This paper combs the trial process of Yang Naiwu case again, and deeply analyzes the reasons for the fall of hundreds of officials.
Yang Naiwu is a native of Yuhang County, Hangzhou, and his family has a certain industry, while Yang Naiwu is also a juren, with a high social status in ancient China. It can be said that Yang Naiwu is well-off, if not a wealthy family.
Chinese cabbage, formerly known as Bi Xiugu, is called Chinese cabbage because of its beautiful appearance, green coat and white apron.
Two people can have sex, mainly because Yang Naiwu was the landlord of Chinese cabbage, Chinese cabbage married GePinLian who made tofu, and then rented in Yang Naiwu. Making tofu is a daily activity, and selling sesame cakes with Wu Dalang is the same. In ancient times, women had nothing to do at home, so Chinese cabbage made friends with Yang Naiwu's wife. Therefore, Chinese cabbage often goes to Yang Naiwu's house.
During this period, Yang Naiwu, as a literate person, also taught Chinese cabbage to recognize some words, and the relationship between the two families was also very good. At that time, Chinese cabbage was often harassed and expelled by Yang Naiwu. However, after Yang Naiwu's wife died, those street hooligans spread rumors that Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage were abnormal men and women.
This is the social atmosphere in China, not to mention ancient times, even today's society, men and women also need to keep a certain distance. If a woman goes to a single man's house, it will also be considered as a style problem.
This kind of voice reached Ge Pinlian's ears, which made people unbearable. This Ge Pinlian chose the same road as Wu Dalang, moved!
No matter what's between Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage, it shouldn't matter much, because they moved away. Unexpectedly, however, soon after, Ge Pinlian died strangely. At that time, during the autopsy, he reported to the government that Ge Pinlian was poisoned.
At that time, Liu Xitong, who tried the case in the first instance, also heard about the gossip between Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage. Therefore, at the trial, he deliberately framed Yang Naiwu.
So, why did magistrate of a county Liu Xitong target Yang Naiwu? The reason is that, as mentioned above, Yang Naiwu was a juren and had a certain influence in the society at that time. If you don't know how to lift a person, you can recall the text "Fan Jinzhong Lift" you learned in high school. When Fan Jinzhong lived, everyone came to give him presents.
It is estimated that this Yang Naiwu has many contradictions with Liu Xitong at ordinary times, so he offended Liu Xitong. Liu Xitong took Ge Pinlian as the basis of poisoning and began to try the suspect, Chinese cabbage. In ancient times, due to the backwardness of criminal investigation technology, what was the most commonly used means? Torture? .
Cases of extorting confessions by torture abound. Chinese cabbage is a woman who can't stand government punishment. Finally, according to Liu Xitong's instructions, she said that she was having an affair with Yang Naiwu, and that Yang Naiwu poisoned Ge Pinlian and took the Chinese cabbage.
In ancient China, after extorting a confession, as long as it is reasonable, a case can be judged according to witnesses and some reasoning.
For example, in the case of an aunt selling pancake fruit and a customer in Beijing a few years ago, a customer got pancake fruit and found that an egg was missing, and there was an argument with the aunt. The reason given by my aunt is that I earn 30 thousand a month. How can I give my customers one less egg?
This kind of logic will often be encountered in real life. When a person questions a person's character, he often says, how rich my family is, how can I take your things? In fact, it is not appropriate to speculate on the case by reason. If the rich don't do bad things, where do those tax evasion things come from?
Obviously, under subjective speculation, regardless of whether Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage are having an affair, people have decided that you are having an affair.
Of course, although the criminal investigation technology is very backward, the trial procedure is very sound. After the magistrate of Yuhang County decided that Yang Naiwu and Pakchoi were murderers (Yang Naiwu had not pleaded guilty at that time), the magistrate of Hangzhou also took a heavy sentence, and Yang Naiwu had to plead guilty at this time. Compared with death, torture is the most painful punishment
After reaching the county magistrate level, it will be reported to the judge of Zhejiang Province (provincial judicial system) again. After accepting the case, Zhejiang Gangsi thought there was something wrong with the case and tried it again. If it is now, it is normal for the court to retract their confessions, but Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage dare not retract their confessions for fear of extorting confessions by torture. After reporting to Yang Changzhuo, the governor of Zhejiang Province, the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Outline finally made a Yang Naiwu according to the original judgment. Begging a husband to marry a wife? Report the charges to the court.
According to the normal situation, punishments generally think that there is no problem in this case, so Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage can only wait for the autumn harvest. However, at that time, Yang Naiwu's younger sister and Yang Naiwu's stepwife went to Beijing with the support of Hu Xueyan, and even shocked Empress Dowager Cixi. Empress Dowager Cixi immediately asked for a retrial of the case, and Zhejiang Governor Yang Changzhuo immediately retried it. Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage dare to retract their confessions.
Immediately, the imperial envoy was specially sent to Zhejiang to hear the case. However, when the imperial envoy tried again, he tortured again. Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage also failed to escape the heavy punishment, and finally they could only maintain the original confession, and the imperial envoys also reported to maintain the original judgment.
Here, the case has been tried six times. At that time, Shanghai Shenbao had been tracking the case, which caused an uproar in the society at that time.
Especially at that time, the gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang believed that there must be grievances. At the urging of Yang Naiwu, the gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang jointly wrote a letter asking for a retrial of the case. Zhejiang officials in Beijing also jointly requested that the case be transferred to Beijing for trial. At that time, Weng Tonghe, a Jiangsu and Zhejiang official, was the most influential teacher. He advised the Empress Dowager of the two palaces. If this case is not rehabilitated, no one in Zhejiang is willing to learn and make progress? .
In this context, Empress Dowager Cixi asked the punishments to review the case. A case has been tried six or seven times for nearly four years, which is rare in ancient China. Finally, the officials of the Ministry of Punishment started with the corpse inspection and found that there was a problem. The punishments carried Ge Pinlian's coffin to Beijing. After opening the coffin, it was found that Ge Pinlian's death was not poisoning, but illness. The case of Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage was finally solved.
Of course, the case did not end there. Cixi refused to hire Yang Naiwu in the imperial court on the grounds that she was disorderly with Chinese cabbage, while Zhejiang officials were on the side of Guan Zhen. Many officials, such as Zhejiang Governor Yang Changzhuo, lost their hats, and they were no longer employed.
At that time, a murder case actually took off a governor's flower feather, which was very meaningful. In fact, Zhejiang officials, including Yang Changzhuo, were all appointed by the Xiang army after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's suppression, which led to the weak control of the central government over the localities. Some people think that this case may have been carried out by Cixi in order to weaken the strength of the Xiang army.
The Spurs case among the four unsolved cases in the Qing Dynasty is also suspected to have such factors. What is the specific situation? Because there are too many political factors, the truth of this case is more and more confusing, so it is called a mysterious case.