Before dawn the next day, more than 100 thieves who had committed the most heinous crimes were tied up and secretly escorted out of the city. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the county ordered Sun Chuanting to give an order, and the Qin soldiers in charge of the execution picked up the ghost-headed broadsword and beheaded these thieves together. After that, the head was collected and prepared to be reported to the imperial court, and the body was buried on the spot, leaving no trace.

In fact, according to Zhu Youzhen's original intention, it is "killing thieves and taking credit", and it is more appropriate to do such a sneaky thing in the dead of night. However, the people of this era were superstitious, believing that no matter what crime the beheaded person committed, his ghost would haunt the executioner, so he must be executed at noon, when the yang energy is at its peak, so that the yin spirit will not dare to do trouble.

Although Zhu Youzhen couldn't laugh or cry at this theory, he still agreed to this arrangement. After all, it is more difficult to change ideas than the development of science and the improvement of technology. As long as it does not interfere with his career, this transformation may as well be carried out slowly.

After dealing with these condemned prisoners, it is time to deal with the thieves who do not commit crimes to death. Of course, Zhu Youzhen didn't know much about the laws of this era, so he asked Sun Chuanting what punishments were in this era.

Sun Chuanting replied: "The "Da Ming Law" is in the same vein as the Sui and Tang Dynasty laws, and there are five kinds of punishments for criminals: flogging, rod, imprisonment, exile, and death. These five punishments are transformed from the Shang Friday sentence, which is based on the theory of the 'five elements'. Except for the five punishments, all of them are non-punishments. ”

When Zhu Youzhen heard that the punishment could be related to the "five elements", he couldn't help but be very interested. It is also reminiscent of the criminal law of the previous life, which is divided into controlled release, criminal detention, fixed-term imprisonment, life imprisonment, and the death penalty, which also happens to be five punishments. Then he asked with great interest, "Why does the punishment have to be five?" What is the difference between the five sentences of the Shang Dynasty and the five punishments of the Sui and Tang Dynasties? ”

Sun Chuanting said eloquently: "The numbers are from one to nine, and five is in the middle. The number of punishments is five, which is also the meaning of taking the righteousness. The five punishments of Shang are Mo, Qian, Cut, Gong, and Dapi, which are secretly in line with the five elements. Fire can turn golden, so ink can change its flesh; Jin can overcome wood, so cut to remove its joints; Wood can overcome the soil, so it is cut to remove its nose; The soil can plug the water, and the Forbidden City will cut it off*; Water can extinguish fire, so it will kill its life. ”

This passage was half-written and half-plain, and Zhu Youzhen was confused. After Sun Chuanting's detailed explanation, Zhu Youzhen learned that ink punishment, also known as 黥 (Yinqing, the younger brother felt that it was necessary to mark the pronunciation of these rare words, and it would be more convenient for readers to look at them, the same below) punishment, which is to tattoo characters on the face or forehead of the prisoner, and then dye it with ink as a sign of the prisoner. Because the ink penetrates deep into the skin, it cannot be washed off, so no matter how long it takes, wherever you go, you can tell at a glance that you were a criminal. Like Lin Chong in "Water Margin", "stabbing with Cangzhou", in fact, this is this kind of punishment.

The punishment is to cut off the nose of the prisoner. This is more conspicuous than ink punishment, and when a person loses his nose, he immediately becomes extremely ugly, which can be said to be a great insult. Therefore, the punishment is heavier than the ink punishment.

剕 (sound boiling) punishment is also known as 刖 (sound moon), that is, to cut off the prisoner's feet. In this way, the prisoner is left with a lifelong disability and is incapacitated. Moreover, the pain suffered during the torture was also great, because "a knife is used for cutting, and a saw is used for cutting", and the saw saws off the feet alive, which makes people shudder to think about it.

Palace punishment is also known as rotten punishment, this does not need to be explained by Sun Chuanting, everyone who has watched "Smiling Proud Jianghu" knows: If you want to practice divine skills, swing a knife from the palace! However, as one of the five punishments, it was not voluntary for the prisoner, but the greatest punishment for a man, and Ma Qian of Taishi Company was tortured by this. Later, although the palace punishment was abolished, this craft was retained and became the "patent" of the eunuchs.

These four punishments are collectively referred to as corporal punishment, and as the name suggests, they are punishments that harm the prisoner. And the last sentence "Dapi", to put it bluntly, is beheading, and it is also the first of the five punishments.

After listening to Sun Chuanting's introduction to the five sentences, Zhu You didn't feel a cold sweat all over his body, and only after a while did he mutter: "These five punishments are too cruel!" ”

"What Your Highness said is very true." Sun Chuanting said cautiously, "The punishment is too harsh, and it is a loss of the king's benevolence and righteousness. In view of this, since the Han Dynasty, Wei and Jin dynasties, the Shang and Shang five punishments were gradually abolished, and the new five punishments were formally established in the Sui "Kaihuang Law", which has been used to this day. ”

Next, he explained to Zhu Youzhen the five punishments in the "Da Ming Law": "flogging (sound eating)", that is, using a wooden board or wattle to beat the prisoner's buttocks or thighs.

The "rod", commonly known as the board, is similar to the flogging, but the tool of execution is replaced by a wooden stick, and the damage caused is also greater.

"Prisoners" are prisoners who are forced to perform labor with shackles and other torture instruments. The modern term "fixed-term imprisonment" evolved from this.

"Stream" is similar to the prison sentence, but the place of imprisonment has been changed to a remote area, which is similar to the meaning of "moving bricks in Xinjiang" in the previous life. In this era, transportation was extremely underdeveloped, and if the prisoner was exiled to the frontier, the person basically could not come back, so the "flow" was more important than the "disciple".

"Death", as the name suggests, is the death penalty. This is no different from Shang Wu's sentence, which is still beheading.

After listening to Sun Chuanting's introduction, Zhu Youzhen also had a plan in his heart. Since these thieves are not intended to be executed, there is no need for "death". However, the conditions for "streaming" are not met, so there are only three punishments left: "flogging", "rod", and "imprisonment".

Both the "flogging" and the "rod" are corporal punishments, and even if a prison sentence is imposed, corporal punishment must be applied at the same time as punishment for the offender.

"Master Sun, I think so!" Zhu Youzhen pondered for a moment and said, "Sentence these thieves to one year in prison, but don't give corporal punishment at the same time." ”

"This..."Sun Chuanting hesitated again, it was obvious that such a verdict was not in line with the "Da Ming Law".

Zhu Youzhen said with a smile: "This king is not reluctant to beat them. On the contrary, it is precisely because of the weight of their sins that they have to atone for their sins to the greatest extent, and the way to atone for their sins is through heavy physical labor. If they are beaten to the point that they can't move, the king still has to keep them, how cost-effective it is! ”

Sun Chuanting was dumbfounded when he heard this, thinking to himself how this Qin King Chitose could be as calculating as a businessman on such a serious issue!

In fact, Zhu Youzhen has his own plans. He certainly wouldn't tell Sun that this was the first attempt at the legal reform he had conceived. Modern punishment is completely different from ancient times, and it is more civilized and humane as it is to reform and punish it.

As a traverser, Zhu Youzhen naturally wants to bring over the modern advanced legal system. The development of science and technology cannot be achieved overnight, but the construction of the system lies entirely in people, in which the ideas and minds of the rulers often play a huge role.

In his view, in order to avoid the decline of the Ming Dynasty and the Chinese nation, all aspects of society must "keep pace with the times". It has been more than 200 years since the promulgation of the "Da Ming Law", and it has followed the system of the Sui and Tang dynasties, and now it is really necessary to change!