Of course, the above story is not fiction, but what really happened in history.
Maybe many people here don't understand why the night watchman doesn't shout when he patrols at night. Beware of thieves? , but? Watch out for candles? And then what? Is ancient fire prevention more important than theft prevention?
Actually, it is. First of all, we should know that in ancient times, the materials used to build houses were mostly wood, so even if there was only a spark, it was possible to set fire to houses. At the same time, the distance between houses in the city at that time was not too far, so once a fire broke out, it would cause a great fire if it was not handled in time.
For example, in the second year of Xiangfu in Dazhong, North Song Zhenzong, Shengzhou caught fire. Because the state government did not respond in time, nearly two-thirds of the houses in Shengzhou were destroyed by the fire. What's the fire? The flames flew suddenly, and the strong wind made people unable to leave, and their eyes were spinning? In less than a quarter of an hour, all the rooms were on fire.
It can be seen that once a fire broke out in ancient times, the harm caused was extremely great, and the whole city could be burned down. Therefore, we can know that the fundamental reason why people in ancient times paid so much attention to fire prevention was that the damage of fire to cities was much higher than that of robbers and thieves.
From this point of view, in ancient times, the imperial court attached importance to fire prevention, which was not just as simple as letting ordinary people walk around the city every night and shout a slogan. At the same time, in order to make the people of the whole country pay attention to fire prevention, the court at that time also specially promulgated the corresponding laws and regulations of burning at stake. As long as arson is man-made, the arsonist will bear legal responsibility. The reason why the imperial court did this was to put an end to man-made fires, and at worst, to reduce the frequency of man-made fires.
What are the contents of ancient laws and regulations on burning at stake?
Take the Qing Dynasty as an example:
The laws and regulations of burning at stake in Qing Dynasty are the most complete and detailed in all previous dynasties. It is mainly divided into two categories: court fire criminal law and folk fire criminal law, and it is subdivided into several small categories such as fire delay and intentional arson.
If you ask where the most important place in the Qing Dynasty is, I think most people know it is the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City). As a place revered in the Ninth Five-Year Plan, its importance is self-evident. Once the accident is serious, it will be a major event that shakes the foundation of the country. You should know that there are too many places in the palace that need fire, such as lighting, heating, cooking and so on. These all need an open flame. Therefore, once a fire broke out in the palace due to lax prevention, it would not only sweep the floor in the Qing Dynasty, but also endanger the safety of many royal families such as emperors, queens and princes. Therefore, the fire prevention of the imperial palace is naturally the most important thing for the imperial court to do.
In this way, in order to completely curb the occurrence of man-made palace fire, compared with the folk fire criminal law, the palace fire criminal law can be described as extremely harsh. According to Biography of the Qing Empire, what would happen if ancestral temples and palaces were burned? It means that whoever dares to burn the palace will be sentenced to hanging (hanging or strangling). And the Laws of the Qing Dynasty also includes: Those who catch fire will be hanged? Even if the palace is accidentally set on fire, it will be sentenced to hanging. From the above two laws, it can be seen that at that time, whether unintentionally or intentionally, as long as the palace was set on fire, the culprit would always be punished? Hanging? .
At the same time, the Qing court should not only punish the culprits who caused the palace fire, but also punish some officials in charge of the palace, such as the minister in charge of the guard, the eunuch in charge of the palace, and the eunuch in charge of the palace where the fire broke out. They will all be held accountable by the court, or fined, demoted, dismissed, reprimanded by the staff, or executed. Besides, in order to prevent some people with ulterior motives from using arson to achieve their goals? Transfer from the mountain? Purpose, so as to complete other things, such as theft, assassination, etc. The Qing court also stipulated that, except those who were on fire in the palace, other people were not allowed to leave the palace, warehouse and other places, and offenders would be punished by staff 100.
In addition, the Qing court not only paid attention to the punishment after the palace fire, but also paid special attention to preventing the palace fire from happening at the source. For example, in the fifteenth year of Kangxi (1676), Emperor Kangxi promulgated it? All civil and military officials who are forbidden to eat cigarettes in the Forbidden City, warehouses, temples and other places are dismissed? The rule is that officials who dare to smoke in the palace will be dismissed. And if you are a royal clan, as long as you dare to smoke, you will be handed over to Zongrenyuan for discussion, either fined or scolded; If you are a eunuch or a maid-in-waiting, you will be punished as long as you dare to smoke? Two months on the cangue (prisoners wear cangue to show guilt) and 100 lashes? ; Ordinary people (cooks, handymen) will be punished if they dare to smoke? The pole is responsible for forty boards and flows three thousand miles? .
Compared with the court fire criminal law, the folk fire criminal law is relatively more merciful. Unless it is intentional arson, it will only be sentenced to light punishment such as rod punishment and cangue number. At the same time, different from the court fire criminal law, the provisions of the folk fire criminal law are more detailed, not only divided into? The fire spread? With what? Intentional arson? In both cases, different punishment methods will be chosen according to the location of the fire, the severity of the disaster, post-disaster compensation and other issues.
First, the fire spread.
The fire spread? To put it simply, it was not intentional, but the fire was accidentally caused. In this case, the heaviest punishment is exile, and the death penalty will not be imposed. Of course, what kind of punishment should be sentenced depends mainly on the location of the fire and the severity of the disaster.
First of all, the location of the fire, according to Biography of the Qing Empire: Who lost the house and burned it, forty? 、? Those who burned down the houses of officials and civilians, 50? That is, if you accidentally burn your own house, you will be fined 40 (hitting the prisoner's back, buttocks or legs with bamboo boards or thorns). However, if you accidentally burn the government or someone else's house, you will have to increase 10 times, that is, 50 times. However, if there are casualties, the punishment will be more serious, then? Regardless of relatives and mortals, the staff (hitting the prisoner's back or buttocks and legs with a stick) 100? .
Of course, at this time, there is no clear regulation on the number of houses that accidentally bring trouble to the government or the people. At this time, whether you burn one hundred houses or five hundred houses, you will be fined fifty. However, after the 11th year of Jiaqing (1806), the Qing court began to specify the number of houses burned by officials and people. At this time, the Qing court decided: those who burned the houses of officials and civilians to 100 due to fire were sentenced to flail for one month; If it burns to 200 rooms, the cangue will be added for two months; If it burns to more than 300 rooms, will the flail be added for three months? , that is, more than 100 rooms were burned. Where? Flail, January, fifty? , burned more than 200 rooms, where? Flail, February, fifty? , burned more than 300 rooms, where? Flail, March, fifty? .
However, it should be noted that the official residence here refers to ordinary houses, such as officials' rest places, and if important places such as officials' offices, warehouses, banks and grain depots are burned by mistake, arsonists will be punished more severely than flogging, that is, 80 sticks and two years' imprisonment.
At the same time, in addition to the punishment of burning houses, the Qing court also imposed another set of punishment on arsonists who caused forest fires, and this punishment was more severe than that of burning houses. If a forest fire is caused, but no casualties are caused, the staff will be 100 two thousand li, and if casualties are caused, the punishment will be aggravated, that is, the staff will be 100 two thousand li.
In addition, the Qing court, like the fire punishment laws and regulations of the Forbidden City, not only punished unintentional arsonists, but also forced local officials to pay attention to fire prevention and rescue work in order to reduce the impact of fires on the people, and also formulated a series of punishment regulations for officials. In the 9th year of Kangxi (1670), it was stipulated that the officials in charge of this area would be fined for three months as long as other houses caught fire.
At the same time, since the 22nd year of Kangxi (1683), not only the officials in charge of this area will be punished, but also the officials in charge of the five-city patrol camp in the city. Clear legal provisions: if less than ten houses are burned when a fire breaks out, as long as it can be put out immediately, it will be exempted from responsibility; If houses 1 1 to 30 rooms are burned down, officials and garrison officers will be punished in September, military forces and soldiers will be punished in June, and the city will be patrolled in March to punish them; Those who burn down more than 3 1 room will be punished by officials for one year, military forces and soldiers will be punished for commanding, participating in guerrilla activities in September, and will be punished by patrolling the city in June; If more than 200 houses are burned down, officials and garrisons will be demoted to one level, military forces, generals and guerrillas will be demoted to remain in office, and they will be fined for one year for patrolling the city; If more than 400 houses are burned down, officials and garrisons will be relegated to the second level, commanders, generals and guerrillas of military forces will be relegated to the next level, and inspection suggestions will be downgraded to the next level. If more than 600 houses are burned down, the official guard will be reduced to level 3, the command, participation and guerrilla will be reduced to level 2, and the inspection proposal will be reduced to level 1.
Second, deliberately set fire.
Intentional arson? Needless to say, it was intentional, premeditated and unintentional. Compared with unintentional punishment, the Qing court imposed heavier punishment on this kind of arsonists, ranging from the highest death penalty to the lowest flogging. For what? Intentional arson? What will the Qing court mainly do? Set fire to burn money? 、? Holding a grudge and setting fire to it? The two cases are sentenced differently.
First of all, for? Set fire to burn money? In this way, in order to make money, the Qing court deliberately set fire, and there was only one attitude towards the principal offender, that is, killing without forgiveness. At this time, as long as it is found out that the fire was set in order to gain wealth in the house, the surrounding houses were burned down, and there were cases of robbing money, no matter whether there were casualties or not, they were all sentenced to beheading. Of course, if there are casualties, whether it is robbing money or burning a house, they will all be beheaded (everyone will be beheaded). In addition, if there is no robbery, no casualties or even burning, then they will be beheaded.
As for accomplices, except those who cause other houses to be burned, property to be robbed and casualties, they are guilty of the same crime as the principal, that is, beheading in public, and the punishment in other cases is not as serious as that of the principal. First of all, if other houses are burned, but there is no robbery or injury, what punishment will be imposed? Cangue, two months, sent to exile? And if it is coerced, then? A hundred sticks, three years? . Then, if there is no problem after the fire, what is the punishment? A hundred sticks, three thousand li? Is it just coercion and inducement, and then impose it? Flail, two months, forty boards? .
Again? Holding a grudge and setting fire to it? That's right, it's arson, revenge or murder. If more than one person is killed but less than three people are killed, the principal will be beheaded and sentenced, and the accessory will be detained in prison (subject to court or autumn trial). If three or more people are killed, the principal will be beheaded and the accessory will be hanged. Of course, if there is no death, the principal will be beheaded and suspended, and the accessory will be exiled. If it is coercion, the staff member 100 will be sentenced to three years' imprisonment. In addition, whoever repents on the way to the fire and immediately puts out the fire, without death, the principal offender will be shackled for two months, sent to exile, and the accomplice will be shackled for three months with a hundred sticks.
Third, post-disaster compensation.
As a man-made fire, arsonists naturally have to compensate for the economic losses caused by the fire, which is also stipulated in the Qing Law. The Draft Civil Law of the Qing Dynasty stipulates: intentionally or negligently infringe upon the rights of others, and what damage does the actor suffer as a result of the infringement? In other words, as long as it is a man-made fire, no matter whether the arsonist is intentional or intentional, he needs to bear the economic losses caused by the fire. Of course, if it is a poor prisoner, it is really impossible to compensate, so only his responsibility will be investigated, not his money.
At the same time, if many people start a fire at the same time, the government is responsible for counting the property value of the fire loss, and then dividing it into several parts for them to share the compensation. In addition, if the burned place belongs to the government and the property of the arsonist is not enough to compensate the government for the losses, the rest will be compensated by the caretaker in charge of the place.
Generally speaking, the laws and regulations of burning at stake in Qing Dynasty are both strict and humane. For example, if the arsonist's family is really poor, the Qing court will be lenient, that is, only the responsibility will be investigated, not the money.
In addition, the Qing court made a clear distinction between the principal and the accessory of arson. Intentional arson? An accessory, as long as he doesn't hurt his life, is the heaviest exile and won't lose his life. Of course, the Qing court is also impartial to the principal offender who deliberately set fire, that is, the murder is unforgivable, and the lowest judgment is decisive. In short, it is certain to die.