The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 14

Although Magistrate Lin is a tough man, he has always been grateful to me. When I was acting as the prefect of Taiyuan, a man named Hou was killed in Jiexiu County. His family members refused to sign the autopsy results. They always suspected that Magistrate Lin had made an error in the examination, and even suspected that Magistrate Lin had cheated by accepting bribes from the defendant. The matter dragged on for a few years. The former prefect Vernon Wang persuaded County Magistrate Lin to spend a sum of money to settle the matter, but the plaintiff's price was too high. Si Ruiyuan also advocated peace, which made the plaintiff even more arrogant and unwilling to give up.

After I took over, I re-examined the autopsy in accordance with the regulations and asked the supervisor to come to the scene for guidance. The plaintiff accused his niece-in-law of beating her cousin to death and throwing her into a well. The reason was that there were two injuries to the base of her right ear, and the evidence was conclusive. The test results showed that there were no wounds. There was sand in the Tianling Cap. It was indeed true that he died by falling into a well. The plaintiff had nothing to say, everything was handled in accordance with the law, and Magistrate Lin’s reputation was cleared. Magistrate Lin sent me a fur coat and other items to express his gratitude, but I sternly refused.

Last time, I stayed in Jiexiu for a few days to investigate the case of Zhang Jinlingzi. All the expenses were paid out of my own pocket. Magistrate Lin repeatedly begged me, so I accepted one or two kinds of food and returned the rest to him. Magistrate Lin felt that he had not fulfilled his host's obligations and felt very uneasy. Whenever there are new public accusations, I will send them all to Fenzhou Magistrate Niu for trial and prevent County Magistrate Lin from getting involved. Magistrate Lin is even more grateful to me. This time, Governor Yang sent me and Ye Mingchen to investigate the case of apportioning imperial envoy fees. When County Magistrate Lin found out, he said, "Since our benefactor is here, what else can we say?" Magistrate Lin and I didn't have a glass of wine or a meal. After he was dismissed from his post, he bid farewell to me. I gave him forty taels of silver as a token of my affection. Although the money was small, it was still very gratifying to him who had experienced the harshness of the world.

Dog bites dog, one mouthful of hair

Unexpectedly, just as the case of Magistrate Lin was settled, another incident occurred between Zezhou magistrate Yu Xie and Duo Rui. When Yu Xie was the supervisor of the provincial examination, he was very close to Jiang Mei, the first minister, and their relationship became good. After Yu Xie returned to Zezhou and took office as the magistrate, Jiang Mei often wrote to Yu Xie. She said many things to Yu Xie in her letters that she should not say to others. After the case of County Magistrate Lin happened, Jiang Mei trusted Yu Xie and asked him to give out 3,000 taels of silver. Jiang Mei herself, Taiyuan Magistrate Vernon Wang, and Fan Tai Zhang Lanjun each also gave out 2 to 3,000 taels of silver to make up the money. More than 10,000 taels were given to Magistrate Lin to withdraw the case. At this time, Yu Xie was still very grateful to Jiang Mei.