What we are talking about today, everyone must be very interested, the "gold medal for avoiding death" given by the ancient emperors, can it really avoid death? In many film and television works, there are often some big bad guys, it is bad things to do, when the emperor or the government is ready to put him to death, this big bad guy, ah, took out an iron coupon from his arms, shouted loudly: "I have a gold medal to avoid death, who dares to kill me"? It's a matter of course. As a result, the big bad guys are at large. So, in real history, did the "deathless gold medal" really have such a big role?
In fact, the "death-free gold medal" is just a folk name. In ancient history, the most official name is Danshu Iron Coupon, which was first founded in the Han Dynasty, according to research, it was produced by the honor of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, in order to attract the founding heroes, he wrote his oath and the name and merit of the rewarded person in Dansha on the iron coupon, and hid it in the temple in a gold box to show that he would never fail the meritorious person. However, at this time, the Danshu iron coupon did not have the privilege of avoiding death, but only the certificate of the emperor's oath.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Danshu iron coupon gradually evolved into an iron coupon with the function of avoiding death, and the number of exemptions from capital crimes was less than three times. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen issued Danshu iron coupons to his relatives and close subjects very frequently, and even some ministers had a little merit, so they asked Emperor Xiaowen for Danshu iron coupons. The rulers of the Western Wei Dynasty used the method of secretly giving Danshu iron coupons to win over the generals of the enemy countries.
During the Sui Dynasty, the text on the iron coupon began to be filled in with gold, so it was also called the golden book iron coupon. In the Tang Dynasty, the number of deaths of Danshu iron coupons began to increase, and even the descendants of the recipients could be exempted from death 1 to 3 times. In 896, the Wuyue king Qian Wei rebelled against Dong Chang Yougong, and Tang Zhaozong granted Qian Zhongshu iron coupons, and the iron coupon clearly wrote: "Qing forgives nine deaths, and his descendants die three times", which means that Qian Wei can be exempted from nine capital crimes, and Qian Wei's descendants can also be exempted from three capital crimes.
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang formulated a complete system for the award of Danshu iron coupons, which were divided into seven grades and awarded in turn. Zhu Yuanzhang also added four words to the Danshu iron coupon, cleverly taking the final interpretation of the iron coupon back into the hands of the emperor. These four words are "conspiracy against rebellion", which means that the great sin of rebellion is inevitable death.
Who Zhu Yuanzhang wants to let die, then who is a rebel, it is not easy to have Danshu iron coupons, and old Zhu is a Yan Wangye who has escaped alive. Zhu Yuanzhang once awarded Li Shanchang danshu iron coupons, but in the end, Li Shanchang and his family of more than 70 mouths were cut down by Zhu Yuanzhang. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian awarded an iron coupon to Wei Zhongxian's nephew Wei Liangqing, but Wei Liangqing was killed by the Chongzhen Emperor.
The so-called "death-free gold medal" is only the emperor's promise, oath and reward to his courtiers, and once the courtiers infringe on the interests of the imperial power, this promise and oath will no longer exist.