There is an incident recorded in The Analects of Confucius: when Confucius was traveling around the countries, he passed through a place called Yi. The border officer of this place went to pay a visit to Confucius and said that he would pay a visit to all those who came here who were moral and knowledgeable.
After meeting Confucius, the border guard found that Confucius' disciples were depressed because of traveling around the countries, so he said: "Why are you so anxious about not having an official position? The world has been without justice and darkness for too long. God will definitely let Confucius take charge of the bronze wooden bell and lead the human race to light."
A wooden bell is a copper bell with a wooden tongue. It is only used in formal occasions, such as when issuing important decrees or convening meetings.
In connection with this allusion, the meaning of the pen name "Duo Ling" is very obvious. The author is clearly indicating that he is leading the human race and leading them out of darkness.
Even the oldest use of bells is to determine the direction of the wind, which also implies the meaning of guidance.
After the publicity catches up, the innovation continues.
Fang Yun and the Criminal Hall had already discussed a countermeasure, and had the Criminal Hall drag the Li Hall in the Holy Courtyard, while Gao Mo continued to preside over the crackdown on private executions and private prisons in Jingguo, and posted notices to reward those who reported private executions and private prisons, and to ensure that the identity of the informant would not be leaked.
Not long ago, the State of Jing passed a strict decree that no matter how high or low the rank of an official, once a secret is leaked, the official will never be allowed to hold an official position in the State of Jing, and the official will be punished according to the severity of the leak. The minimum punishment is three years of hard labor. If the leaker dies, the crime is tantamount to murder and can be sentenced to death.
A bureaucratic system that cannot maintain strict confidentiality is only lacking, but a bureaucratic system that cannot severely punish leakers will inevitably be eliminated.
On the surface, the Criminal Hall was only responsible for destroying private prisons, collecting torture instruments, and promoting legal knowledge, but it was secretly investigating death penalty cases in the past ten years. Once there was conclusive evidence, the person would be arrested immediately. If there was resistance from the family, no mercy would be shown and all would be arrested on the charge of gathering a crowd for treason and all property would be confiscated.
Neither the Jing Kingdom nor the Criminal Court made a big fuss about it, but because the scope of the crackdown was so wide, it was discovered by scholars from all over the country. Some Jing Kingdom scholars believed that the Criminal Court and the Jing Kingdom government were too radical and criticized this practice on the discussion board.
Since some of the scholars are relatives and friends of the victims, their positions are very clear and their opposition attitude is very firm.
Most of the scholars on the discussion board only gave examples and reasoned, but a small number of scholars began to fabricate rumors to vent their personal anger, and even made up a rumor that a whole family, from the 90-year-old elder to the baby in the cradle, had been killed.
The Criminal Court was experienced and well prepared. They immediately went to arrest the person who spread the rumor and announced it on the discussion board to prevent the situation from getting out of control.
As the people in the Criminal Hall continued to disclose the cruel facts they encountered during the investigation and described the horrific lynchings, many people who had originally opposed it gradually fell silent.
Morality precedes etiquette and law, and etiquette and law originate from morality.
If even basic morality cannot be guaranteed, then there must be something wrong with etiquette and laws. Similarly, if there is something wrong with morality, etiquette and laws will inevitably have flaws.
The second largest country in the Southern Hemisphere has exceptionally light punishments for criminals. They claim that they are protecting everyone's rights, but if you look back at the process of the country's founding, you will find that most of their ancestors were a group of exiles and their country was built on the massacre of indigenous peoples.
In some of the northernmost countries in the northern hemisphere, the punishment for crimes is lighter than in normal countries. They only sentenced a serial killer who killed 77 people to 21 years in prison.
Because their ancestors were a group of pirates.
Because, deep down, they are indifferent to life. They don't care about a person's real rights at all. They just want others to know that they are kind. Anyway, the dead won't know.
The moral values of their ancestors influenced their moral values and thus influenced their laws.
Any country that does not have the death penalty is protecting evil and punishing kindness.
Therefore, when many scholars found that the people or things that set up private prisons conflicted with their own moral values, they gave up defending them.
The blood of sin flows, and one will naturally justify sin.
Moreover, there is a trend in the laws of all countries, that is, the easier it is for a high-ranking class to commit a crime, the less severe the punishment will be.
All living things have the instinct to protect themselves.
Fang Yun dared to carry out reforms because he believed that the scholars of Shengyuan Continent had basic conscience and morals.
The Ministry of Rites of Jing State and some officials were also trying to obstruct the crackdown on private executions and jails, but because the action was led by the Criminal Court and the judicial department worked together with the military, it did not need the consent of those officials at all, so the crackdown continued without any interference from the outside world.
The elders of the Palace of Rites do not hold real power in Jing State, and can only helplessly argue with the Palace of Punishment in the Holy Court.
Time passed slowly, Jing State was slowly reforming, and two major events also happened in Qing State.
The first major event was that the Dragon Clan was aggressively developing a waterway network within Qing State. From then on, Qing State would lose jurisdiction over the waterways and all of them would be handed over to the Water Palace. Some Qing State officials knew that it was related to Fang Yun and began to obstruct him, but they were immediately retaliated by the Water Clan and had to give up obstructing him.
The second big event is to celebrate the king’s birthday.
Qing Jun was already drained of his health by alcohol and sex, and had been vomited blood by Fang Yun many times in the past few years, which made his health worse. After a long period of recuperation, with the help of the magical items accumulated by Qing State, Qing Jun finally recovered his health.
In order to demonstrate the power of the Qing Kingdom and to celebrate the King of Qing's recovery, the Qing Kingdom held a birthday celebration that was far greater than any other in the past. Elderly people over the age of eighty from all over the country were invited to a banquet for ten thousand elders. At the same time, scholars from all over the country worked together to create a longevity painting.
In the summer of May, the air is filled with not only heat but also the coolness left over from late spring.
Qingjun sat on a reclining chair in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, four palace maids rubbed his legs and shoulders, and six eunuchs held the handles of mechanical fans and fanned him.
The two concubines carefully peeled the grape skins, put them into their mouths and sucked out the grape seeds, then held the grape flesh close to Qingjun's mouth and passed the grape flesh into Qingjun's mouth.
While Qingjun was chewing the delicious grapes, he reached out and kneaded the palace maid's breasts.
Opposite the recliner, two officials lowered their heads, waiting for the auspicious moment.
Soon, the eunuch outside the door shouted in a sharp voice: "The auspicious time has arrived, Your Majesty, please get up."
Qingjun then slowly put on his clothes, touched the palace maids and concubines, and whispered to the eunuch that he would favor the palace maid who hit his left shoulder tonight. Then he got on the sedan chair and led the palace guards to the Golden Palace.
Inside the imperial palace, on the huge square in front of the Golden Throne Hall, there were densely packed round tables, and guests from various countries, dignitaries, literati, relatives of officials, centenarian elders, and other people of all kinds sat at the tables.
The sun has not yet set, but the palace is already decorated with lights and colors.
As soon as Qing Jun appeared from the side and had not yet arrived in front of the Golden Throne Hall, everyone present stood up and shouted "Long live the emperor" with a deafening roar.
Qing Jun sat on the imperial chariot, looking at everyone with a smile, enjoying their worship and awe.
When they arrived at the side of the Golden Throne Hall, Qing Jun dismounted and stepped onto the imperial platform from one side. The cheers of the people below gradually faded.
Qingjun raised his head slightly and was about to speak when he heard the roar of a dragon coming from the north of the capital. The loud sound echoed in the sky.