Preface
Bao Zheng, a well-known Qing official in Chinese history, was the most beloved official by the people during the Song Renzong period. In many legends and film and television works, Bao Zheng is a big black face, and there is also a crescent mark on his forehead.
As the governor of Kaifeng, he can not only break the sun in vain and uphold justice for the people, but also break the yin at night and advocate justice for the dead souls. Like "Quanmei Case", "True and False Champion", "Tanuki for Prince" and so on.
Because he has clean sleeves and an iron face and is selfless, the common people privately call him "Bao Qingtian".
Iron-faced selfless "Bao Qingtian"
Bao Zheng served as a parent official in many places, and also held important positions in the imperial court. Because Bao Zheng is upright and loves the people like a son, he will be deeply loved by the people every time he goes to serve in a place.
When Bao Zheng was serving as the superintendent of the imperial history, he accidentally discovered that Zhang Jiuke, the Huainan transfer envoy, sold illicit salt. Since salt was a necessity in ancient times, the right to buy salt belonged to the emperor.
Selling illicit salt is hugely lucrative, and it would be a capital offense if it was discovered. In fact, there are many officials who know more or less about Zhang Jiuke's sale of illicit salt.
But Chang Chang Ke was quite powerful in the imperial court, and everyone didn't want to offend him. But Bao Zheng is different, he secretly collects evidence, and when the evidence is complete, he writes to Song Renzong and impeaches Zhang Jiuke.
Because Zhang Jiuke had ironclad evidence of selling illicit salt, he was soon taken off by the emperor and punished accordingly. Bao Zheng's colleagues all knew that Bao Zheng was very honest, but they didn't expect him to dare to be "tough" in front of the powerful.
Bao Zheng's approach this time left a deep impression on his colleagues. Everyone admires Bao Zheng very much, but it is not clear whether Bao Zheng is really selfless or because Zhang Jiuke offended Bao Zheng.
In front of the civil and military officials, he accused Song Renzong
An incident that soon happened made everyone understand that Bao Zheng's eyes really couldn't tolerate half a grain of sand. During Wang Kui's tenure as a transit envoy, he exploited the people's money for various reasons, making the people miserable.
The people could not survive anymore, so they chose to resist in desperation, but Wang Kui ordered that all those who resisted be arrested in prison and tortured to death.
There are countless people who died in the hands of Wang Kui, because Wang Kui had a very good relationship with Chen Zhizhong, the prime minister of the current dynasty. And Song Renzong also likes Wang Kui very much and protects him everywhere, so no one in the court dares to provoke Wang Kui.
When Bao Zheng's colleagues learned that he had impeached Wang Kui, they all looked at Bao Zheng with the eyes of "this person is probably a fool".
Everyone stayed away from Bao Zheng, for fear that Bao Zheng would implicate themselves. Because of Song Renzong's preference, Wang Kui did not receive the punishment he deserved.
But Bao Zheng did not give up because of this, he continued to impeach Wang Kui, and wrote six times in a row, but Song Renzong ignored it.
If an ordinary official writes once or twice, he will not write again when he sees that Song Renzong ignores him, and he will even worry about whether his impeachment will anger the emperor.
However, Bao Zheng didn't care at all whether the emperor would be angry with him. He believes that those who make mistakes must be punished accordingly.
At a court meeting, Bao Zheng once again wrote to impeach Wang Kui, and directly accused Song Renzong in front of hundreds of civil and military officials: "If Your Majesty still doesn't listen to the advice today and continues to use such a cool official, it will be a great luck for a traitor like Wang Kui, and a misfortune for the people of my Great Song Dynasty!"
As soon as Bao Zheng's words came out, he shocked all the ministers present. They all gave Bao Zheng a thumbs up in their hearts, they didn't expect Bao Zheng to be so brave. Under the pressure of public opinion, Song Renzong could no longer shield Wang Kui and dismissed Wang Kui from his official position.
Bao Zheng has impeached many corrupt officials, and as long as you make mistakes, no matter how big the source, he will definitely enforce the law impartially until they are duly punished.
During Bao Zheng's tenure, he always thoroughly understood the truth of the case and ensured fairness and justice. He never went along with others, and when he encountered something unfair, he always stood up. Whether it is an official in the officialdom or a common man in the township, he admires Bao Zheng.
The true face of "Bao Qingtian".
Bao Zheng's real appearance and image are very different from those in the legends, but whether it is official history or folklore, Bao Zheng is a good official who is just and honest. Why is this happening?
In the "History of the Song Dynasty", it is recorded that Bao Zheng "has a beautiful face and a long beard. "In the Hefei Bao Gong Ancestral Hall, there is a stone tablet engraved with the portrait of Bao Zheng.
The white skin, thick eyebrows and big eyes of Bao Zheng in the painting are similar to the image of Confucian scholars in ancient times, which is very different from the image of Bao Zheng in our impression. This is actually the result of the traditional view of right and wrong of the ancients.
When singing, "red face" represents loyalty, "white face" represents insidious cunning, and "black face" represents integrity and selflessness. With such a appearance, you don't need to explain it to the audience, everyone can judge which one is a loyal minister and which one is a traitor.
大孝子包拯
In the second year of Xianping (999) of Song Zhenzong, Bao Zheng was born in Hefei, Luzhou (now Hefei, Anhui), a family of eunuchs.
After years of hard work, Bao Zheng was admitted to the Jinshi at the age of 28, and soon after, he was appointed by the imperial court as the county governor of Jianchang.
However, when he was given an official position, Bao Zheng applied to the imperial court to take up a post closer to home, on the grounds that "his parents are here, so it is not suitable to travel far." ”
If you can be closer to home, you can serve your parents by their side. But the imperial court did not meet Bao Zheng's requirements, in Bao Zheng's heart, parents are more important than anything else. In desperation, he submitted his resignation to the imperial court.
A few years later, Bao Zheng's parents passed away one after another. He built a thatched hut next to his parents' grave and lived there for three years. Until the end of the mourning period, Bao Zheng still couldn't bear to leave and hesitated.
People who have been in contact with Bao Zheng know that Bao Zheng is very talented, and if he becomes an official in the future, he must be a good official. Under the persuasion of the people and former friends, Bao Zheng rushed to the capital, and finally had the iron-faced and selfless "Bao Qingtian".
Observe the ancestral teachings of the millennium
Bao Zheng was honest all his life, and hated corrupt officials and corrupt officials. Before Bao Zheng died, he ordered someone to carve ancestral teachings on the wall of the east side of his home:
"The descendants of future generations shall not be allowed to return to their own families if they have committed stolen goods; after their death, they shall not be buried in the Great Mansion, and they shall not obey my will, nor shall they be my grandchildren. Yanggong journal stone, erected on the east wall of the hall house, in order to edict future generations. ”
The Bao family has been abiding by the ancestral teachings for nearly a thousand years, and the descendants of Bao Zheng are still abiding by them today.
With the development of tourism, many former residences of celebrities are overcrowded, and Bao Zheng's ancestral hall is no exception, after all, there are many stories of Bao Zheng among the people.
When people come to the Bao Gong Temple in Feidong County, Hefei, Anhui Province, they will find that there is an old man with gray hair here.
When you see someone coming, the old man will come forward to tell you the story of Bao Zheng, convey the spirit of Bao Zheng to people in the form of stories, and increase our understanding of Bao Zheng. He is the 35th generation descendant of Bao Zheng, Bao Xianliang.
Since 1993, Bao Xianliang and his wife Huang Qilian have been repairing the Bao ancestral hall. For more than 20 years, the husband and wife have been silently guarding the ancestral hall. Bao Xianliang once said that there are now more than 100,000 descendants of Bao Zheng, most of whom live in Anhui and Zhejiang.
They are either businessmen or peasants, and almost no of them are engaged in politics, because of Zu Xun, it is very difficult to be a clean official like Bao Zheng who serves the country and the people
epilogue
Bao Xianliang said: "The ancestral hall is completely free and does not charge any fees. For him, the acquisition of material things is not worth mentioning compared to the spirit of the Bao family.
Bao Xianliang does not want the story of "Bao Qingtian" to disappear from people's field of vision, but hopes to carry forward the spirit of Bao Zheng with his own strength, so that people can inherit the spirit of Bao Zheng.
bibliography
Epitaph of Bao Gong
Beijing Book Publishing House: "Famous Ministers' Tablet Biography Wanyan Collection" Author: Du Daqi
"Eastern Capital Affairs, Volume 73": A History of the Northern Song Dynasty.
"History of the Song Dynasty, Volume 316, Lie Biography 75", included in the official history category of the History Department of the "Siku Quanshu".