Comprehensive explanation of the case of "Nailing Mother" in Taihu Lake in northern Song Shenzong.

In the spring and summer of the first year of Yuanfeng in the Northern Song Dynasty (1078), a poisoning murder case occurred in Taihu County, Zhou Shu (now Taihu County, Anhui Province), which shocked the ruling and opposition parties. Chen Shiru, the son of an official, was sent from Kaifengfu, Kyoto, to Taihu Lake, Anhui Province as the magistrate, and was soon recalled to Beijing with his wife and servant. The whole family *** 19 people were beheaded, and 7 people were sentenced to death with a suspended sentence for murdering their mother Zhang; The means is to smear poison first, and then nail it into the forehead (a nail goes into the chest). Some people say that this is the prototype of Bao Qingtian's "nail case", while others say that Chen Shiru was unjustly killed.

In the first year of Yuanfeng, the mother of Imperial College Doctor and Taihu County Magistrate Chen Shiru died. Chen Zhong said in a report to the court that her mother died of sudden angina pectoris. Originally, this incident was unusual. Chen Jiafa's funeral went back to Beijing, but Chen Shiru's routine was to keep the funeral system (officials should be suspended for filial piety when their parents died). Unexpectedly, in June, a handmaiden who escaped from the Chen family ran to Kaifeng, suing Chen's mother for poisoning instead of dying of an acute illness. Song, who was then Kaifengfu, was upright and upright. When he heard the news, he immediately organized officials of the Military Patrol Court (Shi Jing Court) to promote the case. After the autopsy, Chen's mother did show signs of poisoning. What is more frightening is that there is a fatal nail on her head. There is no doubt that she died of murder. So, who killed her?

According to the confession of the servants of the Chen government: "All servants use drugs to poison them and die, holding nails to bury their bones at night." However, things may not be that simple. After some interrogation, a terrible clue was revealed: Chen Shiru's wife, Lee, never got along with her parents and once said to her servants, "The doctor should mourn for you for one day, so he should give you a generous reward." This obviously implies that the servant girl killed Chen's mother and then received the reward. The question now is, does Chen Shiru know? Did you take part in mother-killing?

Before Chen Shiru became the magistrate of Taihu Lake, he was a doctor in imperial academy. Imperial academy was the highest institution of learning at that time, with Guo Zi, imperial academy, law and arithmetic. There are five doctors in his school in China. How was Chen Shiru, a five-pin Beijing official, released as a seven-pin sesame official in Taihu County, Anhui Province? The reason is not recorded in the history books, and we may speculate from Chen Shiru's family background. Chen Shiru's father's name is Chen Zhizhong, and he served as prime minister twice when he was in Song Renzong. When he was a local official, Chen Zhizhong wrote a letter to Song Zhenzong, who was old, suggesting that he should establish a prince as soon as possible. Song Zhenzong is ill, and no one dares to mention the prince. When he saw such a letter, he specially summoned Chen Zhizhong. During the conversation, the emperor appreciated Chen Zhizhong's insight very much, and the prince was soon established, which was the later Song Renzong.

In the third year (1043), it was decided to adopt Wang Fan Zhongyan's suggestion to implement the New Deal. Li Qing five years (1045), Chen Zhizhong was promoted to prime minister, but he was a conservative representative and opposed Fan Zhongyan's political reform. Why did the emperor reuse such a "naysayer"? Someone asked in front of Song Renzong, "Is Prince Chen Zhi's neutrality a credit, and your majesty wants to repay him?" Song Renzong said no, because Chen Zhizhong handles things openly and never hides the truth. Such a minister who is in power in the ruling and opposition parties, his son was sent to Taihu Lake as a magistrate, which should be for reuse. But the news of his mother's death came faster than his promotion order! Chen Shiru hurried back to Beijing before the official chair in Taihu County was hot.

His mother Zhang is his father's concubine. How many daughters does Chen Zhizhong have? He is the only son of him and his concubine Zhang. Zhang was still very young when he died. Specially arranged to send Zhang to the Taoist temple and let her become a monk. When he grew up, he became an official among the Jinshi, married Li's daughter, and waited at Tianzhangge. This marriage can be described as a suitable match. Tianzhangge, equivalent to the Royal Library; Tianzhangge, to be made, is the emperor's civil servant, ranking second, equivalent to the deputy prime minister. In addition, Li is also the granddaughter of the old prime minister, that is to say, the granddaughter of the old prime minister, and now the son of the Privy Council belongs to the level of deputy prime minister.

This appalling human case has been tried in Kaifeng for more than half a year, but it has not been closed. Officials at the Military Patrol Academy believe that Li didn't "explicitly say that the law won't kill Auntie", and Su Song also tends to think that he didn't know. However, by this time, the whole capital had spread rumors that Chen Shiru had murdered his mother. Rumors abound that Su Song, the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, wanted to shield Chen Shiru and his wife. Even Emperor Zongshen was alert and summoned Su Song to confess: "This man is evil and pitiful." Su Song replied: "The matter is in the company, and I dare not speak lightly or seriously." It shows his position of impartiality and non-interference in the trial. No wonder there are endless rumors. Mr. and Mrs. Chen have such a distinguished life experience. Who can guarantee that they will not use their relationship to intercede and interfere with justice?

In fact, after the incident, Chen's wife Li appealed to her mother, Lu: Kaifeng is going to arrest me. Please talk to my mother quickly, and let him get rid of Su Ge. Lu immediately "worked day and night", but a decent man refused her help, so Lu had to "cry bitterly". Lv Gongzhu didn't come forward, but his nephew, Lv Xia, a judge of Dali Temple, and Yan Jing, a husband and doctor of Zanshan, a friend of Chen Shiru, did inquire about the case.

Li and his maid Gao's "confession" is that several maids in Gao were instructed by the housewife Li to prepare to poison Zhang with poison. Unexpectedly, Zhang was poisoned and didn't die. Then, at night, they drove nails into the old man's forehead until he died. What contradiction between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can make daughter-in-law murder mother-in-law? It is clearly recorded in the literature that Chen Shiru was "worried about his mother", that is, he returned to Beijing for mourning because of his mother's death. Besides, Li doesn't want her husband to work in that remote mountain area, and hopes that he can be reunited at home. Now, people can still see this record: it is said that Li ordered the maid to kill her mother-in-law, which was discussed with her husband, that is, one of the planners. This is evidence that Chen Shiru was arrested and killed.

Perhaps it is precisely because such a huge political force is involved that Chen Shiru's case is in jail. In the first month of the second year of Yuanfeng (1079), it was suggested that officials in Kaifeng were "inexhaustible", but Chen Shiru was unconvinced and thought that he knew about killing his mother, so he could not let them continue the trial, so he handed the case over to Dali Temple for further investigation. At this time, because of another small matter, Su Song was impeached by the suggestion and demoted as the magistrate of Haozhou, and the case entered the retrial stage presided over by Dali Temple. In the first instance of this case, Dali Temple found that it was suspected of harboring private interests: the "retribution demand" of mother-in-law Lu caused the original reconnaissance officer of the military patrol hospital to "change the plot and change the head" and exonerate the couple.

As it happens, Cheng Jia of Dali Temple is the middleman of the new party, and he wants to use the case to attack the old party (the leader of the old party is). Therefore, he arrested Yan Jinghe's son-in-law on the grounds of "Chen married the party as a government" and "wanted to invade his prison". Su Song, who was demoted to Haozhou, was also implicated in prison. Jia asked Su Song to sue him for help. Su Song resolutely refused to do such a thing, saying, "Someone died falsely, so you can't do it for yourself." Later, it was proved that Lv Gongzhu himself did not interfere in the administration of justice, but Su Song was removed from the position of Haozhou magistrate because he disclosed the case to others.

At this point, the case has infiltrated the factors of political struggle. If this continues, it will only become more complicated. So, in August of the second year of Yuanfeng (1079), Zongshen wrote a letter and handed the case of Dali Temple to Yushitai. In September, Yu Shitai finally announced that the case was closed: he found out that he had conspired with his wife to kill Chen's mother. Because Chen Shiru didn't want to stay in Taihu Lake as a magistrate, he acquiesced in his wife's instigation of his handmaid to poison his mother, so that he could take advantage of Ding You's opportunity to return to Beijing. It is incredible that there should be such a son in the world. Song Shenzong really felt sorry for his father and wanted to save the life of the Confucian: "What if (Chen Zhizhong) stopped his son and kept it as a sacrifice?" However, in the proposal, Cai Cheng did not agree, and asked about the charges of "gross disobedience" and "forgiveness of evil". In the end, Mr. and Mrs. Chen and the maid who participated in the murder were both sentenced to death. The former surveyor of Kaifeng was punished for committing crimes against others. The judge of Dali Temple was fined for expanding the scope of attack. The following year, Zhong Min, Cheng Jia of Dali Temple, was demoted, and Lv Xia and Yan Jing were also demoted for negotiating with the judiciary.

Now some people think that they don't actually know that Chen's mother was poisoned by servants. He was wronged and a victim of the struggle between the old and new parties in Zongshen Dynasty. But I think the possibility is debatable, because after the old party came to power, Sima Guang, a conservative representative, became prime minister. If Chen Shiru does have grievances, * * * is not difficult, but no one has ever mentioned * * * in this case.

But as far as the motive is concerned, if Chen Shiru and his wife just want to find a "reason" to return to the city, is this the only way to kill their mother? Before Chen Shiru went to Taihu Lake, he was a doctor in Guo Zi, and he was a five-level Beijing official. 17 maids were later killed, and 7 servants were given suspended death sentences-at least 24 servants. This shows that his family is quite well off. He can not go to work, he can pretend to be sick, and he can take personal leave. In the Song Dynasty, it was common for officials to refuse to go to work under various excuses, and they could do it with a wife. He can also take Li and go sightseeing in a small county in the mountain city. To say the least, Li did encourage the servant to kill her mother-in-law. It seems understandable to find one or two servants to plot. Is it possible to tell such "tricks" in front of so many servants? It's too difficult to link this "trick" with the IQ of a "Dr. Guo Zi" who killed his mother to go home! Therefore, it is unlikely that at least Chen Shiru will know the case that his wife killed his mother.

In fact, during the trial of the case, we can see the shadow of party struggle. The judicial system in the Song Dynasty could not be completely independent of political disputes, nor could it be free from the influence of party struggle. But we also have to admit that at that time, a prominent family had such a murder case, and no matter how powerful the political power of the suspect was, it was impossible to suppress the case, and it was still necessary to go through judicial proceedings. Even if there was a situation of "Chen's marriage party seeking politics", it was immediately attacked by another faction. From the institutional point of view, this is because the politics of the Song Dynasty has maintained obvious competitiveness and checks and balances, which are not only manifested in factional party struggles, but also in the decentralization of "remonstrance". Lv Gongzhu, who was dragged into the Chen Shiru case, cherished honor and integrity and never dared to abuse his power to interfere in the administration of justice, which is also commendable. But then again, in a highly competitive political field, if Lv Gongzhu interferes with the administration of justice that he shouldn't, he will be immediately caught by his political opponents or Taiwan remonstrators, and it is himself who will eventually be ruined.