This article is written with reference to historical sources and personal opinions, and relevant literature sources have been marked at the end of the article.
(Arrogant and rude, Foreman Zhao)
In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a factory for making wood in Lin'an City.
There is a group of carpenters in the factory, who are responsible for the work, and a foreman, who is in charge of the management.
The foreman's surname is Zhao, we call him Zhao Foreman, Zhao Foreman has a bad temper, and there is often friction with these carpenters, there is a carpenter surnamed Qian, we call him Qian Carpenter, and Zhao Foreman has not dealt with each other.
Foreman Zhao spoke badly, often insulting his carpenters, Qian carpenter did not like to listen, and several times he quarreled with Foreman Zhao, the two of them were more and more noisy, the more noisy they became, almost didn't do it, but fortunately a group of workers stopped it.
The workers persuaded the carpenter, saying that we were born to be miserable people, how can we fight with other foremen? I can't say that I can't fight anymore, not to mention that everything is because of the strong, you two are just quarrels, and you really can't do it, and then you are dead and alive, it's not worth it.
Therefore, these workers each scraped together some money, went to the street to buy some wine and meat, and then dragged the money carpenter to Foreman Zhao's house to make amends, and wanted to reconcile the relationship between the two at the dinner table.
What about Foreman Zhao, although this person has no virtue in his mouth, but he is not bad in nature, this person who reaches out and does not hit the smiling face, a group of carpenters have come to the door in person, this one is carrying a piece of meat, and the other is carrying two eggs, can you drive people away? You can't, can you.
Therefore, Foreman Zhao welcomed Carpenter Qian and others into the door, warmly entertained them, and asked his wife to fry two dishes, and a group of people sold some coarse wine, ate and drank, the relationship was close, the contradiction was gone, and Carpenter Qian and Foreman Zhao reconciled.
That night, everyone drank a lot, basically drunk, and drank very late, and only left Foreman Zhao's house in the second half of the night.
As for the carpenter Qian, he was the last to leave, everyone left, he hadn't left yet, and he pulled Foreman Zhao to say a few more greetings, and then he started to go home.
In the final analysis, they are all wage earners, and whoever has a problem will change it, so it's a good benefit.
Among them, the carpenter drank the most, his face was red, his eyes were confused, his steps were staggering, and he had already seen things in a whirlwind, and finally returned home, knocked on the door, and did not bother to listen to his wife's scolding, he did not take off his clothes, and fell asleep.
Her wife, Sun, saw her husband go out to drink and drink until midnight, and came back like a drunk, she was very angry, her husband slept, she didn't sleep, she leaned on the door and scolded, scolded her husband for not being angry, scolded her husband for not making money, scolded her husband for not making money, scolded herself for being unproductive, scolded herself for having no eyes and marrying the wrong person.
(Murder of her husband Sun)
We know that this person who likes to scold often hopes that others will scold her, you come to one sentence, she comes ten sentences, you come one sentence, she comes ten more sentences, so that the scolding will be very refreshing, very hearty, and in the process, it can also release negative emotions.
However, the husband drank too much, and was already drunk like mud, snoring like thunder, and fell asleep in bed, and he couldn't hear his wife's scolding at all.
Sun scolded two sentences and no one responded, and no one responded to the two scoldings, she didn't spread her fire, but became more and more angry.
Just between shouting and scolding, Sun's anger rose from her heart, and she suddenly picked up a quick knife and stabbed it into her husband's heart.
Poor this money carpenter, he died silently, he didn't hum a word, he didn't know what was going on, and his life was confessed.
You say, wife Sun, is this a murder of passion under anger? On the surface, it seems like this, but in fact it is not, because his wife, who is crazy and fornicating by nature, and does not abide by women's morals, betrays the family, she has already had someone outside, has an adulterer, and is discussing how to murder her husband, kill the money carpenter, and then live with the adulterer in a dignified manner.
Therefore, she did not kill with passion, but just in time for today's incident, the emotion of anger and anger aroused the evil thoughts in her heart, and she simply took advantage of the situation and killed her husband.
So, it's not a murder of passion, it's a deliberate killing, a deliberate killing, and that's just bad.
Not counting killing her husband, Sun also used axes, saws, chisels and other tools that night to brutally dissect her husband's body and hide the body pieces under the earthen kang.
If the yamen investigates at that time, the first thing to suspect is that he is in the same bed, and the Sun family thinks about it, and he simply puts this basin on someone else's head.
The next day, before dawn, when it was dawning, Sun ran to Foreman Zhao's house and began to make trouble, and she said that my husband did not come home last night, and he had always been at odds with you, and you must have killed him.
Sun's door-to-door asking for someone, this can make Zhao Foreman suffer, you just said last night, everyone got together to drink, that can testify to each other, but the other carpenters left early, not this money carpenter, alone and himself said a few words, he left the latest, this appeared the time for the two to get along alone, plus the two of them had a conflict a few days ago, the quarrel was very fierce, and they were going to do it, that is not your Zhao Foreman pretending to reconcile, in fact, it is still hidden evil, and when everyone is gone, you keep the money carpenter to keep, And then how fast after killing?
In this way, Foreman Zhao was suspected of committing a major crime, and Sun seized this point and sued Foreman Zhao to the Yamen, who arrested Foreman Zhao at that time and questioned him, saying that he was asking for crimes, so it was inevitable to be tortured, and Foreman Zhao couldn't stand the beating, so he had to admit his guilt and admit that he killed himself.
Of course, this is just Foreman Zhao confessed, that's not good, trying the case, adjudicating the case, that is to pay attention to evidence, the yamen asked, since you killed someone, where did you get the body?
(Officials in court)
God, where does Foreman Zhao know where the body is? But he can't say that he doesn't know, you killed this person, you don't know where the body is, you didn't molest the government, don't you refuse to confess?
Therefore, Foreman Zhao had no choice but to prevaricate casually, saying that he had thrown the body into a trench outside the city.
After Foreman Zhao finished speaking, the matter of searching for the corpse fell on the two catchers in the yamen.
One is surnamed Li, and the other is surnamed Zhou.
These two caught quickly, thinking that it was official business, and when they arrived at the trench outside the city, they would get the body back and forget it, but they searched for several days, digging three feet into the ground, not to mention a small trench, and let them turn it over and over outside Hangzhou, but they didn't even see the shadow of a corpse.
In this Hangzhou City, there are a lot of judicial departments, and the case is handled by the Yamen, but there are a lot of people staring at this case, the Criminal Department wants to ask, Zhaoyin wants to ask, and the imperial history also needs to ask, and the top is urging very tightly, and the Yamen wants to close the case quickly, but why doesn't the Yamen want to close the case? It's not that I don't want to tie it, but I can't get it, because the most critical evidence has not been found.
The yamen is urging the yamen, the yamen is urging the arrest fast, the yamen is not only urging the arrest fast, the yamen is also catching fast, this Li catches fast and Zhou catches the fast luck, go to work in the morning, go to the yamen to punch the card, you have to go outside the city to find the body, tired and tired to find a day, can't find it, get off work at night back to the yamen, each receive ten boards.
I can't find it on the second day, I can't find it, I can't find it on the third day, I can't find it on the fourth day, I still can't find it, I still can't find it, anyway, as long as I can't find it, it's good for the two of you.
The two of them had a sad face all day long, and they were already a little broken when they were beaten, and the brothers and sisters squatted on the edge of the trench outside the city to wash their faces with tears, crying straight up.
However, these two people are not worthy of pity, because then they were forced to have no choice, they also moved their minds, one day they were rummaging for corpses outside the city, and by chance they met an old man who was walking on the bridge with a donkey, this old man, we call him Mrs. Zheng.
Guess what's going on with these two? They actually teamed up to throw Zheng Taigong from the bridge into the river, and let Zheng Taigong call for help, but they stood by and watched Zheng Taigong being drowned alive.
As for the donkey, it doesn't matter to them, they run away with a kick.
is good in broad daylight, and there is no grudge against others in the past, but there is no enmity in the near future, how can you make such a ruthless hand?
There's a reason for that, of course.
Zheng Taigong's body has been soaked in the river for more than ten days, and it has been soaked and rotten, in our words, it is already a giant, and it is impossible to distinguish the appearance.
Oh bad, it's so bad.
Unable to find evidence, they "made" evidence themselves, and in order to make a difference, they actually killed an innocent person for no reason.
(Disaster falls from the sky, Zheng Taigong)
If you want to say that this Sun is really not covered, she knows that the corpse she found is someone else at all, and it can't be her husband's at all, but the moment she saw the corpse, she burst out with amazing acting skills, she was like a lightning strike, tears were like springs, and the sound of wailing was even more heartbreaking.
Look at her feet again, staggering, as if she wants to fall with the wind, her hands caressed her husband's cold face, crying about her past love, crying blood, words broken, sadness is irrepressible, tears are spilled on her clothes, her heart hurts, and she almost wants to faint.
The people around were all moved by it, and their eyes were wet with tears.
can only say, it's a pity that his acting skills were good in that era, and he didn't award awards.
The yamen looked at it, what else did he say, there was no doubt that it was the corpse of the carpenter Qian, so the case was closed, and Foreman Zhao undoubtedly killed someone and was beheaded on a certain day.
At the same time as the case ended, a new case appeared, that is, the family of Mrs. Zheng, who was killed by the two of them, found that Mrs. Zheng had not returned for many days, so he began to look around, looking for and looking and not finding it, but he happened to meet a person who behaved suspiciously, called Wu, who was wrapped in a donkey skin, which was the skin of the donkey that Mrs. Zheng took from home.
This is their own donkey, their own skin, so the family suspected that it was Wu who saw the donkey, killed Zheng Taigong, and robbed the donkey.
Of course, this is not the case, because Zheng Taigong was killed by the arresters, and the body was also taken away by the arresters, pretending to be the corpse of the carpenter, as for the donkey, after it was kicked away that day, it was left to its own devices, wandering in the wilderness outside the city, and it happened to be discovered by the unemployed vagrant Wu.
Unemployed vagrant, not engaged in production and labor, he got this donkey, he didn't have the patience and energy to raise it, so he simply killed the donkey, and after the donkey meat was eaten by him, he rolled up the donkey skin again, and planned to go to the city to sell it, but he happened to be bumped into by Mrs. Zheng's family.
Mrs. Zheng's family couldn't help but say, and immediately sent Wu to the yamen, the yamen, just like the treatment of Foreman Zhao back then, without saying a word, first dipped the whip in cold water and beat it, it was really painful, Wu couldn't resist it, and he also pleaded guilty, saying that Mrs. Zheng killed himself.
His words were more credible in the eyes of the Yamen, after all, he still had donkey skins on him as stolen goods.
However, the yamen will also encounter the same problem as the case of Foreman Zhao, that is, they need the victim's body to convict, so of course Wu is the same as Foreman Zhao, in fact, he was wronged, where does he know, but he can't help but say it, and he doesn't dare not say it, so he casually said that he discarded it somewhere.
Yes, this time Li Zhukuai and Zhou Zhukuai came to life again, so that they could not die and find the corpse, and the work of finding the body was put on the stall again.
This time, this time it was completely over, because the two of them were quick to know that Wu was completely wronged, and the real murderer of Zheng Taigong was themselves.
Looking for a corpse? The corpse has already been used to impersonate the money carpenter, is it possible to kill another person and "make" another corpse to come out?
The two of them are big heads, and they feel that they are stuck in a loop, because the yamen has also spoken, you two hurry up and find it for me, I can't find the old rule, ten boards a day.
If the plot develops at this pace, these two people will really kill innocents again.
It's just that Wu, who was locked in a cell, couldn't withstand the torture, fell seriously ill, and died a few days later, so the case passed away with the wind and was over.
(Died in prison by Wu)
A year later, Foreman Zhao's case finally went through the whole process, and the large and small departments of Lin'an Mansion completed the review and approved the death penalty, and Foreman Zhao was beheaded and died.
The yamen is very satisfied, the catcher is very satisfied, and the Sun family is very satisfied, but there is a group of people who are not satisfied, and this group of people is the workers of Qian carpenter.
Working together and getting along day and night for so many years, everyone knows that Foreman Zhao is a little bit of a bad mouth, he has no bad intentions, saying that he used to have a grudge against Qian Carpenter, and he had already talked about it during dinner that day, so they unanimously decided that Foreman Zhao was wronged.
These workers didn't dare to compete with the yamen, but they still wanted to do something for the dead Zhao Foreman, so a group of people scraped together some money, the amount was considerable, and then let out the words, saying that we think Foreman Zhao is wronged, who can find the real culprit and clear up the grievances for Foreman Zhao, these money, let you take it yourself.
There are two flowers, and we will each show one branch.
After Sun killed her husband Qian Carpenter, she really kept filial piety for her husband in a fake manner, but just after the filial piety period, she recruited the adulterer to the house, and the two of them lived a lewd and promiscuous life.
It's just that the new life is not as good as Sun thinks, the adulterer Wang, with bad morals and arrogant personality, is not as good as his previous honest and loyal money carpenter, since moving to Sun's house, Wang does not work, does not go to the ground, every day is to eat, drink and have fun, either go out to gamble, or just get himself drunk.
It is said that one day, a thief came from the north, the thief's surname is Feng, the means are superb, and when stealing, he is like a ghost, silent, and difficult to detect, whether it is unlocking the lock, or stealing, or entering the house, it is all easy, saying that the thief is a bit of a loss, it is simply the king of thieves.
According to his inquiry, although this family is an ordinary person, there is no treasure money and silver at home, but there are antique calligraphy and paintings handed down from generation to generation, this thing is worth a lot of money, how can it be comparable to ordinary gold and silver, so the thief Feng stepped on the spot around this family.
Coincidentally, next door to this family is Sun's house.
The thief Feng was under the eaves of the Sun family, and he was originally observing the family with antiques, but inadvertently, he heard a conversation between the Sun family and the adulterer Wang.
It turned out that Wang was not only bad at gambling and drinking, but he also beat people when he drank too much, and every day he beat Sun with a blue nose and swollen face, dead and alive, Sun was beaten, she regretted not being at the beginning, and began to miss Qian Carpenter, so she cried and complained:
You have no conscience, if it wasn't for you, how could I have killed my husband? His body is still hidden in the kang now, the kang sleeps people, I can't dismantle it, I can't bury it, I'm worried all day long, I've done so much for you, I wanted to live a good life with you, but you are so cruel to me, you really deserve to thunder and go to hell!
To say that this thief Feng, stealing things is wrong, this is a crime and crime, but I have to say, he is a righteous thief, Sun's words he really listened, these days in Lin'an City, the carpenters raised money to seek innocence for Foreman Zhao He also knows a little about this, you say that he is for money, for something else, anyway, he can't take care of stealing antiques, just run away, and tell all the things to the workers.
This group of carpenters only hated that they couldn't stand up to protect Foreman Zhao back then, and they couldn't find out the real culprit for Qian Carpenter and comfort the undead.
(Occasionally, I heard the surprise of the thief Feng)
The bricks fell with a clatter, and inside was the corpse of the carpenter.
Sun sees that the situation is not right, and she is going to run? But who could let her escape, a few carpenters found a rope to tie her, and then twisted her to the yamen.
Now, the truth is revealed, Sun confessed, admitting that Qian carpenter was killed by himself, and Foreman Zhao was framed by himself and made a scapegoat.
Yamen wondered very much, the corpse of Qian carpenter was in the earthen kang of Sun's house, so who was the corpse that Li Zhukuai and Zhou Zhukuai found?
Under interrogation, the two of them quickly confessed the truth, saying that the adults were in a hurry, and the villains had no choice but to kill Zheng Taigong and use him to charge the carpenter's body.
Yamen was even more puzzled, because the problem came again, if Zheng Taigong was killed by Li and Zhou, then Wu who died in the cell could not be wronged!
The follow-up to the two strange cases is:
Sun murdered her husband and put him to death, supposedly by dismemberment.
Li was arrested quickly, Zhou was arrested, killed quickly, and executed.
Officials who have handled, or directly or indirectly caused the injustice of Foreman Zhao, have been dismissed from their posts and are not allowed to be officials for life.
As for Wu who died in prison, the yamen did not speak out again, because they thought that if this case was to be overturned, many people would be implicated, since Wu was a jobless vagrant, he had no relatives, and no one was aggrieved for him, so his case was temporarily absent and closed...
Sun's murder of her husband in order to courtship with her adulterer is a violation of ethics by selfish desires, and her hypocritical performance of grafting flowers and trees and pretending to cry shows the deceit of human nature.
In order to evade punishment, the arresters actually used the lives of innocent men to fill the loopholes of unjust cases, which exposed the cold-bloodedness of law enforcers who regard human life as a tool.
From private feelings to public power, from individuals to systems, evil deeds spread wantonly in the shadow of power disorder in the feudal era, and when the judiciary was reduced to a machine for violently extorting confessions, the truth became the cheapest victim.
The Yamen abused torture in order to close the case, whether it was the Criminal Department, Yushi, or Zhaoyin, they exerted pressure at all levels, but no one stood up to investigate the suspicions.
Then, this exposes the absurd logic of "efficiency first" in the judicial system of the Yuan Dynasty, the torture of Foreman Zhao, the unjust death of someone Wu in prison, and the innocent death of Zheng Taigong, isn't this a systemic massacre?
What's even more terrifying is that the realization of justice does not depend on the law, but on luck, and the rehabilitation of unjust cases depends on the truth that the thief Feng accidentally glimpsed...
Laws are designed to restrain "evil", but they can become accomplices of "evil" due to the depravity of the executor—the process of pursuing justice often comes at the cost of creating more injustice.
This profound contradiction interrogates every soul who tries to build a just world.
Resources:
"Prison Mystery Collection"
"Mu'an Collection"
Yi Fusheng. "The Inscription of the Great Yuan Taishi Tai'an Wumu King Shinto" Proofreading Notes. Journal of Taishan University, 2016
ZHANG Zhenxiong. The source of the material of the Mu'an Collection and the society of the Yuan Dynasty as it reflects. Journal of Changchun Institute of Education, 2015
Indicate:
This story, most of the sources, from the Yuan Dynasty writer Yao Sui's "Mu'an Collection" in the "Zhexi Lian Visit Deputy Envoy Pan Gong Shendao Tablet", Yao Sui is a writer, professional not history, so the authenticity of the above is actually up for debate, please do not over-interpret, and since the surname of the characters in the story is not mentioned in the literature, in order to facilitate writing, all the surnames of the characters in the text are fictitious, so make an explanation here.