The story of Zheng Banqiao
To this day, everyone refers to Zheng Banqiao as "Zheng Banqiao", but in fact, Zheng Banqiao's original name was Zheng Xie, and Banqiao was his nickname. He was also known as Mr. Banqiao and Taoist Banqiao. The following are the stories about Zheng Banqiao that I compiled for you. I hope you like it and welcome to read.
Zheng Banqiao teaches people to be thin and thick
Zheng Banqiao is a well-known figure. He is well known to people because of his calligraphy and painting. In fact, his personality charm in dealing with people is also worthy of our admiration. of.
Zheng Banqiao taught us about Bo Cunhou. He once asked someone to buy a piece of land in his hometown for twelve taels of silver, intending to use it as a cemetery in the future. One year when he went home to worship his ancestors during the Qingming Festival, he went to the cemetery to take a look and found a lonely tomb in the cemetery. He was a little angry and called his neighbor who helped buy the land to ask. The neighbor patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I can dig up that unowned grave at any time as long as you give your order." Zheng Banqiao said with great disappointment, "How can you dig up other people's graves at will? No one is there now. Claiming it does not mean that no one will claim it in the future. Digging a grave is what unscrupulous people do. If I dig it, what will my neighbors think of me? How will my friends think of me? Even if I am an orphan without an owner. The grave is also a deep miss left by others." After he asked his family to pay homage to the ownerless grave, he wanted to give up the cemetery, so he asked the neighbor to help him sell it at the original price. go. But the next day, Zheng Banqiao invited the neighbor over again and said solemnly: "I won't sell that piece of land." The neighbor was confused and speculated that Zheng Banqiao might want to increase the price. After all, this is a geomantic treasure land. The neighbor said: "Don't worry, I will help you sell it at a high price." Zheng Banqiao said thoughtfully: "You are wrong. It is easy to sell this land, but no matter who buys it, he will sell the lonely house I won't sell it because I want to keep that lonely grave." The neighbor was even more puzzled. Zheng Banqiao turned to look at his children and said word by word: "I will keep that lonely grave when I die. Keep me company. Not only can I not do it myself, but I can't let my neighbors do such unethical things as digging graves." The neighbors suddenly felt admiration. Zheng Banqiao kept his word and erected a monument on the cemetery to tell future generations that no one could dig this lonely grave in the future and that it would be worshiped every Qingming Festival.
Zheng Banqiao’s practice became a hot topic for a while, and his neighbors also praised him one after another.
Zheng Banqiao, who came from a humble background, has been kind and tolerant throughout his life. He once warned his family in a letter home: "As a human being, we must avoid being thin and saving what is thick." Always have kind thoughts and be kind to others. In fact, this is what each of us should have.
Zheng Banqiao was deceived
After Zheng Banqiao resigned, in order to maintain his family's livelihood, he had to make a living by selling calligraphy and paintings. In view of Zheng Banqiao's fame, there is an endless stream of people from all walks of life asking Banqiao to paint. But Zheng Banqiao's paintings cannot be bought with money. For those wealthy businessmen who are greedy for wealth and have no mercy, he just refuses to give up for five buckets of rice, "asking me to paint, but not painting." Once, there was a salt merchant in Yangzhou who wanted Zheng Banqiao to paint a painting for him in order to be elegant and promised to pay him a lot of money. Zheng Banqiao had always heard that this man was unlearned and unskilled and was running rampant in the countryside, so he refused to paint for him.
Zheng Banqiao was deceived and rejected. The businessman did not give up, but came up with a countermeasure. One day, Zheng Banqiao went out to Yangzhou City for a trip. He heard the beautiful sound of a piano not far away from a bamboo forest. Zheng Banqiao also liked music, so he went to a house to find the sound. I saw an old man playing the piano leisurely in the courtyard, and a boy beside him was filling a bowl with cooked dog meat in the pot. When Zheng Banqiao saw Dog Meat, he completely forgot about listening to Qin, and his usual gentleness was gone. He forgetfully said to the old man: "Old man, do you also like to eat dog meat?" The old man smiled and replied: " Of course, among all the flavors of meat, dog meat has the best taste and the highest value. My friend, you should also eat a piece." Zheng Banqiao, who has always been addicted to dog meat, did not refuse at all, and did not even ask the person's name. , he sat on a chair and ate dog meat with the old man.
While eating, Zheng Banqiao inadvertently glanced at the interior of the host's house and found that the furnishings were very elegant. The only drawback was that there was not even a calligraphy or painting on the wall. Unconsciously, Zheng Banqiao was puzzled, so he asked the old man: "Why are there no calligraphy and paintings on the wall?" Upon hearing this question, the old man sighed helplessly, "Because there are no favorite calligraphy and paintings, the wall is empty." Then the old man said, "I heard that Zheng Banqiao's calligraphy and painting are very famous, but I have never seen his calligraphy and painting. I wonder if they are top-notch calligraphy and paintings?"
After hearing this, Zheng Banqiao laughed and said: "I am Zheng Banqiao, I am How about I paint you some paintings to decorate the walls?" The old man was overjoyed after hearing this, "I am so lucky to have the opportunity to meet Mr. Zheng today. If Mr. Zheng can give me paintings, I will be happy." So the old man asked the boy to get them. Paper, ink, pen and inkstone. Zheng Banqiao was not polite and splashed with ink. In a short time, several calligraphy and painting works were completed. After finishing the paintings, Zheng Banqiao asked the old man's name to facilitate his signature. The old man told him: My name is so-and-so. When Zheng Banqiao heard this name, he felt a little puzzled and asked: "Why is your name the same as the salt merchant who asked me for a painting a few days ago?" The old man said: "When I chose this name, I'm afraid the salt merchant was not born yet. It's just the same name, it's no big deal." After hearing this, Zheng Banqiao laughed and didn't pay much attention.
Unexpectedly, the next day, the salt merchant who originally asked for the painting entertained guests at home and specially sent someone to invite Zheng Banqiao. As soon as Zheng Banqiao entered the hall of the salt merchant's house, he found that all the paintings hanging on the wall were painted by himself yesterday. Only then did he realize that he had been deceived. It turned out that the old man was the salt merchant's sitter. Zheng Banqiao regretted it endlessly and blamed himself for following the salt merchant's ways, but he had no choice but to say that he was a mute and couldn't tell the pain of eating Coptis chinensis.
Zheng Banqiao’s intellectual property case
In 1746, Zheng Banqiao took office as the magistrate of Weixian County, Shandong Province. On this day, while he was sitting in the court reviewing official documents, someone beat a drum to express his grievances. Zheng Banqiao ordered the government officials to bring the drummer to the court. The drummer is a mute, kneeling on the ground and showing his posture.
Zheng Banqiao’s Intellectual Judgment of Inheritance Case Zheng Banqiao took a closer look and understood the facts of the case. The mute used to be able to speak, but when he was 5 years old, he lost his voice due to an illness, but his ears can still be used. The mute had an elder brother. After his parents died one after another, he left a large amount of property. The elder brother wanted to monopolize the family wealth, so he cruelly kicked the mute out of the house. The former county magistrate ignored Mute's complaint because Mute's brother refused to admit that Mute was his brother and suffered from lack of evidence. Every time Mute went to the Yamen to complain, he was kicked out with a cane.
Zheng Banqiao accepted the case and immediately called the mute brother to the court. The mute brother still said as before that the mute was not his parents' biological flesh and blood, but a wild child picked up by his parents from outside. The mute parents are dead and there is no one to testify. Zheng Banqiao knew that his mute brother would not admit his guilt without sufficient evidence, so he had no choice but to withdraw from the court and set a date for retrial.
Zheng Banqiao thought for a moment and came up with a solution. After the mute brother left, he stopped the mute and said to him: "From today on, you will stay in front of your brother's door. When you see him going out, go up and beat him hard."
The mute blinked, looked at Zheng Banqiao doubtfully, and shook his head, indicating that he did not dare to do this.
Zheng Banqiao said: "Don't have any worries, just do as I say. If there is a problem, I will make the decision for you." The mute nodded and left.
The mute really followed the method taught by Zheng Banqiao. He stood guard in front of his brother's door. When he saw his brother coming out, he rushed up with a wooden stick and beat him to pieces. In the following days, he beat his brother again. The old wounds were not healed but new ones were added. The mute brother was chased and beaten so hard that he did not dare to go out, so he had to go to the county government office to complain: "The mute brother did not respect etiquette and beat his own brother many times."
After Zheng Banqiao reported that the mute arrived in court, he began to hear the case. Zheng Banqiao asked the mute brother: "The mute hurt someone, and his crime is not small. I will definitely uphold justice for you and give you peace. But according to our Qing Dynasty laws, if the person who beats you is an outsider, he will only be treated as a normal brawl: If they are brothers, they must be severely punished.
Excuse me, is the mute your biological brother?"
The mute's brother didn't know what was going on. He just wanted to punish the mute quickly and severely to prevent him from continuing to beat him. He stared at the mute and said: "He is my compatriot. brother. "
After the mute brother finished speaking, he looked at Zheng Banqiao, waiting for his sentence. Unexpectedly, Zheng Banqiao shouted sharply: "Since he is your biological brother, why don't you give him half of the family property left by your parents? It's clear. It's intentional monopoly!"
"This... this..." The mute brother was dumbfounded, and only then did he realize that he had fallen into a trap set by the county magistrate. Zheng Banqiao immediately sent people to escort them home. , counted the wealth and divided it in half.
The picture on the yoke
Zheng Banqiao once served as the magistrate of Wei County in Shandong. A salt merchant caught a person selling smuggled salt and asked Zheng Banqiao to punish him. According to the law at that time, salt could not be sold privately, and smuggled salt must be punished.
Zheng Banqiao was always very honest as an official and was particularly sympathetic. Ordinary people. He knew that although the salt merchant was a government merchant and his business brand was "legitimate", he always drove up the price of salt and used the government merchant's brand to harm the people. As for the private salt dealer, he knew at a glance that he was a small businessman. , Zheng Banqiao sympathized with him.
But Zheng Banqiao was a magistrate who received a salary from the court, and he had to act in accordance with the laws of the time.
Zheng Banqiao thought of a way to deal with the salt merchants. Said: "You asked me to punish him severely, but this is not easy to handle. How about fettering him and showing him to the public?" "
The salt merchant said: "Okay, okay, those who sell smuggled salt deserve to be shackled heavily!
Zheng Banqiao added: "You said you want to shackle him heavily. How about I put a shackle several feet long on him?" "
The salt merchant became more and more proud, and without thinking about it, he kept saying: "Okay, okay, let's put him in the shackles!" ”
So Zheng Banqiao ordered the government officials to find a large reed mat 8 feet long and 1 feet wide, dig a round hole in the middle, and make a "reed flail" (actually, the weight of such a flail It is very light, and the people who wear the yoke will not suffer at all.) Zheng Banqiao took a dozen pieces of paper, drew a lot of bamboo and orchid grass, and pasted the paintings on the "reeds". "The private salt dealer was escorted to the door of the salt merchant's salt shop for "display". A dozen yamen servants carried the "reeds" and shouted as they walked through the street. Onlookers crowded the salt shop. On this day, the salt shop was crowded with people. Not a single business was done.
The news about Zheng Banqiao's shackles spread like wildfire. People from the city and the countryside flocked to the entrance of the salt store to watch the excitement. For more than ten days, the salt merchant's business was completely disrupted. The salt merchant felt really distressed and rushed to the county government office to beg Zheng Banqiao to let the man go.