During the Ming Dynasty, there was a warden named Wang Zong in the Nanjing Criminal Department, a native of Fujian, one day, Wang Zong was on duty in the Criminal Department, and suddenly a person hurriedly came to report to him, saying that his little wife was killed in his inn. After hearing this, Wang Zong hurriedly ran to the inn, and when he saw that his little wife had indeed been killed, he immediately returned to the Criminal Department to report the case. Zhou Gongyong, the secretary of the Criminal Department, handed over the case to the Henan Division for investigation and interrogation, and after the officials of the Henan Division went to the scene to see it, they found no other clues, and detained Wang Zong, wanting to sentence Wang Zong for homicide, Wang Zong argued:"I ran back when I heard someone report it to me, and everybody saw it. Besides, this woman has no affair behavior, and she has always been in love with me, so why should I kill her? "The officials continued to torture and interrogate for many days, but Wang Zong never said anything else.
A few months later, when the Metropolitan Procuratorate organized a trial, it reported the case to Yang Fengchun, the imperial historian of Zhejiang. Yang Fengchun came to hear the case. He instructed that Wang Zong's case be tried after the second watch on the third night. On the evening of the third day, as scheduled, Yang Fengchun suddenly ordered the official to say:"Go and get the person peeking through the door. "Several officials really caught A and B from outside the door. As soon as A came in, he pointed to B and said, ""He was the one who pulled me to come with him, and I don't know what to do. "Yang Fengchun ordered A to be released, and then used criminal law to interrogate B, and B confessed all.
It turned out that B had an affair with a man's wife in Wang Zong's inn, and was accidentally broken by Wang Zong's little wife, and in order to kill him, B killed Wang Zong's little wife in the inn. Yang Fengchun immediately disposed of B in accordance with the law, and at the same time released Wang Zong. Someone asked, "Why did you choose to try this case at night?" Yang Fengchun said"If it is a daytime interrogation, then there are a lot of people in **, looking for traces of murderers from **? If it is not a matter of concern to man, who would like to watch it in the middle of the night? "This matter was spread to the people of Nanjing, and people praised the wisdom of solving this case, and for a time Yang Fengchun was famous around Nanjing.
Comment: The story of Yang Fengchun's night trial** is not only a legal legend, but also a life apocalypse with profound philosophy and wisdom. It also reminds us that in the face of complex human nature and social phenomena, we need to keep a clear mind and firm beliefs, and use wisdom and courage to meet challenges and achieve social fairness and justice.
Recorded in 202402.07.