Author: Our team Zhang Lan
This kind of miracle of "intercepting and killing officials and then pretending to take office" is the "Leizhou False Taishou" story in the Qing Dynasty novel collection "Yu Chu Xinzhi": Leizhou Taishou on the way to office during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty was suddenly intercepted and killed by a group of robbers, and then this gang of robbers took Taishou's certificate of appointment, pretending to be Taishou to go to Leizhou to take office, and the work was even better than the real Taishou. So much so that from the boss to the common people, they all respected this gang. It was not until later, when the gang was worn and the seven robbers were killed by the law, that everyone understood in shock that this good official who won the hearts of the people was actually a murderous bandit.
In the Ming Dynasty blockbuster novel "Three Words and Two Beats", this kind of plot of "intercepting and killing officials" is also a popular plot that has appeared many times. For example, in the story of "Qiaohui Furong Screen", the former county lieutenant Cui Junchen was intercepted and killed, jumping into the water to retrieve a life. In the story of "Cai Ruihong endured humiliation and revenge", her father who went to work was also intercepted and killed by water thieves. But in real history, in ancient times, "intercepting and killing a previous official" was itself a low-probability event.
Except for the chaotic or decaying times, under normal years, if thieves "rob appointed officials", it is often much more difficult to commit crimes. In particular, when officials go to other places to take office, they often take the official road and live in a post office. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, where post roads were widespread, there was a post station every 30 to 40 miles on land. The distance is farther on the waterway, but there will also be a coaching inn within a hundred miles. In the Jiangnan area where the water network runs through, there is also a "Tang Road" along the river, and there are also "smoke piers" along the Tang Road where soldiers are stationed, which are almost strictly guarded throughout the whole process.
Therefore, although it is true that in the novel, there is indeed a matter of "intercepting and killing a previous official", in the real history, this is an extremely risky thing. Even the most vicious thief must weigh one or two. That is, during the Chongzhen period, such a decline and fall of the world, it may appear.
If robbing officials is a high risk, then "impersonating officials to take office" is even more difficult. The identity certificates of ancient officials include the "confession" and "edict" of appointing officials, as well as the "fish symbol" and "tooth card" that prove identity, as well as the "symbol card" and "messenger" used along the pass. The above not only indicates the identity of the official, but also records the appearance and other characteristics of the official in detail. So even in the story of "Leizhou False Taishou", the thieves also chose "the most defiled of the crowd" to impersonate Taishou. In reality, such "professional talents" are even more difficult to find. Therefore, theoretically, in the ancient Taiping years, whether it was "intercepting and killing officials" or "impersonating officials", it was a low-probability event. However, in practice, there were also some high-level "talents" in ancient times who completed a more difficult action: without "intercepting and killing officials", they relied on their strong acting skills to successfully impersonate high-ranking officials, deceive a number of high-ranking officials, and make a lot of money.
Among them, the cattle people are the first to promote Li Feixiong of the Northern Song Dynasty. This person was originally a scoundrel, and there was an old father who was a Qinzhou festival envoy, who did something wrong, and then he couldn't mix at home and rode a big horse out to show off. Because he was the son of a high-ranking official, he learned the style of a high-ranking official, and along the way, he pretended to be a qin cha of the imperial court, but he actually went all the way to scare him all the way. The officials of the prefectures and counties along the way were all deceived by his "acting skills", and did not even check their identity credentials, but obediently followed him as an entourage and accompanied him as a blessing.
It wasn't until he reached Qingshui County in Gansu Province that Li Feixiong had enough of his mighty wind and almost made up his money, and he was so confident that he wanted to kill the local officers under false pretense and then control the border army to rebel. At this point, the local officials fell to their knees in fright, and they were about to die in a daze. Liu Wenyu of Zhixian County found that this "Qin Cha" was not right, and he had the courage to suddenly catch him, and only after careful investigation did he know that it was a fake. However, the inspectors in various parts of the northwest had already made him pit all over the place. When the news reached Beijing, almost everyone who listened to whom covered their faces, song Taizong was also furious, not only "Yi Feixiong's family", but even the officials who were deceived into the pit and accompanied Li Feixiong as a wei zuofu also lost their heads -- a mere second ancestor deceived you into such a situation, what is the use of such an official in the Great Song Dynasty?
If the Great Song Dynasty at that time was still exploited by This Li Feixiong because of the beginning of the establishment of the country, the immaturity of various systems, and the uneven quality of officials, then a swindler in the Ming Dynasty completed a more difficult "performance": Yang Fu. This Mr. Yang Fu was originally a commoner in the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty at that time, the identity verification system of officials was extremely mature, and the probability of "impersonation" was close to zero. But this Mr. Yang Fu, just because he heard that the great eunuch Wang Zhi was very good, he had the idea of pretending to be Wang Zhi and cheating.
He and his accomplices set off from Wuhu, and he pretended to be Wang Zhi's accomplices and pretended to be a lieutenant, and he was able to walk all the way and knock all the way, and the pomp and circumstance became bigger and bigger. From Wuhu to Wuxi Changzhou, Suzhou, all the way south to Yanping, Fujian. Along the way, local officials sent gifts to ask Toba to tie the knot, and some people stopped the road and shouted grievances. Yang Fu, who cheated money and deceived Yang Fu, who was in a good mood, simply pushed the boat along the water and did some good things to punish corrupt officials and settle unjust cases, and the beautiful talk of "Wang Zhi's eunuch being the master of the people" was also a nonchalant walk. It wasn't until the gang went to Fuzhou and met Lu Sheng, a town eunuch who did not believe in evil, that he had to check the "spell card" of the "fake Wang Zhi", which had already deceived a little half of the Ming Dynasty, that he could wear the gang. Yang Fu, who occurred in the East Window Incident, was also executed - in fact, anyone like Lu Sheng, who asked one more question and looked up the farce of the "rune card", had already worn the gang.
But in that chenghua year when people in the court were superfluous and officials tended to be inflamed and became popular, everyone was thinking, holding the thick legs of the great eunuch to gain benefits, who wants to believe that this is fake? Who dares to ask one more question? The mentality of the officials is like this, and even the most complete inspection system is empty talk. Because of the political style of people, extreme corruption, in the final analysis, it is indeed more terrible than the most vicious thieves.
References: Chen Baoliang's "History of Social Life in the Ming Dynasty", Fang Zhiyuan's "Biography of the Chenghua Emperor", Gu Yunqing's "Ancient Chinese Proving Culture", Cheng Taikun's "Research on Crime Stories in "Three Words and Two Beats"", "History of Ming", "History of Song"