The rules in the yamen, Fan Jin is naturally very clear, the so-called four rescue principles: saving life but not life, saving officials not saving the people, saving the big but not the small, saving the old but not the new. The formation of this principle and the formation of the rules in the yamen naturally have their own reason, and it is understandable that Hou Shou used it as a follower to abide by this system. After all, the person has been killed, and if the case is turned over at this time, the unjustly killed person will not be resurrected, but on the contrary, a large number of people will be implicated, which is not supported by officialdom, and it is also reasonable.

But if Hou Shouyong really didn't want to let him take care of this case, why did he have to say it in such detail? Just say that the iron case is like a mountain, and there is no room for me to ask for the case file again. Fan Jin thought for a moment and said, "The teacher failed to save people with the knife that day, and now the disciple has turned over the case again, does it have anything to do with the teacher?" ”

"Being a teacher is only in the middle of the matter, and he is not responsible for the approval of the beheading. It was Weng Butang who tried the case that day, and it was Gao Xinzheng who finally decided the case. Even if someone really overturns the case, it actually has nothing to do with being a teacher. But as far as the person who overturns the case is concerned, this is not a detailed matter. Whether it is Gao Xinzheng or Weng Rushen, there are still wings in the DPRK and China, and if you turn over this case, beware of being seen as intentional and asking for hardship. Besides, everyone has already been killed, how can you reverse the law? ”

Fan Jin's heart was bright at this time, and when his teacher said this, he intended to support himself in overturning the case. Moreover, in this case, an important person can also be involved, who has been given to the old high arch of Shige.

The strength of Gao Gong in the Longqing Dynasty was almost the same as that of Zhang Juzheng today. Although in addition to the official title of a certain palace scholar, a certain ministry scholar title will be added, but that is only a title of honor plus salary income, and the ministry affairs are not under the control of the minister.

is like Weng Dali, when he concluded the case of the murder of Qingyunhou, he was just a waiter in the Criminal Department, and he was in charge of the department as a waiter, and it was not the turn of the cabinet ministers to get started. However, Gao Gong broke this rule, not only as the first assistant, but also as the secretary of the ministry, and grasped the authority of this department, which caused a lot of discussion and attack at the time.

Although Gao Gong has now been sent to the office, as a cabinet elder Zhishi, he still enjoys the privilege of submitting letters to the court, expressing opinions on government and local issues and accusing them of illegality. It can be seen as the opposition leader of the Ming Dynasty, and he can balance the central leader.

Although people may not really use this kind of power, it is enough to make people uncomfortable. After all, it is much easier to find fault than to do things, and Gao Gong's own talent is not bad, if he is iron-hearted to trouble anyone, he will have a chapter in the countryside today, and a letter tomorrow, which can be completely disgusting.

Zhang Juzheng is now going to implement the new law, and the most feared thing is this kind of Zhishi boss. In particular, Gao Gong, who went down from the position of first assistant, is in principle a person who has the qualifications to be reinstated from his original position. That is to say, as long as Gao Gong is not dead, from the system, he may come back at any time to continue to be the first assistant. Although the probability of this kind of thing happening is not high, as long as there is such hope, it will not prevent some people from using it as Taishan Beidou to balance Zhang Juzheng. The reason why Shao Fang, the hero of the day, was killed by Zhang Juzheng was that he committed this taboo.

If this case is used to lose face, Zhang Jiangling will probably be happy, right? Don't ask for anything in return, just let yourself into the prime minister's mansion again, it's enough. Fan Jin thought about this reward, and then he knew that it was impossible, but he still said:

"As long as you don't implicate your teacher, it's good to say that the disciple is a scholar who is a scholar of politics and politics, and what he learns is to deal with criminal names. Please also ask the teacher to be perfected. ”

"You, I don't think I will turn back if I don't hit the south wall." Hou Shouyong glanced at him, "Wait there, find someone to come over for the teacher." ”

After a short time, a short and fat middle-aged man walked over with Hou Shouyong, a smiling face in this life, and he was also very kind, and when he saw Fan Jin from afar, he saluted and said: "Fan Chuanyu doesn't know where to use it when he sees the summons, Xia Menghai, this is polite." ”

At a glance, this official can be seen as a seven-grade petty official, and it is not a Taiwanese admonition for the god sheep to supplement the service, that is, a real seven-grade sesame official, and it is not an important person in a place like Jingshi where officials gather. In places like the Criminal Department, it is even more difficult to mention.

Hou Shouyong introduced: "Treasurer Xia is in charge of the treasury of the criminal department's files, no matter who wants to access the files, they have to find it through Treasurer Xia. The distribution of files in the entire Criminal Department was also in Xia Siku's mind. ”

Xia Menghai shook his head again and again and said: "Don't you dare to say that, the huge criminal department has mastered the national criminal name case files, I don't know how many case files are placed in the warehouse, even the gods dare not say that they are all in their heads, let alone the flesh mortal fetus?" Besides, the lower officials also relied on the help of some brothers below to barely support the errands. Xia's fat body can't stand the barbecue. If you have anything to say, you just have to tell it, and if the subordinate can do it, you will definitely do it. ”

His words were kind, but he didn't leave much leeway, obviously telling Hou Shouyong that it was useless to ask for too harsh to anyone. Fan Jin had read some works about officialdom in the late Qing Dynasty in his previous life, and knew that these petty officials sometimes earned more money than the big ones, and there was even a saying that the officials were rich and the officials were poor.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the reimbursement case of the household department, it was that even Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and others had to suffer a lot. Most of the current officials are not familiar with general affairs, and people in this position have limited knowledge of the work of their own departments, and the specific work is all operated by the officials, and the chief officer is only responsible for signing and agreeing, and the authority of the current officials is not bad.

Xia Menghai is a bridge connecting the upper echelons and the small officials, although they are in the official system, but they are actually more like officials. He may not have much pursuit of promotion, so he can't afford to sell anyone's face and buy someone's account. It will definitely be polite to Fan Jinhou Shouyong's master and apprentice, but he will not have to worry about their errands. In other words, the influence that Hou Shou can exert on Xia Menghai in this matter is actually very limited, and the main thing to do is to rely on relationships.

Fan Jin didn't rush to mention the matter, but just asked Xia Menghai to go to the cheap shop for dinner, Xia Menghai shook his head again and again and said: "I can't help it, Fan Chuanyu, you are a noble person in Xinke, Ding Chou Huiyuan, Xia Guan is just a miscellaneous villain, the two of them are too far away in learning, and they can't talk about it together." If you have any needs, just command, and you will not shirk if you have any needs. ”

"Xia Siku's words are far away, Fan Mou came to the Criminal Department to observe politics mainly to study, in Kejia, Fan Mou was lucky to get fame, but in the Criminal Department, Fan is still a student of Tongmeng, thanks to the advice of his predecessors. A mere table of thin wine, inappropriate respect, the treasurer does not have to refuse. ”

Xia Menghai looked at Fan Jin, then at Hou Shouyong on the side, and said with a smile: "Even if Fan Chuanlu has orders, the lower officials don't dare to shirk too much." But the ugly words are clear, the knowledge of the lower officials is really not mentioned, if we mention poetry and articles before the banquet, Xia will only leave. Talking about the wind and snow, the scenery of the Fangsi, Xia is an expert, and the package is satisfactory. ”

Hou Shouyong knew the meaning of his words, and hurriedly said: "I have something at home these days, and I won't go to the banquet with Xia Siku." ”

Xia Menghai saw that Hou Shou was interested, and the smile on his face was even wider, and he chatted a few words, and went to busy his own business. Until the evening was dispersed, Fan Jin invited Xia Menghai to accompany him and went straight to the cheap shop.

Since he had a Mahayana connection, it has been more convenient for him to locate himself in the bargain shop than in the past. Although the person has not really joined the church, Mrs. Li has already regarded him as a member of the church, and the relationship between the four places has also been taken care of, and the wife of the owner of the cheap shop is also a believer in Mahayana Buddhism, so naturally there is no reason to refuse.

Xia Menghai is no stranger to this place, he greeted the shopkeeper when he walked in, and he was familiar with the ordering, and when he ordered the wine, he said: "This is the first time to eat with Fan Chuanyu, so you don't have to call for a strip." Fan Chuanyun Fengliu Yashi, and such rough people as Xiaguan are not all the way, the sister I called dare not be bad to the son Yaxing, everyone just uses wine and rice. ”

Xia Menghai eats a lot of food and drinks, and he is also quite talkative. At the beginning, I drank a few glasses with Fan Jin, and found that Fan Jin, a scholar, was actually a large number of people, and suddenly became interested, and drank half of the jar in one go, seeing that Fan Jin was still talking and laughing freely, but he stopped drinking a little bit of alcohol, and talked wholeheartedly.

His position as a treasurer is actually similar to that of an official, and he does not rely on merit to obtain it, but a hereditary position inherited by his father and son.

He is also a very well-behaved person, and he knows that Fan Jin will not invite him to dinner for no reason, so he first talked about the story of the criminal department, and the hobbies and interests of the officials of the various housing departments. Seeing that Fan Jin was not very interested in this, he knew that he did not invite himself to gain a foothold in the Criminal Department, but to discuss something within his jurisdiction. After taking a sip of the wine in his glass, he asked:

"Fan Chuanyu, although Xia is a sesame official, he has also worked in the Criminal Department for so many years, and the rule passed down from his ancestors is that he will not be punished for nothing. The place of the Criminal Department is spiritual, and there are holy beasts in the town, and if anyone takes advantage and does not do anything, heaven and earth will not tolerate it. It is because the elders have a saying, eating people's mouths are soft and people are short-handed, it is best not to eat if you can not eat, it is best not to take it if you can not take it, and you have to do things for others if you take it. Xia Guan Bisheng is such a slanderous problem that is difficult to change, so he has to help people, Fan Chuanyu has anything to do, just command, Xia Guan will do his best. ”

Fan Jin said with a smile: "I don't dare to give orders, it's just that before Fan came here to observe politics, he listened to the case, and he was a little interested in it, and he wanted to transfer the file to take a look, and asked Xia Siku to help." ”

"Files...... But I don't know what year the case was. Our Jingshi is the best place, but there are also the most cases, and the more the Son of Heaven is at his feet, the more strange and murderous cases there are. Even our criminal department has walked through the water, entered the rain and been damp, and many files have been lost and have nowhere to be found. If it's too old, I'm afraid it's hard to find. ”

"Not old, it's only a few years ago, people just cut off their heads the year before last. It's the case of Qingyun Hou Zhou Qiansui's family, who was killed, the file is not difficult to find, right? ”

Xia Menghai looked at Fan Jin, then at the half-eaten duck in front of him, shook his head and said, "I just said that I had to cause trouble for myself with this problem, and it really came true." It's still the old man's words, it's okay to eat more of yourself and less of others, and if you eat others, you will be in trouble. If you say that you tell me this during the day, I will reply to you, the treasury is deep, the backlog of files is innumerable, and it is difficult to find it in a hurry, so you can only let your subordinates find it slowly when they have time, and a sentence will be given to you, and when you enter the Hanlin Academy after the expiration of your political observation period, it will not be found. But now that I have eaten you and drunk you, and then prevaricated with these words, it will not be enough to be friendly, so I will tell you the truth. ”

He suppressed his voice slightly, "If you want to find that file, you can find it at will, but I advise you not to read it." The subordinate of the case was followed down from the beginning, and he knew the doorway inside. Since you want to see it, you must also know the disadvantages of it. A confused account, the gods can't figure it out. It was useless to read the dossier. At the beginning, people entered the prison of the criminal department, and some people from the murderer's family went to the criminal department to shout grievances, and they beat the drums of grievances, and they went to Dali Temple, but in the end, they were not over. Who doesn't know that those murderers were wronged? But it's useless to be wronged, on the one hand, the Qingyun Hou family wants to kill the murderer, and on the other hand, the upper level is tight, and the case can't be solved, so in the end, it can only be like this. In this case, Gao Ge Lao and Weng Sikou were involved, and the case was overturned...... I'm afraid it's too much to implicate. Although the two are now one Zhishi and the other is in Jiangning, there are still people in the court. What's more, the dignity of being an official can't be ignored, you really turned this case over, where can you put the old face of the high pavilion? What's more, this case has been overturned, won't the Qingyun Hou family still have to come out to make trouble, and when the time comes, where will the Jinyi Wei and the Criminal Department in Jingshi go to find the suspect? Everyone has to scold you behind your back, Master Fan is looking for trouble, the murderer has been corrected, and he can't come back from the dead, what are you doing here. ”

Fan Jin said: "Treasurer Xia doesn't have to worry, Fan Mou came to the Criminal Department to watch the government, not to disrupt the government, let alone harm people." Even if he wants to do something, he will take care of it himself, and he will not implicate Xia Siku. If the treasurer is really embarrassed, just assume that Fan has not said this, and this meal will be a reward for your heartfelt words. ”

Xia Menghai said: "Fan Chuanyu, if you say this, you will treat Xia as a person who can't go on the road." Xia ate and drank wine with you, which can't be hidden. When this case breaks out in the future, no matter what I say or do, I won't be able to escape the involvement. If you make this move, the lower officials won't be able to run away, unless you report it first. But to whom? Forget it, who made me unlucky to get involved in this kind of thing, now I can only sacrifice my life to accompany the gentleman and sing this play well with you. The dossier, the lower official will send it to you when he turns around, but whether you look at that thing or not, it's all the same. The whole case is not on the file, it's all here. ”

He patted his head, "This case, that's still the year when Emperor Longqing ascended......"

Xia Menghai introduced the situation to Fan Jin with wine and food, Zhou Shichen's house was relatively secluded, and there were no neighbors around. Originally, this kind of person was killed, and it was not so easy to be discovered, but that night, Zhang Guowei, the commander of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division, led a team to investigate the night, and found that the door of Zhou's house was very suspicious, and he led the troops to go in to check before he discovered the situation in time.

The scene of the crime was messy, the door of Zhou Shichen's residence was split open by an axe, and he himself fought with the offender with a stick, and was killed and wounded with a knife and axe. There was no one else at the scene but him, and there were no bodies.

Although Zhou Shichen was a relative, his livelihood was not too rich, and he did not marry. On weekdays, there is only one slave Wang Kui and a maidservant lotus who live together.

Wang Kui is a short-term worker, serving as a porter for Zhou Shichen every day, locking the door at night and going home, not living in Zhou's mansion, and the lotus is nowhere to be found. As soon as such a case came out, Zhang Guowei knew that he had a heavy responsibility, and in order to solve the case, he naturally went to Wang's house first. As a result, not only did Wang Kui and lotus flowers be found in the Wang family, but also a big Han Lu Jin was found under the bed of the Wang family, who was a butcher in Jingshi. In addition, a few taels of silver were found at home, all of which belonged to Zhou Shichen.

With both physical evidence and suspects, it is easy to characterize the case. People first passed a hall in the Yamen of the Soldiers and Horses Division, and it was characterized as Lotus fornicating with Lu Jin, bribing Wang Kui to rob money and kill people, and the three of them all had confessions drawn in person, which became the so-called iron case. Xia Menghai Road:

"What's going on with the case, it's here, anyone with a discerning eye can see that there is something strange in it. At that time, the three deputy judges also thought that the case should not be closed hastily, but at that time, it was the ascension of the first emperor, and everyone's thoughts were on the new monarch's accession to the throne and the adjustment of officialdom, who really cared about the death of a commander? Or who will you kill? As long as the case is solved and the Zhou family doesn't make trouble, everyone will be happy, and Fan Chuanyu will not be much use for turning this case over now. Even if the lawsuit is overturned, it is nothing more than saying that the three of them are unjustly killed ghosts, and people cannot be resurrected after death, at this time, Zhaoxue is of little significance, and where to find the culprit? At that time, in order to find the culprit, there will be a few more unjust ghosts, which will not match Master Fan's original intention, and he will think twice. ”