The story of the Taoist "Eight Immortals" is believed to be heard by many people. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the "Eight Immortals" appeared in China. But the Eight Immortals at that time were not quite the same as what we know today. After the Han Dynasty, the Eight Immortals of the dynasties were not very unified. It was not until Wu Yuantai of the Ming Dynasty made the "Journey to the East of the Eight Immortals' Provenance" that the story of "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" began to spread widely, and the characters of the "Eight Immortals" were determined. In this version of the Eight Immortals, one of them was full of evil before his life, and he was almost beheaded by Bao Zheng, but he finally became an immortal. Who is this person? He is Cao Guo's uncle.
Cao Guo's uncle's real name was Cao You, also known as Cao Jingxiu, his grandfather was Cao Bin, the King of the Northern Song Dynasty, and his father was Cao Xuan, the King of Wu. When Cao Tong was still young, his eldest sister was elected by Emperor Renzong of Song to become empress in the palace, so he also became a great uncle. Originally, Uncle Cao Guo did not have much evil deeds, but he was later dragged down by his brother. Cao Guo's younger brother was a relative of the empress, so he often committed misdeeds and bullied men and women. Although Uncle Cao Guo repeatedly advised his younger brother, his younger brother ignored him.
One day, Uncle Erguo took another fancy to the beauty of his wife who went to Beijing to take the exam xiucai, and he wanted to take it for himself. Xiucai did not comply, and The second uncle sent someone to hang him and forcibly occupy his wife. After Xiucai's death, the wronged soul did not disperse, and went to the Kaifeng province Yin Bao zheng to complain, and Bao Zheng promised to return Xiucai a fair trial. After Cao Guo's uncle heard about this, he warned the second uncle that Xiucai's wife must be executed so as not to cause trouble. Uncle Erguo was still more afraid of this brother, so he listened to Uncle Cao guo's words and threw Xiucai's wife into the well.
Unexpectedly, Xiucai's wife did not die and climbed out of the well. In the process of fleeing to Kaifeng Province, Xiucai's wife mistakenly regarded Cao Guo's uncle as a bao zheng and accused him of er guo's various illegal acts. Uncle Cao Guo was terrified, so he ordered his men to beat Xiucai's wife to death with an iron whip. Uncle Cao Guo's men beat Xiucai's wife several times with an iron whip, saw the blood, thought she was dead, and dragged her into a remote alley. Probably because of her fate, Xiucai's wife still struggled to survive and really found Bao Zheng.
After Bao Zheng heard about her grievances, he cheated on her illness and asked Cao Guo's uncle to visit the palace. After Cao Guo's uncle came over, Bao Zheng asked Xiucai's wife to come out and confront him. Uncle Cao Guo was speechless and was imprisoned by Bao Zheng. Later, Bao Zheng deceived The Second Uncle by making a fake book and locked up the brothers. Empress Cao approached Emperor Renzong of Song to intercede, and Emperor Renzong of Song ordered Bao Zheng to release the two uncles. Bao Zheng did not comply and beheaded the main criminal, Erguo's uncle. Later, Emperor Renzong of Song granted amnesty to the world, and Bao Zheng had to release Cao Guo's uncle.
After Uncle Cao Guo came out, he changed his mind and changed his face, became a man again, and retreated into the mountains and forests to cultivate the Tao. One day, Han Zhongli and Lü Dongbin of the Eight Immortals asked him, "What are you raising?" Uncle Cao Guo replied, "Dao." The two asked, "Where is the Word?" Uncle Cao Guo replied, "Heaven." The two then asked, "Where is the heavens?" Uncle Cao pointed his finger at his heart. The two immortals said happily, "The heart is heaven, and the heavens are the Tao, it seems that you have already understood the true meaning of the Dao and have the qualifications to cultivate immortals." Later, Han Zhong left the two of them to pass on his "True Secret Will" and ordered him to cultivate diligently. It didn't take long for Uncle Cao Guo to become an immortal. Why did he commit so many mistakes and become immortal? Xiao Bian thought that this should be the same as what the Buddhists said, "Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the ground"! The main thing is to persuade people to be kind.