As the saying goes, "When the emperor breaks the law, Shu Ren is guilty". In fact, this is just a slogan advocated by the monarch in feudal society. The purpose is to restrain those ministers with ulterior motives and urge them to master and use their power reasonably, and not to abuse their power, otherwise they will be punished, even the emperor is no exception. For the sake of fairness and justice, emperors of past dynasties rarely put their righteousness above their relatives, but more often treated them as partial and individual.

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In fact, the original words of this sentence are "Jun breaks the law, Shu Ren is guilty of the same crime", which comes from Biography of Historical Records and Shang Jun written by Sima Qian, a historian of the Western Han Dynasty. This paper discusses the details of the implementation process of Shang Yang, the king of Qin. It means that the prince, that is, the son of heaven, should be punished like ordinary people if he breaks the law.

In fact, this reflects China's ideal and idea of governing the country according to law. But in the feudal society at that time, it was difficult to work, because "all over the world, isn't it the land of kings?" Isn't it a Wang Chen to lead this land? "Often the son of heaven committed a crime and refused to admit it; And if someone in his royal family gets into trouble, he will turn a blind eye to it. What's more, China is a country and society with human feelings. We don't look at the faces of monks and Buddhists.

There is an example that can be said to have practiced this. During Shang Yang's political reform, Prince Qin Huiwen later succeeded to the throne and violated the law, so Shang Yang tried to get Qin Xiaogong to punish him. But considering that he was young and a prince, it was not easy to punish him, so he punished two of his teachers.

Of course, there is a price to pay. King Huiwen of Qin remembered the shame of that year, and after he succeeded to the throne, he split up Shang Yang, who didn't understand the world.