The farmer reported that the cow's tongue had been stolen, and Bao Zheng: Kill the cow, and the thief will turn himself in

During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, a farmer reported that the cow's tongue had been stolen. But Bao Zheng said: If you slaughter the cattle and sell them, the thieves will naturally turn themselves in.

In the Song Dynasty, the code stipulated: "Whoever kills a cow without incident shall be sentenced". Because a cultivating cow was the largest labor force in the family in that dynasty.

But in the early morning of one day, When Bao Got up to change his clothes, he heard someone outside the gate seeking justice. After the adults heard this, they quickly ascended to the church. When I asked, I learned that it was the old cattle in the family who had been cut off by the tongue.

With the medical conditions at the time, the cow was cut off its tongue, and within a few days, it would die of bleeding infection. As soon as the cattle died, the farmer could no longer catch the prisoner, so the farmer came early to report the case.

But even if the case is reported, the real murderer is not so easy to catch. Because cutting the cow's tongue is not a petty theft, there are no witnesses, no clues, and the victim is a cow, and the murderer cannot be identified.

Just when everyone was at a loss, Bao Zheng saw the hint, and then bowed his head and groaned, and after a moment, he chuckled and said, "You go and slaughter the cow, and the thief who killed the cow will naturally turn himself in." ”

The farmer was also stunned when he heard it, but after all, it was the intention of the adult, so he said goodbye to the adult and went home to slaughter the cattle.

During the slaughter of cattle, Bao Zheng sent another official messenger to the old man's house and said to the old man: "The adult has something to say, today the cattle are slaughtered and deconstructed into pieces, and tomorrow the street market will set up stalls to sell meat." ”

After the old man listened, he agreed one after another, so he simply did not do two or two, and directly unloaded eight pieces of cattle and prepared to go out of the stall tomorrow morning.

The next morning, the old man brought beef to the market to sell. People who came and went in the market saw the old man selling beef, and they all gathered around the old man's stall to ask for the price. Because, during the Song Dynasty, beef was a rarity for ordinary people.

When the old man was busy, he didn't know that there was a stare at the old man and his beef.

Another day later, another person came to yamen to complain to the official, and this person sued the old man, who sold beef privately, violating the laws of the Song Dynasty.

As everyone knows, this just happened to be the plan of Lord Bao, who ordered someone to arrest him on the spot, and under the pressure of layers of questioning, he did admit that he was the thief who cut the tongue of the cow.

In fact, the reason why the cow's tongue is cut, instead of stealing the cow, shows that the prisoner is not for the sake of wealth, purely for the sake of venting anger, and the prisoner hopes to see the owner of the cow suffering because the cow is cut off by the tongue. When the cattle owner did not suffer because the cattle were killed, but sold the beef and profited, that is to say, normal people do not dare to kill the cattle for fear of being held responsible, and when the cattle owner is profitable because the cattle are cut off, the prisoner absolutely cannot bear it, originally wanted to see the cattle owner extremely painful and happy, as a result, because of his own behavior, the enemy was happy, which the suspect could not bear, and must be accused of wanting to make the cattle owner suffer again. Bao Zheng's level of cognition of human nature is breathtaking.