I believe that many people are not unfamiliar with Bao Zheng's name, and there are many stories about him in the folk. Bao Zheng was a famous courtier of the Northern Song Dynasty, and was known for his uprightness, lack of attachment to the powerful, honesty and justice, and selflessness with an iron face. He was wise and decisive, dared to uphold justice for the common people, and fought against injustice, so he was called "Bao Qingtian" and "Bao Gong". Later generations regarded him as a god, and even believed that he was the reincarnation of Kuixing, worshiped him very much, and built the Bao Gong Ancestral Hall to commemorate him.
Bao Zheng has become synonymous with qing officials and a symbol of incorruptibility. Legend has it that he was very clever and had a unique set of methods for judging cases, such as the famous "cow tongue case".
In the fifth year of Emperor Renzong of Song's reign, the 28-year-old Bao Zheng was appointed as a Dali commentator and appointed as the Zhi County of Jianchang County. Because he was not at ease with his elderly parents, Bao Zheng asked the imperial court to arrange for him to become an official near his hometown of Hefei, so he changed his tax to hezhou. But the parents still did not want their son to be too far away, so Bao Zheng resigned from his official position and concentrated on going home to support his parents. A few years later, his parents died one after another, and he built a grass hut next to his parents' tomb to guard the funeral, and he was willing to leave until the end of the period. The villagers came to persuade Bao Zheng many times, and he went to Beijing to listen to the election. From this, it can be seen that he is a filial and righteous person. In the fourth year of Jingyou, Bao Zheng was appointed as the Zhi County of Tianchang County, and it was here that the "Cow Tongue Case" occurred.
One day, Bao Zheng was on official business. Suddenly, someone went to the gate of the county court to beat the drum and complained, and he immediately asked his subordinates to invite the drummer to the court. It turned out that the drummer was a farmer. As soon as he saw Bao Zheng, he knelt down and cried and shouted, "Lord Bao, please be the master of the grass people!" Bao Zheng replied, "If you have any grievances, I will decide for you." The farmer went on to say, "Yesterday afternoon I drove the cattle to work in the fields and fed them hay in the evening. But when the grass people were preparing to lead the cattle to work in the fields this morning, they found that the ox's mouth was bleeding profusely, and its tongue did not know which black-hearted man had cut it! Therefore, the grass people came to the government office to report the case. ”
After listening, Bao Zheng asked the farmer to go back and kill the cattle, and then sell the beef. The peasants were shocked, because in order to protect agricultural production, the imperial court clearly stipulated that ordinary people could not kill cultivating cattle at will, that is to say, killing cultivating cattle was illegal. Without cultivating cattle, it is a big deal to be hungry, but this slaughter of cattle is to be killed, and the peasants naturally dare not kill cattle. Bao Zheng comforted him and said, "I will let you do what you want, and you will do it." If something goes wrong, I'm responsible. ”
Although he did not understand why Bao Zheng let himself go back to killing the cattle, but with his assurance, the farmer listened to his words, went back and secretly killed the cattle, and then took the beef to sell for money. Not long after, a scoundrel went to the county court to beat a drum and complained that someone had secretly killed the cattle and sold the beef for money. As soon as Bao Zheng heard it, he knew that the person in front of him was the murderer. Because the scoundrel saw that the peasants were not only not punished for killing the cattle, but also took the beef for money, he was not willing, so he came to report to the officials, did not expect that this was a trap, stealing chicken is not a corrosion of rice.
Later, Bao Zheng killed the scoundrel for deliberately killing the cattle, and the peasant was not guilty. Because the scoundrel likes to do evil deeds and bully men and women in his daily life, the people after he was disposed of clapped their hands and praised him, and Bao Zheng was also famous in Tianchang County because of this case.