After the next dynasty, Ran Min was still very confused, so he left Wang Meng in Jianzhang Palace and sat down to talk.

"Jing Luo, at today's court meeting, why are you standing on the side of the article? If the widow wants to enrich the country and strengthen the army, he has to change the law, and if he wants to change the law, he has to implement the uniform field system, and if the uniform field system wants to be implemented smoothly and the effect is remarkable, it is necessary to conduct a census, and if you want to achieve a census in the real sense, you must overthrow the obstacle of the Shi clan! ”

"But the scholars will never cooperate with the implementation of the equalization system, nor will they allow us to conduct the census smoothly. They don't know how many people they have hidden for so many years! The death of Gao Yu this time is an opportunity for the widow to eradicate the suzerain's supervision and protection system and eradicate the powerful dock fort of the Shi clan! ”

Ran Min was a little indignant and a little puzzled, he spent so much effort to finally catch Yingchuan Chen's braids, and was trying to expand his influence, use this incident to make a big fuss, and attack the dock fort of the scholars, but why didn't Wang Meng cooperate at all, but still did he do it with him?

Wang Meng shook his head lightly and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive your Majesty for being blunt, regarding this matter, the King is indeed not kind. You must know that the law does not punish the heart, only words and deeds! This is the essence of Legalism, and this is the essence of changing the law! ”

"What do you mean?" Ran Min was a little puzzled.

Wang Meng said eloquently: "King, you can't rely on your own subjective conjecture to determine whether a person is good or bad, behavior is the criterion for judging a person's merits. Once an order or decree is published, it is strictly enforced, and if it is violated, it is punished according to the law! ”

"And now Gao Yu did die in Chen's dock fort, which is a fact, but it is not ironclad evidence. To convict a person, the evidence needs to be conclusive, so that he is speechless, but if there is all the evidence and material evidence, how can he refute it? But you don't, the king, you just rely on subjective speculation, with a preference, with a spare purpose to close the coffin, isn't this adding a lot of resistance to our changes? ”

It also adds resistance to the change?

Ran Min was even more puzzled.

But Ran Min already understood the meaning of not punishing the heart.

"The law does not punish the heart, but only the oblique speech, which is one of the important ideas of Legalism in the Warring States Period.

The law does not punish the heart, and clearly regulates the sins and non-crimes.

The application of "the law does not punish the heart, but only the words are oblique" to judicial practice has effectively clarified the question of whether Rao's inner thoughts and words and deeds constitute a crime.

In short, it is to determine whether a person has committed a crime by whether his words and actions are expressly prohibited by law. The law does not punish Rao's inner thoughts, but only punishes speech and behavior that violate the law and cause real harm.

Wang Meng continued: "Your Majesty, it is not a crime if there is no explicit provision in the law. Under the guidance of the concept that the law does not punish the heart, but only words and deeds, Rao's inner thoughts do not violate the law, nor are they written into the law. Even if there are those who advocate punishment for thought-dangerous behavior, the government should base it on the presumption of innocence, not the presumption of guilt. ”

"The law can prohibit words and deeds, but it cannot imprison thoughts. For everyone to come, the inner mind is always active, and there is no shortage of dangerous thoughts. For example, if we have a conflict with a certain person, or if something makes us angry, we may even have the idea of killing the other person a hundred times. But in fact, it was just a moment, and after the mood calmed down, I would be ashamed of myself for having such thoughts. ”

"If the law punishes the heart and punishes Rao's inner thoughts for sinning, I am afraid that there will be no one in the world who does not sin. The law does not punish the heart, but words and deeds can effectively prevent people with ulterior motives from venting their anger, retaliation, and persecution of others in the name of the law. ”

Looking at Ran Min's appearance as if he understood or not, Wang Meng smiled: "King, there are so many ministers, do you understand?" ”

Ran Min bowed his head and said, "Jingluo, these widows of yours know it. The widow also knows that as the king of a country, he should set an example, and should not abuse his power, declare personal vendettas, and detain criminal crimes for his own purposes. ”

Wang Meng nodded, nothing.

Ran Min got up and waved at Wang Meng: "Listening to your words is better than reading for ten years." Jingluo, the widow knows that this is something that should not be done, but the widow wants the new law to be implemented smoothly, and this is also a last resort! ”

"This is not an excuse for the king to impose the blame on others."

Wang Meng sighed faintly and said, "Great King, you must know that the Legalists advocate the rule of law rather than the rule of man. ”

"Oh? What is the rule of law? What is the rule of man? ”

"Mencius said: 'The gentleman is not benevolent, the monarch is not unjust, the monarch is not unjust, and the country is determined by the monarch'. The idea of rule by man lies in relying on virtuous sages to govern the country through moral influence. ”

"Confucianism attaches great importance to the rule of man, advocates benevolence in government, and the law is indispensable, but the ruler is upright, and if he does not order, he will do it, and if he is not upright, he will not obey the order."

"The rule of man advocates that the monarch should lead by example, be virtuous and benevolent, and be virtuous and empowerable, appoint competent officials to implement the rule of etiquette, and achieve the rule of civil and military affairs, cloth and clothing, and the survival of his people, his political actions, and the death of his people, the realm of his political rest."

In short, it advocates the combination of the rule of man with the rule of etiquette and the administration of morality. Confucius said: 'Husband, the first king inherited the way and governed people's feelings. Therefore he who loses dies, and he who gains lives'. The rule of man focuses on the moralizer itself, which is a kind of virtuous politics. People save politics, people die and politics rest! Is this what you want, Lord? ”

"No, that's not what the widow wants." Ran Min shook his head decisively.

Wang Meng said again: "Advocating the rule of man is not impossible to enrich the country and strengthen the army, but the limitations are limited, unless it is a wise monarch in power, otherwise it is impossible for the country to be strong." For example, the Duke of Qi Huan in the Spring and Autumn Period and the King of Qi Wei in the Warring States Period, they all relied on human rule to make the country strong, but they were not rich for three generations, and as soon as they died, the country gradually declined. ”

"Why? It is because the monarch who advocates this kind of national policy has died, and the monarch who succeeds to the throne has implemented another national policy, so this is the political action of the people, and the death of the people! ”

"Rather, it's the rule of law. The rule of man and the rule of law are relative, and the most vivid example is the Qin State during the Warring States Period! Qin Xiaogong reused Shang Yang to change the law, so that in just a few decades, the Qin State from a western country on the verge of extinction of the country, jumped to the Warring States Seven Heroes, and even the later Qin King Ying Zhengfen VI Yu Lie, Zhen Chang Zhi and Yu Yu, swallow two weeks and die princes, perform the supreme and control Liuhe, insist on knocking and whipping, and vibrate the four seas. ”

"Why did the hegemony of Qi decline after Qi Huan became a prince? But after the death of Qin Xiaogong and Shang Ying, the Qin State became stronger and stronger, even for more than 100 years and several generations? This is the difference between the rule of man and the rule of law! ”

Wang Meng said loudly: "If people rule and people are still there, the decree can continue to be implemented." But when a person dies, the decree will cease to exist! The rule of law means that no matter whether people live or die, and the national policy remains unchanged, even if there is a king who does nothing, the country can still be strong! The decree will continue to be enforced! ”

The rule of man, that is, the rule of virtue.

In ancient China, the rule of virtue and the rule of law were two different ideas for governing the country, but in fact, no dynasty used a single strategy for governing the country, and it was basically used together, but the difference was that each had its own emphasis.

At the same time, it should also be noted that in many cases, the rule of virtue and the rule of law serve the imperial power. So, in fact, there are three scenarios that manifest themselves:

1. The supremacy of imperial power, both German and French. This is the case for most of the historical periods, which is typical of the rule of man. This is divided into two situations, the monarch advocates the rule of virtue, then most of the people behind him can take the temple name of Renzong and Xiaozong, and the strong monarch who advocates the rule of law is complicated, such as Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Yang of Sui, etc. For space reasons, it will not be discussed here.

Second, the rule of law is the mainstay, supplemented by the rule of ethics. In this case, the monarch is generally weaker, and the relative power or other power is stronger than the imperial power, such as the Cao Cao period.

3. Rule by virtue is the mainstay, supplemented by the rule of law. Generally speaking, during the period of Dezong and Ningzong, the emperor may be weak, but he also has the power to minister.

In ancient China, although Confucianism and the rule of law were based on the premise of human nature, such as Confucianism was inclined to be good and Legalism was inclined to evil, and tried to rely on ideological education (moral education) or legal punishment (law) to rule the country, but in the end, it was the ruling structure with monarchy as the core, and when the monarch changed, the governing strategy would be variable.

Therefore, most of those who can inherit and adhere to the strategy of the previous emperors will not be bad dynasties, such as the rule of Wenjing and the rule of Renxuan.

Ran Min listened to Wang Meng's so many big truths, and finally listened to it, so he asked Chen Liang to be acquitted.

"Jingluo, but the widow hates the suzerain's protection system, and still wants to eradicate the dock forts in various places and liberate the hidden population, why do you teach the widow?" Ran Min humbly admonished.

Hearing this, Wang Mengyun smiled lightly: "The king still can't figure it out?" The king represents the imperial court, the lord of the Great Wei State, eradicating the dock fort and liberating the hidden population, this is a righteous act, why should the king hide these conspiracies? With all due respect, the king could have sent his troops to ask the nobles to tear down the walls and free the slaves. ”

When Ran Min heard this, his eyes lit up!

That's right!

It's really clever but clever and mistaken by cleverness! Why are you so forward-looking?

You must know that there are not a few dynasties that eradicated the dock fort in history.

After the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty ordered the destruction of Wubao, but it was forbidden.

Since then, various dynasties have fought against the dock forts, far from the Zhao dynasty, Shi Le and Shi Hu have spared no effort to break through the dock forts in the Central Plains.

Even Ran Min's grandfather and father used to be generals of the beggar army, resisting the invasion of the Zhao army in the dock fort!

Ran Min can justifiably send troops to attack the dock forts in various places!

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Chapter 0350 - Rule of Man and Rule of Law