When I was a child watching costume dramas, The editor always had a question, why every time I performed to the court of execution, basically not someone ran out and shouted "Leave people under the knife!" It is the torturer himself who shouts, "I have a grievance!" Then the executioner really stopped. Can the criminal law set by the emperor be changed on the spot?
When I grew up, I checked the information and found that, hey, this "leaving people under the knife" really works. The reason why there is such a situation of "leaving people under the knife" must be combined with the ancient social situation. Although it is said that since the Tang and Song dynasties, ancient China has divided the organs dedicated to administrative affairs, Dali Temple and Yushitai; in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Three Divisions of punishment, Dali Temple, and Duchayuan were established side by side.
But we must understand one thing, that is, the supreme leader of the ancient feudal society was the emperor, even if the ancient judicial institutions were perfected and the laws were meticulous, as long as the emperor gave an order, how to judge was still the emperor's decision. What's more, compared with modern times, the level of case handling in ancient times is really not too clear.
In this kind of situation where the emperor had nothing to do with his hand and the level of judgment in ancient times was not impressive, it became very normal for some unjust, false and wrongly decided cases to occur. However, there are no rules and no squares, and the emperor himself knows this, in order to sympathize with the people's feelings, and to avoid his impulsive judgment of any unjust case, the ancient emperor could only be as relaxed as possible in terms of execution.
At first, this leniency in executions was only aimed at high-ranking officials. Since the Han Dynasty, for high-ranking officials with an annual salary of more than 2,000 stones, the emperor needs to review the execution before executing. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties period, there were new changes. According to the Book of Wei, "When the deceased is dead, the ministry is heard." Death cannot be revived, the superintendent cannot be evaluated, the prison is all presented, the emperor himself comes to ask, and there is no complaint. ”
Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty established a system of repetition of the death penalty, requiring that even local death penalty cases must be played to the emperor, and the death penalty can only be executed after personally investigating and ascertaining grievances. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, this system of death penalty repetition developed into a more perfect system of triplication.
Whether it was a decision to be made or a question after the autumn, the emperor had to be asked three times with the participation of the ministers, including once before the execution, before the execution could be carried out. This three-fold system was spread until the Ming and Qing dynasties, and then slowly changed to a one-fold ensemble during the Qianlong period.
Because of the many steps taken at the time of the verdict, the executioner was also afraid of really beheading the wrong person, so that not only would his conscience be condemned, but he might not be implicated after the case was overturned. In the Song Dynasty, there was also a special law to deal with the problem of "leaving people under the sword": "Anyone who is on death row who is about to be sentenced to death and is wronged, then interrogate Chen Song." ”
Because of these 13 words, the executioner will be particularly cautious when executing, and if someone shouts "leave someone under the knife", he will immediately stop to check whether there is any grievance. Speaking of which, this "leaving people under the knife" really saved the life of a tough general, and that member of the tough general was the "god of war" during the Tang Dynasty, Li Jing.
According to the Old Book of Tang, Li Jing was initially devoted to serving the Sui Dynasty, so he wanted to report to the Sui Emperor when Li Yuan first started his army. As a result, the secret was not completed, and after the Tang Dynasty army invaded Chang'an, Li Jing himself was also captured by Li Yuan, and he was tied to the legal field and almost "lost his head".
Facing the large knife in the executioner's hand, Li Jing shouted helplessly: "The public rebels, who were supposed to eliminate riots in the world, did not want to kill the heroes with private grudges for major matters?" As soon as Li Jing's words came out, he was immediately recognized by Li Shimin, who was still the King of Qin at the time, so he applied to Li Yuan to release Li Jing. And Li Yuan already admired Li Jing, plus his son helped to intercede, and pushed the boat along the water to let him go.
Perhaps the Tang Dynasty's three-fold system was established precisely because of Li Jing's case.
References: Old Book of Tang, Book of Wei