According to the official title of the Ministry of Justice of the Qing government, the case is called "Zhejiang Minzu Ge Pin's death case", but you must be more familiar with its other name "Yang Bai Case", and the two suspects involved in the case: Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai.

The case I want to talk about today is a long time ago. It happened in the 2nd year of Tongzhi html in the Qing Dynasty, nearly 150 years ago. According to the official title of the Ministry of Justice of the Qing government, the case is called "Zhejiang Minzu Ge Pin death case", but you must be more familiar with its other title "Yang Bai Case", and the two suspects involved in the case: Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai.

This case is considered to be the most typical case reflecting the judicial system of the Qing Dynasty. There were more than 300 officials involved in the case, and more than 30 officials were dismissed and investigated. From Empress Dowager Cixi, important officials in the cabinet, to the little gangster's coroner, they all played an important role in this trial drama. In addition to the case, the Yang Bai case has also become a "hot spot" among the people in the streets due to the emergence of new media, and has been constantly interpreted and circulated in official history, wild sails, opera, film and television, and all media at that time and later generations.

And how many of these words that have been wasted by time are the real Yang Bai case? Please listen to me from the beginning -

(word count in this article: 9,593)

* Due to the epidemic, I was unable to take photos on site in Yuhang. The photos in the article were provided by Hangzhou beauty Yuan Xiaoyuan. The Yang Naiwu

in Chengqing Lane where the case occurred was in Yuhang County, Zhejiang Province. According to the current administrative division of , it is approximately the area of ​​Yuhang Street, Yuhang District, Hangzhou City (commonly known as " Lao Yuhang "). The ancient county government of Yuhang County is on the north bank of Tiaoxi . Between the county government and the school office, there is an ancient downtown street called Chengqing Lane. Yang Naiwu, the male protagonist of this unjust case that shocked the court and the public, lives in the west of this alley named "Chengqing".

(Yuhang map/Yuhang County Chronicles)

Yang family has been engaged in farming and raising silkworms and mulberry trees for generations, and has a well-off family. Yang Naiwu's father was named Yang Putang . He had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son was Yang Naiwen (not the singer in Taiwan, China) died young, and his youngest son was Yang Naiwu.

Yang Putang's daughter is Yang Juzhen (Shuying). She is a woman with a very knowledgeable and strong personality. When Yang Naiwu was still in her infancy, she was taken care of and raised by her. The siblings and sisters have a deep relationship. Yang Juzhen A young man was a widow, and then he decided to keep his rituals and moved back to his mother's house to live. After Yang Putang passed away, she lived with her younger brother's family.

Yang Naiwu's courtesy name is Shuxun and Zizhao. Because he ranks second, he is known as "Mr. Yang Er". He was born in 1836 ( Hu Ruilan "Recruitment") or 1838 (" declaration "), and was 38 or 36 years old at the time of the incident.

is different from the ancestors who have worked in farming and raised mulberry trees for generations. Yang Naiwu was smart and studious since childhood. He passed the exam (scholar) very early. In August of the 12th year of Tongzhi (1873), Yang Naiwu passed the exam and became the only juren in Yuhang County at that time. If it weren't for this "Yang Bai case", he would probably have become the Yang family's ancestors.

(name of the imperial examinations at all levels of the Ming and Qing dynasties)

Everyone knows that since the Ming Dynasty, China's imperial examination system has gradually gone astray, losing the effectiveness and reliability of selecting talents. However, the number of people participating in the imperial examination increased exponentially. Once they embarked on the path of "everything is inferior, only high school study", the scientific examination (being an official) became the only purpose, and there was almost no other way out, and they could only be trapped in the imperial examination throughout their life.

On the one hand, the number of competitors is increasing year by year, and on the other hand, the exam itself is unfair. Therefore, most of the frustrated exams will naturally cause a lot of resentment and dissatisfaction. People with a higher profile may begin to reflect on the shortcomings of the system itself, but most of the people who fail the exam will inevitably expose their jealousy and take their anger on the "lucky ones" who are proud of the imperial examination (such as Yang Naiwu). One of the reasons why the "Yang Bai unjust case" is also inseparable from this "jealousy".

(No. 1 in the Gongyuan in Guangdong/1873)

However, Yang Naiwu's identity as a juren also became an important reason for his rehabilitation in the future. Although the juren and scholar are only one level apart, scholars have only "fame" (entered the class of "cultural people"), but Juren has the qualifications to be an official, which has entered the circle of the ruling class.

So although Yang Naiwu has not yet become an official, he has been deemed to be "his own people" by Zhejiang officials from all over the world and Zhejiang gentry (retired officials and cultural elites). In the future, a series of "religious purge movements" such as Zhejiang scholars jointly filed for grievances, which actually maintains the common reputation of Zhejiang's "sex-sincere".

(1894 exam real questions)

Yang Naiwu has been married three times in total. The first wife Wu died early, and the second wife's surname is Zhan, and later she was called Yang Zhan's . The Great Yang Zhan died of dysfunction on the eighth day of September (1873) when the incident occurred. Yang Naiwu married his wife's sister Zhan Caifeng (Little Yang Zhan). At the time of the incident, Zhan Caifeng had just married into the Yang family.

Yang Naiwu passed the imperial examination, but has not yet entered the official career. Although the family will have some profits when working in farming and raising silkworms for generations, in addition to this, Yang Naiwu also needs some "profession" that matches his cultural attributes.

There are two statements about Yang Naiwu's profession. His wife, Zhan Caifeng, said on , that Yang Naiwu "makes a living by teaching and teaching", but there is no evidence of this; according to Yang Naiwu's daughter's recollection, Yang "once occasionally writes a plea for others", which is equivalent to a part-time lawyer.

( " Trial Officer " by Stephen Chow is a movie with a lawyer as the protagonist)

lawyer is also called lawyer , similar to the role of today's lawyer. Because in ancient China, most ordinary people were illiterate and did not know the law, so litigation requires "cultural" scholars to do it for them. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were many lawyers in the Jiangnan area and their income was quite considerable.

But in orthodox concepts, litigators are considered to be "skeletons" that provoke social order, and the court will also deliberately suppress litigators. Therefore, Yang Naiwu's wife's presentation is likely to be because of the negative image of this profession and to change her husband's profession into a tutor that is in line with orthodox. But in fact, Yang Naiwu is very familiar with the law and litigation procedures, and it is obviously not something that a teacher who is a "only private school" can do.

So, was Yang Naiwu a professional "justice stick" in many literary works in later generations? The saying that Yang Naiwu is a "skeleton" originated from the Shaoxing native Li Ciming . He called Yang Naiwu a "skeleton" in his diary. This book " Yuemantang Diary " is very famous and greatly influenced the later adaptation of Yang Bai's work.

But Li Ciming and Yang Naiwu are of the same generation, but they have never had any intersection. Besides, although Li Cai is famous, his character is quite criticized. As the censor, he "dare not to mention a word" to the powerful, but in his diary, he "reversed right and wrong" ( Wenting style ), "can't see the sincerity, but he always sees some artificiality" (Lu Xun). Therefore, the authenticity of Li Yanzhi's "skeleton rogue" is actually very suspicious. Yang Naiwu's daughter's "part-time lawyer" should be closer to the truth .

(Detention litigation stick/Qing Dynasty "Current Affairs Newspaper Wushen Annual Pictorial")

But even a part-time lawyer cannot help but make grudges with local officials, because what the lawyer did is essentially a challenge to the court's legal authority .

Literary people of the same generation as Yang Naiwu (such as Li Ciming mentioned above) despise the part-time lawyer, criticizing him for not following his duties as a (literati) and "favoring officials to discuss their shortcomings" (instructions on local officials).In Yang Naiwu's daughter recalled that Yang Naiwu's "has a straightforward temperament. When he sees unfair local affairs, he always cares about it", which undoubtedly corresponds to this point.

To sum up, this new imperial examination juren, like all traditional intellectuals who demanded themselves with the spirit of Confucian to save the world, has a strong sense of social responsibility, a strong and arrogant personality, strong principle, and a naive person who is ignorant of the sinister world. But at the same time, like many people in Jiangnan, he is flexible and smart, good at dealing with exams, and has strong "practical" abilities. It can be said that he has both "slip" and "thorny" . He is obviously not a polite and loyal literati who conforms to feudal ideals.

This is also one of the reasons why the Qing government officials and mainstream literati still satirized Yang Naiwu with a sarcastic sarcasm and poured dirty water on Yang Naiwu, which had a bit of warning to Shilin.

(In the late Qing Dynasty, the plaintiff and defendant crawled behind, and the lawyer was not qualified to appear in court)

In addition to occasionally writing lawsuits on behalf of others, another income of Yang's came from rent. It was precisely because of renting the house that he and another suspect in the case, Xiao Baicai, began to have intersections.

The town of Xiaobaicai

This statement starts with Xiaobaicai's life experience.

Xiaobaicai's real name is Bishenggu (the widely circulated in unofficial history "Bi Xiugu " is a false name), born in the fifth year of Xianfeng (1855), and was 18 years old at the time of the incident. Bishenggu was born in Bijiatang Village in front of Yuhang Cang. His father was named Bi Chengxiang. He died in the war when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied Hangzhou (1860/1861). His mother Wang, the son of Bishenggu, lived in poverty with his daughter, and later remarried a hawker named Yu Jingtian (also known as the grain substitute).

(Yuhang Cangqian Old Street/Yuan Xiaoyuan)

Lifetime girl has beautiful appearance and fair skin. She has been a beauty since she was a child, but stepfather Yu Jingtian is quite disgusted with this "restrained bottle". Since childhood, my lifelong aunt's daily life is to help her mother do rough work all day long. The neighbor next door to Yu Jingtian’s family is surnamed Shen. The head of the family Shen Tiren is a carpenter. Shen Tiren’s wife also married again. The second wife also has a surname of Yu , and she is Yu Jingtian’s distant relative.

Yu's deceased husband is Ge Fenglai. They have an only son named Ge Pinlian (erroneously named Ge Pinlian), with a nickname Xiaoda, and was born around 1845. Ge Fenglai died very early, and Yu raised Ge Pin Company alone. When the Taiping Army attacked Hangzhou, Ge Pin Company was captured by the Taiping Army. At that time, Yu, who had no husband and son, remarried the carpenter Shen Tiren in the second year of Tongzhi (1861).

However, the next year (1862), Ge Pinlian fled back from the Taiping Army, and his stepfather Shen Tiren recommended him to be a clerk at the tofu shop. The Shen and Yu families were neighbors and distant relatives at that time, and each had a child he "brought over", so the two families got married for them. The initiative of this marriage was Ge Pinlian's mother Yu. Ge Pinlian was about 17 years old when he was engaged, and was only 7 years old.

(The Life Gu in the 1990 TV series " Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai ", Tao Huimin )

It flashed to the tenth year of Tongzhi (1871), Life Gu adult (15 years old), and she was graceful. Because she liked to wear white clothes and green skirts, she was called "Xiao Baicai" (However, this nickname was not found in the official documents and news reports at that time, but was only widely circulated among the people). At this time, Ge Pinlian was already twenty-five or six years old. He found his mother Yu and went to his father-in-law Yu Jingtian's house to discuss the marriage.

Yu Jingtian Although he disliked his stepdaughter, he would never be careless about his bride price. He asked Ge Pinlian to build a new house and took out 80 yuan of foreign money ( silver round ) as a bride price.Prices fluctuated greatly in the late Qing Dynasty, and the purchasing power was different from now on. It was a bit difficult to calculate a specific equivalent value, but 80 silver dollars were definitely not a small amount, let alone in addition to the dowry, you also have to take out another new house.

As a young man in the tofu shop, Ge Pinlian was naturally unable to raise money, so he had to ask a godmother named Xu to plead with. The two families finally agreed that Ge Pinlian first borrowed his father-in-law's house as a wedding house. In addition to the bride price of 80 yuan, he would take 60 yuan foreign money as the "banquet fee". In other words, Yu Jingtian asked for a total of 140 yuan foreign money (later, when Weng Tonghe was correcting the confession, he called this a "huge sum"), and finally agreed to let his stepdaughter get married.

At that time, Yu Jingtian's family had moved to Chengqing Lane to live. Yang Naiwu's family was destroyed by the war because of the ancestral home, and he temporarily rented a house with a man surnamed Yao. The Yao family and the Yu family were adjacent to each other, and the Yang and Yu families became temporary neighbors. In the unofficial history of later generations, the statement that Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai "had a personal relationship for their neighbors" probably originated from this. But in fact, the Yang family lived next to the Yu family for only a few months. After the renovation of the ancestral home, the Yang family moved back.

Ge and Bi got married on the fourth day of the 11th year of Tongzhi. After marriage, they first lived in the Yu family, but Yu Jingtian quickly urged them to move out as soon as possible using the narrow house.

Ge Pinlian's stepfather Shen Tiren was a carpenter hired by the Yang Naiwu family when they rebuilt their ancestral home. The newly built house of the Yang family has three floors and three floors (three rooms on each floor, a total of three floors), which is quite spacious (which also shows that the Yang family was in good financial condition at that time), and there were several idle rooms.

Ge Pinlian's mother Yu asked someone to sign a lease with Yang Naiwu, with a monthly rent of 800 yuan. Ge and Bi officially moved into Yang Naiwu's house on April 24, 1.5 months after their marriage.

Life experience and her marriage with Ge Pinlian are the most detailed places in this case (many of them are accurate to the month and day). However, ironically, whether it is at that time or later generations, news reports or literary creation, Life Su's early experience is precisely the place that is most different from facts.

A relatively popular "adaptation" is that the son of the Ge family is the child bride (raising it from a child by the in-laws' family, and when they are adults, they generally do not need a bride price). Although this statement is seriously inconsistent with the facts, it is widely circulated.

Writing Bi Shenggu as a child bride will not only make her life more miserable (similar to Bi is abducted orphan, etc.), but also has "highlights", the deeper reason is that the marriage between Ge and Bi is "unmatched".

My life-long aunt is smart and young and beautiful, while Ge Pinlian is "fat, short, foolish and ugly". He was nearly thirty years old when he got married (according to the social standards of the late Qing Dynasty, he definitely belongs to an older left-handed man). With the identity of "child bride", it can be convenient to explain the unreasonableness of "a stupid man gets happy couple, and a clever wife is with a crappy husband" ("Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai" of Ding's Huang Nan of the Qing Dynasty).

(Traditional sedan chair 1870s-1880s / Thomas Child / Sidney Mishkin Gallery)

Although the stepdaughter identity of a stepdaughter and the large bride price asked by the stepfather can also explain this "unmatched", the identity of a child bride (independent marriage) can give Yang and Bi a certain emotional rationality. Therefore, this type of work generally follows the route of a talented man and a beautiful woman, which exaggerates the "bad fate" between Yang and Bi.

There is also a kind of "re-creation" that goes against the facts, which is to make lifelong aunt women have a loss of virtue. Because of this narrative, in a society where "fame is greater than the sky", the balance of marriage between Ge and Bi will be infinitely tilted towards the "honest man" Ge Pinlian. For example, the "The Story of the Qing Dynasty" and "The Grand View of Unofficial History of the Qing Dynasty" written by the Yang Bai case are singularly exaggerating the "original prostitute" of lifelong aunt. Before getting married, she "has a ugly voice early", and this unjust case has also become a erotic story.

In fact, in the mainstream public opinion in the initial stage of the case, Yang Naiwu was "exiled" (Shen Bao) and "good fishing color" (Yuhang Prison Record) were the "tempter" in this love case, which is undoubtedly more in line with the "logic" of social narrative (Yang is older, has a high social status, and has more experience in love). However, as public opinion gradually tilted towards Yang Naiwu, the "stains" on him were washed into "innocence". So, how to explain that a poor newlywed young woman could successfully accuse a juren who was older than her and had a much higher social status than her?

(1963 Shaw Brothers movie "Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai")

So the "attribute" of lifelong lover was constantly "increased". From the beginning, the "water-like" weak woman who was unsatisfied and seduced, she became a vicious woman who was shameless and had a shameless and framed a righteous gentleman after murdering her husband. Not only did she have a huge group of adulterers ("According to his own statement, those who could sit in four or five seats"), but all of the adulterers were sons of the magistrate, coroners of the county magistrate, and yamen runners who could judge the case.

In fact, there has never been a single evidence from beginning to end in this case that can prove that Li Shenggu had an affair with anyone, but Li Shenggu's "uninnocence" has never been doubted. Just like her mother-in-law Yu, she could not tell the evidence of her daughter-in-law's cheating in her confession, but repeatedly emphasized that her life's aunt was "good-born". The county magistrate Liu Xitong said during the trial, "How could you not have an adulterer if you are so young and beautiful?" The beauty of her life's aunt is enough to become the evidence of the crime itself.

So, what kind of relationship does Yang Naiwu and Bishenggu have? Let’s take a look at the evidence of the “personal affair” of the two in this case.

(1963 Shaw Brothers movie "Yang Naiwu and Xiaobaicai")

"private relationship" and rumors

Ge and Bi officially moved into Yang Naiwu's house on April 24, 1872. Ge Pinlian often lived in the workshop because he needed to get up in the early morning to make tofu and rarely went home. The hostess of the Yang family at that time was Yang Naiwu's second wife, , Yang Zhan's . Yang Naiwu's sister also lived with them. Bisheng Gu often helped with housework. The Yang family liked her very much and often asked Bisheng Gu to have dinner with them. Bisheng Gu often asked Yang Naiwu to teach him how to read.

My aunt lost her father at a young age. After her stepfather Yu Jingtian earned a large amount of bride price, she urged the newlyweds to move out (without the house not yet settled). In all the incidents in the future, they were in a state of "no matter to do anything", which shows his dislike for this stepdaughter.

The family environment of the Yang family is in sharp contrast with the original family of Life Gu. Yang Naiwu and his sister Yang Juzhen have a good relationship. His father-in-law not only has a rich family property, but also appreciates this son-in-law. After Yang Naiwu was wronged and sentenced to death, the Yang family went to Beijing to file a lawsuit without hesitation, which shows that the family has deep trust (you should know that Yang is a crime of seriously hurting the relationship between the couple and the Yue family, such as "aggression with his wife and murdering his husband"). Even by current standards, it can be called a very rare family.

(Yang Naiwu teaches the Buddhist scriptures of life/Yuhang Yang Naiwu and Xiaobaicai Strange Case Exhibition Hall)

When he was not married and first married, he was often teased and harassed by the rogues in the market. Since he moved into the Yang family to rent, because Yang Naiwu has a strong and upright personality, the rogues dare not provoke the rogues again. In this family, I can say that I felt a sense of security and warmth for the first time.

So is there some kind of emotion between Yang and Bi? Maybe. Yang Naiwu is probably the only man who showed a little kindness and pity to her since childhood. She and Yang Naiwu had dinner at the same table and asked Yang Naiwu to teach her how to write, which really seemed a bit ambiguous.

According to the orthodox etiquette at that time, young women should not have such contact with "foreign men" (even if others are present). But such rules are more of the code of conduct of middle and upper classes, and poor families will not be so "standard" (after all, many times, women have to show up in public to make a living), and lifelong aunt may not have the awareness of this.

Influenced by Western culture, the social atmosphere in the late Qing Dynasty gradually opened up, and the "iron law" such as "men and women are not close to each other" inevitably loosened in practice (for example, in "The Travels of Lao Can", an unmarried woman will entertain strange male guests themselves).

Yang Naiwu has a "unruly" personality and has a lot of contact with all the religions and all the people. He probably doesn't care much about these "rules". Moreover, the purpose of practicing calligraphy throughout my life is not to "read " West Chamber " in a flirting style, but to read Buddhist scriptures.

Buddhism was very popular among ordinary women in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is not unusual to believe in Buddhism, but it is quite abnormal to a newly married young woman who actively learns Buddhist scriptures (rather than just worshiping Buddha and incense at the ceremony). Her "curiosity" for religion is more of an escape from reality and spiritual liberation to compensate for the tenderness that has been lacking since childhood. How desperate is a woman to be about happiness to be able to yearn for empty doors in her best years?

(Bi Sheng Gu and Yang Nai Wu in the TV series/1990 "Yang Nai Wu and Xiao Baicai")

In addition, the true character of Bi Sheng Gu is far less "live" than in social public opinion. In the evidence about her, Bi Sheng Gu is always silent and dull, and he doesn't say a word when he was beaten by her husband. When he was forced to cut off his hair and intends to become a monk. This is really too far from the scheming viper woman who has been portrayed.

In fact, at the time of the incident, her aunt was not married for a long time, and Ge Pinlian was often not at home. At the age of 18, she is likely to be still ignorant of love affairs between men and women, and know very little about the sinister hearts of people and the secular "rituals and laws". Yang Naiwu, who is twice as old as her, may be closer to the image of her father she longed for for a long time. In the Yang family, a harmonious family she had never had before, she secretly enjoyed a little kindness and peace. However, the good times did not last long, and rumors soon followed one after another.

As mentioned earlier, Yang Naiwu was awesome and scoundrels dared not come to the house, so they began to fabricate the rumor that "sheep (yang) eats cabbage". It is said that he also drew a picture of "sheep eats cabbage" and posted it on the wall of Yang's house at night (the authenticity of this matter is doubtful). But such rumors can also indirectly explain that the rogues failed to succeed in life.

In addition, if Yang Naiwu, who really had "a ugly voice early, was known to everyone in the neighborhood", paid attention to reputation and was about to take the provincial examination, how could he agree to let her be a tenant?

(Beijing Quju "Yang Naiwu and Xiaobaicai")

According to Yang Naiwu's daughter's recollection, when this kind of rumors spread, "my father and mother don't know yet", but the rumors quickly spread to Ge Pinlian's ears (it is very likely that he was deliberately heard).

Ge Pinlian repeatedly saw his wife and Yang Naiwu "eating together" (note that the "eating together" here is not only Yang and Bi, but also Yang's wife and sister), so he suspected that the two had an affair. He sneaked home quietly for several nights and hid under the eaves to eavesdrop, but he only heard Yang Naiwu teach his life to read Buddhist scriptures. Despite this, Ge Pinlian reported these rumors to his mother Yu and his father-in-law Yu Jingtian.

Yu then sneaked into the Yang family to observe. Seeing Bi Shenggu having dinner with the Yang family, he talked about this matter with his neighbors. Later, the Yang family wanted to raise the rent, and Ge Pinlian found his mother to "buy" again. Yu told his son that there was a lot of gossip outside and advised him to rent a house to avoid suspicion. Ge Pinlian then moved with his wife to the next door to Yu Jingtian's cousin Wang Xinpei's house. Yang and Bi have never met again.

This paragraph of "migration avoids suspicion" seems reasonable, but there are several things that are quite strange: First, Yu talks to the neighbors about the matter of Bisheng Gu. As mentioned earlier, neither Ge Pinlian nor Yu found out the real evidence of Yang and Bi's "private relationship".

So why did Yu tell his daughter-in-law about his son's face without any conclusive evidence? (Imagine if you find that your daughter-in-law has a bit ambiguous relationship with the landlord, will you turn around and gossip about your daughter-in-law cheating with your neighbor?)

(1990 Taiwan TV series " Dream of Broken Jiangnan ", Bi and Yang are played by Yu Xiaofan and Zhang Chenguang respectively)

In addition, it is the time when Ge Pinlian moved. Logically speaking, if Yu really feels that her daughter-in-law and Yang Naiwu have an affair, or to avoid rumors (although she is a major source of rumors), then she should persuade her son to move as soon as possible. Similarly, if Ge Pinlian really suspects that his wife and Yang Naiwu are not innocent, he will naturally want to move out as soon as possible.

Ge Pinlian's mother and son secretly investigated the incident occurred in July and August of the 11th year of Tongzhi. However, it was not until June of the leap year of Tongzhi that Ge Pinlian moved away with his wife. In other words, from the rumors to Ge Pinlian's move to "avoid suspicion", it was nearly a year between the interval between the rumors. However, Yang Naiwu wanted to raise the rent (also said that Ge Pinlian owed the rent for several months, and Yang Naiwu asked him for it).

Let’s look at Ge Pinlian’s character. In his confession of Beijing Control, Yang Naiwu said that he was “vicious and aggressive and had many enemies”. Hu Ruilan, the chief judge, quoted the confession of Wang Lin, a local archer, saying that Ge Pinlian was “cowardly (su)”.

Considering that Yang Naiwu is more like expanding the scope of suspects for his own crime (if Ge Pinlian is such a thug, will Yang Naiwu recruit him as a tenant and live with his wife and sister?), the testimony of the local guru Wang Lin is generally closer to the facts, but if Ge Pinlian is completely cowardly and can be bullied, it may not be so.

From Ge Pinlian who escaped from the Balance Army, he once gathered to fight in groups (but he did not dare to bite his finger like others, Di Bao used this as one of the evidences of Ge's "cowardice"), suspected that his wife was unfaithful, so he secretly spyed in, asked someone to monitor, and then scolded and beat his wife, etc., this person was not completely "mind" and "temperament".

Rather than saying that he is cowardly and can be bullied, he is "unintentional" and "undiscernible". For example, he will choose to believe in rogue rumors (although these people cannot even get close to the Yang family's door) instead of trusting his wife. Although he did not find any signs of his wife's invasion, he also "reported" the matter to his mother and father-in-law, etc.

(movie "Xiao Baicai" 1955)

Ge Pin's behavior after moving can also reflect this personality. After moving, Ge Pinlian asked Wang Xinpei to supervise (surveillance) his wife on his behalf (the "Ge Sangu" who was responsible for monitoring in literary works was fabricated) in case she had sex with Yang Naiwu again.

When Bi Shenggu lived in Yang Naiwu's house, Ge Pinlian not only did not take any action (except for peeping and reporting), but also lived in the Yang family for nearly a year (still working night shifts every day). After moving, the chances of having an affair were significantly reduced, but Ge Pinlian began to take strict precautions at this time. Isn’t this operation very strange?

So it is more likely that what reminds Ge Pinlian of "being alert" was his mother Yu's words "a lot of gossip outside". Ge Pinlian's seemingly strange attitude was actually the result of several ups and downs, that is, hearing rumors about rogues - suspicion of his wife - sneaking home to peep but not finding evidence - suspicion has not faded - reporting to his mother and father-in-law - living for nearly a year - listening to Yu's rumors - suspicion arises again - please Wang Xinpei to monitor his wife.

After Ge Pinlian moved, Wang Xinpei conscientiously performed his "supervision" task and did not find that Bishenggu had dealt with Yang Naiwu (and any other male). So has Ge Pinlian felt a little relieved by his life's "duty"?

The answer is no. Not only that, on August 24th, Ge Pinlian scolded and beat his wife on the grounds that there were no pickles at home. It was unbearable for her to bear it, and she cut off her hair and wanted to become a monk. This incident even alarmed Yu and his mother-in-law Wang. When Wang scolded him for "How could he beat my daughter for such a trivial matter?", Ge Pinlian defended that he was just venting his anger for what happened before Bi Shenggu and Yang Naiwu. The statement of

is very confusing. The so-called "before things" of Yang and Bi is to "teach Buddhist scriptures" and "eat together at the same table". This was indeed a "unpredictable" at that time (personal morality is a loss). According to the social rules at that time, Ge Pinlian did have reason to be angry (beat his wife). But the problem is that these two things happened in July and August of the eleventh year of Tongzhi. Ge Pinlian "tolerated" for more than a year, but at this time he suddenly felt indignant. Do you think of venting anger for himself?

If it was because he was reluctant to post in the Yang family, he could have "teached a lesson" at the beginning of the moving house. If the life-saving aunt had a new "indecision", he could have said "why did you do with Yang Naiwu again?" without having to find another bad excuse. Ge Pinlian beats his wife with pickled vegetables as an excuse, which actually shows his "injury".

(Hand-written by Yang Naiwu, now in National Museum of China )

So where did Ge Pinlian's "spirituality" come from?

We said before that Ge Pinlian is a person who is easily influenced by others' words, cannot think rationally and suspicious. Therefore, the most likely fuse of this "beating my wife" incident is not that Ge Pinlian "reacted" after a year, but that there are new rumors in the market. In other words, rumors about Yang Naiwu and Bishenggu flourished again at the end of August. Ge Pinlian heard it, so "new hatreds and old hatreds" came to his heart, and he beat his wife when he got home.

But we all know that rumors about love affairs between men and women are probably the fastest spread in the world. However, the "gossip" between Yang and Bi "restrained" it took more than a year before it began to spread widely. Isn't this strange? So it is more likely that although the content of the rumor has not changed, the disseminator has changed. From beginning to end, the rumors about Yang Naiwu and Bi Shenggu actually experienced at least three waves of "fermentation".

The first wave of rumors occurred in the summer of the eleventh year of Tongzhi. The manufacturers and disseminators were jealous of rogues who failed to get involved in lifelong mistresses. This wave of rumors has average influence. The male protagonist of the scandal, Yang Naiwu, and important related persons, Da Yang Zhan's , all know nothing;

The second wave The main contributor to the rumor is Ge Pinlian's mother Yu, whose spread range is about a little larger than before, but the scope of influence is still limited;

The third wave of rumor, referring to the time when Ge Pinlian beat his wife, happened at the end of August of the 12th year of Tongzhi. By early September, Yang Naiwu's wife, Da Yang Zhan, died of dysfunction. It was reported in the neighborhood that Da Yang Zhan died because of an quarrel with her husband (the two were discovered to have an affair), and the rumors between Yang and Bi also reached the peak.

After Ge Pinlian moved, Yang Naiwu and Bishenggu never met again, and there was no new interaction at all. It is logical that new "explosion points" should not be triggered. So what happened between the end of August and the beginning of September that the two of them had been re-exposed and suddenly became "hot" news?

The only change is that Yang Naiwu won the exam.

(Question of Jiangnan Township Examination in the 12th Year of Tongzhi Guiyou Academy)

Jiangnan Provincial Examination is mostly held in early August (so it is called " Qiuxiao Examination "). It usually takes nine days and six nights, and the time for the marking is 10 days. Therefore, the date of the release date (the day branch must be selected) is at the end of August or early September, which coincides with the period when rumors are rampant. In fact, there were not only rumors about Yang Naiwu at that time, but also not only Yang's "scandal target" and Yang's "scandal target" were one of them. For example, in the earliest report on the Yang Bai case in Shenbao, Yang Naiwu's scandal was mentioned, not only including domestic violence against his wife, but also said that he had long been incompatible with his former sister-in-law and later wife, , Xiao Yang Zhan's :

"A certain child of Yu Hang is proud of being indifferent to the romantic and unrestrained, and his anecdotes are often spread across the population. I believe that his lord lost his joy and was beaten to death by him; the lady who took the foot was originally a aunt, and he was the one who was the one who was the Southern Tang who was the same mistake of carrying shoes and scratching socks... ”

(Reported "Records of the Details of a Life of Yuhang (Yuhang) for a Blame" 1874-1-6)

In fact, Yang Naiwu's wife and sister were strongly advocated by her mother-in-law. Considering that Yang Zhan died of dysfunction (rumored that Yang was beaten to death by a violent family), Yang Naiwu's family is likely to consider it for her grandson (if Yang Naiwu married another woman, she would probably not love the orphans as her aunt).

In the society at that time, it was not uncommon for my aunt to marry her brother-in-law, but as Yang Naiwu passed the glory, he suddenly had many "lifestyle problems". His "private relationship" with Li Shenggu was actually just one of the many rumors at that time. Unfortunately, at this moment, Ge Pinlian died suddenly.

Ge Pinlian would not know that his death will not only completely change the fate of Li Sheng Gu and Yang Naiwu, but will also cause storm in the officialdom of Zhejiang.