I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 66 Reporting
During the Hongwu period, reporting a vassal king was something that required extreme caution.

The law stipulates that if the princes commit illegal acts, the censors are not allowed to report them easily, and the common people are not allowed to report the princes. Anyone who violates the law will be sentenced to death:

Any official who reports a minor fault of the king to the emperor or alienates his relatives shall be executed. If he hears that the king has committed a major fault but has no evidence to prove it, and yet reports it to the emperor, his crime shall be the same.

Any common people who dare to accuse the king of trivial matters and act treacherous and stubborn will be beheaded, and their families will be exiled to the border.

After the Jingnan Campaign, Zhu Di actually accomplished what Emperor Jianwen wanted to do but failed to do - reducing the power of the princes.

Of course, he had far more means and patience in reducing the power of the princes than Zhu Yunwen.

The emperors after Zhu Di continued and strengthened the policy of reducing the power of the princes, which turned into the strict Ming Dynasty's feudal prohibition policy that we see today.

Among this series of measures to reduce the power of the princes, one very important one was to encourage people to report on the princes.

This encouragement specifically means that if the report on the vassal king is confirmed to be true after investigation, then you will be recognized, rewarded or promoted. If it is found that you have made a false accusation, then the matter is not serious and the punishment will be very light.

Zhu Di relied on this method to find faults with the princes and to weaken their power piecemeal.

The painting style is as follows:

Hey, my dear brother, the Prince of Dai, someone reported that your clothing was too excessive, and the Chengyun Hall in your Prince of Dai's Palace was built a little higher than the Fengtian Hall in Beijing. We are brothers, and you, the fourth brother, are not willing to punish your brother for this matter, but the fourth brother is now the head of our old Zhu family, and there are so many people watching. If you, the fourth brother, don't make some gesture, it will be difficult to lead the team below. You have to understand your fourth brother's difficulties. We are brothers, and the fourth brother can't bear to punish you too severely, so even if he punishes you, he won't punish you too much. You now have three guards (a guard is fully staffed with 6000 people), and we will cut one this time, so that the fourth brother can explain to the people below. Please understand the difficulties of the fourth brother. The fourth brother happens to have pieces of the best Shu brocade sent from Shuzhong. The fourth brother will send you pieces to make clothes. After all, we are brothers. The fourth brother thinks of you, the dear brother, when there is something good.

Emperors of all dynasties used similar methods to boil frogs in warm water to turn the princes from all over the country into pigs kept in the palace.

Moreover, many of the vassal prohibition policies were formulated in the name of benefiting the vassal kings. For example, when Emperor Xuanzong heard that Prince Zhao Zhu Gaosui often went out of the palace in plain clothes to play in the city, he issued an edict saying that he was afraid that he would be taken advantage of by traitors when he was in plain clothes, so he ordered Prince Zhao to bring a full set of ceremonial guards every time he went out of the palace. Then he implemented it throughout the country, saying that he was concerned about the safety of the vassal kings, but in fact it was to better monitor the vassal kings.

At first, people were quite reserved when reporting the vassal kings, and they would only report if they had some actual evidence. But the rewards for informants made things get out of control.

The recognition and encouragement of reporting behavior has led to the fabrication of truth and false accusations.

If you can get promoted and make money just by writing, then just make up something to report it. Maybe this prince just happens to have this problem, then it would be a stroke of luck. Anyway, even if it is found out that it is a fabricated story, the punishment will not be severe.

Therefore, false accusations against the princes became a trend during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. At first, Emperor Xuanzong did not take it seriously. What was wrong with making up stories? Making up stories could also be used to criticize the princes of various places.

But everything should be done in excess. The court can no longer bear so many false accusations. It also requires manpower to investigate the princes based on the accusations. There are many things going on in the court, and the affairs of the princes are just a small part of them. How can I have so many people to investigate for you?
Putting all the contents of the accusation together, it means that the princes across the country are either plotting a rebellion or preparing to rebellion. But what are the princes like now? Doesn't the court know it? They have all been stripped of their sharp teeth, claws and thick skins, and have become fat, white domestic pigs that are harmless to humans and animals. You say they are all planning a rebellion, but to be honest, they don't have the ability to do so, you know!
The strict feudal restrictions were intended to remove and prevent the vassal kings from having the ability to rebel, not to kill all of them. After all, they were all relatives of the emperor, and in ancient times people paid great attention to clans.

Moreover, accusations caused widespread panic among the feudal lords, causing them to feel insecure. Therefore, after the Zhengtong period, false accusations as a common political phenomenon basically ended, and only existed as revenge for personal grudges.

However, reporting the illegal behavior of the feudal lords was retained as a normalized system, which required actual evidence, and the input-output ratio was not as high as before.

Shi Lu's act of reporting was carried out in such a context, so he would only report it after he got what he thought was evidence.

Shi Lu became extremely excited. He wrote a memorial overnight about what he believed to be the illegal behavior of the King of Jing, and had someone send it to the Jinyiwei in Qizhou overnight. As the chief historian of the royal palace, although he was only a fifth-rank official, according to the system he was only responsible to the emperor, so he could also use the Jinyiwei, the emperor's personal army, to deliver the memorial.

After doing all this, Shi Lu did not dare to return to the Jingwang Mansion. He was now suffering from paranoia and was afraid that he would be killed first, so he disappeared into the night of Qizhou City.
"What? Shi Lu hasn't been on duty at the Chief Secretary's Office for three days?" Zhu Houxun looked at Zhan Bin with a frown.

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I was negligent. It was only after Shi Lu disappeared for three days that I realized it." Zhan Bin said with a face full of shame.

"What could he be doing? Was he murdered by a bad guy?" Zhu Houxuan was a little confused. Shi Lu's mental state was not normal recently, but he would not get lost on his own, and it was unlikely that he was murdered by a bad guy. Qizhou had been peaceful for a long time, and there had not been any serious cases for a long time.

"Someone in the palace saw Shi Lu's last appearance at Gongzheng Office, and someone outside the palace saw him coming out of Jinyiwei. I'm afraid he is up to no good!" Zhan Bin's eyes were full of worry.

Zhu Houxuan followed his thoughts and guessed what Shi Lu had been doing. He felt angry and amused at the same time.

"It seems that the prince has also guessed what happened. So what should we do now?" Zhan Bin couldn't laugh at all.

"He only saw the discarded swords in Gongzheng Institute. Once I hand over the gift, everything will be clear. So don't worry too much."

"However, the disappearance of the chief secretary of the royal palace is a big deal. We should inform the governor of Qizhou according to the normal procedures and ask him to help find him. If he can't find him, inform the Huguang Provincial Administration. We haven't done anything wrong. Don't panic and do what we should do." Zhu Houxuan remained calm.

"Eunuch Yu doesn't know about this yet. Should we send someone to catch up with Eunuch Yu and tell him about this, so that he can be mentally prepared?" Zhan Bin was still a little uneasy.

"He's been gone for five or six days, so we can't catch up with him! I believe Eunuch Yu will take care of it."

"Then I will go find Magistrate Yu right away!"

After sending Zhan Bin away, Zhu Houxuan thought of the pile of discarded swords at Gongzheng Institute.

How about cleaning up some trash, recycling it, and building an Iron Throne to play with?

(End of this chapter)