Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

The crowd began to commotion, and one after another someone was heard shouting: "No, no, no, we're just beating up the hawkers."

In the commotion, I didn’t know what was going on, but I heard someone shouting loudly: "Since ancient times, driving carts and selling pulp has been a serious business for the people to survive. Without hawkers, you, the public servants, will have nothing to eat, drink, or take."

There was another burst of noise, and the crowd shouted loudly: "That's great, the businessman beat up the students in Suzhou Prefecture."

The masses wanted to know what was going on and surged forward bravely. For a moment, the army was in chaos, and the common people confronted the official.

Just as Xiaocai was about to lift his heels, Fei Yueer grabbed him: "Brother Xiaocai, let's wait here. There are too many people and it's easy to get trampled and injured."

Xiaocai and Wang Heng were both weak scholars, so they listened to the advice and stayed where they were.

People from Suzhou were still arriving in a steady stream, and in the chaos they could only hear bursts of crying, "Brother Yang, Brother Yang, you died unjustly."

"It's not good, it's not good, Yang Xiucai was beaten to death by the official."

"It's not good, it's not good, the official beat Yan Xiucai to death."

"Ah, is he Yan Xiucai who lives in Jiakufang? He is a very nice person."

"You bastard, you bastard, the scholar is the root of the prime minister, you bunch of officials beat the living members to death, do you still have the law?"

"Teacher Gao was so angry that he passed away. Go and call Mrs. Gao quickly."

"The high-ranking official of Changmen was beaten to death by the official."

"How dare you kill our scholars in Suzhou Prefecture? These Jiangbo guys must have been ordered by the plague official Lu Zhifu."

"It's unreasonable. Magistrate Lu, a plague official, eats us Suzhou people, scratches us Suzhou people, and also beats us Suzhou people."

"Yan Xiucai is a member of our Xingshe. Let's Xingshe go to the plague official and ask for an explanation. If not, let Zhang Hui's leader give him a copy, so that the plague official can't bear to eat and walk away."

Hearing that some Xingshe members were criticizing Magistrate Lu inside, Wang Heng paid extra attention. He couldn't see who it was in the crowd.

A group of people suddenly broke in from the outside, and the leader yelled: "Wow, yeah, you're so mad at me, let me rush in and capture this plague official. Let me beat them all to death if they dare to stop me." If you die, it’s mine.”

"With your order, Major General."

"You have the order, Young Master."

Dozens of powerful slaves stepped forward to clear the way. They threw the officers to the sides like slicing melons and vegetables, and were surrounded by the people of Suzhou. The officers could not help but get their noses bruised and swollen, and their faces were bloody. They got up and cried. Call me mother.

Seeing someone taking the lead, the people of Suzhou became excited and geared up. They raised their arms and rushed forward. "Zhou Jiali, Zhang Jiali, Wang Jiali, if the plague official dares to betray the people of Suzhou, go and give him some color." .”

The public servants were retreating steadily. The major general and the four Suzhou heroes took the lead. The angry Suzhou people rushed into the prefect's Yamen with high spirits.

The development of the situation so far has surprised Wang Heng and the others.

The scene was in chaos, and the drumbeat at midnight was not heard.

Xiaocai said: "I guess it's past midnight."

The three of them looked at each other, always feeling that something was unusual. Was this chaos a deliberate plan, or was it triggered randomly?

Fei Yue'er said, "Could it be that Yizhimei got mixed up in the crowd and rushed into the government office?"

A few people thought about it but couldn't figure it out, so they slowly followed the crowd.

After hearing the news from the front, they searched the government offices but could not find Official Lu Wen. It turned out that Magistrate Lu had escaped from the latrine when he saw the people coming in force. Hearing this, the people gathered in Suzhou laughed loudly and let out a sigh of relief.

The common people remembered that they had come to see the excitement. The time had passed and they didn't know whether they had got the Yizhimei. They all stood still, waiting for news.

Suddenly, there was a roar of gongs and drums outside the magistrate's office, and a group of people came with lanterns.

Some soldiers shouted: "The patrol officer is here."

All the people were in panic, their feverish minds gradually cleared up, and many people slipped away quietly.

The Inspector was brave enough to get down from the eight-carriage sedan chair. Although it was late at night and the candles were brightly lit, he saw a middle-aged official in his forties.

The five people who led the charge into the magistrate's yamen clasped their fists at the people around them and said, "Fathers and fellow villagers, one person is responsible for each other's work. Please make way for us to surrender."

The crowd squeezed out a path, and these five people anxiously came to the Lord Inspector, lifted up their clothes and prostrated themselves: "The common people are so angry for a moment, please punish me."

The patrolman stretched out his hand to support him and said with a smile: "The sky is clear, the cause and effect of this case are all known. The five righteous men are loyal and righteous, so why are they guilty?"

The people nearby heard the inspector personally call the five of them righteous men. They thought they were showing mercy, so they felt relieved and were not in a hurry to escape. Instead, they wanted to gather around and watch the fun.

Wang Heng and the other two people thought that this patrolman was quite obedient. He was calm in the chaos and made a civil uprising invisible, so they couldn't help but secretly nod.

I saw that the patrol commander personally brought five righteous men with him. He gently advised the people to disperse on their own and asked his subordinates to speak. No soldiers were allowed to interfere with the questioning along the way.

Some of the gathered people left in twos and threes, and many people stayed around to make a fuss and had nothing to do.

The Lord Inspector and the five righteous men arrived at the main hall of the government office. Looking from the hall, everyone present was shocked. I don't know when a plum blossom was painted on the wall of the main hall.

Already got the Elephant Plum Lazy Dragon?

"Ah." Everyone in the main hall exclaimed in unison.

Three camphor wood boxes were conspicuously placed on the green brick floor of the main hall. The patrolman motioned to his men to take a look. The men opened the camphor wood boxes, and the golden light made people confused. It turned out to be three boxes of gold ingots.

The subordinate handed over a piece of paper, on which Lazy Long wrote in charcoal, "Take from the people, give back to the people."

When the inspector saw him, he repeatedly praised him: "What a righteous man, he really has a rare chivalrous heart."

The patrol secretary then ordered his subordinates to take Lanlong's message and go to the gate of the government office to show it to the people of Suzhou. He also asked his subordinates to announce at the gate of the government office that these three thousand taels of gold would be put into the government treasury. Whatever the purpose in the future, it would be used in the government office. Oral notice.

So everyone praised him, and all the people gathered went back victorious with great joy.

When the patrol inspector saw that the people were dispersed, he did not dare to act alone and ordered his men to look for Magistrate Lu everywhere.

Lu Fuzun was escorted by his personal escorts and escaped from the hut. He did not go far, but hid near the government office. Seeing that the sky was about to dawn and the crowd dispersed, he tried to return to the government office covertly, but was found by the patrolling men. Then he was brought to meet the patrol minister.

Lu Fuzun and the Inspector are on the same level. The Inspector is the Procuratorate and has no power to deal with the prefect. Lu Fuzun felt very ashamed and mishandled the situation, which almost triggered a civil uprising in Suzhou. The prefect is also at his end, so he is very respectful to the visiting magistrate.

The inspector did not dare to take any action, and ordered all the followers he brought to retreat to the guest house, leaving the third team of government officials to take charge of the door. He did not say a word about what happened today.

So the two of them talked about Qiangu's government affairs, local customs and people's feelings, and they all expressed their sincerity and sympathy to each other.

After a pleasant conversation, it was not until daylight that the inspector left the government office in a sedan chair.

Master Lu stretched his legs and feet and saw Master Zhu standing behind him at some point. Master Zhu whispered in his ear: "Master Master, the person who lives in Lanpu is missing."