It was the tenth day of August in the twenty-second year of Qianlong's reign.
After Zhang Ruizai and a group of court ministers paid homage to the Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty, he executed the descendants of those prisoners who were included in the first series of "Er Chen Biography"① by Qianlong to offer sacrifices to heaven. Among them, those who were high-ranking officials in the Manchu Qing court, such as Li Shiyao, the grandson of Li Yongfang IV, were the most miserable.
Others were killed with one knife, but they had to suffer the most severe and cruel punishment of Lingchi.
Lingchi is also known as death by a thousand cuts. In the Ming Dynasty and before the Ming Dynasty, it was used for non-heinous crimes, such as treason, treason, etc. But by the time of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, in order to suppress the people from even a hint of resistance, it became a crime of beating and scolding parents or parents-in-law, a son killing his father, and a wife killing her husband, etc., etc., and they were also punished with long and late punishment.
Later, in order to suppress peasant resistance, those who did not pay taxes on time would be punished with lenght and delay. This was especially prominent in the middle and early Qing Dynasty.
Lingchi's punishment can occupy a place among the top ten tortures of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so it is naturally extremely cruel. Naturally, Zhang Rui, who often received humanitarian education in later generations, was not happy with the existence of such punishments in the country.
Therefore, Zhang Rui intended to promulgate a law after the court was stabilized to abolish cruel criminal laws such as the Ten Major Tortures of the Qing Dynasty, so that from now on all serious death row prisoners in the Yi Dynasty would only be executed by firing squad.
It was also because of this that Zhang Rui was not prepared to use such cruel and torture methods to treat Li Shiyao and the others. But then he thought: If he was caught by them, they would definitely not be as kind as him.
If this is the case, then there is no reason for him to suffer such a loss. Why would I have to be tortured to death if I were caught by them, and if they were caught by me, why couldn't I let them also feel their punishment?
If Zhang Rui had promulgated the abolition of the law, then Li Shiyao and others may not need to die in such pain. After all, Zhang Rui is really difficult to change the order overnight. But Zhang Rui hasn't announced it yet, so they can only die with deep regret.
Some people may think that the punishment of Ling Chi suffered by Li Shiyao and others was too cruel, but how could what his ancestor Li Yongfang did not be cruel?
During the Battle of Hunhe in the Ming Dynasty, the Baigan soldiers who aided Liao) and the Qi army were at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, but they still fought equally with Nurhachi, and even vaguely defeated the so-called "invincible" Eight Banners soldiers. look like.
But at this time, Li Shiyao's ancestor Li Yongfang, in order to make meritorious service in front of Nurhachi, paid a lot of money to buy several captured Ming army artillerymen from Shenyang City, and asked them to fire artillery from Shenyang City to bombard the Sichuan troops who came to rescue them. , every cannon fired will be shattered.
After receiving the news from Li Fang, Nurhachi once again forced the Eight Banners Army to attack their helpless white pole soldiers' positions.
After a fierce battle, the original solid formation of the white pole soldiers was unable to withstand the artillery bombardment in Shenyang City. The white pole soldiers were finally annihilated under the double blow of hunger, fatigue and the artillery. In turn, the Qi family army, which was invincible in the world, disappeared into the long river of history.
Li Yongfang relied on his shameless traitorous behavior such as betraying the Ming court and killing the people, so that he rose up the ranks in the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
As his grandson, Li Shiyao enjoyed the blessings brought by Li Yongfang in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and naturally had to bear his sins.
After beheading the criminal prisoners, Longhu Mountain, Wudang Mountain, Confucius Mansion, etc. also burned documents and prayed to God for the establishment of the new court, and prayed to God to bless the new court with good weather, prosperous national fortunes, and peace and prosperity for the people.
Finally, Zhang Rui officially came to the altar to announce the establishment of the "Yi" Dynasty to the world, and at the same time announced that the reign name was natural selection, indicating the meaning of heaven's choice.
…
The first year of natural selection (the 22nd year of Qianlong), September
Emperor Yi Zhang Rui officially got married and married Zhu Wanying, the daughter of the Zhu family in Hunan, and became his queen.
October
The Yi Dynasty increased the examination of Enke, recruited a large number of talents, and announced that the Enke that had been held every three years in previous dynasties would be changed to an annual one. However, with the exception of all Nke scholars, except those who are ranked number two on the list and top ten on the Jinshi list, who can directly hold positions above the county level, others must start from the vacancies in townships, villages, towns and other positions according to actual vacancies.
According to Zhang Rui, if you cannot manage a township, village, or town well, how can you manage counties, prefectures, provinces, or even the entire country?
In order to appease the current township, village, and town chiefs in Yi Dynasty, Zhang Rui also gave them and their heirs the right of first choice. That is to say, those who are already mayors of townships, villages, and towns can be re-elected until their death according to the laws left over from the Qing Dynasty if they have no serious faults. As for their heirs who want to inherit their father's legacy, they can succeed after obtaining a certain degree of merit. The court will give them priority.
The existence of this article made all the rural mayors below support Zhang Rui's rule.
Although the gold content of Enke in Yi Dynasty has relatively declined, most of the scholars in the world still flock to Yi Dynasty without caring. This is because the real shortage of people in the Manchu Dynasty is too rare, and the official positions in the Yi Dynasty are more substantial and the salaries are more generous.
Moreover, what Emperor Yi Chao Tian chooses said is also reasonable.
"Isn't the golden scale just a thing in the pond? It transforms into a dragon when the storm happens."
The court has given you a chance. How can a talented person be trapped by the scene in front of him? If you are not a talented person, you cannot blame the court for not using him in a more important way. After all, the imperial court conducts assessments every three years, and promotion is easy.
The first year of natural selection, November
The Yi Dynasty formally reformed, promulgated its own laws, and clearly divided the responsibilities of county officials, that is, public security was under the jurisdiction of the newly established police station; case settlement was under the jurisdiction of the courts; taxation was under the jurisdiction of the tax bureau... and so on.
At the same time, under the strong promotion of Yihuang Zhang Rui, the imperial court Daxing Supervision Office required that all stations must be implemented in all towns and villages to ensure supervision by imperial decrees and local officials. It also abolished the law that officials were not allowed to bring their family members to office.
At the same time, in order to better manage the officials of the imperial court, Zhang Rui also officially opened "Shadow Guards" in various counties. The "Shadow Guard Office" has a wide range of functions, the most important of which is the emperor's supervision of court officials and the oversight office's dereliction of duty. Therefore, the "Shadow Guard Institute" does not need to go through the court's approval and can go directly to heaven.
Although the "Shadow Guard" established by Emperor Yi Zhang Rui has the meaning of the Jinyi Guards of the Ming Dynasty, compared with the fear of the Jinyi Guards by the people of the Ming Dynasty, the people of the Yi Dynasty were not afraid of the "Shadow Guards", but respected them very much. .
Because the "Shadow Guards" represent the emperor's existence and make decisions for the people.
If people suffer injustice and appeal to officials is useless, and if they complain to the supervisory authorities to no avail, they can go to the "Shadow Guard" to seek justice.
The first year of natural selection, December
The imperial court issued a decree, "If you want to be rich, build roads first." The imperial court will provide money and food, and the highway bureaus in various counties and towns will organize the people to build roads on their own. This allows farmers who had nothing to do in their spare time to receive a wage.
In the same month, the imperial court established a "postal" department.
…
