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In Nanjing, after Wang Guichen and Hai Rufeng captured Sulu and Java Island and directly seized nearly 4 million yuan worth of property and put it into the national treasury, the navy was approved to build 40 clippers, 8 treasure ships, and 80 small and medium-sized warships at one time. After receiving the order, major shipyards including Longjiang Shipyard were rushing to build them day and night.
In the southwest, after Tang Yue successfully persuaded the chieftain of Nandan Prefecture to surrender, the army quickly advanced towards Hechi, fought a bloody battle with the rebels in Bawei northwest of Hechi, defeated the rebels, captured Hechi, and continued to advance towards Yizhou, the capital of Qingyuan Prefecture.
In the northern desert, Norbu fled northward with two hundred light cavalrymen, but was pursued by the Qin army and was forced to hide in the Daqing Mountains. Ma Yongzhen was ordering soldiers of all Mongolian tribes to search the mountains in the snow in order to capture and kill Norbu and wipe out the roots.
In the northeast, Xie Zhaoguang, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, trudged through the heavy snow and finally reached the winter pastures of the Chechen tribe. He then launched a diplomatic lobbying campaign with the Chechen Khan Shuolei, striving to capture the Chechen tribe without bloodshed.
In Muli City in the Western Regions, just as Li Sheng was preparing to take advantage of the victory to advance westward to Qitai City and seize the passage to the north of Tianshan Mountains, Sengge's 10,000 troops with more than 10,000 old and weak people returned to Qitai, gathered the defeated soldiers in time, stabilized the situation in southern Chu of Tianshan, and began to counterattack Muli City.
After learning that Sengge was forced to withdraw, Li Sheng was no longer in a hurry to open up a passage to the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains. He withdrew his troops to defend Muli City, and at the same time sent people to send the latest intelligence back to Guazhou so that Li Dingguo could make corresponding military adjustments.
In Yarkand City, Xuanjizi, who had gone through untold hardships, finally met Batur Khan who had just retreated with the help of his "magic".
In Chang'an, the story of Yang Liu beating the drum to appeal for justice had spread widely in the market. This was the first case of "appealing to the emperor" since the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, so it attracted special attention.
On the streets, in restaurants and teahouses, people were discussing the case. Ordinary people wanted to know how the court would handle the case and whether the emperor would personally try the case and make it public.
In all dynasties, ordinary people generally have a superstitious faith in the emperor, and have a latent opposition to officials at all levels, and most of them are suspicious of them.
Therefore, whether the emperor personally tried the case had a completely different meaning for ordinary people.
In the imperial study, Li Xiangjun couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, will you personally try this case?"
Qin Mu put down his pen and answered the question irrelevantly: "I understand that the people are so concerned about this case, not because it is so bizarre, but because they just want to see if it is useful to file a complaint with the emperor. As the saying goes, people feel sorry for their own kind. Through this case, the people will unconsciously think about whether they will have a last straw to rely on if they are wrongly accused one day."
"Your Majesty..." Li Xiangjun felt a little sad after hearing this.
She was born in Wu's house in Fengqiao, Changmen, Suzhou. Her father was a military officer in the Ming Dynasty. When Wei Zhongxian attacked the Donglin Party, she was implicated and her family fell into decline. When she was eight years old, she wandered in a foreign land and was adopted by Li Zhenli of Meixianglou. She changed her surname to Li.
It can be said that she had also experienced the pain of having no one to turn to. Thinking back on it, she couldn't help but feel sympathetic.
Seeing her sad expression, Qin Mu reached out and hugged her to his knees, and comforted her in a gentle voice: "Xiangjun, don't be sad, it's all over. If you want, you can change your surname back to Wu, and I will give you another title."
"Your Majesty, is this okay?"
Li Xiangjun didn't really care about these things, but when she thought of Bian Yujing's example, she couldn't help but feel a little moved, her eyes like water flowing quietly on Qin Mu, she put more strength into her arms, hugged Qin Mu tightly, as if she wanted to merge herself into his body. Perhaps she thought of her miserable experience in the past, and at this moment she especially needed someone to rely on.
Qin Mu hugged her petite body and said, "There is nothing impossible. After you change your surname back to Wu, the original title of Li Zhaoyi does not need to be revoked. I will give you a title of Wu Fei. In this way, people outside the palace will not know that Wu Fei and Li Zhaoyi are the same person..."
Xiangjun, don't think too much. I don't dislike your past. I am just thinking about our future children. Like Yujing, if we have a child, we don't have to entrust it to the Queen. "
"I know your majesty's intention, and I will follow your majesty's arrangements..."
"I have no intention of struggling for spring. I will let all the flowers wither and turn into dust, but the fragrance remains the same. How about this, Xiangjun, your other name will be Wu Xiangchen from now on. When you go out with me, you will still be known as Li Zhaoyi. If you have a child in the future, it will be Concubine Wu's."
Things in the palace have always been kept secret. As long as there is a separate file for Wu Xiangchen, it will be difficult for outsiders to verify it. This is why people still debate whether Emperor Le Yong was born to Empress Ma.
"Thank you, Your Majesty! Nunu..." Li Xiangjun was happy, but she couldn't help feeling discouraged when she thought about how she had been pregnant for several years without any sign of pregnancy. But no matter what, if she had a child, she would always have to think about the child.
Let Han Zanzhou handle this matter, Qin Mu doesn't need to worry too much about it.
He turned his attention back to the case of Yang Liu beating the drum to file a complaint with the emperor. Now this case has successfully attracted widespread attention from the people, which is exactly what Qin Mu hoped to see.
Qin Mu intends to use this case to promote a series of political reforms and further improve the local administrative structure.
Therefore, even if the people do not pay attention, he will find a way to make them pay attention.
The Qin Dynasty is still using the laws of the Ming Dynasty. The Qin Law is still under revision. The laws of previous dynasties all adhered to the principle of "presumption of guilt". When officials handled cases in the past, they always followed this idea. Once they suspected someone, they immediately treated him as a criminal.
After being detained and taken back to the yamen, the first thing that happened was the slam of the gavel, and a loud and majestic shout was made: "xxx, do you know your guilt?" If you still refuse to admit it, you will often be severely punished until you confess.
Under the practice of this "presumption of guilt" ideology, countless unjust and wrongful convictions have occurred.
The first thing Qin Mu had to do was to overturn this concept and write the new concept of "presumption of innocence" into the "Qin Law". If he failed to do so, he would not be able to improve the Qin judicial system from its overall structure.
Due to the imperfect judicial system, it is impossible to reform various supervision mechanisms and administrative structures for officials.
But the concept of "presumption of guilt" has been used since ancient times. How easy is it to overturn it
Unless there is a complete and recognized ideological system to support it, it will be extremely difficult to implement the judicial concept of "presumption of innocence".
Qin Mu has been thinking hard these days and finally came up with the idea of Confucianism. "Benevolence" is one of the core ideas of Confucianism. This "presumption of guilt" is obviously inhumane and it goes against the Confucian ideas of benevolence and righteousness.
At the same time, Confucianism advocates the idea that "human nature is good". Although Confucius did not make a clear judgment on the good and evil of human nature, his system of benevolence contains a relatively complete theory of human nature, which established the direction and tone for the orthodox Confucian theory of human nature.
By the time of Mencius, the idea that "human nature is good" was already clearly supported.
Whether it is "benevolence" or "human nature is good", both are strong support for the concept of "presumption of innocence".
After Qin Mu pondered for a while, he came to some conclusion and couldn't help asking Li Xiangjun, "Human nature is good at birth. Xiangjun, do you believe that human nature is good?"
This is actually a question that has been debated for two thousand years, but Li Xiangjun said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, Mencius once used water to illustrate human nature. He said that it is true that it does not matter whether it flows east or west, but does it also matter whether it flows upward or downward? Human nature tends to be good, just like water flows to lower places. There is no human nature that is not kind, and there is no water that does not flow to lower places. Of course, if water is hit and splashed, it can be higher than the forehead; if it is pressed and forced to flow backwards, it can flow up the hill. Is this the nature of water? The situation forces it to be like this. People can be forced to do bad things, and the change of nature is like this."
Seeing that Li Xiangjun's reaction was just as he expected, Qin Mu smiled faintly. As for how to overturn the concept of "presumption of guilt", perhaps he could use the thoughts of Confucius and Mencius to attack his own shield with his own spear.
Qin Mu then summoned Huang Lianshan to the imperial study and gave him detailed instructions. In order to overturn all concepts, in addition to top-level design, it also requires a mass base and public opinion support, which will make it easier to promote.
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ps: Please recommend! (To be continued..)
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