Du Yan's two elder brothers not only kicked Du Yan out of the house, but also directly challenged him in court. The reason was that Du Yan's mother, Sheng, hid her private wealth when she remarried.
Later, during a dispute, Du Yan was stabbed by his two brothers. Fortunately, he was saved by his aunt in time.
After being kicked out, Du Yan, who was fifteen or sixteen years old, suddenly had no place to go. In the end, he had no choice but to go to Heyang, Mengzhou, Jingxi Road to seek refuge with his biological mother.
However, Sheng's second husband, Qian, disliked Du Yan very much.
After all, Du Yan was already fifteen or sixteen years old at this time. Even if he was adopted, he might not be able to raise him well.
This time, Du Yan was really homeless and could only make a living by traveling frequently between Mengzhou and Luoyang, copying books.
Fortunately, Du Yan's grandfather loved him very much, and Du Yan received a good education when he was young.
Otherwise, based on his later experience, it would be difficult for him to pass the Jinshi examination.
In the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1008), Du Yan's life ushered in a turning point. He first fell in love with Xiangli, a wealthy family member in Jiyuan County, Mengzhou, and made a marriage arrangement.
Then that year, he successfully passed the exam, and his ranking was quite high. He was ranked fourth in the rankings, almost second in the rankings.
Although Du Yanchu's assignment was only to observe and recommend officials in Yangzhou, which was a civil servant, but thanks to the high rank of Jinshi, his official career started as a judge in Dali Temple, eliminating the need for a long official career of selecting people and changing officials.
If he hadn't been ranked fourth in the first class of high school, based on Du Yan's experience, he would probably still be in the selection stage.
Of course, after Du Yan went to high school, the Du family in Yuezhou also sent people to contact Du Yan again.
But it was difficult to recover from the broken water, and it was difficult to repair the broken mirror. Du Yan did not return to the family, nor did he seek any help from the family.
Du Yan's official career started from observing and recommending officials in Yangzhou. Later, he successively served as Zhi Pingyao County, Tongjian Jinzhou, Zhiqianzhou, Quanzhi Fengxiang Prefecture, Tidian Shaanxi Road Prison, Tidian Hedong Road Prison.
Looking at Du Yan's resume, he first served as a prefectural and county magistrate, then to the county magistrate, prefectural magistrate, and criminal envoy. These appointments all have one thing in common, they are all local officials.
Compared with those officials who were struggling in the selection stage, Du Yan was undoubtedly lucky. He got a high rank in the imperial examination and crossed the sea of officialdom in one step.
However, compared with those officials with profound backgrounds, Du Yan was somewhat unlucky. He gradually reached the central government and became the prime minister. In the end, he was dismissed from the prime minister at the speed of light because of the Qingli party struggle.
Prime Minister for a Hundred Days is another title of Du Yan.
Du Yan was also the official with the shortest term as prime minister in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Back to business.
At this time, Du Yan was still searching for help in the local area. He was not acquainted with Fan Zhongyan, Fu Bi, Ouyang Xiu and other Qingli Party members. His son-in-law Su Shunqin was now a teenager.
evening.
The sky was getting dark, and the candles at the Prison Department's Yamen were lit up one after another. Du Yan had not left his seat since he returned to the Yamen in the afternoon.
He has been reviewing files submitted by various states.
Until he saw the Fenzhou manslaughter case, Du Yan couldn't help but pause in his response.
This case left a deep impression on him. A country boy of fifteen or sixteen had a fight with a local bully and pushed the bully into the river by mistake, causing the bully to drown.
As a teenager, Du Yan, who was homeless, was often bullied by gangsters and bullies. He was very aware of the dangers of bullies.
But the state has national laws and the family has family rules. As an individual, Du Yan sympathizes with this young man named Di Qing.
However, as the Chief of Justice, he had to make fair decisions.
However, there are still doubts about this case.
It was written in the file that Di Qing fought with the bully and his minions, one person fighting five of them, but in the final file there was only one confession from Di Qing.
The bully is a dead person, so of course he cannot speak, but the bully's helper is a living person.
Today, there are no confessions from those people in the file.
Obviously, the official in charge of this case was too arbitrary.
Thinking of this, Du Yan turned to the first page of the file and took a look at the name of the chief officer.
Xie Wenrang, the magistrate of Xihe County.
Du Yan seems to have some impression of this name.
This person seems to have been a Jinshi in the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu.
Or the same year?
Although the two are of the same age, there is no intersection between Du Yan and Xie Wenrang.
After a while, Du Yan put Di Qing's file aside and did not approve it directly. He planned to approve the others first and then study it carefully.
Du Yan has always been famous for his ability to resolve cases. There are few unjust, false or wrong cases in his hands.
The reason for this is related to his principles for deciding cases.
In any case where there are doubts, Du Yan will inevitably examine it repeatedly until the doubts are solved, and then make another judgment.
(PS: While Du Yan was on Hedong Road, he identified three major unjust cases one after another. Later, these three unjust cases were compiled into "The Prison Turtle Mirror" written in the Southern Song Dynasty.
This book is the earliest existing compilation of prison litigation cases in China and a comprehensive collection of investigative essays in the Song Dynasty.
The collection of cases dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and dates back to the late Northern Song Dynasty. Du Yan's three wrongful cases that were vindicated can all be included in the collection, which shows Du Yan's ability to solve cases.
In terms of single cases, Du Yan has been selected once more than Bao Zheng. Bao Gong's case-solving deeds have been selected twice, while Du Yan has been selected three times.)
Boom!
Boom!
Not long after, a familiar voice suddenly came from outside the door.
"Xiansi, it's the end of the Youshi period, it's time for dinner."
Hearing this, Du Yan couldn't help but raise his head and glance in the direction of the window.
It's completely dark now.
At this time, Du Yan's abdomen cooperated very well and made a gurgling sound.
It turned out that I was already very hungry.
Hearing his stomach growling, Du Yan couldn't help but smile.
"Let's put it in first."
After saying hello, Du Yan continued to immerse himself in the mountains of literature and books in front of him.
Du Yan also has a habit of doing things. Before doing another thing, he should try to finish the things at hand.
While maintaining a sense of hunger, people tend to do things more efficiently, while after eating a full meal, people tend to feel drowsy.
Squeaky.
The door opened slowly, the clerk kept his footsteps as low as possible, and carefully brought the food in.
Obviously, the scribes knew the habits of their own officials.
In fact, most of the scribes in the prison department don't like Du Yan very much.
Who makes Du Yan a workaholic?
Two springs and autumns have passed since Du Yan took over as the Chief of Prisons Department at Hedong Road Tidian. Apart from being sick, Du Yan has been working until late at night almost every day.
This is very painful for the officials in the yamen.
If the top leaders are like this, how can the people below dare to steal fish?
An hour later, a strong feeling of hunger in his belly reminded Du Yan that it was time to eat.
After such a long time, the food delivered by the clerk was already cold, but Du Yan didn't care about it.
He can eat cold water or steamed buns, so what can't he eat with cold rice and cold dishes?
After dinner in a hurry, Du Yan immersed himself in work again.
Now, he finally had time to review Di Qing's case.
'This case is still very problematic.'
For a long time, Du Yan silently made an evaluation. At the same time, he decided to go to Xihe County when he had time to interrogate Di Qing face to face.