Zhang Tang was a famous courtier during the Han Dynasty and the most famous magistrate during the Han Dynasty. Zhang Tang's father served as a county clerk in Chang'an, in charge of punishment. Influenced by his father's ears, Zhang Tang liked to study criminal law since childhood, showing a talent for judging cases. A childhood experience allowed Zhang Tang's father to discover his son's talent.
Once, when his father was out of work, the young Zhang Tang stayed at home, because there were rats stealing food in the house, so that a bowl of meat on the table disappeared. After Zhang Tang's father returned, he thought that Zhang Tang, who was hungry, had stolen the meat, so he beat Zhang Tang. In order to prove his innocence, zhang tang dug a rat hole and found a piece of meat left over from the bite. Subsequently, Zhang Tang personally caught the "culprit rat" and sentenced and punished him like a decent.
Since then, my father felt that this boy had a talent for judging cases, so he began to teach Zhang Tang's criminal law from this day. After the death of his father, Zhang Tang served as a small official in the county court, because there was no opportunity, so the hope of promotion was slim, Zhang Tang once fell into a situation of discouragement, until he met a nobleman, which made Zhang Tang's life encounter a turnaround. This nobleman was a prisoner named Tian Sheng, who was originally Zang Di's great-grandson and was thrown into Chang'an Prison for committing a crime.
In his negotiations with this person, Zhang Tang realized that Tian Sheng was the number one person and befriended him. In prison, Tian Sheng was taken care of by Zhang Tang, and the two became close friends. After Tian Sheng was released from prison, the two continued to communicate. Later, Tian Sheng's sister married Emperor Jingdi of Han and was given the title of imperial concubine, and later became empress because Emperor Jingdi of Han gave birth to Liu Che. Just as the so-called one person was able to ascend to heaven, after Liu Che ascended the throne, the unknown Tian Sheng was named the Marquis of Zhouyang, rich and noble.
What is rare is that tian sheng, who soared into the sky, did not forget his close friend Zhang Tang, who had taken care of him in the early years, and began to introduce him to the dignitaries and dignitaries, giving him the opportunity to work under lieutenant Ning Cheng. Zhang Tang's character was outstanding and quite capable, and he was deeply appreciated by Ning Cheng, and he was given the opportunity to be transferred to Maoling Wei, and after building a mausoleum for Emperor Wu of Han for a period of time, he was reappointed as a servant of the imperial history and smoothly entered the judicial organ. However, what really made Zhang Tang stand out was a "witch case" that shocked the whole country.
When Liu Che ascended the throne, he made his original wife Chen Ajiao empress. Chen Ajiao was the beloved daughter of the eldest princess Liu Yan (Emperor Jing's sister), and the witchcraft case began with this person.
In the early years, emperor Jing of Han's crown prince was Liu Rong, the son of Li Ji, not Liu Che. At that time, for political purposes, Liu Yan wanted to ration her young daughter Ah Jiao xu to Liu Rong. Unexpectedly, Li Ji, who was favored by Emperor Jing, rejected the marriage. It turned out that Liu Yan often voted for her brother's favor and sent young and beautiful girls to Emperor Jing, which made Li Ji very dissatisfied. Therefore, Li Ji would reject the marriage and reject the face of the eldest princess.
Liu Was angry and did not fight, so she found Liu Che's mother, Wang Gu, and set up a doll kiss for the two children. Subsequently, under the operation of Liu Rong, Li Ji's position in the heart of Emperor Jing of Han took a sharp turn for the worse, directly causing the crown prince Liu Rong to lose his position as crown prince. Because Liu Che was able to become emperor, half of the credit went to his aunt Liu Yan. Therefore, when Liu Che ascended the throne, he immediately made Liu Jiao's daughter Ah Jiao empress.
It is said that when Liu Yan married Wang Gu, Liu Che, who was still a child, said the words "Golden House Hidden Jiao". To this day, this phrase is still cited as a classic by modern people. However, after all, Liu Che's admiration for Ah Jiao was just a joke when he was a child, and from the various actions of Emperor Wu of Han, we can see that he did not have any sincerity about Chen Ajiao. On the contrary, Chen Ajiao, who held her identity as empress, was arrogant and arrogant, which greatly reduced Liu Che's good feelings for her.
In addition, the empress who grew up in a honeypot seems to have no fertility, and although she has been married to Liu Che for many years, she has not been able to give birth to a son and a half daughter for him. For this reason, Wei Zifu, who was young and beautiful and could pass on incense for Liu Che, came to the top and became Liu Che's favorite beauty. But all women always have a jealous side, and Chen Ajiao is no exception. Seeing that the lowly woman Wei Zifu had surpassed herself, Chen Ajiao did not fight.
So much so, in order to give herself a place in the heart of Emperor Wu of Han, Chen Ajiao found a witch from outside the palace and asked her to use witchcraft to pit Wei Zifu. The so-called "witchcraft" is a kind of curse ritual. Although the curse is purely false, in ancient times this kind of behavior was very sensitive, and those who dared to touch the witches without exception were severely punished by the law.
One day, Emperor Wu of Han discovered that Chen Ajiao was practicing witchcraft and was furious. An enraged Liu Che immediately approached Zhang Tang and asked him to personally try the case. In this way, Zhang Tang got the opportunity, and he severely punished all the criminals implicated in the case. The witch girl who had been invited by Chen Ajiao to cast a spell was sentenced to capital punishment, and all those who knew about it lost their heads.
Since then, Zhang Tang has been reused by Liu Che and has become a generation of famous courtiers. But even if he was a famous courtier, Zhang Tang could not escape the doom of his later years. In November of the second year of Yuan Ding (December 116 BC), he was framed by Li Wen (李文) and Cheng Xiang (庄青翟) Changshi Zhumaichen (丞相) and committed suicide.
After Zhang Tang's death, the family's property did not exceed five hundred gold, all of which were rewarded by the emperor and had no other property. The son of his brother wants to bury Zhang Tang thickly. Zhang Tang's mother said: "Zhang Tang, as the minister of the Son of Heaven, was slandered to death by evil words, and there is nothing to bury!" "His body was buried in an ox cart, with only a coffin and no rafters.
When Emperor Wudi of Han knew, he said, "Without such a mother, you cannot give birth to such a son." Therefore, the three elders were sentenced to death. Qing Zhai was forced to commit suicide and released Tian Xin. Emperor Wu of Han was very sorry for Zhang Tang's death, and soon promoted his son Zhang Anshi to an official position.
Resources:
[The Sixty-second Chronicle of the Chronicles of the Cool Officials, The Second Volume of Wang Yizhou's Chong'an Treatise]