"Empty Seal Case?"
Zhu Rong was stunned. He did not expect Zhu Yuanzhang to suddenly mention the Kongyin Case from Fang Xiaoru.
But thinking about it, Fang Xiaoru and the Empty Seal Case were not unrelated.
Fang Xiaoru's father, Fang Keqin, died in the Kongyin Case.
When the Empty Seal Case happened, Fang Xiaoru's father, Fang Keqin, was the prefect of Jining. Zhu Yuanzhang's punishment for the Empty Seal Case happened to be the execution of the official in charge of the seal, and the deputy was banished to the army with a hundred sticks.
Therefore, Fang Keqin, who was the head of the government, died under Zhu Yuanzhang's guillotine.
Zhu Rong frowned and shook his head." It's hard to say.”
Zhu Yuanzhang was not surprised by Zhu Rong's expression.
"What do you mean?”
He knew that if Zhu Rong said this, there would definitely be more to come.
"This case is the same as Hu Weiyong's case. In fact, it's the kind of case that can't be simply distinguished by black and white."”
"Even if you call it an unjust case, it can be considered an unjust case. However, if it was not an unjust case, it would depend on the perspective of the person in charge of the case.”
"What's the point of this unjust case?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked with interest. If it wasn't an unjust case, what was his standpoint?”
"From the standpoint of most officials, this is obviously an unjust case.”
"Zheng Shili had already told me the reason," Zhu Rong replied.”
"First, the blank seal is stamped on the seams. Not every piece of paper has a complete seal.”
"Even if such a paper document were to spread out, it wouldn't cause any harm.”
"Moreover, this kind of paper is not easy to obtain.”
"Secondly, these money and grain accounts go from the county to the prefecture, from the prefecture to the province, and then from the province to the ministry. In the end, it is decided by the Ministry of Revenue.”
"Moreover, our dynasty pays taxes with grain. It is inevitable for grain to be damaged during transportation, so it is easy for there to be a difference in the amount.”
"Moreover, the provinces and prefectures are six to seven thousand miles away from the Ministry of Revenue, while the nearest ones are three to four thousand miles away. After correcting the mistakes and re-using the seal to hand it over to the Ministry of Revenue, the travel time must be a year!”
"Therefore, it is understandable that an Empty Seal appeared.”
"Thirdly, the Emperor's punishment for this case is not based on the laws of the Ming Dynasty.”
"National laws must have clear laws, and then punish violators according to the law.”
"However, our dynasty did not have any laws against the Void Seal.”
"Moreover, the matter of the Void Seal is an unspoken rule of officialdom left behind by the Yuan Dynasty. Everyone has always done this and no one has ever been punished for it.”
"Therefore, the Emperor's punishment for the officials involved in the Kongyin Case is not in accordance with the law, nor can it convince the public.”
"Fourth, it is very difficult for the Imperial Court to train a qualified official, and it is even more difficult for an official to become a local governor.”
"These officials are not grass. They can be cut and resurrected. They will be punished with crimes that are not enough to be punished. It is a pity for the country to lose talents that are enough to be appointed.”
Listening to Zhu Rong recount Zheng Shili's letter one by one, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned." So, do you think Zheng Shili is right? Is this an unjust case?"
Zhu Rong nodded." From the perspective of Zheng Shili and those officials, Zheng Shili's words are indeed reasonable. The case of the Empty Seal is indeed excusable.”
Zhu Rong had found someone to do something before. Because he had almost all the materials, he had to go to the traps several times and spend several days to get the thing done.
But this was still considered good.
In the future, transportation was very developed, and it was only a short distance to and from the city.
Even if it was from all over the world, it would only take a few hours by plane.
But what about the Ming Dynasty?
Those provinces that were closer to the capital were fine, but those remote provinces, once they connected with the Ministry of Revenue and the numbers were wrong...
If they didn't prepare the documents in advance, the officials wouldn't have to do anything all year round. They would just have to run between the province and the Ministry of Revenue.
If he made a few more mistakes, he might still be counting the debts of last year next year.
Therefore, he could understand the situation regarding the Void Seal Case.
Moreover, the Ming Dynasty did not include the matter of the empty seal in its laws.
From a legal point of view, he was indeed innocent and did not commit a crime. Even if he wanted to punish him, there was no punishment.
At most, even if it was the unspoken rules of the officialdom, at worst, it would only be playing around with the law.
In addition, even if the documents were lost, it would not have any negative impact on the government. It was indeed not easy for the imperial court to cultivate an official who could govern a region.
If Zhu Yuanzhang was lenient and pardoned these officials, it would indeed make sense.
However, the problem was that not only did Zhu Yuanzhang not deal with it lightly, he even made a big fuss!
He directly turned the Kongyin Case into the Hongwu Case, which was on par with the Hu Weiyong Case, the Guo Huan Case, and the Lan Yu Case!
All the officials in charge of the seal and those who signed the name were arrested and imprisoned in the censor's prison.
The official in charge of the seal was executed, and those below the deputy were banished with a hundred sticks!
A group of officials who did not violate the law were convicted of non-existent crimes and sentenced to extremely heavy punishments!
"From the perspective of ruling the country by law, the emperor's decision in the Kongyin case is indeed that power is greater than law.”
"Therefore, this case can indeed be called an unjust case.”
"Moreover, among the officials that His Majesty has punished in the Kong Yin Case, there are indeed many honest and upright officials, such as: Fang Xiaoru's father, Fang Keqin, Zheng Shili's brother, Zheng Shiyuan, and Zeng Bingzheng."
Fang Xiaoru's father, Fang Keqin, was an official whom Zhu Rong felt sorry for.
Who will stop my service? It's your power. Who can keep my millet alive? It's raining. Don't go, you're the parents of my people.
An official who could make the common people spontaneously compile songs and praise him and treat him as their 'parents'!
Zheng Shi Yuan was also an official who pleaded for the people. He dared to confront the army and saved the woman who was taken away by the soldiers!
Zeng Bingzheng was also a very honest official. A dignified third-grade official was so poor that he sold his daughter in order to raise money for his travel expenses!
"However, these honest and upright officials were punished because the current Emperor wanted to clean up the long-standing unspoken rules of officialdom. They were either castrated, exiled, or even sentenced to death. How could people not feel sorry for their fate!”
"How can we not treat this case as an unjust case?" Zhu Rong sighed and said.”
......
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