China Emperor Liu Heng was the fourth son of Liu Bang. He was born in the fifth year of Emperor Gaozu of Liu Bang (202 BC) and his mother was the Queen Mother. He respects Lv Hou and lives in peace with him. In the 11th year of Emperor Gaozu (BC 196), Liu Heng was made as the acting king. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the capital was in Daixian County (now Yuxian County, Hebei Province), and then moved to Zhongdu (now southwest of Pingyao, Shanxi Province). Liu Heng was appointed as Wang Da 17 years. After Liu Bang's death, he monopolized the power and made the Lu brothers and their sons and nephews king, thus replacing Liu's position in the world. Lv Hou died in 180 BC, and Zhu Lu plotted to launch a rebellion. Qiu, Prime Minister and General Guan Ying jointly destroyed Zhu Lu, and Liu Hengjin proclaimed himself emperor in Chang 'an. This is Emperor China. Liu Heng reigned for 23 years and died in BC 157. He continued to implement the policy of light tax and lenient punishment in the early Han Dynasty, further corrected the shortcomings of the Qin government, stabilized the people's hearts, developed production, and gradually prospered the social economy. After Liu Heng's death, his son Liu Qi succeeded to the throne. This is Emperor Han Jing. The history of political stability and economic prosperity in Liu Heng and Liu Qi dynasties for nearly 40 years is called "the rule of cultural scenery".
Liu Heng, Emperor of the Han Dynasty, attached great importance to the development of agricultural production after he ascended the throne. In the second year of Emperor Wendi (BC 178), the counselor Jia Yi went to "On Accumulation and Sparseness" and suggested that the court "be rich and secure the world", pointing out: "The husband who accumulates wealth is also a great life in the world. More money, more money, why not? Attack what it takes, abide by its rules, and fight what it wins. Why don't you move when you are attached to the enemy in the distance? " The court can persuade people to be diligent in "business ethics" (attach importance to agriculture), and lazy vagrants also take part in agricultural production. Everyone is self-reliant, and the world is naturally peaceful. Liu Heng appreciated Jia Yi's opinion very much, so he wrote a letter of exhortation to farmers in that year, and restored the "native place" system that had been abandoned for a long time after the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty. In spring, he "worked hard to persuade the people" (Han Shu? Food records), encourage farmers to work hard and don't go against the farming season. Later, this system persisted and achieved certain results.
In order to arouse farmers' enthusiasm for production, Liu Heng continued to implement the policy of light tax and thin tax, and expanded its scope. Before he ascended the throne, the imperial court had reduced the "Thai half tax" of the Qin Dynasty to five taxes, and the burden on farmers was relatively reduced. The abuse of civilian power in the Qin Dynasty was corrected, and adult men served a month of corvee every year, which increased the production time. After Liu Heng ascended the throne, he continued to cut taxes. In BC 178, he wrote to exempt half of the land tax in the world, that is, 30 taxes and 1 tax; In BC 177, the people of Jinyang (now Taiyuan, Shanxi) and Zhongdu (now Pingyao, Shanxi) were exempted from land tax for three years. In BC 168, it was stipulated that only half of the land tax in the world would be collected in that year; In 167 BC, the imperial edict was issued again, "except for private land rent tax", which lasted until his death, 10 years or so. Wendi also reduced the customs tax (poll tax) from 120 yuan to 40 yuan, only half of the original. In terms of corvee, he reduced the service of adult men from one month a year to "one every three years", a decrease of two-thirds. Compared with the fu in the climax of peasant uprising, Wendy's frivolous and thin fu is only a "concession" strategy for farmers in the new dynasty, but it is a historic progress in correcting the complicated and demanding tax system in the old dynasty. Farmers can get some practical benefits from it, and their enthusiasm for production has been improved, which is conducive to economic prosperity and social development.
The emperors in the early Han Dynasty also made great efforts to abolish harsh laws. As early as 206 BC, when Liu Bang occupied Xianyang, he made three chapters with his elders in Guanzhong. "If the murderer dies, hurting people and stealing to apologize, I will go to Qin Law" ("Historical Records? Biography of Gao Zu), in order to win the hearts of the people. After the Han Dynasty, in order to cut off Han Xin, Peng Yue, Ying Bu and other kings with different surnames, Liu Bang was unable to cope with the grim situation at that time, so he asked Prime Minister Xiao He to collect and sort out Qin laws, formulated nine laws and decrees, and restored many harsh laws in the Qin Dynasty. During the 16 years when Hui Di and Lv Hou were in power, because the overall situation was basically stable, some measures were taken to save punishment and eliminate harshness, such as issuing an atonement order, abolishing the three-clan crime and the rumor order, sentencing important criminals, and no longer implicating parents and wives, and no longer treating wrong words as "rumors". The history book says that "the world is safe and the punishment is less."
In December of that year, Heng ascended the throne, that is, he called his ministers to discuss the issue of further leniency. Historical records? The Book of Filial Piety records a conversation between the monarch and the minister at that time, which is translated into modern Chinese: Emperor Wen said: "Law is the foundation of governing the government, with the aim of stopping violence and guiding the people to return to goodness. Now that the criminals have been punished according to law, innocent parents, wives, children and brothers should be invited to sit together, arrested and punished together. I strongly disapprove of this practice. I hope everyone will discuss it. " The relevant ministers all said, "The common people can't restrain themselves, so they make laws to manage them. The purpose of sitting with prisoners to catch innocent relatives is to contain their psychology and prevent them from breaking the law easily. This practice has a long history, and it is better to keep it as it is. " Wendi said: "I heard that the law is fair, the people are honest and upright, the punishment is appropriate, and the people are willing to obey." The duty of an official is to manage the people and guide them to do good. If we can't guide them to do good and punish them with unfair laws, it will encourage them to do violent things. How can we prohibit people from committing crimes? I don't see any advantage in this kind of law, please think it over. " Due to Wendi's insistence, ministers had to change their minds. "The emperor gave great kindness to the people all over the world, and I can't imagine the thick merits. We demand the promulgation of imperial edicts and the abolition of the law of sitting together. " After Emperor Wendi explicitly abolished the clan rule law and the Left Alliance, the second year (BC 178) ordered the abolition of the crime of libel. He believes that the ancient sages ruled the country to level the world, set up a "tree of good slander", dredge the channels of governing the country and attract admonishers. If the crime of libel is established, the subjects dare not speak freely, the monarch can't know his faults, and the court can't recruit talents, then this law should be abolished. He even thought that the people cursed the emperor, but it was a sign of ignorance, and the court could not be convicted of libel, and made it clear that "from now on, those who commit this crime shall not listen to the rule" (Historical Records? Filial piety "), which actually gives people a certain degree of freedom of speech.
After ruling the country 10 for many years, Wendi also announced the abolition of corporal punishment, which was decided by a letter from a young woman. In the 13th year of Emperor Wendi (BC 167), Qi Taicang ordered Chun Gong Yu to treat patients and save lives. The patient died a few days after taking the medicine. Chunyu was accused of being a quack, and the court ordered him to be arrested and escorted to Chang 'an. He has five women and no son. When he left, he sighed and said, "It is unfavorable to have children without boys." My daughter, Ti Ying, came to Chang 'an with her father in tears. She wanted to go to the temple to visit Emperor Wen. I couldn't ask for an audience, so I wrote to Wendi and said: When my father was an official, people in Qi praised him for his honesty and loyalty. Now it is natural to be punished for breaking the law, but I am very sad that people can't come back to life after death, and their bodies will never recover after being punished. Even if they want to turn over a new leaf, they can't. My little daughter is willing to be a handmaiden in the government, atone for her father and let him turn over a new leaf. When this letter was delivered to Liu Heng, he was deeply moved and said ... This law stipulated three kinds of corporal punishment, but rape did not end. Blame what? Is it because of my poor virtue and ignorance in teaching? I'm ashamed. Therefore, the husband's training is not pure, and the ignorant are trapped. The poem says,' A gentleman is a gentleman and the parents of his family'. Today, people have done it, and they have been punished for not teaching, or they want to change their behavior and do it for no reason. I feel sorry for that. The husband's punishment is to cut off his limbs and carve his skin for life. How painful and immoral this is, can it be called people's parents? Its corporal punishment. "("historical records? Biography of Filial Piety)
In accordance with the will of Emperor Wen, Prime Minister Zhang Cang and imperial envoy Feng Jing agreed on an edict to reduce the crime to three hundred (cutting off the nose), which is no longer a male fortification and a female meal. The crime of cutting off (cutting off the left and right toes) should be changed to 500. In fact, flogging is also a kind of corporal punishment. Beating 300 or 500 times with a bamboo whip also causes most people to die or be disabled. So, Hanshu? The Criminal Law Yearbook said: "In the name of mitigating punishment, it is actually murder." However, as a feudal emperor, Emperor Wen emphasized "educating the people with morality", adopted some lenient measures in ruling practice, used the death penalty cautiously, and abolished the law of sharing seats between vassals and vassals, which is still worthy of recognition.
During the reign of Emperor Wendi, the policy of light taxation was implemented, and the feudal relations of production were partially adjusted. It also clarified the lenient punishment by law and refreshed the feudal superstructure. He adopted a pro-Xiongnu policy and lived in harmony with the surrounding ethnic minorities, thus making the world peaceful and the people happy. After Emperor Jingdi ascended the throne, he continued to implement the policies formulated by Naifu, and the social economy developed greatly. Later, Sima Qian wrote in Historical Records? In Pinghua, the social and economic situation in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty is described as follows: "For more than 70 years, there was nothing wrong with the country. People will give their families enough food unless there is a flood or drought. Everything is full, and the treasury has surplus goods and wealth. There is too much money in the capital to teach. The millet in Taicang, agarwood overflowing, is too heavy to return, so that it is corrupt and inedible. There are horses in the streets and alleys, and there are groups between buildings. People who take words cannot get together. " The scene of "the rule of cultural scene" in the Western Han Dynasty is inseparable from Liu Heng's talent and enterprising spirit.