Chapter 43 3. Careful operation of three generations

In Zhu Qizhen's fourth year as emperor, a very small case happened. In Fujian, there was a post-cheng who was very vicious because he was a fellow villager of Yang Pu, the elder of the three dynasties.In addition, there is Liao Mo, who is also very vicious, because he is a fellow villager of Yang Shiqi, a veteran of the three dynasties.So the two murderers bumped into each other, one was more fierce than the other, but according to the inspector's affairs, Liao Mo officer was older than Yi Cheng, so he unceremoniously ordered his subordinates to knock down Yi Cheng, and beat him violently with "bang bang bang". Let go again, Ji Yicheng is already a corpse.

Someone was killed, the lawsuit was reported, and the ministers of the DPRK and China were asked to resolve the matter. The old official Yang Pu found out that the person who was beaten to death was his fellow countryman, he was immediately angry, and strongly demanded that the murderer Liao Mo be brought to justice and sentenced to death.However, Yang Shiqi, an old courtier, found out that Liao Mo, who killed the man, was a fellow of his own, so he insisted that Liao Mo should be sentenced to murder on duty, and he could just criticize and educate him.The two white-bearded old men wanted to stand up for their own countrymen, and they were dissatisfied with each other, so they quarreled in the court hall.

The two old men couldn't understand the quarrel, so they asked the officials to reason, but who would dare to provoke the two of them?Immediately, he shook his head repeatedly and said: "The words of the two old leaders are both correct and worthy of our serious study..." Seeing that the officials couldn't make up their minds, the two old men clamored to find the Queen Mother to reason.But the queen mother is just a woman, how can she understand these strange things?I didn't know what to do for a while, so I asked the emperor Wang Zhen. Wang Zhen smiled and said: "Yang Pu and Yang Shiqi, these two old cadres have selfish intentions and want to protect their fellow countrymen. If Yang Pu's sentence is followed, Liao Mo's death sentence must be severe. If you can Yang Shiqi came to judge, saying that Liao Mo only killed people on duty, which is too light. So how should this case be judged? It is very simple. Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang issued a "Law of the Ming Dynasty" long ago. Please pick up the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" and study the teachings of Emperor Taizu seriously with me. Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang taught us that if a lower-level official is too aggressive, annoys a higher-level official, and beats a lower-level official to death, A higher-level official cannot be sentenced to death—although human life is at stake, the face of the leader is more important. But it cannot be regarded as murder on duty, and the higher-level official who killed the murder should be dismissed and investigated, and severely criticized."

After learning the spirit of Zhu Yuanzhang's speech and putting down the books, everyone's eyes brightened immediately, and when they looked at the eunuch Wang Zhen, they couldn't help but be in awe.As expected of an emperor teacher, he has memorized the "Law of the Great Ming Dynasty" thoroughly. Soon after the incident, another vicious criminal case appeared. This time, it was also a gangster who killed people, but this gangster has a strong background, and ordinary people can't afford to provoke him.The murderer was Yang Ji, the precious son of Yang Shiqi, the elder of the Three Dynasties.But he said that Yang Ji was born in a family of officials, and his father was an old courtier who had been relied on by the emperor for three consecutive times, so Yang Ji thought, my old man is so capable, why can't I kill a few men and rob a few men? A woman, ah, why can't I?

According to historical records, relying on his father's power, Yang Ji ran rampant in the village, killing innocent people in vain, and the trouble became more and more shameful.This matter was found out by the censor, and he immediately wrote a memorial and reported it, but the officials of the Ministry of punishment did not dare to provoke Yang Shiqi.Although Yang Ji was captured temporarily, he enjoyed tea and food, wine and meat, and made offerings to him every day, so he dared not really punish him.Seeing this situation, the censors were outraged and continued to impeach Yang Shiqi.

In Yang Shiqi's heart, it was extremely complicated and difficult to describe.He has been upright all his life, and he is absolutely unwilling to follow the law for selfishness, but Yang Ji is his own son.No matter how bad a child is, he is also an angel in the hearts of his parents. Although Yang Ji is full of evil, Yang Shiqi loves him more and more.But the current situation is that if you just tell the Ministry of Criminal Justice to release your son, don't say that your reputation will be destroyed once, and it will be more likely to trigger attacks from political opponents.But if you let yourself say it and kill your son, how can a parent do this?

When he was in trouble, Yang Shiqi turned over at night and found a sentence from Confucius, "The son said: the father hides for the son, and the son hides for the father. It's right in the song."That is to say, the law is a mallet?A father should protect his son, and a son should also protect his father.You can see that such a method is wrong, but only in this way can the family relationship in society be maintained, and human society can become harmonious... This is roughly what it means. So Yang Shiqi lost it and immediately wrote a letter of resignation. Never mind, I will leave my son in prison for you, let him kill you if you like, do whatever you want, I don't care.Yang Shiqi said in his heart.

Yang Shiqi retired, Yang Rong died of illness, and Yang Pu was full of selfishness. After that, the power of the government was finally transferred to Wang Zhen's hands logically. The transfer of state power to the eunuchs was carefully designed by Chengzu Zhu Di, promoted by Renzong Zhu Gaochi, and then coordinated by Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji. It took three generations to complete.The purpose is to minimize the influence of scholar-bureaucrats on the government—compared with eunuchs, scholar-bureaucrats are more selfish. Although the scholar-officials are all sanctimonious and high-sounding, in the end, every idea they make is for their own wives and children.On the contrary, eunuchs even cut off their eggs, and their greatest selfishness is just to get more money, which is definitely more reliable than scholar-bureaucrats-on this issue, the successive emperors of the Ming Empire have a clear consensus.