Irving, then Auditor-General of the Straits Settlements, and later Acting Lieutenant-Governor of Penang, there were about 20,000 to 25,000 Chinese in Larut around February 1872, 2,000 to 3,000 of whom were Cantonese or "Macao Men" as he referred to them, and the remainder being Khay (Hakka) men from Cheng Sheng and Sin Neng. In February 1872 Cheng Sheng miners had a dispute with Sin Neng miners over the boundaries of some mining lands. Lee Ah Kun (Lee Ko Yin) represented the Sin Neng and attempted to negotiate but was murdered on 16 February on the pretext of an adulterous affair. It has been believed that The Third Larut War erupted in 1872 over a scandal involving the Lee Ah Kun (李亞勤 / 李亚勤), the attorney at Larut (for the Ghee Hin leader Ho Ghi Sui) and the wife of a nephew of the Hai San leader, Chung, Keng Quee. It is said that upon discovery, the allegedly adulterous couple was caught, tortured, put into a pig basket () and thrown into a disused mining pond where they drowned. Supposedly to avenge the death of their leader, the Ghee Hin had 4,000 professional fighting men (brought in from China via Penang) attack the Hai Sans. For the first time, the Hai Sans were driven out of Larut. About 10,000 Hai San men sought sanctuary in Penang. It took months before the Hai Sans, supported by Ngah Ibrahim recovered their Matang and Larut mines. Others hold that the alleged "intrigue" never happened and was merely a political fiction to justify the murder of Ah Kun (aka Lee Coyn) in a manner that would permit Tokong to save face for the death sentence passed down on their leader Khoo Thean Tek for his part in the Penang Riots of 1869 where Ah Kun apparently got off Scot free. At this time, Raja Abdullah a claimant to the royal throne of Perak and an enemy of Ngah Ibrahim, took sides against the Hai Sans and Ngah Ibrahim. On 26 September 1872, Chung Keng Quee signed a petition together with 44 other Chinese leaders, seeking British interference following the attack of 12,000 men of Chung Shan by 2,000 men of Sen Ning. (See The Petition of Chung Keng Quee & 44 Others and The humble petition of Ah Yeu, Ung Keng Sin, Soh Ah Pang, Su Ah Fooed, and others) Fourth Larut War (1873) The