The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 8

[1] "Three Festivals" refers to the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, and "Two Shou" refers to the birthdays of the official himself and his wife.

Acting for Taiyuan Prefecture, the soldiers and bandits are a family

In July, I was transferred to the provincial capital to act as the prefect of Taiyuan.

The former prefect, Vernon Wang, was originally a commander of the Army and Horses Division[1]. He was promoted to the prefect of Taiyuan many times and was already over seventy years old. All his official affairs were taken care of by his family member Dalton Wang, who was able to collude with others. In Taiyuan Prefecture, there are hundreds of backlogged cases, and some cases even drag on for several years. A master surnamed Wu has been in charge of government affairs for a long time. I was tired of hearing about these things, so after taking over, I dismissed all the masters and servants of the previous prefect. Linyao, the general judge, thought it was absolutely unacceptable and tried hard to persuade me to hire Wu as my staff, but I refused. Linyao then asked Ruiyuan to help brag about Wu and Dalton Wang's abilities. Ruiyuan Nie Tai refused to recommend it, but instead expressed his deep approval of my "not making the same mistake".

As soon as I took office in Taiyuan Prefecture, I encountered a criminal case.

Fu Zhang, a woman from Lingshi County, and her son Fu Suocheng forced their daughter-in-law, Fu Chen, into prostitution. When Fu Chen refused, the mother and son strangled her to death. Fu Zhang was sentenced to be executed in prison at the first trial, and his son Fu Suo was exiled to the army with a reduced level of first class. The case was referred to the provincial government for review, and the two defendants did not retract their confessions. When Taiyuan Ruiyuan realized that Fu Suocheng seemed to have a grievance, he sent him back to Taiyuan Mansion for retrial. I further collected evidence and asked the original trial officer Xiangyu to join the trial, and found that Fu Chen was not forced into prostitution. After repeated investigation, it was found out that the real reason why Fu Chen was killed was because she contradicted her mother-in-law and was strangled to death by her mother-in-law. As a result, Fu Zhang's sentence was commuted to exile, and his son was released without charge.

Worse events are yet to come.

The Eight Banners soldiers stationed in Taiyuan have always been fierce, even harboring bandits, and the soldiers and bandits are all unscrupulous. The residents of Taiyuan say: "The Eight Banners Barracks is the Liangshan Park of Shanxi."

In early September, several flag soldiers broke through the street fence after the late-night curfew. The guard guarding the fence refused to let him go, so the flag soldiers beat the guard to a bloody head with bricks.

The day after Gengyu was beaten, Yangqu County Magistrate Prescott Li and Taiyuan Prefecture Director Tongpan (prefectural assistant, responsible for the judicial affairs of a prefecture) Lin Yao jointly tried the case. Lin Yao protected the Eight Banners soldiers and instead passed the responsibility to the defendant. The injured Geng Yu was punished with a cane to please the Eight Banners soldiers. Li Zhixian was indignant, but he did not dare to fight against Lin Yao. From then on, the Eight Banners soldiers became even more rampant.

On September 18, Li Zhixian went on night patrol and went incognito with only a young servant. Passing by the entrance of an inn, I saw a fire inside, so I asked a servant to go in and investigate. At this time, several Eight Banners soldiers suddenly rushed out of the hotel and surrounded Lizhi County, beating and kicking them. Li Zhixian shouted: "What are you doing? I am the magistrate of Yangqu County." The Eight Banners soldiers pretended not to hear and still held Li Zhixian. Instead, they shouted loudly: "These two people want to break into the store and R@p3 women." They actually tried to R@p3 women. Li Zhixian was detained. Fortunately, county officials came to the rescue after receiving the news, and Li Zhixian was able to escape.

The next day, Taiyuan Shouwei [2] Hengtong adhered to the wishes of the feudal lord and Nisi to mediate the matter, and the Eight Banners soldiers were not punished. Magistrate Li knew that the Eight Banners soldiers were always arrogant and did not dare to pursue the case further. Linyao, the general magistrate, once said publicly in the official hall: "Back then, the governor E Shunan was insulted by the Eight Banners soldiers, but he was not held accountable. The sedan chair of Lord Zhulan, the prefect of Taiyuan, was smashed by the Eight Banners soldiers in the street, and Zhulan complained to the "two divisions" [ 3] The Yamen just asked the Eight Banners soldiers to apologize. "I was deeply shocked when I heard that the arrogant soldiers were so rampant, and a disaster was not far away.

There was a thief named Gen Yin'er in Taiyuan County. He robbed a pawnshop in the county town and stabbed the owner with a knife. He was wanted for arrest. There was a vest named Wenying'a (referring to the soldiers of the Eight Banners Xiaoqi Camp of the Qing Dynasty) who opened a hotel in Taiyuan City, and many gangsters hid in it---the place where Li Zhixian was beaten. Gen Yin'er and Wenying'a have always been on good terms, and there are also others such as Xiaoqi School Lieutenant Changqing, Majia Wu Nuer, Wu Long'a, etc., who work together to share the stolen goods, not just for a day or two.

After the wanted notice from Taiyuan Prefecture was issued, Lizhi County sent arresters Roland Zhang, Sullivan Wang and Cornelius Li to arrest him with tickets. These detectives detected Geun Yin'er hiding in Wenying'a's shop and rushed into the shop to capture him. The arrester searched Gen Yin'er and found no murder weapon on him, so he put a chain around Gen Yin'er's neck and prepared to take him away. Changqing pulled Roland Zhang to the west wing next door and asked for Gen Yin'er's release for any amount of money, but Roland Zhang firmly refused. Wenying'a pulled Gen Yin'er to the west wing and whispered in a low voice. Sullivan Wang held the chain in his hand and refused to let go. Cornelius Li stood beside him to protect Sullivan Wang. Seeing that Gen Yin'er could not escape, Wenying'a slammed the door angrily and left.

After a while, Wenying'a returned to the store and whispered to Gen Yin'er again. Roland Zhang was entangled in the west wing by Chang Qing and could not come out, so he shouted loudly: "Brothers, take the prisoner away quickly." Sullivan Wang agreed and took Gen Yin'er out of the west room. As soon as he walked into the courtyard, he saw a flash of the sword in Gen Yin'er's sleeve. Sullivan Wang screamed and fell to the ground motionless. Cornelius Li's left arm was also bleeding. Gen Yin'er broke free from the iron chain and quickly climbed over the courtyard wall. Escaped --- Outside the wall is Wen Ying's house. When Roland Zhang saw that the thieves escaped and his companions were killed, he rushed to the county to report urgently.

At dawn the next day, Magistrate Li came to my yamen to report to me and explain the reason. I said: "The thief killed the prisoner and involved the Eight Banners soldiers. It has become a serious case. We must ask the two departments and the governor to deal with it. Regardless of whether there is someone behind this matter or not, the top priority now is to catch the murderer. "

Li Zhi County immediately dispatched more than 100 officers to pursue him in four directions. He also drew a wanted portrait of Gen Yin'er, posted it everywhere, and searched throughout the city. At about eight o'clock, the "two divisions" met with the governor and sent me to summon Chang Qing and Wenying'a. After the two guys were brought in, they were very arrogant. I asked the governor to dismiss them first and then try them again.

Without the amulet, Wenying Acai gradually confessed the truth. According to Wen Ying'a, Gen Yin'er was indeed hiding in his shop, and it was his idea to hand Gen Yin'er a knife to kill Sullivan Wang. After Gen Yin'er escaped, he lowered himself from the city wall and fled to Zheng's home in Xishan Sulfur Factory to hide. The murder weapon is now hidden under the plank of the stove at home, with a red handle. Changqing and Wu Nuer also confessed the fact that they participated in dividing the stolen goods.