What are the "stories of upright officials" in ancient times?

2. The ten most upright officials in Chinese history\x0d\1. Ximen Bao\x0d\ was a native of Wei during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, Ye was an important gateway to the capital of Wei and a strategic location. However, natural and man-made disasters continued, and the people were in dire straits. The King of Wei specially appointed Ximen Bao as the magistrate of Ye County to govern the Ye region. After Ximen Bao arrived in Ye, he paid a private visit incognito and inquired about the sufferings of the people. He used the incident of "He Bo to take a wife" to punish the three elders, court rafters and witches wisely, educate the people with facts and get rid of superstition. At the same time, the twelve canals of the Zhanghe River were built, the floods in the Zhanghe River were controlled, and agricultural production was developed, so that the people of Yedi gradually became rich. Ximen Bao served as an official all his life, he was honest and upright, and benefited the people. After his death, the people of Ye built an ancestral hall for him by the Zhang River to worship him all year round. ?\x0d\2. Zhao Guanghan\x0d\ named Zidu, was a native of Liwu County, Zhuojun during the Western Han Dynasty. He once served as the governor of Jing Zhaoyin, the prefect of Yingchuan County, and the governor of Jing Zhaoyin. When Zhao Guanghan served as the prefect of Yingchuan County, it was the best stage of Zhao Guanghan's early governance. He was not afraid of power and was shrewd and capable. In the first few months after taking office, he did two major things: First, he attacked the power of wealthy families and eased the social conflicts; the second is to strengthen local management and change local bad habits. His reputation spread from this, and in the original biography of "Hanshu", it is said that he was good at handling government affairs as his nature. When Zhao Guanghan served as Jing Zhaoyin, he showed a high sense of responsibility and often stayed up all night to handle various official duties. And he is good at thinking and pays attention to efficiency. During his governance, the political clarity of the Jingzhao area was praised by both officials and the people. However, Jing Zhaoyin's duty is to manage the capital. Because he is under the emperor's feet, daily handling of government affairs can easily offend the emperor's relatives and the dignitaries of the dynasty. Therefore, although Zhao Guanghan can be regarded as one of the best administrators in the capital, he still ends up being The fate of being cut in half. During Zhao Guanghan's tenure as Jing Zhaoyin, he was an upright, honest, and powerful official, and was highly praised by the people. ?\x0d\3. Huang Ba\x0d\ (? - 51 BC), courtesy name Cigong, was born in Yangxia, Huaiyang (now Taikang, Henan) during the Western Han Dynasty. Historian Ban Gu commented: "Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, Huang Ba was the first official to govern the people." When Huang Ba was still young, he set his ambition to be a good official. Since there was no imperial examination system in the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty issued an edict in order to alleviate financial difficulties. Anyone who contributed property to the country would be an official. Huang Ba exchanged grain for a soldier. After entering politics, he abides by the law and is based on integrity; he understands the sentiments of the people and focuses on encouraging farmers and mulberry farmers. In particular, Huang Ba advocated benevolent government and opposed torture when deciding cases; he insisted on handling suspicious cases leniently; he advocated leniency on the outside and transparency on the inside, education first, and focusing on prevention before they happened. Therefore, Huang Ba was an official and the people Support, the court is satisfied, and the subordinates are pleased. As a result, Huang Ba rose from a minor official with a salary of two hundred shi a year to the prime minister of the imperial court. Among them, his political achievements as the prefect of Yingchuan County, a large county at that time, are the most outstanding. Previously, Yingchuan County was a place where powerful landlords dominated one area and the people were displaced. After he took office, he took drastic measures, extended kindness, resettled the refugees, paid attention to farming and mulberry trees, and implemented education. After several years of careful management, peace and stability emerged in Yingchuan. In the Qingming Dynasty, officials governed during the Qingming Dynasty, production developed, and there was a peaceful scene of "people in the fields give way to the countryside and roads do not pick up relics." Therefore, the emperor issued an edict praising Huang Ba as the best among good officials. ?\x0d\4. Xu Yougong\x0d\ (?-702), whose real name is Xu Hongmin, was a native of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty. He was the most famous official in the Tang Dynasty who specialized in investigating cases. In ancient times, most official positions were mixed with administrative and judicial positions. Only in the imperial court were there dedicated trial officers, but their status in the bureaucracy was extremely low and it was difficult to achieve anything. Although Xu Yougong has served as a full-time trial officer for a long time, he is well-known in history for his courage to strictly abide by the law, speak out directly when guilty, enforce justice and redress hundreds of unjust cases, and save more than 10,000 lives. Xu Yougong successively served as Puzhou Judicial Joining Army, Si Xingcheng of Si Xing Temple (i.e. Dali Temple), Yuan Wai Lang of Qiuguan (i.e. Ministry of Punishment), and Si Xing Shaoqing, the censor of the doctor. When Xu Yougong became an official, it was during the Wu Zhou period. Empress Wu was causing chaos at the top and ruthless officials were snaring the officials below. It was not easy to enforce the law and maintain justice. Because Xu Yougong has been responsible for 600 to 700 major cases and saved tens of thousands of lives, he inevitably offended cruel and treacherous officials, and was frequently impeached and put on trial. However, in the end, no evidence was found that he was embezzling money or bending the law for personal gain. He was charged with capital crimes three times, pardoned three times, dismissed from office twice and came back twice. Despite this, he remained determined, never flattered, and was committed to enforcing the law and upholding justice. It is precisely because of this that Xu Youfeng became a rare full-time "judge" with a long-lasting name in history, and was praised by people at the time as a good official "unprecedented in ancient times".

?\x0d\5. Di Renjie\x0d\ (AD 630-700), courtesy name Huaiying, was born in Taiyuan, Bingzhou (now southwest of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province) in the Tang Dynasty. He took the Ming Jing Ke examination (one of the subjects in the imperial examination system of the Tang Dynasty), and thus Entering official career. After entering politics, he experienced two eras: Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian. He was first appointed as the Facao of the Governor's Office of Bingzhou, then as the Dali Cheng, and then as the Shiyushi. He successively served as the governor of Ningzhou and Yuzhou, and the local official and minister. As an official, Di Renjie, as Lao Tzu said, "The saint's heart is impermanent and he has the hearts of the people at heart." In order to save the innocent, he dared to go against the will of the monarch. He always maintained his true character of being considerate of the people and not afraid of power. He always stayed above the temple and served the people. Because of worries, later generations called him "the mainstay of the Tang Dynasty". He was appointed as Dali Cheng in charge of criminal law. Within one year of taking office, he handled more than 17,000 cases left by his predecessor. No one of them appealed for justice. This is evident in his fairness. Later generations compiled many wonderful legends based on this. , even someone in the Netherlands compiled a book "The Legend of Di Renjie's Judgment of the Case of the Tang Dynasty" based on this theme. \x0d\6. Chen Xiliang\x0d\ Also known as Gongbi, he was a native of Qingshen, Meizhou (now Sichuan) during the Northern Song Dynasty, and his native place was Jingzhao (now Xi'an, Shaanxi). He has been an official for more than 30 years since he was a Jinshi. He has served as a county magistrate, a prefecture magistrate, a magistrate, a transfer history official, and other local officials. He also served in the capital Kaifeng Prefecture and the imperial court. Whether he was an official in the local area or in the capital, Chen Xiliang hated evil as much as his enemies. He advances and retreats based on his personal fortunes, praises the common people, and makes the princes and nobles afraid. He later died of overwork at the age of 64. The famous writer Su Shi claimed that he would never write a tombstone for anyone in his life, but he admired Chen Xiliang's character very much and was worried that Chen Xiliang's deeds would be lost to future generations, so he made an exception and wrote "The Biography of Chen Gongbi". ?\x0d\7. Bao Zheng\x0d\ (AD 999-1062), courtesy name Xiren, was born in Hefei, Luzhou (now Hefei, Anhui). He was the most famous upright official in history. Since he was a teenager, he has been determined to contribute to the country and be "loyal to the death and righteous". Bao Zheng started his official career as a county magistrate, and later served as magistrate, transfer envoy and other local chief executives; he served as supervisory censor and other supervisory ministers, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Household and other senior officials in charge of national finance, capital deployment and other important military positions; he also served as a diplomatic envoy He was sent as an envoy to Liao State; the most famous one was that he served as the direct bachelor of Tianzhang Pavilion and Longtuge, so later generations called him Bao Daizhi, Bao Longtu and Bao Xueshi. Although he served as the prefect of Kaifeng for only more than a year, after his death, the people of Kaifeng built a Bao Gong Temple next to the Kaifeng Prefecture to commemorate and worship him. Bao Zheng was honest and simple throughout his life, never paying attention to ostentation. Even when he became a high official, he still dressed in the same clothes as when he was a commoner. He hated corruption deeply. In his memorial to Renzong, "Begging for Officials Without Stolen Money," he said, "Integrity is the model of the people; Those who are greedy are thieves of the people. "He was strict with himself throughout his life and practiced it personally. He was appointed as the magistrate of Duanzhou, rectified the official administration, and fought against corruption. He was very popular among the people. When he left office, he politely declined the gift of a fine inkstone made by the local government. , "Return without holding an inkstone"; he was selfless throughout his life, did not avoid the powerful, and enforced the law like a mountain. We will always strongly advocate for justice to be brought to justice for the illegal acts committed by the emperor's relatives, eunuchs and dignitaries. Vigorously redressing injustice is the main content that Bao Zheng was deeply praised and praised by the people during his lifetime and after his death. Bao Zheng enjoyed a high reputation at that time and in later generations. Especially after his death, as a typical image of an upright official, he was exaggerated by literary and artistic works of different genres, giving him a magical color. With the progress of international cultural exchanges, Bao Zheng, a historical figure and artistic image, has also won world reputation. Although there is a huge difference between the image of Bao Zheng in historical materials and the image in artistic works, Bao Zheng's life was not only appreciated by the highest feudal rulers, but also supported and loved by the lower class people who were in dire straits. As an upright official, he was indeed very typical. of. There is a story told in "The Second Moment of Surprise". When Zhu Xi was the magistrate of Chong'an County, Fujian Province, one day he received a case in which a commoner sued a wealthy family for invading his ancestral tomb. The ancients valued Feng Shui, and Zhu Xi was a master of Feng Shui. At that time, there were many cases of wealthy families occupying common people's graves, so Zhu Xi decided to check it himself. When I went to the tomb, I saw that it was indeed a geomantic treasure. The big man defended himself and said: "This is originally my family's newly built tomb. Sir, look, the soil is not dry yet, how could it become his family's ancestral tomb?" The young man defended: "Although the tomb is new, it is newly built. , there are old things underneath, but they belong to my family." Zhu Xi ordered people to dig with a shovel, and sure enough, a tombstone was dug out, with the names of Xiaomin's ancestors clearly listed on it. When Zhu Xi saw it, he was furious. The tombstones proved it to be irrefutable. It must be that the big surnames coveted the good feng shui of the ancestral tombs of the small people and maliciously occupied them. So the big surname was sentenced to the crime of occupying land, and the cemetery was awarded to the common people.

Zhu Xi was very dissatisfied when he settled the case, thinking, "If I am not the one who can do this good thing of hoeing the strong and supporting the weak, who is willing to do it?" Unexpectedly, the truth is another story: it turns out that the common people know that Zhu Xi has always been dedicated to attacking the rich and powerful, and they hate it. They bullied the people, so they carved bluestones with characters and secretly buried them in the family graveyard. Then they came to complain, and Zhu Xi fell into the trap. Bao Zheng was also a famous upright official in the Song Dynasty. "Mengxi Bi Tan" recorded an embarrassing incident of his. When Bao Zheng was in charge of Kaifeng Mansion, if someone broke the law, he should be punished with a cane according to law. The man bribed a petty official to help him avoid this physical pain. The clerk took the money and made an agreement with him: During the meeting, he would just shout out the injustice and leave the rest to me. When he was held in court to question the crime, the man really cried out for injustice and couldn't help but judge. The clerk pretended to be impatient and scolded him: "Isn't it just a cane? Just take it. What are you saying?" When Bao Zheng saw that the clerk was so overstepping his authority and being domineering, Bao Zheng was furious and punished him with the cane. Frustrated. Although the clerk was beaten, he got money. The offender paid and was spared a beating. Everyone wins, but Bao Zheng loses. \x0d\8. Kuang Zhong\x0d\ (AD 1383-1442), courtesy name Bolu and nickname Ruyu, was born in Longgang Prefecture, Jing'an County, Jiangxi Province in the Ming Dynasty. Kuang Zhong made outstanding political achievements throughout his life when he was appointed as the magistrate of Suzhou. He directly reduced the official grain, implemented tax deductions to reduce the burden on the people, and stabilized and developed the economy. At the same time, we should clean up the administration of officials, correct the atmosphere, pay attention to cleaning up the prisons of injustice, and redress the grievances of the people. He arranged a schedule and investigated a case in one county every day, over and over again, without stopping. In the first eight months of taking office, more than 1,500 cases were cleared. In the cases he has tried, no matter how big or small, he can basically ensure that the people do not complain that they are wronged, and the local tyrants do not dare to do evil again. Now, whenever Kuang Zhong is mentioned, people will immediately think of the upright official in the story "Fifteen Guans" who is willing to take risks, dare to uphold justice and redress the grievances of the people. In addition, he also built water conservancy projects, opened schools, recommended talents and other good things to benefit the country. During his thirteen years in office, Kuang Zhong left office three times and stayed in office three times. He did a lot of practical things for the people of Suzhou. In the end, he fell ill from overwork and died of illness in Suzhou. In order to commemorate Kuang Zhong, local people built ancestral halls in Suzhou and seven counties after his death. \x0d\9. Hai Rui\x0d\ (AD 1514-1587), courtesy name Ruxian, was born in Qiongshan County, Hainan. The era in which he lived was the transition period between the prosperity and decline of the Ming Dynasty. On the surface, everything is peaceful, but at the moment, there are dangers. When Hai Rui was young, he showed great concern for social issues. When he was serving in the Ministry of Household Affairs, Emperor Jiajing, who was worried about the country's financial resources and indulged in large-scale construction of temples and temples in various places in order to dissuade superstitious Taoism and seek immortality, resolutely went to the throne as a sixth-rank official and was determined to die. The memorial he submitted this time is the famous "Speaking Straightly about the First Matters in the World", which was later called "Public Security Essay". After the memorial was delivered, Hai Rui was imprisoned. Fortunately, Jiajing died of illness soon, and the new emperor was pardoned under the persuasion of Prime Minister Xu Jie. His official position was restored, and he was gradually promoted to the position of governor of the ten prefectures of Yingtian. After that, in order to correct current abuses and enforce strict laws and disciplines, he presided over the formulation of severe punishments such as "eighty strings of hanging" for corruption. He was selfless and showed no mercy to the old prime minister Xu Jie, who had always been kind to him. He returned the 400,000 acres of fertile land that the Xu family had occupied to its original owner, and ordered Xu Jie's two sons and more than 20 family members who had oppressed good people to follow the law. condemn. Throughout Hai Rui's official career, he went through the Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli dynasties, and risked his life many times to give advice. Although it was to safeguard the fundamental interests of feudal rule, he was strict in enforcing the law, eradicating violence, living an honest life, sympathizing with the people, recruiting exiles, and paying attention to Developing production, building water conservancy projects, restricting endless exploitation by big landowners, reforming backward customs and habits, etc., have won widespread support from the people, and their actions have an undeniable role in historical progress. Hai Rui, the great official of the Ming Dynasty, once developed a set of criteria for deciding cases: "Anyone who is suspicious of a lawsuit would rather submit to his brother than his brother; rather than his uncle, he would submit to his nephew; rather than submit to the poor, it would be better to submit to the rich; than to submit to the stupid and upright, it would be better to submit to the rich Qu Diao is stubborn. The matter is to fight for property. Rather than surrender to the small people, it is better to surrender to the local officials to save the disadvantages. The matter is to fight for appearance. Rather than to surrender to the local officials, it is better to surrender to the small people to save the body. "The world is complicated, Mr. Hai is not Sherlock Holmes. When encountering a case that cannot be solved, they simply lean towards the weak, thinking that they feel at ease. Hai Rui was by no means the only adherent of this set of principles. There were many officials before and after him who had done this, and they all had a unified title - "Integrity Officials." \x0d\10. Tang Bin\x0d\ (AD 1627-1687), whose courtesy name was Kong Bo, also known as Jingxian and later Qian'an. His ancestral home was Suizhou (now Sui County), Baonan. His main political achievements were in the Kangxi Dynasty, ranging from official positions to cabinet bachelor, governor of Jiangning, and minister of the Ministry of Rites.

During Tang Bin's life as an official, in addition to writing books and developing Neo-Confucianism, almost all his energy was focused on the management of river affairs and water transportation. He also paid attention to reducing the burden on the people, providing disaster relief, promoting benefits and eliminating harm, thus always serving him. Practicing the Confucian "people-centered" thought of "cultivating one's moral character, regulating one's family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world", he has made certain contributions to changing the situation from "everywhere is barren and the population is sparse" to "the prosperous age breeds people and never adds wealth" , he was an honest and upright official. When he died, he only left his salary of eight taels of silver, not even enough money to buy a coffin. He was truly an upright official of his generation. \x0d\\x0d\The most famous one that everyone knows the most is undoubtedly: Bao Qingtian, who can investigate things from heaven to earth!