From folk stories, we can understand the cultural background and humanistic sentiments of the time
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According to legend, "disaster" is an evil spirit formed by the last breath of a dead person. In ancient times, once a person died, Mr. Yin and Yang would "open a disaster list", which would write the deceased's birth date, death date and cause of death. With the calamity list, the county government will allow the dead to be buried. If you bury the dead without opening the ban list, the ban will come out and "beat" people. If you are hit by the ban, you will either die or be injured.
In the late Ming Dynasty, there was a wealthy businessman named Han Ouba in Luoyang City. He had a bad temper and often beat and scolded his servants. On this day, because the braised pork cooked by the cook was not to his taste, Han Ouba rushed into the kitchen and picked up a kitchen knife. He wanted to hit the cook with the back of the knife to discourage him. Unexpectedly, in anger, his wrist trembled and the kitchen knife hit the front. Cook's neck. The cook died suddenly on the spot, frightening the servant Qian Xiaowu on the side. Han Ouba was very panicked. He quickly closed the door and said to Qian Xiaowu: "You didn't see anything today. The cook died of his own illness and it has nothing to do with you or me. Hurry up and ask Mr. Yin Yang to finish the disaster." Bang, bury him quickly." After Han Ouba finished speaking, he picked up the kitchen knife stained with blood and ran to the back garden to dig a hole and bury him.
The cook usually treated Qian Xiaowu well, but Qian Xiaowu felt bad about having him arbitrarily start a disaster and bury him. When he went out, he did not go to invite Mr. Yin and Yang, but went to the government office to file a complaint. After listening to Qian Xiaowu's story, the county magistrate frowned and said, "You are talking arrogantly. As far as I know, Han Ouba is a kind man and often does things to help the poor. How can he kill someone for a dish?" The county magistrate looked at the government officials on both sides and asked: "Do you think Han Ouba can kill someone?" Several government officials took the lead and echoed: "Han Ouba is a kind man and there is no way he would commit murder. Qian Xiaowuyi's faction This is nonsense, it must be a deliberate frame-up." Subsequently, Qian Xiaowu was kicked out of the county government office.
Qian Xiaowu returned to the Han family disappointed. He lied to Han Ouba and told Han Ouba that all the Yin and Yang nearby had gone to other places to cause trouble, and he would probably not be able to come until the next day.
When he went to bed at night, Qian Xiaowu suddenly felt a chill on the back of his head. Could it be that trouble was coming to find me? He shuddered, sat up as soon as he could, and found that the door that had been closed opened a crack, and then heard a "squeak", the door was pushed open, and a black figure flashed in! Qian Xiaowu was so frightened that he got under the bed, trembling all over. He hated himself for being nosy and not asking Mr. Yin and Yang to open the disaster list in time. Now it was better, and the disaster really came out to "beat" people...
The next day, a Mr. Yin and Yang named Zhao Arrive at the Han family. This Mr. Yin and Yang looks very strange, with Buddha ears, long-lasting eyebrows, and a mouth as big as a bowl. When talking to Han Ouba, he always smiles but doesn't smile. When Han Ouba saw Mr. Yin Yang coming, he felt a little calmer and quickly ordered someone to prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and asked him to prepare the disaster list.
Mr. Yin and Yang looked at the paper handed over and shook his head: "The paper used for opening the calamity list must be Dongchang paper." Han Ouba quickly asked someone to prepare Dongchang paper, and then put Yin and Yang The husband was led to the west room where the cook's body was stored. The blood on the cook's body had already been washed away, and the knife marks had been covered. Mr. Yin and Yang sat down, spread out the Dongchang paper, and said, "Tell me the date of birth of the deceased." Han Ouba was a little embarrassed: "The person who died was one of my cooks. He was just a servant. He didn't know his birth date." Mr. Yin Yang said: "The birth date can only be written as 'auspicious time'." Then he asked the deceased about the time of death and wrote the death date.
Mr. Yin Yang walked up to the cook, leaned down and looked closely, and asked: "How did the cook die?" Han Ouba was a little nervous, deliberately blocking the knife marks on the cook's neck, and said hesitantly: "The cook died of a sudden illness. He used to cough and vomit blood. I originally wanted to fire him, but I was afraid that he would not find a job, so I kept him in the house. Unexpectedly, he suddenly fell to the ground and died while cooking yesterday. What a pitiful person!"
Mr. Yin Yang nodded: "The cause of death will be written as 'illness'." After hearing this, Han Ouba relaxed his nervousness and let out a sigh of relief. After Mr. Yin Yang finished the disaster list, he put it in a wooden box and told the Han family: Except for infants, no matter men, women, old or young, they should not close their eyes to sleep for two days and two nights. Otherwise, if disaster sneaks out to beat people, even if there is a disaster list, it will not be able to suppress it. Whoever closes his eyes to sleep first will be hit first.
Han Ouba is old and weak. After finally staying up all day and night, he is really sleepy. In order not to fall asleep, he braced himself and paced back and forth in the yard. Suddenly, he found Qian Xiaowu not far away leaning against the door and falling asleep. He hurriedly walked over and kicked Qian Xiaowu hard: "You are not up to par, you will bring disaster if you close your eyes." Qian Xiaowu laughed dryly: "Mr. Han, I am really sleepy. But I'm going to sleep first. If something happens, hit me first. You should take the opportunity and run away!" Han Ouba said fiercely, "Keep your eyes open, and I'll beat you to death if you go to sleep again!"
< p> Two days and two nights passed, and all the young and old in the Han family could no longer hold on, and they all fell asleep. At noon, Mr. Yin Yang came to Han's house again. The first thing Han Ouba did when he woke up was to urge him to put the disaster notice on the cook's body so that he could be buried. Mr. Yin and Yang shook his head: "Wait for one more hour, and then you can be buried if the disaster doesn't come out." Just after he finished speaking, he heard a "plop", Qian Xiaowu fell to the ground, his whole body twitched, and then his eyes turned white. He muttered something.Mr. Yin and Yang said quickly: "Everyone get out of the way, we are going to hit people!" Everyone was so frightened that they stepped aside. Han Ouba slapped his thigh in fear: "Qian Xiaowu didn't listen to Mr. Qian. He fell asleep last night." , I really deserved to be hit this time." After a while, Qian Xiaowu stopped twitching and slowly recovered, and everyone felt relieved. Suddenly, the servant Zhang Liu fell to the ground again with a "plop" and his whole body twitched. He had exactly the same reaction as Qian Xiaowu just now. It seemed that he was also hit. Han Ouba was so frightened that his face was ashen: "Don't we just hit anyone who is sleeping? This guy has been with me for the past six or two days and I haven't seen him sleeping. It seems that he hits everyone when he sees trouble, sir. You have to think of something!"
Mr. Yin Yang took the box, took out the disaster list, and looked at it carefully: "The disaster list is correct. If it is written according to the facts, the disaster will not come out. Yes, but if the content is different from the truth, disaster will come out to beat people." Han Ouba didn't dare to hide the fact anymore, and murmured for a long time, saying that the cook was accidentally hacked to death and did not die suddenly.
After hearing this, Mr. Yin Yang was so angry that he was almost fuming: "You almost killed me. This disaster is no joke. I have been helping others to make disaster lists for decades, and the family members of the deceased are all Tell me, you are the only one who covers up like this. Fortunately, you told the truth today, otherwise we would all be in trouble!" As he said that, Mr. Yin Yang took another piece of Dongchang paper and opened it again. On the disaster list, the cause of death was written as: hacked to death by Han Ouba with a kitchen knife. After finishing writing, he called Han Ouba to his side and ordered him to write his name on the disaster list.
Han Ouba hesitated: "If this disaster list is seen by someone..." Mr. Yin Yang said: "Are you afraid that this disaster list will be seen by the county magistrate? This disaster list is for the underworld judge to see. The judges in the world can't see it. Once the disaster list is buried, it has nothing to do with you." After hearing Mr. Yin Yang's words, Han Ouba felt relieved and signed his name.
Mr. Yin Yang nodded, put away the disaster list, and suddenly shouted: "Someone, take down Han Ouba!" As soon as he finished speaking, several detectives rushed into the room and took down Han Ouba! Han Ouba is tied up with five flowers.
Han Ouba was frightened: "Who are you? What do you want to do?" Mr. Yin-Yang took off the mask on his face. When everyone saw it, they were all shocked. It turned out that Mr. Yin-Yang It's the county official who comes in disguise.
The county magistrate smiled slightly: "This confession is your confession of murder. It has been signed and stamped. Do you admit your guilt?" Han Ouba still said stubbornly: "You are using coercion and inducement. I did not kill anyone at all. "
The county magistrate winked, and Qian Xiaowu, who was standing next to him, walked over with a kitchen knife in his hand: "Mr. Han, this is the murder weapon you buried in the back garden. I was the murder weapon when you killed someone. I saw it, what else do you have to say?"
Han Ouba slapped his thigh and said in annoyance: "So you are in the same group, no wonder you said no one could sleep for two days and two nights. On the third day, while I was asleep, you secretly dug out the kitchen knife. It's really hard to guard against a thief!" At this time, Zhang Liu stood up and said, "The murderer pays for his life, and the cook treats us like brothers. We are like brothers!" I really can't bear to see him die unjustly!"
Han Ouba suddenly realized and said viciously: "You all have worked so hard!"
The county magistrate sneered: "I heard that. Mr. Han and his uncle are the prefects, and you have placed spies in the county government office. Qian Xiaowu came to report to the officials. If I had investigated immediately, someone would have gone to the prefect to report the matter. Now that the witnesses, physical evidence, and oral confessions are all available, you have inserted them. It’s hard to escape!”
It turned out that it was the county magistrate who pushed in the door in the middle of the night on the day Qian Xiaowu reported to the police. The two officials and the people worked together to devise a clever plan to eradicate the evil rich.
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