A Study On The Legal Governance Of Private Soldiers In The Ming Dynasty

Private service sergeant refers to the criminal act of military officials and nobles using their power to force regular soldiers,craftsmen,surplus soldiers,and military companions to serve outside the military for their own personal gain.The issue of private service soldiers had already emerged in the early Ming Dynasty.Due to the few relevant provisions in the early Ming Code,the handling of crimes committed by private service soldiers in the early Ming Dynasty was very arbitrary.In the form of heavy punishment in the early Ming Dynasty,the punishment was severe,but later it was extremely lenient.When the behavior of private service soldiers was already rampant,in order to curb the problem of private service soldiers,the Ming court gradually improved some systems regarding the use of soldiers in servitude and formulated corresponding laws.How these laws operate,what are the methods of handling crimes committed by military officials,what are the characteristics of the policy changes of the Ming Dynasty,and what are the gains and losses that can be seen from the governance of crimes committed by private soldiers? These are all the issues that this article aims to explore.The author intends to start from the perspective of legal governance,combine various legal and historical documents of the Ming Dynasty,and take the issue of private service soldiers as the starting point to observe the legal governance effectiveness of military officer crimes.This article is mainly divided into three parts.The first part briefly explains the phenomenon of private service sergeant crimes.Starting from the background of the crime of private service soldiers,it is clear that the expansion of the number of military groups and the poor economic conditions of military officials are the main reasons for their committing private service crimes.At the same time,the harm of private service soldiers is explained.On the one hand,private service soldiers of military officials exacerbated the serious shortage of deserters in the Ming Dynasty,and on the other hand,private service soldiers increased the financial burden,which urgently needs to be solved.Under this condition,many laws have been formulated to respond.The legislative content of private service soldiers in the early Ming Dynasty focused on the "Da Ming Law" and "Da Gao Wu Chen",which had a higher legal status.In the middle of the Ming Dynasty,as a transitional period,a large number of legislative activities were carried out during the Hongzhi period of Chenghua.The "Compilation of Laws and Regulations of Huangming" detailed the conditions under which the relevant laws and regulations for private service soldiers were formulated,how the loopholes discovered during the legislative process were filled,and the emergence of the important system of "military companions".Next,the content and significance of the Hongzhi "Criminal Investigation Regulations" were discussed in detail,This illustrates the fact that the legislation of private service soldiers was basically formed during this period.The second part focuses on elucidating the trial and disposal methods carried out during the Ming Dynasty in the face of crimes committed by private service soldiers.This section first lists the cases of private service soldiers from the four dynasties of Emperor Xuanzong,Emperor Yingzong,Emperor Xianzong,and Emperor Xiaozong.In the first section,with the Wang Sheng case as the main case,supplemented by other cases,the trial of private service soldiers in the Ming Dynasty was discussed.Through the exploration of punishment methods such as demotion,exile,meritorious service,security transfer,salary difference,and redemption,this article elucidates the main punishment methods and characteristics of private service soldiers in the Ming Dynasty.The second section analyzes the phased changes in the punishment of private service soldiers at different time points during the four dynasties of Emperor Xuanzong,Emperor Yingzong,Emperor Xianzong,and Emperor Xiaozong.The third section analyzes the three characteristics of the privileged treatment of private service soldiers,the role of laws and regulations,and the lack of punishment for heirsThe third part summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of the Ming Dynasty in managing private service soldiers.There are both positive aspects and lessons worth reflecting on in this.On the positive side,the legal system of private service soldiers has been improved,and the governance process has had a warning and deterrent effect,easing certain social conflicts;On the negative side,the development of legislation for private service soldiers has led to the issue of military companions,which has had a more serious negative impact.At the same time,the trend of utilitarianism in criminal handling has also caused harm.