Minister Jing Zheng

Minister Jing Zheng was the Minister of China up until his death in 1218. He was appointed Minister personally by Emperor Chen, done so in his efforts of recovery post-Great Shame. As minister, Zheng is credited for restoring a degree of respect to the Chen Regime, but ultimately disgracing his people in the Mongolian Scandal of 1217. His leadership was responsible for a series of key legislation passed to counteract the Great Shame, some of which Chinese scholars consider to have violated human rights. Overall, Zheng played a key role during the reign of Emperor Chen.

## Minister of China

Zheng assumed office on October 3, 1190. Prior to this, he had served as a city council member in Beijing. Emperor Chen had been informed Zheng was one of the most respected Chinese politicians during the time of the Great Shame, and that appointing such a favorable figure would restore a sense of prestige to the regime.

Zheng made it his goal to have the Great Shame fully eradicated from Chinese society. He explained to Chen how essential it was for law and order to provide methods of recovery. As his first major piece of legislation, Zheng drafted the **Gag Rule Edict**. This edict made any mention of the Great Shame punishable by either imprisonment or execution, depending on the extent of which the event was mentioned. This would result in approximately 34 deaths within the first six months of its enforcement, to which the Chinese society greatly criticized.

His next major act of legislation was pushing for the **Respect the Emperor Edict**. This law aimed to enforce a new found sense of respect for the Emperor upon all Chinese people. Specifically, all Chinese citizens were required by law to place at least one portrait of Emperor Chen in their home. This image had to be displaying the disgraced emperor in a positive light. Those who could not afford these rare and expensive portraits were offered financial assistance. Every three months, each and every home would be inspected. If this was not found, the elders of a household would be taken in for questioning, which in turn would potentially result in criminal prosecution. Hundreds of citizens were imprisoned for how poorly this law was conducted.

The third and final major law passed by Zheng set to effectively end any leftover fragments of the Great Shame. He would sign into law the **Re-education Edict**. This edict is often viewed as the most radical, specifically for how it severely disrupted human rights. Any and all citizens who held full knowledge of the Great Shame were subject to assassination. Of course, a majority of the population already held a broad understanding of the incident, but the more older generations knew full well what it was. Zheng promised Chen that if all those with a vivid memory of the event were removed from society, his honor would be fully restored. This was a massive failure, earning the Chen Regime a series of riots directed towards the removal of Zheng. The edict had government officials raid (at random) the homes of citizens, at any given time or under any circumstance. Overall, this was a major disgrace to society.

## Mongolian Scandal of 1217 and Death

As Zheng's popularity greatly diminished in China, there were rumours Chen had been arranging a replacement minister. Zheng could not handle to lose his position, he felt that it was on Chen the government was so poorly favored. Around this time, the Mongols were still running rampant. Minister Zheng had made a secret deal with the Mongolians that if he provided them intelligence on national security, he would be rewarded the title of Emperor of China (through Mongolian leadership). In other words, the Mongols would provide Zheng protection and security as a puppet emperor of China. This would be leaked when a photo of Zheng meeting with a Mongolian military officer leaked all over the internet.

Chen felt betrayed. He immediately ordered the arrest of Zheng. Zheng, found to have stored a camel in his garage, was attempting to flee to the Continent of Where. When Chinese military arrived, he was reportedly wielding a revolver. However, when firing on the military, it only produced smoke. This effectively placed Zheng up for execution. He was found guilty by Emperor Chen in brief, three day long trial. At the trial's conclusion, Zheng is reported to have shouted, "He who smelt it dealt it!"

Zheng was skinned to death just hours later.