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In the "Instructions for Taking Office" compiled by Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, for newly appointed officials, it was stipulated that the first task of a new official was to find out "how many gods to worship?" and to worship heaven and earth, praying for good weather for the local people.
As the saying goes, the most important affairs of a country are sacrifices and war. The two sacrifices of spring prayer and autumn report have always been regarded as the top priority, so it is understandable that this task is put first when taking office.
The second task of the new official is to inspect and comfort the orphans and the elderly in the orphanage. The past dynasties mostly ruled the country with filial piety, so after offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, they had to comfort the elderly, which was also in line with the concept of governing the country in the past dynasties.
It is worth mentioning that Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that the third task of a new official after taking office was to inspect prisoners.
In other words, judicial and criminal matters were placed ahead of all government affairs.
Zhu Yuanzhang believed that prisons were a matter of life and death, and therefore they were important matters, so they had to be reported immediately after the sacrifice to the gods. How many prisoners have been considered for imprisonment? How many have been questioned? For those whose cases have been considered, even if they were handled by the previous officials, they should be carefully examined and released. The questioner should be especially careful after taking office. It is necessary to know how long the prisoners have been in prison and the severity of the case. Which cases are clear? Which cases are questionable? Those that are clear should be concluded immediately, and those that are questionable should be carefully examined, so that the case is fair and there is no injustice.
Life is priceless. Once a person’s life or death is wrongly judged, no amount of material compensation can make up for it.
Zhu Yuanzhang, an emperor born into a peasant family, was very aware of the importance of criminal justice, and the idea of putting people first was deeply rooted in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind.
It is undeniable that Zhu Yuanzhang was very cruel. During his reign, he almost slaughtered all the high-ranking officials in the court, but he was really good to the lower class people, better than any previous emperor.
However, due to the limitations of the times, although he attached great importance to judicial and penal justice, the solutions he came up with were only temporary solutions and did not address the root cause.
No matter how much he values it, judicial power is held by administrative officials, who exercise jurisdiction over different levels. Subordinates are responsible to their superiors, and superiors control their subordinates. In specific judicial trials, there is no corresponding independent judicial power, and it is subject to strong administrative constraints.
For example, in order to complete the task of building water conservancy projects, an official could arbitrarily encroach on people’s fields and destroy people’s houses, and he could do it with “righteousness” without worrying about breaking the law.
What is there to worry about? The power of judicial trial is in their hands.
In short, judicial trials cannot be independent and involve too many practical interests. No matter how much you value them, it is impossible to make the judiciary fair and clear.
Qin Mu separated the judicial power from the administrative system and stipulated that the higher judicial departments should not arbitrarily interfere with the judicial process of the lower judicial departments. The purpose was to maintain the independence of the judiciary.
To this end, he was very deliberate and put a lot of thought into it, even taking the initiative to limit the emperor's power.
In this regard, Yang Shen also thought a lot. He said to Qin Mu: "Your Majesty, the judiciary must be independent of the executive and legislative branches. This is a necessary means to ensure judicial fairness. But as Your Majesty said, in addition to the neutrality and independence of the judiciary, there is also professionalism.
Your Majesty's previous training of hospitals, county magistrates, and other judicial officials at all levels was also to ensure their professionalism. But in my opinion, this is far from enough.
Once the judiciary is completely separated from the administrative system, its professionalism will become even more important. Currently, judicial power is tied to administrative power, and many things can be covered up by administrative orders. Once the judiciary is separated from the administration, it will no longer be covered up by administrative power. Moreover, if the judgment of the judicial department is not professional and accurate enough, it will immediately be questioned by officials of the administrative, legislative, and supervisory systems, and it will also be difficult to convince the public.
Therefore, if we hastily separate the judiciary from the executive without a professional judicial team, I am afraid that the result will be counterproductive and completely different from what Your Majesty expects. "
Yang Shen's words are easy to understand. When the judiciary and the administration are tied together, the fairness of the judiciary can be concealed by administrative needs, and no one will think there is anything wrong. Even if there are acts that violate the law, they can be called national needs.
Once separated, you can no longer find excuses such as national needs. Everything must be done according to the law. Even if the country needs you, you cannot arbitrarily infringe upon the rights and interests of ordinary people. The law is the law, and it is no longer an appendage of administration.
On the contrary, the judiciary will have a strong restraining force on the administration. In this case, the administrative system will not provide "cover" for the judicial system, but will question the judiciary as much as possible in order to eliminate the restraining force of the judiciary on the administration as much as possible.
In order to withstand scrutiny from all sides, the judicial system itself must be professional enough and impeccable.
Qin Mu asked: "What suggestions does Yang Qing have for this?"
Yang Shen bowed his hands as a gesture of respect and replied, "Your Majesty, the previous forensic training and the training of local judicial officials were only temporary. If the judiciary is to be independent, it must have a team of highly professional judicial officials. Therefore, I think that a long-term mechanism must be established to train judicial officials over a long period of time, and we cannot use the previous sudden and temporary methods to respond passively.
I suggest that we establish a judicial academy modeled after the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to train judicial talents, and formulate a corresponding talent promotion and appointment mechanism to ensure the professionalism and personal qualities of judicial officials.
Qin Mu didn't think much about this and said, "Since this matter was proposed by Yang Qing, and Yang Qing is well versed in law and in charge of the Dali Temple, let Yang Qing be in charge of the establishment of the Judicial Academy. I will try my best to meet Yang Qing's needs. I hope to see that the Judicial Academy can be established as soon as possible and train batches of outstanding judicial talents."
Yang Shen did not refuse and immediately stood up and said, "I obey your order."
After Yang Shen left, Qin Mu thought about it alone for a long time. Now he put all his energy into this matter. This matter is of great importance and is the core of all his reforms. Without an independent and perfect judicial system, it is impossible to effectively supervise officials at all levels, and it is impossible to maintain political integrity for a long time.
However, judicial independence itself is an innovation that has never existed in history, and it has to be implemented under a monarchical political system. This is not an easy task. For this reason, Qin Mu felt a little exhausted.
He was lying in a rocking chair, covered with a blanket. Liu Rushi stood behind him, gently pressing his head. Naturally, a look of pity flashed in her eyes. Only she knew how much energy Qin Mu had put into judicial reform.
"Looking back at the dynasties throughout history, it is rare for a nation to last for more than 300 years. As time goes by, it always falls into a vicious cycle of prosperity, decline, and extinction. This historical cycle that repeats itself every few hundred years seems to be difficult to break forever."
Qin Mu closed his eyes, enjoying Liu Rushi's massage while seeming to mutter to himself. Liu Rushi listened quietly without interrupting.
"I have reviewed the internal causes of the fall of dynasties, and concluded that they are nothing more than the corruption of officialdom and the deformed tax system. There may be other factors, but these two are the main ones. If the officialdom is corrupt, treacherous officials will be in power and virtuous officials will be excluded. Abnormal taxation will restrict national development, distort the social ecology, and finally lead to the country's expenditure exceeding its income.
Is it true that corruption among officials cannot be controlled? Not necessarily. Absolute power leads to absolute despotism. In the past, the judicial system and the executive system were tied together. Officials were both players and referees, and the judicial system’s restraint on them was almost negligible. In this case, how could corruption among officials be prevented
I want to make the judicial system independent, so that even the emperor cannot interfere. I hope this vicious circle of history can be broken. Even if it is not the best, it will surely not be worse than before. "
Qin Mu's voice was a little weak, but it seemed that he was firming up his will. Liu Rushi was deeply moved when she heard it, and she couldn't help but call out softly with emotion: "Your Majesty..."
She was well-read in classics and history, and the emperor before her was different from all the emperors in history. His courage and foresight made her admire him to the core, and she could even say that she was obsessed with him.
Judicial independence, such a groundbreaking initiative, who would dare to think of it? Who would dare to do it? She couldn't help herself, and for the first time, she took the initiative to lean over and kiss Qin Mu's forehead and lips... (To be continued...)
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