During the 20th century of the Ming Dynasty, there was a small village in Yingtian Mansion. The most famous one was the old man Zhang's family, with three sons in the family. The villagers talked about was the story of old man Zhang saving money.
Old man Zhang is a carpenter who usually saves money and saves money. When the villagers joke, they call him "the mouse enters the oil pot". If someone is outside, they don't know what it means. Everyone laughs, meaning they can't get in and out.
Old Man Zhang was not angry, and he was happy with everyone, because although he was frugal, he was not stingy. Moreover, if anyone had a wooden work, he often helped him with it. Some villagers were sorry and wanted to give him wages, but he didn't want it. Therefore, Old Man Zhang's family had a very popular relationship in the village.
Old man Zhang has three sons and an adopted son, named Yang Chuan, and his family is called Chuan'er.
My wife died of illness a few years ago. He raised several children with great difficulty. He couldn't bear to spend too much money on his own, because he was good at craftsmanship and kind-hearted, so many people in the countryside asked him to do carpentry work.
is like this. After finishing the work, the boss gave a bunch of copper coins as wages. Old Man Zhang exchanged it for pieces of silver, and then merged the pieces of silver into one piece to form silver ingot . The silver ingot was then merged into silver bricks, 400 taels per piece. Old Man Zhang saved up a total of five pieces, which is 2,000 taels.
So, his biggest hobby is to appreciate the five large silver bricks he saved.
This was a huge sum of money at that time. When Old Man Zhang was fine, he liked to take it out and take it out, then tie a red rope on each silver brick, and then carefully stuffed it back into the cabinet at the bedside and locked it.
A few years ago, my wife advised Mr. Zhang not to show off his wealth too much to avoid being misunderstood by bad people. However, Mr. Zhang disagreed. He took out these five silver bricks before going to bed every day, and stroked them one by one and put them back into the cabinet before he could sleep peacefully. My wife died of illness a few years ago, and no one reminded Mr. Zhang again.
One night, Old Man Zhang stroked the five shining silver bricks as usual, put them back into the cabinet, and fell asleep with satisfaction.
As a result, he had a dream in the middle of the night, dreaming of an immortal wearing white clothes coming to him and saying that these wealth does not belong to you, and that you have no wealth in your destiny. Keeping these things is a disaster. Now he has transferred to the home of Old Man Wang in Hongkou Village. Don’t worry about it anymore. No wealth is a blessing, and then disappears.
Then, Old Man Zhang saw five silver bricks growing legs and walked out in line. After a while, they all left Old Man Zhang's home and disappeared.
When the old man Zhang woke up, he was very surprised because what he dreamed of was like just happened. He had an unknown premonition and quickly opened the cabinet at the bedside to check it. When he saw it, he suddenly felt like thunder was thunder. I saw that the cabinet was empty, all the five silver bricks disappeared without a trace, and even the red rope was left.
Old man Zhang suddenly collapsed on the bed, not coming to his senses for a long time. After a long time, he thought about the scene in his dream last night. Is it really God's will?
But the village and other people mentioned in the dream are famous and surnamed, and they also said that they have no blessings to save themselves. Is it really God who helped me relieve the disaster?
But after all, it was the wealth he had accumulated for the rest of his life, and it was gone. Old Man Zhang felt very distressed, so he called several children to him and told them what happened last night.
The three sons were all surprised when they heard about it, thinking that Old Man Zhang must be dazzled and was hit by a thief. But Old Man Zhang didn't think so. He said that what he dreamed of was a nose and eyes, and it might be really a advice from the gods to come down to earth to him. Forget it, since it is God's will, then don't go against the will of heaven.
But the three sons showed different reactions. The eldest son was mellow by nature, saying that since it was God's will, it was a blessing or not a disaster, then follow the will of God and save it again when the money was gone.
The second brother is nice but active and very smart. He said that since the gods have pointed out the whereabouts of the silver, it is better to go to the family in that village to see. Even if the silver cannot be returned, he will know what happened, and at least he will feel at ease.
The third child is a bad temper and is not down-to-earth in his daily life. He said that if there is really this family, he would take someone to the house to grab the money back, saying that he would not let our family save money for the rest of his life, and it would fall into the hands of others.
Only Chuan'er did not speak silent after listening, because he was usually silent and liked to study woodworking, which everyone used to.
Old Man Zhang interrupted the third son and adopted the second son's opinion. The next day, Old Man Zhang looked for the village pointed by the gods in his dream, and rushed to the mountain road for a day before finding the village.
After inquiring, there was really this family in the village, so Old Man Zhang went to visit him directly and saw Old Man Wang who was mentioned by the god in his dream, and directly explained his purpose.
Old Man Zhang thought the other party would deny it, but unexpectedly, Old Man Wang admitted openly, saying that he had a dream until night before sleeping last night. In the dream, a god in white said that his fortune had arrived and hoped that he could do more good deeds. When I opened my eyes again, there were 5 brilliant silver bricks at the head of the bed, and after weighing them, I thought that there were about 2,000 taels.
Old man Wang was very happy. It happened that his mother was seriously ill and the house was disrepaired for a long time, and his younger brother also needed care. All of these required money, and these just solved the urgent problem.
Although Zhang was unwilling to accept it, he did not do anything. He just told his story all over. The other party was surprised after hearing it and said, "Is there such a coincidence in the world?"
But he didn't steal it or rob it, and the gods gave it to Old Man Zhang, but he was unwilling to return it to Old Man Zhang.
Old Man Zhang saw the other party’s meaning and quickly said, “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not here to ask for money. Since God is so willing, I have nothing to say. As long as I know the bottom lane of Silver Brick, I feel at ease. Everyone has their own fate. I don’t force it. Let’s see you again if we have the fate.” After
, Old Man Zhang sighed. Although he understood this truth, he felt a little distressed when he saw the Silver Brick fall into the hands of others, but he had no choice but to turn around and leave.
At this time, the other party called out Old Man Zhang. It turned out that he thought Old Man Zhang was here to ask for money, and even made a move to fight desperately if the other party dared to rob him. However, although Old Man Zhang felt sorry, he did not say that he wanted to come back, which surprised and moved him.
So he took out a ingot of silver from the house, about 50 taels, and said that although I don’t know how these silver came to my house, after all, the gods have the will to be here for the gods to send their dreams.
But I still feel ashamed of you. I will express my feelings and find some peace of mind.
Old Man Zhang refused repeatedly, but the other party insisted on him accepting it. While pushing, the silver slid into Old Man Zhang's pocket. The other party quickly closed the door and pushed Old Man Zhang out. There was no way, he had to take the silver if he didn't want it.
When he got home, the old man Zhang and his children called him to him, held a family meeting, and told them about his experience at each other's house.
Then tell everyone that this matter should not cause any more troubles. Things have become a certain number, so don’t have any disputes again, and then go back to the house to sleep.
The three sons and Chuan'er discussed together for a long time, and then. They talked about their own ideas. The boss was an honest man. He said that his father actually cared about the money very much. From now on, we all went out to work. When we came back in three years, we would save as much as possible. We should try our best to help our father and save up the silver bricks. Otherwise, we would be in a state of depression. Tomorrow I would use the carpenter's tools to work and make money with my hard work.
The second child said that it was too slow to make money when working. I guess we couldn’t even get a brick for three years. I would do some business. After all, my brain is still relatively active, and I hope I can save money as soon as possible.
The third brother said that things can’t be forgotten like this. That family is like taking our money, how could they give up so much? I will definitely get the money back.
Chuan'er said he had no objection and said that he stayed at home to take care of his adoptive father. After all, he only knew carpentry work. Staying at home can make some money to make a living with Old Man Zhang. Brother and the other two felt it was reasonable, and no one objected.
The eldest brother and the second brother persuaded the third brother, have you forgotten your father’s teachings? This matter has become a certainty, so don't make any troubles.
But the third brother didn't listen to the advice, saying that you are timid, I'm not afraid, the family's money is gone, don't talk about my father, I'm not willing to give up. If it's okay, don't worry. If you want to make money, go out to make money. Anyway, I won't go, and then the third brother went back to the house to sleep angrily.
In this way, the eldest brother went to the mountains with carpenter tools on his back. The second brother found a few villagers in the village to do business outside the country. Only the third brother was at home. The more he thought about it, the less worth it, but his father and two brothers didn't let him have troubles, so he went to the tavern in the village to drink.
At this time, Li Ermazi passed by and saw the third brother's face uneasy, so he asked him what had happened.
Li Ermazi died of both parents since childhood, and it was helped by the villagers to raise them with a mouthful of food and water. However, this child was not educated by his parents since childhood and was naughty by nature. He didn't know how to be grateful and sneaked into his dogs all day long.
Although the third brother has a bad temper, he does not despise Li Ermazi. The relationship between the two is not very good, but it is acceptable.
So, taking advantage of the alcohol, the third brother told Li Ermazi about the matter. Li Ermazi's eyes were dripping around, not knowing what bad idea was being thought of. He said, "No matter what, we have to come back to your family's things, you think, is this the truth?"
The third brother was excited when he heard this. His family didn't support him. It was rare for someone to agree with his ideas. However, the third brother had a shortcoming, he was stubborn and prone to impulsiveness. He just wanted to get the money back, but he didn't have any wise ideas about how to do it, so he asked Li Ermazi if there was a good solution.
Li Ermazi is just like this. He looked around and said quietly, "Since you can trust me, I will help you fulfill this wish, it can be considered an explanation for Mr. Zhang. I will prepare some medicine, and you will prepare two steel knives. Three days later, we will have a fight near the old man Wang's house in the evening."
The third brother waved his hand quickly: "I want to get the money back, but I can't kill anyone."
Li Ermazi hurriedly said, "The steel knives are just used to scare them. At that time, the time comes. Li Ermazi hurriedly said, "The steel knives are just used to scare them. Wait, I put the medicine into his well, and then wait for them to faint, we will go to the house to steal the silver bricks. If they don’t drink the well water, we will go into the house with masks and pretend to be a robber. It won’t hurt people. The silver bricks belong to your family. It’s natural for us to do this."
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, but Li Ermazi did not prepare any medicine, but turned around and pretended to be a peddler, carrying goods, pretending to be selling goods, and rushing to Old Man Wang's village. From time to time, he walked around the door of Old Man Wang's house for a few more times, and started to have a homely conversation in a few seconds.
Li Ermazi has been involved in various industries all year round, and is very good at observing words and speaking. He is very good at speaking and speaking. He soon became familiar with Old Man Wang's family with sweet words. He even knew clearly who the other party's family was, what was his name.
is soon, the three-day deadline has arrived. The third brother brought two steel knives and waited for a long time, but he didn't see Li Ermazi. He thought to himself, is he afraid temporarily and not coming?
At this time, Li Ermazi arrived panting and said, "I have sprinkled powder in his well. This time the effect of the medicine should have occurred. You should first take the knife into the house and find silver bricks. I will go to the backyard and wipe the wellhead to avoid leaving evidence of the powder."
The third brother was about to praise Li Ermazi for being careful, but Li Ermazi took a rooster and said, "You wiped the neck of this chicken with a knife. The local custom means winning the flag and hope everything goes well."
The third brother had no doubts. He waved the steel knife, and the chicken stopped moving, and blood flowed all over the floor. Then he carried the knife and rushed into Old Man Wang's house.
As soon as I entered the house, the third brother was stunned by the scene in front of me. I saw that the house was covered with blood, and Old Man Wang and several family members all fell in a pool of blood.
The third brother thought it was an illusion and took the courage to touch Old Man Wang's body, which was cold. Just when he was absent. Suddenly I heard a loud shout: "Stop and put down the steel knife."
Lao San turned around and at some point, Li Ermazi and several county magistrates entered the house. The headmazi kicked the third brother to the ground, then tied it up with a rope, and said, "You are so cruel that you actually killed Old Man Wang's family. Fortunately, Li Ermazi came to the government to report the case in time, otherwise, you, the thief, would have escaped. "
The third brother was stunned. Didn't Li Ermazi go to the backyard to wash the well? Why did he become the reporter? He saw several corpses when he came in. How could he become the murderer?
So, the third brother complained that it was all instructed by Li Ermazi. When he came in, he fell into a pool of blood. The head arrested without saying anything, putting shackles on the third brother: "Save these words to the county government and tell the county magistrate when the case is tried. "
No matter how the third brother called for justice, the constable ignored it. Only Li Ermazi showed a strange smile on his lips. After planning for so long, he finally succeeded. The third brother, the fool, fell into my trap.
Until he was imprisoned, the third brother didn't understand. Seeing that the silver had been obtained, why did the yamen runner suddenly appear?
It turned out that all this was caused by Li Ermazi. As early as when the third brother discussed this matter with him, he didn't want to help regain the silver bricks, but thought about how to take it for himself.
He pretended to deceive the third brother to take three days to prepare, but actually pretended to be the peddler to get close to the old man Wang's house and understand the situation at home. When he started that day, he did not give any medicine.
instead, while the third brother was waiting, he broke into Old Wang in advance. At the head's house, he killed all the people in the house with a knife, and then went to the county government to report the case, saying that he was the nephew of Mr. Wang and someone in his family committed a robbery.
The constable on duty heard that this was a big deal. If such a big case occurred, if it could not be solved, the county magistrate would definitely punish him. Without saying a word, he took people to Mr. Wang's house. As a result, he happened to meet the third brother who was carrying a knife and still had chicken blood on the knife. The evidence was conclusive, so he directly beat the old man. The third arrested.
After the third brother was arrested, Li Ermazi proposed to take back the silver bricks. After investigation, the county magistrate found that Li Ermazi answered the situation of the old man Wang's family and decided that it was the victim's family and returned the silver bricks on the spot.
let the third brother criticize Li Ermazi as an accomplice, but refused to accept it. The third brother suffered a lot.
Zhang's family was shocked when they heard about this. Hurry up to discuss countermeasures. The second brother is in business. He has seen some things and always feels that something is strange. Although the third brother is impatient and simple-minded, it is impossible to do such a thing.
so he bribed the guards of the dungeon and met the third brother. When he learned that Li Ermazi was also involved in the matter, he even concluded that the third brother was wronged.
And the next day, Old Man Zhang learned a worse news. Because he killed many people at one time, the government hastily closed the case to kill one and warn the old man Qiu Hou.
Just at this moment, Yingtian Governor Zhang Yingqiu came here. Zhang Yingqiu is a famous honest official, investigated and dealt with countless unjust, false and wrong cases, and has a good reputation among the people.
After Old Man Zhang found out, he immediately brought his two sons and Chuan'er to the Governor The yamen beat drums and complained.
Zhang Yingqiu also felt that this was strange after hearing this, but apart from the third brother's correction, there was no direct evidence to prove that Li Ermazi was also involved in the matter. Moreover, because all the old man Wang's family were killed, no one could prove the matter. Li Ermazi was considered to be a relative of Wang's wife because of the answers. This was impossible to refute from the case file of the county government.
Zhang Yingqiu handled countless cases in his life. Judging from the case of the case and the description of Zhang Laohan, there were indeed doubts.
On the one hand, he sent someone to Zhang Laohan's village to find the villagers to understand the situation. Everyone can prove that Zhang Laohan did save 5 silver bricks, but disappeared overnight. But the specific reason was that Zhang Laohan was tight-lipped, and almost no one knew.
This further confirmed Zhang Yingqiu's idea. But how to find out the truth and change the third son of the Zhang family to be innocent, it is unrealistic to expect Li Ermazi to find his conscience.
At this time, Chuan'er, who had been silent, said: "Mr. Zhang, the little people have a plan. ” After hearing this, Zhang Yingqiu nodded repeatedly and said: That’s it.
In the past few days, Li Ermazi has been in a good mood and has received a lot of money for nothing. The third brother was sent to prison and has nothing to do with him. He really has to do it all. He hummed a small song and planned to go to the pawnshop in the city to melt the silver bricks and enjoy his life.
Just turned to the corner of the street and heard two people dressed in a low voice chatting. As soon as he heard a few words, Li Ermazi's face changed color instantly.
Li Ermazi didn't know each other, but only one of them said, "I heard that the family extermination case of Old Man Wang's family a few days ago. Old Man Wang was not dead. The county government asked the medical officer to rescue him, but he had not yet recovered his consciousness and could not speak. He is currently recuperating in the clinic behind the county government."
Another said, "Yes, I heard from the people in the yamen that this case is strange. The governor has to wait until Old Man Wang's confession before the case can be finalized. It seems that the third son of the Zhang family may not have to die."
After hearing this, Li Ermazi was like a thunderbolt, and he didn't care about listening to the following words. The silver bricks were no longer melted, and hurried back home. He didn't expect that Old Man Wang was not dead. He obviously slashed several times at that time. Was he nervous for a while and left a living breath?
Because there is only his own confession and no evidence to die, the government decided that the third brother was the murderer. If Old Man Wang wakes up, the truth will be revealed and his death will not be far away.
Looking at the silver bricks on the table, Li Ermazi decided to kill Old Man Wang to silence him.
This really corresponds to the old saying: People die for money. That night, Li Ermazi was wearing a night-hanging dress, covered with black cloth on her face, and a steel knife, and went to the clinic behind the county government office while the night was dark.
looked inside from the window, and there was a person lying on the bed. Although he couldn't see clearly, the clinic did not stay overnight at night. His figure looked very similar to the old man Wang who he killed that day. In addition, the clinic's practice of never staying overnight, Li Ermazi determined that this person was Old Man Wang.
While the person was not paying attention, he rushed into the house with a knife. Seeing that the person lying on the bed had no reaction, he felt relieved, lifted up the steel knife and slashed the bed. After slashing for more than a dozen times, he probably would have died, but after chopping for a long time, he discovered a strange thing, and no blood was flowing out of the bed.
Li Ermazi lifted the quilt and realized that the one who was lying on the bed was a cotton dummy. No wonder he felt that it was soft and soft just now.
"Li Ermazi, for these money, you actually killed my whole family." A loud voice sounded in his ears.
Suddenly heard the sound of talking. Li Ermazi, who was highly nervous, was immediately scared and shuddered. He saw a person sitting in the corner of the room and stood up again. It would be fine if he didn't look at it, but his face turned out to be Old Man Wang.
Li Ermazi was completely scared. Unexpectedly, Old Man Wang was not dead. At this moment, he didn't care about being afraid. He just came to silence him. Old Man Wang was in front of him and killed him and everything was over.
So, take a step forward, raise the knife and chop it. He also muttered a word: "Old Man Wang, we have no grudges. It's really that your money is too tempting. This time I have to kill you to silence me. Otherwise, the third brother will not be a scapegoat. If you go to the underworld, don't blame me. During the holidays, I will burn more paper money for you."
Strangely, Old Man Wang did not dodge or avoid, and let the knife slash him, without humming.
Li Ermazi became more and more frightened. Could this old man Wang be a man from the world and is invulnerable to swords and guns? Suddenly, the oil lamp in the house was lit up, and Zhang Yingqiu, several yamen runners, and several sons of the Zhang family were all inside the house.
"Sir, misunderstanding, misunderstanding, I am Old Man Wang's nephew, I came to see him specially. I was afraid of being unsafe at night, so I brought a knife to defend myself." Although Li Ermazi was so scared that he was out of his mind, he still wanted to lie and cover up his crimes.
"Are you a three-year-old child who is a three-year-old? In fact, you are the only one who knows what Old Man Wang is doing here to recover from his injuries. The two people chatting on the roadside were just me who were looking for someone to talk about this matter in a place you must pass. In fact, Old Man Wang had been killed by you that day. But after hearing this, you were guilty and fell into a trap and wanted to kill someone to silence him. Before you started, everyone could hear clearly what you said to the dummy. You still want to deny it and come to the death to serve him." Zhang Yingqiu shouted sternly.
Li Ermazi could no longer hold on and knelt down on the ground with a plop, "Sir, please spare me, villain is confused for a moment, I will explain everything."
So, under the record of the yamen runners, Li Ermazi explained the fact that he pretended to cooperate with the third brother, hurt the old man Wang's family in advance, and blamed the third brother.
But Li Ermazi could see clearly the old man Wang sitting in the corner of the wall. What's going on?
In fact, this is exactly the plan offered by Chuan'er to Zhang Yingqiu. The old man Wang, who seemed to be vivid, was actually a dummy made by Chuan'er overnight. She was wrapped in animal skin on the outside and was covered with wooden parts. Chuan'er was manipulated with silk thread in the dark, and the room was dark. In addition, Li Ermazi felt guilty and frightened, so she didn't notice it.
Chuan'er's craft was the mechanism of Mozi in the Spring and Autumn Period. When Zhang was young, he got a copy of the book "Secret Techniques of the Mechanism". Seeing that Chuan'er was talented and liked to study, he gave it to him.
I didn't expect that Chuan'er, who was not visible on weekdays, had already used the techniques in the secret technique so freely, and the dummy was lifelike, so Li Ermazi was deceived.
On the second day, Zhang Yingqiu personally presided over the trial and said, "The third brother of the Zhang family has no facts of murder and is exempted from being asked to be executed, but the premeditated plan is true and should be exiled. Thinking of the Zhang family brothers who are in love with each other, brave and resourceful, they designed to expose Li Ermazi's slander and murder, and fined 50 taels of silver, and then released."
The ancient punishments were mainly lingchi, beheading, condolences, and exiles, which is what we call exile, poaching , tattooing, fine silver, etc. Exile is also a relatively serious punishment. Usually, the places of exile are deserted places, so the chance of returning alive is very small, so it is changed to fine silver, and it is the fifty taels given by Old Man Wang, which is equivalent to giving the third brother a way to survive, so the Zhang family is extremely grateful.
The next day, Old Man Zhang and his two sons came to the prison in the yamen and took the third brother out. Because it was damp and cold inside, the third brother turned pale.
The old man Zhang felt sorry for his son, so he quickly took him home and made a big table of delicious food. Then, in front of several children, one thing was taken out - five silver bricks.
Some people looked at each other in front of each other. So many things happened because of this thing.
Old Man Zhang sighed: "Because the county government cracked the case, but Old Man Wang had no family anymore, this thing was returned. In the past, I treated this thing as a treasure, and I felt uncomfortable if I didn't look at it for a day. But now, no matter how I look at it, why do I think he is extremely ugly and a disaster star?"
Several people looked at Old Man Zhang, especially the third brother. For this matter, they almost gave up their lives: "Dad, please make an idea, we all listen to you." Old Man Zhang said: "This money, which is what God wants, no longer belongs to the Zhang family, but the third brother is still obsessed with it, which leads to these incidents. Fortunately, our ancestors protect us. It was caught up with the good official Zhang Yingqiu and Chuan'er's plan, which resolved the disaster. In my opinion, it would be fine if this thing is not allowed, let's donate it."
The next day, the charity hall in the city had an additional donation of 2,000 taels, but no name was left, only four words: "Peace is blessing."
For this silver, the charity hall bought countless food and clothing, and helped many poor people who were homeless on the streets. When Tongzheng (a high-ranking official in the local area) heard about this, he found out that it was the Zhang family who thought that the old man Zhang and his family were kind and commendable, so he called the old man Zhang and his brothers and asked if they had any difficulties and the government could provide help.
Old man Zhang and his sons looked at each other in surprise. After this incident, they already understood that fame and fortune outside of them were no longer important. The whole family was peaceful and happy together. Even if they were eating braised vegetables every day, it was a kind of happiness.
Tongzheng Envoy was moved by the spirit of this family and immediately announced: "Old Man Zhang's family is indifferent to fame and fortune, open-minded, and should be commended and set an example for everyone. Immediately, the eldest son of the Zhang family gave him 100 acres of farmland to support the family. The second son of the Zhang family took over as the head of the Salt and Iron Department of Yingtian Prefecture to seek benefits for the country. The third son of the Zhang family was a constable in Yingtian Prefecture and should arrest more evil people.The adopted son Yang Chuan has a secret technique and follows me into the palace to meet the current emperor. Such talents are so talented, the country needs you to play a greater role. ”
From then on, the old man Zhang and his family became famous celebrities, but the old man Zhang still maintained the consistent tradition of frugality, but no longer accumulated money, but did good deeds. His sons also developed smoothly, and the family lived a happy life.
