Taipingchun

Xu Xiu looked at the document in his hand, and angrily said to the old scholar: "Sir, in such a peaceful world, how can there be such a person?"

Because the writing on the paper in her hand was very tragic, a lonely old woman went to Beijing alone to collect the bones of her child who died in a foreign country. Eight hundred copper coins, carefully and carefully returned to the border of Jiangnan.

Unexpectedly, nothing happened during the thousands of miles from north to south. When he stepped into Nanjing City with his front foot and rested on a stone bench with his back foot, eight hundred copper coins were stolen by scoundrels. Master Jiang Ning closed the case that day, you might as well go and have a look, and with the help of others, write down this document.

This piece of paperwork was handed over to the Yamen, and since there was no defendant, the case could only be solved slowly, and it was not known when it would be returned to Zhao.

The old scholar also sighed: "What a poor old white-haired man." He called the catcher and said, "Hurry up and bring the suspect to justice."

The head catcher hesitated and said: "The old lady is sobbing and crying, but she doesn't know the suspect's face, how can she track her down?"

Xu Xiu rubbed her swollen temples and said, "Well, you go outside and put up a notice, saying that my lord will judge that stone bench in the afternoon, and you go and get that stone bench."

The head catcher's eyes showed doubts, and he said puzzledly: "You have to stick to the stone bench for twenty more boards?"

Xu Xiu coughed, and gave a faint smile. He heard that her small methods of handling cases were being circulated everywhere.

Can't help saying: "You don't need to worry about it, just go."

"Yes."

If it is said that this matter is not a major matter based on Xu Xiu's own understanding of her own talents, what is really worrying is the three official documents sent by the Yamen of Yingtianfu.

This series of thefts alarmed the entire city of Nanjing.

The first case with traces is that on the day when I first came to Jiangning County, the rich merchant Wang’s family in the city lost 300 taels of silver. The next day, the rich merchant Li’s family lost 300 taels of silver and some gold and silver jewelry.After that, every other day, rich merchants in the city were robbed, and even the homes of retired officials were robbed by the thief.

At this time, the criminal investigation departments in the entire city of Nanjing are in full operation. Not to mention the theft of wealthy businessmen, even the theft of retired veteran cadres' homes is an extremely serious matter. These people are too old to give a satisfactory answer. It is difficult to appease their anger.

The Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, Yingtianfu Yamen, all counties and county yamen are involved, and even the garrison yamen is dispatched. Whoever gets rid of the guy who left a plum blossom pattern at the crime scene first will be rewarded.

Xu Xiu murmured, "Yizhimei."

This is an opportunity. If I can solve this case first, I might be able to get rid of Cheng Guogong's provocation. The director and the actor came to a few cases to trouble him.

The lazy dragon swept the ground and asked, "What do you think about that Yizhimei?"

Xu Xiu looked at him, saw that he was sweeping the floor as usual, and said angrily, "Why are you sweeping the floor all day? It's not up to you to do the tidy work in the yamen. As for the Yizhimei, I don't have a problem with it. He robbed it." They are all rich merchants, I heard that he never steals money from innocent people, and those who are patronized by him must have done something outrageous."

Lazy Dragon's eyes lit up, and he said in a low voice, "Where did you hear it? As far as I know, there was no case of this person in Nanjing City before."

Xu Xiu waved her hand and said, "The heavenly secret must not be revealed."

How could he tell him that he was someone who had read the legends of later generations?It's not a mess to say it.

Lazy Dragon was also very puzzled, seeing him like this, he didn't gossip too much, just swept his head down.

Xu Xiu called Ge Chong, the head catcher from Class B, and he liked him very much. He was dressed in refined attire and showed a capable temperament, which was much better than the head catcher from Class A.

Said: "You order people to investigate around to see if there is a large amount of gold and silver jewelry sold recently, and record them in detail. Then send people to investigate which households and households have improved their lives, and record them in detail. Don't startle the snake."

Ge Chong clasped his fists, nodded and said, "Yes."

Xu Xiu doesn't have much experience in investigating such cases, and he hasn't learned much about criminal investigation in the past. His method can only start from the most basic logic. You have to deliver, right? You have to give money to others, right?Since it is necessary to contact people, the possibility of leaving clues is not gone.

Always grab your tail.

Lazy Dragon felt a little uncomfortable, and asked: "Since my lord doesn't have any opinion on that Yizhimei, why did you want to arrest him?"

Xu Xiu was very curious about his thinking mode, and couldn't help but said, "Isn't it natural for the government to catch thieves?"

The lazy dragon swept the floor sullenly, feeling a little unhappy in his heart.

Xu Yang, who poured tea for the old scholar, said casually, "He didn't do anything wrong either."

Well, Xu Xiude admits that he is often more serious than the bureaucratic thinking of the ancients, but this matter involves his own interests, and some things cannot be clearly stated. How can he say that he will rely on his promotion to get rich?Should this be regarded as Qingtian or Baolongtu?

Xu Xiu had no choice but to say: "He can't act on behalf of God, so where will the law of the country go?"

Seeing that he was going to talk, Xu Xiu stopped him in a self-defeating manner, and hurried out of the front hall. At this time, the door was surrounded by three layers of inner and outer layers, densely packed with thousands of people. I don't know, I thought it was the masses petitioning to surround the yamen. .

The Chinese people's instinct to watch the excitement has been passed down for thousands of years. I heard that the county magistrate wanted to interrogate a stone bench in a weird way. Driven by curiosity, I naturally wanted to come and see clearly.

Passer-by A said: "Last time I heard that Mr. Xu hit twenty big boards in a basket. It's a pity that I didn't see it."

Passer-by B said: "Haha, that day I was watching the trial at the stone stele at the gate of the yamen, and the two of them were arguing about some trivial matters. Mrs. Xu made a basket, clearly identified the case, and gave them a good explanation. It was handled cleanly and beautifully. It is rare for our county to have a good official."

Passer-by C said: "Is this a good official? I'm afraid he is some kind of person who seeks fame and reputation. You see, the cases he distinguished are all opportunistic. That's how he solved the case of Fu Niang. The same is true for breaking that basket. If you shake the basket and look at it, you must beat it. If you break it, you will not be compensated."

Passer-by B said unhappily: "What do you know, I think this Master Xu has quite the wisdom of Bao Longtu, if this basket is not broken, it will be embarrassing for the two families to meet in the future, if it is broken, you won't see the two of them The family is like a family now. Mr. Xu Xiao is really wise, if we don't keep it together, we will have a Qingtian here."

Passer-by C said: "You take Master Xu, Master Xu, who are you? It's so disrespectful."

Passer-by B said: "Hey, Mr. Xu is not as old as the weak crown. Can I call him Mr. Xu? Of course, he is a first-class Tanhualang and can wear the crown early. If the child in our family is also 19 years old and did not wear the crown, then It’s just a child, why not my name is Master Xu Xiao.”

Passerby A said: "Don't say it, don't say it, Mr. Xu is going to trial."

Passerby B said: "But there are so many people here, how can we see clearly."

Seeing so many people outside, roughly counting their heads, there are about a thousand.

Xu Xiudao: "Open the door and let them in."

Seeing the gate of the yamen open, the people surrounding the stone tablet involuntarily were pushed in.

Fortunately, the county magistrate's office was built very spacious for the county examination students, but no matter how spacious it was, it couldn't hold thousands of people crowded in, and it was crowded and noisy for a while.

Seeing their eagerness to watch the excitement, Xu Xiu's stomach twitched slightly, trying not to laugh out loud.Let's see how you laugh later.

Seeing that the number of people was almost the same, Xu Xiu turned around and returned to the desk. At this time, it was no longer possible to knock on the small gavel, and she heard Xu Yang beating the gong three times, "Boom." "Boom." Ma, the yamen servants present shouted silence together.

This scene is considered stable.

Xu Xiu said loudly: "Bring that stone bench up to the hall!"

What kind of trial method is this? Instead of interrogating people but asking Shi, it immediately caused a burst of laughter.Since it was an order from an adult, the yamen servants dared not disobey after laughing, and carried the stone bench into the county yamen with twitching expressions all the way.

As soon as the stone bench entered the lobby, there was another commotion from the onlookers, Xu Xiu had no choice but to let Xu Yang beat the gong desperately.

Seeing that the timing was about right, Xu Xiu hooked her fingers and asked the yamen servants to close the door of the yamen tightly.

Back at the desk, he slammed the gavel and said angrily, "This is not a place for games. You and other villagers are supposed to live in peace and keep their jobs. Why do you enter the government office for no reason?"

He also said: "It's official business for me to judge the stone bench. What crime should you be guilty of when you come here to disturb my official business? You are willing to fight and punish. If you fight, the national law will be in place. Each person will have twenty sticks. If you want to punish, one person will be punished." If you pay two pennies, you can be released!"

Everyone present saw that the county magistrate was angry, and they didn't dare to speak. Some of them thought that if they were hit with [-] boards, the meat on their buttocks would never get better, so they might as well accept the punishment. The two pennies are not a lot of money. One cooking cake is over.

Xu Xiu knocked on the table, and the lazy dragon he had arranged earlier said in the crowd: "My lord is angry, I'll leave quickly, it's only two pennies."

After speaking, he took out two copper coins and threw them on the ground, and went out through the west gate.

Seeing him like this, the people around responded one after another, dropped the copper plate and went out from the west gate.

When the crowd dispersed, Xu Xiu ordered people to gather up the copper coins on the ground and count them down. There were more than 400 copper coins.

The old woman was still waiting for the county magistrate to judge the case, so Xu Xiu gave her the copper coin and said: "This scoundrel is still being arrested, so you collect the money first, and I will help you get it back after a while."

The old woman took the copper coin tremblingly and kowtowed repeatedly: "Thank you, sir, thank you, grand master."

Xu Xiu couldn't get used to this habit of kowtowing, so she quickly helped him up and sent him out.

Seeing that everyone in the yamen was there, Xu Xiu said: "You laughed at me for interrogating this stone bench earlier, but you didn't see how pitiful this old man is. If I send you an apprehension document and ask you to catch this rascal, I don't know when you will be able to arrest him." Bring to justice? When you bring them to justice and get back the stolen copper coins, how will this old man survive during this time? She has no relatives, no reason, no means of living, and she is bound to die. If I hadn't put up a public interrogation stone bench, how could there be so many people Come and watch the excitement. I will take some small profits from among them to help her, the so-called group effort is easy, the so-called people gather firewood, and the old woman has multiplied the benefits, isn't it perfect?"

After saying so much in one breath, Xu Xiu coughed and said: "Of course, stealing other people's property in broad daylight is not tolerated by the national law. I will issue another arrest warrant to arrest this person."

After finishing speaking, she turned and left, imagining the adoring eyes of everyone behind her, Xu Xiu also felt a little complacent.

But the old scholar shook his head and sighed, not knowing what was going on in his heart.