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The New Year holiday is almost here again. As the New Year approaches, the streets of Nanjing are becoming more and more prosperous.
Yao Peizhen, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Justice, sat in a sedan chair from his house inside Sanshanmen to Qingfang Tower on the bank of Qinhuai River. The asphalt road was flat and clean, as if it were spotless. The street was crowded with people and BMWs and luxury cars were passing by in an endless stream.
When passing through the original Jubao Gate, we saw carts of slaughtered fat pigs being pulled into the city. In fact, since the Ming Dynasty, the livestock trading market in Nanjing City was not located in the city, but in the south of the city;
In order to keep the city clean, all the big fat pigs are now traded in Nanxiang. After being slaughtered, they are brought into the city to be sold in the market. The people in the city are accustomed to calling them "Nanxiang pigs".
The Spring Festival is here, and people's lives are getting better and better. Every family likes to buy some pork and pickle it into bacon for the New Year. As a result, the number of "Nanxiang pigs" entering the city has increased greatly these days. At Jubao Gate alone, six to seven thousand fat pigs are brought in every day.
Other meats such as mutton, beef, donkey meat, etc. are also available and very rich.
The most noteworthy of these is beef. In the past dynasties, in order to ensure farming, the court usually prohibited the people from slaughtering cattle privately. Privately slaughtering cattle for farming was a serious crime.
Even if a civilian's working ox died of natural causes, it had to be reported to the authorities for confirmation. Cowhide, tendons, etc. could not be sold privately because they were strategic materials for making bows and arrows and other military weapons.
By the time of the Qin Dynasty, this ban had been lifted. Because the trade routes were unobstructed, a large number of cattle and sheep were transported to the Central Plains from the areas outside the Great Wall, Hetao, Hexi, Longyou, and Qinghai-Tibet, ensuring that there was no shortage of cattle and sheep in the Central Plains.
Then, the Taipu Temple cooperated with wealthy households to set up ranches in various parts of the country. Many mountainous areas in Guangxi, Huguang, Guizhou, Shandong, Jiangxi, etc. were not suitable for farming, but the climate was suitable and the mountains were full of green grass, which was very suitable for raising cattle and sheep.
Taipu Temple provided livestock technology, and wealthy households provided funds. This cooperation model has made the domestic livestock industry develop at a very gratifying speed.
On the other hand, with the continuous improvement of smelting and forging technology, cold weapons gradually withdrew from the Qin army's equipment sequence, and the court's demand for beef tendons and other items decreased, which further promoted this change. That is, the ban on slaughtering working oxen was relaxed. If people wanted to eat beef, there was plenty of it on the market.
From the streets, we can see the huge changes in all aspects of Daqin. Yao Peizhen, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, is also quite emotional about this. However, some changes are good, but he cannot accept some changes.
The position of assistant minister is quite special in the Qin Dynasty. It is not that its duties are any different from those in other dynasties. The special nature of this position is that it just happens to be an official of the third grade.
In the regular court of the Qin Dynasty, officials above the third rank had seats, while officials below the third rank could only stand, which was very different from the Song and Ming dynasties when all ministers had to stand during court.
As the saying goes, "sitting and discussing the truth", this is a very high honor. Officials of the Qin Dynasty and scholars who aspire to enter the imperial court all regard the third rank as their lifelong goal.
As the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Yao Peizhen just happened to have this privilege of "sitting and discussing the truth", and he didn't want to lose it. Today, the emperor suddenly issued an imperial edict in the form of ancestral precepts. From now on, the emperor is not allowed to directly inquire about judicial trials.
This is a very strange decree;
Although emperors of previous dynasties usually did not directly intervene in judicial trials, when in Xijing, someone beat the drum for the first time. The emperor did not directly try the case, but authorized Yu Chenglong, the Xijing Censor, to try the case on his behalf.
At first glance, all this seems to be enough to prove that there is nothing special about the emperor's edict.
But thinking back, it is not difficult to understand that it was very unusual for the emperor to suddenly issue this imperial decree, and in the form of ancestral precepts.
This imperial edict was not used to restrain ministers. On the contrary, it was a handle for ministers to use to restrain the emperor. It would be a stronger restraining force especially for future emperors. No matter how powerful the emperors of future generations were, they could not be greater than Emperor Taizu.
The Qin Dynasty ruled the country with filial piety, and the ministers only needed to cite this ancestral precept to prevent future kings from interfering in judicial trials.
As for the current emperor, he made his own decree. As the saying goes, a king should not joke, and it is not good to go back on his word. Therefore, it is impossible for the current emperor to directly interfere in the judicial trial.
Yao Peizhen was the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. He was very happy at first, but then he thought about it and felt something was wrong. What kind of person is the current emperor? His every move, which seemed unintentional at first, actually had unexpected deep intentions in the end.
The emperor would never put himself in shackles for no reason, so what is his intention
Yao Peizhen came to the riverside house on the Qinhuai River. The house was decorated extremely elegantly and everything was prepared according to his requirements. Yao Peizhen entered the house, but the guests had not arrived yet. On the balcony overlooking the Qinhuai River, flowers were in full bloom, vying for beauty. The faint fragrance, accompanied by the melodious piano music coming from the flower boats on the river, was intoxicating.
Yao Peizhen sat down, sipped the tea, and quietly admired the winter scenery on the river. The branches of the weeping willows on the river bank were covered with snow, which had a different kind of refreshing beauty compared to the smoky scenes in spring and summer.
Yao Peizhen waited patiently for a cup of tea, and a middle-aged man in his forties, a little overweight and looking very amiable, arrived as scheduled.
If you just look at his rich appearance, it would be hard to believe that he is Ge Xiu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice of the Qin Dynasty.
Although the left and right assistant ministers were of the same rank, China has always respected the left, which means that Ge Xiu's status and position were higher than Yao Peizhen. Yao Peizhen welcomed him in, and the two of them exchanged greetings with smiles;
After sitting down, they talked about poetry and articles for a while. When the atmosphere was harmonious, Yao Peizhen pretended to unintentionally turn the topic to the emperor's edict.
"I wonder what Lord Ge thinks of the emperor's decree? I am completely puzzled as to why the emperor suddenly issued this decree."
There was no change on Ge Xiu's face, and he continued to smile amiably: "To be honest with you, Lord Yao, although I cannot understand the emperor's intentions for the moment, I feel that this is a good thing for my Ministry of Justice."
The Ministry of Justice is in charge of criminal and judicial affairs. To be honest, who wants to have a big hand pressing down on their head? The emperor himself issued this imperial edict, which was equivalent to voluntarily handing power to the Ministry of Justice. At first glance, it naturally seems to be a good thing.
Yao Peizhen laughed and said, "Sir Ge, we are both in the Ministry of Justice, so there is no need to hide some things. In my opinion, this matter may not be as simple as it seems. The emperor may have other intentions." Yao Peizhen paused and said, "I heard that the emperor intends to add two cabinet ministers. Our Minister Bai is deeply trusted by the emperor. I am afraid he will join the cabinet this time."
"Haha, this is also a good thing. Minister Bai's joining the cabinet will increase the weight of my criminal department. I am happy to see it happen."
Seeing that Ge Xiu was still doing this flawless thing, Yao Peizhen was dissatisfied in his heart but did not show it on the surface.
Bai Tie hates evil and is upright, known as the iron-faced Bao Gong, which is completely different from Ge Xiu's amiable character. The two of them are actually at odds with each other in the Ministry of Justice, and Bai Tie is somewhat disgusted with Ge Xiu's smooth face. Ge Xiu would never be as happy to see Bai Tie's possible entry into the cabinet as she said.
Yao Peizhen smiled and said, "Starting from Xijing, your majesty ordered the training of pestle workers and renamed them forensic doctors. Then he trained the Tongzhi and county magistrates of each prefecture and county, and then separated the local judicial and prison affairs from the local chief officials, completing the separation of local justice and administration. Then he ordered the establishment of the Inspection Office to be responsible for law enforcement, and separated the law enforcement power from the Tongzhi and county magistrates. This series of measures are closely linked. I believe that the emperor is setting up a big chess game, but I just can't figure out the emperor's ultimate intention."
Yao Peizhen has pointed out each and every point very clearly. How can it be difficult to understand as he said
Ge Xiu smiled and said, "As the saying goes, thunder and lightning, rain and dew, are all grace from the emperor. The emperor has a far-sighted vision and a lot of tricks in his mind. How can we be afraid of that?"
Ge Xiu finally let out some information, but this made Yao Peizhen even more annoyed. It seemed that Ge Xiu also had the same opinion. The emperor really intended to take action against the Ministry of Justice.
The emperor had already laid out everything, and now he intended to move Bai Tie into the cabinet. Bai Tie was a man of integrity and uprightness, and out of respect, the emperor usually had to give him some leeway. Moving Bai Tie into the cabinet this time was actually removing the biggest resistance from the Ministry of Justice.
Although thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor, who would be willing to abandon rain and dew for thunder
Yao Peizhen quickly glanced at Ge Xiu. At least Ge Xiu was unwilling to accept it. (To be continued...)
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