Text/Feng Xuanyi
Among the emperors of the past, the one who was most distressed about corruption was Zhu Yuanzhang. During Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, he spared no effort to launch one anti-corruption struggle after another, and the various punishments for punishing corruption are still chilling to read now.
In terms of anti-corruption system construction, Hongwu has produced a total of three important classics during the Hongwu years, and today, Xiaobian will talk to you about the three anti-corruption classics designated by Zhu Yuanzhang.
01、 "The Law of Daming"
The Great Ming Law is the main code of the Ming Dynasty, and it is also another epoch-making code of epoch-making significance in ancient Chinese history after the Tang Law.
The Ming Shi Penal Chronicle records that "Taizu first crossed the river and was quite serious,...... Feng (Li Shanchang) and Zhongcheng Liu Ji and other rulings were issued in China and abroad. The Biography of Ming Shi Li Shanchang also says: "Taizu Ping Wuchang, that is, the Law Decree,...... The book was written in December. One hundred and forty-five articles, two hundred and eighty-five laws." From these records, it can be seen that the main drafter of the law was Li Shanchang, and twenty other people participated in the compilation of yang xian, who participated in the compilation of the political affairs, Liu Ji, the imperial historian, and Tao An, a scholar of Hanlin. The law began in October 1367. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang had not yet been proclaimed emperor, and the name of this code was called "Law". A few months later, on the fourth day of the first lunar month in 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang was proclaimed emperor in Yingtian (Nanjing), with the founding name Ming and the year name Hongwu. In November of the sixth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang again ordered the compilation of the law. He ordered Shangshu Liu Weiqian and others of the Ministry of Punishment to compile a new "Daming Law" based on the "Law Order". After nearly three months of intense work, in February of the seventh year of Hongwu, the "Great Ming Law" was completed, and Zhu Yuanzhang ordered it to be promulgated. The "Great Ming Law" promulgated this time is divided into twelve articles, such as "Guard Prohibition", "Fighting Litigation", "Fraud", "Miscellaneous Laws", "Arrest and Death", "Prison Break", and "Famous Cases", a total of thirty volumes, divided into 606 articles. In the twenty-second year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang also ordered the revision of the "Great Ming Law", with the "Law of Famous Customs" at the beginning of the chapter, and divided into six departments according to the six functions, which were divided into officials, households, ceremonies, soldiers, criminals, and workers, which were still thirty volumes, but the number of entries was reduced to 460. In May of the 30th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang revised the "Daming Law" for the third time, and after the promulgation of the new law, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the abolition of other lists and prohibitions, stipulating that all subsequent prison sentences should be subject to the newly promulgated "Daming Law". Since then, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty have followed this law and have not revised it.
The "Great Ming Law" inherits the "Tang Law", the lower Qing Dynasty and even the modern Chinese law, and also has a great influence on neighboring countries such as Korea and Japan.
02. "The Great Commandment" and "The Continuation of the Great Curse", "The Third Part of the Great Commandment", "The Great Curse of the Martial Lord"
With the Great Ming Law, Zhu Yuanzhang was still not satisfied, and he personally compiled the "Great Commandment", as well as the "Continuation of the Great Commandment", the "Third Edition of the Great Commandment", and the "Great Commandment of the Martial Lord", these four classics are collectively known as the "Imperial System of the Great Commandment".
It was originally meant to be an edict from the emperor to his ministers. Later, it gradually evolved into a genre. In the Book of Shang, there is the "Great Curse".
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang adhered to the principle of using heavy rules to control chaos, vigorously punished corruption, and had zero tolerance for corrupt behavior. In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang personally wrote and compiled the major cases tried this year into a volume, modeled on the "Great Curse" in the "Book of Shang", and released it to the whole country in the form of a poem. The purpose is to warn officials throughout the country to learn from the case, learn lessons, and not repeat the mistakes of corrupt officials. This is like our current compilation of typical cases, the purpose of which is to make officials at all levels learn lessons and become honest officials. The first "Great Commandment" consisted of 74 articles, which was officially published and promulgated at the end of the eighteenth year of Hongwu. The second part, the Continuation of the Great Commandment, consisting of 87 articles, was published in the spring of the nineteenth year of Hongwu. Since then, he has continued to edit the "Three Editions of the Great Commandment" and the "Great Commandment of the Martial Lords". Together, these four cases are called the Imperial Decrees.
Zhu Yuanzhang ordered both the Guozijian and schools throughout the country to study the Great Commandments, and included the Great Commandments in the content of the imperial examinations. In addition, the "Great Commandment" was also printed and distributed nationwide, one for each household, and for a time "every family has a treasure, and everyone praises it". In order to arouse the enthusiasm of the people in studying, Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated: "Those who have a "Great Commandment" at home shall be reduced by one for the crimes of flogging, staff, discipleship, and flow; those who do not have the "Great Curse" shall be added to the first class; those who refuse to accept it, move outside, and never return. "
03. "A Brief Record of Awakening Greed"
In order to curb corruption, Zhu Yuanzhang can be described as painstaking. The content of the "Great Commandment" is rather complicated, and cases such as slandering the emperor, forming parties and chaotic government, embezzlement and bribery, anti-grain, anti-difference, and anti-rent are all involved. In order to further deter officials throughout the country, Zhu Yuanzhang presided over the compilation of the first anti-corruption textbook in Chinese history, "A Brief Record of Awakening Corruption."
The "Brief Record of Awakening Greed" was issued in August of the 25th year of Hongwu. There are three main parts: the salary standards of officials, the distribution of officials, and the punishment measures for corrupt officials. The book stipulates that officials who have embezzled more than sixty taels of silver should be beheaded and displayed to the public, and the skin should be peeled off, stuffed with straw and lime, and hung on the desk of the official government to warn the successor officials not to repeat the same mistakes. This is the famous torture "skinning and grass" during the Hongwu period.
Zhu Yuanzhang was bitter about corruption, and he spared no effort to punish corruption. However, after his death, all these efforts of his were in vain, and the corruption of the Final Ming Generation was still rampant. The reason for this is worth pondering for future generations. Today, Xiaobian ended with a passage from Zhu Yuanzhang, which is a long and serious sentence, which is really good:
"Among the four peoples, the soldiers are the most expensive, and the peasants are the most laborious. Who is the noblest of the soldiers? Read the book of the sages, enlighten the way of the sages, come out for the use of the king, and sit and enjoy the heavens. Who is the hardest worker in farming? When spring comes, the chickens rise up and drive the cattle to plough in good faith; and the seedlings are both planted and must be cultivated, and the hot days are red, and the body is haggard; and in the autumn, how much can be left except for losing the official? One or the water drought locust, the emperor has no hope. Those who live in the present life do not remember the hardships of our people, and even if they are stripped and tortured, they have no benevolence. "