In the ninth year of Hongzhi (1496 AD), a case of public gang rape of women occurred in the capital, which was less vicious than the Main Road Thoroughfare, and after the incident, the gang rapist was not punished by the law, but was acquitted by the Jinyi guard officials.
The case was finally reported to Emperor Hongzhi by Dongchang, who immediately ordered the Three Divisions to try and instruct that such vicious and abnormal villains who despised the law must be severely punished, and that the officials responsible for public order in the capital should be held accountable. However, he did not expect that it was easy to deal with villains, but it was difficult to hold officials accountable, and under the strict supervision of the Hongzhi Emperor, he could only find a powerless official to act as a substitute ghost.
Why is there such a heinous public rape case in Beijing? Is there no royal law at the feet of the Son of Heaven? It can be said that the city of Beijing is heavily guarded, but there will be such a bad case, if it were not for the Hongzhi Emperor's interrogation, the gang rapist could have escaped justice, what is the reason for this? Is it a system reason, or a personnel reason?
During the Hongzhi period, the number of people who moved to and from the capital was four times that of the residents of the capital. When outsiders come to Beijing, they often have two eyes and one black, especially those who come to Beijing to do things, do not know how to do it, they provide opportunities for some scammers, and at that time, such liars were called blackmail single sticks. The people who do this are smart people, but they don't do good things, they specialize in blackmailing people, harming people, and making money, where do they care about the lives of others! In addition to this kind of blackmail, there is also a kind of rogue and evil, that is, people who are called hooligans in modern times, including the hegemonic side, the shameless scoundrels, the idlers who play for the tiger, the adulterous sticks who are debauched and promiscuous, the gamblers who set up wild gambling, the sinister and treacherous lawyers, and the unscrupulous people who corrupt the family business, etc. At that time, they were collectively called the gangsters.
Outside xizhimen, the Sorghum River lives a family surnamed Ma, whose ancestors originally fled the wilderness and do not know where their ancestral homes are. The old couple surnamed Ma relied on Old Man Ma to work as domestic servants, and Grandma Ma washed the clothes of others, so that she could pull her two sons, Ma Ji and Ma Cong, up. Who knew that these two children did not study well, befriended the internal officials of the East Factory, became the lackeys of the eunuchs, fought fiercely with the East Factory Banner School, and brought a bunch of evil teenagers to specialize in bullying people.
The two of them, relying on the trust of the eunuchs and the connivance of the Banner School, specially oppressed the good, and whenever they met someone they despised, they looked for right and wrong, saying that they insulted the imperial court, and then together with the evil shao, the first accusation of the first accusation, the testimony of the testimony, did not ruin the man's family, and never rested. For some rich people who keep to themselves and honest shopkeepers, they will also take the opportunity to extort money, and these rich people's shopkeepers will have to spend money to buy peace.
Hindered by the power of the East Factory, the servants on duty did not dare to provoke them, the soldiers of the Terracotta Division did not dare to take care of them, the official school of the Jinyi Guard connived at them, and the inspector Yushi turned a blind eye and took them down several times, and all the internal officials came forward to intercede, and had to let them go.
When the son did evil, the old man of the horse took two breaths in his heart, beat him, scolded and scolded, and even once had the idea of telling the government that his son was not filial piety, but after thinking about it, he still forgot about it, because the "Great Ming Law" stipulates that parents tell their children not to be filial, and if they sit truthfully, their children should be sentenced to be hanged. Although the son is not filial, as a parent, how can he really be willing to let his son be sentenced to death?
After the death of Old Man Ma and the two old men, Ma Ji and Ma Cong became even more unscrupulous, wandering the streets every day, and extorting some money in different ways. With the support of the East Factory, it is easy to make money, so often visit the kiln, walk the yard, see beautiful women, must find a way to get it, so Ma Ji married a wife and took a concubine.
One day, the Ma brothers were wandering the streets, and they saw a small child, carrying a basket in his hand, and as he walked, he shouted: "Sell burnt cakes!" At this time, a voice came from the alley: "Those who sell burnt cakes, wait a minute." This cry attracted the Ma family brothers, so they followed the children selling burnt cakes into the alley, only to see a woman coming out, the Ma family brothers looked at it, and they were suddenly stunned and salivating.
The woman bought the burnt bread and entered a courtyard. The Ma brothers inquired about the child who sold burnt cakes, and learned that the woman was the daughter of Lao Chen, who copied the documents of the military department, and remembered it in his heart. Old Chen is a Jiangnan native, a family of four, wife Zhang Shi, son Chen Yi, six years old, female eldest girl, eighteen years old, the family all rely on Old Chen in the military branch yamen to copy documents to earn money to support, is a powerless and moneyless family.
At this time, Ma Ji had already married a family and had a wife and a concubine, and Ma Cong had not yet married a wife, so he asked a matchmaker to come to the door to propose to him. The matchmaker exaggerated Ma Cong to the sky, not only saying that he was rich and powerful, but also saying that he was handsome and handsome, only eight buckets high, seven steps into poetry, and Lao Chen was moved.
Mrs. Zhang Shi did not think so, said or look at it again, and then sent the matchmaker away, saying that she would wait for them to discuss. Later, I found out that the Ma family brothers did not make a living at all, that is, to help the East Factory to investigate the incident, at most they were a small agent, and there was no Feng Lu, so they lived by extorting others, which was equivalent to an unemployed vagrant, and they categorically refused.
Because of the fear of the Ma family's brothers, Lao Chen soon married Chen Dayu to a soldier named Shi Cai, who was on an errand in the Imperial Horse Supervisor, leaving a courtyard on the ancestors, and several rooms in the courtyard could collect rent, and every month the public bank was two dollars and four cents, and brown rice was two stones.
Chen Dayan is from a poor family, very good at running a family, and the two of them have a very prosperous life. Six months after Chen Dayan got married, Shi Cai was transferred to the imperial tomb to work, and the husband and wife gathered less and left more.
Seeing that Lao Chen rejected Ma Cong's marriage proposal, Ma Ji has always held a grudge and has been looking for opportunities to take revenge. The Ma family brothers knew that Chen Dayan was at home alone, so they asked a few evil boys to go with them.
One night, they rushed into the courtyard, without saying a word, and forcibly held Down Chen Dayu's hands and feet in order to create an opportunity for Ma Ji to commit violence. However, they underestimated Chen Dayan's strong will to resist. Chen Dayan took advantage of the gap between Ma Ji and Evil Shao to bite and hurt one of the hands that was holding her throat, and that hand suddenly shrank back, at this time no one blocked Chen Dayan's mouth anymore, and she was able to shout loudly: "The robbers have killed people!" Neighbors help! ”
In the quiet of the night, the shout was undoubtedly a thunderclap, and the neighbors lit up their lights and prepared to help. Why are the neighbors so active in seeing righteousness and courage? Originally, according to the provisions of the "Great Ming Law", if you know that others are in difficulty and do not help, the neighbors, the mayor and the neighbor will be a hundred rods, and the neighbors here refer to the people who live within a five-mile radius of the place where the incident occurred, so people will always go to the rescue together when they hear the cry for help, even if they do not work hard, if they do not move, they must arrive, otherwise they will be guilty.
As the saying goes, be a thief with a weak heart. The evil youngsters were taken aback, and some of them ran away with their legs, while the Ma family brothers usually did more evil, they forced themselves to calm down, they let one of the evil teenagers block her mouth with Chen Dayan's skirt, and then carried Chen Dayan out, and when the neighbors rushed to the courtyard, they were already gone.
At that time, the night ban was imposed, and at night, there was no one in the streets and alleys of the capital at all, only the soldiers of the Terracotta Division and the guards of the Jinyi Guards carried out inspections. The Ma brothers abducted Chen Dayan to the street, saw no one, and their lust was not extinguished, and they took turns to commit violence with the evil youngsters on the street. About an hour later, three soldiers of the Terracotta Division appeared. These soldiers all knew the Ma brothers, and when they saw a woman around them in the street, they thought that the evil boys were just flirting with women, and after saying hello, they patrolled.
After the evil youngsters succeeded, they left Chen Dayan there and then flew away. When Chen Dayu saw that the evil youngsters were gone, he took off his skirt from his mouth and put on his clothes before he dared to shout. At this time, several Jinyi guards came over, asked about the situation, and learned that the evil youngsters had gathered to gang rape, so they tracked down the Ma family brothers and the three evil youngsters together and captured them, and then took them to the Jinyi guards, and after recording a confession, they told the Jinyi guards to command Chen Yun, and he would deal with them.
Although he was a deputy, he was on duty that night, and he became the chief officer and had the right to dispose of it. Chen Youshi knew the Ma family brothers, and also received their filial respect, knowing that they served the East Factory, so he did not want to cut off his own financial road, nor did he want to offend the East Factory, so he deliberately favored them.
Chen Youshi threatened Chen Dayan with a big punishment, made her admit to betraying adultery, and after the abduction, he released the Ma family brothers and Chen Dayu, he thought that this would make things peaceful, but he did not want the Ma family brothers to be just a small servant of the East Factory Fan Service, there was no strong relationship, and the ordinary small things could help cover up, but this kind of big thing could not be hidden. When the officials of the East Factory learned of this, they informed the eunuch in charge of the East Factory, and finally informed the Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youfan of the matter.
Huanghuang Emperor Capital, in all directions, the evil youngsters dared to gang rape women on the street, the soldiers of the Terracotta Division saw it and ignored it, the Jinyi Guards captured the criminals and were acquitted by the Jinyi Guards, and also said that the women betrayed adultery, which was really intolerable for the Hongzhi Emperor who was diligent in seeking governance, so he immediately ordered the East Factory to arrest the relevant parties and hand them over to the Three Law Divisions for trial, and this case also became a Qin case.
The officials of the Three Laws Division tried the case under the supervision of the eunuchs of dongchang, and based on Chen Dayu's complaint and the testimony of the neighbors, it can be determined that Chen Dayan is a good family woman, not a bad woman who sells adultery.
Under torture, the Ma brothers and the evil boys also confessed to the fact that they had been raped in a house and gang-raped on the street. According to the Law of Great Ming, the rapist is hanged. The three divisions of law draw up the sin according to this law and then play it.
Zhu Youfan was quite dissatisfied when he saw the proposed crime of the Three Laws Division. Although the Great Ming Law stipulates that rapists are hanged, it does not say that gang rapists are hanged, and gang rape is far worse than rape. Besides, today's Ma family brothers are "fierce and abnormal, and they despise the law" and belong to the most heinous crimes, and how can they hide their evil with a twist, not to mention that according to the law of rape, the leader is hanged, and the subordinate is strangled. How do gang rapes fall apart? Although it is possible to appoint the first adulterer as the first, how can others be disposed of according to the subordinates? Unlike other places, the Kyoshi gang rape is carried out in the Main Road Thoroughfare, what is the system? Therefore, the Edict ordered the Three Laws Division to sentence Ma Ji to be beheaded and beheaded in the city, and his family members were also sent to the remote areas to charge the army forever; Ma Cong and the evil young who participated in the gang rape were sentenced to hanging. In addition, the soldiers and horses who had not been asked before and the Jinyi guards who had released the Ma brothers should be arrested and questioned.
The three judicial divisions tried Jin Yiweidu to command the servant Chen Yun, and found that he not only secretly released the Ma family brothers and framed Chen Dayan for adultery, but also imprisoned Pingren in violation of the law, was entrusted by others, forced the parties' mothers to commit suicide, forced the parties to commit suicide, and falsely accused them of being thieves, which can be described as a crime. According to the "Daming Law", the Three Laws Department proposed That Chen Youshi as a beheading sentence, but the "Daming Law" stipulated that if an official committed a crime, he respectfully requested the ruling, or the emperor himself was required to make a ruling.
Zhu Youfan believed that Chen Youshi "was instructed to enforce the law, forbidden to be peaceful for a long time, and it was difficult to live close to the waiter." Fa Yuan Wei with a bad. Chen Youshi was originally stationed at Zuowei in Weizhou, and it took many connections to enter Jinyiwei, but now he was driven out of the capital and returned to his original place as an official. In this way, instead of beheading Chen Youshi and only driving him out of the capital, it was still "everyone is happy", which makes people sigh endlessly.
Even if there are dynastic laws hanging above the palace gate in this case, and the imperial court announces them to the world, there will be fish that slip through the net, thus lamenting that the laws at that time were not followed and the judiciary was unfair.
The gang rape of women by the evil youngsters led by the Ma family brothers on the main road in Beijing City can be said to be vicious and abnormal, and flouting the law and bringing them to justice is an inevitable measure to follow the people's hearts and settle down, and it is also reasonable for the Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youfan to punish them more severely.
The law regulates the whole of society and cannot be different from person to person. In the course of enforcing the law, Chen Youshi was entrusted by others to release criminals, indiscriminately ban people, force the parties and their families to commit suicide, and falsely accuse them of being thieves, which can be said to be punished for several crimes at the same time, and according to the provisions of the "Great Ming Law" on the aggravation of the two crimes and the aggravation of punishments, they should be severely punished. In the case of false accusations alone, if a person commits suicide because of a false accusation, he or she must sit back and at least be hanged.
Emperor Hongzhi gave up his felony and did not ask questions, but in the name of "enforcing the law and receiving instructions, forbidding people for a long time, and difficult to live in the near service", he was only expelled from the capital. In terms of punishment, the people are different from the officials, the people are aggravated, and the officials are lighter, where is the law of the dynasty? It is no wonder that history says that the Hongzhi Emperor "has an end" and failed to insist on eliminating maladministration, and the so-called ZTE is just like a meteor flying by, and in the blink of an eye, it disappears into the night sky.