At that time, the Hunan Army was the main contributor to the great reform of people's customs. It was under the protection of the Hunan Army that Hunan Province was able to recover from the quagmire of people's addiction and the loss of ancient roads and restore public order.
To the common people, the Hunan Army and the Eight Banners soldiers were completely different. The Eight Banners soldiers were minions of the former government. Apart from carrying cages and walking birds, they could not even hold a knife, and they may not be sincere in protecting the country and the people.
These Xiangyong are different. They are all natives of Hunan Province. When the Xiangyong regiment training camp was first established, these young men wanted to make a contribution to their hometown before joining the Hunan Army. Otherwise, they could have followed any If you are a relative, you will go to the mountains to become a bandit. Then you will have wine, meat, gold, silver and jewelry.
They would rather take a meager salary to join the Hunan Army with a sincere heart. Indeed, the world can tell and the people can know that, in the eyes of the people, they are their soldiers.
In itself, compared with the bandits, they are already living a hard life. If someone wants to take away even this little salary, you can imagine the reaction of the people. They will be angry and resentful.
These military pay are related to their monthly silver salary. Although this amount of money is not too much, it is not too little. If it is stolen, it means that a month's work has been in vain. Many people have to support their families.
Regardless of these practical factors, daring to take the pay of the Hunan Army is almost equivalent to fighting with Xiang Yong. If the culprit is allowed to go unpunished, wouldn't it be a loss of Hunan Yong's face?
After the incident, the Xiangyong officers and soldiers in Yueyang City were furious. The salary involved was a major case, so the case investigation bureau had to pay attention and led the security soldiers to investigate the reason for the theft of the salary.
According to the coolies who pressed the ships at that time, these military pay ships were brought from other places. They were originally going to disembark from Yueyang and were escorted to Shacheng, Huifu. However, when these ships arrived at Dongting Lake, the surroundings of the escort ship suddenly became bumpy, and the contents placed in the ship suddenly became bumpy. There was another extremely heavy amount of silver. Under the churning, water filled the cabin for unknown reasons and sank directly into the lake.
After the incident, the Yueyang government also sent water ghosts to salvage them, but nothing was found. Only then did they confirm that these military pay ships were missing.
Where the boat went and how the money disappeared into the lake is still unknown.
It would be fine if the ships sank elsewhere. These ships sank near Chiba Island. Youdao is under the melon fields and plums. It is not clear. Chiba Island itself is the nest of the water bandit camp. What is missing is the money. It is still there. The ship that sank in Dongting Lake would be unjustifiable without the participation of the Dongting water bandits.
The case investigation bureau would rather kill by mistake than let him go. Since they smelled the stolen money, how could they let go of the biggest suspect.
In their view, Dongting water bandits are originally bandits in Dongting Lake. It is common practice to rob passing ships. In recent years, the government has been lax, and many Dongting water bandits have come to live ashore. However, the thieves will definitely not die. If this money really comes in Their pockets will not have to worry about food and drink.
However, a problem has arisen. By that time, it had been more than 20 years since the Dongting water bandits came ashore. Chiba Island had long been abandoned, and the bandits' stronghold was empty, with no one to be found at all.
What to do?
The case investigation bureau has been given an ultimatum by provincial government officials to resolve the case within a time limit and give an explanation to the people and the army. They finally found clues, and even if there is real suspense, they are not willing to let it go.
Fortunately, when the Dongting boat people came ashore, in order to obtain documents, they needed to register with the government. They obtained the books from the government. Whether they were Dongting bandits or boat owners, they were all arrested and sent to the case investigation bureau.
These people have been ashore for 20 to 30 years and have become ordinary people. They are either given farm work and weaving by the government to make a living, or they rely on their strength to become bodyguards, martial artists, hard laborers, or they make a living by boating, fishing and hunting. What they do for a living has nothing to do with water bandits robbing homes and homes.
As mentioned earlier, the case investigation bureau is nicknamed the Barbering Bureau. Good people have to shed their skin when they enter. These Dongting boat people themselves have a history of robbing homes and houses. So there is another layer of suspicion among criminals in the case investigation bureau. How can they be treated well? treat.
As soon as you entered the prison, they invited you to ask about the situation, but those clerks tried their best to trick you into confessing your crime. If any boat people were unable to react, and their words meant to rob the government, they would immediately do so. The case bureau designated him as an accomplice and was severely tortured.
At this time, if you continue to say that you were not involved in robbing officials, it will become a quibble in your words and deeds, and you will be beaten harder and harder. Some people can't stand the torture in the end, so they have to confess and just hope to die. This confession will become evidence of a guilty plea.
Do you think that everything will be fine if the case investigation bureau gets this confession?
That would be too naive. In the opinion of the case investigation bureau, such a big thing as the robbery of official banknotes must not have been committed by one person, but probably by his accomplices. Since these people have pleaded guilty and are facing justice, let's continue to collect money from their relatives and friends. investigation.
As a result, the Audit Bureau used a false confession to implicate nearly a hundred Dongting boat people. They were all young and middle-aged people in their prime. They should have started a family and stood upright, but they were imprisoned on an unfounded charge and had to work day and night. Screaming injustice.
The case investigation bureau arrested them and had no intention of letting them out. They even used methods to induce confessions. As long as you admit that some Dongting boat people robbed the official ship, you will be let out. If you don't tell them, you can only continue. Confined in the case bureau.
This move is tantamount to encouraging people to report and expose. In order to escape, they had to fabricate confessions about the boat people robbing government money in an attempt to escape guilt. Who knew that these confessions, whether true or false, were all recorded in documents and used as evidence to convict the boat people? .
When the boat people in the case investigation bureau complained about their injustice, other boat people in Yueyang City finally realized that something was wrong and began to campaign for these imprisoned boat people, hoping to exonerate them from their injustice.
However, with the reputation of water bandits in front of them, and seeing hundreds of people imprisoned by the case investigation bureau, the official ship was indeed missing on Chiba Island. Guatian Lixia has long been unable to clarify. The common people already thought that some water bandits robbed the official ship, and there was no way to complain. It is covering up the crime, and there are even petitions from the people to clear the case as soon as possible.
The case investigation bureau originally wanted to arrest some people to take the blame, but seeing that the commotion was getting bigger and bigger, it was inevitable that it would be swayed by public opinion. It was already riding a tiger and it was difficult to get off. If these boat people were released at this time, it would inevitably cause turmoil, so they simply designated all the boat people who confessed as The robbers were quickly convicted and hanged at Caishikou.
In this way, about a hundred boat people were hanged at Caishikou.
The case bureau only knows to close the case as soon as possible, but it does not know that the aftermath of this matter is more far-reaching than the unjust, false and wrongly decided case.
After those young adults were hanged, their families could not accept the outcome. Many of them jumped into the lake and committed suicide to show their resolve. No less than a thousand people were killed or injured, ten times more than those hanged by the government.
Some people died, but not completely...
