In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

"Many people in later generations support the abolition of the death penalty, but I don't agree. Some people say that the abolition of the death penalty is a symbol of civilization. In fact, civilization has never been reflected in this."

On November 15th, in the evening, in the back garden of the Tokyo Palace of the Song Dynasty, in the Guanjia Hall, candles were lit, and the room was filled with incense and charcoal, making it as warm as spring.

It has been raining in the past few days. The closer to the end of the year, the colder the weather, and the number of people traveling through the streets and markets in Bianliang City has become much smaller.

The only thing that was not missing was that every morning when the prison cars holding prisoners in Kaifeng Prefecture creaked and creaked from East Street to the outside of East City, countless people poured into the streets and headed to the execution ground rain or shine.

They gathered around the prison car and prepared vegetable leaves and rotten eggs every day. Although stones were prohibited, these were not allowed. Then they followed the prison car all the way to the execution ground and watched the prisoners being tortured.

Many people cried and laughed at the execution ground, but only a few people watched all this with expressionless faces. After the execution was over and the crowd dispersed, they would enter the execution ground under the supervision of the government and silently carry away the death penalty. The prisoner's body was taken back for burial.

In Bianliang City, every household seemed to be celebrating the New Year. Even the poorest people, in order to celebrate the beheading of their oppressor, happily bought a few taels of meat and went home to have a happy life. winter.

Only Zhao Zhen heard that more than a thousand people had been beheaded in the past few days. Thinking that these were more than a thousand living lives, he couldn't bear it. Today he raised the issue at the usual Guanjia Palace meeting to see if the execution could be stopped.

After all, he felt that he had killed more than a thousand people, and the first batch of people killed were all death row prisoners who had committed heinous crimes.

The purpose of deterrence has been achieved. There is no need to kill those who commit serious crimes but do not meet the death penalty. This will only increase the number of killings.

However, Zhao Jun disagreed. He said to everyone: "Because the death penalty is never just about deterring criminals. If it is just about deterring criminals, it can be done by locking criminals without freedom for hundreds of years."

"Locked for hundreds of years?"

Everyone was surprised, and Yan Shu said in surprise: "During the Han Dynasty, no one was punished for such a long time."

"But there are later generations in the West."

Zhao Jun said: “These prisoners will spend a difficult life in prison and then die, but I think a sentence of hundreds of years is the most uncivilized and meaningless thing, and is unfair to the prisoners and the families of the victims. "

"Why?"

Lu Yijian wondered: "Isn't it torture to spend hundreds of years in prison and live in prison for the rest of your life?"

"Some prisoners may, but at least most of them will be grateful to be alive."

Zhao Jun explained: "Perhaps during the long sentence, they will encounter many unfortunate things, hate that there is no death penalty in this world, and even think of ways to commit suicide. But for the families of the victims, such a result, no matter how hard they let it go, The criminal is tortured and loses his meaning.”

“Where the meaning has been lost.”

After Zhao Zhen fantasized about spending his whole life in a dark cell, he felt his scalp numb. He couldn't help but shuddered and said, "At least I don't want to live in this kind of life for a single day."

"So I say it can only serve to deter criminals. In other words, it may not necessarily deter criminals. At most, it will make criminals regret it in the future."

Zhao Jun shrugged and said: "Only the real death penalty can be a shock and at the same time a redemption."

"Shock? Redemption? What does this mean?"

"Salvation is to save a person's soul, and the greatest significance of the death penalty is to comfort the families of the victims."

"I don't quite understand."

"Because the victim is already dead, even if the murderer dies, he will not come back to life. But for the victim's family, time is forever fixed at the moment when their loved one died, and they can never come back."

"At that moment was time frozen forever?"

Everyone pondered.

They never imagined that there would be such a heavy psychological burden on the families of the victims.

Because they have never thought about this issue from the perspective of the people and victims, they naturally have no empathy.

"yes."

Zhao Jun sighed and said: "Think about it from another angle, Lu Xiangruo, your son was killed, do you hate the murderer?"

Lu Yijian hesitated slightly, but still said: "Hate."

"It's okay to hate."

Zhao Jun looked at everyone seriously and said: "That's why the death penalty can provide justice to the victim. Only when the murderer is executed can the victim's family let go of this matter and continue to start a new life. Otherwise, they will live in this world for the rest of their lives." I can’t extricate myself from the pain and hatred.”

After everyone listened, they fell into silence.

yes.

For the deceased, the person is already dead and cannot be resurrected, so killing criminals is meaningless.

There is never any knowledge in this world, nor is there any consolation for the dead. There is only a living human life that disappears.

But for the families of the victims, only by watching the criminals being executed can the hatred in their hearts dissipate and they can start a new life with the victims' last wishes.

For them, this is the greatest comfort. It is enough to heal the wounds of the soul and give them the courage to face life again.

So hatred may not be let go, but dissipated, because only in this way can people be reborn!

"The purpose of the law has never been to punish, but to care and protect. Those who deserve their crimes should be allowed to die. This is to care for the weak and protect those who are oppressed and persecuted by them."

Zhao Jun finally looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice: "You can't repeat your life, whether it's for the criminals or the victims. How many disasters the people of Bianliang have suffered, then those people should be allowed to repay to make up for the families of the victims. This is the real consolation and the real rule of law. At this point, the Song Dynasty was still far behind.”

"So that's why you restructured the Ministry of Punishment and asked it to play a law-making role?"

Zhao Zhen had some enlightenment.

"Yes."

Zhao Jun nodded, took a sip of tea first, and then said: "The laws of the Song Dynasty are obviously not rigorous and perfect enough in this regard. When you make laws, you always only consider maintaining your own rule. But not We know that the more we defend it, the more it will alienate the people.”

"Why?"

Lu Yijian frowned and said, "This has been done in all dynasties."

"All dynasties have done this because they have limitations. It does not mean that it is right. It does not mean that you can follow the rules. This will only make the Song Dynasty a part of the past dynasties."

Zhao Jun put down the tea cup in his hand, looked at everyone seriously, and said slowly and forcefully: "If the Song Dynasty wanted to truly become a strong country, hard power such as the army, economy, education, etc. are just one of them. The more important thing is There is also the rule of law and the spirit of the rule of law, this is what the Song Dynasty needs!”

"The spirit of the rule of law?"

Everyone heard another word they had never heard before.

"Yes, the spirit of the rule of law is the standard for governing the country according to the law. Only the spirit of the rule of law can protect the fairness of the people at the bottom, care for and protect the rights and interests of the disadvantaged groups, and safeguard justice in the world!"

Zhao Jun shouted solemnly: "Only by truly treating the people well, protecting the people, and letting the people feel that such justice and justice exist! Only then will they support you and this country from the bottom of their hearts. And such a country can long!"

A few words, enlightening and enlightening.

The laws of the Song Dynasty were inherited from the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The Sui and Tang Dynasties were mainly lenient and simple, and there were mainly five punishments: "whipping, rod, punishment, exile, and death."

Among them, imprisonment was a relatively serious punishment in the Han Dynasty. The highest punishment was Chengdan torture, which was life imprisonment, but it could be redeemed with money. If the money was available, it might be released in one or two years.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the proportion of prison sentences dropped a lot, and they could only be imprisoned for a few years at most.

The Song Dynasty inherited the legal system of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the prison sentences were even lighter than those in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, generally only one to three years.

Since imprisonment would increase the court's financial expenditure, most serious crimes at that time were mainly exiled.

It's just an exile. In fact, as long as you have money, you don't even need to be exiled. Even if you are exiled, you will live a comfortable life along the way.

For example, in "Water Margin", when Song Jiang was exiled to Jiangzhou for committing murder, the two government officials were polite. Even when he arrived in Jiangzhou, he didn't even need to use the killing stick because he had used money. He was admitted to the copy office and could come and go freely, just like returning to his own home.

From here we can see how much the so-called punishment of exile in the Song Dynasty was.

And after arriving at the place of exile, you don't need to go to jail. You still have basic personal freedoms. The government will distribute some production materials for you to farm by yourself. If you have more money, your life there will not be too bad.

Therefore, in fact, the laws of the Song Dynasty could not provide care and protection to the victims, and may not even provide the punishment they should have. At most, they would only help develop Lingnan.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the population in Guangzhou increased. In addition to the migration to the south due to war, it was also related to the exile of a large number of prisoners to Lingnan during the Tang and Song Dynasties.

Zhao Jun believed that these laws were completely insufficient to demonstrate the spirit of the rule of law, so he planned to ask the Ministry of Punishment to re-enact the laws.

This is bound to be a protracted process, and even a little carelessness may lead to judicial changes.

But some things must be done no matter what.

Because in an era when humanity and human rights are suppressed and there is no dignity, someone is needed to help the bottom class pick up this dignity, even if there will be great resistance in the future.

Zhao Zhen was silent for a moment and said softly: "Maybe Da Sun is right. If the Song Dynasty wants to be strong, the rule of law must be indispensable."

"There must also be a spirit of rule of law!"

Zhao Jun emphasized, and then said: "Only by profoundly implementing this concept can the law be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people."

Wang Zeng hesitated and said: "If you go by what you said, if the sentence is changed in the future, you will have to go to jail. But if you are in jail, you will have to take care of the prisoners' food. This will probably be a big burden for the court."

"For now, let's focus on exile."

Zhao Jun thought for a while and then said: "But the destination of the exile can be changed. It can be sent to the border to build fortifications, or it can be sent to Shaanxi and Hebei to reclaim the border."

"Most of the prisoners are exiled in the south, or they are sent to the border as prisoners to join the army."

Fan Zhongyan pondered: "The main reason is that I'm worried about them escaping back."

Why were people exiled to the south in ancient times?

It's because the birds in the south don't poop, the environment is harsh, and it's very difficult to escape back.

For example, there is a sentence in the "Explanation of Yuancheng Quotations" written by the Song Dynasty, which is called: "Spring is accompanied by plum blossoms, and death is a neighbor; Gao Lei is in trouble, and I am afraid even if I hear it."

It is talking about Guangdong, Hainan and other places in later generations.

At this time, these places have overlapping mountains, lush forests, and miasma. People from the north are often unaccustomed to the climate and are prone to death from illness.

If exiled to the northern border, such as Shaanxi and Hebei, prisoners can easily escape.

So in ancient times, exile was actually a relatively severe punishment.

"Old Fan, you have to have some confidence."

Zhao Jun encouraged: "Are you still afraid that you can't deal with a group of prisoners? These are all labor."

"Okay."

Fan Zhongyan didn't know what to say.

Zhao Jun continued, "First, use these people as soldiers and reclaim the border to prepare for the war between Xixia and Liao. If we can solve the internal and external troubles in the future, we can expand overseas and send them to Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and even Australia and Japan."

"Oh?"

Everyone was puzzled, and Zhao Zhen said in confusion: "Didn't you say the rule of law? Like in later generations, they were mainly sentenced to imprisonment, so why were they exiled overseas again?"

"Because we are short of money now."

Zhao Jun sighed and said, "The premise of the spirit of the rule of law is money. If you don't have money, there is no point in talking about the rule of law. Exile them overseas, let them reclaim fertile land and mines, and transport grain and minerals from abroad to atone for their sins. When the Song Dynasty becomes truly strong, we can maintain the legal order."

At the end, Zhao Jun sighed again.

In ancient times, talking about the spirit of the rule of law was actually a very outrageous thing, because this era seemed civilized, but in fact it was still barbaric.

The emperor and officials held the power of life and death, and wanting to kill ordinary people was like pinching an ant to death.

Even local tyrants and lower-level officials in the government dared to trample on the law at will and oppress the common people, becoming a mountain on their heads.

And even if Zhao Jun brought the rule of law, social development could not keep up.

First of all, if you build a prison, you have to spend a lot of money, and you have to take care of the prisoners' food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Then you have to popularize the law and carry out education and popularization of the law.

Then after the prison is built, there must be someone to watch over it, which is another expense.

The population of the Song Dynasty was over 100 million, and there were definitely 200,000 or 300,000 criminals. In the era without sewing machines, labor reform was at most planting vegetables and digging the land.

The expenses of managing prisoners and providing them with food, clothing, housing and transportation could not be recovered by farming.

So it is not easy to do everything well.

Killing people is a one-time solution, but no matter what, the heavy punishment in troubled times can only be temporary.

After all, you can't kill petty thieves.

Therefore, it is difficult for Zhao Jun to rule the country according to law like later generations.

But there are some things you must do.

Just like developing overseas, developing industry, and developing the country, even if it is difficult to do, we have to move in this direction.

No matter how difficult it is, we must forge ahead.

At least setting a correct goal will give us a clear path for the future!

This is also the meaning of Zhao Jun's desire to establish the Ministry of Justice.