Chapter 443

Because of its terrifying deterrent power, officials have always called it an inhumane cruel punishment, and they strongly resent and oppose it!

However, in Jia Jing's view, using this punishment on corrupt officials is not impossible!

As for the current officialdom atmosphere of the Da Han Empire, without thunderous measures, it is very difficult to achieve the effect of refreshing governance.

One must be ruthless when ruthlessness is needed; correcting excesses cannot be otherwise proper; in emergencies, one cannot avoid acting expeditiously; benevolence and righteousness are for the people, and absolutely not for corrupt officials and petty gentry!

He has truly witnessed the cruelty of the frontier and the suffering of the common people; therefore, he naturally strongly supports Jing Sheng Di's use of severe punishment to govern officials.

In a nutshell: in chaotic times, heavy laws must be used!

But……

We must also guard against threats to Your Majesty's safety!

Some people, when driven to desperation, can really do anything, even the most heinous acts of treason!

Xiong Cilu's stature trembled; the grand ministers were actually flayed and stuffed with grass—how could such a precedent be opened?

After his face changed repeatedly, he ultimately dared not speak first against Jing Sheng Di's wrath; he could only hurriedly signal with his eyes to the partisans behind him.

Immediately, Imperial Censor Li Ru Yue stepped forward from the ranks and proclaimed in a loud voice:

"Your Majesty must not! Although I know Your Majesty wishes to severely punish those corrupt officials who break the law,"

"However, not all those involved in the case deserve the death penalty; the chief culprits should be severely punished without mercy, while the coerced followers ought to be dealt with leniently."

"Especially, the punishment of flaying and stuffing with grass indeed harms heavenly harmony; the reason Taizu originally employed this punishment to punish corruption was because the realm had just been settled and the people's hearts were not yet won, necessitating heavy laws to intimidate the wicked."

"Now that Your Majesty has reigned for ten years, with civil virtue and martial merit, the world is gradually at peace; if such punishment were suddenly carried out now, it would likely damage Your Majesty's reputation for benevolence and virtue."

"The sages have said, Heaven cherishes life; Your Majesty's anger, we feel deeply; Your Majesty's severity, we also fully understand as unavoidable."

"But once the flaying punishment is restored, future generations will not regard Your Majesty as a restorer of order, but as a cruel and harsh ruler; I implore Your Majesty to reconsider thrice!"

Li Ru Yue's remonstration, though tactful, had a very clear meaning.

First, she does not approve of flaying and stuffing with grass, which harms heavenly harmony and contradicts the sages' words; second, the chief culprits can be severely punished, while those later arrested who were coerced should be dealt with leniently.

Jia Jing glanced at Li Ru Yue; with his keen ears and sharp eyes, he saw through Xiong Cilu's earlier small move as clearly as observing fire, knowing this was the civil officials protecting their own bureaucratic interests!

Once the wind of harsh penalties and strict laws begins, will the officials ever have good days again?

At this moment, Kong Ying, who had been holding his breath in the hall for half a day, stepped forward holding an ivory jade tablet, his face flushed, and spoke loudly:

"Your Majesty! The Taizu Emperor established the punishment of flaying and stuffing with grass, which is indeed the ultimate punishment for corruption. However, after Taizu and Chengzu, our ancestors have abolished this punishment; why? Not because we dare not, but because we cannot bear to."

"If Your Majesty restores this punishment, how will Your Majesty's benevolence be manifested? I have heard that 'punishment aims at the absence of punishment'; Your Majesty's prestige is already established, and the officials' fear has already arisen; today, the guilt of Cong Zhe alone is sufficient to shock and restrain the officials."

"If we again flay and stuff the officials with grass, then scholars across the world will regard entering office as a perilous path and see the court as tigers and wolves, which is truly not a blessing for the state."

"I implore Your Majesty, do not kill indiscriminately in anger; instead, show benevolence beyond the law and win people over with virtue!"

Jing Sheng Di, upon hearing Kong Ying's words, saw his face sink with a "swish", his gaze sharp and piercing!

This Kong Ying, in his words and between the lines, is accusing me of indiscriminately killing the innocent, not the bearing of a benevolent ruler!

When I first promoted the New Policies, he said I did not follow the ancestral statutes.

Now that I follow the ancestral statutes, he says I lack benevolence and righteousness; truly, he lets me say everything!

Relying on being a descendant of the Sage Ancestor, he truly thinks even this Son of Heaven must yield him three parts!

At this moment, the officials were also discussing in a buzz; Zhang Tingyu furrowed his brows, narrowed his eyes slightly, and seemed to be pondering something in his heart!

Jia Jing's expression turned solemn and fixed; staring at Kong Ying, he thought the Kong family was also a great malignant tumor, a traitorous family of the Da Han Empire!

Their opportunistic conduct, lacking any national integrity when facing foreign invasions, has been ridiculed by later generations as "generation after generation submitting documents as the Duke Yansheng."

The Qufu lineage has further formed a "tradition" culture of surrendering at the first sign of foreign invasion, having successively surrendered to the Jin, Yuan, and Qing regimes.

The most representative example is the late-Ming Duke Yansheng Kong Yin Zhi, who, while the Ming dynasty still existed, submitted a memorial expressing loyalty, but after the Qing army entered the pass in 1644, he quickly led the way in submitting a memorial of surrender, becoming another solid proof of the "Northern Kong" political opportunism.

In this world, although history differs somewhat, their actions are hardly different.

Perhaps this golden signboard of the Duke Yansheng should also be thoroughly toppled!

Just as Jia Jing was pondering, Kong Ying already wore an air of righteousness and again spoke passionately:

"Punishment is an aid to virtue! A sage ruler in the world educates and nurtures all the people through virtue, without arbitrarily inflicting punishments and executions."

"The two martial-merit houses of the Duke of Shan State and the Marquis of Pingyuan, having long received the state's favor, their descendants are unworthy; they naturally deserve death, and I have no objection!"

"However, persons like Grand Secretary Fang and others are merely momentarily muddled; we should show benevolence beyond the law; if we treat them all as deserving death, we fear damaging the sage's virtue and also showing disrespect to Heaven's law and the ancestors."

Upon these words, the officials erupted in an uproar; harming sage virtue, showing disrespect to Heaven and ancestors—only the descendants of the Duke Yansheng dare to so frankly admonish to the face!

Truly admirable!

And the martial officials all turned black-faced: what, martial merit means they should die? Civil officials should receive benevolence beyond the law?

Zhang Tingyu's face turned stern, and he bellowed:

"Officer Kong, when you speak such grand words, do you still have any regard for your sovereign and father?"

In his heart rose only one thought: the Kong family is becoming ever more brazen; yesterday they organized officials to block my door, which was bad enough, but today in the court they dare to be so rude!

At this moment, Hanlin Academician Peng Peng also stepped forward and said:

"Your Majesty, I believe the words of Imperial Censor Li and Officer Kong are reasonable; I have heard that 'who wins the people's hearts wins the realm,' and the people are the scholar-gentry."

"If Your Majesty today carries out the punishment of flaying and stuffing with grass, how will the officials and gentry of the world view Your Majesty? They do not know the guilt of Cong Zhe, only knowing Your Majesty's cruelty."

"I fear that under cruel punishment, the scholars of the world will alienate their hearts, and the heroic will retreat; truly, this is not a blessing for Your Majesty and the state."

Left Vice Censor-in-Chief Xu Sanli also stepped forward and said:

"I concur, yet the ruler does not care for his ministers; outside the law there is no mercy, how can the masses be governed? I think, even if the founding emperor and the succeeding emperor were alive, they would no longer employ the cruel penalty of skinning and stuffing grass to intimidate the people!"

These two admonitions sounded like thunderclaps exploding inside the great hall!

This is the civil officials' strong opposition to the restoration of the cruel punishment of skinning and stuffing grass!

Moreover, they are no longer afraid of risking offending the Son of Heaven; their words are full of offense and threats!

Jia Jing now stands among the martial meritorious, his gaze dim and indistinct.

And Jing Sheng Di says nothing; he knows that these upright civil officials, daring to directly remonstrate in such a way, only think that:

First, the law does not punish the masses.

Second, even if they receive a court flogging or are demoted and imprisoned, it is still a good way to make a name for themselves; after all, one cannot simply behead them just for offering counsel!

Third, the punishment of skinning alive like grass truly instills fear in them.

Jing Sheng Di picks up the small booklet piled beside the imperial desk and flips through it expressionlessly.

He is not impatient; he wants to see how many people will step forward today!

At that moment, Zhang Tingyu could no longer stand firm and submitted a memorial, saying:

"Your Majesty! I dare not blindly agree with what they say! Having served in the inner cabinet for many years, I am well aware of the corruption of officials and their greed for bribes."

"For decades, court regulations have loosened, and corrupt officials gnaw at the state like rats and ants; without a major campaign, the administration cannot be purified."

"Now that Fang Congzhe's case has emerged, it is an excellent opportunity to eradicate entrenched evils at once. I believe that employing severe statutes and establishing ironclad precedents, though harsh in the short term, will bring clarity for a hundred generations."

"People say harsh governance is fiercer than a tiger, yet they do not realize that the harm of corrupt officials far exceeds a tiger's by thousands of times; a tiger may wound one or a few people, whereas corrupt officials poison an entire region."

"They speak only of benevolence and morality, of granting grace beyond the law, yet they ignore how many starving infants await death in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and how many fish ready to be sliced on the cutting board."

"Fang Congzhe accepted a bribe of 170,000 taels of silver, spoke on behalf of Jiangnan gentry in court, obstructed the New Policies, and caused the implementation of New Policies in Jiangnan to proceed slowly."

"His greed, caring not at all for the state or the people's livelihood, only his own profit, has indirectly harmed countless impoverished citizens, has it not?"

"I implore Your Majesty to use Fang Congzhe's head as a sacrifice to the banner of the New Policies, to employ the punishment of skinning, and awaken the hearts of the world. This is not cruelty, but a great righteousness that uses law to stop killing."

After the Party Faction case that sparked a massive prison and the two incidents of Imperial Inspection, Zhang Tingyu now can only follow Jing Sheng Di down the same dark path!

Because, given his status, he absolutely cannot be a fence‑sitting, double‑dealing opportunist!

Thus, only by taking a gamble on Jing Sheng Di and Jia Jing together can the situation be controlled, and in the future revive the Da Han Empire!

Yet at that moment, Kong Ying pointed at Zhang Tingyu and shouted angrily:

"Zhang Tingyu is a treasonous traitor to the nation!"