Zhao Jun finally looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice, "Life cannot be repeated. Whether it is for the criminals or the victims, the people of Bianliang have suffered so much. They should be made to pay for it and compensate the families of the victims. This is true comfort and true rule of law. On this point, the Song Dynasty is still far behind."
"So this is why you're reorganizing the Ministry of Justice to make it a law-making institution?"
Zhao Zhen began to understand.
"Yes."
Zhao Jun nodded, took a sip of tea, and then continued, "The laws of the Song Dynasty are clearly not rigorous or complete enough in this regard. When you make laws, you only consider maintaining your own rule. You don't realize that the more you maintain it, the more it alienates the people."
"Why?"
Lu Yijian frowned and said, "This has been done throughout the dynasties."
"All dynasties have done this because they have limitations. It doesn't mean that it's right, nor does it mean that you can follow the same rules. Doing so will only make the Song Dynasty a part of all dynasties."
Zhao Jun put down his teacup, looked at everyone seriously, and said slowly and forcefully, "If the Song Dynasty wants to truly become a strong country, military, economy, education and other hard power are only one of the factors. More important is 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 a word they had never heard before.
"Yes, the spirit of the rule of law is the standard for governing the country according to law. Only the spirit of the rule of law can guarantee fairness for the grassroots people, care for and protect the rights and interests of vulnerable groups, and maintain justice in the world!"
Zhao Jun shouted solemnly, "Only by truly treating the people well, protecting the people, and letting them feel that such fairness and justice exist, will they wholeheartedly support you and this country. And only such a country can last!"
These words are truly enlightening.
The laws of the Song Dynasty inherited those of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, which were mainly lenient and simple, with the main five types of punishments being "whipping, caning, imprisonment, exile, and death."
Among them, hard labor means imprisonment. This punishment was quite severe in the Han Dynasty. The highest punishment was Chengdan Chong, which was life imprisonment. However, one could redeem himself with money. If the money was in sufficient, he might be released in one or two years.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the proportion of imprisonment dropped a lot, and the maximum term was a few years.
The Song Dynasty inherited the legal system of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the prison sentences were even lighter than those of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, generally only one to three years.
Since imprisonment would increase the court's financial expenditure, exile was the main form of punishment for serious crimes at that time.
It's just called exile. In fact, as long as you have money, you don't even have to be exiled. Even if you are really exiled, you can live a comfortable life along the way.
For example, in the Water Margin, when Song Jiang was exiled to Jiangzhou for murder, the two yamen runners were very polite to him. Even after arriving in Jiangzhou, they didn't even have to use a cane to intimidate him because they had paid money. They were recorded in the copy office and were free to come and go as if they were at home.
From this we can see how much truth there was in the so-called exile punishment in the Song Dynasty.
And once you arrive at the place of exile, you don't have to go to jail. You still have basic personal freedom. The government will distribute some means of production for you to farm yourself. If you have a lot of money, you won't live too badly there.
So in fact, the laws of the Song Dynasty could not provide care and protection for the victims, and may not even have given them the punishment they deserved. At most, they only helped develop Lingnan.
The population of Guangzhou increased during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In addition to the migration south due to war, it was also related to the large number of criminals exiled to Lingnan during the Tang and Song dynasties.
Zhao Jun believed that these laws were completely inadequate to demonstrate the spirit of the rule of law, so he planned to let the Ministry of Justice re-enact the laws.
This is bound to be a long process, and may even trigger judicial changes if we are not careful.
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 at all, someone is needed to help the lower classes regain this dignity, even if there will be great resistance in the future.
Zhao Zhen was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Perhaps what Grandson said is right. If the Song Dynasty wants to be strong, the rule of law is essential."
“We also need the spirit of the rule of law!”
Zhao Jun emphasized this point and then said: "Only by deeply implementing this concept can the law be deeply rooted in people's hearts."
Wang Zeng hesitated and said, "If you do what you said, then the prisoner will have to go to jail. But if he goes to jail, he will have to take care of his food. This will be a big burden for the court."
"For now, let's focus on exile."
Zhao Jun thought for a moment, then said, "But the exiles' destinations can be changed. They can be sent to the border to build fortifications, or they can be sent to Shaanxi or Hebei to open up land and settle on the border."
"Most of the prisoners were exiled to the south, or sent to the border as soldiers."
Fan Zhongyan pondered and said, "The main concern is that they might escape back."
Why were exiles in ancient times all exiled to the south?
It’s because there is no one living in the south, the environment is harsh, and it is very difficult to escape back.
For example, there is a sentence in "Yuancheng Yulujie" of the Song Dynasty: "Spring follows the new plum blossoms, and death is close to it; the high thunder and the changes in the sky are scary even when they sound."
This refers to Guangdong, Hainan and other places in later generations.
At this time, these places are full of overlapping mountains, lush forests, and rampant miasma. People from the north who go there often cannot adapt to the climate and are easily prone to death from illness.
However, if exiled to the northern border, such as Shaanxi and Hebei, prisoners can easily escape.
Therefore, exile was actually a relatively severe punishment in ancient times.
"Old Fan, you have to have some confidence."
Zhao Jun encouraged him, "Are you still worried that you can't deal with a group of prisoners? These are all labor."
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