The rebellion case caused by twenty taels of silver truly reveals that it is better to be a gentleman than to bully a villain
As the saying goes:"I'd rather be a gentleman than a villain"。This truth has been proven countless times in ancient times. by the Ming Dynasty Zhengdu"Selling officials"case"Twenty taels of silver"'s ending is a true portrayal of this sentence.
In the last years of Zhengde, the Secretary-General received an anonymous report that Wang Daqing, a wealthy citizen of Shuntianfu, was plotting rebellion"Wang Daqing, a wealthy citizen of Shuntian Mansion, has a family of more than 30 people and more than 2 million family assets, is insatiable and is plotting rebellion. In the past two or three years, he has successively received more than 60 ** such as Lu Ren and Cao Tao, all of whom are strategists and knights who are proficient in the art of war. In addition, he also recruited more than 200 slaves such as Wu Guo and Yuanzhi, who were brave and good at fighting, and were physically strong, fighting ten at a time.
At the same time, Wang Daqing sent Tan Mingqing and others to secretly recruit troops and horses for the merchants, so Wu Yun and others rushed to make weapons day and night, Dai Zong and Guo Xian plundered property, Guo Xian hoarded grain and grass, and Dai Zong studied the formation. While trading with bandits and robbers in various places, they also befriended the emperor's eunuchs and eunuch states, and constantly expanded their power.
Now Wang Daqing secretly knighted his subordinates, and created a series of secret words and codes to communicate with each other. I want to report to the government, but I am afraid of reprisals, so I can only risk my life to report, I hope the government can pay attention to it and get rid of this great harm as soon as possible.
In all dynasties, in order to ensure the rule, the imperial court has made rebellion the object of violent suppression, not only will"Rebellion"listed"Ten evils"first, and thousands of accidental kills, none of them were spared. On the basis of the previous dynasties, the Ming Dynasty further increased the pair"Rebellion"The punishment is stipulated in the "Da Ming Law"."**, regardless of surname, grandfather, father, son, grandson, brother, sister, roommate, uncle or brother's son, regardless of whether they are of the same nationality or not, regardless of whether they have a disease, and those who are over 16 years old and seriously ill will be executed in a late manner. All beheaded. "
Although he didn't know the truth, he didn't dare to slack off, so he hurriedly appeared in court, which soon caused an uproar in the court. Although it is only a secret report, it is said that there is a nose and eyes, which is hard to believe.
A few days later, the imperial court issued an edict ordering the Criminal Department, the Ministry of Rites, and the Shuntian Mansion to secretly arrest the accomplices, and not let go of a single person, especially the men, women, and children of the first offender, Wang Daqing's family, were all wanted.
After receiving the holy decree, Shuntianfu quickly sent people to surround the Wang family's compound, and the whole family, regardless of men, women, and children, were all arrested and imprisoned in the prison of the Criminal Department. Subsequently, a carpet search was carried out on the Wang family, but no weapons, armor, etc. were found, and the petitioning situation described in various clues was not confirmed, which immediately aroused the suspicion of a group of **.
When Wang Hefu, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, saw it, he realized that someone must have done it, so he immediately took Wang Daqing to court and asked him:"Have you ever had an enemy? "
Wang Daqing said:"Small families have a lot of things to do on weekdays, and in the business dealings between people, the communication is more complicated, and the words offend people. In addition, the small yard is also family property, people will inevitably see each other late, do business, it is inevitable to quarrel with people, to say which people particularly offend people, I really don't know. "
Wang Hedi asked again"Have you had an argument with someone recently? "
Wang Daqing lowered his head and thought for a while:"A few days ago, lawyer Ma Kuiyun came to borrow 20 taels of silver, and I thought he was a scoundrel, so I didn't want to lend him money. Later, Ma Kuiyun came to borrow money in person, but I refused again, he was very angry, and when he walked from my door, he swore that he would not be able to keep my family's property in this life. "
When Wang Fuzhi learned that the plaintiff Ma Guiyun was suspected of committing a major crime, he found someone to copy the official document that was said to invite Ma Guiyun to the Yamen to do business, so he copied the article and left the handwriting, and then compared it with the handwriting of the anonymous defender, and found that the handwriting of the two copies was strikingly similar and almost indistinguishable. Ma Guiyun was therefore ordered to be arrested immediately.
Ma Quanyun wanted to deny it at first, but when he saw the anonymous statement about the role of the defense and trial, which was also handwritten, and then looked at the hand-held torture instruments that watched the judges prevent the pain of flesh and blood, he bowed his head and confessed. It turned out that this Ma Kuiyun was unable to borrow money, and even had this kind of resentment, so Wang Daqing made an anonymous statement and presented it to the secretary general, intending to kill his whole family.
In ancient times, all dynasties and dynasties had false accusers of counter-accusations, that is, those who falsely accused others of committing crimes had to bear criminal responsibility, and the laws of the Ming and Qing dynasties were particularly strict. The Daming Law - Criminal Law - Procedure - False Accusation clearly stipulates that those who falsely accuse others shall be punished with second-class flogging, and those who falsely accuse others shall be sentenced to 100 yuan each of third-degree debasement, imprisonment, and flogging, and shall be exiled for 3,000 li, and there are provisions for compensation for other losses. If the wrongful convictor falsely accuses another person of a capital crime and has already been sentenced to death, the wrongful convict will be sentenced to death; If the death penalty has already been imposed, the wrongful convict will not only be sentenced to death, but must also give half of his family property to the defendant in the unjust, false and wrongly decided case as compensation; If the plaintiff has not been sentenced to death, the plaintiff will be sentenced to 100 lashes and 3,000 miles of exile, plus three years of military service.
As mentioned earlier,"Rebellion"Yes"Ten evils"The first is a very serious crime, and now the truth is revealed, Wang Fuchen said, according to the "Da Ming Law"."False accusations of the traitor must sit, and it is advisable to recommend the rule of rebellion"！Wang Zhifu believes that according to the "Da Ming Law","Those who accuse falsely will die, and those who conspire against will be punished", and then reported the case to the Criminal Department in detail.
After receiving the report from the Shuncheon Mansion, the Criminal Department reported the results of the trial to the imperial court. A few days later, the court acquitted Wang Daqing and his family, while Ma Quanyun was convicted of false accusations"Rebellion"Sentenced to beheading. Ma Quanyun falsely accused others for twenty taels of silver"Rebellion", but was executed by his own counter-plot, which can be described as a heinous crime.