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Hong-wu: Year 17, Month Intercalary 10, Day 19

2 Dec 1384

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The Yun-nan Provincial Administration Commission advised: "Of the major and minor native officials under our jurisdiction, some have inherited their posts and some have been appointed. For example, the Jing-dong Prefect E Tao and the A-mi Subprefectural Magistrate He Ning have inherited their posts, while the Assistant Magistrate Zhao He of Luo-ci County in Yun-nan Prefecture and the Police Officer Li Zhi of Pu-chang Police Office in Yao-an Prefecture were appointed. Those who have inherited posts have long lived in their territories and they have their own stores and means of livelihood. It is thus not necessary to provide them with salaries and allowances. Those who are appointed have generally come to sojourn (流寓) in these areas and because they have won the support of the local people we are employing them for a time. If we do not give them salaries, they will have no means of sustaining a livelihood. The law officials are more likely to accept bribes. They are also divided into the two grades of salaried and unsalaried. At present, there is no basis on which to apply the laws in handling crimes by the native officials. It is requested that the fixing of regulations be deliberated upon." The Emperor ordered the six ministries to jointly deliberate upon this. They proposed: "Appointed native officials who commit offences should have their punishments decided in accordance with those for circulating officials, while in respect of the offences committed by those who inherit posts, the offices should not be permitted to arbitrarily punish them. First, depositions should be taken so as to ascertain the facts, and final deliberations should be memorialized. When due punishment is flogging or a lesser punishment, details should be recorded in their files. When banishment is due, they should be transferred to another place." These proposals were set down as orders.

Tai-zu: juan 167.2a-b

Zhong-yang Yan-jiu yuan Ming Shi-lu, volume 6, page 2559/60

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Preferred form of citation for this entry:

Geoff Wade, translator, Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu: an open access resource, Singapore: Asia Research Institute and the Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore, http://epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/reign/hong-wu/year-17-month-intercalary-10-day-19, accessed January 22, 2019