This person was originally a famous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, who directly worshiped the chancellor after retiring for seventeen years, and executed a peasant woman at the beginning of his term of office

Today we want to talk about a secret matter of Sima Guang, the famous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty--after he ascended to the position of prime minister, the first thing he did was to turn over an old case and execute a country woman who had nothing to do with him. What's the secret?

▲Portrait of Sima Guang

As we all know, Sima Guang is well-known for his childhood smashing cylinder to save people, and he has been brilliant since childhood, and he has just entered the army and the first as an adult, officially entering Shilin. Later, he was instructed to compile the "Zizhi Tongjian", which became even more famous in the world. Generally speaking, the world believes that he has the style of a gentleman, treats people gently and modestly, is fair and upright, and the historians of later generations also have a relatively high evaluation of him. So why would this famous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty rush to execute a peasant woman who had nothing to do with him when he had just come to power?

▲ Song Dynasty women's stills

All this has to start from seventeen years before Sima Guang became prime minister. In the first month of the first year of The Xining Dynasty (1068 AD), a murder occurred in Dengzhou (present-day Dengzhou, Shandong), and during the period when the thirteen-year-old girl Ah Yun was keeping filial piety for her deceased mother, her uncle, who regarded wealth as her fate, sold her to the lazy Han Wei Da in the same village at a low price of a few stones of grain. This Wei Da is not only ugly in appearance, but also an old bachelor who is famous in the township. When Ah Yun learned of this, he did not agree to this family affair, but did not dare to disobey the fierce uncle, so he decided to take the risk. On the night of the dark wind in the month, Ah Yun took advantage of Wei Da's deep sleep, carrying his own kitchen knife, rushed to wei da bed and slashed and killed indiscriminately, Wei Da suddenly woke up, and hurriedly resisted with his arm, young Ah Yun saw Wei Da wake up, and saw the blood flowing from Wei Da, and immediately ran out in fright. Frightened by this, Wei Da immediately reported to the officials the next day, but because the night was too dark, he did not see for a while who the perpetrator really was. After investigation, the government thought that Ah Yun was the most suspicious, so it came to the door.

▲Dali Temple, which is imitated by modern people

Seeing that Wei Da and Ya Gong were threatening, Ah Yun admitted her crime with great pleasure and confessed her motives for killing. After the county order learned the cause and effect of the incident, he was sentenced to death for the murder of his husband, and was scheduled to be beheaded after the autumn. Due to the implementation of the death row review system at that time, all criminals who needed to be executed had to be reported and reviewed layer by layer to prevent manslaughter. After receiving the case file of the death row prisoner Ah Yun, the Dali Temple and the Prudential Punishment Department both believed that Ah Yun was not his official wife at the time of the murder of Wei Da, did not constitute the crime of murder of her husband, and was at most deliberate murder, so they changed the sentence to deliberate murder, but still upheld the original death sentence. After receiving the review of the verdict, Xu Zun, the governor of Dengzhou at the time, believed that Ah Yun's crime did not lead to death, and that he should be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment because of his self-surrender circumstances and positive cooperation. The two sides argued, and the result of this small case was submitted to the desk of Song Shenzong Zhao Yan.

▲ Song Shenzong Zhao Yan seated statue

After Emperor Shenzong of Song took over the case, he also found it quite tricky, so he asked the two most famous ministers at that time, Sima Guang and Wang Anshi, to judge them. The two were notorious rivals, and although they were both talented anfuguo talents, their political views were very different, with Sima Guang of the "conservative faction" supporting Dali Temple in upholding the original judgment, while Wang Anshi, who was trying to change the law, supported Xu Zun's leniency. After a fierce dispute, Song Shenzong Zhao Yan finally chose Wang Anshi's opinion, exempted Ah Yun from the death penalty, and changed the sentence to fixed-term imprisonment, and soon after, Song Shenzong pardoned the world, Ah Yun was acquitted, and her affair with Wei Da was naturally long annulled.

▲Statue of Wang Anshi

In the eighth year of YuanFeng (1085 AD), Emperor Shenzong of Song died of illness and was succeeded by the young Emperor Zhezong of Song, Zhao Xu, who was in charge of the imperial court by Empress Gao, who had always opposed Wang Anshi's change of law. In order to stabilize the government, she recalled Sima Guang, who had been in retreat for seventeen years, to the imperial court and granted him the high position of chancellor. Soon after Sima Guang ascended to the throne, he ordered Dali Temple to retry the case, and Dali Temple, who was well aware of his intentions, finally sentenced Ah Yun to death for murder and demanded that the Dengzhou officials execute it immediately. Sima Guang, who had been fighting with Wang Anshi for half a lifetime, finally took back a city here, but it was a pity that Ah Yun, an innocent peasant woman, was born.