What had already been done naturally left no room for regret.
However, when he thought of the Dan-script Iron Certificate carefully stored within his residence, Li Shanchang was not overly alarmed.
Still, in keeping with his principle of caution and prudence, he secretly made up his mind.
Not to mention Lan Yu. From now on he would not even wear blue robes.
Aside from this, Li Shanchang also clearly understood his current advantage. The emperor himself was right here before them.
Thus, while Xu Da and Li Wenzhong were still deep in thought, Li Shanchang had already risen on his own initiative.
"Your Majesty cleansed the barbarous customs of the Hu Yuan in order to rectify the law, and with tears severed even those close to you who had forgotten their origins. Such conduct should serve as a model of a virtuous ruler. These slanders must surely be rumors spread by the Hu Qing in an attempt to stain our Great Ming. Your Majesty should not be troubled by them."
Li Shanchang spoke with genuine sincerity. As someone whom Zhu Yuanzhang had once praised as "my Xiao He," he was able to perceive the usefulness of the light screen.
To speak frankly, if it were used properly, the later generations' evaluation of "one emperor among tens of thousands of ages" might truly become reality.
If that were so, Li Shanchang's own reputation in later history would inevitably rise with it. It was difficult not to imagine such a future.
The successive words allowed Zhu Yuanzhang to recover his composure. On these matters he neither praised nor criticized. He merely shook his head.
"It is too early to speak of such things now. Let us see how later generations judge."
He had no concern regarding the Kongyin Case, but when he abolished the office of Chancellor through the Hu Weiyong Case, he had personally gone to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to present his explanation. Thus he was quite curious how later generations would judge that matter.
---
[Lightscreen]
[As mentioned earlier, any issue must be examined in the context of its own era rather than using the sword of the present dynasty to judge the officials of a previous one.
If one looks only at Qing-period evaluations of the early Ming, it is easy to form the impression that Zhu Yuanzhang regarded meritorious ministers as enemies and thorns, determined to eliminate them completely. This would paint him as harsh and devoid of gratitude.
This is also why the Qing historian Zhao Yi's evaluation was overly one-sided. In reality, if Old Zhu had truly been harsh and ungrateful, it would have been impossible for him to rise above the many contenders during the chaotic struggles at the end of the Yuan.
In fact, at the founding of the Ming, Old Zhu's treatment of his meritorious ministers could almost be described as extremely generous.
The Iron Certificate of Immunity from Death is often joked about today, but in that era it absolutely represented the highest form of imperial favor.
From the surviving records, it can be seen that Old Zhu was very serious when issuing these iron certificates. Their design, their functions, the rules governing inheritance, and the scope of crimes that could be pardoned were all carefully arranged.
Those who held an iron certificate would not face the king's law, and penal officials would not enter their gates. Their titles remained during life and their ranks could be inherited after death. It clearly stated that they could share prosperity with the imperial house. This was perhaps the highest honor an emperor could bestow.
Aside from the privilege of immunity from death, these founding nobles also enjoyed many other advantages.
For example, economic rewards that can be verified through multiple records. In the third year of Hongwu, estates were granted to meritorious nobles, some exceeding one hundred qing of land. In the fourth year, Tang He received ten thousand mu of land, and the founding nobles jointly received 658 qing of land in Linhao Mountain. In the seventh year, their stipends were increased and an additional thousand shi of public land was granted.
Beyond this, they were provided with ceremonial households, large numbers of servants, adopted sons, retainers, and slave soldiers. It can be said that they possessed every privilege imaginable.
Politically, the meritorious nobles held high offices and noble titles while also commanding troops. They truly stood at the pinnacle beneath the throne.
In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang actively promoted marriage alliances between the imperial house and the families of the meritorious nobles. He himself took the younger sister of Guo Ying and the eldest daughter of Hu Mei as consorts. Imperial princes married the daughters of Chang Yuchun, Xu Da, Feng Sheng, and others. Meanwhile, the sons of Li Shanchang, Fu Youde, Zhang Long, and other nobles married imperial princesses.
From these examples it is not difficult to see that Old Zhu hoped to establish a solid alliance of interests with the founding nobles. By granting them generous political and economic privileges and promising wealth for generations, he expected them to support the imperial house with complete loyalty. In this way he aimed to strengthen imperial authority and ultimately establish a hereditary rule for his family.
However, whether the powerful clans of the Han dynasty, the aristocratic families of the Wei and Jin, the regional military governors of the Tang, the landlords of the Song, or the aristocrats of the Yuan, all demonstrate that human desire is limitless. Every dynasty produces its own parasites.
In the Ming case, before the imperial princes even had a chance to assert themselves, the meritorious nobles had already reached Zhu Yuanzhang's bottom line in less than two years.
The iron certificates clearly stated that they would not protect those guilty of rebellion. Aside from that, any other death sentence could be pardoned once.
For lesser offenses, the law explicitly stated that officials were not permitted to impose additional punishment. In simple terms, no matter how many times they committed crimes such as bullying others, seizing land, abducting women, or injuring people while riding recklessly, the iron certificate could erase the matter entirely.
The result was that "military officials relied on their merits and grew arrogant, offending more and more people."
Thus, only two years later, Old Zhu had to hurriedly issue a supplement to the iron certificates. He created what was called the Iron List, engraved with nine controlling regulations designed to restrain the meritorious nobles.
Yet even the Iron List served more as a deterrent than an effective punishment. It resembled a Ming-style "three cups of penalty wine."
The Iron List stipulated that crimes such as abusing power, seizing property, or privately maintaining retainers were punishable by death. However, the first and second offenses would merely be recorded on the iron certificate. Only upon committing the crime a third time would it finally result in a genuine death sentence. Even then, that death sentence could still be canceled using the iron certificate.
In summary, Zhu Yuanzhang's treatment of the founding nobles was indeed extremely generous. If Old Zhu had truly been suspicious and fond of killing, there would have been no need to create such a system of exchanging three death penalties for one execution. The iron certificate might not have existed at all.
Ironically, the Hu and Lan cases were precisely the result of Zhu Yuanzhang's repeated tolerance and generosity toward the founding nobles. Their growing sense of impunity eventually caused their behavior to diverge from what Zhu Yuanzhang had expected, leading to a final rupture between both sides.]
---
Inside Guangzheng Hall, even Zhao Pu could not help feeling tempted when he heard about the power of the iron certificates.
Zhao Kuangyin, however, was even more direct. He turned and looked seriously at Qian Chu.
"The Song dynasty has no precedent of iron certificates. Even those of the Tang were not the same as those of the Ming. They must not be used in this manner."
Even without the emperor's emphasis, Qian Chu quickly assured him.
"I would never harbor such thoughts. The iron certificate of the Qian family was obtained by our ancestors through merit. It exists only as a memorial for later generations. If it were used to pardon the crimes of unworthy descendants, would that not be a disgrace? How could such descendants face the ancestors of the Qian family?"
These words were reasonable and well supported, causing Zhao Kuangyin to nod slightly.
He then shook his head, feeling that the Hongwu Emperor's actions were somewhat crude.
"Excessive indulgence breeds arrogance. Excessive tolerance breeds ambition. Those who stand at the peak beneath the throne will inevitably seek further advancement. Would this not be planting the seeds of disaster?"
His words caused the hall to fall briefly silent. For a moment the ministers found it difficult to determine whether the emperor was speaking of the monk Kong Jiong or of himself.
But Zhao Kuangyin did not think much about it. He merely spoke with a trace of regret.
"The Cao Youwen we saw earlier was a descendant of Guohua. He too must strive through merit to advance."
"Since the Ming had the precedents of Han, Tang, and Song to observe, why did the Hongwu Emperor adopt such an unusual approach?"