Help me introduce Zhang Tang, a cruel official in the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty.

Officials in the early Western Han Dynasty generally consist of two parts: one is legalist bureaucrats and their children, which can be called literati; The other is an intellectual group who studied Confucian classics and entered the official career, which can be called Confucian scholars. Most of the former are not well educated and have not accepted the systematic study of the Six Classics, but they are well versed in political conventions, legal matters and technical business. They are regarded as "ministers who have made meritorious deeds by force" in the eyes of the owners. Their administration adopts the pragmatic theory of Legalism, directly adheres to the highest will, and severely punishes the thieves and all forces that are not conducive to the rule of imperial power. Later generations call them "cruel officials". The latter usually comes from the common people, knows well the sufferings of the people at the bottom of the society, and believes in ethics such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faithfulness. They think that the essence of governing the country lies in being kind to the people, but they can't handle government affairs and can't adapt to the rules of officialdom. Their administration resolutely followed Confucianism, developed production, practiced enlightenment, and devoted themselves to social stability and good manners. Later generations called them "officials". [1] The dispute between literati and Confucian scholars is not only due to political differences, but also due to private life, especially in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. And Zhang Tang is a famous generation of cruel officials in the period of Emperor Wu.

Zhang Tang, a native of Duling in the Western Han Dynasty (now southeast of Xi 'an, Shaanxi Province), was born in an ominous year, about the middle period of Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty, and was a typical legalist bureaucrat. Modern psychological theory holds that the living environment of a person's childhood has a great influence on his life's growth and development, and the stimulation in the subconscious usually profoundly changes his personality in silence, and his personality determines his fate to some extent. There is also a folk proverb in China, "Look down on the young at three years old and look at the old at five years old". Sima Qian in Historical Records? There is such a small incident that happened in Zhang Tang's childhood in Biography of Cruel Officials, which reflects a lot of information that will help us to understand the mentality of Zhang Tang and the cruel officials represented by him more deeply.

"The father is Chang 'an Cheng, and when he goes out, Tang keeps the house for his children. Also, the mouse steals the meat, the father is angry, and the soup is made. The soup was dug and smoked to get rats and meat, and the rats were plundered and treated, and the books were handed down, and the news was reported, and the rats and meat were taken, which was put under the prison. When my father saw it, he regarded it as an old jailer. He was so frightened that he sent the book to prison. " [2]

Zhang's father, who manages his family in a professional style, lost his temper because of the rat stealing meat, and used bamboo boards and Vitex negundo to "crack" soup and punish his son. Please note that flogging was one of the common formal punishments in ancient China. [3] After being wronged and stubborn, Xiao Zhang Tang dug three feet into the ground to catch the stolen mouse, instead of killing it with the evil spirit, he solemnly set up his own court, spread documents, convicted him by torture, and finally read out the verdict, executed the mouse and dismembered the corpse. Please note again that the execution of punishment is one of the cruel weekly punishments in ancient times, that is, the modern saying "dismembering five horses". [4] My father, who has been in public office for many years, was "shocked" when he witnessed the scene. From then on, he discovered Zhang Tang's talent and asked his assistant to write judicial documents. (There are few documents about the litigation trial system in Han Dynasty, and the main descriptions are in Biography of Cool Officials and Zhang Tang's trial of rats. Through the analysis of the above events, we can draw the following conclusions: firstly, the influence of family environment, Zhang Tang's own interests and talents, and his father's professional training all make him very suitable for the post of "knife and pen official" and engage in judicial work, which has a great relationship with his later ranking in the three public offices and becoming an ancient scholar; Secondly, the cruel and cold-blooded side of Zhang Tang's personality at an early age has begun to show signs, and it has a strong tendency to violence. Later, it intensified until it became a generation of cruel officials, "making the world stand on its feet and look askance", [6] but it also laid the groundwork for the tragic ending of his life.

Third, from a small county official to an ancient scholar

After Zhang's father died, Zhang Tang worked as an official in Chang 'an for many years. His political rise, first because he helped xingxing Hou Tiansheng, was introduced to the nobility of the DPRK, and he served under Ning Cheng, a famous cruel official at that time. Then he made friends with Prime Minister Tian Fen, the brother of Ueda Sheng, and was recommended to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and was promoted to suggestion. Zhang Tang's emergence in official career began with the witchcraft case of Queen Chen in 135 BC. Empress Chen Ajiao (the heroine of the idiom "A golden house hides a charming woman") summoned witches to cast spells and recite incantations in the harem in order to compete with the beauty Wei Zifu. Emperor Wu ordered a thorough investigation of this matter. Zhang Tang took the opportunity to play the role of a cruel official and snare the innocent. "Tang Shen was connected with the party, and there were more than 3 people, and Chu Fu was beheaded in the city." [7] Thousands of people were implicated. Then Chen Ajiao was abolished, and Wei Zifu made a new move. Zhang Tang was promoted to Doctor Tai Zhong for his meritorious service in handling cases, and was appreciated by Emperor Wu from then on.

When Dr. Taizhong took office, Zhang Tang cooperated with Zhao Yu (the protagonist of the idiom "going his own way"), who had a good personal relationship. According to the political reality of Emperor Wu, * * * worked out and revised various national laws and regulations. Its main actions are as follows: to restore the harsh laws such as the law of sitting together, the law of clan punishment and the crime of slander, which were abolished in the early Han Dynasty; Make a law of knowing the past, that is, officials must report the crime after learning about it, and the criminals who are sentenced must be strictly enforced, and the local turmoil must be severely suppressed, otherwise it will be punished as a felony; Twenty-seven pieces of Yue Gong Law were compiled (lost today). The palace guard system is an important part of the sixty articles of Han Law. The * * * of its laws and regulations is characterized by "doing things in depth, keeping officials on duty", [8] that is, it is necessary to make the laws strict and detailed, especially for the officials who serve. This has reversed the trend of lenient legislation since the prosperity of the literary scene, and the development of Chinese law has been harsh and rigorous since then.

At this time, in order to strengthen the feudal unification, Emperor Wu stopped respecting Confucianism and praised Dong Zhongshu's neo-Confucianism. Zhang Tang was just speculating. He wrote a letter requesting that Dr. Confucianism be appointed as the history of Tingwei to assist himself in handling the case. At the same time, he repeatedly went to consult Dong Zhongshu, who had retired from his hometown, on behalf of the Emperor and the official in the court, taking his opinions as an important trial basis. Since then, prison officials have decided cases according to the will of the imperial court, attached the meaning of the ancients, and said that they must be "rams" with six classics, which is called "prison in spring and autumn" in history, which not only promoted the process of canonization of legal Confucianism, but also started the study of Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty.

In 123 BC, Liu An, the king of Huainan (the author of the ancient book Huainanzi, the protagonist of the idiom "Chicken and Dog Ascend to Heaven") and Liu Ci, the king of Hengshan, rebelled and lost their lives. Tingwei Zhang Tang presided over this major political case, trying to figure out Emperor Wudi's mind, taking the opportunity to eradicate the feud, and giving full play to it. "Every prison in Huainan and Hengshan, led by Liehou, 2, stones, heroes, etc., killed tens of thousands of people." [9] In the following year, that is, in the second year of Emperor Yuan's inaugural ceremony, Zhang Tang became an official and became a knight, making a great success, and began the most brilliant seven-year career as an imperial adviser in his life.

The main reason for Zhang Tang's success in the official career lies in his humble attitude towards others, making friends and weaving networks before his success, which laid a solid class foundation. Historical Records? Biography of the Corrupt Officials says, "Soup is deceitful, dancing with wisdom to control people ... Although it is not in my heart, I am eager for it." Although there are opinions, we have to do enough work on the surface to create an atmosphere, admire and admire the rich and high-ranking officials, and be respectful. "Make friends with Chang' an Fujia, and make friends with the world's famous literati ... As for the provincial officials, they are experts; Send the gentlemen, don't avoid the cold and heat. " Therefore, "although the usage is not specialized, it has gained this reputation." Although the problem is not small, it has been praised by powerful people and gained a good reputation. Secondly, and most importantly, Zhang Tang won the trust of the emperor. From the perspective of Emperor Wu, Zhang Tang's words and deeds are all obedient to the emperor, absolutely loyal, and without any selfishness. Emperor Wu naturally thinks that he is a rare talent, so he naturally reuses him and gives him power. In fact, it is "the person who wants to sin in the mind and is deeply troubled by the history of supervision;" That is to say, those who want to explain what they want, and those who are indifferent to the history of the prison ... The ministers in the prison are responsible for themselves. " That is to say, most of Zhang Tang's cases are met with Emperor Wu's dislike, and he will add to the punishment when he is down; When Emperor Wu likes it, he looks for an excuse to show mercy outside the law; If Emperor Wu doesn't care and has a gap with himself, he will be merciless in the first instance to the end, taking crowding out enemies as his political achievements and expanding his desires to the greatest extent under the guise of safeguarding imperial power. Although "Wen Zhi Fa, Shang Cai Cha, often explains what Tang said", the emperor ruled in name, but the final decision-making power was completely guided by Zhang Tang's personal will. It is worth noting that Zhang Tang's success depends on these two factors, which are also the reasons for his failure.

Zhang Tang, who was ranked after the Three Fairs, prided himself on being trusted by the emperor, who took many extra duties and was far more powerful than the Prime Minister, and decided everything in the world. He talked about the great affairs of the country in the court until sunset, and Emperor Wu forgot to waste food and did not leave the court late, and all the ministers were not allowed to return; When he was unable to go to court due to illness, Emperor Wudi made a special trip to visit Zhang Fu, which made him so expensive. The large-scale war between Han and Hungary for many years led to an empty state treasury and poor people. In order to solve the financial crisis, Emperor Wudi ordered Zhang Tang to take charge of economic reform, plan for the country to compete with the people for profits, be responsible for manufacturing platinum currency and five baht, implement the monopoly law on salt and iron products, post arrest warrants everywhere, severely punish the powerful and rich, and oppress the weak and the weak by cool laws. [1] The inflation that the whole country was engaged in was extremely turbulent.

At this time, with the acquiescence of Emperor Wu, Zhang Tang personally created one of the most serious unjust imprisonment cases in the history of ancient cultural thought and legal system in China. Yan Yi, a farmer who is famous for his honesty and honesty, offended Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty by objecting to Zhang Tang's economic bill of replacing 4, yuan with a piece of white deerskin. Zhang Tang, who presided over the reform plan and was good at observing the political trend, had an old grudge with Yan Yi, so he used the excuse that Yan Yi had "not responded slightly" when his subordinates criticized the state affairs (speechless, only moved his lips) and sued him for "condescending without saying anything, and talking about death" (saying nothing but slandering in his heart, he should be sentenced to death). [11] With the approval of Emperor Wu, Yan Yi was executed. The case of condescension can be said to be a strange injustice throughout the ages, and the political prisoners were judged subjectively by speculation. This bad precedent is thousands of years earlier than Yue Fei's "Don't make promises" and Ming Yu Qian's "crime of desire" in the Southern Song Dynasty. The direct consequence of this is that the autocratic power of imperial power is monstrous, and everyone in the government and people is in terror. "Naturally, there is a legal ratio of condescension, and most of the officials and officials flatter the good and take the capacity." The condescension has been openly made into a charge that can be analogized, and all the ministers have to flatter and protect themselves. As for the reform plan, when you are in politics, you will not listen to the consequences, and the damage will be too wide, which will inevitably cause serious damage to society. "Since the creation of platinum and five baht, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by stolen money. The offenders are numerous, and the officials can't do their best to punish them. "As a result, people's resentment boils and complaints abound." As for Shu Ren, salty refers to soup. ". [12] To this point, the controllable economic crisis has been artificially deteriorated into a serious political and social crisis, just as the glory of injustice can't escape a bleak ending, and Zhang Tang's apprentice is coming to an end.

besieged on all sides, there is no way out

The most fatal reason for Zhang Tang's failure lies in his dual personality, which was too cool for the law and made too many enemies, and was finally abandoned by Emperor Wu. In 115 BC, in the second year of Emperor Yuan Ding, the salt and iron were monopolized by the central government, which greatly harmed the interests of the vassal states with the same surname. In addition to previous personal grievances, Zhao Wang Liu Peng Zu took the lead in accusing Zhang Tang and his subordinate Lu Qiaoju of conspiring and scheming to harm the country. Lu Qiaoju is Zhang Tang's confidant, who deliberately concocted unjust cases to frame Zhang Tang's old grudge, suggestion and suggestion, Li Wen. Lu Qiaoju died shortly after Zhao Wang appealed to him and was sent to prison. Lu Qiaoju's younger brother, who was involved in the trouble, thought Zhang Tang from ruin, so he exposed the shady situation of his brother and Zhang Tang in prison. Emperor Wu appointed Tingwei to investigate Li Wenwen, and the same cruel official, Jianxuan, was also Zhang Tang's old enemy. He wanted to take this case to kill Zhang Tang, so he secretly acted against Luo Zhi. At this critical moment, a thief stole the burial money of Emperor Wendi's cemetery. According to the usual practice, Prime Minister Zhuang Qingzhai met with Zhang Tang to apologize to Emperor Wudi. Zhang Tang changed his mind temporarily, unilaterally shirked the responsibility, and prepared to impeach Zhuang Qingzhai first, blaming all the charges on the Prime Minister. And Zhu Maichen (the protagonist of the idiom "water under the bridge"), Wang Chao and Bian Tong, the three officials of the Prime Minister's Office, also had deep grievances with Zhang Tang. After learning of Zhang Tang's plan, they jointly launched a preemptive strike to defend the innocence of the Prime Minister. At the same time, they denounced Zhang Tang's illegal acts on weekdays and linked several things one by one. Emperor Wu was furious and decided that Zhang Tang was always cheating on you, so he threw himself at it and sent an emissary with a book of charges to berate Zhang Tang for eight major sins.

"The son of heaven deceived Tang Huai's face, and made eight generations blame the soup. Soup has its own way, and it is not acceptable. So the envoy Zhao Yu blamed the soup. When Yu arrived, Tang said, "Why don't you know the difference? What kind of people are you ruling over? Today, people say that you have a shape, and the son of heaven has returned to your prison. If you want to make your own plan, why do you want to check the book? " Tang Nai thanked the book, saying, "Tang has no merit in size, and it is fortunate for your majesty to be three officials, so there is no excuse." However, those who are guilty of soup have a long history. " Suicide. After the death of Tang, the family property is only 5 gold, and all of them are given, and there is no other business. The sons of Kundi wanted to give Tang a heavy burial. Mother Tang said, "Tang was a minister of the son of heaven, and he died of foul words. What a heavy burial!" Carried by an ox cart, there is a coffin without a coffin. When the son of heaven heard this, he said, "Without this mother, this child cannot be born." It is a long history of killing three cases. Prime Minister Qing Zhai committed suicide. Serve precious soup. Move his son to live in peace. [13]

Emperor Wu also sent Zhao Yulai, a cruel official who was like a brother to Zhang Tang, to question him. [14] When Zhang Tang met his friends, he thought that things would eventually turn for the better and was preparing a long explanation, but he was denounced by Zhao Yu: "Today, you feel wronged. Aren't so many people killed by you wronged?" Now people are suing you with solid evidence. The emperor put you in prison because he wants you to kill yourself. Why argue? " (This is similar to the idiom "Please enter the urn".) After all this, Zhang Tang finally woke up, recalled what he had done in the past, and with his own understanding of Emperor Wu, though unwilling, he had to die. Under the attack of governors, subordinates, cruel officials and colleagues, the emperor also abandoned him. Zhang Tang committed suicide. In the face of burial, Mother Zhang said something strange that we couldn't understand. I think it's probably because in her eyes, her son has always been honest and upright.

In fact, Zhang Tang's death was a cruel result of political struggle, and it was a deserved result of his self-harm. It was a reaffirmation of the old saying that "many wrongdoings will lead to his own death", not to mention any vicious framing. First of all, after Zhang Tang was in power, he turned against each other mercilessly and made wide enemies, which led to the siege of all the ministers, and no one spoke for him again, losing the solid foundation of officialdom before. Zhu Maichen, the three long histories of the Prime Minister's House, and others were all civilian scribes, who once ranked above Zhang Tang. "While Tang was a petty official, he knelt down and made the minister wait for him.". When they were convicted and demoted, the tables turned. "(Zhu Maichen) saw the soup, and the soup sat on the bed ... the soup was a few lines of prime minister's affairs, knowing that these three long officials were expensive, and they often folded it." It was already easy to knot and difficult to solve between enemies. Secondly, with the idea of "What is the world without talent? Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who has talent but refuses to use it all, is the same as that without talent, and does not kill anything. [15] The talent tool theory is moody and arbitrary, and he often does things to govern the country regardless of the consequences. Once he goes back on his word, he will go to extremes. When dealing with Zhang Tang's case, first, he was merciless, unable to explain, and devoted himself to the death penalty. When I finally got my wish, I suddenly heard that Zhang Tang's family was poor and poorly buried, and immediately turned around. I killed three long collectors in one breath, forcing the Prime Minister Zhuang Qingzhai, and Jin Kou praised Zhang Mu, and then promoted Zhang Anshi, the son of Zhang Tang, to official rehabilitation of Zhang Tang. Who knows that this is probably a political case that has not been clarified, and then it has created another unjust, false and wrong case that cannot be explained. Based on Emperor Wu's consistent political words and deeds and later historical views, his reserved "trust" and so-called "regret" for Zhang Tang are unreliable at the critical moment, and he will be abandoned as a victim if necessary in case of other major political struggles.

Historical Records? Ping Huai Shu "contains" It's a year old, but Zhang Tang died and the people didn't think about it ".Zhang Tang didn't do much useful things for the people, and I'm afraid what he left for the ordinary people was only severe punishment.