Bao Zheng was a legendary figure in the Northern Song Dynasty, his story can be described as a household name, and the image of selflessness in the iron face is also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
In history, Bao Zheng often appeared as a master of case-breaking, and his ability to solve cases began to appear in his infancy, and famous cases such as "The Case of Zhenmei" and "Tanuki Cat for Prince" in film and television dramas made the people cherish it like a few family treasures.
Bao Zheng also used a couplet to solve a case of ancient wonders, which made people marvel.
The reason why this case is "weird" is because on the day after the wedding, the bride hanged herself, and Bao Zheng said: Sticking the upper link on the street, the person who came out of the lower link is the murderer, and this couplet also appeared in the movie "Tang Bohu Dian Qiu Xiang" starring Zhou Xingchi.
The bride was mysteriously killed
Born in 999 in Hefei, Anhui Province, to a shuxiang mendi family, Bao Zheng was admitted to the Jinshi at the age of 28 and served as the zhi county of Jianchang County (present-day Yongxiu, Jiangxi).
He rose through more than 20 times in his lifetime, reaching the highest official position in privy councillor, and in 1056 he became the prefect of Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, and Bao Zheng's official position was equivalent to that of the current mayor of Beijing.
Although this official position was not very high, the emperor of the dynasty trusted him and gave him the right to cut first and play later.
Bao Zheng decided countless cases in his lifetime, and was deeply loved by the common people, and he dared to impeach the prime minister with courage and courage, and sometimes angered the emperor.
Legend has it that Bao Zheng had three major swords, and he had first beheaded and then killed Pang Taishi's son, and also killed Chen Shimei in anger.
Once, after Bao Zheng came to a small town with a few attendants, he decided to find a place to stay, and when he walked along the street, he saw an old man sitting on the steps and weeping.
Bao Zheng hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "May I ask this old man, what is sad about?"
The old man bowed his head and did not say a word, but silently shed tears, and the expression on his face was very sad.
When Bao Zheng and others proposed to spend the night, the old man repeatedly waved his hand and refused: "It is not a secret, it is only in the past few days that people have died in the family." ”
Bao Zheng was willing to hear more about it, and when the old man saw that the people were very popular, he hurriedly told Bao Zheng about the encounters at home in the past few days and the things that his son was about to ask.
This old man's surname is Xu, the old couple is more than 50 years old, has an 18-year-old son, the two are very protective of him.
When the son reached the age of marriage, the matchmaker introduced a girl from a neighboring village, this girl was beautiful and virtuous, knowledgeable and gifted, and very talented in reading poetry and books from an early age.
The two old members of the Xu family liked it very much, so they made a dowry and betrothed their 18-year-old son.
The Xu family's family is well-off, and the woman is also very satisfied with their family, and the two families are holding a wedding for the little two.
On the day of the wedding, the Xu family was illuminated, the courtyard was hung with red silk, and the yahuan squatters were busy entertaining guests in the courtyard, and there were many guests on that day, including relatives and friends of the Xu family, as well as the groom's window.
After eating the banquet, it is the link into the cave room, the bride knows that the groom is also a reader, and often talks with friends in the same window on weekdays, and wants to test the talent of the groom.
After the bridegroom had finished receiving the guests, he was already a little drunk, and when he heard that he wanted to say something, he said easily, "How difficult is this?" ”
The bride said through the door with an upper link: "Light the lamp and go to the cabinet to attack each book." ”
The groom was stunned when he heard the riddle, which was a series of pairs of forms that looked simple but painstaking, and there were three words in the sentence that were homophones, "cabinet" or "each" plus the head of the partial room.
The bride joked, "If you can't say the next thing, you won't be allowed to enter the cave tonight." ”
The bride wanted to make a joke, and she didn't really want the groom to enter the door.
But the groom was a nerd who was very serious about his work, and when he heard the bride say this, he gambled out of the door and ran into the school.
When the bridegroom arrived at the academy, he was half awake and was there to think about the right thing with peace of mind, and he couldn't think of an answer.
The bride originally wanted to tease the groom and add some fun to the bride, but she did not expect the groom to be so pedantic that she waited for a long time and did not see the groom return, so she had to take off her clothes and sleep alone in the quilt.
The next morning when the bridegroom returned home, the bride found him frowning and asked strangely, "What's wrong with you?"
The groom glanced at her and said helplessly, "You don't know yet, knowingly asking?" ”
The bride was also a little angry, saying, "I really don't know." ”
The bridegroom said, "I just bother not to be your counterpart." ”
The bride listened even more strangely: "Last night when the moon was empty, you were alone under the plane tree in the courtyard, wasn't it right?" Or can I get you into the cave room? ”
The bridegroom was confused: "When have I ever been home?" I was in the academy all night and came back after dawn. ”
The bride wanted to ask again, but suddenly stopped talking, her body was cold, and her face was suddenly pale, and she went into her room in despair, tears of remorse.
The bride was clever, and hearing the groom's words, she already knew that the man who entered the door last night was not the groom, but had lured the wolf into the room himself, and let the bad guy take advantage of the loophole.
Women in ancient times were very concerned about the festival, and when something like this happened, it was too late to regret it, and the bride was so anxious and ashamed that she committed suicide with a white silk.
The news that the bride hanged herself on the second day of marriage was boiling over, the mother's family wept bitterly after hearing the news, and the daughter of the good end died the next day after she married, and it must have been the son-in-law who forced the daughter to die, and the mother's family wrote a complaint to report the case to the government.
The first reaction of the government was also the crime of the groom, who arrested him and, before careful interrogation, determined that the groom had killed his wife.
Of course, the groom did not want to admit it, and at first he shouted that he had been wronged, but after some severe torture by the government, the groom was forced to confess, and the government asked him to sign and detain, and he would be beheaded in the near future.
The old parents of the Xu family were anxious to hear the news that their son had been asked to be beheaded, but the old two had no way to appeal, Xu's mother jumped into the river in a hurry, and an originally happy family was destroyed and ruined.
Package publicity to joint cracking cases
Bao Zheng listened carefully to the old man's story of this bizarre case, and also felt very uncomfortable, he felt that the case was not simple, so he comforted the old man and said: "There is still a turning point in this matter, the old man does not have to be too sad, your son may still have salvation." ”
The old man was very surprised to hear Bao Zheng's words, and quickly welcomed Bao Gong and his party into the house to entertain him.
Bao Zheng carefully deliberated on the course of the case, and in order to find out the origin of the case, he also called the Xu family's xiao wei and YaHuan to carefully inquire and make a record.
When Bao Zheng stayed at Xu's house that night, he had no clue for a moment, and while thinking, he paced back and forth in the courtyard.
The attendant helped him move a chair, and Bao Zheng sat on the chair and chatted with the attendant in the courtyard.
The key to solving this case lies in the couplet the night before the bride, and the murderer entered the bride's room the night before the couplet, so that it caused a tragedy.
At this time, the bride is dead, everyone does not know the answer, Bao Zheng can only think of the couplet out first, at this time the night is quiet, haoyue is empty, Bao Zheng stared at a round of bright moon and pondered bitterly.
In the Xu family's yard, the leaves of the plane tree rustled by the light wind, and Bao Zheng sat on a chair and leaned next to the plane tree.
Such a scene gave him a sudden inspiration, and suddenly Mao Sai suddenly opened up and had the answer in his heart.
Bao Zheng excitedly came to the county court, wrote down the answer on a piece of paper, and the next morning ordered his men to go to the street to post a notice.
The notice reads: Kaifeng Province will recruit a very talented scholar to serve, and people of insight are welcome to take the exam in the county.
The local people all know that Lord Bao of Kaifeng Province has a high prestige, so they do not suspect that Bao Zheng is making a "counter-plan".
Readers are immersed in hard reading, just so that one day they can soar and become famous, which is undoubtedly a good opportunity.
The notice attracted a lot of talented students to sign up, and many students cheered and wanted to try their hands.
After the test takers came to the county court, Bao Gong issued a couplet examination question: "Wait for the Dengdeng Pavilion to attack the book." "Let the students out of the league."
At first, the students thought that this couplet was very easy, and they tried to raise their pens, but after a while they shook their heads and sighed, and lost.
After all the students handed in the answer sheets, Bao Gong selected the candidates who "moved the chair to lean on the tong and enjoy the moon", and he saw that this xialian was overjoyed and nodded his head with "praise".
This examinee thought that his performance had been praised by Bao Zheng, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and he had the courage to ask Bao Zheng: "I don't know what official the adult appoints the villain?" ”
Bao Zheng listened to the candidate's words and laughed, and slapped the shocked Hall Wood, this candidate was frightened and scattered, and immediately could not laugh out, and the waitress present rushed up and detained him.
Bao Zheng asked the attendant to bring the groom out, and the groom also confirmed that the candidate was a friend he met on the wedding night.
After the groom's identification, it can be confirmed that this candidate is a criminal who crossed the sea and ruined the bride after the wedding.
Majestic and upright, law enforcement is like a mountain
On the night of the wedding, he found that the groom did not enter the cave room, but meditated alone in the school, so he went forward to ask the groom why he did not accompany the bride.
The groom told the candidate about the upper league, originally wanted to help the same window, but did not expect that the candidate immediately had a bad idea.
He slipped to the door of the bride's room and, imitating the tone of the bridegroom, spoke to the bride, who heard the "false groom" answering the couplet seamlessly and let him in the door.
This candidate shamelessly became the groom once, and the next day he slipped away after the bride was asleep.
Fortunately, Bao Zheng saw the situation and found the culprit, and the examinee indirectly killed the bride and Xu Mother, and he was exiled for life.
The case is so inconceivable to modern people that the bride didn't even know what the groom looked like when she entered the cave that night, so much so that a stranger took advantage of it.
In ancient times, there were many arranged marriages, and some brides and grooms did not meet before marriage, until after entering the cave, the groom picked up the bride's hijab and met officially.
Although the two had a brief exchange, the bride heard the voice of the groom, but it was not familiar after all.
The bride only told the groom about the couplet, and she did not expect that the groom had told the couplet to others, causing a great misunderstanding.
In the case, the murderer was out of the lower link "moving the chair and leaning on the tong and appreciating the moon", why can Bao Gong conclude that this person is the murderer, and he is not afraid of catching the wrong person, if the murderer does not come to the test, the arrest plan will be difficult to succeed, why should the candidate be so stupid, to throw himself into the net?
Before committing suicide, the bride once said that "you are alone under the plane tree in the courtyard" provided an important clue that the lower link was related to the plane tree, so the murderer was unmistakable.
The murderer already knew that he had killed two people, and after Bao Gong made the same couplet, he was still hooked.
In fact, the groom only mentioned the upper link with the murderer, this candidate has long become a suspect, the process of the couplet is only to reconfirm the criminal, but also let the murderer confess faster, the murderer has long been the turtle in the urn.
This story has been passed on by word of mouth by the people, adding a lot of dramatic color, and the loopholes in the story have become "no coincidences or no books".
This ancient strange case is even more bizarre and wonderful because of Bao Gong, and the image of Bao Gong has become more mysterious because of the detective stories.
Later, the couplets in this case are also absolutely absolute, and in Zhou Xingchi's film "Tang Bohu Dian Qiu Xiang", there are many poems and couplets, and this couplet also appears on the pillar in front of the box room in the movie.
After some artistic processing by his descendants, Bao Gong himself is very different from the image in real history, according to historical records, Bao Zheng's "beautiful face, white face and long beard" is not the appearance in film and television dramas.
In the eyes of the common people, the more iron-faced and selfless people, the more black-faced and unsmiling, the white face in the drama represents the traitor, and the red face represents the image of loyalty.
Bao Zheng slowly became a black face, and the crescent moon on his forehead was his unique image symbol, which was to create an image of justice and iron-faced selflessness, and his image was deified.
According to legend, Bao Zheng "breaks the sun and breaks the yin between the night", busy day and night, handling cases in the world during the day, and going to the underworld to preside over justice at night, and the "moon-shaped brain gate" on the forehead is to play the role of a "pass" for the two worlds.
In later generations, some ordinary people worshipped him as a god, believing that Bao Zheng was the reincarnation of KuiXing.
For many years, henan and Anhui have been "Bao Gong hometown dispute".
Bao Zheng served as the prefect of Kaifeng Province, and there is a Bao Gong Lake in Kaifeng, Henan Province, and there is a Bao Gong Ancestral Hall and Kaifeng Fu built by the lake.
Even the film and television songs have that lyric: "There is a Bao Qingtian in Kaifeng, and the iron face selflessly defends the loyal and adulterous", which makes many people mistakenly think that he is a native of Kaifeng, Henan.
Until 1973, Anhui Hefei City to build a steel factory, in the relocation of the cemetery found Bao Gong's real family cemetery, the ancients have a strong local complex, after death also have to fall leaves back to the roots, to help the coffin back to the hometown, so Bao Zheng is a person from Hefei, Anhui.
Over the years, people's admiration for Bao Gong has been gushing, Bao Gong is the embodiment of justice and incorruptibility, his case story can not be told, under the pursuit of the people, has become China's "Sherlock Holmes".
In the long history of China's five thousand years, there have been many famous ministers and good generals, like Bao Zheng, who is deeply loved by the people and has few undisputed figures, Bao Zheng's life is magnificent and righteous, and many good stories have been circulated, worthy of being a famous minister throughout the ages.
Resources:
Small Stories Monthly: Bao Gongqiao Cracked the Couplet, No. 5, 2017