During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, several major cases occurred in Longxi County, Fujian Province.
Longxiyuan belongs to the Zhangzhou prefecture, and there are many wealthy businessmen. These wealthy households have their gold and silver jewelry stolen, and in worst cases, not only their gold and silver are stolen, but their families are also insulted by the thieves.
During the Lantern Festival of this year, a thief went to Shanchang Pawnshop in the east of the city to commit a crime. He was discovered by two bodyguards who were guarding the house and the courtyard, and the two sides started fighting.
Although the two bodyguards were highly skilled in martial arts, the thief's martial arts was even more bizarre. They fought for only seven or eight rounds, and both bodyguards were killed by the thief. The pawn shop clerk heard the noise and rushed over, but the masked thief was nowhere to be seen.
Su Xidong, the county magistrate of Longxi , was a native of northern Zhejiang. He was a Jinshi in the third year of Jiaqing. He had been working in Longxi for two years. He was very upset because of a series of major cases and deaths under his rule.
On this day, Li Tiecheng, the prefect of Zhangzhou, invited him into the house. After Su Xidong greeted him, Magistrate Li said: " Gui County There have been many robberies. The superior has issued an ultimatum, giving the thief a month to capture. If the time limit is exceeded, Gui County will be exempted from the responsibility. Although Gui County and I are close friends, we may not be able to help each other by then!" Su Xidong muttered repeatedly and returned to the county government office. He sighed and sighed. He had no choice but to order the government officials to arrest him.
There is a policeman in the county government named Wu Xuefei, who has been a policeman for more than 30 years.
He said to Su Xidong: "My master has made a clear decision. The area around Longxi has always been peaceful in the past, but in the past year, there have been frequent robberies, and the crimes were committed with ruthless methods. They must have been committed by big thieves. However, although we tried our best, it couldn't work. "Why don't you ask your superiors to send capable personnel to arrest people in this county? We are willing to help."
Su Xidong sighed: "How do you know? I told the prefect Mr. Li the same thing, but Mr. Li refused to agree, so I was the only one." It lasts for one month. Once it expires, the Qipin Hualing on my head will no longer be guaranteed. "
Wu Xuefei said: "The master has a very close personal relationship with Mr. Futai, the provincial capital. It is better to ask him for help and ask him for advice. Maybe there are some solutions. "
It turns out that Zhang Sicheng, the governor of Fujian, was also from northern Zhejiang. He was a classmate of Su Xidong. He was a Jinshi in the 42nd year of Qianlong's reign. Because of his smooth officialdom, he now holds the important position of governor of Fujian. Su Xidong had no other choice but to write a letter detailing the details of the Longxi bandit. He ordered his family to fly to the provincial capital to ask for help from Zhang Sicheng, and ordered Wu Xuefei and others to step up the arrest.
Fujian Governor Zhang Sicheng received Su Xidong's letter and thought about it for a long time, then went to visit his friend Lin Zexu. At that time, Lin Zexu was in his heroic years and was awarded Xiaolian and Xiangzan.
After the two of them met, Zhang Sicheng handed Su Xidong's letter to Lin Zexu and asked him for advice. Lin Zexu read the letter, pondered for a while, and said: "The only plan now is to select a famous arrester, keep quiet, and secretly go to the county to investigate, which may be effective."
Zhang Sicheng said happily: "What Mr. Lin said is very true, but I don't know who should be sent to do it?"
Lin Zexu said: " The county magistrate of Fujian Qing has a close friendship with me. He has a head catcher named Tong Shun. Not only is he a sophisticated man, he also has outstanding martial arts skills and knowledge. He has solved major cases."
Zhang Sicheng said: "I am a good person. After hearing Tong Shun's name, there was a case of murder and treasure theft in the provincial government. No one could break it, and it was Tong Shun who captured the thief with his tricks. According to Mr. Lin's words, Tiao Tong will go to Longxi as soon as possible to handle the case! "
Lin Zexu said: "Master Zhang doesn't know something. Tong Shun is already old. I heard that the Longxi thief has great martial arts skills, so I'm afraid that Tong Shun will not be his opponent. I know that your Excellency has a general named Zhong Wen who is quite brave. Do you want to invite Zhong Wen to go to Longxi with you? "
Zhang Sicheng agreed immediately, and immediately asked Lin Zexu to prepare a letter in his own handwriting, and ordered Zhong Wen to rush to Minqing.
When Zhong Wen arrived in Minqing, he met with the county magistrate and submitted a letter. The magistrate did not dare to neglect and immediately ordered Tong Shun to follow Zhong Wen to the provincial capital to meet Futai Zhang Sicheng. Zhang Sicheng told Tong Shun in detail the reasons why Longxi became a thief. Lin Zexu gave detailed instructions to the two of them.
Zhang Sicheng wanted to send more manpower to assist Tong Shun, but Tong Shun said: "Sir, if we want to investigate this case, we shouldn't have too many manpower.
Lin Zexu praised: "Tong Shun and Zhong Wen are enough!" "
Immediately issued arrest documents, ordering Tong Shun and Zhong Wen to go to Longxi secretly to spy on the theft and capture the culprit.
Tong Shun and Zhong Wen withdrew and rushed to Longxi at night. On the way, the two changed their clothes and pretended to be hawkers. A few days later, they came to Longxi County and stayed at an inn.
Tong Shun and Zhong Wen pretended to be sick during the day and went to bed. They split up to investigate secretly at night, lurking around and lurking around wealthy families. However, there was no clue for six or seven days.
Lin Zexu said: "This case is definitely not the work of ordinary thieves, and may be related to people in the public family." There are so many wealthy households in Longxi that you two may not be able to take care of them. Why not secretly spy on the military personnel in the government offices, county offices and public offices. "
Tong Shun and Zhong Wen followed Lin Zexu's plan, leaving aside the wealthy businessmen and wealthy businessmen, and paying special attention to the whereabouts of military personnel in the government.
At the third watch of the night, Tong Shun was patrolling the backyard of the county government office, and saw a person coming towards him, and hurriedly ducked into the darkness in the corner of the wall. Peering in, he saw a man wearing a blue robe, tall and bearded. Seeing this man walking in a swagger, Tong Shun couldn't figure out where he was coming from, so he waited for him to walk over and followed him quietly. When he saw no one around, he took off his clothes at the corner. He took off his blue robe, revealing a soap-colored night jacket. He took out a piece of black cloth and covered his face. Then he jumped up and plucked onions from a dry land and climbed onto the wall. Tong Shun could see clearly in the dark, and couldn't help but secretly praise this man's lightness kung fu. He lamented that he was old and weak, and he didn't dare to go to the wall to pursue him, so he lurked in the corner of the wall and peeked in secret.
After about half a minute of incense, I saw the masked man flying out from the top of the wall, carrying a small bag on his back. Apparently he had successfully stolen it, and he flew away along the foot of the wall.
Tong Shun took a step forward and shouted: "Bold thief, watch the knife! "With the steel knife in his hand, he moved the dragon to explore the sea and cut it in the middle.
The masked man was very agile. When he saw the steel knife coming, a hawk spread its wings and was already six or seven feet high from the ground. When his feet landed, he had already held a The soft sword was held in his hand, and he casually responded with the poisonous snake spitting message, which went straight to Tong Shun's throat.
Tong Shun took a step back when he saw the fierce attack. The sword technique changed, and he used a move of a hungry tiger to pounce on the food, and went straight to the masked man. The masked man obviously had a guilty conscience and did not dare to fight with the men in the public house. He just wanted to get away as soon as possible. When he saw the steel knife coming towards him, in desperation, he used a move of a lazy donkey to roll more than ten feet away. He jumped and flew away.
Wherever Tong Shun was willing to let go, he followed closely behind. I saw the masked man heading straight for the county government office. When he reached the right wall of the county government office, he squatted down, jumped up the wall, and jumped in.
Tong Shun was shocked. He didn't expect that the thief was really from the county government. He couldn't help but secretly admire Lin Zexu's guess. The child waited outside the wall until dawn. There was no movement in the county government office, and then he got up and left.
At dawn, Tong Shun and Zhong Wen had a hasty breakfast and then went straight to the county government office to meet the county magistrate Su Xidong. At this time, Su Xidong had been dismissed by the prefect Li Tiecheng because of his inability to catch the robbers. He heard that Tong Shun and Zhong Wen were visiting, and he hurriedly welcomed them into the back hall.
Tong Shun and Zhong Wenyan revealed their identities and asked if there was a tall man with a beard in the county government office. But Su Xidong's answer disappointed Tong Shun and Zhong Wen.
When the two returned to the inn, Tong Shun and Zhong Wen were confused. Tong Shun thought for a moment, and then said to Zhong Wen: "I seem to have seen this thief's skills somewhere, but in my hurry, I can't remember it. He was not from the county government, so why did he flee to the county government? "
Zhong Wen said: "Could it be that the thief put the blame on others? "
Tong Shun suddenly realized: "Yes! "Immediately discussed with Zhong Wen and decided on a plan.
After that, the two of them no longer patrolled separately, but attacked together. Half a month later, the two finally discovered the theft again. I saw that Meng Erren repeated his old tricks. After stealing from a large family, he came to the county government again.
By the way, Tong asked Zhong Wen to stay and monitor him. He quickly bypassed the county government office and lurked on the other side. He found that the masked man jumped into the county government office, came to the other side, jumped over the wall again, and indeed came out through the government office.
Tong Shun saw clearly and said angrily: What a cunning thief. He almost fell into the old thief's trick last time. Let's see where you go this time! Then he followed secretly from behind. I saw the masked man running all the way and came to the wall of the government office. He squatted down and a purple swallow flew sideways and jumped onto the wall.
Tong Shun was already prepared. When the masked man was not yet stable, he bent his bow and shot the locust stone out of his hand. He only heard a muffled "pounce" sound and hit the back of the head. The masked man groaned and jumped into the wall with the help of inertia.
Tong Shun did not dare to enter the wall, so he hurriedly withdrew and met Zhong Wen.
In order to prevent the thief from escaping, Zhong Wen stayed behind to keep a watch on him, while Tong Shun rushed to Longxi County Office to report to Su Xidong and tell him how he discovered the thief's trace.
Su Xidong said happily: "Since the thief is from the government office, I will go to see the prefect Li immediately and ask him to assist in the investigation. The thief must be found."
Tong Shun stopped him quickly, and Fu'er said this to Su Xidong.
Su Xidong heard this. Although he was surprised, he still followed the plan and went to the government office to see the prefect Li Tiecheng. The county clerk Qihuang's technique may be able to relieve Mr. Li's illness. "
The gatekeeper did not dare to neglect and went inside to report. Li Tiecheng had no choice but to send a message: "See you in the inner flower hall."
The gatekeeper came out and led Su Xidong to the inner flower hall. He saw her. Li Zhifu asked coldly: "If your county doesn't catch the thief quickly and make meritorious service, why are you here?"
Su Xidong said: "I had a small matter, so I wanted to report it to you, but now I heard that you are sick, I would like to diagnose and treat you."
Zhifu Li smiled and said : "I have a minor illness, so don't bother me."
Su Xidong took the pulse of Magistrate Li and took the opportunity to take a closer look at his head. He saw a faint white gauze exposed from the crown of Magistrate Li's hat, and his face was slightly swollen, which did not seem to be an internal illness. He casually wrote a prescription and asked the yamen servant to go to the pharmacy to collect the medicine, and then left.
Su Xidong told Tong Shun and Zhong Wen one by one about the visit to Li Tiecheng. Tong Shun thought over and over again and decided to let Zhong Wen stay and monitor the prefect's mansion while he flew to the provincial capital to see Lin Zexu and Zhang Sicheng.
Half a month later, Zhangzhou Magistrate Li Tiecheng received a secret letter from Governor Zhang Sicheng, instructing him to arrest Su Xidong, Magistrate of Longxi County, and escort him to the provincial capital on the same day to be interrogated by the magistrate for secretly collaborating with the robbers.
Li Tiecheng was secretly happy after receiving the secret letter, so he stopped delaying and immediately ordered more than a dozen soldiers to go to Longxi County Yamen, took Su Xidong, and personally escorted him to the provincial capital. When
arrived in the provincial capital, and were immediately brought to trial. Li Tiecheng escorted Su Xidong into the lobby, and saw Lin Zexu, Zhang Sicheng and Mr. Zhen Sihu sitting in the hall. Before Li Tiecheng could speak, Mr. Zhen Sihu shouted: "Come on, take down Li Tiecheng!"
Li Tiecheng was shocked. When he was about to struggle, he was caught by Tong Shun, Zhong Wen and others. Li Tiecheng shouted: "What's going on?!"
Tong Shun said: "Li Tiecheng, do you still know me?"
Li Tiecheng looked at Tong Shun and just shook his head.
Tong Shun said with a smile: "When you were a thief in the East China Sea, I helped the navy capture you and fought with you for more than an hour. Because reinforcements did not arrive, you escaped by chance. We fought again that night, so I still know your body movements!"
It turns out that Li Tiecheng was the leader of the Fengwei Gang, a bandit in the East China Sea, who specialized in killing people and stealing goods at sea. At that time, there was a severe drought in the Central Plains and the imperial court was short of money. He took the opportunity to bring a huge sum of money to Beijing, bribed the powerful officials in the court, and donated the post of Zhangzhou magistrate. After he took office, he saw that there were many wealthy families in the city, so he relied on his martial arts skills and repeated his old tricks. During the day, he was working as an official in the lobby, but secretly he specialized in stealing from the wealthy families in the city.
Because the magistrate's office was covering up the theft, he wore a fake beard and a black cloth during the theft. He thought it was perfect. Outsiders only thought that there was a master thief in Longxi, but no one ever suspected the magistrate. Unexpectedly, Lin Zexu took advantage of this and was hit by Tong Shun's flying stone.
After Tong Shun reported the incident to Lin Zexu and Zhang Sicheng, Lin Zexu was afraid that if he took people to the government office to capture him, the news would be leaked. Besides, the thief was very powerful in martial arts and if he escaped, he would leave trouble in the future.
As soon as the case was solved, people started talking a lot: collusion between officials and thieves was not uncommon, but the strange thing about officials and thieves getting together was unheard of.
