Xu Cifu suddenly jumped out and reminded everyone to discuss the matter, but with just this action, the people present immediately began to speculate on his intentions.
It would be better to say that successful politicians seem to have studied criminal psychology, because in the eyes of politicians, no matter what another political figure does or says, the first thing they need to think about is the other party's motives.
Xu Guo's motives are not difficult to guess. Although the alliance between him and Shen Li can be regarded as a force within the Real School, after all, it only relies on their two signature figures, and they have too few capable generals. Unless both of them are in high positions, they would definitely not be able to compete with Yu Yin, the three-time first assistant under Gao Pragmatic.
What's more, in addition to Yu Yin, the third assistant, Gao Pingshi has already shown his versatility in both civil and military affairs, and his reputation among the nine generals is unparalleled in the world. Unless the court is so comfortable that there are no dangers, his status in the emperor's mind will never be shaken.
Under such circumstances, Xu Cifu, as another faction within the pragmatic school, could not hope to defeat Gao pragmatism, but could only hope to prevent Gao pragmatism's power status from continuing to expand. Therefore, when he jumped out and said this, he must not want to see the power of Meng Yuan Jinglue being too expanded.
Wu Dui spoke immediately, coughed slightly, and said slowly and calmly: "What Ci Fu said is absolutely true. It is the right thing to discuss the matter based on the facts. But in my opinion, the current problem does not lie within the power boundaries of the Meng Yuan Dynasty's office. It’s about whether there should be limits on Shang Fangjian’s power… If you think there should be limits, why?”
Xu Guo frowned a little when he heard this, and he was a little suspicious of Wu Dui's intentions: Could it be that you want to say that the imperial power is unlimited?
But after thinking about it carefully, I feel that Wu Dui would not ignore "principles" like this - you are also a civil official, don't you know whether or not the imperial power should be restricted? Isn’t the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty what our civil servants have been trying to restrict for the past two hundred years? It's just that this cannot be said clearly. After all, the emperor himself is the embodiment of "heaven" and is inviolable and supreme in principle.
But even so, it is debatable whether the Shang Fang Sword, which represents the emperor, also means that he enjoys full imperial power. After all, it is just a sword given by the emperor. Not only does its effectiveness have a limited time limit, but the coverage of the exercise of power also has a prescribed scope. So The imperial power it represents is naturally incomplete.
Everyone present is a well-educated person, and they all know the origin of "Shang Fang". The so-called "Shang Fang" used to be a department under the jurisdiction of the "Shaofu", an official office in the palace that was in charge of the clothing, food, housing, transportation and utensils of the emperor and the royal nobles. The official in charge was called "Shang Fang Ling" (not Shangshu Ling), who specialized in In charge of the emperor's swords and other utensils.
This institution began in the Warring States Period and continued after the Qin and Han Dynasties. There is a record in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" that "Shang Fangling has one person and six hundred stones". It can be seen that the so-called Shangfang Sword and Shangfang Baojian are high-quality swords forged from the imperial palace. This kind of sword is usually hidden in Shangfang. It is made of selected materials and exquisite workmanship. It is painted with dragon and phoenix patterns. It is extremely sharp. Once the sword is taken out of the sheath, it can kill a mule or horse instantly. Therefore, it was called "Shangfang Horse-killing Sword" in the Han Dynasty.
According to the "Book of Han·Zhu Yun Biography", Zhu Yun once wrote to the emperor: "I would like to give Shang Fang a horse-killing sword to kill the sycophant alone and punish the rest." This historical material talks about the corruption and perversion of the law by Zhang Yu, the teacher, prime minister and Marquis of Anchang of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty. , occupying fertile land and oppressing the people, Zhu Yun asked the emperor to give Shang Fang the horse-killing sword to kill Zhang Yu in order to serve as a warning to others.
However, this failed. Emperor Cheng thought that he was a criminal, and in a rage ordered his guards to drag Zhu Yun out and behead him. Zhu Yun clung to the palace railing, but the guard used too much force and actually tore him and the railing apart. Fortunately, there was an upright official nearby who spoke favorably for Zhu Yun, and he was saved from death. And "Zhu Yun folds the fence" has become an idiom allusion to loyal ministers who dare to remonstrate.
It can be seen that Shang Fangjian would not be easily used during the Han Dynasty. "Book of the Later Han: Biography of Cai Lun" also records that Cai Lun, a regular servant in the emperor's order (the one who improved papermaking) was promoted to Shang Fang Ling and supervised the production of Shang Fang Sword. Cai Lun later said, "Imperial weapons are not allowed for private use by ministers and common people."
As for the power represented by Shang Fangjian, until the Tang Dynasty, most of the officials who were awarded Shang Fangjian by the emperor could not make independent decisions to kill without asking the emperor for instructions.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin wore a yellow robe and seized the power of the Later Zhou Dynasty. He began to implement Shang Fangjian's privileges, giving a few senior generals the power to "kill exclusively if I am here in person". According to the Song Dynasty's "Wu Jing Bei Yao": "The system of this dynasty is that every time a general goes out to attack, he is given a sword to follow him. Anyone who violates the order is killed by him."
Not only in the Song Dynasty, but also in the Liao and Jin dynasties, there were examples of the use of swords to kill. However, most of them were in the military and political fields. They were mainly used to solve the problem that when generals went out to fight, they were far away from the capital and the court. The actual problem of fighter aircraft is also the origin of "the general will be outside, and the emperor's orders will not be accepted".
However, before the Song and Yuan Dynasties, emperors adhered to the principle of caution and military use of Shang Fang's sword, and the military commanders' exclusive killing power was also subject to certain restrictions. For example, "History of the Song Dynasty: Biography of Chen Zhizhong" says that when Zhao Kuangyin gave General Cao Bin Shang Fangjian, he ordered: "Anyone below the rank of deputy general who disobeys orders can be killed."
In later TV dramas, the first person to be famous was probably Qingtian Grand Master Bao Zheng. However, in fact, the Song Dynasty did not use the "Shang Fang Sword" in the judicial field, or it was dedicated to punishing privileges.
Bao Zheng, the governor of Kaifeng, used dragon-headed guillotine, tiger-headed guillotine, and dog-headed guillotine to deal with criminals, corrupt officials, and local bullies respectively. In the TV series, it is also said that Kaifeng Prefecture Yin Bao Gong had a Shangfang sword that could "cut down the faint king at the top and the sycophant ministers at the bottom". This is obviously the result of excessive artistic processing.
The root cause is probably due to the fact that there was a Shangfang sword in history, coupled with the people's incomparable respect for upright officials and the expectation that Bao Qingtian would punish evil and promote good. In fact, the use of Shangfang sword was not common in the Song Dynasty.
There were also Shangfang swords in the Yuan Dynasty, but they were mostly used as symbols of imperial power and rewards, and there were grand sword-giving ceremonies. For example, when Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, was on the throne, Taoist Zhang Liusun cured the queen's illness with miraculous medical skills. The emperor was overjoyed and respected him as a heavenly master. Zhang Liusun Gu did not dare to take the post, so he was named Shangqing. He ordered Shangfang to forge a sword as a gift, build Chongzhen Palace in Xijing, and take charge of ancestral affairs. It can be seen that this fashionable square sword has not been widely used in national government affairs and military expeditions.
In the seventh year of the Yuan Dynasty (1270), armed rebellions against the Mongols broke out in Sichuan and Shaanxi. Zhongshu and the provincial ministers were extremely worried and said, "Please kill the special ones to stop the theft, and the court will follow suit." In other words, Zhongshu said The prime minister, a high-ranking official, suggested granting the expedition general Shang Fang Baojian the power of "exclusive killing" to suppress the bandits, and the court was ready to adopt it.
However, at this time Shi Gaoming, a Hanlin scholar and imperial censor, raised objections. He believes that the Yuan Dynasty ordered the world to report the death row prisoners, and they must be approved before they can be executed. This is a prudent use of punishment and care for people's livelihood. Now, if we listen to Zhongshu Sheng's request, "it will open up the world to kill without mercy, which will do great harm to benevolent government." Kublai Khan adopted Gao Ming's advice not to kill indiscriminately to suppress the people, and did not grant "exclusive killing" privileges to the conquering generals.
The Shangfang Swords of the previous dynasties were all more symbolic than practical, so what about the Ming Dynasty? Looking back, the elders of the pavilion discovered that Shang Fangjian really began to "show his power" in the Ming Dynasty.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the main symbol of power for generals to go to war was the imperial flag given by the emperor. However, the imperial flag could only act expediently and did not have the right to kill exclusively.
This is actually quite normal. After all, China has had a basic idea throughout the ages called "human life matters." You have to ask where this kind of thinking is manifested? In the Ming Dynasty, if a criminal was to be executed, the emperor's imperial pen and Zhu's approval were generally required - giving Shang Fangjian gave officials the power to directly kill people, which was of course a very large authority.
However, there is a problem here. Although it was not as rare as the previous dynasties to give Shang Fang Sword to Shang Fang in the Ming Dynasty, it was from the Wanli Dynasty that Shang Fang Sword began to be frequently given and given the right to kill. Looking more carefully, it can be said that it started from the "Three Major Marches of Wanli".
For example, the most clearly recorded gift of Shang Fangjian in history was the gift of Shangfangjian to Wei Xuezeng during the Bubai Rebellion. The original text of "Records of Shenzong" is as follows: "...and gave Wei Xue Zeng Shangfang Jian to kill those who refused to kill him in battle as a method of suppressing the army. The superiors blamed Xue Zeng who had not defeated the thieves for several months, causing the captives to help the rebels, and the orders were not suppressed. While the generals are playing around, they have the desire to achieve success but not to wait and see. Use the troops according to the method, and I will renew it. I will give you a sword like Zeng's. If the general does not kill him, he will be beheaded in front of the army."
I have said many times before that one of the characteristics of Emperor Wanli is that once he decides to employ people, he will never be ambiguous in giving power, and he will not be shaken by early defeats. Unless this person holds great power and fails to do things for a long time, that will arouse the emperor's anger, and then he should be killed.
In the past, Gao Pragmatic was awarded the Shang Fang Sword when he went on expeditions, but his authority was also limited to military generals, so the civil servants in the DPRK did not express any dissatisfaction, just like Wei Xuezeng who was born in 1960.
Later, the number of Shang Fang Swords began to increase. Almost all the civilian commanders during the three major campaigns were given Shang Fang Sword. For example, Li Hualong, the governor during the reign of Yang Yinglong, and Xing Jie, the North Korean manager, were among them. Of course, the most famous minister who was awarded Shang Fangjian in the last years of Wanli was probably Yang Hao. Since this matter is so famous, there is no need to go into details.
However, the Wanli Dynasty's gift of Shang Fang Jian was indeed a big deal. To fight a big battle, many troops need to be mobilized under one man's command, so it is easy to understand why Shang Fang Jian was given to him. However, things started to go wrong towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, especially when Emperor Chongzhen, the Holy Emperor, gave swords as if they were gifts of cabbage. This eventually led to a matter that has been debated until later generations, that is, Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong.
In fact, Yuan Chonghuan's killing of Mao Wenlong is essentially a matter of defining "Shang Fangjian's authority." In other words, whether the Shang Fang sword in Yuan Chonghuan's hand can kill Mao Wenlong - the question is not whether the killing is right, but whether it can.
Precisely because the privileges of Shang Fang Sword are not clearly defined, in fact, the power of each Shang Fang Sword granted may not be the same, depending on what the emperor's imperial decree says.
Before Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, we could see that the recorded privileges of Shang Fangjian were roughly the same. Yang Hao's Shang Fang Sword was given to Yang Hao at the end of Wanli. At first, someone applied for a sword for Yang Hao. At that time, the official record was that "those below the rank of general soldier who are not serving can be engaged in military law." However, although the emperor approved this application, he later gave Shang Fang the sword. The authorization description at that time was changed to "Anyone below the general who does not want to be killed will be killed first and then reported."
Although the premise is always "those with or without life", the scope has been changed from "below the commander-in-chief" to "below the general", and the rights have been changed from "engage in military law" to "behead first and report later". Yang Hao's Sword of Shangfang, when granting the right to "cut first and then report" and pointing out the premise of "those who do not need to die", also used a long paragraph to explain what "does not need to be done" means from the background of the time and the back-and-forth statements of the monarch and his ministers. "Those who are destined to die" - in fact, the main targets are those who are greedy for life and afraid of death and those who are deserters.
In the early years of the Apocalypse, Xiong Tingbi's Shangfang Sword was officially recorded as "...Jiachen's Edict: The cabinet minister asked Xiong Tingbi, the Minister of Economic Affairs, to be ordered to carry out a special expedition. It is appropriate to emphasize the power of affairs and the number of etiquette. In addition to the special edict, there is also an imperial edict, Shangfang. With a sword, if the soldiers do not die, the deputy commander will kill him first and then kill him."
However, the emperor's authorization statement when granting Shang Fang the sword after the application was approved was changed to "Xiong Tingbi still gives the sword, and those below the general who do not want to die will be killed first and then reported." Although the premise of "those who do not need to be appointed" has not changed, the scope of authorization has been changed from "deputy commander-in-chief and down" at the time of application to "general and below".
Yuan Yingtai's one has an additional premise that can be killed first and played later. Because he first expressed his bitterness to the emperor, saying that it was difficult to lead the team when people's hearts were scattered. So the emperor comforted him with an edict and gave Shang Fang a sword, saying: "Anyone below the general who violates temperance and does not need to die will be killed first." It still included the premise of "not wanting to die", but added an additional "violation of temperance".
So here comes the first question, what is the scope of "below general"? In fact, it’s just below the rank of commander-in-chief—you’ve never seen a general called a commander, right?
Mao Wenlong is of course the commander-in-chief, and not just the commander-in-chief. The title of Commander-in-Chief is just a official position, and more importantly, Mao Wenlong's economic control officer has already reached the end - he is the Left Governor, a top military general. In addition, what is even more paradoxical is that Mao Wenlong himself also has a Shangfang sword!
Shang Fangjian versus Shang Fangjian, isn't that the same thing? However, it was not true. Civil servant Yuan Chonghuan invited Shang Fangjian to kill their commander with a calm expression in front of a large number of arrogant soldiers under Mao Wenlong.
No one in the audience dared to jump out and object, not even Mao Wenlong himself. He just let Yuan Chonghuan be killed!
Feeling a little chilly down your spine? However, this is the civil official, the civil official before the laws are abolished.
The princes of the court would not have any objections to the killing of military generals by civilian officials like killing pigs and dogs. However, inexplicably, after Yuan Chonghuan reported the matter to the court and expressed guilt, Chongzhen actually expressed approval of such behavior: "... If you are able to think carefully about sudden plans and punish the crime, it is related to the safety of the border area. If you are outside the control, there is no need to incite a crime. All handling matters should be carried out in accordance with the imperial edict and still listen to the camera."
Whether the killing was right or not, future generations have their own opinions, but Emperor Chongzhen believed that Yuan Chonghuan had the right to kill, which can be regarded as the official conclusion. As for whether the characterization is accurate and what serious consequences it has caused, that is actually beside the point. Anyway, when Yang Sichang went to suppress the thieves later, he simply made his own rules, saying that he would not kill the general "without his life", but only took the commander's seal and replaced him with a general - which shows how big a trap Yuan Chonghuan set in killing Mao Wenlong. The impact was so severe that another top civil servant wanted to limit his own power.
The veterans of the cabinet are well versed in history and familiar with various systems. They can find reasons from the standpoint they need.
Xu Cifu said: "There was no such abuse of power in the previous dynasties. Why is it unique in our dynasty?"
Mr. Wu Ge said: "The plan for the Meng Yuan Dynasty was the hope of our second ancestors, and the world would be rejuvenated in one fell swoop. May I ask if there are any stories from the previous dynasty to imitate it?"
After the dispute, Shen Shixing finally reconciled the situation and said to Xini as usual: "Everyone has his own reasons, why not agree on one or two? I want those who are not in charge of supervising and supervising to be relieved of their military duties and replaced by Jian Yi Superintendent; deputy envoys are not needed." I ordered you to pick off the black gauze immediately and replace it with one of the officials. The rest will be engaged with Shang Fang Jian, how about that?"
----------
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Shen Domination 2" and "Cao Mianzi" for their monthly support, thank you!
