Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

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The emperor's proposal was not a random act, but rather based on a specific reason.

The current military law system does indeed have problems.

The commander and the military judge had been working together for a long time and had become colleagues. They saw each other all the time and turned a blind eye to many things.

A military court system must be established, and it must not be subordinate to the Ministry of War or the Privy Council.

Before setting out to conquer Western Xia, Zhao Yuan had already planned to establish a military supervisor.

Ningxia is currently undertaking a series of initiatives, which presents a good opportunity to implement the military supervision system.

It draws on the advantages of the military supervisor system of the Han and Tang dynasties, discards the shortcomings of military supervisors in previous dynasties, and also incorporates the modern military court system.

Dealing with a few civil and military officials is easy, but for an emperor, the more difficult task is to establish a set of long-term and feasible institutional norms.

……

Zhao Yuan had long promised to bestow a title upon the king when he destroyed the Jin dynasty, and he would also bestow a title upon the king when he destroyed the Xia dynasty.

However, the one who was granted the title of king after the destruction of Xia was not the general who led the troops, but Zhang Guangdao, who was stationed in the Ministry of War.

Currently, there are three princes of different surnames in the Ming Dynasty.

One is Zhao Qi, one is Li Bao, and one is Zhang Guangdao.

Deng Chun, the commander-in-chief of the campaign against Xia, was granted the title of Duke.

Li Yanxian, the deputy commander, was granted the title of Duke.

They have both been transferred back to the central government; the former is now serving in the Privy Council, while the latter is serving in the Ministry of War.

Unless he is granted the title of king, he will still have opportunities to lead troops in the future. Perhaps one day he will be thrown out to be the commander-in-chief.

Chapter 3885 That's not how things were done.

In truly critical moments, the princes could also lead troops into battle.

However, the possibility is extremely slim, as there are no forces in the vicinity that would require the Ming Dynasty to take serious action.

After the imperial meeting concluded, Li Yanxian voluntarily stayed behind.

"What does Shao Yan have to say?" Zhao Yuan asked.

Li Yanxian carefully chose his words: "Your Majesty, the people of Shanxi and Shaanxi have a long-standing feud with Western Xia."

"Of the troops stationed in Ningxia today, about 30% of the generals are from Shanxi and Shaanxi, but 80% of the soldiers and immigrants are from Shanxi and Shaanxi."

"It was inevitable that they would clash with the remnants of the Western Xia, and the officers could not suppress the matter too much."

"Especially Linzhou, which caused this mess, is still under the jurisdiction of Shaanxi, and a large area of ​​former Western Xia territory was assigned to Linzhou."

"The dismantling of the former Western Xia territory is certainly a long-term plan, but it is inevitable that conflicts will intensify in the short term."

"Moreover, the officials there are all locals. Not only will the soldiers oppress the remnants of Western Xia, but the officials in Linzhou will certainly retaliate."

"The officials and soldiers of Linzhou all want to vent their anger on the remnants of Western Xia. How can the prefect and generals suppress them?"

“If they dare to use force, they will no longer be able to govern officials and lead troops.”

"Yao Pingzhong was good at fighting, but he was an idiot when it came to governing the army and the people."

"He offended many officers of allied forces, and he couldn't control the soldiers' anger."

“If he were punished for something else, many military officers would gloat, and his soldiers would not complain.”

"But we must not punish too severely for this matter, otherwise the morale of the garrison in Linzhou will surely collapse."

"Because from civil officials to soldiers, none of them believed that it was wrong to oppress the remnants of the Western Xia."

"How can a single government decree or a single military order resolve a century-old feud?"

Zhao Yuan listened patiently and nodded, saying, "What you said makes perfect sense."

Li Yanxian humbly replied, "My wisdom is far inferior to Your Majesty's. I can only offer my assistance in minor details."

"Do you know where Yao Pingzhong and Hu Xiang, the prefect of Linzhou, went wrong this time?" Zhao Yuan asked.

Li Yanxian asked with some doubt: "Didn't they wantonly oppress the remnants of the Western Xia and drive the people there to revolt and wreak havoc in the three prefectures?"

Zhao Yuan sneered, "Oppressing ordinary Western Xia remnants is no big deal; you can kill them at will without them causing any trouble."

"Those who led the trouble were the big herdsmen and landowners. These were the people the imperial court was supposed to deal with. No matter how badly they bullied them, who would hold them accountable?"

"Even if the censors and military judges report these matters to the court, I will simply submit a memorial to the emperor and pretend I did not see it."

Li Yanxian was even more confused: "Your Majesty, I am truly dull-witted and do not know where they went wrong. I beg Your Majesty to enlighten me."

Zhao Yuan said, "The imperial court has already issued military and political orders and has reserved sufficient funds and grain. We must provide relief to the people and prevent too many deaths."

"What are they doing? They're withholding disaster relief grain, and even when they do distribute it, it's only a tiny amount, pushing the poor to the brink of death."

"Those poor people, they say they are remnants of the Western Xia, but how many of them are descendants of Han people who were captured?"

"Their mistake was that they did not carry out the imperial court's orders, or rather, they did not carry them out thoroughly."

"To put it bluntly, if they had simply followed the imperial orders and distributed the disaster relief grain that was due, the common people wouldn't have been provoked into rebellion."

Chapter 3886 Military Prosecutor

“Even if something goes wrong, it can be completely controlled, and we can take the opportunity to kill those big landowners and ranchers.”

"The rest is just about oppressing a few remnants of the Western Xia. As long as they don't kill people indiscriminately, will the imperial court bother with such trivial matters?"

"I'm so busy with state affairs every day, would I care about such trivial matters?"

Li Yanxian suddenly understood and cupped his hands, saying, "Your subject understands."

Li Yanxian truly understood.

The officers, soldiers, and clerks of Linzhou did not do anything wrong in oppressing and humiliating the remnants of the Western Xia; at most, their work methods were flawed.

Even if it incites a rebellion among the remnants of the Western Xia, it can be glossed over, after all, the century-old feud is there.

Such ethnic conflicts can be resolved well or poorly, with the former being considered a minor offense.

Their mistake was disobeying!

They disobeyed the emperor and the court, and failed to properly distribute the disaster relief grain that was due.

Oppressing the remnants of the Western Xia dynasty was a problem with the way the government worked, but failing to distribute disaster relief grain was a deceitful act against the emperor, indicating that the court could not control the government and the army!

The government and military orders have already been issued, how dare you guys discount them?

Such actions, which go against the will of the imperial court, would have been fine if nothing had happened, but now that they have caused such a huge mess, how can they not be severely punished?

Moreover, Yao Pingzhong's actions were utterly idiotic. He deliberately provoked the remnants of the Western Xia to rebel, hoping to quell the rebellion, gain merit, and simultaneously win favor with the army and the people.

If he can truly do well, his punishment may be mitigated, or even his merits and demerits may be offset.

But this guy failed to keep the rebel army in check, and allowed them to cross provincial borders and sweep through the three northern prefectures of Ningxia.

Regardless of the cause, the process, or the outcome, it is all unforgivable!

Li Yanxian took her leave.

Zhang Tang wandered around outside for a while, then suddenly returned to pay his respects.

Zhao Yuan asked with a smile, "What else do you want to say?"

Zhang Tang said, "Your Majesty has a profound reason for doing this; I just have some doubts."

"Why is the military supervisor not under the Ministry of War or the Privy Council, but instead handed over to the Censorate?"

Zhao Yuan sighed: "If military generals are left unrestrained, they will inevitably become arrogant and domineering. But if civil officials are allowed to control them too strictly, they will no longer be able to lead troops into battle with ease."

"I tried my best to reconcile and downplay the distinction between civil and military officials, so that there were military officers in the Ministry of War and civil officials in the Privy Council."

"It's just that the focus is different; the Privy Council is more military, while the Ministry of War is more civil."

"If the Military Supervisory Commission is subordinate to the Privy Council, how can the Ministry of War control the military officers?"

"Will the high-ranking military officials in the Privy Council protect military commanders?"

"But if it belongs to the Ministry of War, a hundred years from now, the Ministry of War will surely secretly seize a lot of power from the Privy Council."

"Handing over the military supervisors to the Inspectorate and forbidding them from interfering in daily military affairs is already the best solution."

Zhang Tang suddenly realized what was happening and immediately bowed to take his leave.

Just as Zhang Tang was about to retreat to the palace gate, Zhao Yuan shouted, "Who sent you to inquire? Tell them exactly what you said!"

Zhang Tang was startled and dared not even deny it, so he quickly bowed and said, "As you command."

Zhang Tang was indeed instigated by the Ministry of War and the Privy Council to come to the emperor to sound him out.

Only he could inquire on their behalf, because Zhang Tang was a cabinet minister representing the military, and he himself needed to advocate for the military's interests.

The military tribunal system, which operates under a vertical management structure, could be subordinate to either the Ministry of War or the Privy Council.

Chapter 3887 Re-establishing Military Law

Anyway, the power remains with the military, and the Ministry of War and the Privy Council can still compete for control.

The military officers simply could not accept handing it over to the Censorate, and even the civil officials of the Ministry of War and the Privy Council could not accept it!

.......

The next day.

Zhang Guangdao finally breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the detailed plan for the establishment of the Military Supervisory Commission.

The military has not had much power taken away.

In daily training and military operations, military law is still enforced by military judges within the military, and the military judges will not interfere with military training and combat.

What are the duties of the military supervisor?

First, criminal cases involving military personnel, especially those involving civilians.

Second, economic cases involving military personnel, especially embezzlement of military funds and withholding of rations and pay.

Third, if soldiers are subjected to long-term enslavement, abuse, or exploitation, they can also file a complaint with the military supervisor.

In practice, they might be too lazy to deal with isolated incidents, but they will definitely take action against group incidents, which is a great achievement for military officials.

Harassing local people and oppressing the common people are naturally within the jurisdiction of the military supervisory commissioner.

But as long as it's not serious, they'll probably just turn a blind eye.

As for issues like disrupting military marriages, there's no need for separate legislation.

Ancient laws addressed adultery, generally stating that killing someone in the heat of the moment while catching them in the act was not a crime.

However, if it's not a case of catching someone in the act of adultery, then the law must be strictly followed.

According to the Ming Dynasty law, the sentence was determined by the law, usually one to two years in prison. Moreover, if the people did not complain, the officials would not investigate, and if the victim chose to forgive, they would not bother to care.

One victim, if he didn't kill the adulterer at the scene of the crime, would later regret it and go elsewhere to kill him or wait until another day.

That would definitely be murder!

This legal provision originated in the Sui and Tang dynasties and was used until the Qing dynasty.

The scenes of drowning pigs in cages or parading people through the streets on wooden donkeys, as depicted in movies and TV dramas, are definitely illegal and criminal acts, and if they result in death, they would certainly be capital offenses.

The formulation of laws in this way is a result of taking into account both morality and human nature, as well as the legal system.

If you commit a crime of passion while catching your lover in the act, it's understandable, you can be innocent, and both morality and humanity are satisfied.

If you then go and kill someone, it constitutes disrupting social order and you must bear the legal consequences.

Because you can report it to the authorities and make those two scoundrels go to jail.

After the Sui and Tang dynasties, there was also the "fortress law," which allowed homeowners to kill anyone who broke into their homes at night without cause!

However, there are two conditions: first, the intruder must break into a private residence at night; second, the intruder must kill the person on the spot (a crime of passion).

You cannot kill someone who breaks in during the day, nor can you kill them if they chase you out the door.

The "fortress law" and the "adultery law" are often used interchangeably. What were you doing going to someone else's house at night?

You're saying you're going to steal something? The homeowner might think you're there to commit adultery.