Everything starts with the cause of Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage case.
Yang Naiwu, a native of Yuhang, Zhejiang, raises silkworms and reeling, and his family is well-off. When he grew up, he married the local Zhan Caifeng, and Yang Naiwu himself was admitted to a scholar in his twenties and won an award in his thirties.
Originally, Yang Naiwu's life could be smooth sailing, but he laid a curse for honesty and frankness.
Liu Xitong, the county magistrate of Yuhang County, was originally a donation official, and his close relationship with the people caused Yang Naiwu's dissatisfaction. Yang Naiwu repeatedly opposed it, because Yang Naiwu was a juren after all, and Liu Xitong had nothing to do with it, so he hated it, but he was helpless.
As for the so-called "Chinese cabbage", whose real name is Bi Xiugu, he is also from Yuhang. Because he usually likes to wear green skirts and white clothes, he looks handsome and clean, so he is called "Chinese cabbage". Bi Xiugu lost her father when she was a child and her mother remarried. When she grew up, she married Ge Pinlian, who made a living selling tofu. Because ge's house was not enough, she rented a house. Bi Xiugu is handsome and smart, so the Yang family also likes her very much.
Ge Pinlian looks mediocre and is not at home every day, but Bi Xiugu who stays at home is liked by the Yang family. She is often called to have dinner with her wife Zhan Caifeng and often teaches Bi Xiugu to read and write.
Originally, it was nothing, but in the era of joint defense between men and women, under such a Li, there was naturally gossip and the saying that "Yang eats cabbage". These words gradually spread to Ge Pinlian's ears. As a man, of course he can't stand it. He simply moved away with Bi Xiugu, and Yang Naiwu and Bi Xiugu never saw each other again.
But things are not over. Ge Pinlian suffered from "filariasis" not long after moving. He insisted on going to work despite Bi Xiugu's obstruction and fell ill when he came back. He asked Bi Xiugu to buy medicine to come back for treatment, but after drinking the medicine, his condition still did not improve, and even he died directly. At the same time, the next day, GePinLian body nose and mouth are bleeding. The Ge family remembered the rumor that "Yang eats cabbage" before and contacted it now. They thought Ge Pinlian died strangely, so they reported it to the authorities for an autopsy.
What Ge Jia did is understandable and human nature. However, as a magistrate of a county, Liu Xitong felt that this was a godsend. Without sufficient verification and argumentation, he directly concluded that Bi Xiugu and Yang Naiwu conspired to kill Ge Pinlian with poison.
Calling Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage every day is ineffective.
Liu Xitong immediately arrested Bi Xiugu and tortured her directly, saying that Yang Naiwu once went to her house and gave her a pack of medicine that could treat Ge Pinlian. After getting the confession, Liu Xitong immediately summoned Yang Naiwu.
Yang Naiwu is a juren after all, so he can't be punished. Therefore, Liu Xitong reported to the Hangzhou government, demanding that Yang Naiwu be disqualified as a juren, and tortured him all night. Finally, Yang Naiwu confessed because he couldn't bear the torture. Liu Xi's colleague first bribed the drugstore owner to make him commit perjury. Therefore, Liu Xitong sentenced Yang Naiwu to death and Bi Xiugu to one year's imprisonment according to the Qing statutes.
Knowing the verdict, the Yang family naturally refused to give up. Yang Naiwu's wife, Zhan Caifeng, and Yang Naiwu's sister, Yang Juzhen, began to run around, trying to clear Yang Naiwu's grievances, and even went to Beijing with a form paper, asking Douchayuan to intervene in the investigation. But all this is because of Liu Xitong's early dredging, which made Zhan Caifeng not only unsuccessful, but also jailed.
Just when the Yang family was desperate, they met a noble man, namely Hu Xueyan. Under Hu Xueyan, he has an assistant, even a close friend Yang Naiwu. He asked Hu Xueyan for help, but when he learned that Hu Xueyan was determined to help the Yang family, he found Xia Tongshan, assistant minister of punishments who was also from Zhejiang, and asked him to mediate.
With the help of Xia Tongshan, Yang Juzheng's top paper was directly handed over to Weng Tonghe, minister of military affairs, who reported the matter to the emperor and finally ordered Yang Changjun, governor of Zhejiang Province, to review it. However, Yang Changjun went through the motions to convict Bi Xiugu and Yang Naiwu for his own face and his gang.
The retrial results were introduced to Beijing, and the punishments gave Wang Shurui the opportunity to impeach Yang Changjun and others for dereliction of duty. Empress Dowager Cixi ordered Zhejiang scholar Hu Ruilan to review the case. As a result, Hu Ruilan, like Yang Changjun, still filed a lawsuit without resentment.
Although Yang Changjun and Hu Ruilan were absolutely convinced, there was a lot of discussion among the people at that time. Shanghai's "Shen Bao" and other newspapers reported this matter with overwhelming intensity, and public opinion almost sympathized with Yang Naiwu and decided that he was wronged. Therefore, Hu Ruilan's practice caused an uproar in the ruling and opposition parties. In addition, coupled with the dissatisfaction of Zhejiang officials and Zhejiang scholars, the case turned around again.
Empress Dowager Cixi's confidant, that is, Prince Yi Xuan, the biological father of Emperor Guangxu, was already disgusted with Yang Changjun and others' arrogance and contempt for the court's decision. He felt that if this matter was not handled properly, it would lead to other local governors following suit and causing confusion, so he asked Empress Dowager Cixi, who was in charge of politics at that time, to decide that this matter should be directly handed over to the punishments for investigation, and Zhejiang should not ask.
Finally, after the autopsy, Ge Pinlian's return was a normal sudden death, which had nothing to do with poisoning. Yang Naiwu and Bi Xiugu were rehabilitated and the case was basically clarified.
The disposal of relevant personnel involves a wide range.
After Zhao Xue, Yang Naiwu and Bi Xiugu were acquitted. After Yang Naiwu returned to his hometown, he didn't change his original intention. He still likes to help villagers and neighbors, but after this incident, he became more cautious. As for Bi Xiugu, she became a nun, often accompanied by a blue light.
However, at that time, the court's handling of the relevant personnel in this case was divided into two factions. One group, headed by Weng Tonghe, demanded severe punishment, while the other group, headed by Ding Baozhen, thought it was necessary to roll with the punches and not to go too far.
Weng Tonghe's idea is easy to understand. After all, this is an unjust case, and the practice of Ding Baozhen and others is based on such a basis: if this case is handled with great fanfare, it will inevitably bring about a sudden change in the land of Zhejiang, and it is estimated that few people dare to be an official.
Finally, Weng Tonghe wrote a passbook to the indecisive Empress Dowager Cixi. The content is as follows: Why are Yang Changjun and Hu Ruilan so bold as to defy the court's decision? Is it because the Empress Dowager of the Palace and the Empress Dowager of the Palace listened to politics, and the emperor was not in charge yet, so he was so unscrupulous in bullying the monarch?
These words suddenly reached the heart of Empress Dowager Cixi. If the precedent of Yang Changjun and others is set, I am afraid that local officials will be more unscrupulous in the future, which will greatly affect the authority of the court. It is not a good thing that local forces become bigger and weaker. Empress Dowager Cixi decided to take Yang Changjun and others as an action to kill this bad style and re-establish the court.
In addition, Empress Dowager Cixi decided to be strict, and another reason was to take the opportunity to eradicate Hunan's influence in Zhejiang.
Xianfeng, when Zeng Guofan conquered Wuchang, someone reminded Xianfeng that Zeng Guofan was an assistant minister. He was like a husband who lived in a pond. When he started, thousands of people got in the way, which was not a blessing to the country.
Emperor Xianfeng at that time was very afraid of Zeng Guofan's connection with the Xiang army, but he suffered from the threat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and could only watch the Xiang army grow. After the Tongzhi Dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom dissipated, Empress Dowager Cixi could not find a reason to dispose of the Xiang Army.
Just as he dozed off, someone handed him a pillow, so the case of Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage happened.
Zhejiang is the most powerful place of the Xiang army, and most of the local personnel come from Hunan families. Taking the case of Yang Naiwu and Chinese Cabbage as an incision, operating on the Hunan family in Zhejiang can not only win the hearts of the people, but also be invisible.
In the end, except Liu Xitong was dismissed and sent to Heilongjiang, Chen Lu, Yang Changjun and others were convicted, and the case was handled by more than 300 people in Zhejiang. Empress Dowager Cixi did not show the mountains and rivers, and easily lifted the power of Xiang Army in Zhejiang.