After Ming Chengzu ascended the throne, Zhou Xin was appointed as the supervisor. He dared to speak out, and many officials were investigated by him. Powerful people are afraid of him and regard him as a "cold noodle". Some people in Beijing even used his name to scare children, who ran away and hid as soon as they heard his name.
When Zhou Xin was governor of Fujian, he put forward in the memorial that the military attaché s at all levels in the capital, the division, the health department and the institute should not bully the civil servants at all levels in the government, state and county, and that civil and military officials at all levels at the same level should meet with equal courtesy, so the military attaché s restrained themselves. After returning to the imperial court, he was promoted to Yunnan provincial judge, but before taking office, he was transferred to Zhejiang provincial judge. The wronged people in Zhejiang have been detained for a long time. When they heard of Zhou Xin's arrival, they said excitedly, "We can live." When Zhou Xin arrived, he really cleared up their old grudges.
At the beginning of the official judgment, when Zhou Xin went to his post and entered the border of Zhejiang, swarms of flying insects flew around the horse's head. Zhou Xin traced the source and found a body with a small wooden seal among the thorns. By examining the wood grain, he determined that the deceased was a cloth dealer. People looked for cloth everywhere. When they saw that the seal on the cloth was consistent with the wooden seal on the deceased, they immediately arrested the cloth dealer for interrogation, and finally arrested all the robbers who killed the cloth dealer. Another businessman came back at dusk, afraid of being robbed on the road, and temporarily hid the gold under the stones of the temple in the jungle. When he came back, he told his wife about it. When he went to the temple to get the gold again, he found that the gold was missing, so he reported the situation to Zhou Xin and asked for interrogation. Zhou Xin called the businessman's wife to investigate and found that the businessman's wife was having an affair with another man. When the businessman suddenly came home, the adulterer was still hiding in his wife's room, secretly eavesdropping on what the businessman said to his wife about hiding gold, and then went to the temple at night and stole all the gold. The merchant's wife and her adulterer were both sentenced to death.
Zhou Xin, a civilian, dressed as a patrol inspection area, violated the local county magistrate. Who wants to torture him? When he heard that Shi Lian was coming, he put Zhou Xin in prison. Zhou Xin learned about the situation from the prisoners in the prison and mastered the crime of corruption of the county magistrate. Tell the jailer, "I'm a provincial judge." The county magistrate admitted in fear that the bomb investigation in Zhou Xin fired him. In the tenth year of Yongle (14 12), there was a flood in western Zhejiang, and the general Zhao concealed the situation and played it in the court. Xia Yuanji defended Zhao. After the emperor ordered people to visit again, he could help the victims by reducing or exempting taxes as Zhou Xin said. At this time, Zhou Xin's reputation as a cheap ambassador is world-famous.
Ji Gang, the commander of the Royal Guards who died unjustly, made a military attache a criminal in Zhejiang. He seized the property and regarded his power as a gift. Zhou Xin tried to interrogate him, but the military attache escaped. Soon, Zhou Xin sent a picture book to Beijing. When he met the military attache in Zhuozhou, he was arrested and held in the state prison. After fleeing, he complained to Ji Gang, who fabricated the fact that the emperor said Zhou Xin was guilty. Ming Chengzu was furious and ordered the arrest of Zhou Xin. The escorting officials were Ji Gang's confidants, and Zhou Xin was beaten to pieces on the road. When he arrived in Beijing, Zhou Xin crouched on the steps and made a generous statement, saying, "Your Majesty, you have sent a letter to the inspector to perform official duties, and you are treated equally with the DuchaYuan. I was ordered by the emperor to arrest villains. How can you convict me? " The emperor was even more angry and ordered Zhou Xin to be killed.
Before his execution, Zhou Xin shouted: "I am an upright minister alive, and I am an upright ghost when I die!" "Finally killed him. Then one day, Ming Chengzu regretted it and asked the courtiers, "Where is Zhou Xin from?" Answer: "Nanhai people." Ming Chengzu sighed and said, "There are such people outside the ridge. I killed him by mistake. "Later, Ji Gang was executed for a crime, and the truth of the matter became clearer.
The main achievement is that Zhou Xin is an official in Hangzhou, and he is clean and honest. During his tenure as a provincial judge in Zhejiang, he was remembered by later generations as "breaking the prison" because of his fair judgment.
Historical records 1, Biography of Ming History No.49.
2. The Complete Works of Feng Menglong's Think Tank
3. Zhang Dai's "City God Temple"
4. "West Lake on Sword, Episode II, Zhou Judgment"
5. Record of the Tomb of Yugong Temple
Qu Tongzu's comments: Zhou Xin not only distinguished between love and hate, but also handled specific cases in detail, showing superb judgment skills.
In order to commemorate Jiang, people have erected monuments and temples to commemorate this good official. Ming Chengzu, deeply regretful at that time, made Zhou Xin the city god of Zhejiang. Now Zhejiang people miss him, and when compiling Zhejiang Tongzhi, they included him in Biography of Famous Officials. Out of admiration for his integrity and loyalty, Yangcheng people not only offered sacrifices to him in Xiangxian Temple, but also renamed the street where his former residence (Gao Di Li) was located as Yangzhong Street.