Preface:
History is a lesson that illuminates the way forward for today's people. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin took the initiative to release death row prisoners and return home, this allusion is full of wisdom and worthy of self-examination by future generations. This article intends to reflect the contradiction between benevolence and autocracy by describing Li Shimin's release of death row prisoners, so that readers can gain inspiration from it and not waste the joy of reading history in this life.
Li Shimin, who insists on going his own way
632 years ago, Li Shimin ascended the throne after the Xuanwu Gate Revolution, but his legitimacy was questioned because he obtained the throne by murdering his brother Li Jiancheng and forcing his father Li Yuanchan to surrender. In order to stabilize his rule and gain the support of the people, Li Shimin tried to carry out various measures to curry favor with the people.
Before the Spring Festival in 632, Li Shimin came to visit death row prisoners in Jingcheng Prison, and after seeing a room full of dying death row prisoners, he felt pity. He decided to take advantage of the eve of the Spring Festival to release these death row prisoners back home for reunion. Li Shimin has always attached importance to holidays, he believes that the Spring Festival is the beginning of the year, the reunion of the people is a natural thing, and ghosts should also have the opportunity to go home for the New Year.
Without consulting any ministers, they ordered the release of 390 death row inmates and agreed with them to return to prison after the next year.
This move made the civil and military officials of the DPRK fall through their glasses. Ministers frequently came to advise them, expressing concern that these death row prisoners would be cunning and unpredictable, and they might not abide by the agreement. "These death row prisoners are all criminals inferior to animals and animals, they are simply the reincarnation of evil spirits, and letting them go home will only bring harm to their families and society." An old minister couldn't help but say indignantly. However, Li Shimin turned a deaf ear and insisted on his opinion.
"Your Majesty's move is really too risky, what if these death row prisoners take the opportunity to escape?" An old minister couldn't help but say worriedly.
"What if I escape? There are only a few hundred people, how can the world be chaotic because of this?" Li Shimin disagreed. He believes that his country is strong and will not be shaken by the escape of hundreds of people.
"This will make the people of the world misunderstand His Majesty's indecision and be unable to decisively enforce the law." Another courtier also admonished.
"Nonsense! In doing so, he wanted to give the people of the world an impression of kindness and benevolence, so that they could be impressed and sing praises of merit. As long as he gained the support of the people, his throne was firmly secured.
You old immortals really don't know how to act!" Li Shimin directly refuted the hundred officials. He thought that he was obviously not an indecisive person, otherwise he would not have won the imperial throne in the Xuanwu Gate Change. His move was entirely out of a plan to secure his rule, and the ministers inexplicably misunderstood him.
As a result, all 390 death row inmates were given the opportunity to return home. When they were tried, they were all yellow-skinned and white-haired, but at this time, they were happy and kept praying to God's grace. Li Shimin watched them leave with a smile, secretly glad that his plan had gradually taken shape.
Li Shimin, who is preoccupied
The main purpose of Li Shimin's move was to gain the hearts and minds of the people in order to consolidate the imperial throne he had just obtained. He reigned for only 6 years, and the legitimacy of the throne was questioned. If it cannot win the hearts and minds of the military and the people as soon as possible, I am afraid that the Li dynasty will not be able to last long.
Li Shimin knows very well that in order to win the support of the people, we must proceed from their standpoint and be considerate of the people's feelings. Seeing that the death row inmates were about to be separated from their families forever, he decided to take advantage of the Spring Festival to bring the death row prisoners home to reunite. This benevolence not only made the death row prisoners grateful to him, but also impressed him by the general public, praising him as a tolerant and benevolent king.
Li Shimin sent his henchmen to the people to inquire about word of mouth, and the result made him very satisfied. Not only the families of death row inmates praised him, but even ordinary people who were not directly related to death row prisoners praised the matter. Some people even sighed at the wine table: "Your Majesty can put back so many death row prisoners, what a good emperor with feelings and righteousness."
"We have suffered too much over the years, and we can't imagine that we are so generous today, and slightly compensate us for the suffering people." Another citizen followed suit and sighed.
Li Shimin saw that the people were full of praise for him, and he was very satisfied in his heart. He thought to himself that he had established an emotional bond with the common people, and the throne seemed to be much more stable. Just as he was complacent, several advisers reminded him that death row inmates might not keep their promises to return to Beijing to be tortured, which could become a hidden danger.
Li Shimin was not impressed: "Even if they don't come back, what can they do?" Xu didn't say that he would let them go forever, and when the time came, he would send someone to arrest them back. He believed that with the strength of his heavy soldiers, it would be easy to capture these people.
In order to prevent trouble, Li Shimin also specially arranged for henchmen and officials in various places to closely monitor these death row prisoners, and once someone did not return, they would be arrested immediately. He believed that with his own power, it would not be a problem to capture these people. Li Shimin only wanted death row prisoners to return home during the Spring Festival, temporarily creating a happy and peaceful scene and gaining more people's favor. As for what will happen after that, he has his own plans and will never let the death row prisoners really escape.
Death row inmates who keep their promises
To everyone's surprise, none of the 390 death row prisoners took the opportunity to escape, and all kept their promises and returned to the capital on time.
Death row inmate Zhang is a death row inmate who has committed multiple thefts. He originally wanted to take the opportunity to flee, but seeing that the villagers were full of praise for Li Shimin, saying that the emperor was a benevolent prince Ming Jun Yunyun, he was also moved and decided to return to Beijing to be tortured. "The emperor gave us a second life, and we should repay the emperor's kindness. I will never live up to the emperor's expectations, and I will definitely go back and kill this life with my own hands!" Zhang said to his family.
Another death row prisoner, Li, knelt on the way back to Beijing and swore to heaven: "The emperor is magnanimous and gives us the opportunity to go home." I, Li, have no regrets in this life, and I will definitely return to the capital with this life to serve the emperor!" Li was determined and vowed to donate his life to repay the emperor's grace.
In addition, many death row inmates expressed the same views to their relatives and friends, vowing to return to Beijing to thank them. For a time, these 390 people were all fierce and vowed to return to Beijing to be tortured. Seeing this, the villagers were also amazed: "I can't imagine that these death row prisoners are so strong, it's really awe-inspiring." The emperor really had a good intention to let them back!"
As soon as the Yuan Festival arrived, 390 death row inmates returned to the capital on time, quite one. Li Shimin was overjoyed when he saw this, and directly pardoned them all for capital crimes, which made him more famous among the people. This proved that his benevolent policy worked, and the death row prisoners were reformed in their hearts and kept their promises to return to Beijing to be tortured. Li Shimin's reputation thus reached unprecedented heights.
This matter was compiled into the "Zizhi Tongjian", called "Emperor Taizong of Tang's connivance". It became a good story of Li Shimin's benevolent government. Although Ouyang Xiu and others were critical of this, in the public opinion atmosphere at that time, Li Shimin's strategy of small and broad was still successful.
Through this incident, Li Shimin greatly gained popular support and made his throne more stable. He also established his image as a Ming monarch among the people. Li Shimin's popular support through short-term strategies, which remained important to the Li dynasty until his death.
epilogue
Li Shimin's move to release death row prisoners is worth reflecting on from both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, this shows his indecisive and lawless side. But on the other hand, this is also a manifestation of a Ming Jun giving in for the people's hearts. In that era of feudal autocracy, the power of the monarch was higher than the law, and Li Shimin's practice was also in line with the background of the times.
Today, we need to establish the rule of law and not tolerate the arbitrary power of the monarch. But as a leader, you also need to always care about the people's suffering and maintain emotional ties with the people. Only by mastering the balance of authority and emotion can you become a famous prince loved by the people.
Looking back at history, we can neither simply deny nor blindly praise. And to integrate the past and the present, absorb wisdom, and be good at weighing the pros and cons, this is the highest state of reading history. It is hoped that future generations can absorb the essence of history, not be mistaken by the ancients, calmly cope with the present, and achieve a more just and equal new era!