The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 60: The Imperial Envoy and the treacheorus Deputy

The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty《成化十四年》Chengnian Shisi Nian
The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 60: The Imperial Envoy and the treacheorus Deputy

Great Ming consists of two borders and thirteen provinces, the two borders being Imperial capital and Nanjing, and the thirteen provinces being the thirteen commissaries.

In order to avoid the same problem as the Yuan Dynasty, it was called the Chengxuan Province instead of the Xingxing Province, but the people obviously didn't buy such a long and bawdy name, so they still distinguished it by province.

Henan Prefecture is just one of the prefectures in the Henan Province Department, and there are 13 counties under Henan Prefecture, one of which is Gongxian county.

But this little place, with its eight tombs of the seven emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty, is very special.

The people of the nearby villages also took on the role of guarding the tomb. To them, the fact that the emperor of the previous dynasty was buried here meant that it was a good place for fengshui, so the people in the nearby villages were very proud of it.

Many of them, though illiterate, seemed to have more history than the people of other places, and even the old men, seventy or eighty, would point to a piece of land and tell their children and grandchildren that this was the tomb of the emperor, and that there wasn't even a pavilion, because it had been robbed by the Yuan people, and it wasn't like that.



Children and grandchildren will tell their children and grandchildren, and the story of the Tomb will be passed on from generation to generation.

But all that changed when the locals spoke of the Northern Song tombs, not with pride, but with inexplicable horror.

Tang Fan and the others left the capital by road to Henan Prefecture.

Sui Zhou left Xue Bing at the Northern Administrative Court, and he himself took twenty of his personal guards, including Pang Qi, with Tang Fan and the others, and went south in the name of the Imperial Envoy.

The case was not urgent, but it was a matter of life and death, especially when it involved the theft of the tomb, so we rode at first, but after two days' travel, the gaps became apparent.

The Jinyiwei are a bunch of grown men, thick skinned, and after Sui Zhou's hellish training, already hardened to the bone. In other words, even without Sui Zhou's intensive training, for military officers like them, riding a horse is also a piece of cake.

But the Ministry of Justice's civil servants were different, they were all sitting in the courthouse all day, the heaviest job was just to serve tea, and then suddenly they rode horses for two days straight, it was really skeletal, and to say the least, everyone had blisters on the inside of their thighs, and some of them were bleeding, and they hurt painfully.

Tang Fan as the Imperial Envoy, naturally have to act like a leader, no matter what, he can bite the bullet, but Sui Zhou soon found out that these civilians are not helpful, and asked the Jinyiwei to slow down their pace, and also took out ointment to apply the wounds of Tang Fan.

If the leaders could insist, the two officers could not complain, but Yin Yuanhua refused to ride the horses anymore and insisted on riding the carriage.

the Jinyiwei has long been uncomfortable with these civil officials, but they also know that Boss Sui and Tang Fan are close personal friends, and the Imperial Envoy is said to be living in Sui's house, and Yin Yuanhua has been talking to Tang Fan all the way, so they are clearly not on the same page. Not daring to make fun of the Imperial Envoy's ambassador, he naturally focused his fire on Yin Yuanhua.

This one winked and said: “Oh, someone thinks he's out to have fun, and he's in a carriage, and he wants to lift the bead curtain again, like those big girls and little daughters-in-law, that half-covered face, and he's shy before he speaks!”

That one followed with an odd laugh and said: “How do you know he's not a bridezilla, have you ever seen him naked?”

At that time, everyone passed by the official station and stopped to rest. Tang Fan and Sui Zhou are the Imperial Envoy, we don't want to eat at the same table with the leaders, so they have a table alone, Yin Yuanhua and two of the Ministry of Justice officers, the others are at the same table. The Jinyiwei scattered themselves, and as soon as the words of the table next door hit their ears, Yin Yuanhua heard them all.

Where he didn't know that these people were talking about him, he immediately became furious, put his chopsticks down heavily on the table, and got up with a start and said: “Who are you talking about!”

If you don't stand up, you're fine, but when you do, your thighs cramp up, and Yin Yuanhua grimaces in pain, causing the Jinyiwei to burst out laughing.

Although Tang Fan doesn't like Yin Yuanhua either, but as an ambassador and Yin Yuanhua superior, he should have the decency to be a leader, and he can't just let Yin Yuanhua be teased, so he poked Sui Zhou's arm with the other end of his chopsticks.

Sui Zhou coughed, a pair of sharp, electric eyes sweeping towards the group of subordinates, who all stopped laughing and immediately buried their heads in their food.

After the meal, Yin Yuanhua decided not to ride the horse, but to take the carriage to Henan.

Two of the incharges were equally miserable, staring at Tang Fan with longing eyes.

Tang Fan looked a little odd as he asked and said: “Are you really going to take the carriage?”

Before the officers dared to answer, Yin Yuanhua said: “You must ride in the carriage, my servant is no more than Daren, without the name of the Imperial Envoy's rightful ambassador bearing down on him, comfort is what matters, not fear of being laughed at!”





He also made a jab at Tang Fan for wanting to save face and suffer.

Tang Fan said: “There may not be enough horses at the next official post station, and after you have changed carriages, if you regret it, you will have to take a carriage all the way to Henan.”

The more he said that, the more Yin Yuanhua felt that Tang Fan was deliberately making things difficult for himself, so he had to take the carriage.

Having said that, Tang Fan reminded them in a friendly manner, if they didn't listen, then let them go, so he asked the postmaster to prepare the carriage.

The carriage was spacious enough for Yin Yuanhua and two of the stewards, and the postmaster found a driver for them, so that when the carriage reached its destination, the driver could drive it back.

As soon as they saw that the carriage was covered with cushions, which was much more comfortable than on a horse, they got into the carriage happily.

As soon as they drove a few miles away, Yin Yuanhua and the others realized why Tang Fan had such an inscrutable look on his face when he heard they had to take the carriage.

Because it's f-cking bumpier than riding a horse.....

Beyond the border of the capital city, the roads are not as good as they used to be, but Yin Yuanhua didn't think of that and wanted to jump into the fire, but he couldn't.

He was so jolted that he was about to vomit blood, as if his internal organs had shifted, the feeling was indescribable...

Yin Yuanhua cries without tears, and finally feels like a man throwing heavy stone and hitting at his own feet.

Not only him, but Cheng Wen and Tian Xuan, too, were on the verge of repenting.

After a long journey, we finally reached Gongxian before the three of us lost our souls.

Before they arrived in Gongxian, County Magistrate He was already waiting with his men at the post station near the official road outside the city.

"Daren, why don't you sit down and rest your feet?” The CountDeputy, who was escorting him, couldn't help but say something as he was getting dizzy from all the walking he was doing.

In addition to the Count Deputy and a bunch of small and big officials in the county magistrate, there were originally a lot of wise men from the county who wanted to follow, but they were all rejected by County Magistrate He, he is now full of lawsuits, he has no time to bring these people in front of the Imperial Envoy?



In the face of the Count Deputy he can trust, County Magistrate He did not hide his face anxiety and said: “Hey, brother, you do not know, the police are not here to play, they are here to investigate the case. Yes, after all, something happened to this emperor's mausoleum in my rule. If I don't help, I'll lose my job!”

The Count Deputy advised and said: “Daren, it's useless for you to worry anymore, it's better to cooperate with the Imperial Envoy, and then make a little effort in the Imperial Envoy's place, let them go back to intercede for you saying you fulfilled your duty, maybe it can turn a big problem into a small one!”

County Magistrate He sighed and said: “This is the only way it can be done now. My county magistrate is really unlucky. I think that my predecessor and former predecessor have left countless messes, but the emperor's mausoleum has been nothing. I have to clean it up, and no one knows the credit. On the contrary, if something happens to the Emperor's Mausoleum now, the responsibility falls on me!!”

The Count Deputy thought that whoever is an official and did not mess up one or two bad things in office, would there be lifetime of peaceful and clean officials, but once things go sour and you are afraid of things, you blame the gods, not to think about how to befriend the upcoming Imperial Envoy, so what do you expect the future?

But as a subordinate, he comforted the magistrate, even though he thought so.

While they were talking, a group of men and horses, from far and near, came galloping along, smoking and dusty, followed by a carriage.

When County Magistrate He and his men went out, an official came and reported, saying that the Imperial Envoy was in front of them.

"Come with me quickly to meet them!” County Magistrate He straightened his coat, and moved in a hurry.

The speed of the carriage was not very fast, the horses and riders in front seemed to be intentionally slowing down their pace to wait for the carriage behind them, and only after a quarter of an hour or so did the people and horses that were already in sight arrive at the front.

Surrounded by the other Jinyiwei, a young man in a Fifth Rank civilian uniform, and the Jinyiwei in a flying fish suit, are in the middle.

County Magistrate He quickly greeted, arching his hand and said: “Gongxian Magistrate He Haosi has met the superior officer!”

It's hard to tell which one is the ambassador, but it's the right thing to do.

It is also stated on the official letter from the Ministry of Justice that the Imperial Envoy who is coming is Officer Tang Fan of the Ministry of Justice Henan Province Justice Department, and the Deputy Envoy is... the Jinyiwei Northern Administrative Court on behalf of the Province Governor Ambassador Sui Zhou, but since the first and second ambassadors are here, then who is sitting on the carriage in the back?

Is it someone more important?

County Magistrate He couldn't help but glance back.

But the Jinyiwei next to the civilian a little distance away, to show the difference between his identity and the civilian, and opened his mouth to confirm County Magistrate He's guess and said: “This is the Ministry Henan Province Justice Officer and the right ambassador for this trip.”

Tang Fan dismounted from his horse, and returned a salute to County Magistrate He and said: “County Magistrate He need not be courteous, we have been traveling for days, it is better to find a place to sit down first and talk about it in detail?”

"Yes, yes, yes!” County Magistrate He came back to his senses, busy said: “The lower officials have already prepared the official post, and ordered people to prepare food and hot water, but also ask the upper officers to move to the county, which is not far from here!”

Tang Fan nodded and said: “Then let County Magistrate He lead the way!”

When the group arrived at the official post, County Magistrate He did have everything prepared, even a change of clean clothes, which was very considerate, but Tang Fan and the others had to eat and talk with County Magistrate He, so they just hurriedly washed up and put on another set of official robes.

When most of the people were inside, the last carriage arrived slowly and stopped at the entrance of the post.

County Magistrate He is curious about this man, but not in the right way, he has already made up a number of versions in his mind, including the Imperial Envoy who went out to investigate the case and did not forget to bring a beautiful concubine and so on, seeing the carriage stopped, he can not help but stop to look back, want to see who is actually coming out.

A hand was stretched out in the carriage and the curtain was slowly lifted up. The County Magistrate He thought that this hand is white enough, but why it looks like a chicken's claw, no beauty at all.

The next thing you know, a head emerges from the carriage, County Magistrate He was shocked, and realized that it was a man's face, not at all what he thought it was.

The man's face is pale, his eyes are dull, and there are two black bags under his eyes, he looks like he is very sick. The Imperial Envoy? The next county magistrate of Gongxian, He Haosi.....”

Before he could finish his sentence, the other guy's upper body came out of the carriage, as if he was going to get out of the carriage, and his face twisted, and he couldn't help but grab something around him to stabilize himself, and then he threw up with his head down.

And what he grabbed, was the robe of a stoned County Magistrate He was wearing.

County Magistrate He was covered in vomit filth, so it's a good thing he followed Tang Fan and the others to change clothes and take a shower, because he didn't bring a change of clothes with him, County Magistrate He also has a lot of anger in his heart, but he is curious, the other party is not only a central government official, but also higher than him, County Magistrate He can only hold his nose and admit his bad luck.







As a result, he rushed back to the court, just changed his clothes, and then heard that the Imperial Envoy was looking for him, so he rushed to the post office.

When they entered the post, Tang Fan and the others had already freshened up, not as dusty as before, and looked much fresher, although they still looked tired.

Tang Fan said to County Magistrate He and said: “Why are we here, I'm sure County Magistrate He also knows.”

County Magistrate He quickly said: “Yes, but please inquire, I know what to say, but if you Daren have not yet eaten dinner, why not eat and speak at the same time?”

Tang Fan laughed and said: “If County Magistrate He hasn't eaten yet, why don't we sit down and eat together while we talk?”

County Magistrate He just wanted to take this opportunity to complain to the Imperial Envoy, so he respectfully agreed.

The food in the official post was good, of course, Tang Fan and the others were from the capital, and County Magistrate He didn't dare to slow down, even the cooks were temporarily transferred from the county magistrate, and all the dishes were authentic Henan cuisine.

Chicken with eight spices, braised lamb, and fish fillets, all with a delicious aroma.

Sui Zhou and the others were fine, and even Tang Fan felt fine after getting used to running around. On the contrary, Yin Yuanhua and Cheng Wen Tian Xuan three people, because the carriage was bumpy all the way, they had no appetite for anything. In vain, he couldn't help but cover his mouth and ran out, holding up the corridor and vomiting again, but unfortunately his stomach was empty, and he couldn't even spit out bile.

County Magistrate He just realized that he was negligent, these people are car-sick, so they won't be able to eat a lot of meat and fish.

Tang Fan saw that County Magistrate He was at a loss, so he said to him and said: “Ask the cooks to make some light vegetarian dishes, serve some rice porridge, give me a bowl, and open another table for the three of them, so that they won't be unable to eat when they smell the meat.”

"No need for a separate table.....” Yin Yuanhua came in, and said, weakly, "I'd rather sit here.”

The reason why he volunteered, followed Tang Fan all the way here, is twofold and said to take the credit, and to catch the man in an act he can use to snitch on him.

And with the tacit approval of Deputy Minister Leung, it's justifiable for the Deputy to go along with the investigation.

Tang Fan knew his little scheme, naturally, seeing his insistence, he smiled, not reluctantly and said: “That's good.”

There was only one table in the large dining room, sitting with Tang Fan, Sui Zhou, Pang Qi, Yin Yuanhua, County Magistrate He, two Province Justice Department officers, and the Count Deputy, the County Magistrate, The others are in the next room, so they can't disturb the superiors.

Everyone was too hungry to talk about business, so when they saw the food, they humbled each other and started to eat.

Yin Yuanhua sat next to Tang Fan, when he saw him eating a piece of meat, he said with regret and said: “Brother Yin, it's a pity that you can't eat it today, although the ingredients are the same, the taste is different from the capital. It’s strange that one side keeps one side of the water, and if one can eat such delicious eight-treasure chickens every day, I would like to live here for a long time!”

County Magistrate He of course knows that Tang Fan is talking politely and praises him as the host, so he also advises Tang Fan to eat more and more, the Count Deputy and the County Magistrate from Gongxian County are interested in sucking up to Sui Zhou and Pang Qi, so they actively pick up the topic to chat and liven up the atmosphere, the atmosphere at the table was extremely warm.

The only thing that suffered was Yin Yuanhua, the sound of the word "meat" in his ears, the rice porridge that he had just eaten started to swell in his stomach again, and he had already cursed Tang Fan's ancestors over and over again in his heart.

After finishing the meal, Yin Yuanhua said that he could finally rest. He did not expect Tang Fan to put his chopsticks away and said to County Magistrate He and said: “Now that we've eaten and drank enough, it's time to talk about business.”

Yin Yuanhua couldn't help but say and said: “Daren, let's talk about business tomorrow, we're all pretty tired today.”

Tang Fan nodded and said: “I know how hard it is for you to travel so far, but since we're on a mission, we need to get to the bottom of this first. If you are tired, you can go down and rest.”

Yin Yuanhua wondered why I was following you when I could have gone to rest, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Daren, I'm not tired, I can still hold on.”

Tang Fan reassured and said, "I knew you would be a model for me, you are dedicated to your work.”

After ridiculing Yin Yuanhua, he turned to County Magistrate He and said: “After all, the official document is brief and concise, and many details are not clear, so he asked County Magistrate He to describe the case again.”

County Magistrate He finally came, sat up straight, and told the whole story.

What he said, in fact, is no different from what was reported, just more detailed and vivid than the cold text on the official document, and next to it, the Count Deputy and the main book and other people to complement each other, but Tang Fan they have a more in-depth understanding of the matter.

For example, in the Ministry of Justice's case file, there was no mention of the ghostly cry in the middle of the night, and how the villagers reacted. Had been to that village, and stayed a few days, and never heard of it; but the bailiff that was sent there, except the one that was mad, said he had heard it, and the villagers said they had heard it.”









Tang Fan asked and said: “Have the grave robbers been caught yet?”

County Magistrate He shook his head, felt ashamed and said: “No, only found the robbery hole, did not catch the thieves, after a series of deaths, no one dares to go, the local villagers say that the river god is angry, and said that the former emperor was angry that his tomb was robbed, that's why the midnight cry...”

"County Magistrate He," Pang Qi couldn't help but interrupt him and said: “You are going on with the river god again, and with the former emperor, so is it the river god, or is it something to do with the tomb?”

County Magistrate He smiled bitterly and said: “I'm not hiding anything from you Daren, the six people who went missing in the first group were gone, the locals said that the river god was angry and summoned them to the river to work as slaves. The other one, the old village chief, was old and scared, so he couldn't speak clearly, so he kept talking about ghosts and monsters. That's why there are rumors of haunting again.”

He paused, and continued and said: “In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Yonghou Mausoleum and the Yongzhao Mausoleum are not far from Gongxian, which is more than ten miles from the county seat, and there is a village of Luo River on the side, which is right by the Luo River, so there are rumors in that village, It is said that the Yonghou Mausoleum and the Yongzhao Mausoleum, where the two emperors were buried, became the river gods of the Luo River after their deaths, and got angry at the theft of the emperor's mausoleum, so they arrested the people on the ground as punishment.”

Pang Qi interjected and said: “It's all just ignorant rumors from a foolish man and a foolish woman!”





County Magistrate He nodded and said: “Yes, yes, but because two groups of people died one after another, no one dares to go there now, and I can't do anything about it, I'm waiting for the police officers to come here for inspection, not to mention the village of Luo River, even the county town of Gongxian is also a bit scared, they say that the river god is angry, looking for sacrifices, so, so.....”

He swallowed and sputtered, beside Yin Yuanhua, who was impatient to hear, urged, "So what!”

The Count Deputy picked up where County Magistrate He left off and said: “So we had to offer sacrifice voluntarily.”

Tang Fan understood and said: “Sacrifice the river gods with living people?”

the Count Deputy and said: “Exactly.”

Sui Zhou finally says the first thing he said after coming in: “Ridiculous!”

All the people in Gongxian hung their heads and remained silent.

In ancient times, all mountains and rivers had their own spirits, and the emperors and the imperial court appointed the gods of mountains and rivers in their name. The largest river god is the Yellow River. Under the Yellow River, there are gods of large and small rivers

The people, ignorant of the fact that the river was overflowing, believed that the river gods were angry, and they could only hope that the river gods would be calmed down by offering sacrifices of all kinds, including the living.

As a branch of the Yellow River, the Luo River is of great importance, because the imperial court has ordered three times and five times of its embankment repair, there has not been any incident of living people sacrificing to the river god for many years.

All they heard was Tang Fan's merciless rebuke and said: “As magistrates, you should teach the people to stay away from such strange and unnatural things, how can you allow them to sacrifice living people?”

County Magistrate He laughed bitterly and said: “Daren, if you please, there's more to it than that.”

Tang Fan and said: “Speak.”

County Magistrate He said: “Since the second group of people sent by my servant has lost eight out of ten, there are rumors in Luo River village and Gongxian that the river god is angry and we should worship him to calm down his anger. Therefore, half a month ago, people prepared animal sacrifices and went to the river to worship the river god.”

Tang Fan and said: “No living people?”

County Magistrate He said: “No, in those days it was considered enough to offer the animals.”

Tang Fan hmmm and said: “You go on.”

County Magistrate He and said: “When they said that the two emperors in the tomb became river gods, that was a local myth, in fact it was written in the county magistrate's journal that the river god of Luo was in fact the young daughter of Fuxi, but as you know, Daren, no one knows for sure. Just to be on the safe side, they prepared three offerings to the three river gods. The ritual was said to last about twelve hours, from morning to night, but when I saw that they did not use human sacrifices, I looked the other way and did not interfere.”

This County Magistrate He spoke long-windedly, but did not get to the point, and had to clear his own responsibility from time to time, so as not to be blamed by Tang Fan, the Count Deputy listening to his own Daren sweat, thanks to Tang Fan still has the patience to listen to him.

County Magistrate He added and said: “It is said that when it was late in the evening, after throwing the animals and other offerings into the river, the crowd gradually dispersed, leaving only a few old women to guard the incense burner by the side, keeping it all night as a sign of devotion, and removing it the next day. When they went out the next day, they found the incense burner overturned and the fruits on it scattered, but the old women were gone.”

Tang Fan asked: “Why the vigil with a woman, and not a strong man?”

County Magistrate He quickly said: “Fearing that a man's virility might be too strong, he might offend the river god and provoke him...... Oh, that's what the people say. I didn’t approve!”

Tang Fan nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

County Magistrate He obviously was not present at the scene, but he spoke vividly as if he saw it with his own eyes, if not for the wrong occasion, Pang Qi really wanted to ridicule him a few words, but he saw that the two bosses were listening attentively, so he had to listen silently.

County Magistrate He said: “At first the others thought that those women had gone home because they saw that the storm was too strong, but after asking their families, they found out that those women had never gone back to their homes, and they had just disappeared. There's nothing. At that time, this matter was already reported to the court, so I thought I'd wait for the court to send an envoy and then report it as well!”

Tang Fan asked: “And what about the living sacrifice?”

County Magistrate He laughed bitterly and said: “For the people were saying that the river gods were angry with them for not having sacrificed human beings, but only animals, and they took away some of the women with them as a warning, and everyone was afraid, so that some of the great families of the county were preparing to sacrifice their own slaves!”

Tang Fan said: “You didn't stop it?”

County Magistrate He grimaced and said: “Stopped it? it hasn't even started yet, I told them that the imperial court will send the Imperial Envoy to investigate this case, and will definitely find out the truth about this case, and told them not to sacrifice any living person, they listened for the time being, but the people. Ignorance, after all, is panic, and if we don't get to the bottom of the case and give them an explanation, I'm afraid that those people will be dissuaded and go and make sacrifices in private!”

- The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty -
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