Dafeng Night Watchman

Chapter 11: Fishing



The imperial examination system for imperial officials in Beijing was carried out every three years, with the "four criteria" and "eight rules" as the standards for promotion and

demotion.

Officials who failed to meet the standards were demoted or even demoted to civilian positions.

This was easy to understand because it was related to one's future. The other party had a distant relative who was a censor, and he would be impeached if he turned around and was out of luck.

There was a backlog of murder cases in Changle County, which could be used as a reason for political enemies to attack.

"How did he die?" Xu Qian'an asked casually.

"I went to the countryside to collect rent, and came back in the middle of the night. I happened to encounter a thief in my own courtyard and was killed." A colleague said.

"Anyone have a witness?" Xu Qian'an said.

"When my wife heard the noise and went out to check, the man was already dead in the courtyard. But we found footprints on the outer wall."

"Is it possible that the enemy disguised himself as a thief to commit the crime?" Xu Qian'an poured himself a cup of tea and took a few candied fruits from his colleague and threw them into the cup.

His tone was just like when he was discussing the murder case with his colleagues at the police station.

"I have asked his wife, children, servants, and neighbors. The deceased has not made enemies recently."

"Did the night patrol ask?"

"The Imperial Sword Guard said that there were no suspicious people around that night." The capital has three walls: the palace city, the inner city, and the outer city.

Although there are night patrols in the outer city, there is no curfew. The city gates are open all night. Merchants can enter and exit the city gates freely as long as they report in advance and take the pass.

This system has greatly improved the commercial trade in the capital and promoted economic development.

Xu Qian'an nodded: "So, if it is a thief, it should be an acquaintance who knows Kangping Street well."

"Why do you think so?" The yamen runners were stunned.

"The thief can enter and leave the house at night without being discovered by the patrolling soldiers, which means he has been there before and is familiar with the patrol rules of the Imperial Sword Guard." Xu Qi'an analyzed while instinctively reaching for cigarettes in his pocket.

He felt disappointed and found nothing.

He couldn't help but think of the time when he was working in the police station. At that time, everyone sat together in groups of three or four, smoking and discussing the case.

He also became addicted to smoking because of the bad company.

Several colleagues were surprised and looked at Xu Qi'an:

"That makes sense."

"Why didn't we think of this."

"Ning Yan, after being in prison once, people become smarter."

There is no systematic teaching course these days. The detectives rely on experience to handle cases, and the one with the best performance can become the head of the police.

"You didn't think of it, but Wang must have thought of it. Have you asked in the west of the city?" Xu Qi'an is low-key and doesn't show off.

The colleague replied: "We have been asking for two days, but we haven't locked the suspect."

The west of the city is a slum, full of thieves and scoundrels, and there are usually public security problems. The yamen runners take the freemen and run over there, and they will definitely catch one.

"How much silver was lost?" Xu Qi'an subconsciously reasoned in his mind and asked.

A colleague glanced at Xu Qi'an and felt that his tone was a bit like that of a county magistrate, so he replied: "No, the deceased had just come back from collecting rent, and all he collected were small silver, copper coins and rice. How could the thief run away with a large box of silver after killing someone?"

No!

Xu Qi'an narrowed his eyes. If I were a thief and had stepped on the spot, I would definitely choose to steal the next day, not today.

He didn't say this doubt, and continued to listen to his colleagues talking while eating melon seeds.

"It's a pity that such a beautiful woman has to be a widow at such a young age. That figure, that chest, wow, you can't find such a beautiful woman in the brothel. Even if it costs one tael of silver to sleep with her for one night, I'd be willing to do it."

"She's not young anymore, but she's twenty years younger than Zhang, and seems to be in her early thirties. Women of this age are the most likely to be widowed."

Hearing this, Xu Qian'an sighed: "Women in their thirties are good, they understand the style of bed and have unlimited taste."

His mature words were not recognized by his colleagues. Everyone looked at him and laughed and joked: "You are a virgin who doesn't even go to a brothel, what do you know!"

If you want to follow the path of martial arts, you can't lose your virginity without breaking through the Qi training realm. Once the Yuan Yang is leaked, it will be difficult to open the gate of heaven.

So Xu Qian'an has been carrying the Dinghai Shenzhen for nineteen years, but he has not subdued a female demon.

The back hall where the county magistrate lives.

Wang, the captain with dark skin, looked like an old farmer on the ridge of a field. He lowered his head and listened listlessly to the scolding of the county magistrate.

The county magistrate's surname was Zhu. He was plump and white. He was from Yanzhou. He was a top-ranked Jinshi in the 20th year of Yuanjing. He was good at scheming and not good at official duties. He was a scholar who knew how to be an official.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

His advantage was that he had a conscience, was not greedy, and was incompetent but did not disturb the people.

His disadvantage was that he had a bad temper towards his subordinates and was prone to

speaking foul language.

"Incompetent, how incompetent."

Knowing that Wang still had no results yesterday, County Magistrate Zhu was furious.

"You are an experienced veteran. It's just a murder case, and you have no clue for so many days."

Wang's forehead was sweating and he felt like a thorn in his back.

With the Beijing inspection approaching, County Magistrate Zhu became more and more irritable... Li Dianshi did not dare to interrupt, even though he and Wang had been friends for

more than ten years.

Li Dianshi knew that the county magistrate had always wanted to move up a level, and promotion required two conditions: backing and political achievements!

Without political achievements, only backing, it is easy to be impeached and the position is

unstable.

Only with political achievements and backing can one rise steadily.

Where does the political achievement come from?

The imperial examination is an important assessment standard.

A quarter of an hour later, County Magistrate Zhu retracted his gaze, picked up the teacup and

took a sip.

Officialdom rules, serve tea and send off guests!

Seeing this, Li Dianshi pulled Wang, the head of the police, who lowered his head and said

nothing, and the two left in embarrassment.

...

Wang returned to the lounge with an ugly face, and the messy room suddenly became quiet,

and everyone looked at Wang cautiously.

"Boss, did Magistrate Zhu scold you again?"

Captain Wang rolled his eyes, grabbed the teacup and took a sip: "Damn it, the person is dead

and the thief is gone, where can I find him? I'm so unlucky today, I even lost a penny of

silver."

That money was lost by you...Xu Qian'an shrank his neck and drank tea to hide his guilt.

Silver is obviously not yours.

After listening to Captain Wang's complaints, a little constable gave him a bad idea: "How

about, take a chance?"

Xu Qian'an's eyebrows jumped.

Taking a chance is a professional term in the lower-level officialdom!

It means: find a scapegoat.

Limited by technology and equipment, most of the cases in ancient times were headless cases

with extremely low case-solving rates. Sometimes officials seek political achievements or pressure from superiors, and in order to get the job done, they will find a scapegoat to replace

them.

The process is like this. First, the local clerks select a group of old scoundrels who often commit crimes. Their names are written on folded paper, and the officials touch them

casually.

Whoever they touch becomes the scapegoat.

That's why it's called "mooing fish".

After the unlucky person is locked, the clerk goes to lock him up and takes him back to the

government office. A set of assembly lines called "torture into confession" is put down, and

even the toughest people confess.

The superiors are satisfied, the officials in the middle are appreciated, and the clerks are rewarded. It's good for you, me, and everyone.

The scapegoat is not wronged. He is a bad person anyway. Sending him to reincarnation early

is also for the benefit of the people around him.

There are many similar operations in the officialdom.

Captain Wang nodded: "It can only be done this way, Xiao Li, you go and do this, pick a few

gangsters who are older."

Just as Xiao Li was about to nod, Xu Qiyan frowned and said: "Wait! Boss, there are many

suspicious points in this case, it is not impossible to start."

Xu Qiyan did not agree with this. Although he has not been a policeman for many years, the three views he established at that

time are still alive.

Although he is a gangster who commits crimes, his crime is not punishable by death. Even if

he deserves death, it is a matter of one thing and one thing.

If we find someone to replace him here, wouldn't it be a waste of the real murderer there?

Captain Wang frowned, said nothing, and looked at him unhappily.

Everyone tried to persuade him:

"Ning Yan, don't meddle in other people's business."

"The boss gets scolded every day, there's nothing we can do about it. Besides, he's just a jerk

who gets into trouble all the time."

Those who had a better relationship with him said, "Boss, Ning Yan's family just suffered a

disaster, so it's inevitable that he's a little sensitive to this kind of thing."

Captain Wang turned a deaf ear to them and stared at Xu Qi'an. He was unhappy and said with

a sullen face, "Tell me how to investigate!"

"Give me the file!" Xu Qi'an said straightforwardly.