The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 9

I immediately sent people to Wenying'a's house to take out the murderous knife and the centipede ladder from Genyin'er City. The general guarding Taiyuan City was promoted and rushed to the Xishan Sulfur Plant together with Lizhi County Starry Night, but found no trace of Gen Yin'er; among the more than 100 households in the sulfur plant, there was no one with the surname Zheng --- It seems He was deceived by Wenying A.

Governor Shen Qixian's term of office was about to expire and he was about to go to Beijing to see his Majesty. He was worried that Zhang Lanjun, the chief envoy, would use this case to trouble him after acting as governor. He went everywhere to seek divination from gods and was uneasy. One day, he called me to the governor's office, handed me the roster of county guards and said, "Are any of your men good at catching thieves?" I replied, "Since you are a catcher, of course you can catch thieves." Futai said: "This morning, I asked for a sign that matches the name of your servant Hong Xi. If you think it is possible, please send him." When I returned to the Yamen, I sent Hong Xi. He was called to the lobby and secretly handed over the task to him. Hong Xi accepted it happily and said, "Gen Yin'er once committed a robbery and was detained in the prison cell for a period of time. I recognize him."

Within a few days, Hong Xi captured Gen Yin'er in a Shaobing shop in Yuci County. His confession was the same as Wen Ying'a's, so he sent a letter to the Ministry of Punishment asking for the prison terms of a group of prisoners. The Ministry of Punishments issued instructions: Wenying'a beheaded the prisoner, and Genyin'er was hanged and executed. Changqing was sentenced to death in prison, and other prisoners were sent to the army and were not allowed to pay for redemption.

Hengtong, the governor of Taiyuan, had just been promoted to the deputy capital of Bodu Ne (the name of the station, established in the early Qing Dynasty, in the north of Fuyu County, Jilin, and was an important post station connecting Mongolia at that time). He was worried that he would be involved in this incident, so he asked Governor Shen for mercy. Governor Shen asked him to come to me and intercede on his behalf. I thought that since the murderer had been punished and others were exempted from involvement, I had no intention of going into details. From then on, the arrogance of the Eight Banners soldiers stationed in Taiyuan was somewhat restrained.

Previously, there was also a case of robbing a money shop in Yangqu. It was rumored that Wen Ying'a was responsible. The general was dismissed and retained in his post. During this period, Desheng went to the Yamen every day to listen to my trial of the case. This group of thieves confessed the previous case, and Desheng was very worried that I would pursue the case. I said: "This is an unconventional case. Once it is found out, many people may lose their heads." After hearing this, Hengtong was even more frightened and begged me pitifully. I said, "Don't worry, I will discuss the matter and will not pursue the previous case." "That's it." Later, Yang Guozhen took over as the governor of Shanxi and checked the case files carefully. He asked me why I didn't include the officials who had failed in their duties in the case. I said that this was the opinion of Governor Shen Qixian, and Governor Yang said nothing more. .

[1] "Commander of the Military and Horse Division": the official name, the name of the chief officer of the Military and Horse Division of the five cities in the Qing Dynasty. He was in charge of patrolling thieves, regulating roads, inspecting prisoners, organizing firefighting and other affairs in a city.

[2] The garrison generals of the Eight Banners in the Qing Dynasty were of the third rank. They were responsible for the defense of important prefectures and were under the jurisdiction of the garrison generals or deputy capitals. Baoding, Cangzhou, Taiyuan, and Kaifeng led their own garrison troops.

[3] Refers to the Chief Secretary Yamen and the Chief Secretary Yamen.

This litigator is not easy to deal with

There was a litigant named Guo Sizong in Pingding Prefecture, who was a scholar who was dismissed from his career. He had a married daughter who committed suicide for unknown reasons. Taking advantage of this case, Guo Sizong went to the capital to complain three times, to the province to complain four times, and to the imperial envoy's residence twice. In your current terms, Guo Sizong was an "old petitioner", but at that time, no one thought of putting him in a mental hospital. Guo Sizong's case was sent from the province to Taiyuan Prefecture for trial. It was delayed for four years and was not concluded. Neither the provincial officials nor Taiyuan Magistrate Vernon Wang dared to accept his move.

I carefully checked the case file and found that there were actually many loopholes in Guo's accusation. By grasping these loopholes, we can clarify the facts of the case.

Guo Sizong's father was a scholar. He taught his children to read in a private school, taught them laws and cases, and trained them to write accusations--brothers accused each other, and the father made judgments according to the law. Judgment of victory or defeat--such a top-notch father is unheard of.

Later, the old scholar passed away. In the name of his biological mother, Guo Sizong went to Zhizhou Yamen to accuse his brother Guo Shaozong (also a scholar) of molesting and raping his wife. The accusation included the following sentence: "My wife was undressing and washing her face by the window, and my brother was standing next to him. He threw the gold bracelet into my wife's washbasin through the window and watched her smile lewdly. "After interrogation by the state, it was found that there was no such thing, and his mother was sentenced to exile and allowed to pay. After the redemption, Guo Sizong was also disqualified as a scholar and was sent to Shuozhou.

Guo Sizong was always restless while serving his sentence in Shuozhou. When he was released from prison and returned to his hometown, he became even more rogue. He was very familiar with various laws and cases, so the local officials were somewhat wary of him.

Guo Sizong had a daughter who married a Tongsheng (scholars who had not passed the scholar examination were called Tongsheng) and gave birth to a son who was already four years old. One day, the child was crying in front of the window. Tong Sheng's mother blamed her daughter-in-law for not caring about the child. Guo and her mother-in-law contradicted her and made rude remarks. At this time, Tong Sheng happened to hear his daughter-in-law insulting her mother outside, so he punched Guo several times on the back. Guo suddenly became angry, picked up the razor and wiped it on her neck. Tong Sheng and her son were shocked. They helped Guo to the bedside and used chicken skin to patch her wound. However, because Guo's trachea had been severed, she died at that time.

Tong Sheng was afraid that his father-in-law would not give up, so he did not dare to go to his father-in-law's house to report the news in person. When he met Wang Juren on the way, he asked Wang Juren to drop by the Guo family to inform him that his daughter was seriously ill, and asked Guo Sizong to visit him. He also said that he was going to ask a doctor to treat his wife. When seeing a doctor, you can’t be distracted. Wang Ju and Guo Sizong were neighbors, so they agreed immediately. In fact, at this time, Tong Sheng had already reported the case to the state and asked the government to send someone to conduct an autopsy.

After hearing Wang Juren's words, Guo Sizong rushed to Tong Sheng's home and saw that his daughter was dead. Without saying a word, he immediately rushed to the state to complain - he didn't know that his son-in-law had arrived before him.

The executioners and gangsters in the state all knew that Guo Sizong was a famous litigator, so they were particularly careful during the autopsy. The knife's edge was heavy and light, so it was indeed suicide rather than homicide. There were two fist marks on the shoulder blades, and Tong Sheng compared them with his hands and found they were consistent.

Guo Sizong refused to sign a statement, and before the autopsy was completed, he slipped out of the crowd and went to the province to file a complaint. The poem goes like this: "It is recorded in "The Record of Washing Wrongs": 'The wound of self-inflicted wounds is heavy on the inside and light on the outside.' Now if we look closely at the wound of the deceased, we can see that the wound on the deceased is heavy on the inside and heavy on the outside. Why is this? Furthermore, the right hand of the person who committed suicide is bent. Now if we look closely, The deceased's hands were bent. Why was this? His neck was so seriously injured that he could never move. However, there were several blood stains on the scene, and there were also blood stains on the edge of the bed. Why did he commit suicide? It was very heavy and he must have died immediately. But now the deceased's clothes were askew and his hair was disheveled. Why? Blood stains should only be found on the body of the deceased. Now there are blood stains on Tong Sheng and his son. Why did Tong Sheng and his son use chicken skin to cover it up? With the mother and son supporting each other, isn't it possible that the scene was faked? The state official was young and acting as a local magistrate for the first time. The autopsy only relied on the torture chamber and the death certificate, and the corpse's description was quite different from the one filled in by the plaintiff. "