Bao Zheng can be said to be a well-known figure, but the image he also gives us is a dark square face with a crescent moon mark on his forehead. Iron-faced selflessness, honesty and cleanliness, and impartial handling of cases are his personal designs. However, the real Bao Zheng in history is not a black face, so what is the story of the real characters? Let's take a look at it today.
Wrap up
The real Bao Zheng in history was actually a white-faced student who became a county order at the age of 39. This is not that he was very late in the examination, as early as the age of 29 he was a jinshi, because he was a great filial piety, in order to go home to take care of his elderly parents, he refused to be an official, and did not take office until ten years later, when his parents died. At first, he was in Duanyan Incident in Duanzhou, Guangdong Province, and was greatly appreciated by the imperial court because of his impartiality and honesty.
People familiar with history know that the Northern Song Dynasty was a civilian society, and the emperor at that time was often "beaten" by the civilian officials and ministers, and at every turn it was a group of officials and emperors who discussed political affairs, just like the modern board of directors, Song Renzong was also a headache, especially for this package, but there was no way to take him, because what people said was reasonable. Since then, Bao Zheng has also established a human resource system and a perfect image of cracking down on corruption and eliminating corruption with several honest people in the DPRK and China.
Song Renzong
There were factions in the imperial court, and Fan Zhong'an set off a New Deal reform, which made the factions more distinct, and for a time they were divided into conservatives and reformers. The reform was aimed at the rule of officials, and Fan Zhongyan sent envoys to various places to monitor the every move of local officials. It is also because they have absolute power, often do whatever they want, and some people use it to act arbitrarily. Bao Zheng immediately went to the chapter to oppose the innovation, and Song Renzong also realized the seriousness of the problem and negated the innovation policy.
The subordinate officials of the Guard Sect thought that Bao Zheng was their person, but in fact they thought too much. In 1045, Fan Zhong'an resigned from the post of Chancellor, and the New Revolution failed. What conservatives never expected was that Bao Zheng would play a chapter again to support Fan Zhong'an's policy of selecting the children of scholars and doctors by examination.
Fan Zhong'an
A few years later, according to the current situation at that time, Bao Zheng played "Seven Things" again, similar to the New Deal, and only then did the masses understand that they originally thought that Bao Zheng was a "fool", but in fact he did not have any faction in the official field, but he was just a person who dared to tell the truth, be clear about justice, and only tell the truth. And Bao Zheng once said such a sentence when impeaching Song Sui: You are not wrong, because you have not done anything, so you do not make mistakes, but as a key minister of the country, you have not achieved anything, that is, a corpse vegetarian meal.
Song Yu
In 1057, Bao Zheng went to Kaifeng Province to take up a post, when he was 59 years old. He reformed the litigation system after taking office. At first, if the people were to file a grievance, they had to submit the case through the door number department, so that some officials took advantage of their positions to blackmail the people. After Bao Zheng took office, he withdrew the door number division, and the people were overjoyed and shouted: There is a Bao Qingtian in Kaifeng. However, Bao Zheng only stayed in Kaifeng for two years, and was transferred by Song Renzong to be the third envoy to take care of a country's finances, because such an honest and clean official was the most reassuring to use him.
When Bao Zheng first served as the third envoy, there was a famine, and when the imperial court collected taxes, only cash was required in kind. The common people could only sell grain to the government for cash, but the officials took the opportunity to squeeze the people, and the angry Bao Zheng lian shangguo folded to the emperor and proposed a policy of name change. The reform was so effective that Emperor Renzong of Song became more dependent on Bao Zheng and made him deputy chancellor in 1061. At that time, Bao Zheng was 63 years old, and the labor of the later life led him down on the hospital bed.
Kaifeng Province
In 1062 AD, Bao Zheng died of illness and the whole country mourned.
The real Bao Zheng in history does not have the seven heroes and five righteousnesses with profound martial arts around him, he is a counselor who shares the worries of the emperor, a good minister who is loyal to the country, and a clean official who does things for the people. In the more than twenty years of his tenure, he has made many contributions to the people and the country. His story, his deeds, has been celebrated by future generations.
References: History of the Song Dynasty, General History of China