In history, Tang Taizong was a very good king, not to mention that he created a great era of all nations to come to the dynasty, let alone his Zhenguan politics at that time, which is enough to be included in the model of Chinese political history. Because of this, later people mentioned that Tang Taizong would call him Tian Khan and consider him the best Ming Emperor in history.
Because he is very good, whenever people talk about him, they will praise his deeds, even to a height that he himself did not expect, and even some people seem to see the supreme spirit of civil rights and the rule of law in him.
For example, there is a record in the Old Book of Tang that Li Shimin let 390 death row prisoners go home for the New Year, and as a result, none of the prisoners escaped, and they all honestly came back to confess their deaths. This move greatly touched Tang Taizong, so he released all of them in addition to sighing. This incident has been touted by many people and is even considered the highest integration of the rule of law and human rights. So the question is, what is going on here?
Before we talk about this topic, we must first admit that Tang Taizong was indeed the best king of the Tang Dynasty, and even the best Ming Emperor in Chinese history. However, this aura does not deny that Tang Taizong's administrative measures did not exceed the limitations of that era, and all his purposes were to maintain the rule of the rulers, not to break the hostages of the feudal era, as we think, to transcend the rule of law mentioned by the legalists, and to build an era in which human feelings and the rule of law coexist.
After understanding this premise, let's look at the incident in which Tang Taizong released death row prisoners, which was highly praised by everyone.
According to historical records, it was the 6th year of Zhenguan, and the Zhenguan era of Tang Taizong had basically arrived, and the politics of this period were very close to the people, and the bureaucracy seemed to be very clean and efficient. Most importantly, Li Shimin became the first in East Asia in the 4th year of Zhenguan and was known as the Heavenly Khan.
Because of this, Li Shimin has always believed that the country and mountains he ruled were very harmonious, even a great era of prosperity. So he was idle and bored, so he went to the prison to have a look, in his fantasy, there should be no prisoners in the prison, after all, his world is so good.
However, after observing, Tang Taizong frowned deeply. What he saw was not an empty prison, but a cell full of people, and Tang Taizong casually investigated the files and found that it was all death row inmates, with a total number of 390 people.
This made Tang Taizong very unhappy, didn't he say that they were all in the Taiping Era? Why are there still so many death row inmates?
And it is worth mentioning that at that time, Tang Taizong was wearing civilian clothes, so everyone did not know that he was the emperor, anyway, everyone was going to die, naturally they would not give him any good looks, and some people even looked at him angrily, which made Tang Taizong's face look bad.
However, Tang Taizong was a wise man after all, and when he looked at these death row prisoners, he always felt that his face was blushing. However, in the blink of an eye, Tang Taizong came up with a very good idea, could he turn this bad thing into a means of whitewashing Taiping? Not to mention, Tang Taizong really thought of an idea.
First of all, Emperor Taizong found these people to chat and asked them to tell them one by one about what crimes they had committed. As a result, one by one, they found that they were basically not people with serious crimes, some of them killed people in anger because their wives were insulted, and some were oppressed by the elite and were eaten into lawsuits. After listening to these people's answers, Li Shimin had a spectrum in his heart.
Then, Li Shimin announced his identity as emperor and told them that it was time for the New Year, and it was very pitiful that you would die like this, so my emperor gave you a privilege, and everyone had a good New Year at home, and then came to die.
Hearing the emperor say this, everyone rejoiced, after all, who does not want to live for a moment, and can spend the New Year with their families, for death row prisoners, this is simply a great kindness. So these people were all thankful for their kindness and hurried home.
Looking at the prison that was empty at once, Tang Taizong thought about it. However, Tang Taizong did not speak, and the officials around him were anxious, because Tang Taizong's rule of Zhenguan had always emphasized the law, and even strangled people's feelings through strict laws, and the more typical case was Tang Taizong's trial of his comrade-in-arms Dang Renhong.
But Tang Taizong was very calm, and he told everyone not to worry, these people would definitely not run away, and they would come back and die willingly. It should be said that for Tang Taizong's words and deeds, the people around him definitely did not believe it, and even prepared to see the emperor's jokes.
But I never expected that after the end of the year, all the death row inmates would be present, and no one would be absent. In the face of this scene, the officials of dali Temple all stayed, how could they not have imagined that these people who had always disobeyed the law were so honest, could it be that the emperor was a god? How can you expect anything?
In the face of everyone's consternation, Tang Taizong laughed, and then casually pardoned everyone, and announced to everyone that although the law is unshakable, the death penalty is irreversible and everyone should be given the opportunity to reform. Moreover, I made an agreement with you, but none of you chose to break the covenant in the face of death, so I saw your sincerity and gave you the opportunity.
After saying this, everyone shouted long live, and these death row prisoners also called Tang Taizong great. This matter was later discussed by many scholars, and even some people proposed that this was the greatest thing in the Zhenguan era, allowing Tang Taizong to find a balance between human feelings and law, and created the miracle of that era.
On the one hand, Tang Taizong stressed that the law cannot be violated, but Tang Taizong retained human feelings outside the law, so the Zhenguan era was not like the Qin Dynasty, but it was not like the chaotic world of the lack of law, and the whole society was full of warmth and silence, whitewashing this peaceful era.
So is this really the case? Many scholars have put forward different views. You know, what was Tang Taizong's greatest obsession in his life? That is to wash away the notoriety of yourself and leave a good reputation for yourself.
Therefore, he worked hard to become a Heavenly Khan, and worked hard to create the Era of Zhenguan, and even did not hesitate to set up a mirror for himself, Wei Zheng. All this is to promote their own good reputation, erase their own stigma, and even change history.
In light of the actions of each ruler in history, the essence of which is to consolidate his rule, then we can probably understand what Emperor Taizong did. For Tang Taizong, it does not matter if he lets go of these 290 death row prisoners and returns to a few people, what is important is that he wants to carry forward his lover's heart and carry forward the greatness of the Zhenguan era.
Of course, in terms of the situation at that time, the Zhenguan era was very clear, and unless these death row prisoners escaped from the country, they would have no place to stand in the future. Therefore, these people had no other way out, but to come back, and could only become a tool for Tang Taizong to publicize his good reputation. Therefore, Emperor Taizong was very clever, and he maintained a good person for himself all his life, including this matter.
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