It is said that Kaifeng has a bag of blue sky, this person can judge cases, judge right and wrong, punish adultery, and protect the people, he is really the protector of the people!
However, at the beginning of Bao Qingtian's tenure, he encountered a big case. An old farmer came to report the case, saying that the tongue of the family's ploughing cow was secretly cut off by thieves.
It sounds like it's just a conflict between the villagers, but Bao Qingtian also attaches great importance to it, and even skillfully uses a strategy to directly design thieves to take the initiative to cast into the net. As soon as the case was settled, it immediately caused a sensation among the local people.
So how did this bag of Qingtian lure the snake out of the hole and easily find out the truth of the matter?
Bao Qingtian's real name is Bao Zheng and he was born in the Northern Song Dynasty. Bao Zheng learned the ways of Confucianism since he was a child, and finally succeeded in the imperial examination at the age of twenty-nine.
The imperial court assigned official positions according to the usual practice, but Bao Zheng chose not to resign in order to serve his parents at home. The imperial court was moved by his filial piety and agreed to his request.
Ten years have passed, and Bao Zheng has completed his responsibility as a son of man, so he submitted a report to the imperial court and asked to be released.
In this way, Bao Zheng, who was close to the age of confusion, served as the county magistrate of Tianchang County. At that time, Tianchang County was sparsely populated and the people were simple, so there were not too many things to deal with, so it could be regarded as a good place.
However, Bao Zheng reversed the idle style of the previous county commanders, no matter how big or small, he did it himself, and he was very serious. After a long time, whether it was the landlord squire or the common people, everyone respected him very much.
On this day, Bao Zheng encountered his first case after taking office. That morning, someone outside the county office suddenly beat a drum and shouted grievances. As the saying goes, "the plan of the day lies in the morning", everyone is ready to start the day's work, and such a lively activity naturally arouses their onlookers.
After Bao Zheng went to the office, an old farmer actually led a ploughing ox with a mouth that was bleeding into the court, Bao Zheng was surprised, and after being promoted to the court, he hurriedly asked: "Who is under the hall?"What do you ask for?”
Looking at the four big characters of "Mirror Hanging" above the county office, the old farmer seemed to have the courage, wiped away his tears and replied loudly: "Please be clear, last night my family's ploughing cattle didn't know who stole their tongues!."”
Immediately afterwards, the old farmer took the initiative to break the mouth of the ploughing cow. Bao Zheng looked at it, and the tongue of the ploughing cow was indeed gone.
Bao Zheng was furious, knowing that at that time, ploughing cattle was extremely important, and killing cattle without permission was a felony punishable by death. To put it simply, ploughing cattle are the main labor force of the people;To go deeper, it directly affects the tax revenue of the imperial court!
Let's see that this old farmer is already old, and the ploughing cattle are now in such a situation, there is no tongue to eat grass, and he will inevitably die soon, so how can this old farmer bear the heavy work in the field.
Under all kinds of thoughts, Bao Zheng made up his mind to find out the truth of the matter, find the real culprit, and give justice to the old farmer.
After listening to the old farmer's words, Bao Zheng touched his beard and thought for a long time, and then asked, "Is there a similar situation near your house?"The old farmer hurriedly shook his head.
Bao Zheng thought about it, the cow's tongue couldn't be sold for a few dollars, it seemed that it was not asking for money, it might be wanting revenge.
Bao Zheng hurriedly asked if there were any other people in the village who knew about this incident when the old farmer came to Yamen this morning.
Fortunately, the old farmer went into the city to report to the official before dawn, and no one met him too early, and no one found out that the ploughing cattle had been killed.
After getting the confirmed news, Bao Zheng already had a plan in mind. He stroked his beard and said with a smile to the aggrieved old peasant, "This is the end of the matter, this ploughing ox has no tongue to eat grass, but it will starve to death in a few days." Well, if you go back today and kill the cow and sell it for meat, you might as well have a little compensation. ”
Not only were the old farmers in the hall very frightened when they heard this, and they didn't dare to say that they didn't dare to do it, but even the people who were watching were surprised by Bao Zheng's approach. This unauthorized slaughter of ploughing cattle is a dead end according to the law, who dares to kill themselves like this!
Seeing the old farmer so frightened, Bao Zheng explained his meaning to him. And as a county magistrate, he repeatedly assured the old farmer that not only would he not be punished in any way for this, but he could even use this incident to make ** show his original form.
After all, this ** is not for money, there is only one possibility left, that is, there is a personal conflict with the old farmer. I guess I want to frame him and let him be punished.
Although Bao Zheng had explained the reason to the old farmer many times, the old farmer was still stubborn and unwilling to slaughter the cattle. In the end, it was Bao Zheng's master who persuaded him together, which reluctantly persuaded this old farmer who loved cattle like his life.
The onlookers next to him took this as a joke, thinking that Bao Zheng was just a delaying tactic, and did not take this case to heart at all. After all, as a parent official in a county, there are too many things to ask about every day, how can such a small thing with a big sesame seed be more careful!
Unexpectedly, this is exactly Bao Zheng's shrewdness. He just wanted to make the people behind the scenes relax their vigilance through the old farmer killing the cow, and finally stood up and pointed out that the old farmer killed the cow, so the truth of the case would naturally be revealed.
But will that thief really fall for it?Will he really fall into the net as Bao Zheng guessed?
At this time, the old farmer was desperate, and the only farming cattle in the family were almost gone, and his livelihood in the future became a problem. In desperation, the old farmer could only obey Bao Zheng's orders, and he took advantage of the night to slaughter the cattle that night.
Early the next morning, the old farmer took the beef to the market and sold it. It was extremely rare for someone to sell beef at the time, so everyone came to buy meat, and the news of the old farmer killing cattle and selling meat soon spread.
After the beef was sold, the old farmer cleaned up his stall and returned home as usual. But it didn't take long for a government official to send a message, saying that someone had gone to the county government to file a complaint, accusing him of slaughtering cattle without permission and selling meat for money.
The old farmer was angry, he was doing what Bao Zheng ordered, but now he was beaten upside down. He immediately angrily followed the official to the county office and confronted his accusers.
When I arrived at the county office, I saw that there was already a thin and tall man kneeling under the hall. As soon as this man saw the old peasant walking in, he immediately pointed at him and said to the county order: "This old man violated the law and slaughtered the ploughing cattle for money without permission, which is a great disrespect to the emperor and should be severely punished." ”
At this time, the old farmer was a little confused, because this person he knew, was his neighbor. The relationship between the two is usually average, but a few days ago, the two had a little conflict.
The old farmer had already understood why he had suffered such an unwarranted disaster, so he truthfully told Bao Zheng about the conflict between the two.
It turned out that the neighbor's cattle ran into the old farmer's field and trampled on a lot of crops. For the croppers, a year's harvest in the field is fatal. The old farmer was naturally angry, so he scolded a few more words, and these words happened to be heard by the neighbor.
It wasn't a big deal, but the neighbor always held a grudge and wanted to punish the old farmer. Taking advantage of the night, the neighbor went into the old farmer's yard and secretly cut off the tongue of the ploughing cow.
Knowing what happened, Bao Zheng himself was speechless. It was originally a small contradiction, but now it has risen to the level of wanting to see an official, and it is quite helpless.
Although Bao Zheng had learned of the conflict between the two, the neighbor still did not admit it. It was only in the subsequent questioning that he said that he had slipped out, and then he wept bitterly, confessed his crime, and expressed regret for his original actions.
At this point, both sides have problems, and how to judge the case is also a problem. If Bao Zheng's punishment is too light, then how can the prisoner recidivize later?But if the punishment is too severe, it will cause dissatisfaction among the people, after all, it is only a small matter.
However, this was not a problem for Bao Zheng, who was shocked and asked the neighbor if he knew the mistake with a straight face.
After receiving an affirmative answer, he gave the final verdict: "Because the offender confessed his mistake in time, you are now exempted from the pain of hard labor." Sentenced to 20 boards, and paid an old farmer to cultivate a cow. ”
Both sides were very satisfied with the decision, and the next day the old farmer happily received a new ploughing ox and immediately went back to ploughing the land. And this neighbor also knew the mistake, and from then on he was honest and never dared to do evil again.
After the case spread, it was unanimously recognized by the local people. Everyone sighed that Bao Zheng was really talented, and he was able to find out the truth of the matter so easily. And the disposition of the results of the case was also very popular, and for a while, Bao Zheng's prestige rose again.
This case seems very simple, but in fact, the deep meaning contained in it cannot be ignored. With just a small method, Bao Zheng asked the thief to appear automatically, which is enough to see that he really has real talent and knowledge in judging cases.
And in this process, he was willing to bend down to listen to the words of ordinary people, and finally return his justice, which is worth learning from other ** at that time.
In this case, the final result was also very happy. It not only played an educational role, made the criminal who did evil clear his mistakes, but also let other people see his determination to punish the criminal, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
There is more humanity outside the law, and if Bao Zheng had judged the case strictly in accordance with the laws of the country, then that neighbor might have been severely punished. Fortunately, Bao Zheng appropriately decided the case, which turned the big matter into a small one, and the case was handled lightly.
Although this case was only an inconspicuous one of the many cases he handled, it was the first step to his fame. From then on, those who were in prison saw him as the last straw and asked him for help.
And Bao Zheng always followed his heart, proceeded from the truth of the matter, distinguished right from wrong, and gave the people justice, so he was also respected as "Bao Qingtian".