A Complete Explanation of the Negative Textbooks of the Imperial Examination

Chapter 62: Fog

“Open the coffin.”

Others are still hesitant to agree. Although there are dozens of people in the county government, there are only four real court officials. They are county magistrates, county chiefs, chief clerks, and county magistrates. Officials and officials are officials. Officials are appointed by the imperial court. However, officials are only miscellaneous jobs that are not in the mainstream. Officials hold great power and can be promoted step by step, but officials do all chores with little content. Fortunately, after working diligently in a post for 20 to 30 years, they can enter the circulation and turn into internal officials. Going down to the county seat to be a magistrate or something like that, but that can only go so far.

Xiao Jingduo is an internal official with a background of jinshi, and his rank is from the eighth rank, and his status is much higher than these small officials, but as the saying goes, a strong dragon can’t beat a local snake, and these literati are local people. Some are still “hereditary” of the squire forces, and they are intertwined with each other. How could Xiao Jingduo, a young county magistrate who just arrived, be seen by them.

Xiao Jingduo really felt slighted now, he didn’t make a sound, just asked casually: “You guys refuse to open the coffin, is there something wrong with the bones of the county magistrate?”

“How!”

“Then why can’t the coffin be opened?” Xiao Jingduo also followed closely.

Seeing Xiao Jingduo pressing step by step, many people showed dissatisfaction, and together with the official clerk also said: “Xiao Xiancheng, if you do this, I am afraid that you will be disrespectful to the Chen County magistrate.”

“It is the greatest disrespect to the deceased to let the murderer of the county magistrate not be held accountable. After the coffin is opened, all the consequences will be borne by me alone. If you shirk it, don’t blame me for wronging you and the murderer.”

Seeing other people watching each other, but no one walking forward, Xiao Jingduo laughed softly: “Why, do you want to defy your superiors openly?”

Seeing that Xiao Jingduo moved out of the official position to press people, the group of people quickly bent over and said, “I don’t dare.” After speaking, they looked at each other, and then walked slowly to the coffin. Together they pushed open the coffin.

Xiao Jingduo walked to the right side of the coffin and looked down.

The county magistrate Chen looks in his forties and fifties, with mottled white hair on his temples, much older than his peers. His neck was slashed by a sharp weapon, his blood was blurred, and he was described as terrifying. Xiao Jingduo secretly said a word of rudeness, and then reached out to probe the face and limbs of the county magistrate.

How will you handle official business in the future?

“I understand almost, let’s close the coffin.”

…”

Oh, Xiao Jingduo just remembered that Qiu Ju and the others hadn’t settled yet. If it wasn’t for the master’s reminder, Xiao Jingduo would have forgotten about it. He nodded and said, “Thanks for the reminder, Master, I don’t know where my residence is?”

The county magistrate, from the magistrate to the clerk, had to stay at the yamen, so Xiao Jingduo also lived in the house behind the front hall. Generally speaking, the west side is the residence of the county magistrate. The flower hall, the cross-courtyard, and the back house are all available, but the rank is different, and the conditions of others are obviously worse. People outside the county magistrate can only live in the east courtyard. Among them, the county magistrates, the chief clerk, and the county magistrates, such as the rank of minor officials, were each assigned a yard, and as for the other minor officials, only three or five people could share a room.

The master said: “The county magistrate Chen has gone now, and most of the west courtyard is empty. Since you have the highest rank, Xiaoxian, why don’t you come to live in the west courtyard?”

“How can this be done? The laws of the imperial court cannot be abandoned. I will just live in the East Court according to the rules.”

Since Xiao Jingduo is willing, the master has nothing to say, he took Xiao Jingduo to the east courtyard, and after entering a square courtyard, the master said: “This is it. ”

“It’s work.”

To send the master book away, Qiu Ju came over and complained in a low voice to Xiao Jingduo: “This is still a county government, why is it so dilapidated, even one-tenth of our Hou’s mansion is not comparable. ”

“Okay, hurry up and put your luggage.” Xiao Jingduo said lightly, and Qiu Ju didn’t say any more. Besides, Qiu Ju was just complaining. Although she despised the dilapidation of this remote county town, the bigger reason was that she was worried about Xiao Jingduo’s suffering. After all, in her heart, Dalang-Jun was an omnipotent god, and he deserved to enjoy it. All good.

Qiu Ju and Xiqi’s two female relatives finally have a role to play. On the way to Shu, most of them are accompanied by people who take care of them. They can’t seem to be of much help other than dragging their feet. Now After finally settling down, Qiu Ju finally breathed a sigh of relief, taking care of the house and tidying up the house, which is what she is best at.

Xiao Jingduo stood in the yard and watched for a while, then turned and walked out.

“Hey, Dalangjun, where are you going?”

“You should call Lang Jun’s official title.” Xiao Lin couldn’t help reminding.

Qiu Ju glared at Xiao Lin angrily: “It’s up to you?”

Xiao Jingduo’s head began to hurt again: “Okay, okay, what is Qiu Juai’s name, please stop arguing. I’m going to the front hall to ask questions, and now there are still a few doubts, I need figure it out.”

“Oh.” Qiu Ju is ignorant, she doesn’t understand what’s going on outside anyway, she just doesn’t care about anything, what Dalang-jun says is what she says. Only Xiao Lin raised his head in surprise and asked, “Lang Jun, have you guessed the truth?”

This group of yamen in Jinjiang County is sneaky, covering the sky with one hand, not knowing what they want to hide. Xiao Jingduo only met face to face, and already saw many doubts.

But after all, he was a newcomer, and he didn’t understand many things, so what he needs to do now is to arraign each other individually and defeat them individually.

Feng Butcher, the master bookkeeper, the county lieutenant, and Sun Sizuo, who claimed to be the first to see the murder scene, everyone has a lot of strangeness. Xiao Jingduo pondered for a moment and chose the first one to ask the master.

The chief clerk is a court official after all, and now the county magistrate is dead, even if he is not grieved and sympathetic, he will not deliberately conceal or not report, or even mislead the direction of the investigation. Moreover, the main bookkeeper has been in Jinjiang County for many years, and he knows the situation in this place very well. He is the most suitable first choice.

Xiao Jingduo waited in the room where he was working in the East Court, and after a while, the master came in.

Xiao Jingduo couldn’t bear to listen anymore. Yesterday, the head of the county, the magistrate, died, and their subordinates didn’t want to track down the murderer. They even advised people to rest. Xiao Jingduo really didn’t know what to say. .

“The county magistrate has such a big thing, how can I rest in peace.” Xiao Jingduo was too lazy to talk to the chief magistrate, and asked directly, “The magistrate, what about the county magistrate? Look?”

“Didn’t Sun Sizuo say it, butcher Feng killed it.”

Very good, Xiao Jingduo continued to ask: “Then what do you think next?”

“It’s enough to arrest Butcher Feng and report it to the court to ask if he will be executed!”

“Then let me ask you, why did Butcher Feng kill? What was his motive?”

“It’s not easy, he relied on his own strength and did not take the government seriously, and the county magistrate Chen disciplined him, and he held a grudge, so he killed the county magistrate in the dead of night. already.”

“Since you also said that it was quiet at night, why was there only one cry in the county government when Butcher Feng killed? Since the county magistrate is attacked in the dignified county office, there is no reason not to call for help. Then why do you all only hear a scream but not the magistrate’s cry for help?”

The master scratched his head and obviously couldn’t figure it out: “This…”

When it wasn’t time to pursue these matters, he suppressed his anger and said solemnly, “Now, you can answer whatever I ask, and make sure you don’t say anything about what you know.”

I was taught a lesson by a seventeen-year-old boy, and the master did not dare to retort, so he had to answer sullenly: “Yes.”

“On the day of the incident, that is, yesterday, what did the county magistrate do?”

Although Xiao Jingduo has experienced several murders, he was almost poisoned by Wu Junru in the Buddhist hall many years ago, and later in the Guozijian, he also experienced the case of being a substitute, but in these murders, he was either killed by The person targeted, or bystander, has never faced a murder as a judge like today, judging who is the truth and who is falsifying, and even more so, to identify the murderer from many people. Xiao Jingduo knew that this time was very different from the past. His judgment determined whether he could catch the murderer and whether he could get justice for the county magistrate. With life at stake, Xiao Jingduo cheered up and carefully identified the useful information in the other party’s words.

The clerk recalled and said: “Yesterday we handled official business as usual, and then handed it over to the county magistrate for inspection. The county magistrate was not in good spirits and did not dare to do more harassment, so he left immediately. The magistrate stayed in the house in the afternoon, and I didn’t come out. After the meal was delivered to his house, I went back to the house to rest after the public meal, first read a volume of books, then self-examined myself, recalled the gains and losses of words and deeds during the day, and waited for Lingtai to clear…”

Xiao Jingduo couldn’t help interrupting his nonsense: “Say the point.”

“Oh, good.” The clerk replied shyly, and continued, “After I reflected on my virtues, I went to bed early. Until midnight, when I was in full swing, I suddenly heard a sharp Scream, wake me up from my dream. I was dreaming that I was going back to Chang’an to see Tianyan and answering the saint’s question in the Golden Palace. Who would have thought, I was woken up like this. It’s really hateful for these people to disturb people’s dreams. I put on my clothes. When I got up, I found out that it was the county magistrate who had died. I was so shocked by the bad news that I was in a cold sweat, and I couldn’t sleep anymore. I hurriedly dressed and went to the magistrate’s house to check. When I went there, the door of the house was already surrounded. Many people wanted to leave, but Sun Sizuo dragged him and refused to let him go, and told the people around him that Butcher Feng killed the county magistrate. Butcher Feng refused to admit it because of his brute force, and Sun Sizuo also insisted. It was him. These people kept arguing until dawn. Later, I thought it was not good for the county magistrate to lie on the ground, so after the curfew was lifted, I decided to go outside and arrange for the coffin. I had just set up the mourning hall, and I didn’t wait for a breath. , those few enemies started quarreling again, and Xiao Xiancheng also knew what happened next. Having said that, since I was woken up last night, I haven’t rested until now, it’s really a hard-working life…”

Xiao Jingduo interrupted the chief clerk’s chattering complaints and asked: “I heard you say just now that the county government’s official business is to be corrected on your behalf, and then handed over to the county magistrate for review? Even the county magistrate even eats dinner. in your own house?”

“That’s right. Speaking of which, the county magistrate is also pitiful. He has spent many years in Jinjiang County. The county magistrate’s wife is weak and can’t stand the humidity here. She passed away last year. What’s worse is that this year, Miss Chen also… Hey, his wife and daughter have passed away one after another, and his future career will also be lost. Hopeless, the county magistrate Chen was hit hard, and he was completely helpless, drinking every day, and falling asleep when he was drunk.

Xiao Jingduo didn’t know what to think, although the experience of the county magistrate was really pitiful, but this was not the reason for him to waste government affairs. But the man has passed away, Xiao Jingduo didn’t want to worry about this, but asked a doubt he had already noticed: “Daughter of the county magistrate, what happened to Miss Chen?”

Speaking of this topic, the head bookkeeper who had just been obedient, suddenly changed his face, he looked around alertly, and whispered to Xiao Jingduo: “Xiancheng, I know you are from Chang’an. I came here, young and energetic, but Jinjiang County is really not a good place, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is Longtan Tiger Cave. I heard that you are still a jinshi, and if you come here, you also have connections in the court, so I am afraid you will not stay in this place for a long time. In this case, you really don’t need to go into this murky water, the county magistrate Chen’s case has been arrested for a few murderers, and it’s fine to finish it early, and there is no need to worry about other things.”

Hearing these words, Xiao Jingduo laughed instead of anger: “You know what you just said, if you report it to the governor of Rongzhou, what will be the consequences?”

Anyway, do whatever you like, but don’t get me involved.”

These mediocre officials, Xiao Jingduo is really helpless. He continued to ask, “What about Butcher Sun, what’s his situation?”

“He, the famous thorn head. Their family has been killing pigs for generations, and they are extremely fierce. He held a grudge and secretly murdered the county magistrate Chen, I believe. And you look at the wound on the magistrate’s neck, oh, I’m scared now when I think about it, that hand strength, that strength, other than him in Jinjiang County, who else can be ruthless Down with this thought?”

Xiao Jingduo keenly captured the point: “Have there been disputes?”

“Yes, it’s not for his sister. Feng Butcher’s family is fierce, but he has a beautiful sister. His sister was frivolous before, and the county magistrate refused to take care of it. Butcher Feng was so angry that he even scolded the county magistrate Chen as a mediocre official. Hey, look, this is a barbarian people and cannot be taught!”

Xiao Jingduo was surprised, he really did not expect that such a case would involve so many people, and the background was more complicated than he imagined. He has dug up a lot of useful information from the master’s words, and now there is only one question left: “Sun Sizuo, the scribe who quarreled with Feng Butcher, what is his identity?”

“Xiao County Chancellor, you don’t know, there are several powerful squires in Jinjiang County. The words of us court officials are not as useful as the words of the squires. This Sun Sizuo is the most powerful Sun in the area. Descendants in the family name.”

“Sun Family, I understand.” Xiao Jingduo straightened up, suddenly asked with a smile, “Master, there is one more thing I can’t figure out, whether Feng Butcher is the murderer or not, I only I would like to ask, in the middle of the night, why did Butcher Feng, an outsider, appear in the county office?”

“This…” The chief clerk kept wiping away his sweat, “Our county government is weak, with very little public funds, and there is indeed some negligence in defense…”

Xiao Jingduo waved his hand, indicating that the master can leave, he really didn’t want to listen any more.

The master was relieved, he got up and walked out quickly, when he reached the door, he was suddenly stopped by Xiao Jingduo: “Master, I would like to trouble you to sort out the files in Jinjiang County for nearly three years and send them to my yard. inside.”

“Ah, Xiao Xiancheng, you have a bumpy road, and you have been busy all day today. Don’t you rest at night?”

“Do as I say.” Xiao Jingduo really didn’t want to talk to this confused master.

The master had to respond: “Well, young people are in good health…”

Not long after the master left, Sun Sizuo came.

Sun Sizuo has a fair and handsome face, always showing a romantic attitude, after seeing Xiao Jingduo, he closed his fan with a bang, saluted and said, “I have seen Xiao Xiancheng. ”

Sun Sizuo comes from the Sun family, a squire here. He has a good family, and he is handsome. He had long heard that there would be new officials coming to Jinjiang County to take office, but Sun Sizuo never took it to heart. He was quite confident in his appearance and did not feel that he would be inferior to the younger brother in the capital. It was not until today that he saw Xiao Jingduo himself, and Sun Sizuo felt a sense of crisis, so he specially dressed up before coming to visit Xiao Jingduo.

Xiao Jingduo looked at Sun Sizuo’s attitude with cold eyes, and was very displeased. In the past few years in Chang’an, he did not know how many times he had met Huang nobles and powerful sons, not to mention the royal family who was famous for his beauty, but his father Xiao Ying. Although his character was not good, he had nothing to say about his appearance. After seeing these people , Sun Sizuo’s attitude is difficult to catch the eye, and it is shameless to say it, Xiao Jingduo should be immune to beauty even if he looks at himself every day.

Sun Sizuo deliberately put on the appearance of an elegant scholar, wanting to give the new county chief in front of him a good show. But he waited for a long time, but did not see any reaction from Xiao Jingduo. Sun Sizuo could only stand up by himself, and said a little embarrassedly: “I don’t know what is the matter with the Xiaoxian Prime Minister calling me?”

Seeing that Sun Sizuo was finally willing to speak properly, Xiao Jingduo asked: “You said that you were the first person to hit the scene of the murder, so now you describe everything you saw yesterday in detail. Come out, no matter the details, don’t miss anything.”

“Xiaosheng is ordered.” Sun Sizuo gave another playful bow before saying, “Yesterday, the county magistrate was in poor health, and he ate dinner in the house as usual, and then it was time for the yamen, and Xiaosheng went out. Friends, I rushed back to the yamen before the curfew, and then I washed and rested. However, the moonlight was very good last night, and Xiaosheng Mochizuki was in love. Without noticing, he walked outside, and when Xiaosheng reacted, he found that he had stood outside the door of the county magistrate Chen. Xiaosheng was very rude, and was about to leave, but found that the lights in the magistrate’s house were on, and the window showed the county magistrate. Ling and the figure of another person. Although Xiaosheng wondered why the magistrate was still entertaining guests late at night, this was the county magistrate’s private matter after all. Xiaosheng didn’t want to worry about it, so he left quickly. Suddenly he heard a muffled sound, and when he turned around, he saw another person on the window pushed the magistrate, raised his arm, and slammed it down fiercely. Xiaosheng was almost scared to death. It was clear that the man was holding a knife in his hand and was murdering the county magistrate. Xiaosheng was frightened, and hurriedly shouted, calling for others to catch the murderer, while Xiaosheng himself stood at the door to prevent the murderer from escaping. Maybe it was me The screams startled the murderer, this fierce man dropped the knife and ran out, just pushed the door and just bumped into Xiaosheng and I. Xiao Xiancheng, guess what Xiaosheng saw, it turned out that the murderer was Feng Butcher at the entrance of the county! Not to mention that this person is a disaster for the village, and now he has murdered the county magistrate Chen, his heart can be punished, his heart can be punished!”

Sun Sizuo felt that his words were full of emotion and eloquence, so he looked at Xiao Jingduo triumphantly, wanting to see some surprise on Xiao Jingduo’s face. However, Xiao Jingduo’s face was as calm as always, and instead he asked: “You said that there were two figures on the window, and the other person on the window pushed the county magistrate. How do you recognize which is the magistrate across the window? ?”

Sun Sizuo hesitantly said: “Well, the county magistrate fell in a pool of blood, but Feng Butcher was covered in blood. In this case, what would happen if he didn’t push the magistrate?”

“Well, it makes sense.” Xiao Jingduo asked again, “Since you called the scream last night, then the county magistrate was killed, why didn’t you call for help?”

“Uh…I saw Butcher Feng push the county magistrate, maybe that knocked the magistrate unconscious, so I couldn’t call for help.”

Xiao Jingduo asked Sun Sizuo to mark his route yesterday and the place where he encountered the murder, and then sent him away.

So far, Xiao Jingduo has been able to guess a general idea, but he still can’t figure it out, so he can only continue to ask.

“The county magistrate, who will be called next?”

The author has something to say:

Small Theater:

Congratulations on the lead

[Master’s testimony]

[Sun Sizuo’s testimony]

Now please identify which are true and which are nonsense, and choose the next question object by the way:

A.Feng butcherB.Master book C.Sun Sizuo D.Other clerks of the county government E.Go home and sleep

************

Thank you~