of sympathy.

Of course I don’t doubt it!
After all, anyone with a normal mind knows that people of such high status can only wrongly accuse others, but cannot be wronged by others. Even the emperor finds it difficult to wrongly accuse them!
It is even less likely to be convicted, and being convicted often means committing a crime more serious than the punishment received.

Therefore, no one would sympathize with Xie Pi and the others because of this. They just felt unsatisfied despite being happy.

This is indeed the case. Although Zhu Houcong wanted to enforce the law strictly to demonstrate the imperial power, the punishments Xie Pi and Xie Zheng received were not absolutely in accordance with the law compared to the crimes they committed.

no way!
Absolute justice is difficult to achieve.

What's more, the Ming Dynasty was essentially a hierarchical empire.

This means that people with higher status will receive more favorable treatment in terms of punishment.

Of course, ordinary people naturally hope that the court would be stricter.

Because they are not afraid of the laws being strictly enforced.

They are only afraid that the laws and etiquette will be strictly enforced, and they are even more afraid that the laws and etiquette will be strictly enforced on the lower levels but not strictly enforced on the upper levels.

This was true even for poor scholars who came from small landlords or common landlord families.

Therefore, many of them miss the Hongwu era.

For example, Hai Rui in history.

Although the Hongwu era was not actually friendly to scholars, they now only feel the pain that the current laws and regulations are meaningless to them.

Human joys and sorrows are not the same.

There are many people who are as unhappy as Xie Qian.

The ones who were unhappy were naturally the Qingliu, especially those who came from the Hanlin Academy.

Many of them are frightened by this, knowing that just because they have done well in exams and are highly educated, it does not mean that they can be more arbitrary in terms of national laws.

But this also made them realize more that emphasizing etiquette is more important than emphasizing the legal system.

When it comes to courtesy, the right to speak is naturally in their hands!
They can cite classics to argue why the Qingliu should be treated preferentially.

This way they can be above the laws of the land;

But when it comes to preaching, the right to speak is not in their hands.

But it is in the hands of the emperor, who is the only one who has the power to modify the law, interpret the law, and grant grace outside the law.

Let’s talk!

The three legal officials then became very busy.

Because the criminals who need to be tried, convicted and executed include more than just Xie Pi, Xie Zheng and Liu Pu.

The descendants of Li Xian, the former Grand Secretary of Emperor Yingzong's reign, represented by the two brothers Li Yun and Li Yang.

The descendants of Liu Wentai, the former imperial physician during the reigns of Emperor Xianzong and Emperor Xiaozong, represented by Liu Yinghuai.

The hereditary military officers of the garrison, represented by Lu Cheng and Ma Yue, attempted to launch a mutiny.

There were also Yang Hong and Zhang Kui, two high-ranking military generals who refused to cooperate with the former Governor of the Grand Canal Wu Tingju to suppress the mutiny.

These people will be tried in the three courts and then convicted and dealt with.

finally.

Li Yun and Li Yang were sentenced to death by slow slicing because they subjectively plotted to murder the imperial physician and manipulate the emperor, which was a crime of treason.

Liu Yinghuai, as the direct perpetrator of the murder of the imperial physician and an accomplice in the conspiracy to manipulate the emperor, was also guilty of treason and was executed by slow slicing.

Lu Cheng, Ma Yue and other garrison officers who launched the mutiny were naturally also guilty of treason, so they were also executed by slow slicing.

Yang Hong and Zhang Kui were guilty of disobeying orders rather than treason, but considering their past contributions to the grain transport industry and being among the eight people who were discussed for merit, their sentences were commuted to exile in Donglai.

Li Yun and Li Yang cried miserably when they were being tortured to death. "It hurts!"

"It hurts, Your Majesty, we are wrong! Please show mercy and forgive us for the sake of our ancestors!"

Li Yun started crying.

For both of them, they had never expected that after becoming Grand Secretaries, they would have such an ending.

Liu Yinghuai was even more remorseful, and just shouted that he was wrong when he was being skinned.

But at the same time, he also felt very wronged, because his father did not have to be tortured to death even though he had killed the emperor with his medical skills, but he had to be tortured to death just because he poisoned the imperial physician.

Lu Cheng, Ma Yue and others cursed Guo Xun when they were skinned alive, because Guo Xun was too loyal and did not stand on the side of them, the hereditary military heroes of the garrison, which led to the failure of their mutiny.

However, this series of measures really consolidated the imperial power.

Because this incident meant that no matter whether one was from a noble family or a hereditary military officer, as long as one was suspected of treason, they would be severely punished.

As a result, the powerful and wealthy people in the world had to restrain themselves.

But this has ignited greater hope among ordinary people and made them more active in life and production.

The positive significance of strictly enforcing the law and cracking down on criminals, powerful people and wealthy people in promoting productivity cannot be underestimated.

When people find that the court is willing to strictly maintain order, they will believe that the wealth they create will not be taken away, but will only be protected by order. Therefore, they will believe that the court's governing environment is improving, and they are willing to take out their savings to consume, acquire industries, and increase investment.

otherwise!

People would not dare to open shops, consume, or reclaim land, because they felt that the law could not restrain the powerful and wealthy, for fear of being discovered and illegally seized by the wealthy and powerful.

From then on, there was no longer any obstacle to imposing additional currency tariffs and changing the canal transportation system.

No matter how reluctant they were, the powerful and wealthy people in the world had to start paying taxes and duties honestly, and also began to send their own caravans to the Ministry of Revenue to compete for the qualifications of grain transport officials and merchants.

To change the canal transport into commercial transport means to select merchants who can undertake the canal transport tasks as official merchants.

This naturally requires all merchants to submit applications to the court and accept the court's examination so that the court can determine whether these wealthy merchants have the ability to transport grain to the north for sale.

After all, canal transportation is of great importance and not something that any merchant with a few small boats and some savings can afford.

In addition, the imperial court also had to determine how much profit the merchants who could afford the canal transportation were willing to accept.

Because according to Zhu Houcong's imperial edict to change the grain transport to commercial transport, the merchants responsible for the grain transport could not sell the grain transported to the capital to the court at any price they wanted.

Of course, the merchants who were responsible for the canal transportation could not sell the goods to the court at any price they wanted.

Unless the Ming Dynasty is really ruled by businessmen.

But in the Ming Empire, which was mainly based on agriculture, this was naturally difficult to happen. Merchants were very powerful and could sell grain to the court at any price they wanted.

However, this does not mean that it is completely impossible. It only happens when the people behind the merchants are so powerful that they are not subject to any restraint.

For example, if the emperor, who has full control over the imperial power, and his own imperial merchants are ordered to do so, can the officials of the imperial court who purchase grain still go against the emperor?
For example, if a powerful official who can control the emperor appears, and his own merchants want to do this, the officials in charge of purchasing grain in the court naturally cannot resist.

In the Ming Empire, where imperial power was supreme, the success or failure of many policies depended mainly on whether the emperor himself was wise and loved his people.

Zhu Houcong was an emperor with great ambitions, and he attached great importance to enriching the people. Naturally, he would not let the national policy go astray during his reign.

Zhu Houcong handed over the task of determining the officials and merchants for the grain transport to the Ministry of Revenue.

Because the Ming Dynasty did not have a Ministry of Commerce at the moment, and was limited by the communication capabilities and talent training capabilities of that era, it would not have enough time to establish a Ministry of Commerce within one or two years.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong still followed the previous example of the Ministry of Revenue managing the grain transport and let the Ministry of Revenue continue to manage matters determined by officials and businessmen regarding the grain transport.

"Order the Ministry of Revenue to conduct bidding for the grain transport business based on the merchants who have registered, the ships they have, the sailors they employ, the amount of grain they can supply, and the lowest acceptable price for grain."

"If you let it go, the Ministry of Revenue will promote the election of officials and businessmen who can undertake the imperial court's annual or three-year grain transportation tasks and have the ability to avoid large fluctuations in grain prices."

"These officials and business leaders can obtain the Ministry of Revenue's official hat and belt, and the qualification to sell grain and fodder to the court! Whether the officials and business leaders are replaced once a year, once every three years, or once every five years will also be determined by the Ministry of Revenue and the registered merchants!"

After officially issuing the decree to change the canal transport to commercial transport, Zhu Houcong arranged the specific implementation details of the change to commercial transport with Fei Hong in the imperial study.

Fei Hong nodded and said, "Your Majesty, during the bidding, some merchants may make malicious bids to disrupt the new system of grain transport. For example, they may offer an impossible low price, but in fact, they cannot do it, which will result in the failure of the new grain transport system and force the old system to be implemented."

"And it's not easy for the court to punish him. After all, he can find all kinds of excuses, saying that the weather in recent years was unexpected, or that something happened at home that prevented him from fulfilling his promise."

"And even if the court could punish him, it would be meaningless. After all, by then the grain transportation would have been cut off, and the losses and turmoil caused to the court would also be a fact!"

After Fei Hong said this, Zhu Houcong nodded and said, "I have also thought about this problem."

"That's okay!"

"Let the Ministry of Revenue cut off a few of the highest bidders, then cut off a few of the lowest bidders based on actual conditions, and then select the merchants with the middle price as official merchants."

"In this way, the profits of the officials and merchants in charge of the grain transport will not be too high, but they will not maliciously offer low prices to the point of losing money and being unable to afford the grain transport, causing the court to have to replace officials and merchants on a large scale. Instead, only one or two officials will be needed."

Here, Zhu Houcong brought out his own experience in organizing bidding in later generations.

After hearing this, Fei Hong opened his mouth and did not close it for a long time.

(End of this chapter)