Both the Shang fang sword and the deathless gold medal were awarded to the ministers by the ancient emperors, but the two had different use properties and would also be awarded to different ministers.
The Shang fang sword, also known as the Shang Fang sword, is an ancient Chinese sword cast by the Shaofu Shang Fang Jian for the use of the Tianzi and the imperial family, which can be used to represent the will of the emperor and is a symbol of power and honor. Also known as the Sword of Strength, if a minister official holds the Shangfang Sword given by the Emperor, it not only represents the minister's favor from the emperor, but also is a special honor for the minister's official. This can also be used as a kind of military authorization, which is given by the emperor to military generals, giving the battlefield to directly kill low-level officers and soldiers, without special playing the imperial court, commonly known as "first cut and then play".
Originating from the Han Dynasty, the Shangfang Sword refers to a sword forged by the Shaofu Shangfang Ling for use by the imperial family. Legend has it that Shang Fang ordered the sword to be forged during the lunar eclipse for use by the Son of Heaven. At that time, it was called the sword of the horse. In the Book of Han, there is a story of Zhu Yun asking Emperor Hancheng to cut off the horse sword in order to behead Zhang Yu. Later, it became an allusion, and in articles or poems, the wenchen often used the Shang Fang sword as a symbol to obtain the emperor's cronies on behalf of himself, and he could kill bad officials. For example, Liu Bowen of the Ming Dynasty", "Sixty-four Rhymes of the Gift of Zhou Zongdao": "First seal the Sword of Shangfang, and according to the law, accuse the treacherous stolen goods." ”
During the Ming Dynasty, the Shangfang Sword was a sword given to his subjects by the emperor, and the courtiers who possessed this sword could represent the emperor and directly kill officials and even the people without going through the trial of the Three Laws Division. Usually this was given by the emperor to the military generals, used in the battlefield, used to rectify military discipline. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jiliao, used the imperial sword of Shangfang to behead Mao Wenlong, the chief soldier of Dongjiang, but in fact Mao Wenlong himself also had the sword of Shangfang, and the Ming Dynasty recorded that the Shangfang sword could only behead officials below the superintendent and deputy general, but could not kill the chief military officer. However, yuan Chonghuan was also able to kill Mao Wenlong, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town, with this sword, although this also caused dissatisfaction among the Chongzhen Emperor and became one of the reasons for Yuan's later execution. Although there was only one Shang fang sword, the given official could distribute his life and death power to his subordinates, for example, in the Battle of Bozhou, Li Hualong asked the Wanli Emperor to obtain the Shang Fang Sword, and then issued a sword to the subordinate general and the supervising army, instructing them to use the received sword to exercise the same power as the Shang Fang Sword. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, shangfang swords were given to officials in large quantities, and even went into exile without the knowledge of the imperial court.
The most famous sword of the Shangfang of the Qing Dynasty is the Shu bi long sword, which is the waist knife of the early Qing dynasty heavy minister Shu Bi Long, which was included in the imperial palace after his death, and was named after the person. The Qianlong Emperor once gave this sword to Fu Hengzheng dajinchuan, a scholar of jingliu university, and gave it to Xu Guangjin when he was defeated by the defeat of the soldiers (Neqin happened to be the grandson of Shu Bilong), and when the university scholar Sai Shang Ah asked for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Xianfeng Emperor also gave the Sword of Shu Bilong to strengthen his military might, and the defeat of the army was given to Xu Guangjin. In addition, during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period, the Xianfeng Emperor gave the Ruijie Sword, the Nakuni Su Dao, the Shenque Sword to Mianyu the Prince of Hui, the Prince of Horqin, the Monk Greenqin, and the Minister of Qincha, Shengbao, all of whom had the right to cut first and play later. In addition, when the Daoguang Emperor was alive, he also gave the Prince gong yi of the white rainbow sword, which was still the crown prince at the time, and this sword was passed to his grandson Puwei, who wanted to use this sword to kill Yuan Shikai to avenge the Guangxu Emperor, and with his right to cut first and play later, Cixi could not prohibit it.
In the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906), the Shangfang Sword of the Qing Dynasty was given by Empress Dowager Cixi to Chen Yixi, an overseas Chinese in the United States who presided over the construction of the Xinning Railway, and allowed him to cut first and then play later, and behead any villager who obstructed the construction of the railway. The sword was reportedly lost during the CCP's land reform and was later collected by the Guangdong Provincial Museum.
Danshu iron coupons, also known as Danshu iron deeds, golden book iron coupons, iron coupons, oaths, folk commonly known as "death-free (gold) cards", began in the Han Dynasty, is a kind of reward and covenant nature of the Tianzi issued to meritorious and heavy subjects, similar to the modern popular medals of medals, but its shape is slightly different, the connotation is broader.
Iron coupons are iron products with a shape similar to curved tiles, and the letters on the iron coupons were originally crossed out with Dansha, collectively known as "Danshu Iron Deed", that is, iron as a deed, Danshuzhi, gold as a dagger, and stone as a room. Liang Shi used silver characters to fill in the words, that is, "silver coupons"; Sui used gold crosswords, also known as "golden coupons" and "golden books", so later generations called iron coupons "golden books and iron coupons", and because "iron coupons" can be passed down from generation to generation, also known as iron coupons as "world coupons".
After Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, in order to consolidate his rule and attract meritorious men, he awarded the Yuanxun "Danshu Iron Coupon" as a reward: "Order Xiao He Ci Law, Han Xin Shen Military Law, Zhang Cangding Regulations, Uncle Sun Tong Shuai Etiquette; and also swore with meritorious officials, Danshu, Tieqi, Jin Kui, and Stone Chamber, hidden in the Zongmiao Temple", of which "Fu" is also commonly referred to as "Deed", that is, the certificate of faithfulness between the emperor and the meritorious and important subjects.
From the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, The Iron Coupons issued by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty to the imperial family and close ministers were used as protective protection for the family. In the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen dynasties of the Southern Dynasty, it was more common to issue iron coupons.
After the Sui and Tang dynasties, the issuance of iron coupons has become a regular system, and all the founding fathers, Zhongxing heroes and ethnic minority leaders have been given iron coupons, and iron coupons have also been issued to favored eunuchs and eunuchs. By the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, the issuance of iron coupons gradually became more complete.
The iron coupons that have survived to this day are extremely rare and precious, and only four of them have survived. Among them, the Tang Dynasty iron coupons collected in the National Museum of China are the earliest physical iron coupons. In addition, three Ming Dynasty iron coupons are collected in the Palace Museum and the Qinghai Provincial Archives Bureau, which have become precious historical relics.
Therefore, because the Shangfang Sword is the exclusive sword of the emperor, the minister who owns the Shangfang Sword has the privilege of cutting first and playing later; and the death-free gold medal is a kind of certificate that the ancient emperor gave the meritorious people to enjoy preferential treatment or reduce their guilt. So, we can't help but ask: what happens when the Shang Fang Sword and the Deathless Gold Medal meet together?
First of all, we need to know that even if there is a deathless gold medal in the hand, there is still no escape from being punished. For example, when the Western Han dynasty general Han Xin was accused of rebellion, Han Gaozu also ignored the Danshu iron coupon and put Han Xin to death. According to Sima Qian's statistics, more than 100 meritorious people were awarded Danshu iron coupons in the early years of the Han Dynasty, but only 5 people were actually pardoned by the emperor.
Secondly, the power of the minister's life and death is still decided by the emperor. Ming Taizu Hongwu issued an edict in the 28th year: "The emperor will not forgive the rebellion." For the remaining sins, the clan council took the ruling. The Dharma Division is only allowed to play, not to be caught. The rules and regulations will always be obeyed. Zhu Yuanzhang has successively given Li Shanchang and 34 other founding heroes a gold medal to avoid death, but there are 9 words engraved on the back: "Avoid death except for plotting rebellion and rebellion", which is used to bind the effectiveness of the gold medal.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Li Shanchang was first given the title of Zuo Cheng Xiang (左丞相), and later he was also given the title of Duke of Xuanguo (宣国公), and was an important vassal that Zhu Yuanzhang valued and relied on. However, Li Shanchang was later implicated in Hu Weiyong's conspiracy and was sentenced to death by Zhu Yuanzhang, and in order to save his life, Li Shanchang shouted to Zhu Yuanzhang: "I have a death-free gold medal in my hand, you can't kill me." However, After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang did not hurry and said: "You look at the 7 characters on the back of this death-free gold medal", so Zhu Yuanzhang ordered someone to take the other half of the gold medal over, and Li Shanchang saw that the words "avoid death and eliminate conspiracy and rebellion" were engraved on the back, and he knew that there was no room for maneuver in this matter. Therefore, although the gold medal for avoiding death can be exempted from death, in the face of imperial power, the crime of treason cannot be forgiven under any circumstances, and in the period of imperial power, imperial power is absolutely not allowed to trample on.