In order to eliminate the arrogance of the five generations of warriors at the end of the Tang Dynasty and the abuses of the division of the feudal towns, the Song Dynasty, since the beginning of Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, has formed a set of "family laws" that emphasize literature and suppress martial arts, not only favoring the literati and doctors, but also encouraging subjects to write and talk about things. The imperial court stipulated that all those who wrote and said things, no matter whether they were high or low, whether the things they discussed were important or not, even if it was a trivial matter of the common people, the emperor would receive and listen to them to the best of his ability, and must not take form in vain.
Beginning with Song Taizu, the Song Dynasty practiced a national policy of emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts
Not only that, but if what the subjects said was acceptable, the emperor would often reward them, and even if they were unsubcused, they would not be punished. This relatively relaxed speech environment is much more open than the previous dynasty. There are many historical facts about the emperor of the Song Dynasty's humble devotion to the voices of his subjects, among which the most popular among later generations is the incident in which Song Taizong received and rewarded Mu Hui, a commoner who had sued the emperor for the loss of his sow.
After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, in order to facilitate the people to appeal grievances, the old system of the former dynasty was quoted, and the Dengwen Drum was re-suspended outside the court, and two institutions, the Dengwen Drum Academy and the Dengwen Procuratorate, were set up to allow the people to beat the drum and complain about their grievances and directly apply to the imperial court. The law stipulates that anyone who writes to the imperial court to discuss political affairs, military secrets, public and private interests, etc., or requests for favors, grievances, and contributions to strange techniques, etc., if they cannot be heard according to the convention, the subjects can first go to the Dengwen Drum Court to submit the matter, and if they are obstructed, then report to the Dengwen Procuratorate for appeal, in short, the emperor must get the news.
Successive dynasties have set up Dengwen drums to facilitate the people's grievances
Although the Koden Wen Drum was set up, considering that he had to directly file a complaint with the Emperor, unless the matter was critical, the grievances were extremely great, and the subjects were really cornered, no one would easily hit this Deng Wen Drum. After all, they knew very well in their hearts the truth of "unpredictable heavenly power", and no one dared to guarantee that if this drum was beaten, the emperor would really not turn his face. However, in the fourth year of Chunhua (993), there was a flat-headed commoner who did not know the height of the sky, because of a trivial matter, dared to strike the Dengwen Drum to sue the imperial court, and alarmed Song Taizong.
Song Taizong had not heard the drums for a long time, and now that he heard someone beating the drums, he thought that he had a great grievance, so he quickly summoned him to the palace for interrogation. Upon questioning, Emperor Taizong learned that this person's name was Mou Hui, and his "grievances" were nothing more than the loss of a sow by the house slave, and the search did not find it for several days.
Instead of punishing Mu Hui, Emperor Taizong rewarded him with a sum of money
After listening to Mu Hui's appeal, the emperor couldn't believe his ears, and felt funny and angry. Fortunately, the emperors of the Song Dynasty were generally more benevolent, so instead of punishing Mu Hui, Emperor Taizong rewarded him with thousands of dollars, which was to compensate for the loss of his lost sows.
After Mu Hui left in thanks, Emperor Taizong said to the chancellor next to him, "It is really ridiculous that such trivial matters are appealed to Yuan. However, you should think deeply that the affairs of the people are no small matter, and only by humbly listening to the voices of the people can we govern the country, then there will be no more resentment in the world. After hearing this, the prime ministers were all impressed by the emperor's broad mind, and they all said yes one after another.
Emperor Taizong's broad mind impressed the courtiers
Gyeonggi Minmu Hui struck the Drum of Dengwen, sued the family slave for losing the porpoise one, and ordered a thousand dollars to pay for its value. Because of the words of the prime minister: "It seems that this detail is told to yu Yuan, and it is also a matter of hearing the decision, which is ridiculous." However, if this heart is pushed to come to the world, there can be no injustice to the people. See "Continuing Zizhi TongjianChang Compilation, Volume 34, Chunhua Four Years" (the "History of Dust" written by Wang Dechen of the Song Dynasty placed this matter on the head of Song Taizu, which belongs to the obvious "Zhang Guan Li Dai").
It is precisely with this benevolent heart and the style of diligently seeking governance that in the 21 years of Taizong's rule, although the Song Dynasty repeatedly defeated the Liao state on the battlefield, its achievements in people's livelihood were very eye-catching, and laid the foundation for the prosperity of the empire for more than three hundred years.
Since Zhu Yuanzhang, the role of dengwen drum has flowed into form
It is precisely because of the "exemplary power" of Song Taizong in the front, so the three dynasties of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties also set up Dengwen drums because of raids to facilitate the people to sing grievances. However, in terms of its actual effect, in addition to the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's special attention to the role of the Dengwen drum, other periods were in the form. Especially in the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court stipulated that "the affairs of the military and the state must be related, great greed and great evil, and strange and tragic" things can only be hit by the Dengwen drum, in addition, those who beat the drum without authorization will be severely punished. At this point, the Dengwen Drum system, which was convenient for the people to complain about their grievances, existed in name only