Text/Lin Yan
During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, when Lan Dingyuan was serving as Chaoyang Zhi County, there was a case of the fraudulent death of the baochang, and Lan Dingyuan recorded the cracking of this case in the "Blue Gong Case".
Shortly after Lan Dingyuan took office, one day, Chen Shi, the wife of Zheng Houzhi, the security chief of Nanjiaofang in the countryside of Chaoyang, came to report that her husband had been forced to die alive.
Chen said: "The villager Xiao Bangwu hid the land title and resisted paying taxes, and my husband Zheng Houzhi, as the baochang, went to persuade him many times, and Xiao Bangwu had a grudge in his heart, and on November 13, together with Xiao Axing, Li Xianzhang, Cai Shixian, Zhuang Kaiming and other poor and evil people, they raided my house. They beat my husband to death, and because he had nowhere to live, my husband eventually committed suicide by throwing himself into the river, and now the body is in the ditch of the great altar in xiashan Mountain. ”
Lan Dingyuan listened to these ladies talk as if they were memorizing lines, which was very unnatural, and his eyebrows flickered, and he suspected fraud in his heart, but he had to send someone to examine the corpse.
Chen's son, Zheng Abo, drove the body to the county seat, and Lan Dingyuan sent a servant to begin the autopsy.
The body was found to be badly decomposed, without the bruises of being beaten, with mud and sand inside the nails, which was evidence of drowning.
Lan Dingyuan privately investigated and found that Xiao Bangwu and others were simple and responsible townspeople, and there was no reason to beat up one person.
During Zheng Hou's tenure as chief of security, Xiao Bangwu and five other families had thefts one after another, and they had reported the case to wei, the former county commander, and asked the government to arrest the thieves as soon as possible and severely punish them.
After Lan Dingyuan arrived in office, he ordered the arrest of thieves within a time limit and immediately launched a recovery operation.
Lan Dingyuan wondered, how could Xiao Bangwu and the other five people beat up Bao Chang during this time period?
Lan Dingyuan believed that there were many more suspicious points, and the face of the corpse was so badly damaged that it was impossible to distinguish between serious falsification.
On November 13, Zheng Hou threw himself into the river, and no one found out and came to report the crime?
After the autopsy on November 21, just seven days later, why did the body decay so quickly? Even if it is half a month, it cannot be like this.
Lan Dingyuan questioned Zheng Abo, and Zheng Abo slyly argued: "The body has been soaked in water, so it is seriously decomposed." ”
Interrogating Xiao Bangwu and five other people, these people had never seen anything in the world, coupled with their clumsy mouths and clumsy cheeks, they could not say that they did not have the testimony of beating the security chief Zheng Hou rank, which made Lan Dingyuan very embarrassed.
Next, the mother and son of the Chen family began a sad performance, wearing a ma dai filial piety, holding a spirit flag, the son crying Lao Tzu, the wife crying for her husband, sharp mouth chattering, making a "mournful and miserable" situation, and the melon-eating masses who were watching did not know the truth and also wiped their tears.
Lan Dingyuan knew what to expect, but at the moment he was struggling to find conclusive evidence, so he ordered the Chen mother and son to prepare a coffin and bury the body.
Many people think that Zhixian's handling is very desperate, and they feel extremely shocked.
Lan Dingyuan found Xiao Bangwu and the other five and said, "Zheng Houzhi is not dead at all, don't you want to arrest him?" ”
Xiao Bangwu said, "We don't know where he is!" ”
Lan Dingyuan said, "You are all neighbors who eat a well's water, why can't you go around and investigate?" If you don't want to, if you want to stay on the sidelines, that's weird! Outsiders are certainly not interested in this, and your current identity is a murder suspect, the disaster is at hand, and now you are imprisoned, and after the autumn, you are willing to pay for your life? ”
Xiao Bangwu and the others were so frightened that they burst into tears and prostrated their heads to seek knowledge for the county to decide for them.
Lan Dingyuan: "You guys have a hairy use like this?" Zheng Houzhi did many evil deeds in his daily life, hurting the people, and I think he was worried about the suppression of the government and hid. I observe you people here, the best place to escape is nothing more than Huilai and Haifeng, and the five of you go to track him down separately, and it is impossible to find him. ”
Three days later, Xiao Bangwu captured Zheng Houzhi in Huilai County and took him to the county seat, where thousands of people gathered in front of the official palace to watch, all clapping their hands and laughing.
Chen Shi and Zheng Abo's mother and son were ashamed, and they prostrated their heads and only begged for a quick death.
After interrogation, it was found that the mastermind behind this major case of fraud was the lawyer Chen Achen, and ya gong quickly arrested him, and together with a cadre of prisoners, he was imprisoned and waited to be released, and the people of Chaoyang City all clapped their hands and applauded.
The nameless body, which turned out to be a homeless beggar, drowned many days ago and was not claimed for many days.
Lan Dingyuan sighed at the end of the trial notes: "However, if there are false sons and false wives, who wear a staff for them, and who are buried in a funeral ceremony, then this beggar can also smile at the Nine Springs!" ”