Chongzhen and I became partners

Chapter 429 Only Talking about Deeds, Regardless of Origin

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen initiated a video communication with Liu Weichao. He just initiated it, and the connection was made there. Obviously, Liu Weichao was waiting.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, he seriously confirmed to Liu Weichao: "You mean, the imperial court will build a monument, and the imperial court will pay homage to these people during festivals, and then monuments can also be built at the local level. The yamen came to pay homage, to be admired by future generations, and to educate the world?"

"Yes, that's right!" Liu Weichao nodded immediately after hearing this and said, "There should also be a corresponding museum to preserve these deeds of loyalty to the country. These spirits can be passed down as Ming Dynasty. The imperial court should come forward, or say If you, the emperor, pay homage to them in person, it will also show that you value them enough, after all, they gave their lives to protect their family and country!"

"It does make sense!" Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said after listening, "I think it will work!"

As long as it is related to the country and the country, he who almost became the king of subjugation is very concerned.

Don't talk about this monument, it's just that the emperor pays homage to it every year and festival, even if he pays more, he is willing.

Emperor Chongzhen, who had such determination in his heart, said to Liu Weichao very seriously: "Actually, I don't hide it from you. In the past, for the sake of the overall situation, I could allow people like Hong Chengchou to surrender, but no matter what, I don't want to hide it from you." It’s uncomfortable. Even in the past, when the ancestor’s birthday, according to my heart, when I abandoned the capital and returned to Shanhaiguan, I wanted to cut him off. But later, after he surrendered and fled back, I returned There is no way to reuse him. Guan Ning cannot do without him."

Speaking of this, his voice became louder: "But now, I have confidence. And if I build this monument, I can also give those soldiers who died in battle a better explanation. In addition to compensation , and their fame will last forever. Only in this way will more people be able to serve the country.”

Having said that, he didn't continue talking.Because he felt that it was meaningless to talk to Liu Weichao, that is, for those who disgusted him, although he was concerned about the overall situation, he allowed them to surrender, forgave them for running away, etc., but when the situation was all under his control, it would be too late to settle accounts. Just follow his heart.

Naturally, Liu Weichao didn't know what he was thinking, even if he knew, he wouldn't object, punishing evil and promoting good, karma, these are the three necessary views.

At this time, he heard that Emperor Chongzhen understood what he meant, so he said with a smile: "For example, didn't the battle of Ningyuan just end, and Jinzhou also took it back? You can build a monument and memorial hall in Ningyuan , including the soldiers who died in the last battle of Songjin, and even earlier, He Kegang, Cao Bianjiao, etc., as well as ordinary soldiers, but all loyal and martyrs should not only pay well for them, but also raise their names behind them, and share with the country Long live!"

Speaking of this, Liu Weichao was afraid that Emperor Chongzhen, an ancient person, would not understand it enough, so he continued to elaborate: "For those ordinary soldiers who are loyal to the country, you must have a set of procedures to do it, not only to give pensions, but also to others. The family members in the local area are given preferential treatment. For example, how many corvees are exempted, and when there are some good things, they can be given priority. In this way, the whole society will be promoted, and everyone will admire them, envy them, and learn from them. In this way, you are still afraid Will there be fewer loyal ministers and righteous men?"

Emperor Chongzhen listened carefully and was thinking about it at the same time.

If you change to another emperor, you may feel that doing so is a bit of a fuss.After all, in ancient times, what rights did ordinary people have?They are all like ants at the bottom, and if they die, they will die, so how many high-ranking people will care!
Didn't I say that in the eyes of those in power in ancient times, the so-called common people were actually just local gentry.In their eyes, the real ordinary people were not represented by those gentry.

However, Emperor Chongzhen was different from them.

In fact, he was once a subjugated king, forced his wife to death, killed his daughter, and hanged himself. Not only did he lose his country, but he also lost his son in the end.The tragic end of this kind of ruined country and the death of people is definitely deeply rooted in the bones of Emperor Chongzhen.

And in the process of the country's destruction and family destruction, Emperor Chongzhen even uttered a desperate cry: I am not the king of the subjugated country, but all my subjects are the subjugated ministers.However, all the ministers misunderstood me.

In his eyes, these courtiers are really not good things, and it is the same, so he will not be lenient when he ransacks the house.

And in the course of history, he also saw that those country gentry were not good birds either. They were all very rich, but they tried to evade taxes and evade taxes.Daming will subjugate the country, and they will definitely have a part in it.

With this understanding, Liu Weichao explained the truth to him, saying that the emperor represents the interests of the majority of the people, and as long as they don't rebel, others will not be able to cause any disturbances.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen didn't think there was a problem at all with Liu Weichao's suggestion at this time to give preferential treatment to real ordinary people who became loyal and martyrs.

No, he just thought about it for a while and said: "This is very good. It just so happens that the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" will be revised soon, so I will ask them to add this content, which will be added to the "Law of Rites". "Sacrifice" volume."

This is tantamount to using the form of law to stipulate the matters of paying homage to and paying respects to loyal martyrs.

For this, Liu Weichao naturally agreed with both hands and feet.Because in this way, this kind of thing is no longer a special case, and it will be very troublesome if future generations want to abolish it.

Seeing that Liu Weichao also agreed, Emperor Chongzhen said to him: "Then I hang up first, and I will order them to do this matter, and try to announce it to the world before the year!"

When Liu Weichao heard it, of course he had no objection.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen hung up the phone immediately, and after recalling the entire conversation with Liu Weichao, he sent an order to the Wenhua Palace to discuss matters.

It didn't take long for senior officials of the Ming Dynasty, including the Six Departments of the Cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremony, to gather in the Wenhua Hall.

After they saw the ceremony, Emperor Chongzhen asked about the revision of the "Law of the Ming Dynasty".

Just like what he had mastered before, he heard the chief assistant He Fengsheng play: "Your Majesty, the rest of the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" will be completed by the end of the month!"

The revision of the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" was not submitted to Yulan until all the revisions were completed.

"Da Ming Law" has a total of thirty volumes. After each volume is revised, it will be submitted to Yulan. If the emperor has any comments, he will continue to revise. If there is no opinion, he will revise the next volume.

Earlier, Emperor Chongzhen had actually read the volume of "Law of Rites".But at this time, he said to his subordinates: "There is still some content to be added to the volume of "Law of Rites."

When He Fengsheng heard this, he was not surprised at all. After all, it is normal for the emperor to have thoughts, so he bowed to receive the order and said, "Please show me, Your Majesty!"

Emperor Chongzhen saw that other people were also waiting for him to speak, so he recounted what Liu Weichao had told him, according to his own understanding.

When He Fengsheng heard this, he couldn't help being a little surprised, and quickly confirmed: "What your Majesty said includes those ordinary people?"

For the posthumous names of civil servants and generals, there have always been posthumous gifts, just like this kind of monuments and memorial halls.However, what Emperor Chongzhen said just now included ordinary people, and they were surprised.

In their view, it is no problem to do this to civilian and military generals, and maybe one day they can enjoy it themselves.

However, for ordinary people, they felt that the emperor seemed to take it too seriously.

As far as the Ming Dynasty is concerned, there are also pensions for ordinary soldiers.

If a soldier is killed in battle and no one inherits the position, the full military salary will be paid for 3 years, and then halved.

If a son inherits the position of soldier, only funeral expenses will be paid.

If he dies of illness and no one inherits the position, half of the military salary will be given to his parents and wife for life.

If a soldier dies in battle, his wife will be given full military pay for three years, which is 36 shi of rice, and then 3-6 dong of grain per month for life.

Regardless of whether these pensions have been implemented or not, they are there after all.

But now, Emperor Chongzhen's doing this is tantamount to raising the treatment of ordinary people, almost the same as those country gentry.It can even be said that they are treated the same as those with fame.

Ordinary squires without fame, if the law is strictly enforced, they will also have to do hard labor, but they can spend money to avoid it.

However, how much labor can be exempted according to the imperial court's regulations, it is tantamount to the same as those with fame!
This sudden increase in salary surprised He Fengsheng and the others.

Emperor Chongzhen knew what they were thinking by looking at their expressions, and immediately questioned them: "The soldiers who died in battle are all models of loyalty to the country and serving the country, why should I treat them favorably? Is it better than some male thieves and female prostitutes, or those who are greedy for life and afraid of death? Leaving aside, let’s talk about last year’s Battle of Songjin, those civil servants and military generals who died in battle, and those soldiers, compared to those who fled or surrendered. , shouldn't he be treated more favorably by the court and respected by the world?"

China has always had this idea since ancient times, and Confucianism has always advocated this idea. After hearing this, He Fengsheng and others couldn't help being speechless.

They were just a little unaccustomed to the fact that Emperor Chongzhen treated those ordinary people as meritorious officials.

"Long Live Lord is right!" Upon hearing this, the eunuch Wang Cheng'en, the supervisor of ceremonies, was the first to go out, looked at the civil servants, and said loudly, "To put it bluntly, some people are like eggless! For Daming For a loyal person, the imperial court will reward him generously!"

Having said that, he looked at Emperor Chongzhen, and said loudly: "Only talking about deeds, regardless of background, there is no better sage than Long Live Lord! The way of sages is no better than this!"

Huang Dao, the Zuodu censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, was shocked when he heard it on Monday, and then he went out and played to the Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, a humble minister, who only discusses deeds and does not ask about background, is really the way of a sage!"

(End of this chapter)