The dynasty reigns and the twilight offenders, and the twilight rule and the morning is the same; The corpse has not been moved and the people have followed, and the more serious the offender is healed.
Corruption has been a problem since ancient times, born with desire and power, and there is no shortage of great greed that has been left behind for thousands of years. It can be said that although the corrupt officials of the feudal dynasty may not be listed in the annals of history, they have never been absent in folk rumors and barnyard official history.
Say a few well-known ancient names of greed, such as Cai Jing, the prime minister of the Song Dynasty, Yan Song, the chief assistant of the Ming Dynasty, and the powerful minister and Juan of the Qing Dynasty, who are in high positions, love to search for the people's fat and people's anointment, regard the people as fish and meat, regard their subordinates as slaves, and corrupt from top to bottom, contributing a lot of strength to the top-down collapse of the dynasty.
The emperor called himself the Son of Heaven in ancient times, and came into being on behalf of the heavenly herdsmen, and there were many people who worked hard to create a prosperous era and inherit it for all generations. They also abhor corruption, and the means and methods of punishing it vary. Some are severe punishments, some are high-paid and honest, and some are inspections to deter. Emperor Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang is a typical example of advocating and implementing heavy punishment and anti-corruption.
Zhu Yuanzhang, formerly known as Zhu Chongba, was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, reigned for 30 years, and was nicknamed "Hongwu". As a child, his family was poor and he made a living herding cattle for landowners.
Accustomed to the darkness of the official palace and the people's poor livelihood, even he himself could not survive and was forced to revolt, so after sitting in the world, he learned the lessons of the corruption of officials in the Yuan Dynasty to the point of destroying the country, strictly rectified the rule of officials, and had zero tolerance for corrupt behavior!
Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the reason for the fall of the Yuan Dynasty was largely due to the corruption of discipline and the arrogance of officials, so he felt that only by "using heavy codes to rule the chaotic world" could the country be forever consolidated and the country and the people were safe. In addition, during his reign, the Great Ming Law was revised and completed. It's just that what is more paradoxical is that he attaches importance to the law and constantly learns and revises. On the other hand, it vigorously practices extrajudicial law, that is, many tortures that are not contained in the Great Ming Law.
When it comes to Ming Dynasty torture, the punishment of peeling the last grass is well known. Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the world had originally decided that there were many unruly ministers and thieves, and as the founding king of the country, he should use harsh punishment and cruel laws to warn the world, deter corrupt officials and local tyrants, and lay a good foundation for future generations to rule.
Among them, the punishment of corrupt officials is the most severe. It is alleged that officials who embezzled more than 60 taels of silver were killed. As for corruption cases, no matter who is involved, they will never show grace outside the law and will definitely investigate them to the end. This is easy to understand, the Ming Dynasty is a family world, officials are corrupt, and they take the money of his old Zhu family, and severe punishment is in his own interests.
Although the use of torture such as "peeling the skin and picking grass", picking tendons, breaking fingers, breaking hands, and cutting knees has deterred a group of officials, making them more restrained and afraid to engage in corruption, the final effect is not satisfactory. During his 31 years in power, he repeatedly carried out large-scale anti-corruption actions, killing 150,000 people, including many skinners, but the phenomenon of corrupt officials has never been eradicated, and his desire to kill corrupt officials has never been realized.
Helplessly let out a lament in his old age:
"The rule of the dynasty and the twilight, the rule of the twilight and the morning are the same; The corpse has not been moved and the people have followed, and the more serious the offender is healed. ”
Author's opinion:
Severe punishment and strict laws can be used as one of the means to punish corrupt behavior, but relying only on killing to punish evil and kill to stop corruption is tantamount to wishful thinking. In some anti-corruption reports, it is also common for netizens to leave messages saying that the punishment is too low, and if a few more death sentences are imposed to effectively fight corruption and eliminate corruption. But seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's sigh after rolling 150,000 heads, do you still think so?
Corruption stems from inner desires, as well as abuses of power. Desire is the ladder of progress, the driving force of development, and this cannot be contained. But power can!
We often say that to put power in the cage of the system is to avoid abuse of power and loss of control. Man should be the master of desire, the wielder of power rather than the tool. When power is restrained, not in a word, but through collective decision-making and public supervision, the possibility of losing control will naturally be much reduced.