Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 15 The case of cutting pigtails and calling souls

"You will be responsible for sneaking into the Dong family's blacksmith shop in a while, while Wu Yao will be responsible for the response outside."

"Evacuate as soon as you get the items and try not to be discovered."

"Military advisor, don't worry. This kind of work is not difficult."

Liu Qian was very confident in his skills, so it was no challenge to steal a few scissors from a closed shop.

……

In the night, the short Liu Qian was as silent and agile as a cat.

It took just one stick of incense to come back.

"Six scissors, I rounded them up."

Li Yu looked at the scissors under the oil lamp, and the word "Dong Ji" was clearly visible.

"Next, you have to do one more thing. Sneak into a nearby big car shop, cut two or three braids and come back."

"what?"

"No matter who it belongs to, cut it off and bring it back to me. Leave a few pieces of talisman paper behind."

Li Yu had already prepared it. On some pieces of yellow paper, symbols were drawn with chicken blood.

Liu Qian couldn't figure out what the routine was, but he still followed it.

This time it took longer, and it took more than half an hour to get back.

Six dirty braids were thrown on the deck of the ship.

Li Yu was disgusted and kicked him into the water. Many lice escaped from his braided hair.

"No one saw it?"

"The big car shop has all the bunks, and the coolies slept in a row, with their braids hanging on the ground. I cut six of them at random and put the talisman paper on their foreheads."

Everyone took advantage of the night to row the boat and changed places.

In the early morning, many vegetable farmers and small businessmen want to enter the city.

They all work hard for a day's livelihood.

"Crow, you change your clothes and cover your face."

"Find a few lonely people, knock them unconscious, cut off their braids, and leave the talismans. Don't let anyone see your face."

"Relax, military commander."

……

Liu Qian, Crow Crow, and Lin Huaisheng have never read books and do not have a deep understanding of the meaning of cutting braids.

But Fan Jing is different.

He always looked serious, with a straight face, but his heart was in turmoil.

Braid is the totem of the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

Cutting one's braids is a provocation to the imperial power.

Once the incident spreads, the Suzhou Prefecture's Yamen and the Jiangsu Governor's Yamen will feel as if they are facing a formidable enemy.

I'm afraid this peaceful day will end as of today.

"Commander, I'm going to cut one or two of them too. My hands are itchy."

"Okay, don't force it, you are not as capable as them." Li Yu was very happy, who wouldn't like such a sensible subordinate.

Fan Jing is a scholar and can only hide the scissors in his sleeves.

After searching for a long time, I couldn't find a suitable candidate.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

A drunken fat man was lying on the wall, wearing silk clothes.

I must have been having fun in some brothel last night and drank too much.

He suppressed his violent heartbeat, walked to the fat man, and squatted down.

Pull up his braid and click.

Suddenly, the fat man woke up.

The groggy eyes slowly opened a crack, and the hangover was severe.

Fan Jing's heart suddenly rose to his throat, and he could only lift his foot and kick the fat man's face hard.

A scream like killing a pig!
Fan Jing's escape is comparable to Usain Bolt.

After reuniting with everyone, he quickly rowed to evacuate.

After hearing his embarrassing story, everyone laughed.

Li Yu smiled happily. Once on the boat, there was no need to leave.

Everyone present had a chance to cut their braids, and received a heavy letter of nomination.

Speaking of which, cutting off one's pigtails is more important than killing the son of Jiang Ning's vice-captain.

At least, that was the case for the Qing court.

The death of an official's son is just a vicious criminal case.

And a group of people having their pigtails cut has political implications.

……

The fat man whose pigtails were cut off at the wall because he was hungover was a good man.

When he woke up and found that his pigtails had been clicked, he was so frightened that he lost his mind.

I immediately went to the county government to report the incident.

When the magistrate of Wu County heard this, he cursed in his heart.

He couldn't wait to throw this damn fat man away and never come to report the crime.This is not reporting a crime, it is reporting a funeral!

He did not dare to delay, so he immediately took the prisoners and officials to the prefect's Yamen.

There is still half a year left in Magistrate Zhao's term, and he is already starting to pack his bags.

Yellow, white, large wooden boxes are only half full.

In the back room, I was thinking about how to show my subordinates that they were sensible.

Should we hold the third birthday party this year, or let my mother bury her again?

Just show your cards right away and stop pretending.

It's not much, so I made up an auspicious number, sixty-six thousand, six hundred taels, and let subordinates at all levels, gentry, and chambers of commerce share it equally.

If there is more than one tael, I will not accept it.

The so-called gentleman loves money and acquires it in a proper way, which is probably what he is like.

The prefect, who was trapped in fantasy and couldn't extricate himself, was awakened by Master Hu who rushed in angrily.

He was very unhappy and thought to himself, you are a working man and you get 2000 taels of salary from me every year. Can you respect the person who pays the salary?
Just as he was about to have an attack, he was startled by Master Hu's words and fell into the glacier.

……

"Sir, the braid-cutting case has been reported again." Master Hu changed his usual calmness and his voice was trembling.

"what?"

"The county government of Wu County came to report that Wang Juren of Hengtang Town had his pigtails cut off. The criminal is still being sought."

After a while, the prefect's Yamen became even more lively.

In Yuanhe County and Changzhou County, people reported having their pigtails cut off.

Magistrate Zhao, who was originally planning to finish out the last six months of his term, was gnashing his teeth in the lobby as he tried the case.

"Take the prisoner."

Wang Juren, this unfortunate fat man, had just entered the court when he saw Magistrate Zhao with a distorted expression.

His legs went weak and he didn't stop.

With fame and honor, there is no need to kneel before an official.

Magistrate Zhao stepped down from the desk and grabbed Wang Juren directly.

"Did you get drunk and cut it yourself?"

"Master Futai knows it well, how dare Xiaosheng do such a crazy thing. Someone must be harming me."

"Who did it? Can you see that person's face clearly? Is he a monk?"

"I can't see clearly, but it doesn't look like a monk. It seems to have hair."

……

Magistrate Zhao personally interrogated many people in succession and finally concluded that it was the same group of people.

Because talisman papers were left at the crime scenes with the same pattern.

And the ends of the braids are all the same, cut neatly.

It shows that the knives and scissors used by the criminal are very sharp, not dull at all.

"From now on, Zao, arrest, hurry up, Zhuang, the four squadrons of government officers will search the whole city, and I will catch the thief who was cut into pieces with a thousand knives."

"Whoever catches the first offender will be promoted to level three and rewarded with a hundred taels of silver."

Magistrate Zhao ferociously promised a heavy reward, and things immediately became lively.

All government officials, county officials, and officials took to the streets, looking for clues everywhere.

Magistrate Zhao himself went to the governor's Yamen in a sedan chair and quickly reported the matter to each floor.

When the governor heard this, his face was as white as a sheet of fright.

On the other hand, 500 soldiers were mobilized to join the search.

While writing a memorial, he rushed to report it to the court at a cost of 800 li.

A few years ago, the case of "cutting one's pigtails to reveal one's soul" spread from Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, sweeping the country.

Hundreds of local officials were unlucky because of this case, and many were dismissed from office and exiled.

Qianlong was a mean and unkind emperor, and the officials of the Qing Dynasty knew it well.

Therefore, we must not give the emperor a chance to get angry.

Suddenly, people in the city were on their backs and became a mess.

Officials searched everywhere and took the opportunity to extort money.

Each steel knife is in hand, like a wolf or a tiger.

The people of Suzhou were in great misfortune, and no one could sleep peacefully that night.

……

In Cunju Hall.

Li Yu slept soundly. He was too tired the day before.

Several other people who participated in the braid-cutting operation were so frightened that they could not sleep.

Only then did they realize how big a trick they had made.

The next morning, Li Yu, the instigator, saw the dark circles under the eyes of several people and laughed secretly in his heart.

After breakfast, the crow came quietly.

"Do you want to get rid of those scissors?"

"Wait a little longer, let the bullet fly for a while."

(End of this chapter)