Spring and Autumn I Am King - Chapter 1174

“Although the Han Dynasty inherited Yong’s system, especially the law, it was inherited almost exactly as it was. But perhaps because the Han royal family was from a lowly background, it was very clear how to bribe the hearts of the people, although the law also stipulated that meritorious deeds were rewarded. , guilty and punished, but the Han Dynasty opened up the gardens that King Zhaoxiang would rather starve the people than open, and let the farmers reclaim the land to cultivate crops. For this, they won the praise of the people in the capital. Begin.”

“Not only that, Liu Heng, the third monarch of the Han Dynasty, also eliminated slander, removed corporal punishment, rewarded elders, tolerated loneliness, reduced lust, refused to sacrifice, and did not commit murder. One of them was a case of revenge. Through such means, they continue to buy people’s hearts, so that in just a few decades, the prestige of the Han family in the people has been unbreakable. The rise, of course, is due to the situation, but it is also because the world thinks of the Han and does not forget its virtue.”

Zhao Wuxi used Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty as an example to describe how the monarch made himself appear humane and thus bribed the hearts of the people.

“As a monarch, it is important to uphold the law, but you must not completely stand on the side of the law, equating yourself with the law, and abandoning all human feelings, thus losing the people’s hearts.”

Qin’s death, to a certain extent, was because the monarchs of all dynasties were dead-headed and paid too much attention to the law, but they forgot the techniques and powers that must be combined with the law. King Zhaoxiang and his descendants were so merciless and unlucky that they pushed themselves to the opposite side of the common people, and they reached the pinnacle when Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor. With the unification of the world, there are no channels for the military aristocracy to make progress, and pure hegemony cannot last forever. Gradually, it was no longer one or two local cruel officials that the people hated, but the law itself, and even the emperor who became the incarnation of the law. When the slogan of “punish the violent Qin” was shouted, the regime was not far from the end. .

After the founding of the Han Dynasty, it changed the “pure law” politics of the Qin Dynasty. On the one hand, it emphasized the role of law in stabilizing social order and consolidating dynastic rule. As the actual basis of the emperor’s “family world”, the blood relationship of inferiority was very useful in calming civil conflicts and maintaining hierarchical order.

Zhao Heng had an epiphany and asked, “Father means that when there is a conflict between the law and public opinion, we should stand on the side of public sentiment?”

“Neither.”

Zhao Wuxi continued: “Although Han’s rule is long-lasting and stable compared to Qin, at the same time, the government is also deeply troubled by civil revenge. Originally, in the Yong Dynasty, the law was enforced and private fights among the people were put to an end. With the demise of Yong, the laws and regulations relaxed, and the wind of revenge once again rose. In the era of melee before the founding of the Han Dynasty, there was a northerner named Luan Bu who avenged his father and killed his enemy.

“After the founding of the Han Dynasty, it ruled the world with filial piety. Facing the large number of private revenge that occurs every year, it has always been in line with the people’s feelings, and has forgiven and even acquitted the avengers who should have been executed. The law restricting revenge became a piece of paper, and officials gradually forgot the solemnity of the law, and turned to reading ancient books and relying on the above chapters and clauses to decide cases. This approach took into account the people’s feelings, but it corrupted the national law and relaxed the rules. , the civil servants are rampant, the tyrannical and powerful, and even began to fight against the government, the orders of the dynasty are gradually difficult to issue to the county…”

Contrary to Qin, after Emperor Wu, especially during the Eastern Han Dynasty, this “Spring and Autumn Prison” in which Confucianism prevailed over national law caused huge damage to Han law and contributed to the rise of local tyrants.

Zhao Heng was no longer able to understand himself, and said: “It seems that this is another ill of paying attention to etiquette and forgetting the law to the extreme.”

“Of course.”

After telling the lessons of the Qin and Han dynasties in disguised ways of dealing with legal and human feelings, Zhao Wuxi walked to the rocker, stepped on the balance point in the middle, and said to Zhao Heng: “That’s why if you want long-term stability, you won’t lose it. The authority of the center, the position of the monarch, should always be here. The two ends of the law and the people’s feelings, the ruler cannot stand on either side, but should be the arbiter of the reason and the people’s feelings, and maintain a balance!”

“On the one hand, we must resolutely uphold the law. The most important principle between people is to pay attention to self-interest. In addition, it is to love one’s own relatives. The closeness of the relationship and the competition for self-interest will inevitably lead to conflicts. In today’s state of Zhao, with a large population, only ancient rituals, music, and morality cannot maintain stability. For this reason, it is necessary to formulate laws to determine the ownership of property and land. If there is treason and vendetta for profit, it also needs the law to punish it. This is the establishment of prohibition. Determining the separation and prohibition can bind the entire country and dozens of counties with different folk customs together. One hole, acting according to the will of the monarch, only in this way can we strengthen the country and enrich the country and annex the world.”

“On the other hand, although the law is to maintain the monarch’s rule, the monarch does not have to implement it himself. The solemn law, playing an impersonal role in front of the people, is what the judges and judges do, for the monarch. They should separate themselves from the law and support the law, and appear to be higher than the law. Let the people feel that the law is evil and the officials are cruel, but they can believe that the monarch is humane and will uphold justice for them , this is what Lao Tzu said, the sage is impermanent, and the heart of the people is the heart…”

Zhao Heng suddenly realized ~www.mtlnovel.com~ What my father said today is not just how the case should be decided. For the monarch, whether the judgment of a case is fair or not, and the life and death of several people, are all trivial matters. , The most important thing is to handle similar incidents, maintain order, and buy people’s hearts at the same time, so that the prestige of Zhao’s is stacked little by little, and finally becomes a tall building.

“With the law as the bone, the ritual as the skin, plus a little Taoist Laozi’s southern skills and metaphysics, he is a qualified Zhao country monarch…”

After teaching his son how to balance the country, Zhao Wuxi finally expressed his views on the case:

“The day after tomorrow, the public trial of Wu Feng’s revenge case will be held at Dali Temple. At that time, people from all walks of life in Yecheng can come and visit, and let people tell Deng Xi that the widow supports him and maintains the original judgment in accordance with the provisions of the law. The more just the procedure, the better. Well, the heavier the sentence, the better!”

He showed a helpless smile: “In Zhao State, it must be made clear that the monarch is not wrong, and the laws of the state are not wrong. Even if there is a mistake, it will only be the fault of the ‘crusty officials’! The wicked in the eyes of the common people. Let the ‘crusty officials’ be the ones, and the sage monarch in the eyes of the common people should be done by the widow!”

ps: there is another chapter in the evening