Hu Yanyun
In the column "Notes on Narrative Mystery", the great Qing Dynasty writer Yuan Ming and his "Zi Bu Shu" are one of the writers and works with the highest rate of appearance, without him, only because "Zi Bu Shu" is really a note novel that records too many strange forces and chaotic gods. Although the thesis is not as scientific as "Liaozhai Zhiyi" and less well-known as "Notes on Reading Wei Caotang", it is not inferior to the other two works in terms of the social reality of the middle Qing Dynasty reflected in the work itself. In fact, because Yuan Ming has not been "in the opposition" like Pu Songling, nor has he been "in the DPRK" for a long time like Ji Xiaolan, but after a short period of service (about seven years), he resigned from his official post and went into hiding, and sang Lin Quan, but his pen had a little more quiet and idyllic "objective" temperament.
"Zi Bu Shu" is famous in the folk, "Suiyuan Poetry" is evident in the ink, since the writer is a strange person, posterity is bound to write it with notes, among them, Yuan Ming left a lot of interesting stories in the seven years he served as the county commander of Lishui, Jiangning, Jiangpu, Shuyang and other places.
"The Son Doesn't Speak"
First, a black list to rule the adulterers
The "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" records Yuan Ming as a eunuch, and there is only one sentence: "In the fourth year of Qianlong, he became a jinshi and chose Shu Jishi." Changed to Jiangnan County, Lishui, Jiangpu, Shuyang, and jiangning. Shi Yin Jishan is the governor, who knows the talent of the piece, and the piece also does his best in the face of trouble. The people of the city have carved songs in all directions based on the judgment. According to historical records, as early as yuan mei's participation in the scientific expedition to enter the army, he was secretly helped by the famous qianlong courtier Yin Jishan, and WenDuan Duke (尹 Jishan ziwenduan) later became the governor of Liangjiang, of course, hoping to get such a talent to preside over the place, so there was a lot of promotion for him, and Yuan Ming's performance was also very good, so that his judgment became a lyric sung by the locals.
"Ming also did his best in the face of things" actually downplayed Yuan Ming's political achievements, and in the official arena at that time, he was a good official who was both clean and talented. This point is quite "summarized" in the notes of the Qing Dynasty. For example, Lu Yixiang said in "Leng Lu Miscellaneous Knowledge": "When he is slaughtered, he is diligent and clear-cut, and he is worthy of following the officials." Specifically, Yuan Ming was quite diligent during his tenure as a county commander, "sitting in grandiose manner all day long, appointing officials and people to do white things, having small lawsuits in prison, making judgments, and leaving no reason." In the "New World Theory", Yi Zongkui gave a detailed account of his talent in prison folding: "Yuan Jianzhai has successively served in Lishui, Muyang, and Jiangning Zhi County, and there are prison folding talents. Set up more eyes and ears, set up village protection, inquire about the names of thieves and evil people, publish bookkeeping and cross-examination, so that they cannot be hidden, then list their names, Xu three years without offense, huang xuezhi, and traitors are all traced. That is to say, every time Yuan Ming went to a place, he established a "black list" after his overt inspection and secret visits, publicized the names of undesirable elements, and only withdrew from the list after three years without bad deeds.
"Cold Miscellaneous Knowledge"
At that time, there was a piece of rural land, because there was no land title and the ownership was unknown, which led to two nearby families gathering for many years and arguing endlessly. When Yuan Ming saw that the papers of their lawsuit were piled up before and after, he smiled and said, "If you have a long lawsuit, you will break your family. So all the cases were annulled, the land was re-measured, and the land deeds were issued, so that they could cultivate their own land, and the backlog of cases ended.
According to the "Collection of Stele Biographies", in the thirteenth year of Qianlong, when a famine occurred in Jiangnan, Tongjing Village transported a batch of grain and rice to Wumen, "there were people who led the robbery." Such a robbery in the hands of other officials was the word "killing the head", but Yuan Ming thought that in the year of the famine, he should be carefully punished when encountering a crime, so he investigated it in detail and understood that it was the local people who were afraid of the further aggravation of the famine and intercepted these grains and rice for emergency use. Yuan Ming "told the law of affection, chased after the rice and returned it."
Yuan Ming's father came from Guangxi to visit his son, "worried about his son's youth, not familiar with the talent of officials", he went to the countryside to secretly visit his son's official voice, and listened to a woman say, "Wuyi Yuan Zhi County government is like a god", and then he put his mind at ease. And Yuan Ming's way of being an official is really thought-provoking: "Those who try to keep orders, when they strictly restrain the family slaves, so that the officials and the people are not separated, they will eliminate all kinds of evils." "To put it bluntly, when the leader should manage the people around him well, get closer to the masses, and naturally understand the government and people."
However, compared with the above problems, Yuan Mei has a special talent, that is, the ancients Yun "qing officials are difficult to break the family affairs", but he seems to be particularly good at handling housework disputes.
Epitaph Collection
Second, premature babies are noble
Fang Maoshi's "Records of The Companionship of Banana Xuan" records that when Yuan Ming was serving as the commander of Jiangning County, on May 10 of one year, "the sky was windy, the day was obscure, and the woman in the city surnamed Han, in the eighteenth year, was blown by the wind to Tongjing Village, ninety miles away from the city." Villagers asked for her surname and sent her home the next day. The woman surnamed Han was originally engaged to the son of Li Xiucai in Dongcheng, Jiangning County, and Li Xiucai "suspected that the wind did not blow the woman to ninety miles", presumably the daughter-in-law had an adulterous affair with someone in Tongjing Village, and found an excuse to date the adulterer, so she went to the county court to file a complaint and asked for resignation. Yuan Ming said, "In ancient times, there were still people who blew women to six thousand miles, do you know?" Li Xiucai didn't believe it. Yuan Ming showed it the "Collection of Lingchuan" written by hao Jing, a famous scholar of the Yuan Dynasty, and it was indeed recorded that a Wudi woman was blown six thousand miles by the wind to a family surnamed Liang, and there was a poem as evidence: "When the black wind extinguishes the red candle, a peach falls outside the sky." The Liang family has sons who are grooms, and the Qian clan is negative from Zhong Jianbei. Scramble to see the ghost creature under the lamp, and the cloud sideburns tilt upside down crown pei. Saying that Wumen was six thousand miles away, he didn't know where he was coming. Willing to be a housewife of Liang, he commanded the high door list 'Heavenly Gift'. For several years, the husband and wife have been in harmony with each other, and their eyes are full of children and grandchildren. Li Xiucai was dumbfounded and had nothing to say. Yuan Ming said: "Hao Wenzhong (Hao Jingchen's nickname 'Wen Zhong') is a generation of loyal subjects, are you willing to say anything? It's just that when the daughter of Wu Men, Wangfu, married the Liang family, the Liang family was very rich and noble, I'm afraid your son didn't have this blessing! Li Xiucai quickly withdrew the lawsuit, "the two families are married as before."
After Yin Jishan heard about this incident, he was full of emotions: "So it is said that it is still a reader to become an official!" ”
"Banana Xuan Records Sequel"
Li Tiaoyuan also recorded an incident in his book "Light Ink Record". When Yuan Ming was in Muyang County, there was a woman who gave birth to a son within five months of marriage, which today seems to be only premature birth, but the ancients thought that the woman must have committed adultery with someone before marriage, "pregnant first and then married." The husband could not stand the ridicule and ridicule of the countryside in the countryside, and a piece of paper was reported to the county court, not only to divorce his wife, but also to ask for a bride price when he married his relatives. At the public trial the next day, "the spectators were blocked", Yuan Mei "came out in full costume" and congratulated the plaintiff, who "bowed down in shame", thinking that the county order was mocking himself, but Yuan Mei said: "You are really stupid, you can be said to be blessed without knowing it!" Then he asked the plaintiff and the defendant if anyone from the two families was literate, and the two families looked at each other and shook their heads to know whether they were. Yuan Mei said: "Today's lawsuit is because your two families do not study. Since ancient times, the matter of giving birth, there are speeds and delays, are normal, there are many records in the history books, after the birth period of the 'feeling of the health and the main life', before the birth of the 'feeling of the qi of the pure birth and the main noble'. The former such as Yao and Shun, the latter such as Benzhi County, is also the mother of the pregnancy of may be born, although the talent is shallow, but also selected into the word wall, out of the division of the people, for a county of the slaughter, do not believe, ask my mother that is. Let the woman carry the child into the back hall of the county court, and for a moment, "the child tied the bell and locked it, and the red embroidery came out." When the crowd was stunned, the woman knelt on the ground and wept, "Lady Montague has recognized my son as a grandson." Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming immediately said to the plaintiff solemnly: "So, this child is my righteous son, and I will teach him well so that his future merits must be above mine." The people in the hall cheered in unison, "so the shame of the two families was relieved."
"Light Ink Record"
From the perspective of the way Yuan Mei judged such cases, there are indeed unique features, the first is that he can accurately speculate on the psychology of the parties concerned, and find that the emergence of such family problems is often not the fundamental interests that are damaged, but only the knots entangled in customs and habits, as long as it can be proved that the knot is not only harmless but also blessed, then the parties can often open the door; second, as the leading talent in China at that time, he can mobilize his rich knowledge for his own use, and take advantage of the people's worship of learning - even blind obedience - Third, and most importantly, although Yuan Ming is the head of a county, he never oppresses people with force, but follows the good example, and even uses himself as an example, which greatly enhances his persuasiveness and convinces both parties to the lawsuit.
Of course, Yuan Ming's gentle way of handling cases is only to deal with "household chores", and if he encounters a lawsuit for human life, it is also a killing decision and ruthless.
3. Bench whipping to try strange cases
In the Qing Dynasty notes "The Strange Story of Folding Prisons" and "Zhiyi Continuation", both record a sensational "tongue-biting murder case" that Yuan Ming rehabilitated.
"The Strange Story of Prison Breaker"
There is a tailor, the wife died early, there is only one daughter in the family, quite posture, the father every day before going out to work, close the doors and windows, let the daughter do needlework at home, "there is less evil in the middle, there is no beauty, and there is no gap to take advantage of."
One day, when his father returned late, he saw the door open, and when he entered the door, he saw that his daughter had been tied to a stool with her shroud, and had been dead for a long time, and the clothes on the lower body were ripped off, and they were raped, and there was a half-cut tongue on the ground, and there were pinch marks on the woman's neck, which were clearly rape and murder. The tailor hurried to the officials. The county order immediately ordered a search for anyone with a broken tongue nearby. The catchers finally found a person under the incense case of a temple, "bloodied, asked, and shook their heads without words", so they arrested the county magistrate and sentenced him to death.
Soon, Yuan Ming took over the post of county commander, and when he consulted the file of this case, he wondered in his heart, "If you commit adultery, you must first mediate adultery, and if you commit adultery, you must first kiss your mouth, and now that your tongue is bitten off by a woman, your person will flee in pain, so why do you have to tie up a stool and rape again?" Therefore, it was concluded that even if the person who broke the tongue was involved, he could never be the main culprit of the rape and murder, so he was released after beating him on a board, and the murderer was also arrested.
At this moment, news came from inside the county court, saying that the county ordered the adults not to do anything side-by-side, "interrogating the bench foot belt every day", using the stick clip and the whip to smoke, which could surprise everyone. On this day, the hanging card was reviewed, and the viewers were blocked. Yuan Ming greeted the military attaché in the county in advance, saying that the real murderer could not hide his curiosity, and was likely to be mixed in the crowd to listen to the trial, and when the people were crowded with the county court, they would close the door and set off the cannon, "Not to leave a person behind." Sure enough, by the time the trial was halfway through, there were already too many people in the county court to squeeze open, and "suddenly the cannon rang and the door closed." Everyone did not know what it was, Yuan Ming said: "Human life is at stake, interrogation must be strict, I can only clip the stool whip, pray to God to tell me who the real murderer is, last night I dreamed that god told me, today's murderer can be obtained!" Then he asked the servant to hang the shroud on two stakes, "Those who want to come out, hold the cloth by hand, from east to west, and release it." Yuan Mei told the people hearing the trial that the gods clearly showed that if the murderer touched the cloth, "the cloth would be strangled and could not be taken off." Everyone then lined up and took turns to help the cloth out, "there were two people inside, not close to the cloth, and their hands were trembling." Yuan Mei ordered them to be taken down, and the two immediately confessed their guilt and were punished by Ming Zheng.
It turned out that on that day, a cargo man passed by the door of the victimized woman, the woman went downstairs to buy a line, negotiated the price to go to the house to get money, and an evil boy took the opportunity to sneak in, and when the woman finished paying and closed the door with the line, the evil boy rushed out of the hiding place to kiss it, and the woman bit off her tongue. The evil little pain was unbearable, and he opened the door and fled. Just when the other two evil boys passed by, I don't know what happened, I saw the door of the house half open, "sideways in, there is no voice", and when I saw the woman in the room sitting, I suddenly became obscene, hugged and begged for pleasure, and the woman shouted for help, "So one person covered her mouth, and one person unwrapped the woman's foot cloth", tied her to a stool and raped her first and then killed...
Yuan Mei cracked this case, and there is a similarity with the "statement of ancient robbery" recorded in the "Mengxi Pen Talk", the difference is that one is a fubu and the other is a bell, but both take advantage of the criminal's weak heart, fear, timidity, panic, and the psychological characteristics of covering up the crime at all costs and even excessive self-protection, so that he can expose himself and throw himself into the net. From this point of view, the owner of the garden is by no means only able to write words and taste food, and he can still teach the fa and the ancients when he breaks the case, and the head is the Tao, which really responds to Yin Jishan's sentence "It can be said that the zaiguan must use the reader"!
Editor-in-Charge: Gu Ming
Proofreader: Yan Zhang