There is no doubt that Zichan's casting of punishment books was of positive and progressive significance. His actions set a precedent for subsequent vassal states to promulgate written laws.
However, in the years since Zichan cast the punishment book, although the legal provisions can be clearly announced to the outside world, it still faces four severe challenges, and the entire society has not become a society ruled by law.
These four challenges are actually very representative.
First, under the imperial power system, the emperor is the greatest in the world. He is above the law and is not subject to control. The existence of such a guy who is above everyone else in this world means that dynastic law is an empty frame and does not have real law in essence. the value of.
Second, the imperial bureaucracy relies on the power of the emperor to survive and is responsible to the emperor but not to the people. Therefore, it essentially despises the law. The ruling class uses the law to oppress and suppress the people. The law becomes a tool of torture to oppress the people instead of a norm to regulate people's behavior. .
Third, the people are generally illiterate and have no way to learn. They cannot understand the legal provisions in front of them and are unable to use the law to protect their own interests. As a result, it has developed into a family of legal inheritance, and intellectuals have passed down legal inheritance. , served as court judges for generations, such as the famous Guo Jia, who was born in the Yingchuan Guo family.
Fourth, legal provisions are limited by the times and people's cognition, and many loopholes will inevitably appear. Even if a society governed by the rule of law develops, there will still be litigants who specialize in seizing loopholes in the law and obtaining benefits from them. , wantonly trampling on the dignity and significance of the law.
Su Yonglin believes that the civil chaos under the dynasty was mainly caused by these four problems. Some civil chaos and corruption cases in the early days of the Ming Dynasty also originated from this.
From the bottom of their hearts, everyone thinks that the law is just a piece of waste paper, with official words and two mouths. When the upper and lower lips touch each other, what is said is what it is. What's wrong with confusing right and wrong?
How can you, a mere ordinary citizen, turn the world upside down?
It is precisely because of this general distrust and disapproval of the law that social operating costs and social internal friction remain high. Matters that can obviously be solved by the law have become a battlefield between the pros and cons.
The government benefited greatly from it, and it was easy to get everything done.
This situation is sinful, abnormal and unacceptable.
So Su Yonglin decided to operate on himself, resolutely took away his identity as emperor, deposed the supreme and transcendent emperor, and then placed himself under the control of the law.
He publicly made it clear that he could not violate the laws he took the lead in enacting. The law could punish him if he really violated the law.
Therefore, due to Su Yonglin's efforts, the first challenge at least no longer exists in the current Ming Dynasty.
Su Yonglin surrendered his status to destroy his godhead, raised the law to the supreme position, and placed himself under the law. In theory, there was no one above the law in the entire Ming Dynasty.
The second one is what Su Yonglin has been working hard on. He launched three major purges in the past, and there was also an aspect of upholding the dignity of the law.
However, the Ming Law at that time was self-contradictory. His actions could not bring about substantial changes, nor could they really have an effect on himself. They were limited improvements, not reforms.
But now, it's different.
The source of power for court officials is no longer the emperor, but the People's Congress stipulated in the constitution. The power of the People's Congress comes from all the people.
According to legal logic, people including Su Yonglin are responsible to the People's Congress, which represents the will of all the people as stipulated in the constitution, rather than to the emperor.
Their power is no longer transcendent and has no sacred and inviolable attributes. On the contrary, it must be exercised within a prescribed framework.
The underlying logic of power operation in the Ming Democratic Republic began to undergo substantial changes from this moment on.
Su Yonglin put shackles on everyone, including himself, and everyone had shackles on them, so that those who hold power no longer have a status above the law.
Su Yonglin himself believes that this is the second leap forward in the history of Chinese legal system since Zichan cast the punishment book.
With his efforts, he completed the first and second challenges and found a solution.
The third and fourth challenges were not something he could handle alone.
He needs officials and the people to work together to learn and master the legal provisions, respect the legal provisions, and the whole society to form a custom and habit of doing things within the framework of the legal provisions.
And with the continuous progress of society, we are actively working to revise legal provisions to make them more realistic, more practical, and able to take care of the interests of the vast majority of people.
“Everyone, no matter who they are, including me, acts within the framework of the law. This is an important prerequisite for maintaining social fairness and justice. In order to achieve this prerequisite, it is even more important for all people to learn and understand the law. There are preconditions.
At the same time, in line with the development of the times and the birth of new things, the law must also keep pace with the times. It cannot be rigidly attached to the moment or indulge in authority. The people's congress held every five years needs to be based on the latest situation. Adjustments will be made to many laws to ensure they keep pace with the times. "
Su Yonglin made an important declaration to this end and decided to promote cooperation between the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education to launch extensive law promotion classes across the country.
While eliminating illiteracy, we should promote people's understanding of the law, let the people know the existence of the law, and let the people learn to use the law to protect themselves and act within the framework of the law.
The same applies to the government and the people. The whole society must form such a habit and form a new social rule, abandoning the original social survival law that is infinitely close to the law of the jungle.
This is a very important task set by Su Yonglin for the Ming Dynasty's tutelage period.
For the people, this is definitely more good than bad.
If everyone, including the officials, behaves themselves, the weaker parties will naturally gain more benefits and protect their own interests, and the difficulty of survival will be drastically reduced.
For the imperial court, this was not so in line with their wishes.
Their style of conduct will no longer depend on their power, but on the provisions of the law.
They can only do things prescribed by the law. Only when someone violates the law and fails to abide by the rules can they use violence to maintain the dignity of the law.
What they need to maintain will no longer be their own majesty and inviolable status, but the majesty and inviolable status of the law. What everyone respects is no longer them, but the law.
For the powerful party, the restrictions imposed by the law are far greater than the convenience. They are called law enforcers and may become law enforcers at any time.
They cannot interpret the law at will, but must be the mouth of the law according to the spirit of the law, rather than manipulating the law.
So some officials privately had opinions on this, feeling that Su Yonglin was going all the way to the dark side. He himself admitted that the quality of the people was not enough, and would rather forcefully promote this policy during a period of political discipline, ignoring the need to spend money on it. huge cost.
Is this really a good thing?
But it seems that Su Yonglin has made up his mind to implement his ideals. Some people don't understand, some are worried, and some whisper to each other.
But it didn't matter. Su Yonglin announced the victory closing celebration of the People's Congress without any worries.
A running banquet was held in the conference hall, and all representatives of the people and representatives of the central government were invited to have a feast together.
At the dinner party, some people laughed heartily, while others pretended to be happy.
The smile on his face seemed a bit forced.
