This article is from, Volume V of the Imperial And Wild Records, And the Old Book of Tang and the Biography of Liang Officials
During the sui dynasty, a farmer in Yuancheng County, Hebei Province, entered his wife's house with a cow, and eight or nine years later, the cow had given birth to more than ten calves. Later, the peasant wanted to move from his father-in-law's house to stand on his own, but the greedy father-in-law tricked him into not letting his son-in-law take the cattle away. This peasant only had such a little survival to rely on, and he could not get cattle, so he had to tear his face and report to the county, but he could not solve it for a long time. Someone told him that Zhang Yunji, the commander of the neighboring Wuyang County, was exquisite and honest, so why didn't he go to him to ask for help?
The peasant came to Wuyang County to file a complaint, and the county commander Zhang Yunji said to him: "There are also county officials in your county, why did you come to me?" The peasant burst into tears, told him about the situation in 1510, and begged Zhang Xianling to be his master. Zhang Yunji saw that he was honest and pitiful, and promised to solve his problems.
Zhang Xianling ordered Ya Gong to tie up the peasant, cover his head with his cloth shirt, and personally escort him to the village where his father-in-law lived, and loudly publicized that he had come to catch the cattle thieves. The county order led all the cattle in the village to a clearing, and then asked where they came from one by one. The peasant's father-in-law did not understand the meaning of the county order, and for fear of getting caught in the side of the cattle thieves, he pointed to the dozen or so cows he had brought and said, "These are all my son-in-law's cattle, which were borrowed from my family." Zhang Xianling laughed, reached out and removed the cloth shirt on his son-in-law's head, and said, "Isn't this your son-in-law?" Since it's his cow, let him take it!" The old father-in-law was ashamed and angry, and had to kowtow to the county order.
Coincidentally, there is also an almost identical story. During the Tang Dynasty, Pei Ziyun, the county commander of Xinxiang County in Weizhou, was known for his versatility and shrewdness. He handled civil disputes, and like Zhang Yunji of the Sui Dynasty, he was flexible and reasonable, and was highly praised by the officials.
There was a county resident named Wang Jing, who was sentenced to exile in the border areas for violating criminal law. This man is a single man, and when he goes out alone, his home becomes a no-man's land. But he also had six cows, which had to be taken care of. Mo Naihe had to foster her in the home of her uncle Li Jin. This walk was five years, during which time the cow gave birth to thirty calves in Li Jin's house.
After Wang Jing returned home after completing his sentence, he repaired his residence a little and immediately went to his uncle's house to bring back the cow. His uncle said to him, "Two of the six cows have died, and there are four old cows left. When Wang Jing saw that his uncle did not mention the calf, he thought to himself, I am afraid that I will cause trouble. He saw so many live calves in the yard, and he thought that they were all born of his own cows, so he asked to take them with him. Li Jin said that this calf was not produced by Wang Jing's cow, and refused to give it to him. He was an uncle, and Wang Jing was not good at sand, so in a fit of anger, he reported this matter to the county.
The county ordered Pei Ziyun to carefully examine the dispute between the two sides, and his heart quickly understood eight or nine. While quietly telling Wang Jing to stay in the county gate for the time being, he also sent people down to investigate the case of Li Jin, a "cattle thief." When Li Jin heard that he had been treated as a "thief", he was simply confused by the second King Kong, and before the county could catch him, he rushed to Yamen in a hurry to defend himself.
Pei County ordered Wang Jing to stand in the hidden place of the south wall and cover his head with a cloth shirt so that people could not recognize his true appearance. Then he summoned Li Jin and rebuked him in a loud voice, "You are Li Jin?" Seeing that you are so old, why are you still restless, going to steal other people's things, and don't want to live?" Li Jin shouted bitterly, and Pei Xianling said, "To tell you honestly, there was a robber who confessed that the two of you had together stolen thirty heads of cattle from someone's house, and they are still feeding them in your house." If you don't admit it, I'll send someone to search it immediately." Or, I call out the robber and confront you. What do you think?"
Only then did Li Jin understand that it was for the thirty calves, and he breathed a sigh of relief, and some fear was gone, and he argued with a straight face. "There are thirty cows in the villain's house, but they were born of the six cows that the villain's nephew Wang Jing fostered in my place, and it was really not stolen!"
Pei Xianling laughed loudly, laughed and told Wang Jing to remove the clothes caged on his head and stand in front. When Li Jin saw that it was Wang Jing, at this time he completely forgot about the fight for calves, but like a savior, he said loudly to the county order: "He is my nephew, he has come just in time, he can testify for me!" The county commander said to him, "I just want to listen to what you just said!" Since the calf was born to your nephew's cow, honestly return it to someone, what else can you say? Your own nephew is still blackmailing him like this, and you have done it!" Li Jin woke up at this time, shy and angry, crawling on the ground, unable to say a word.
Pei Xianling also said: "Li Jin has raised cattle for his nephew for five years, and there is still some hard work, and it is impossible to say that he is not paid some remuneration." Wang Jing, leave a few calves for your uncle, and you will take the rest back. ”
A dispute, Pei Ziyun did not make a fuss, so witty and quite humorous to end.