Fang Bao once asked an old servant and said: "Everyone has no deep hatred for those who are tortured and tied, the purpose is just to get some money; If the prisoner really can't come up with the money, why not let the person go in the end, isn't it also considered to be a virtue? ”

The old officer replied, "This is because of the rule to warn the prisoners who are next to them, and to warn the prisoners who come after them." Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info If you don't do this, everyone will be lucky. ”

The same is true of those who serve as instruments of torture and torture. He was arrested at the same time as three people who were beaten at the time of trial. One of them gave the price of twenty taels of silver, and was slightly wounded in the bone, and was sick for a month. The other gave double the price, only the skin was hurt, and it was healed in twenty days; Another person paid six times the price, and he was able to walk as usual that night.

Someone saw this servant and said, "Some of the prisoners are rich and some are poor, and since everyone has taken the money, why should they make a distinction between how much they take?" The officer said, "There is no difference, who wants to pay more?" ”

Fang Bao also wrote: "The old staff members in the ministry have fake sealed letters in their homes, and those who go down to the provincial level often secretly use their hands and feet, adding or subtracting important words, and the people who follow them cannot see it. Only those who ascend to the emperor and consult the various ministries dare not do this. According to the law, if the thief has not killed or has more than one co-offender, only one or two of the masterminds will be executed immediately, and the rest of the offenders will be reduced to the army after being handed over to the August autumn trial. When the sentence of the Ministry of Punishment was played by the emperor. Some of them were executed summarily, and the executioner waited outside the door, and when he gave the order, he was bound up and sent out without a moment's delay. A certain brother surnamed was imprisoned for holding a public warehouse and should be executed immediately according to the law, and the verdict had been prepared, and a certain member of the ministry said to them: 'Give me a thousand taels of silver, and I will revive you.' When asked what method to use, the member of the ministry said: "This is not difficult, just have another transcript, the judgment does not have to be changed, just replace the names of the two people who are single and have no relatives at the end of the case, and when it is time to seal the recital, take out the real recital, and replace it with this recital." One of his colleagues said: 'You can deceive the dead, but you cannot deceive the superiors; If the chief finds out and applies again, we will have no way to live. The member of the department smiled and said, "If we apply again, we will not survive; But the governor must also be found guilty of negligence and jointly and severally dismissed from office. He won't just throw away his official position for two lives, then we still have no reason to die in the end. So it did, and the two men were summarily executed. The chief was so frightened that he stammered, but finally did not dare to hold him accountable. ”

Fang Bao said that when he was in prison, he also saw a brother surnamed a certain person, and the people in the same prison pointed to him and said, "This is the exchange of someone's life for their head." ”

…… Zeng Boheng was reciting Fang Bao's article in prison, and at the same time, he confirmed from the scene that he found that he was in the most favored cell in the prison of the Criminal Department. "Miscellaneous Notes in Prison" said that officials can live in preferential rooms, but now he lives in one room by himself, and he can't see the darker scenes of other cells, which is also one of the preferential items...... Thinking of this, the wailing cries coming from afar, intermittent and miserable, made him even more moved.

He was an old bureaucrat and had seen a lot, and he remembered that someone had told him about the darkness of the prison in the penal department, and the bribery of the prison chiefs, and the names of many things. There is a kind of "all-inclusive", that is, spending money from top to bottom, buying it one by one, you can get the greatest convenience; There is also a kind of "two-headed bag", that is, buy inside but not outside, buy up and not buy; There is also a kind of "hitting the clock", which is paid by the piece, and every time it is convenient, pay once; There is also a kind called "one head sinking", which is paid specifically when being tortured, so as to alleviate the pain of skin and flesh...... Zeng Boheng thought about it, and then laughed.

He said to himself: What I encountered this time can be regarded as "all-inclusive", but I don't have to spend money to buy it, just with my rank as the "secretary of the military department", it is enough to eat all these forbidden cell bosses. As the saying goes, "there are people in the court who are good officials", but today I am "good to be an official in prison" - if it weren't for this title of big official, I would have seen all the scenes of "Miscellaneous Notes in Prison".

If you come, you will be safe, and see what the woman in Qiyuan wants to do!

In the Qingqi Garden, the Empress Dowager Renxi looked at the summary of the case and related evidence that Gangyi secretly presented to him about Zeng Boheng, the mastermind behind the assassination of Ma Xinyi, the governor of Liangjiang, and felt terrified for a while.

Of course, she would not have thought that these meticulous and detailed evidence would be collected by Lin Yiqing's female military advisor, the ninjas of the Shimazu Yoko faction, for a whole year.

On July 26, the ninth year of Tongzhi, Ma Xinyi, the governor of Liangjiang, came to the school to review the martial arts drill. The school is located on the right rear of the Superintendent's Office, and there is an arrow path that leads directly to the rear door of the Superintendent's Office. The Governor's Parade was a major ceremony in Jiangning at that time, and the people were allowed to visit, so the crowd of onlookers was crowded on both sides of the arrow road. When Ma Xinyi was walking outside the door, someone suddenly knelt down to ask for funding, and this person was Ma Xinyi's fellow villager Wang Xianzhen, Wusheng in Yuncheng, Shandong. Ma Xinyi said to him: "I have helped you twice, and now I am here again." Before the guards could stop him, the short-clothed man had pulled out a short knife from his boots and stabbed Ma Xinyi, and the governor fell to the ground in response, and everyone flocked to capture the assassin, and the prisoner was captured calmly, and he kept saying: "The assassin is my Zhang Wenxiang, one person does things and one person is responsible, I have no accomplices, don't arrest people indiscriminately." I'm done, and now I'm going to go with you. At this time, Ma Xinyi's face was bloodless, his hands were hugged tightly, his right arm was tightly clamped between his right ribs, his body was shrunk, and he could no longer stand. Sent someone to report to Jiangning General Kuiyu, Kuiyu was shocked when he heard the news, and rushed to the Governor's Office to visit. Ma Xinyi was lying on his back, having difficulty breathing, listlessness, and his life was in danger. Visiting the wound, the dagger pierced several inches into the right flank. After Kuiyu saw it, he immediately walked out of the upper room and interrogated the murderer. After repeated interrogation, the criminal only confessed that he was from Henan and his name was Zhang Wenxiang. Knowing the reason for his stabbing, he blindly flashed and did not tell the truth. Kuiyu was so angry that he ordered the murderer to be taken to Shangyuan County for severe torture. Ma Xinyi's breath was dying, and he knew that his life could not be guaranteed, so he dictated and left it behind, so he ordered his heir Yuzhen to write on his behalf and ask Kuiyu to present it to the imperial court. In the afternoon, Ma Xinyi could no longer speak, and it was postponed to about 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the second day.

The reason why this assassination case shook the government and the opposition was that in addition to the prominent position of the assassin Ma Xinyi (Ma Xinyi's official residence was the governor of Liangjiang and was also in charge of trade affairs and salt affairs in Lianghuai, and he was in charge of the military and political power of the rich lands of Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Anhui provinces, and was one of the most important feudal officials of the Daqian Empire), that is, a pawn was able to go straight to the governor's school and stab to death important ministers of the imperial court. In addition, the trial process of this case is complicated, after more than a year of interrogation, after Kuiyu's inconclusive preliminary trial, the Caoyun Governor Zhang Zhiwan and Jiangning General Kuiyu, the Criminal Department Shangshu Zheng Dunjin and the new Liangjiang Governor Zeng Bohan, were successively mobilized to carry out two trials before and after, but the case was hastily concluded in the name of "slipping through the net and rebelling and reconnecting with the bandits of Nantian in Zhejiang". Although the assassin was executed by Ling Chi, the facts of the case were not revealed, and even Ma Xinyi's subordinates Sun Yiyan and Yuan Baoqing, who participated in the trial, finally refused to sign the trial documents. This shows that this case is full of twists and turns.

Ma Xinyi is a native of Heze, Shandong. In the twenty-seventh year of Shaoguang, he successively served as the prefect of Jianping, Hefei and other counties, the prefect of Anqing Prefecture, the prefect of Luzhou Prefecture, the envoy of Anhui Province, the political envoy of Anhui, the governor of Zhejiang, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, the governor of Liangjiang and the minister of trade affairs. When it was revealed, the long-haired bandits were in chaos. Ma Xinyi's early battles with the bandit army were repeatedly exploited, and he was promoted year by year, and he was quite talented in military affairs. For example, when he was governor of Zhejiang, he presided over the completion of Zhejiang's campaign to reduce the amount of grain, approved the production of grain, and compiled the "Regulations for the Reduction of Floating Harvest in Zhejiang," which greatly reduced the burden of the peasants in Zhejiang who had suffered from the war and stabilized the social order at that time. During his tenure as governor of Liangjiang, Ma Xinyi set out to rectify the salt administration, and finally established the Lianghuai salt law system. He also actively engaged in river engineering, believing that the most important thing in the south of the Yangtze River was to build the embankment, and after many efforts, the east and west embankments of the canal were completed in June of the eighth year of Tongzhi. Since then, the canal has been unimpeded, and the people on both sides of the river have benefited greatly. After the assassination, many officials expressed deep sorrow and regret over Ma Xinyi's assassination, and appealed to the imperial court one after another, demanding that the mastermind be strictly investigated and punished as soon as possible. Yang Changjun, the successor governor of Zhejiang, commented: "During the term of office of the governor of Zhejiang, Xinyi was in charge of the new restoration of the local government, and he was willing to deal with the aftermath of the incident. The imperial court's evaluation of Ma Xinyi said: "Ma Xinyi is cautious, diligent, and has served as a magistrate in the county. During the Xianfeng period, he followed the camp to suppress thieves, and Kejian City, and served as the governor of Liangjiang since Jian, and compromised on all local matters." Ma Xinyi is diligent and honest, flexible, far-sighted, selects talents, abides by Confucian ethics, is good at learning advanced foreign technology, and actively promotes the development of foreign affairs.

But such a minister, after being assassinated, not only did not have an exact statement, but also poured dirty water on his head.

Three days after the case, the imperial court ordered Jiangning General Kuiyu to be tried with Sidao, and sent Zhang Zhiwan, the governor of Caoyun, to interrogate. At first, the Assassin gave only his name, not the reason, until four months after the "trial". The confession was roughly as follows: The Assassin's name was Zhang Wenxiang, a native of Heyang, Henan. In the twenty-ninth year of Shaoguang, he sold felt hats to Ningbo, met fellow villager Luo Fashan, took his daughter as his wife, and opened a small shop for a living. In the eleventh year of Xianfeng, the long-haired bandits swept through Jiangsu and Zhejiang, joined the army into Li Shixian's department, and moved to the southeastern provinces. In the third year of Tongzhi, Li was defeated, Zhang fled back to Ningbo, and his wife had remarried Wu Bingxie. Zhang had nothing to do to make a living, and was funded by Long Qiyun, who had been a pirate, to still open a small shop. In the first month of the fifth year of Tongzhi, Ma Xinyi, the governor of Zhejiang, went to Ningbo, and Zhang handed over a complaint accusing Wu Bingxie of occupying his wife, and Ma and his wife were not allowed to remarry voluntarily. Long Qiyun told Zhang that Long Yan had been killed by a horse when he was a pirate, so he instigated Zhang to assassinate the horse. In the eighth year of Tongzhi, Ma was promoted to the governor of Liangjiang, and Zhang Tong went to Nanjing, looking for an opportunity to assassinate him, until he infiltrated the school field and succeeded.

This confession is officially accepted and signed by the prisoner. But on closer examination, it is clear that the reasons are not convincing. Because the official announcement was too simplistic and vague about the reason for Ma Xinyi's assassination, there are different opinions among the people on this matter. The most common one is Ma Xinyi's "fishing color negative friend" theory. This theory weaves a peach-colored scandal that is talked about by the people, and creates the image of an assassin Zhang Wenxiang who is chivalrous and courageous and avenges his friends, which is widely circulated, and some literati and ink writers also hold this view, and some people describe it in the book: "Chu Xinyi is a city order in Henan, Wenxiang and Peng surnamed are both a thief who attacked his city, obtained Xinyi, wanted to kill him, and Xinyi begged for relief." Because of the persuasion to surrender, the two immediately formed an alliance with Xinyi and made a lifelong appointment. Peng is the longest, Xinyi is second, and Wenxiang is second. With the merit of two people, Xinyi has gradually been promoted to the superintendent, and the two are also participants. First of all, Peng You's wife was young and beautiful, and the new one was tempted to the agency, and she was private. Peng was angry and peaceful. Wen Xiang said: 'Is this your wife? He also has the ears of the characters. Since he is of the same heart, fighting for injustice, it is better to chase him, I and my son are Ke'er, how can I stay here? Peng can't decide, Wen Xiang has repeatedly urged him to go, and he shouldn't. One day new 贻薦 Peng Yi a certain male. Peng Xinran walked, and Wen Xiang said suddenly: "It's gone." 'Go with him, and go with him.' Before the end of the day, Peng Guo was sentenced to death. Wen Xiang cried and said: 'Don't kill Ma Fei's husband. 'Because of the Japanese refining medicine blade, after Xinyi successively served as a feudal territory, Wen Xiang tried to serve where he went, and he couldn't stop. One day, Xinyi went to a temple to make incense, Wen Xiang lay on the desk, and the blade missed, but fortunately escaped. If so, three or four times, it will be a pawn. ”

But this argument is even more flawed. First, if Zhang Wenxiang and Ma Xinyi have such a brotherly relationship, they will have the opportunity to assassinate anytime and anywhere, so why do they have to do it on the school field? Besides, Ma Xinyi's younger brother Ma Xinyou has been by Ma Xinyi's side since he was a child until Ma Xinyi was stabbed to death. He knows Ma Xinyi's affairs best, if Ma Xinyi was assassinated because of "fishing and bad friends", then he should also accept the court's final closure of the case for his brother to save face, but why did he insist that the case was unclear until his death, and held a grudge for the rest of his life? Ma Xinyi's wife committed suicide by swallowing gold after Ma Xinyi's assassination, if Ma Xinyi was a womanizer, how could his wife do so?

And Zhang Wenxiang's words after the successful assassination also aroused the suspicion of many officials, "The assassin is Zhang Wenxiang, one person does things and one person is responsible, I have no accomplices, don't arrest people indiscriminately." I'm done, and now I'm going to go with you. "From the very beginning, the criminal Zhang Wenxiang was emphasizing that the reason for his assassination of Ma Xinyi had nothing to do with others and that he had no master. And the fact that he was confident and calmly captured after the successful assassination is not difficult to see that his attitude would never be like this if there were no major hidden secrets and major instigators. Moreover, in the preliminary trial of Jiangning General Kuiyu and the trial of Kuiyu and Caoyun Governor Zhang Zhiwan, as well as the second trial of Zheng Dunjin, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and Zeng Bohan, the new governor of Liangjiang, all appeared in the compromises of "there is no other mastermind to make all the circumstances" and "there is no other mastermind" and so on, repeatedly emphasizing that there is no mastermind behind the scenes.

But the more this happens, the more suspicious it becomes. The imperial court was also skeptical about this, and the Empress Dowager Renxi immediately issued an edict at the time: "Ma Xinyi is the governor of the country, and suddenly encounters this change, the case is serious, and Zhang Wenxiang's confession is probably not true. In addition, the trial process of this case also fully illustrates this point: after Ma Xinyi was assassinated, he was first interrogated by Jiangning General Kuiyu and the feudal secretary Mei Qizhao. The imperial court believed that there must be another mastermind behind the scenes, so it sent Zhang Zhiwan, the governor of Caoyun, to Jiangning to try the case. After Zhang Zhiwan arrived in Jiangning, there was still no big breakthrough in the interrogation of the horse assassination case, and it was only concluded that Zhang Wenshen had colluded with pirates, and Ma Xinyi was resentful because of his efforts to suppress pirates in Zhejiang. This result made the imperial court angry, so it sent Zheng Dunjin, the secretary of the Criminal Department, to rush to Jiangning for a quick trial, and at the same time urged Zeng Bohan to go to Jiangning to preside over the overall situation. Even under the interrogation of Zheng Dunjin, who is known as the iron-faced and selfless, and Zeng Bohan, the governor of Liangjiang, the results obtained are not as good as the previous officials' interrogations, but the sentencing is more cruel, and the culprit Zhang Wenxiang's Ling Chi is executed, and the heart is sacrificed. From the beginning to the end, it can be said that the imperial court has always advocated the assassination of horses and the other mastermind, and constantly issued decrees to promote the interrogation work, and more than 50 officials took turns to participate in the interrogation. But until the end, officials from all walks of life did not interrogate the so-called mastermind behind the court.

The attitude of the presiding judge, Zeng Bohan, after he was once again appointed governor of Liangjiang, is also quite incomprehensible. Ma Xinyi, the governor of Liangjiang, was assassinated, and the imperial court immediately dispatched Zeng Bohan, the governor of Zhili, to return to Liangjiang when he heard the news. However, he went to a "Xie was transferred to Jiang Governor En due to illness, please open the vacancy", and resigned as the governor of Liangjiang. The imperial court naturally took Zeng Bohan's old age, who had been in Jiangnan for many years, was familiar with the situation, and persuaded him with words such as Xianyi, and at the same time dispatched Li Shaoquan to serve as the governor of Zhili to secure the overall situation. The situation in Liangjiang was chaotic, but Zeng Bohan was reluctant to leave. Zeng Bohan was prevaricated several times, and the imperial court urged several times. In the end, Zeng Bohan packed up and prepared to leave. Before departing, Zeng Bohan begged to be summoned to observe Empress Dowager Renxi's views on the current situation in Jiangning. In fact, Zeng Bohan has been closely following the developments in Jiangning. As soon as the assassination case came out, General Kuiyu of Jiangning, and his protégé political envoy Mei Qizhao kept sending him frequent letters. Like the imperial court, Zeng Bohan is also very concerned about whether the mastermind behind the scenes has been tried. After arriving in Jiangning, Zeng Bohan was not in a hurry to try the case, and he just chatted and picked up customers every day. Before Zheng Dunjin, the secretary of the criminal department sent by the imperial court again, arrived in Jiangning, Zeng Bohan's only work related to the assassination case was to make an elegy for Ma Xinyi and go to mourn, nothing more. Later, in the process of jointly hearing the case with Zheng Dunjin, Zeng Bohan was often silent and rarely asked questions. (To be continued.) )