Chapter 12 192 The Unselfish Bao Zheng

After the failure of Fan Zhongyan's new policy, the government of the Northern Song Dynasty became more and more corrupt, especially in Kaifeng, the capital, where the practice of embezzlement and bribery by powerful ministers was very serious;Later, Bao Zheng, a new magistrate, came to Kaifeng Mansion, and this situation changed a little. Bao Zheng was born in Hefei, Luzhou, and was the county magistrate of Tianchang County (now Tianchang, Anhui) in his early years.Once, a case occurred in the county. A farmer tied his cattle in the cowshed at night. When he got up in the morning, he found the cattle lying on the ground with blood dripping from his mouth. People cut off.The farmer was angry and heartbroken, so he rushed to the county government office to file a complaint, asking Bao Zheng to track down the person who cut the tongue for him.

Where should I go to investigate this unresolved case?Bao Zheng thought for a while, and then said to the complaining farmer, "Shut up, go back and slaughter your cattle." Farmers were reluctant to slaughter cattle. According to the law at that time, cattle could not be slaughtered privately.But firstly, a cow with its tongue cut off would not live for many days; secondly, even if the county magistrate ordered him to slaughter the cow, there was no need to worry about breaking the law. After the farmer returned home, he really killed the cattle.The next day, someone from the Tianchang County Yamen came to report the farmer's illegal slaughter of cattle.

When Bao Zheng asked about the situation, he immediately lowered his face and yelled, "What a bold fellow, you cut off the tongue of a cow, and instead sued someone for privately slaughtering the cattle?" The guy was dumbfounded when he heard it, kowtowed on the ground, and honestly confessed that he did it. It turned out that the man who cut off the tongue had a grudge against the farmer, so he cut off the tongue first, and then went to report the owner of the cow to slaughter the cow. After that, Bao Zheng's reputation as a judge spread. Bao Zheng served as a local official for several terms. Every time he went to a place, some exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes were cancelled, and some unjust cases were cleared up.Later, he was transferred to the capital as an admonisher, and he also put forward many good suggestions.Song Renzong was trying to rectify the order in Kaifeng, so he transferred Bao Zheng to be the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Kaifeng Mansion is the place where the royal relatives, rich and powerful are concentrated.In the past, no matter who took the job, it was inevitable to communicate with the powerful and accept bribes.After Bao Zheng took office, he was determined to rectify this corrupt atmosphere. According to the rules of the Song Dynasty, whoever wants to file a complaint at the Yamen must first entrust someone to write a complaint, and then pass it to the magistrate through the Yamen official. Some lawyers and thugs took the opportunity to extort money.Bao Zheng broke this rule, and the common people could go to the government office to beat drums if they wanted to sue for grievances.As soon as the drums sounded, the main gate of the government office was opened wide, allowing the people to go directly to the court to sue.In this way, the petty officials in the yamen would not dare to play tricks.

One year, there was a flood in Kaifeng, and the channel of the Huimin River there was blocked, and the water could not drain out.After Bao Zheng investigated, the reason for the blockage of the river was that some eunuchs and dignitaries occupied the river and built gardens and pavilions on the river.Bao Zheng immediately ordered these garden owners to tear down all the buildings on the river.A dignitary refused to dismantle it.The Kaifeng Mansion sent someone to urge him, but the man was still irrational, took out a land deed, and insisted that the land was his property.Bao Zheng checked in detail and found that the title deed was forged by the dignitary himself.Bao Zheng was very angry and ordered the man to tear down the garden, and wrote a memorial to expose Song Renzong.The man saw that the matter was serious, and if Renzong really pursued it, it would not benefit him, so he obediently demolished the garden.

When some dignitaries heard that Bao Zheng enforced the law strictly, they were too frightened to do anything wrong.A dignitary figured it out and planned to give Bao Zheng some gift. Others reminded him not to worry in vain, Bao Zheng was famous for his integrity.He used to be an official in Duanzhou (now Zhaoqing, Guangdong).The inkstone produced in Duanzhou is a local specialty.According to the regulations of the imperial palace, Duanzhou officials should pay a batch of Duan inkstones to the inner court every year.People who are officials in Duanzhou often take the opportunity of paying tribute to plunder the common people and embezzle a lot of them privately to please those powerful ministers.Duan inkstones collected were dozens of times more than those paid in tribute.Later, when Bao Zheng went to Duanzhou, he collected Duan inkstones from the people, except for those who paid tribute to the court, not even one piece was added.Until he left Duanzhou, he never asked for a Duan inkstone privately.

After hearing this, the dignitary knew that there was no room to take advantage of, so he had no choice but to give up.Later, all the men, women and children in Kaifeng Mansion did not know that Bao Zheng was a very upright official.There are two ballads circulating among the people: "If you don't reach the joints, there are Yan Luo and Bao Lao." ("Yan Luo" is the god in charge of hell in the legend.) Bao Zheng is also very strict with relatives and friends.Some relatives wanted to use him as a backer, but he didn't take care of them at all.After a long time, relatives and friends knew his temper, and they didn't dare to go to him for personal matters anymore.

Song Renzong regarded Bao Zheng very much and promoted him to be the deputy envoy of the Privy Council.He has become a high official, and his family life is still very simple, just like ordinary people.Five years later, he died of a serious illness, and left a will saying: If future generations become officials, if they commit corruption, they are not allowed to return to their hometown; after they die, they are not allowed to be buried in the cemetery of our Bao family. Because Bao Zheng was a clean and honest official all his life, not only was he praised by people during his lifetime, but after his death, people also regarded him as a model of a clean and honest official, and respectfully called him "Bao Gong", or called him "Bao Dai Zhi" and "Bao Long Tu". (Bao Zheng won the Tianzhang Pavilion waiting system and the official title of Youtuge Bachelor) There are many stories about Bao Gong being selfless and attacking the powerful, and they are also compiled into dramas and novels about Bao Gong handling cases.Although most of them are fictional legends, they also reflect people's admiration for honest officials.