Chapter 107: The Vernacular Imperial Edict

The Grand Pronouncement is a fine thing—for the common folk and for the current Chongzhen Emperor alike, it is a thing of many uses. The founding Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang once issued an express decree stipulating:

"After the Grand Pronouncement is published, every household must possess a copy, passed down through the family and recited by all. Those whose households possess the Grand Pronouncement shall have their sentences for caning, flogging, penal servitude, or exile reduced by one degree; those without the Grand Pronouncement shall have their sentences increased by one degree. Those who refuse to accept it shall be relocated beyond the pale, never to be permitted to return."

In other words, this thing was practically a talisman for the common folk—far more effective than anything begged from some shabby temple!

To expand the influence of the four-part Grand Pronouncement, Zhu Yuanzhang even made it a compulsory course for students at every level across the realm, and the imperial examinations began drawing questions from it year after year. In other words, he incorporated the Grand Pronouncement into the scope of the civil service examinations.

Whether you wanted to memorize it or not—want to be an official? Then memorize it properly for His Majesty, and the more fluently the better!

As everyone knows, Zhu Chongba was an iron-fisted emperor of peasant stock. When it came to lowly origins, even Liu Bang, the Grand Progenitor of the Han dynasty, could hardly compare.

When it came to punishing corrupt officials, Zhu Yuanzhang executed as many as he uncovered, without the slightest hesitation.

There was no help for it—he was the founding emperor, holding the entirety of the realm's military and political power in his hands. Truly, whoever displeased him died, and no petty scoundrel dared to defy him, let alone pull something like drowning him or poisoning him—they didn't even dare entertain the thought.

In the Hongwu years there was no Donglin Faction; the only thing officials pondered daily was how to keep embezzling by ever more inventive means.

Zhu Yuanzhang also answered the people's pleas without fail. Peasants would often come to the capital with the Grand Pronouncement balanced on their heads to lodge complaints against officials. No matter how high or low the accused official's rank, once the facts were verified, they almost all ended up unable to escape the net of the law and were severely punished according to statute.

Cowed by Zhu Yuanzhang's authority, official discipline in the Hongwu years reached the pinnacle of any dynasty. The Imperial Academy strictly supervised all students in mastering and expounding the Grand Pronouncement, going so far as to use fluency of recitation as a criterion for appointment to office.

Those who refused to obey or memorize the Grand Pronouncement were punished for defying the regulations. It is said that in those days, teachers and students who came to the capital to pay homage after lecturing on the Grand Pronouncement from various regions numbered over 190,000. This thing was simply the officially mandated question bank for the civil examinations!

But even the best thing, if it blocks the money path of the honored officials, cannot last long.

Zhu Yuanzhang went to tremendous pains to promulgate the Grand Pronouncement throughout the realm, and no one dared oppose him. But he could never have imagined that within a few years of his death, the officials of the Great Ming would forget the thing entirely—from top to bottom, no one would ever mention it again.

In the Chenghua years, Lu Rong, a Bureau Director in the Ministry of War, was dismissed and sent home for petitioning on behalf of the people and offending the powerful. After returning, he spent his days helplessly at home, grumbling.

"At the founding of the dynasty, to correct the ills of the Yuan, harsh laws were used to renew the realm, so orders were obeyed and prohibitions heeded, like wind over grass. Yet some things were followed to one's face but abandoned after one's death—such as the Hongwu coins, the Great Ming Treasure Notes, the Grand Pronouncement, and the Hongwu Rhymes."

"The Grand Pronouncement is only cited by the judicial offices when sentencing—saying that possession of the Grand Pronouncement reduces punishment by one degree and so forth. The common folk have truly never seen it, let alone had anyone lecture on it!"

These grumbles should have been known to few, but in the end his descendants compiled and published them, making them known to all the world. And so the Grand Pronouncement became utterly a dead letter.

What Lu Rong said was not without reason—it truly reflected the sentiments of the people at the time. The Grand Pronouncement had lost all effect after Zhu Yuanzhang's death; there was no longer that iron-fisted emperor who killed people by the hundreds.

The promised sentence reductions never materialized—who would keep that thing around to read!

Now the Chongzhen Emperor, through the hand of Wei Zaode, has brought the Grand Pronouncement back onto the table. To put it nicely, it is restoring ancestral institutions; to put it bluntly, it is a shameless move to checkmate the Donglin Faction once again.

The Grand Pronouncement is, after all, an ancestral institution. Even if it had long been useless, no emperor had dared to openly abolish it. So the question arises: when the Chongzhen Emperor uses this thing to execute people and confiscate their property, he still has a legal basis. The words of the founding Hongwu Emperor—who dares defy them?

If anyone does, drag them out and behead them!

According to what Wei Zaode said, this thing is to be implemented starting from the capital. When that happens, the lower-level officials will likely no longer dare to skim money so easily. If they lose their tributes, what are the big shots to do—shamelessly go ask for money themselves?

The Chongzhen Emperor doesn't care what these ministers think. In his view, as long as the Donglin Faction is made miserable, he is happy; as long as the Donglin Faction cannot continue to control the situation, the Great Ming will not fall!

And of course, most importantly, he himself won't be forced by Courier Xiao Li to hang himself in martyrdom for the state.

Although Wei Zaode is the Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, he is far inferior to Zhang Juzheng. His role at court is not very significant—besides being the ultimate scapegoat, he serves as the Chongzhen Emperor's other mouth.

Beyond that, the Chongzhen Emperor doesn't want him to offer any constructive suggestions at all.

The Chongzhen Emperor "deliberated" again and again, "discussed" at length with the assembled officials, and only then "reluctantly" decided to implement this measure, saying:

"I am giving you all one last chance. Those who do not approve of this measure may walk directly out of the hall. I guarantee that I will not make things difficult for any one of them. I permit you to retire to your hometowns and live out your years in peace!"

After these words, the several stalwart generals standing outside the hall also made a show of stepping aside to clear the way. The assembled ministers' faces flushed red; they looked at one another, none willing to take a single step out.

Are you joking? Isn't being an official far better than being a common commoner?

Scholars across the realm study diligently in cold windows and sit for the imperial examinations, all for a chance to see their names on the golden list. And what is the golden list for? Ultimately, it's to become an official!

Seeing that no one was willing to speak up, the Chongzhen Emperor gave a cold laugh and said:

"Then you ministers are promising never to embezzle again? Very well. From now on, if anyone dares to knowingly break the law, don't blame me for turning my back on you! Wang Cheng'en, draft the edict."

"To all civil and military officials and common people, great and small, within my realm: for those households without the Grand Pronouncement, I will send special envoys to deliver it to you. If there are none, do not worry—I will handle it myself and give you an accounting."

"If local government offices refuse to distribute it, do not be afraid. My Three Depots and One Guard are not to be trifled with—such matters will be handled by them. For those households that receive the Grand Pronouncement, if officials commit any acts of corruption or lawbreaking, you may take the Grand Pronouncement to the yamen and lodge a complaint. If officials protect one another and collude together, do not be afraid—I await you in the capital to seek justice on your behalf!"

"Having said this much, I will add one more instruction to the people: if your household possesses the Grand Pronouncement, you must study and recite it together with the laws of my Great Ming. In the coming years, the imperial examinations will newly include content from the Grand Pronouncement and the legal code. Those unfamiliar with them cannot become officials—this is my promise to the people of the realm."

This edict was something else. The assembled officials felt their scalps crawl; even the eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial responsible for recording stared wide-eyed, not daring to set brush to paper, casting questioning looks at Wang Cheng'en.

The Chongzhen Emperor listened to the whispered murmurs around him without even turning his head, and said calmly:

"Draft the edict exactly as I have spoken—not one word more, not one word less, so that the common folk can understand clearly. Begin implementation from the capital. For officials of all offices and their household children and relatives in their home villages, first issue supplementary copies of the Grand Pronouncement; then for the common people and refugees within and outside the capital, ensure that every person has a copy. The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Censorate shall assist and supervise from the side."