Daming Military Empire

Chapter 558

The remnant clouds harvest the summer heat, and the new rain brings autumn coolness.

After bursts of rain, the heat gradually dissipated. Autumn is approaching, and the weather is slightly cooler. The capital city at the end of July is no longer as hot as the scorching heat. Especially at night, the cool breeze and the boundless autumn moon are very refreshing.

Zhu Cijiong was also in a good mood at this time. The crisis in South Asia and Northwest borders provoked by the anti-Habsburg alliance had long since been resolved. They destroyed the eight bastions of Tsarist Russia, and slapped the big powers who took the lead in provoking troubles, once again demonstrating the prestige of Ming Dynasty.

Now, the Western Region Railway and the Siberian Railway are about to be connected, and the primary tanks for attacking fortifications are about to be born. It is almost a foregone conclusion that Ming will win the Siberian Plain. He does not need to worry too much about military affairs. He can finally focus on governing the country up.

He has been writing the first constitutional code of the Ming Dynasty for a few months. After making changes, it has finally reached the standard in his mind. Taking advantage of Siberia's great victory, he decided to officially implement the constitutional monarchy!

On July 15, the 26th year of Chongzheng in the Ming Dynasty, this day was not a solar term, and there was nothing particularly memorable in the past history. However, this day will definitely leave a strong mark in the future history of the Ming Empire. A sum, because on this day, Emperor Chongzheng of the Ming Empire announced a law that would have a far-reaching impact on the future of Ming Dynasty. This law is the famous "Daming Chongzheng Law" in later generations.

Zhu Cijiong thought about the name of this code for a long time. He always felt that it was a bit inappropriate to call it a constitution, because it seemed that there was no such thing as a constitution in this period. However, if he insists on using fresh terms, it may affect his authority instead, so he simply named it "Daming Chongzheng Law".

The name "Daming Chongzheng Law" is easier to be accepted by the public, because there is a precedent of "Daming Law"; The iron law formulated, the subjects of the Ming Empire, including future emperors, must abide by it!

As for the announcement on July 26th, it is not that this day has any special significance to him, but he thinks that the time for the announcement has come, that's all.

This morning the court was going on as usual. Under Zhu Cijiong's special control, all the memorials and discussions progressed relatively quickly. In less than an hour, all the political affairs were dealt with. He did not let the ritual officer announce his retirement, but coughed. Then he said loudly: "I have been thinking about a problem for a while. There is a saying, 'It is easy to fight the world, but difficult to defend it.' Why is it harder to defend the world than to fight the world? The endings of the decline and fall of all dynasties have told us, It is indeed difficult to defend the world, so why is it so difficult to defend the world? I have considered this question for a long time. Looking at the decline and fall of the past dynasties, there is nothing more than internal and external troubles. Then, why are there internal and external troubles?"

Having said that, he paused for a moment to let the civil and military officials think about this issue.

After about a cup of tea time, he continued to speak loudly: "I don't know if all the lovers have discovered that when most dynasties decline and fall, most of them are treacherous officials in power, corruption rampant, chaos in the government, and the people are in dire straits. He crossed the bottom line, did not pay attention to benevolence, righteousness and morality, only to satisfy his own selfish desires, regardless of the rise and fall of the world."

Having said that, he deliberately stopped for a while, and asked the civil and military officials to think about these issues again. Of course, he did not mean that there were corrupt officials among the civil and military officials below, but there were a few people below who were already in cold sweat. risked.

These people should have more or less done something corrupt and perverting the law. From their point of view, today the emperor suddenly mentioned the issue of corruption for no reason.
Of course, Zhu Cijiong didn't want to take people into action. After a while, he continued to speak loudly: "Of course, some of them are not the fault of the courtiers. The incompetence of the monarch can also lead to the subjugation of the country. So how to prevent these things from happening?"

In this day and age, the only one who dares to say so blatantly that the emperor is not the emperor is the emperor, and the people below dare not say it, or even think about it.

After asking questions again and again, Zhu Cijiong finally gave the answer. He said slowly in a majestic tone: "I think that in order to make the Ming Dynasty long-term, the only way is to establish rules, start from the source, and try to avoid the occurrence of dishonest and treacherous officials. Let this rule be established, and the emperor and his ministers will respect it together. Come and proclaim "Daming Chongzheng Law."

He did not carefully explain the nature of "Daming Chongzheng Law", because once explained, it will involve "Daming Law" and "Da Gao", which are the rules set by Emperor Taizu. As a descendant of later generations, he dare to say those rules Is it not complete? Anyway, after reading it, everyone will understand that there is no need for him to explain the shortcomings of "Daming Law" and "Dagao" on the spot, and give up the excuse of not respecting the ancestors.

As soon as he finished his words, an official of the Honghe Temple held a beautifully bound "Daming Chongzheng Law", walked respectfully to the steps, and read aloud.

"Daming Chongzheng Law" is a programmatic law, involving a lot of content, including almost all things related to governing the country, which had never appeared in the history at that time.

For example, the opening chapter of "Da Ming Chongzheng Law" quotes a sentence from "The Book of Songs" "Under the sky, is it the king's land; on the shore of the land, is it the king's ministers;", which is extended to illustrate the Ming Empire. Nature, in general, the Ming Empire is a country of monarchy, the emperor of the Ming Empire is supreme, no matter the subjects of the Ming Empire or the subjects of the vassal states must respect, no one can violate it.

Then there is the specific power of the Emperor of the Ming Empire. For example, the Emperor of the Ming Empire is the supreme commander of all Ming armies. The Emperor of the Ming Empire has the right to declare war on any hostile country. The emperor of the Ming Empire has the right to appoint and dismiss officials at all levels, etc., and there are a lot of them, but they are all normal powers, and there is no lawless power.

There has never been a legal code in this world to explain the specific powers of the emperor. According to the traditional concept, the emperor is the son of heaven, and he can do whatever he wants. The power of an emperor depends entirely on his ability. You can do whatever you want, if you are weak, you may be hijacked and become a puppet.

No one has ever thought that a legal code can restrain and maintain imperial power. From this point of view, this "Daming Chongzheng Law" is already a bit astonishing, but the following provisions are even more shocking.

Because what follows is the emperor's obligations. For example, the emperor of the Ming Empire has the obligation to protect the territory of the Ming Empire, the emperor of the Ming Empire has the obligation to promote the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor of the Ming Empire has the obligation to train his heirs.

(End of this chapter)