During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty , a group of people on the streets of Huaihua were surrounding a silversmith, punching and kicking him. The leader claimed that he was a domestic servant of the local Chief Secretary, and was ordered to go to the silversmith's shop to smelt the broken silver into official silver. However, the silversmith took a cut of the silver, leaving the silver short of a few ounces. He was found to be trying to quibble.
The evil servant was aggressive and there were many people. The silversmith tried his best to resist, but to no avail. In the end, he had to kneel down and beg for mercy, and agreed to the evil servant's compensation conditions before the matter was considered settled. After the evil servant left, everyone dispersed and lamented the silversmith's misfortune.
That evil servant was very famous in the local area. His name was Yun Jiuyou, and he always claimed to be the servant of the Chief Secretary. Everyone did not dare to fight with the official, and naturally they did not dare to fight with the servant of the Chief Secretary. It is also true that Yun Jiuyou is domineering in the neighborhood, often bullying merchants and seeking personal gain from them.
Unexpectedly, Yun Jiuyou met a "stubborn donkey" this time. The silversmith's name was Ling Fengke, and he was a stingy philistine. As a silversmith, in addition to helping people make jewelry, they would also help smelt the broken silver collected by the officials into official silver. However, during this period, there must be a loss of silver. This loss is called " fire loss ". Therefore, before the silversmith collects the money, he will charge more fire consumption to ensure that the smelted official silver is enough.
However, the amount of fire consumption is related to the skill of the silversmith. People with better skills will naturally consume less fire, and vice versa. Ling Fengke's skills were very good, and the fire consumption he produced each time was not much, but he would collect more fire consumption each time for personal gain.
This time, Yun Jiuyou gave him one hundred taels of broken silver and gave him part of the fire cost before. However, Ling Fengke saw the money and spent more fire money. As a result, the smelted silver was only ninety-nine taels. This was also the reason for the conflict between the two.
Originally, the matter could be ended as long as compensation was paid, but Ling Fengke was unwilling and could not swallow this breath. He immediately put on mourning clothes and rushed to the county government office to cry out for injustice, saying that the evil servant Yun Jiuyou of the Chief Secretary's family beat civilians, abused lynching, and extorted money, leading to the tragic death of his father.
The county magistrate who accepted the case was named Tang Shanzhan. He was a Jinshi. This man was rigorous and fair. However, the case involved his boss. The Chief Secretary was not something he, a small county magistrate, could provoke. If he was not careful, his future would be in jeopardy. However, Yun Jiuyou's behavior is indeed too abominable and must be dealt with appropriately.
For this reason, he immediately sent someone to bring Yun Jiuyou to the county government office. Who would have thought that Yun Jiuyou, who was used to being arrogant on weekdays, would not kneel down when he saw the Tangshan battle, and even made rude remarks in the hall, trying to use the Chief Secretary to put pressure. Tang Shanzhan was extremely angry that a servant was so impudent in front of the magistrate, and was no longer polite. He immediately sent someone to beat Yun Jiuyou twenty times in the mouth and forced him to kneel down.
Yun Jiuyou bullied the weak and was afraid of the strong. Although he refused to accept the beating, he still knelt down obediently. However, this person was so rampant, and it seemed that he did have the support of the Chief Secretary. Therefore, Tangshan Battle did not dare to use severe punishment, but simply reviewed the case. This case does not involve much money, but mainly human lives. All that is required is to find out how Ling Fengke's father died.
After visiting and investigating, the neighbors said that Ling Fengke’s father passed away two months ago, and everyone helped arrange the funeral at that time. After Tang Shanzhan learned about it, he realized that Ling Fengke was lying, and it was obviously intentional. When Ling Fengke saw the incident exposed, he did not dare to hide it anymore, so he had to admit it truthfully and said that he did so just to ask for more compensation.
According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, if future generations deliberately blame the faults of their deceased ancestors and frame them on others, they will be punished with a rod of for one hundred years and three years in prison. Ling Fengke, a philistine, wanted to frame the evil servant, but he himself suffered the consequences of imprisonment, which was considered his own fault. However, during the trial, Tangshanzhan was able to confirm that Yun Jiuyou's behavior of beating civilians and harming merchants did indeed exist. As for how to make a decision, he needed to carefully consider it.
At this moment, the police investigated an important piece of information, that is, Yun Jiuyou did not actually work in the Chief Secretary's family, but was a servant of the Chief Secretary's brother-in-law's family. It is precisely because of this that Yun Jiuyou always regards himself as the Chief Secretary's servant. After hearing this, Tang Shanzhan suddenly had an idea. He immediately wrote a letter, first praising the Chief Secretary's talent, and then talking about the incident between the evil servant and the philistine. The Chief Secretary must not have known about it, and Yun Jiuyou now regarded himself as the Chief Secretary's servant, and had done many evil things, causing trouble to the village. Obviously, he had slandered the Chief Secretary's reputation, and hoped that the Chief Secretary could give instructions and prepare a verdict.
After the Chief Secretary reads the letter, if he replies, it means that he still attaches great importance to Yun Jiuyou, a domestic servant, and he will naturally consider it when making a decision. However, after waiting for three days, there was no news from the Chief Secretary, which showed that he did not take Yun Jiuyou seriously at all, and Tang Shanzhan felt relieved.
According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, Yun Jiuyou's actions that brought disaster to the countryside were enough to be sent to the army. However, he was a servant of the Chief Secretary's brother-in-law's family. If he was too heavy-handed, it would still damage the Chief Secretary's face. In the end, Tang Shanzhan decided to give Yun Jiuyou a stick and three years in prison as punishment. He also specially drafted the verdict and read it out in the busy city, which was regarded as a way to vent the bad breath to the villagers.
After this incident, probably the Chief Secretary's brother-in-law also realized the seriousness of the problem. Yun Jiuyou was not reused and was soon kicked out of the house.
