In the thirteenth year of Jiaqing of Qingrenzong, Huai'an and Yangzhou suffered major floods. In order to show his love for the people, Emperor Jiaqing allocated hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from the treasury to help the people in the disaster area. Huai'an District in Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province, then known as Shanyang County, was within the scope of disaster relief. After the imperial court relief funds were issued, Wang Shenhan, the magistrate of Shanyang County, made a list of fake disaster-stricken households and received 23,000 taels of disaster relief silver, of which 13,000 taels were put into his own pocket.
Wang Zhixian began to spread the news of receiving disaster relief silver, and the imperial court selected a different place to investigate, and selected Li Yuchang, a trial magistrate in Jimo County, Shandong. Li Yuchang is a new science and technology scholar, who has just entered the officialdom and swears his innocence. After receiving the assignment, he rushed to Shanyang County with three servants, and Shanyang County sent a messenger as a guide, and went deep into the villages affected by the disaster, and soon found out that there were many fake relief households. After Wang Shenhan learned that Li Yuchang had learned that he had falsely reported the disaster relief funds, he was very frightened, so he secretly ran to Li Yuchang and privately promised: If he did not report the fraudulent disaster relief funds, he would take out the fraudulent disaster relief funds found out and share them equally with Li Yuchang. However, Li Yuchang refused to accept it. When Li Yuchang's investigation was finished and he was about to leave Shanyang County, Wang Shenhan held a banquet for Li Yuchang. On the night of the end of the feast, Li Yuchang died violently in the mansion.
Li Yuchang's violent death was immediately reported to Huai'an Mansion, and the prefect Wang Hub came to investigate. When Wang arrived at the scene, Li Yuchang had a rope tied around his neck, and his mouth was still bleeding. Seeing such a situation, Wang Hub did not investigate, did not ask questions, and only listened to the conclusion of one person: Li Yuchang hanged himself. Wang Hub immediately approved the coffin to be buried. At this time, Li Yuchang's servants Li Xiang, Gu Xiang, and Ma Liansheng, and Bao Xiang, an errand sent by Wang Shenhan to be Li Yuchang's guide, all disappeared. The news of Li Yuchang's death was reported back to his home in Shandong, and his uncle Li Taiqing rushed to deal with the aftermath. When Li Taiqing was packing up Li Yuchang's relics, he found blood stains on his clothes and became suspicious. So he secretly visited the people Li Yuchangqing had come into contact with in Shanyang to understand the cause of his death. There is no impermeable wall in this world, and there are many local rumors about Li Yuchang's death. After Li Taiqing's investigation, he firmly believed that the cause of his nephew's death was unknown. So, he went to Beijing to complain. The Metropolitan Procuratorate, which received the complaint, brought the matter to the emperor. After Emperor Jiaqing read the chapter, he ordered Ji Nian, the governor of Shandong, to investigate the matter.
Ji Nian transferred Li Yuchang's coffin to Jining, Shandong Province to open an autopsy. There are still blood marks in Li Yuchang's mouth, and the bones of the whole body are blue-black. In the end, it was concluded that Li Yuchang died of poisoning. Then an order was issued to arrest and interrogate Li Xiang, Gu Xiang, Ma Liansheng, and the officer Bao Xiang for interrogation. The criminals all confessed: they accepted bribes from Wang Shenhan, the magistrate of the county, and the four conspired to kill Li Yuchang. Li Yuchang was thirsty after drinking that night, and they poisoned him in the water. After Li Yuchang's death, they tied a rope around his neck and created the illusion of hanging themselves. After Emperor Jiaqing heard the truth of the case, he was furious and thought that this was an unheard of case. In the end, the verdict was to put the four people to death. Among them, Li Xiang, who personally poisoned Li Yuchang, was escorted to Li Yuchang's grave and tortured once; Then, the heart is sacrificed to its Lord. Gu Xiang and Ma Liansheng were heavily responsible for the forty boards before Ling Chi. Bao Xiang made a plan and also punished him once. The county magistrate Wang Shen Han was the first to show the public. Wang Hub, the prefect of Huai'an Prefecture, was immediately sentenced because he received Wang Shenhan's stolen money. The rest of the fellow intellectuals and instructors who investigated the disaster relief situation and concealed their favoritism were all convicted separately.
Comment: This disaster relief case during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty was a major case that shocked the government and the public, revealing the corruption in the officialdom and the cruelty of the power struggle at that time. At the same time, it also demonstrates the Qing Dynasty's severe crackdown on crime and the pursuit of justice. This case is not only a profound reflection on the society at that time, but also a warning to us today. ——Recorded in 202403.03.