In 118 BC, the chancellor Li Cai was questioned by the relevant departments for privately occupying the open space of the Hanjing Emperor's mausoleum, and Li Cai was unwilling to accept the examination and investigation and committed suicide.
In 115 BC, shi zhumaichen, the governor of the chancellor's office, Wang Chao, and Bian Tong, colluded to slander Zhang Tang and commit suicide. After the East Window incident, Cheng Xiangzhuang Qingzhai was implicated and committed suicide by taking medicine.
In 112 BC, the 106th rank hou was stripped of his title because of the poor gold handed over to the imperial court. Zhao Zhou, the prime minister, was arrested and imprisoned for not reporting it, and later committed suicide.
Why did so many ministers choose to commit suicide? Originally, in 173 BC, Jia Yi mentioned in the "Public Security Policy" that the minister was a person close to the Son of Heaven, and even if he was guilty, he should not be tortured like the common people.
What if the minister commits a crime? If it is a minor crime, it can be done by means of dismissal, revocation of fiefdom, abolition of commoners, etc.; if it is a major crime, if the verdict is heard, it should be committed suicide.
Once, When Emperor Wen of Han's uncle Bo Zhao committed a capital crime, Emperor Wen sent his courtiers to his home in mourning clothes to hang filial piety and force Bo Zhao to commit suicide. Slowly, this became an unwritten rule.
Later, this trend intensified, and some ministers, regardless of the size of the crime, chose to commit suicide as soon as they heard that they were going to be investigated. Maybe the Japanese love to cut the abdomen is what I learned from here!
Since it is unwritten, it certainly has no legal effect, so there are also xiangxiang who do not want to commit suicide, he is Wang Jia, the minister of the Han Dynasty.
As everyone may know, the Han Emperor was very fond of Dong Xian, and when he went out, he was in the same car, and when he entered, he was given more than 100 million yuan in money within a month, and his wealth shook the imperial court.
Wang Jia, as a chancellor, naturally had to advise Emperor Han of this abnormal behavior. He told the Han Emperor that His Majesty was too fond of Dong Xian, the lieutenant of the Horse Capital, which made the Qunchen very afraid.
Emperor Wen of Han's favorite minister Deng Tong and Emperor Wu of Han's favorite, Han Yan, were not allowed to die well. If His Majesty is really for Dong Xian's good, he should treat him with caution in order to save his life.
As the saying goes, good advice is against the ear. When Emperor Ai of Han heard Wang Jia's words, he did not repent, but was dissatisfied with Wang Jia and wanted to find an opportunity to get rid of him.
At that time, the three men of the imperial court, Liang Xiang, Shang Shu Ling, and Zong Bofeng, suspected that Liu Yun, the King of Dongping, was an unjust case, and asked the imperial court to escort a cadre of criminals to Chang'an for a retrial.
However, the Han Emperor believed that Liang Xiang and others saw that they were seriously ill and wanted to wait and see, and sold Liu Yun, the king of Dongping, to sell well. As a result, the Han Emperor removed Liang Xiang and others from their posts and demoted them to civilians.
A few months later, the Han Emperor granted amnesty to the world. Wang Jia took the opportunity to intercede for Liang Xiang and others, saying that Liang Xiang and others were talents with both moral integrity and ability, and it was a pity that the imperial court had lost them. The Han Emperor was very angry after reading it.
After another twenty days, Wang Jia rejected the edict of the Han Emperor to increase Dong Xian's fiefdom, which could stab the honeycomb, and the Han Emperor was furious.
The edict ordered Wang Jia to accept the rebuke made by Shangshu on behalf of the emperor, saying that Liang Xiang and others had committed the great crime of disloyalty, so why did you dare to intercede for them? Wang Jia took off his official hat and pleaded guilty.
Kong Guang, the Grand Master of Guanglu, took the opportunity to impeach Wang Jia, saying: "Confusing the country, deceiving the emperor, and rebelling against the law; please send a gurudwara to notify Wang Jia to report to the Tingwei Prison." ”
The Han Emperor issued an edict: "Order the Gurudwara to inform the Minister to report to the Tingwei Zhao Prison with a festival." "When the Gurudwara came to the Minister's Mansion, he saw a familiar picture: the subordinate officials of the Prime Minister's Mansion were in tears, mixing poison!
But what people did not expect was that the poison was adjusted, and Wang Jia refused to drink it. The Master Advised him: "It is a practice that has been done from generation to generation without facing the judge's grievances, and you should commit suicide immediately." ”
Like a bull's head and horse noodles, the emissary sat precariously in front of the palace gate and waited for Wang Jia to commit suicide. However, Wang Jia just couldn't drink it, and he slammed the medicine cup the ground.
Wang Jia said to his subordinates: "I am fortunate to be the third duke, and if I have dereliction of duty, I should die in public at the market and give an account to the people of the country." Am I not a woman? Why secretly drink poison to commit suicide! ”
Therefore, Wang Jia dressed his official clothes neatly, came out to meet the emissary, took the edict, boarded the prison cart, followed the emissary to the Tingwei Yamen, and then went to the edict.
When Emperor Ai of Han heard that Wang Jia had not committed suicide, he was immediately angry. The last time he wanted to kill Zhu Bo, the emissary had just arrived at the Xiang Mansion, and Zhu Bo obediently committed suicide, but he did not expect that this time Wang Jia dared to break the rules.
However, after all, this rule is unwritten, and the Emperor of Sorrow cannot talk about this. Therefore, the Han Emperor sent more than a dozen high-ranking officials at the ministerial level to try the case together, and Wang Jia had to be convicted.
The jailer scolded Wang Jia, why did he deceive the king? Wang Jia replied, "I think that Liang Xiang and others are indeed excellent officials, and I am completely sorry for the country, not to protect these three people." ”
The jailer retorted to him, "If it is true as you say, then have we not become a wrongful prison here?" You must have committed treason, otherwise, there are so many people in the whole country, how can you only arrest others and not arrest others!
Listen, the jailer is utterly illogical about this! It's exactly the tone of the big bad wolf in Aesop's Fables who tries everything to find an excuse to eat lambs.
Slowly, the jailer began to insult Wang Jia, and Wang Jia looked up at the sky and sighed: "I have the honor of serving as the prime minister, but I cannot recommend the meritocracy and rebuke the traitors; I do have a negative country, and I have more than enough to die." ”
So the jailer asked who was virtuous and who was a traitor. Wang Jia said, "Kong Guang and He Wu belong to the Xianneng, and I cannot recommend them; Dong Xian's father and son are evil and chaotic, and I cannot rebuke them." I deserve to die for my sins, and I die without regrets! ”
From Wang Jia's words, we can see what a righteous gentleman is. Although Kong Guang took the lead in impeaching Wang Jia, Wang Jia did not retaliate, but instead recommended him.
After being imprisoned for more than twenty days, Wang Jia died of refusing to eat and drinking and vomiting blood. Although strictly speaking, Wang Jia also committed suicide, he was more like a real warrior than other suicides.
Not long after, the Han Emperor saw Wang Jia's confession and thought deeply. Later, the Han Emperor reappointed Kong Guang as chancellor and He Wu as the imperial chancellor.
No matter what kind of law, ancient or modern, Chinese or foreign, it is necessary to follow the principle of first conviction and then sentencing. Wouldn't it be ridiculous that a suspect would commit suicide without a judicial trial?
In this way, the face of the state, the face of the monarch, and the face of the minister are all preserved, but what about the face of the law? Where is the face of fairness and justice?