Tang Taizong Li Shimin, among the many emperors in China, has the best reputation, and there is no one. Although the Xuanwumen Revolution he launched caused a tragedy between brothers and fathers and sons, he was truly benevolent to the people and truly respectful of the law. However, in 632 A.D., he did something that hurt the law a little: without going through the Punishment Department, he directly reached an agreement with some heinous felons, the content of which was even more jaw-dropping. But later, this agreement produced an unexpected effect, making future generations both love and hate Tang Taizong.
In the sixth year of Zhenguan, that is, in 632 AD, at this time, Li Shimin's rule of Zhenguan had begun to bear fruit, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the whole world was peaceful. And in the same year, Li Shimin's most beloved daughter, Princess Changle, got married and married Changsun Chong, the son of The Great Chancellor of the Imperial Court. Everything looks so auspicious.
One day in the courtroom, Li Shimin, after dealing with major military affairs, suddenly ordered the release of 390 criminals on death row! As soon as these words came out, the courtiers at the bottom immediately burst into an uproar. The criminals mentioned in Li Shimin's mouth are all jiangyang thieves who have killed people and crossed the rivers and lakes, and they are the kind of people who cannot be released after "net prison amnesty." Now the emperor suddenly wanted to release them, which puzzled the ministers. Moreover, any decision made by Li Shimin before would be discussed with the relevant departments and rarely acted arbitrarily. Suddenly doing such a thing at this time is really not like his style. Therefore, many people expressed their opposition, some people believed that the emperor should consult with Yuji before making a decision, and some people believed that once these death row prisoners were released, they were likely to do evil again and bring disaster to the world.
However, Li Shimin's attitude was very resolute. He explained that as the year draws to a close, even these repeat offenders have parents, wives and children in their homes. I didn't release them, but I gave them a new year's leave and let them go home to see their families. Wait until the end of the year, and then let them come back. When the time comes, the questions that should be beheaded, the ones who should be hanged, and the sins they have committed will still be punished.
The ministers listened, and there was even more discussion. They said that these death row inmates are all cunning and tight, and once released, it is like returning to the mountain, where will they come back to die! The emperor's ideas, some of them were too naïve.
However, Li Shimin seemed to want to carry out the innocence to the end, and immediately changed his face, and without saying anything, he withdrew from the dynasty and then went straight to the heavenly prison. He had already received reports that the 390 felons who were about to be executed were crying day and night when they learned that the time of death was approaching. The jailers went to appease them, and the prisoners said that they were not afraid of death or repentance, but that they were worried about the peace of the old and young in their homes, so they were sad and wept.
After Li Shimin learned of this, he had some sympathy for these felons who still had a conscience. Moreover, as a Ming Jun, who has a strong sense of politics, he quickly has some calculations in his heart. He had been on the throne for six years, and although he was frivolous and thin, resting with the people, and frequently spreading good news in foreign conquests, the governance of state affairs was orderly. However, the change of Xuanwu Gate was like an invisible mountain, which overwhelmed him. He felt that whether it was the people or the ministers, there were always some doubts about him, the emperor who came to power by killing his brother and forcing his father. Therefore, he must do something that no one before him dared to do, and set an example of benevolence for the world. So he decided to release the felons home, on the one hand, to spend the New Year with his family, and on the other hand, to deal with his own affairs. Of course he knew the risks behind them, but for him, those risks were still within the acceptable range, and he was willing to gamble on them.
Because he had made up his mind, Li Shimin gave the ministers a face in the courtroom. Now, when he arrived at the prison, he immediately ordered the 390 prisoners to gather together and speak in person.
When the emperor came, these prisoners thought that their death was coming soon, and their hearts were even more desolate. And Li Shimin's words really made them feel cold. Only to hear Li Shimin say: "You people who have robbed homes, killed people and set fires, and all of you have committed heinous crimes. ”
When the prisoners heard this, they were already a little distraught. So Li Shimin continued, "But your family is innocent. In the next few years, you will have to ask for a chop, which will inevitably hurt their hearts. Thinking of the old and the young and the lonely, I would like to allow you to go home for a month to visit your relatives and take care of the aftermath. However, before the above Yuan Festival, you must return to Beijing and accept the punishment of the national law. What do you think? ”
Hearing this, even these old prisoners were overjoyed, and they all nodded their heads and promised that when the time came, they would definitely return. So Li Shimin waved a big hand, paid each prisoner for the journey, changed into new clothes, and then released them all.
The doubts of the ministers could not be dispelled. Ancient and modern China and foreign countries, only heard that the tiger returned to the mountain to continue to hurt people, where did you hear that the day of escape and then come back to die? These felons will certainly not come back. But Li Shimin sat firmly on the Diaoyutai and was not in a hurry. This gamble, he was confident that he would win.
Soon, the Shangyuan Festival arrived, and Chang'an City was full of lights. And those fierce prisoners also returned to the capital one after another to report. There is a division management checked a bit, 390 people, actually one is not a lot! Li Shimin was overjoyed, not only taking the prisoners to enjoy the lanterns, but also pardoning their capital sins. Since then, Li Shimin's name of Renjun has become even taller and more impressive, making people look up to him.
This incident is recorded in the New Book of Tang and the Zizhi Tongjian, and is called the "Tang Taizong Indulgence" incident, which is very famous. However, in the eyes of posterity, tang taizong Li Shimin's approach was controversial. Some argue that Tang Taizong's move undermined the seriousness of the law and was irresponsible to the victims. What's more, tang Taizong was thought to be selling his reputation and using prisoners to do a political job. Ouyang Xiu, the Emperor Wenzong of the Song Dynasty, once wrote an article called "The Theory of Indulgence", which severely criticized Tang Taizong, believing that "if the husband comes and forgives him, he can occasionally do it." If they do so repeatedly, none of the murderers will die. Is it a common law for the world? ”。
In fact, the criticism of Tang Taizong's move by later generations is because he has never understood the essence of the law. In fact, the ultimate purpose of the law in prescribing various laws for punishing people is to make people stop breaking the law, not to punish some people. If one thing can make a person who has committed the most heinous sins truly repent, and from then on he will change his mind and no longer do evil, then the effect will be no different from the destruction of the flesh. Even from the economic point of view of the country, one more person who can contribute to society is actually more effective!
As for Ouyang Xiu's criticism, it cannot be denied that Tang Taizong's approach did have such an element. However, it should also be said that Ouyang Xiu's vision has always stayed only at the level of "technique" and not to the aspect of "Dao". He didn't really understand Tang Taizong's approach!
Specific to the matter of Tang Taizong's imprisonment, the reason why he dared to gamble was that he saw that the prisoners still had a trace of conscience in their hearts, so he decided to use his own benevolence to amplify this conscience and achieve the same effect as killing the head by transforming a person. This is actually reaching a higher level. The Ming Dynasty sage Wang Yangming once said: "It is easy to break a thief in a mountain, but it is difficult to break a thief in his heart", which means that it is more difficult to transform a person's heart than to kill his head. Tang Taizong's approach, which broke 390 "thieves in his heart" at one time, just shows that his ability to control people's hearts has reached the point of pure fire.
Later, the social reality of the Zhenguan dynasty also supported Li Shimin's approach very well: during the Zhenguan period, social security reached an extremely stable level, the people's roads were not left behind, the houses were not closed at night, and everyone lived and worked in peace and contentment. As for the death row prisoners, the Great Tang Dynasty, with a population of tens of millions, only more than thirty a year! Such a stable security definitely had a lot to do with Tang Taizong's indulgent mind and his love for the people. Later generations denied Tang Taizong without learning the essence, which was really one-sided.