Four Mysteries in Taiyuan in the Late Qing Dynasty: a bizarre murder case

What is the connection between the bride's mourning hall and the sudden death of monk Gujing?

Why do monks wear robes with crests? What is the truth?

Taiyuan case-solving is one of the four major cases in the late Qing Dynasty, and it is also the most confusing and bizarre case among the four major cases in the late Qing Dynasty. The old father was too poor to break his marriage, the young lady was infatuated, and the county magistrate was confused in judging the case. One case after another, the coincidence is amazing. It can be called a strange case, a case in a case. Therefore, this kind of mystery has been circulated among the people for a long time, and books and film and television dramas have appeared in later generations.

Gu Jing was amazed at the bald man's body.

The strange case in Taiyuan occurred in the 20th year of Daoguang in Qing Dynasty, namely 1840. The location is Yangqu County, Taiyuan, Shanxi.

1840 It was a spring morning in a small mountain village in Yangqu County. At dawn, the villagers are drawing water by the well. Suddenly a man threw the bucket on the ground and exclaimed, "This is not water!" " "Everyone took a closer look. Yes, the water in the bucket is red, not blood! Someone looked into the well: something was floating and sinking in the water. Too many cooks, a villager, tied the rope to the ground with hooks. When he hung it up, he saw a naked body, wearing a blue robe and a knife wound on his neck.

The villagers reported to the county government, and after inspection, it was confirmed that the man died of a knife wound. The identity of the deceased may be a monk, because the bald man has a scar on his head. But the clothes on men are ordinary people's clothes.

Yang Zhongmin, the magistrate of Yangqu County, asked someone to inquire at a nearby temple. Soon, he visited Chongshan Temple near Gu Jing and learned that a monk had disappeared in the temple. When the abbot saw the body, he confirmed that it was the missing monk. Besides, this monk is a traveling monk. He came from Henan six months ago to sign the bill, and he wore a monk's robe when he left the temple.

Where did the monk's vulgar obedience come from? Why was he killed and thrown into the corpse well?

The magistrate summoned the owner of the blue robe.

Yang Zhongmin, the county magistrate, started the investigation from the clothes worn by the deceased. Subsequently, some residents reported that the owner of this dress was Mr. Mo, a 60-year-old man who opened a tofu shop. Yang Zhongmin sent someone to ask Mo Laohan to testify. Seeing that he was hesitant, he was sent back to the county government for trial.

Mo Laohan said in court that his donkey had been lent out, so he got up in grinding bean curd before dawn. At this moment, someone suddenly knocked at the door. When Mo Laohan opened the door, he saw a bride in a rockhopper gown. But when the bride opens her mouth, she is a man's voice and calls herself a monk. The monk said he didn't know who wore such clothes and couldn't go back to the temple. He wanted to borrow a suit from Mo Laohan and gave it to Mo Laohan. So, Mo Laohan gave his blue robe to the monk, leaving a rockhopper gown.

Hearing these four words, Yang Zhongmin, the county magistrate, was very moved and remembered another strange case he received two days ago-the bride's body in a rockhopper dress was stolen.

It turned out that just the day before, two famous tycoons in Taiyuan fell out and sued the yamen. Yao Bancheng, the plaintiff landlord, sued Zhang Million, a rich man in Taiyuan, claiming that the two families had an engagement. Yao, the son of Yao Landlord, wanted to marry Zhang Million's second daughter, but the Zhang family refused to marry him, saying that he died of illness and died suddenly, but even the body was not allowed to be seen by his fiance. In class, Zhang Million said that Yugu's body disappeared that night. He said it was possible that her daughter's body was wearing a hooded gown, so someone stole it with her body.

Remembering this incident, the county magistrate ordered the chief to search Mo Laohan's home and found a set of rockhopper crowns. According to Zhang Million's appraisal, this rockhopper gown was worn by his daughter when she died.

At this time, Zhang Million changed his mind when the county magistrate asked him, saying that his daughter's body was not stolen, but a liar. "He ran away." Zhang Million said that he pretended to be stolen because he felt unlucky. He said that his daughter should have gone to Mo Laohan's house. Mo Laohan was driven by money and stabbed his daughter with a knife.

Taiyuan magistrate ordered Yangqu County to solve the case quickly. So, the county magistrate put the two cases together. After some confused reasoning, it is believed that Mo Laohan was driven by money. He stole the body of Zhang Million's daughter, took off the phoenix crown and Xiaguan, and was caught by the monk, so he killed the monk with a knife and dumped the body in the well.

Teacher Mo was forced to admit that he killed the monk, stole the body, and killed and destroyed the body.

After closing the case, the case suddenly changed dramatically.

After the county magistrate reported the case to the punishments, I didn't expect that the case changed greatly at this time.

On the twelfth day after the case was closed, suddenly someone came to the county government to beat gongs and drums to avenge Mo Laohan.

The young drummer claimed to be the husband of the bride Yugu, named Cao. Cao's next words made everyone present break out in a cold sweat. He said that not only Mo Laohan was not the murderer, but Gu Yu was still alive.

Isn't her husband Yao? Who is this Cao? The county magistrate summoned again and advocated millions. When Zhang Wan met Cao, he denied that he was his son-in-law.

What the hell is going on here? The judge tortured Zhang Million in court.

It turns out that there is also a story about a rich father who hates the poor and loves the rich.

Cao was originally a rich boy in Taiyuan. Zhang Million, a rich man in Taiyuan, was engaged to his second daughter, Yugu, long ago. Later, the Cao family came to an end, and the unmarried son-in-law was rejected by his prospective father-in-law. Zhang Wannian married his second daughter, Yugu, to another Yao family. But spoony Yugu would rather die than surrender, and with the help of maid Xiang Xiu, she eloped with Cao. The day before, Zhang Wan wanted to marry her to the Yao family, and they eloped to find Zhang Wan's eldest daughter, Jin Gu.

Jingu has long been married and widowed. She said that her father Zhang Million would definitely come here, so she didn't take them in or even open the door.

But two people see the light on, it is grinding bean curd's old man's house. The two men knocked at the door to explain why. Mo Laohan sympathized with their experience and lent them his donkey to walk instead of walking.

At this point, some clues have begun to become clear. But how did the monk get involved?

What secrets did Zhang Million not tell?

When Cao and Yugu left Jingu's house, Zhang Million rushed to Jingu's house with his eldest daughter, suspecting that she was hiding in a suitcase. The shrine was speechless and had to let them move the box back to Zhang Fu. Zhang million ordered his men to pry open the lock on the suitcase, only to find that it was a ungrateful monk who was suffocated. Obviously, the widowed Jingu had an affair with the monk, and my father happened to break it. In a panic, the monk hid in the suitcase.

In order to prevaricate the Yao family, Zhang Million lied that Yugu died of a sudden illness, dressed the monk in a rockhopper gown and put it in a coffin. In the middle of the night, the monk woke up from a coma and thought it was a fake body. The monk took the opportunity to escape from Zhang Fu. At Mo Laohan's home, he changed into his wedding clothes and ordinary clothes and returned to Chongshan Temple.

With more and more clues, the trend of the two cases gradually became clear. But there is still an important link that is not clear, and that is why the monk died. Who killed it?

However, the county magistrate did not continue to look for the truth of the matter, and even one of the important figures, Gu Yu, did not ask. Since then, the county magistrate has upheld the original judgment and held that Cao was an accomplice in the murder. He was put in prison, with Mo Laohan, waiting for autumn.

Shortly after the case was closed in chaos, the new magistrate of Taiyuan investigated the file after taking office and found the case full of doubts.

First of all, Mo Laohan is old. Can he kill a monk in his prime with one knife with his physical strength? Secondly, Cao has no enmity with him. What is his motive for killing? Third, why don't you ask Gu Yu?

Therefore, the Taiyuan magistrate sent the case back for retrial. At the right moment, Yu Gu came, beating gongs and drums to avenge her husband. Yugu said that after they eloped, they borrowed a donkey from Mo Laohan and left without seeing the monk at all. The clue seems to be broken again.

The magistrate believes that the murderer can kill a monk with one knife, and his occupation should be related to knives, and he is a person who often uses knives.

According to this idea, the government started a new round of search. Soon, a doubt surfaced: on the day of the incident, a butcher named Wu in the west of Yangqu County disappeared. Some people say that they saw him near Jinci later.

Soon, the butcher was caught and brought to justice. The butcher's name is Wu Yidao. By the time he got to court, he was already guilty, and he quickly confessed. It turned out that on that magical night with countless coincidences, Wu Yidao came home and found his wife having an affair with a monk. He was furious, took out a pig-killing knife and went forward to kill the monk with a knife. After the murder, the butcher Wu panicked and threw the monk's body into the ancient well before dawn.

The truth came out, and the butcher Wu was taken to death, and asked for guilt after the autumn; The county magistrate who ignored human life was removed from office. Mo Laohan and Cao were acquitted. Finally, Cao and his lover finally got married.