History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 689 Murong Yanchao and the "Hook and Matrix Method"

Cui Zhoudu did not support Murong Yanchao's decision to rebel. Before that, Cui Zhoudu repeatedly persuaded Murong Yanchao, saying, "Can't you see the fate of Du Chongwei, An Congjin, and Li Shouzhen? There is no feud between you and Guo Wei, so why are you scaring yourself?"

Because the area controlled by Murong Yanchao included the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period, Cui Zhoudu also used the State of Lu as an example, saying that the State of Lu was a country of poetry and books, with kind but cowardly people, and that it was not good at fighting. However, the State of Lu had the longest national fortune during that period. Why? It was because the State of Lu valued propriety and righteousness.

No matter how much he tried to persuade her, Murong Yanchao was determined not to do anything.

Cui Zhoudu was ordered to search Yan Honglu's house. In fact, he had sympathy for Yan Honglu, but he had no choice but to help the tyrant. The only thing Cui Zhoudu could do was to minimize Yan Honglu's physical pain. He patiently advised: "Don't you understand the Marshal's temper? Don't play tricks, just take out the money. Your property will determine your life or death."

Yan Honglu burst into tears and knelt down to kowtow to his wives and concubines, "Please, take out all your money and save my life!"

His wives and concubines also cried, "There is not a penny left!"

Cui Zhoudu could only report to Murong Yanchao empty-handed, "He really has no money."

Murong Yanchao's eyes widened, "Bullshit! It seems that he is not going to tell the truth unless he is punished!" He then ordered that Yan Honglu's wives and concubines be arrested and imprisoned and severely tortured.

Yan Honglu's slaves and workers were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. One of the wet nurses accidentally found a gold chain and hurriedly presented it to Murong Yanchao, intending to save her master's life, but unexpectedly it became irrefutable evidence of her master's hidden property.

Murong Yanchao held up the gold chain and showed it to the people around him with great pride, "Am I right? You really are playing tricks on me!"

In the end, Yan Honglu was tortured to death in prison.

In addition to the crazy extortion of money, there was another reason why Murong Yanchao killed his brother Yan Honglu, that is, Yan Honglu's son Yan Xijun was Chai Rong's deputy. When the court sent troops, Murong Yanchao said to Yan Honglu viciously: "You must have let your son speak ill of me in the court and instigated the court to send troops, right?" So Yan Honglu was so scared that he quickly donated all his property to save his life, but he was still killed.

Murong Yanchao beheaded his adviser Cui Zhoudu in public on the grounds that he was shielding Yan Honglu.

The war in Yanzhou lasted from the first month to the fourth month without any progress. Guo Wei decided to lead the army in person.

Now, Guo Wei has been emperor for more than a year, and the external environment is basically stable, so he can leave the capital.

When Guo Wei arrived at the city of Yanzhou, he sent people to persuade the defenders to surrender, but they responded with a lot of insults. Guo Wei was furious and ordered a strong attack.

Faced with the overwhelming force of the imperial army, Murong Yanchao put up a desperate resistance. After five days of resistance, Yanzhou was finally conquered. Murong Yanchao committed suicide by jumping into a well with his wife and children. One of his sons, Murong Jixun, led 500 people to escape from the city, but was captured alive and executed.

Murong Yanchao is described in history books as "cunning and greedy", having a certain amount of wisdom, but very greedy for money and quite superstitious. There are three short stories that can help us restore a three-dimensional Murong Yanchao:

3.1, Hungry Donkey Catches Thief

According to historical records, Murong Yanchao "has always had a hook and distance". The hook and square method is the most famous criminal investigation method in ancient China. The ancients explained the "hook and square method" as: "Hook the truth and make it unable to escape. Hook means to get; distance means to close."

For example, during an interrogation, the interrogator will not directly ask questions about sensitive topics related to the case. Instead, he will talk about irrelevant things and make roundabout ways, trying to extract useful information from small talk that seems unrelated to the case, seize the initiative in the conversation, and make the suspect confess without realizing it.

The idiom "Ask about sheep to know horses" means this. That is, "If you want to know the price of a horse, you should first ask about dogs, then sheep, then cattle, and finally horses. By comparing their prices, you can know the value of a horse by comparing them with other types."

The above is a roundabout encirclement during the interrogation process. In the early stage of investigation, the specific manifestation of the "hook and square method" is that the investigators deliberately reveal flaws, lure the criminal suspect to move from the dark to the light, and let him "show his true colors."

Murong Yanchao was very good at using the "hook-and-square method" and solved many difficult cases that were difficult to solve, which were recorded in history. For example, this "hungry donkey catching thieves" case.

One day, a man on a donkey came to Yanzhou City, claiming to be the follower of a certain important person. He paraded through the streets in a very high-profile manner, bought more than a dozen pieces of silk and satin in the market, and then led the seller to the gate of a large house, pointed at the tall and magnificent gate, and said that this was his master's house, and asked the seller to wait here while he went to report. In order to reassure the seller, he even left his donkey behind.

The seller waited for a long time, but no one came out. He was so impatient that he knocked on the door, only to find that it was an empty house with no owner. The seller immediately realized that he had been scammed.

The seller was anxious and angry, and he cursed loudly. A patrolman happened to pass by and heard someone shouting "Catch the thief". He took the seller and the donkey back to the government office and reported the matter to Murong Yanchao, the official in charge of Yanzhou.

Murong Yanchao felt very sorry for the seller and assured him, "Don't worry, I will definitely catch the thief for you!"

In that era without surveillance, fingerprints and other technologies, it was not easy to solve this case. But Murong Yanchao was confident. He had a donkey, which was enough.

Murong Yanchao ordered his men to tie the donkey in the government office's stable and warned the soldiers not to feed it food or drink, not even a drop of water or a blade of grass.

The soldiers secretly cursed Xianjie, saying that the general was unable to catch the swindler, so he took his anger out on the donkey, which was really despicable.

The donkey had not eaten anything for a whole day and was thirsty and hungry. Then, Murong Yanchao ordered his trusted men to pull the donkey to the scene of the crime yesterday, untied the ropes, and let it walk freely, while his trusted men followed closely behind with their soldiers.

As the saying goes, an old horse knows the way, and an old donkey is no worse.

The donkey was hungry and thirsty, and it trotted all the way, turning left and right, and came to an alley. There happened to be a child playing in the alley. After seeing the donkey, he acted as if he recognized it and shouted several times, "The donkey is back, the donkey is back!" Then an adult man in the door poked his head out to look out.

Soldiers and constables immediately stepped forward to arrest him. After the man was arrested, he confessed to his crime.

This is also the only time in history that Murong Yanchao appeared in a positive image and was included in the "Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties".

3.2. “Iron-rimmed Silver” Counterfeit Coin Case
At that time, it was common for officials to start side businesses and compete with the people for profits. Whether local officials or central officials, they basically all had their own businesses. For example, Ge Yanyu, the pawn who framed Li Song, was the professional manager of Li Yu, Li Song's younger brother, and helped Li Yu manage the family business.

(End of this chapter)