During Bao Zheng's tenure as Kaifeng Prefecture Yin, the Huimin River rose and flooded the south half of the city. According to the investigation in Bao Zheng, the reason why this river is blocked repeatedly is that some dignitaries occupy land on both sides of the river to build luxury houses, while others block water to build private gardens. Subsequently, Bao Zheng immediately ordered all these gardens to be dismantled and released. This move made him famous in one fell swoop.
Bao Zheng is fair and upright in handling cases and strict in law enforcement. He treats all classes equally. He is unsmiling, with a serious face, and there is a comment among the people that "Mr. Bao laughs more than he does." In people's eyes, it is more difficult to watch Bao Gongxiao than to watch the Yellow River water become clear.
During his tenure in Kaifeng, Bao Zheng was not only wise in judging cases, but also a doer. In less than two years, he was appointed as the third secretary, in charge of national economic work, which showed his talent for economic reform. For example, he changed "scientific rate" to "harmonious city", and also exempted "discount" in some areas, that is, canceled the regulation that farmers paid taxes by turning grain into cash. Economic work was fruitful. Two years later, Bao Zheng was promoted to Tang Tang.
At this time, Bao Zheng is already in his twilight years. Song Renzong's period was relatively peaceful, so the position of deputy government official may be an honorary reward for the emperor's loyalty to Bao Zheng.
Bao Zheng died one year after he became the deputy envoy of the Tang Dynasty, and the people in Kaifeng, the capital, were all sad. The emperor personally paid a visit to Bao's house and announced that he would stop for one day to show his condolences.
Bao Zheng is unpretentious, upright and outspoken, fierce, loving the people like a son, and unsmiling. He is the embodiment of loftiness and justice that few people in the history of our country can reach, the symbol of honest officials and the sample of loyal officials, and the "Bao Qingtian" who was put on the altar by officials of past dynasties and regarded as a god by people of past dynasties. Therefore, there are many legends about him among Chinese people.
According to folklore, Bao Zheng made an unannounced visit to Shouzhou to investigate the case. He didn't know that the county magistrate here was out of town until he arrived. Someone told him: "Uncle Pang bought whitebait for the emperor, and the boat was stuck on Wabu Lake. The county magistrate took his servant to catch the civilian worker and pull the boat for his uncle's tribute boat. "
So Bao Zheng went straight to Wabu Lake with a few followers. No sooner had they arrived at Wabu Lake than they were caught by the county magistrate. The magistrate couldn't say anything, so he put a thread on them and asked them to pull the fiber.
Later, when the boat docked at the edge of a market town, Bao Zheng saw the Ponzi and his son coming ashore with their minions, and watched them boat by boat.
Bao Zheng found a young woman sitting on the boat where Ponzi and his son had been. She is beautiful, but she is full of tears and very sad. She asked, "Sister, who are you from the Pang family?" What's so sad? "
The woman said, "My concubine is Li Xiucai's wife. My husband recently won an award. My husband and I went home to worship our ancestors, and the fat man caught me on the boat when he saw me. My husband sued the sheriff, who not only ignored me, but also gave him to them. As a result, they chopped my husband into minced meat and sprinkled a little into the lake every day to feed the fish. How miserable! " Say that finish burst into tears.
Bao Zheng was very angry, but still said quietly, "Sister, I heard that adults in Kaifeng are selfless. Please give me a voucher and I will complain for you! "
Hearing this, the woman quickly stood up, took out a piece of paper from her pocket, wrapped some meat sauce in the bow basket, and took out a handkerchief from her body and handed it to Bao Gong, saying, "Thank you, Big Brother! I can't repay you in this life, and I will repay you when I am a cow and a horse in the next life! "
Bao Zheng took the bag, quietly handed it to Mahan, the guard, and said, "Hurry back to Shouzhou City and inform the police of the arrival!" Mahan accepted the task and left quietly.
When Bao Zheng arrived in Shouxian, he asked the magistrate of a county to take the tour package. The magistrate of a county climbed down from the boat and knelt in front of the two big cards of "silence" and "avoidance"
Uncle Pang got off the boat and said hypocritically, "Baoqing, thank you!" " But there was no response for a long time. At this time, Bao Zheng came from behind and said, "Uncle, it is difficult to buy whitebait for the emperor this time!" Looking back, Big Ye found Bao Zheng barefoot with a string wrapped around his back. His face immediately became extremely embarrassed, but he still said, "Where, where." Bao Zheng said, "Let me ask you, do you know where Li Xiucai is?" The giant grandfather was heartbroken, but he pretended to be calm and said, "I don't know him!" " "Bao Zheng look serious and snorted. He turned to Mahan and said, "Untie Ropa in front of my uncle. "Mahan untied the Ropa bag, which contained the complaint of Li Xiucai's wife and the soil where Li Xiucai was killed, which was stained with blood. When Grandpa Huge saw it, he turned pale and his legs were covered with bran. Bao Zheng immediately shouted: "Take it!" Mahan immediately tied Pang Guojiu up. Bao Zheng and others came to the yamen with Prince Pang's uncle, and immediately went to court, with officials on both sides. Someone brought Uncle Pang up.
Bao Zheng knew the case like the back of his hand, and the court ruled: "Ponzi and his son were honored by the emperor, and the jackal was greedy and endangered the people. Although the emperor is close to the country, their crimes are unforgivable, and they are arrogant. As the father of the people, the county magistrate is cunning and treacherous. It's appropriate to cut off the head with a knife and show it to the public for three days and immediately take it to Wabu Lake for execution! "
After Grandfather, Ponzi and the magistrate of a county were executed respectively. After the death of Bao Zheng in Song Dynasty, Bao Gong's story spread among the people. The Contract and Three Appearances of Baolong are the earliest stories about Bao Gong's trial written by Song people. Zhang Sigong's "Noisy Soul" does not tell the story of Bao Gong being sentenced, but Bao Gong's name appears at the end of the article:
The thieves didn't get scared until Bao became a satrap. This place will be quiet only after we disperse.
There are not many stories about Bao Gong in the scripts handed down from Song and Yuan Dynasties. By the Yuan Dynasty, there were a large number of Bao Gong operas circulating in Yuan Qu, and there were sixteen or seven kinds of Guan Qing operas with complete scripts, including Bao Gong operas 1 1 species. For example, Chen Zhou's Baked Rice, Contract Words, The Ghost of God's Daughter and Pearl, Guan Hanqing's Butterfly Dream and Lu Zhailang, Tingyu Zheng's Flowers in the Back Garden, Li Daodao's Grey Orchid and Zeng Ruiqing's Leaving Yuan.
In Yuan Qu, Bao Zheng was portrayed as a man and a god, who could uphold justice and be omnipotent, reflecting people's desire and expectation for Qingming politics. At the same time, this is also the voice of the people of the Yuan Dynasty.
By the Qing Dynasty, the image of Bao Zheng recorded in the classical novel Three Heroes and Five Righteousness had been integrated into the image of Bao Gong among the people, which enriched the image of Bao Zheng who was fearless of violence, upright and capable, and thus was widely circulated.
Especially in the novels of Qing Dynasty, there are many details, such as Bao Gong's life experience, the origin of Bao Gong's three bronze spears, the origin of Kaifeng's three treasures, namely ancient and modern pots, yin and yang mirrors and fairy pillows, the origin of Kaifeng's four warriors, namely the dynasty, Mahan, Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, the origin of Kaifeng's master Gongsun Ce, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, and so on. Including a large number of Bao Gong's judgments and chivalrous marches in the countryside to eliminate violence and build peace.
The stories and legends about Bao Gong have been circulated among the people since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, until they formed a colorful literary and artistic image, which was deeply admired and loved by the working people.
In the history of China opera, no official can appear on the stage of all previous operas as frequently as Bao Zheng, and has been playing for a long time, becoming a very unique drama, that is, Bao Gong Opera.
Bao Gong in drama is not a real figure in history, Bao Zheng, but an idealized image of Bao Gong adapted from literary Bao Gong. Bao Gong is not only an honest, fair, intelligent and law-enforcing official, but also a demigod and demigod superman. In his body, it embodies the people's expectation for honest officials and their yearning for social justice.
Bao Zheng is selfless, upright and upright, fearless of powerful people, honest and clean, and has become a good example for honest officials to learn.