A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 281 Heavy Code
Xuanshi Palace.

The officials, nobles, and members of the imperial family, both Chinese and foreign, were no longer as solemn as before, but possessed an aura of majesty that surpassed all previous times. Led by Chancellor Gongsun Hong, they chanted: "May Your Majesty live a thousand years and ten thousand years, and enjoy endless happiness!"

Its sound resonates like gold and jade, and bells and drums beat in unison.

Following the Qin system, Liu Ju, wearing a tall crown, a long hat and sash, and black shoes, dressed in the attire for suburban sacrifices, walked towards the throne.

From the time of the Yellow Emperor, the crown and tassels became a symbol of the king's formal attire, and this continued to be the case with the Zhou emperors.

After Qin Shi Huang ascended the throne, he abolished the crown and tassels, and the robes for suburban sacrifices were uniformly adopted in the form of a black robe.

Qin Shi Huang, who considered himself to be of the water element in the Five Elements theory, established the ritual norm of "honoring black" and designated the black robe as the highest-level sacrificial garment.

Although the Han dynasty revered yellow, its ceremonial robes still followed the Qin system, using the color "junxuan" (袀玄), with only vermilion embellishments on the cuffs and collar, while the main color remained black.

However, Junxuan is bound by etiquette and can only appear in four situations.

I. Offering sacrifices to Heaven and performing the Fengshan ceremony.

II. All officials participated in the sacrifice.

III. Sacrifices at ancestral temples, and sacrifices to mountains, rivers, and the four major waterways.

IV. The new emperor ascends the throne and changes the era name.

When they saw the emperor dressed like this and holding a court discussion, many courtiers eager for advancement felt their hearts pound.

At times other than sacrifices or rituals.

Has Your Majesty come to a realization?

Where is His Majesty?

Liu Ju walked to the throne, turned around and sat down. His voice was heavy and full of sorrow. “Bandits and thieves are rampant. The area inside and outside the pass is in chaos. They kill my subjects, plunder my money and grain, and even ambush my ministers on both sides of the imperial street. What do you think, my ministers?”

"war!"

"kill!"

"..."

The upper tone falls.

The murderous intent of the civil and military officials erupted suddenly, and for a time, shouts of "war!" and "kill!" filled the air.

Using the methods of a bandit to threaten the imperial court—is this forgetting who founded the Han Dynasty?
The Qin court, troubled by the nobles of the six states, failed to eradicate the threat of wandering knights and thieves, ultimately leading to an irreparable disaster. In contrast, the Han court is now united in purpose and spirit among its officials and people.

Those petty scoundrels dare to defy their superiors; they have utterly rebelled against the teachings.

Gongsun Hong glanced at Zhang Tang, who remained unmoved like a puppet, and slowly stood up. "Your Majesty, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Li Kui of the State of Wei wrote in his 'Legal Canon': 'The most urgent policy of a king is against thieves and robbers.'"

Wandering knights and thieves, though all brave warriors, are cowardly in public battles but courageous in private duels, thus becoming a scourge to the people.

During the reign of Emperor Gaozu, Chancellor Xiao He, based on the *Legal Canon*, added three more chapters, creating the Nine Chapters of Law. This system continues to this day. I believe that if we wish to inspire our people to fight for the honor of our Chinese nation, we must first punish bandits and thieves, and then lift the ban on martial arts.

The Dharma Sutra

It is a written legal code created by Li Kui, the prime minister, under the order of Marquis Wen of Wei in the early Warring States period. It is also the first systematic written legal code in China.

It is divided into six parts: "Theft", "Theft", "Imprisonment", "Arrest", "Miscellaneous", and "Tools". The first four parts focus on punishing crimes that infringe on property and personal safety, "Miscellaneous Laws" regulates other illegal acts, and "Tools Laws" establishes the principles of conviction and sentencing.

Its system was brought to the Qin state by Shang Yang and developed into the "Qin Law".

Based on the "Legal Canon," Xiao He of this dynasty added three chapters, "Household Affairs," "Prosperity," and "Stable," to form the "Nine Chapters of Law."

The Wei, Qin, and Han dynasties all adopted the principle in the Legal Canon that "the most urgent matter in the governance of a king is dealing with thieves and robbers" as their governing guideline. Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has been a mix of agriculture and animal husbandry, with agriculture outnumbering animal husbandry, occupying the central plains of the "center of the world".

It is often said that farming is easy, but to cultivate the land in the Central Plains, and even to transform a large number of nomadic tribes into agricultural populations, one does not rely on sickles and hoes, but on the force of chopping and smashing.

Chinese folk customs have always been wild and belligerent. Even a small matter can easily escalate into a bloody fight in the fields, which can then lead to family brawls, village fights, and even tribal feuds.

Over time, there were very few families, villages, and tribes without blood feuds. These tribesmen who hated each other often provoked each other to fight privately, even in the military or on the battlefield. They would rather help their benefactors or friends who were fighting privately out of loyalty or hatred than rush to the battlefield to rescue their brave compatriots who were fighting the enemy.

Fierce and wild, they only recognize passion and loyalty, and have never known what "rules and laws" are. They often fight to the death for generations over water, grass and farmland. If they find that their enemy's son is alone, they will not hesitate to organize a group of people to kill him.

Blood for blood, life for life – this is a simple principle that the people of the Central Plains have believed in for thousands of years. Even the strictest Qin laws could hardly extend to that atmosphere of bravery and violence.

Although the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, and the Qin Dynasty all perished one after another, and the general situation of China gradually stabilized, the long-standing folk customs could not be changed. Fighting over land, seizing irrigation canals... year after year, the feuds continued, and countless people died.

At this moment, Gongsun Hong attributed the root of the private feuds to the arrogant and violent wandering knights and thieves who broke the law with their martial arts, believing that these people set a bad example.

To guide the people of the land onto the righteous path of fighting to the death for the honor of the nation, it is necessary to thoroughly eliminate wandering knights and thieves, and cultivate a spirit of shared destiny and common honor among the common people.

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the princes and ministers of both the Chinese and foreign dynasties underwent subtle changes. The wild and belligerent folk customs of China came first, followed by the "individual heroes" such as knights-errant and thieves. However, the old prime minister deliberately reversed the order, attributing the wild and belligerent folk customs to knights-errant and thieves. Can such blatant reversal of right and wrong be considered wrong?

No!

The Han Dynasty had an ironclad rule: the people were honest and simple, and the masses were law-abiding; the one who was wrong was never the common people.

Judging from this, the old prime minister wanted to use the heads of these wealthy, lazy, and evasive bandits who roamed the country, taking advantage of the chaos to rob, rape, burn, and kill, and to reform the warlike customs of the Han people.

Wandering knights and thieves must be killed, and by doing so, we can make an example of them to calm down the hot-blooded masses—a win-win situation.

The princes and ministers couldn't help but admire him, thinking, "The old prime minister is truly a man of great talent."

Inside the main hall, beneath the expressionless faces of Grand Marshal Wei Qing and Imperial Censor Zhang Tang lay hearts as turbulent as boiling water.

It's more than just a win-win situation.

Blaming the robbery and murder of Confucian officials and cruel bureaucrats on wandering knights and thieves is one way to go.

Turning the impending restoration wave into chaos caused by wandering knights and thieves is a double benefit.

This would naturally resolve the problem of restless wandering knights and thieves within the Han territory, achieving three goals in one go.

Taking this opportunity to eradicate the tendency of violence and aggression among the people is a win-win situation.

……

Old Prime Minister, you've squeezed every last drop of oil from the bones of wandering knights and thieves.

One black cauldron after another, even wandering knights and thieves probably don't know they have such great abilities.

The price of ignorance is one's life.

Liu Ju nodded slightly, looked at the officials of both dynasties, and asked, "What do you all think?"

"Your Excellency is a wise and experienced strategist; we, your subjects, second this proposal!"

"I second the proposal!"

"..."

"In that case, issue an edict to all counties and prefectures across the land to punish the wicked and eliminate the bandits, leaving no one alive!"

(End of this chapter)