During the reign of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, Fang Weidian, the governor of Zhili, had an uncle who was full of pockmarks, and with Xing Jiu, everyone called him Fang Jiu Mazi. Originally, Fang Jiu Mazi had a nephew of an official and noble family like Fang Weidian, so he could make a serious living, but he "didn't learn well" since he was a child, and liked to rob the rich and help the poor.

Although Fang Jiu Mazi was not good-looking, his modus operandi was extremely brilliant, and he was protected by the shield of "Fang Weidian's uncle." Therefore, although some provinces and counties in the Jiangnan area that were deeply disturbed by him had arrested him, they often allowed him to escape smoothly.

On this day, Fang Jiu Mazi, who was already old and not confused, suddenly went north to Baoding Mansion and threw himself under Fang Chunjiang, the prefect of Baoding, claiming that he had changed his ways since then, and was willing to be an entourage under Fang Chunjiang and eat a bowl of stable food. Fang Chunjiang had long heard of what Fang Jiu Mazi had done in the Jiangnan area, and he had doubts about whether this kind of person could really change his ways, but looking at the face of the same surname and Fang Weidian, he still took him in and respected him as "uncle" according to his age.

Since Fang Jiu Mazi was a "clan uncle", it was of course inconvenient to be an entourage. Fang Chunjiang asked Fang Jiu Mazi to be an accountant under his inner mansion housekeeper, specializing in recording the daily income and expenditure of the inner mansion. After a long time, Fang Chunjiang found that Fang Jiu Mazi treated people modestly and did not have the smell of "Jianghu Thief" at all. Therefore, he raised Fang Jiu Mazi's monthly salary of 6 taels to the same 16 taels as the housekeeper. For this, Fang Jiu Mazi was very grateful and worked even harder. For a time, the whole Fang mansion looked at him differently, and Fang Chunjiang also thought that Fang Jiu Mazi had really changed his mind.

Since Fang Jiu Mazi became the accountant of Fang Mansion, he usually did not take a step in the yamen. But occasionally when he went out, he would definitely buy some old suitcases. As time went by, he had accumulated more than a hundred old suitcases. Once, Fang Chunjiang asked him, "Uncle Jiu, what do you want so many old suitcases for?" Fang Jiu Mazi replied, "Leather goods in the south are expensive, and the price in the north is low. Although it will cost some money to transport these old suitcases back to the south, once they are sold, they can still be profitable exponentially." After Fang Chunjiang heard this, he secretly praised Fang Jiu Mazi for having a plan.

In the summer of this year, there was a flood in Anhui, and many people died. Fang Jiu Mazi said to Fang Chunjiang, "Master, I have been away from home for more than three years, and I have always cared about my mother at home. If it is convenient, I want to go back to Jiangnan once, and come back in two or three months..." Fang Chunjiang nodded without thinking, and specially sent a generous entanglement. Therefore, Fang Jiu Mazi hired more than ten carts, loaded more than a hundred old suitcases that he had accumulated one after another, and went on the road...

There is a Jialan Temple in Shahe County, more than a hundred miles away from Baoding Mansion. It was originally a small temple. One winter day more than 30 years ago, Fang Chunjiang's father, Fang Tianci, went to Beijing to take the exam. On the way, he lay dead outside Jialan Temple due to hunger. Fortunately, the abbot of Jialan Temple was rescued by Monk Chen at that time, so he saved his life. After being rescued, Fang Tianci said to Monk Chen: "If there is a rich Fang in the future, it will be a major renovation of your temple!" Monk Chen smiled and didn't take it to heart. Unexpectedly, in just 10 years, Fang Tianci was indeed named on the golden list, and became a grand official of the frontier, and was named the crown prince Taibao. After becoming rich and noble, Fang Tianci did not forget the promise he made to Monk Chen when he was in distress. He donated 30,000 taels of silver to overhaul the temple, which made Jialan Temple suddenly change from an unknown small temple to a famous big temple far and wide. Monk Chen was so happy that he woke up laughing a few times in his sleep. Since then, he has been more dedicated to Buddhism, saving the poor and helping the weak, and doing a lot of good things for the nearby people... Of course, things are always unpredictable. After more than 20 years, Monk Chen passed away, and the monk who succeeded him as abbot was a completely different act. Although this person is also wrapped in a cassock, his bones are authentic ghosts in wine and demons in color. Relying on the strong incense of Jialan Monastery, on weekdays, the Jueming monks not only paid a lot of money to make friends with the government, but also did some evil deeds of bullying men and women. Although the local government received accusations from the victims from time to time, the government and Jueming had long been in cahoots, and they had never done anything to the Jueming monks.

That evening, Fang Jiu Mazi came to Jialan Monastery with more than a hundred of his old suitcases and said to Monk Jueming: "The villain was ordered by the prefect of Baoding, Lord Fang Chunjiang, to escort a batch of property back to his hometown. He missed the inn due to greed. I wonder if the abbot can make it convenient for him to allow the villain and his party to stay overnight."

Monk Jueming heard that Fang Jiu Mazi was working for Fang Chunjiang, so he naturally agreed.

Fang Jiu Mazi said again, "The hundreds of old suitcases escorted by me are all personal belongings of the prefect, and they can't be lost. I hope the abbot will find a safe place for me to store the old suitcases."

Monk Jueming said: "This is easy to handle, although the donor can rest assured. It's not that this penniless Monk boasts. In Shahe County, I haven't heard of any thief who dares to have evil thoughts about Jialan Temple."

Fang Jiu Mazi said, "This is the best, please, abbot."

Therefore, Monk Jueming ordered his subordinate to carry more than a hundred old suitcases brought by Fang Jiu Mazi into the secret room of the temple, so that he could take good care of it, and then arrange for a group of people to wash up and prepare food.

Who knew that before Fang Jiu Mazi took a bath, he made a strange request to Monk Jueming: "When I take a bath, I am very afraid of others peeping. Abbot, is there any kraft paper in your temple?"

Monk Jueming said, "Yes, but I don't know what the donor is using?"

Fang Jiu Mazi said, "I will use kraft paper to paste the doors and windows around the bathroom tightly, so that I can take a bath with peace of mind."

Monk Jueming laughed and said, "This is easy!" He ordered the little monk to take more than ten pieces of kraft paper and give it to Fang Jiu Mazi.

After Fang Jiu carefully pasted the doors and windows with kraft paper, he smiled apologetically at Monk Jueming and said, "Let the abbot laugh."

Monk Jueming waved his hand, indicating that it didn't matter, but after he returned to the abbot's room, he thought about it carefully, and felt that something was wrong: It was hot summer, and it was boring for ordinary people to close the doors and windows. How could a big man be afraid of peeping, and he would use kraft paper to paste the back of the doors and windows to take a bath with peace of mind. Monk Jueming ordered his apprentice Huiyun to quietly investigate. After Huiyun took the order, he dipped his finger in the saliva to pierce the kraft paper to peep at Fang Jiu Mazi who was bathing. Fang Jiu Mazi, who was sitting in the bathtub, tugged at the long hair on his legs while gritting his teeth and said, "It was all you useless things that made me famous in the whole province, and I still have no place to live."

Huiyun didn't know why, so he reported what he saw to Monk Jueming. Monk Jueming was shocked when he heard that, and secretly said, "Could it be him! Fortunately, he found out early, otherwise this temple would have suffered." Monk Jueming immediately whispered a few words to Huiyun and asked him to go to Shahe County Yamen to report the case, and he "calmly" ordered to arrange food and entertain Fang Jiu Mazi...

It turned out that three months ago, a robber nicknamed "Flying Scud" sneaked into the capital and stole countless fortunes from a certain palace. The case shocked the emperor, who had ordered all places to strictly capture this thief. Shahe County has long been densely covered with thieves' lists, and there is also one at the entrance of Jialan Temple. Monk Jueming never dreamed that "Flying Scud" would come to his temple today under the name Fang Jiumazi.

Lu Mianen, the governor of Shahe County, received the report from Huiyun, who dared to neglect, immediately got on his horse, brought all the catchers in the county, and went straight to Jialan Monastery. In less than half an hour, he surrounded Jialan Monastery like an iron bucket, then shouted "Take the thief" in unison, and swarmed in, holding Fang Jiu Mazi who was eating.

Fang Jiu Mazi was not panicked at all. After being brought back to the county yamen, he scolded Lu Mianen: "Master, the villain was ordered by the prefect of Baoding, Lord Fang Chunjiang, to escort Lord Fang's private belongings back to his hometown.

Lu Mianen was shocked and said, "Bold thieves, you still want to deceive this county? This county asks you, when you were bathing in Jialan Temple just now, did you ever pull out long hair on your legs? Did you ever say to yourself, 'It was all you useless things that made me famous in the whole province, and I still have no place to live...'"

Fang Jiumazi laughed heartily and said, "Where did the master start with this? When the villain was bathing, did the master peep?"

Lu Mianen was shocked again and said, "Bold thief, how dare you laugh at this county! Although this county did not peep, someone did, and you are the thief'Scud 'who was ordered arrested. This county advises you to confess truthfully, so as not to be punished."

The villain has already been captured by the master. The master might as well throw the villain into prison first. It's not too late to consult the Baoding Mansion and understand identity of the villain before acting.

"This..." Lu Mianen looked at Fang Jiu Mazi's calm and calm expression, and couldn't help but beat a snare drum in his heart. He thought that although it was rare for a person to pluck the hair on his legs, in case the little monk really made a mistake... Finally, he said: "Well, this county will let you live a few more days for the time being. The iron prison of this county, forgive me, if you have the ability to reach the sky, you can't escape. Come! Put him on death row and watch him closely!"

Then, Lu Mianen immediately repaired a book and sent his subordinate Xingye to Baoding Mansion. Three days later, his subordinate brought back a reply from Baoding Mansion. The reply said that Fang Jiu Mazi was indeed someone, but the more than 100 old suitcases were Fang Jiu Mazi's own personal belongings, which had nothing to do with the prefect, Lord Fang Chunjiang.

Lu Mianen knew that she had wronged Fang Jiu Mazi, so she quickly ordered someone to release Fang Jiu Mazi from the death row, and the good wine and food would suppress Fang Jiu Mazi. Fang Jiu Mazi didn't care about anything, and said carelessly: "The master has also been tricked by others, but I hate that Zhiming monk, who for some reason framed the villain like this, the master must seek justice for the villain!"

Lu Mianen was noncommittal and said, "There's something wrong with you too. It's obviously your own old suitcase, why did you lie about it was Lord Fang's?"

Fang Jiu Mazi laughed again and said, "Master, it's not that the villain is talking about you, it's a pity that you have been an official for many years - don't you think about it, Lord Fang has only been the prefect of Baoding for a few years, can the wealth in his more than 100 old suitcases be said to be'accumulated 'by himself in the past few years? You still ask him about this directly, alas."

Lu Mianen was stunned for a moment, and then said ashamed: "Brother Fang is worthy of being someone from the prefectural yamen! There is indeed something wrong with this county's handling of this matter. If Lord Fang has anything to say in the future, I hope Brother Fang will say a few kind words to this county."

Fang Jiu Mazi said, "Of course." Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and said anxiously, "Master, there must be an ulterior motive for Monk Jueming to frame the villain like this. The villain suspects that the belongings in more than 100 old suitcases have been lost. If the villain wants to verify it in person, it will be at ease."

Lu Mianen thought for a while and said, "This is easy to handle, this county will accompany you for an inspection." So, Fang Jiu Mazi, accompanied by Lu Mianen, picked out a few mouthfuls from the more than 100 old suitcases on the spot to inspect, and the results showed that they were full of cassock wooden fish bells and other things. Now that Fang Jiu Mazi was done, he opened all the old suitcases in one go, and they were all cassock wooden fish bells and other things.

Fang Jiu Mazi grabbed the already frightened and pale-faced monk Jueming and said angrily, "You are bald, it is hateful for you to accuse me of'Scud 'before, but this time you stole Lord Fang's property while I was away. Don't you mean to kill me? I have no grudges with you in the past, but I have no grudges recently, why do you want to hurt me like this?He said to Lu Mianen again, "Master, you must be the master for the villain! Otherwise, once this matter is spread, Lord Fang's face will not look good, and you will definitely not be able to get rid of it, Master!" After saying that, he took out a list from his underwear and handed it to Lu Mianen. Lu Mianen took the list and took a look. It was written on the list of brocade, mountain geometry, etc., with a total value of more than 50,000 taels of silver.

Before Lu Mianen could speak, Monk Jueming had already cried, "Master, this penniless monk is wronged! Ever since this Penniless Monk heard from Patron Fang that the old suitcase contained Lord Fang's property, apart from being a good caretaker, how could he dare move a finger."

Fang Jiu Mazi said, "Listen, Master, this bald thief is still so quibbling! Could it be that Master Fang asked the villain to escort him back to his hometown all the way? Master, if you don't call the shots for the villain, the villain has to go straight back and report everything to Master Fang."

Although Lu Mianen usually took the benefits of Monk Jueming, she could only say at this time, "Brother Fang, please be relieved. The county will order Jueming Abbot to compensate you for the loss..."

In this way, Fang Jiu Mazi just exchanged more than 100 old suitcases for more than 50,000 taels of silver. At the end of this summer, many disaster victims in Anhui received relief from "falling from the sky"...