Bai Shouyi commented on Bao Zheng in the "General History of China": "At that time, people also called him "an awe-inspiring and invincible festival", "there is a matter of whiteness, and the face of the face is insulting", according to which it can be seen that Bao Zheng's personality is already clean and upright, almost stubborn, and even a little unkind, however, this is also the fundamental difference between him and some mediocre officials. ”
Throughout the dynasties, famous courtiers will be born from generation to generation, if they belong to one of the household names, Bao Zheng, which is known as "Qingtian", can be called one or two. As a famous person of a generation, his image of being upright and outspoken has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
In fact, in the eyes of later generations, Bao Zheng, who is just and upright, seems to have adjudicated countless cases for the people in his lifetime, but in fact, the stories of this Great Qing official who have a history of trial and judgment are very few. There is only one case recorded in the "History of Song", that is, the famous cattle tongue cutting case. And look at the cattle tongue case, how should Bao Gong treat it?
First, when the cattle tongue case occurs, how to treat Bao Gong
Bao Zheng (包拯), also spelled Xiren, was a native of Hefei, Luzhou during the Song Dynasty. In the fifth year of Emperor Renzong of Song's reign, in 1027 AD, Bao Zhengzhong was a jinshi, but due to his parents, he was unable to go out as an official for the next ten years. It was not until the fourth year of Jing You, in 1037 AD, three years after the death of Bao Zheng's parents, that Bao Zheng began to go out to become an official.
From the first year of Jiayou (1056) to the third year of Jiayou, Bao Zheng served as the prefect of Kaifeng, which was the origin of the "Kaifeng Fu Yin Bao Lord", and the case of the cow tongue was a "shocking case" during this period.
The record of this case in the "History of Song" is extremely brief - there are thieves who cut people's cattle tongues, and the lord comes to sue. Zheng Yue: "The first return, kill and kill." "Seeking revenge has come to sue the cattle killer, he said, "What is the cutting of the tongue of the cow and telling it?" "Thieves are shocked.
In a few words, he could not comprehend Bao Gong's ability to judge the case, so he analyzed the plot one by one.
The time occurred in the autumn of the year when Bao Zheng was the county commander of Tianchang County, and autumn was the season when farmers were busy harvesting goods, and farmers were busy harvesting crops. But one day, during the day, someone beat the drum of the door, and a case slowly opened.
At that time, Bao Zheng was dealing with busy official duties, and after hearing someone beating a drum and shouting injustice, he ordered the servants to bring the drummers to the court. Bao Zheng looked at it, forgiveness is a farmer, this farmer as soon as he saw Lord Bao immediately fell to his knees and cried: "Lord Bao begs you to be the master of the grass people!" Some people want to put the villain to death, the villain has been wronged! After Bao Zheng saw this situation, he immediately stopped the farmer's shouting and said, "If you have any grievances, you will be recruited from the truth, and this official will be the master for you." ”
It turned out that the farmer's cow had somehow been cut off its tongue, and how could the cow eat without its tongue? Not far from death, the farmer was in a hurry and found the famous Lord Bao. And see how Lord Bao handled this case?
Second, the case was decided by surprise, and the water came out
After pondering for a moment, Bao Zheng asked the farmer to return home and kill the cattle and sell them for money. At that time, the farmer could not understand the way Ofe Bao was doing, but he did not understand it, and in order to survive, the farmer still did it according to the method of Lord Bao.
Why is it for life? Because during the Song Dynasty, the imperial court forbade private slaughter of cattle for the needs of agricultural production, and if there is no official permission, privately committing cattle is a capital crime against the law. This is why the farmer's cattle are so anxious after their tongues have been cut off.
Later, when the farmer returned home, he killed the cattle and took the slaughtered beef out to sell. The farmer's business was very good, and he soon sold all the meat. At this moment, a man went to Yamen to report the crime, saying that the farmer had committed a crime by committing suicide by committing suicide.
But what people did not expect was that Bao Zheng asked him loudly: "Why are you worried and complaining with the farmer?" Why cut the tongue of a cow? ”
The person who complained was shocked when he heard it, and at that time he did not know why Bao Zheng suddenly identified him as the murderer. Perhaps because of the weakness of the thief's heart, the murderer immediately prostrated his head in a hurry to accept the crime, and was punished according to law by Bao Zheng on the spot.
So how did Bao Zheng analyze the case?
First of all, judging from the murderer's attempt to expose the farmer's behavior, it can be seen that these two people have a personal grudge, because he hopes that the government can bring the farmer to justice.
The reason why he was able to report the case early the next morning after the farmer killed the cow did not need to be confirmed at all was because he knew that the farmer's cow had no tongue, so he thought that the farmer had killed the cow. But the farmer did not preach that the cattle had lost their tongues, and the murderer's cleverness actually exposed him to the horse's feet.
In fact, when Bao Zheng knew that the cow had no tongue, he should understand that the real intention of the person who cut the tongue was not the cow, but the farmer who raised the cattle. Because a cow that has cut off its tongue cannot continue to cultivate the field, the farmer either starves the cow to death or kills the cow.
If the farmer kills the cow, he is just caught in the trap of the man who cuts the cow's tongue, and the murderer will naturally have the next move. Therefore, Bao Zheng saw through the murderer's intentions at the beginning, so he calculated that the farmer would kill the cattle to lead the murderer out. The person who came to the government to report to the official was the murderer who cut the tongue of the cow, and the truth naturally came out.
Just said that the farmer has two choices, if the farmer does not kill the cow but watches the cow die, when the time comes for the government to investigate, then it will inevitably disturb the person who cut the cow's tongue, and it will not be so easy to solve the case. The murderer thought that his plan was perfect, but he did not want to see through the backpack at a glance, so he used such a psychological warfare move, and finally lured the snake out of the hole successfully.
It is undeniable that if this bull tongue case is in modern society, it is definitely a small case, and there are many clever ways to solve it, but in the Song Dynasty period a thousand years ago, as far as the clues at that time were concerned, this case could be solved so quickly. It can also be seen from this that Bao Zheng's ability to judge cases is very outstanding, and with a small view of the big, the reputation of this "Bao Qingtian" is by no means a false name.
In fact, the reason why history does not record too much about the deeds of Bao Zheng's judgment is because his political achievements are more for the official, a clean official who dares to speak out.
Third, be serious and honest, and do not pretend to be pleasant
Bao Zheng's name of honesty and integrity can be said to be well known, and he only has a few deeds to capture Bao Gong's style.
In the first year of the Qing calendar, that is, in 1041 AD, Bao Zheng, who was forty-two years old at the time, was promoted to Dali Temple and Zhiduan Prefecture. During the Song Dynasty, Duanzhou Oh specialty Duan Yan can be described as the most cherished elegant instrument of the Song Dynasty scholars, so the number of "tribute Stones" that the local people pay tribute to the imperial court every year is not a small number. In addition, in order to curry favor with the relationship, local officials often levied dozens of times the number of the people to bribe the magnates.
In this way, the burden on the people can be said to be very huge. Over time, this practice seemed to become the default rule in the local area, until Bao Zheng took office. At that time, After learning about this matter, Bao Zheng could not bear the burden of the people and did not want to be corrupt in the official field, so he ordered that only the quantity of the imperial court should be produced, and the state and county officials were not allowed to increase the number of weights privately, and the violators were bound to be severely punished.
Three years later, Bao Zheng was appointed by the emperor for his meritorious service in the "Duan yan incident", and the so-called inspector was responsible for supervising the behavior of hundreds of officials. This official position is actually very unflattering, has little real power, and is extremely easy to offend the powerful. But for Bao Zheng, it was his opportunity to speak out for the people.
During this period, he also made many upright voices, such as demanding that those who sold salt be severely punished; opposing the imperial court and seeking peace with the Western Xia; and sending envoys to the Khitan on behalf of the Great Song Dynasty...
There is nothing that best reflects Bao Zheng's impartiality and impartiality is on the issue of party struggle. At that time, when Fan Zhongyan set off a wave of "celebrating the New Deal" in the imperial court, the court officials were divided into two factions, one was the reform faction headed by Fan Zhongyan, and the other was the opposing conservative faction. At this time, Bao Zheng was just a petty official who had just entered the central government, and bao Zheng was still a conservative Wang Gongchen in the position of supervising the imperial history.
At first, Bao Zheng impeached the reformists for their shortcomings, which made the conservatives applaud. After Fan Zhongyan left Beijing and the New Deal failed, Bao Zheng wrote an article entitled "Please Still Play the Yin Disciples of the Exam", in which he talked about the benefits of Fan Zhongyan's policy of using the examination to select the children of scholars and doctors and the viewpoint of maintaining it. In this way, Bao Zheng can be said to have offended both parties.
But this also best reflects Bao Zheng's impartial and honest nature, never pretending to be pleasing to others, and never a lifelong official who does not form a party for personal gain, and only speaks out for the people and the country.
brief summary
Undoubtedly, Bao Zheng is one of the few ancient officials in China's history who is well-known, and people's evaluation of him is also advanced, and once there was a tendency to deify. And people's admiration for him is not only a recognition of his ability and quality, but also an appeal of the people of Li people to clean up the government and rule the world, and the people's spiritual appeal to impartial law enforcement.
Therefore, it can be seen that this is a kind of demand of the people to "live far away from the rivers and lakes", the imperial court is far away, and only the honesty of the local parents and officials is really related to the happiness of the people. This is also the reason why Bao Zheng will be preserved in the image of such a "judge" for posterity.
The lesson of the predecessors is the experience of today's people, how many corrupt officials and corrupt officials have been stigmatized, and only those who have been living in the world are honest and upright, and only when the officials are honest and honest can the people live and work in peace and contentment, and can the country prosper and become strong.
Reference: General History of China
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