Why does Bao Gong have few friends?

Bao Zheng (999- 1062 July 3), born in Hefei, Luzhou (now Feidong, Hefei, Anhui), was a famous official in the Northern Song Dynasty. As a former bachelor of Tianzhangge and Longtuge, he is known as the first of "Bao" and "Bao".

Drama, fiction, film and television, in order to shape a clean, just, resolute, independent, selfless and wise decision, dare to avenge the people, put many stories that have nothing to do with him or do not exist on him, and deify him. He is regarded as the reincarnation of Wen Quxing and the incarnation of an upright official, and is called Bao Gong and Bao Qingtian. Because of its black face image, it is also called "Bao Heizi".

Bao Zheng has a good reputation among the people and is very famous. The legendary Bao Zheng has a moon on his head, which is the reincarnation of the stars. He can judge the sun and cloudy days at night, and get rid of Nuo Nuo-worshippers, and he is not afraid of powerful people, so people call him "Bao Qingtian". More exaggerated legend is that after Bao Gong's death, he was one of the top ten halls in Yamaraja in charge of the underworld.

However, history is not a dramatic novel. Bao Qingtian's integrity in the official history is true, but his ability to judge cases is far from what he imagined.

Bao Zheng is in charge of the capital (Kaifeng, Yin), and the law enforcement is strict. On the one hand, he is upright and upright to the powerful, but on the other hand, he is merciless to the people and treats them equally. This is not only different from the fact that ordinary officials are partial to the powerful, but also different from some literati who like to be partial to the king. It should be said that Bao Zheng's attitude is more rational.

However, rational Bao Zheng is sometimes held hostage by emotions. Once emotional, Bao Zheng, who is just, upright and self-disciplined, can't help being an asshole.

Once, a fire broke out in a street in Beijing. Bianjing's commercial and residential areas are mixed together, and many shops and vendors occupy the road, causing traffic congestion. Once a fire breaks out, the consequences are unimaginable. Bao Zheng rushed to the scene at the first time. Seeing that the governors are all in action, the relevant departments naturally dare not slack off. Bao Zheng was very worried when he saw the fire raging at the scene, which had spread to more than ten families.

At this time, a man came to ask for instructions: "Do you want to take water from Sweet Water Lane or Bitter Water Lane?" Bao Zheng flew into a rage: at such a tense moment, he asked such a confused question! Fire fighting or sweet and bitter? So I concluded that this person was deliberately teasing and ordered that this person be beheaded on the spot. Officials and people in the fire were not afraid, and everyone was "in awe" of Bao Zheng.

This story comes from Du Xing Magazine written by Zeng Minxing, a scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty. Yang Wanli once prefaced the book and praised it: "No pen." In Zeng Minxing's view, this requester is a "rogue". A group of bored young people get together and want to deliberately Doby Bao Zheng, so there is such a question. However, there is another possibility. The person who may ask for instructions belongs to the kind of ordinary people who look forward to doing things, have no opinion, and are at a loss in the face of fire. Since the prefect is at the scene, you have to ask for instructions first. But Bao Zheng, for whatever reason, decided that this person overstepped his official position and delayed the disaster. However, even if this person is deliberately teasing, he will not die. But he told a joke and was beheaded by Bao Zheng. Bao Zheng's "Blue Sky" is so capricious for an official, ignoring the law and judging cases by personal emotions, which is a bit harsh.

Shen Kuo's Talk about Meng Xi records another anecdote of Bao Zheng. At that time, a rich man in Kaifeng broke the law and should be punished by a stick according to the law. The rich man has money, but Bao Zheng is honest and clean, and doesn't love money, so the rich man finds a small official to take charge of playing the board. The beadle received the red envelope and pointed out, "You want to see the prefect today, and he will definitely give me the case after asking. At this time, all you have to do is shout grievances and leave the rest to me. "

So Bao Zheng went to class, and after some questioning, he really called the beadle to punish him. The rich man cried out with the confession of the small official, and the small official shouted: "As long as you accept the rod punishment honestly, you can go. Why say more?" Said this in front of Bao Zheng said, adults have been finalized, nature won't be wrong.

Ordinary officials naturally like such flattery, but Bao Zheng is different. After listening to it, he didn't like being angry. He thinks that petty officials are just petty officials and are not qualified to evaluate cases. Instead, they play politics and try their best to flatter their superiors, which is even more flattering. So Bao Zheng ordered to stop the torture of the rich man, acquitted, but dragged the beadle down and hit more than ten boards.

Bao Zheng's original intention was good. He suppressed the arrogance of his officials and made them afraid to steal from them, thinking that they were smart and fair. But I don't want everything to be expected by small collectors who are familiar with his style. Instead, it was countered by a sentence "wai Wei to save Zhao". The small official jumped out and got the board (of course, he took the money), but the rich man who should have been beaten escaped legal sanctions.

At the time of Song Renzong, there were no major events in the country, the literati enjoyed peace, and the communication between poetry and wine was very intensive. Let's look at the famous officials at that time. They all left rich records in this respect. Except Bao Gong, his personal life was almost invisible. It is recorded in the history books that he never wrote a personal letter, had few friends and stayed away from his relatives (if flogging his cousin who broke the law is not considered "communication"). His handed down words include a short poem in his early years, a family instruction in his later years, and the rest are all memorials.

First of all, I want to say that Bao Gong's personality is great. He is a rigid and straightforward model. He can't find a shortcoming from head to toe; All words and deeds in politics are out of public interest; Private morality is also seamless, and it seems that it has never been in a dark room or in the middle. Hey? What are you talking about? Hey? /p & gt；

But from the common sense, people can't be so perfect. The meaning of morality is not to "kill people's desires", but to suppress some desires and balance individual behavior and society. Virtue is the winner of moral conflict, but Bao Gong seems to have no moral conflict.

Bao Gong in Bao Mian is still fighting a war between public and private, but this is just a scene, and there is no such happy record in history. When tang style was still alive in the Northern Song Dynasty, people were still in high spirits, so those literati, although living in a different place, were still sober-minded. Bao Gong is a big exception. Regarding Bao Zheng's acceptance of the appointment of the Third Secretary, Ouyang Xiu said: "The heart is hidden in the middle, and people are not seen; The world is looking forward to it. "He means that a person's heart and stomach are separated, and it is his actions that judge a person to be trustworthy. However, without emotional clues, one's actions will be obscured by fog or light.

Ouyang Xiu's criticism originated from Bao Zheng's pacification and dismemberment of Zhang and Song Qi. Song Qi is a famous saying that "the branches of red apricots are in spring", so it is called the history of red apricots. Bao Zheng attacked Song Qi because he knew that after Chengdu, there were many banquets, and Shu people were dissatisfied with his extravagance. Compared with his brother Song Yao (Bao Zheng once impeached Song Yao), Song Qi really lived a luxurious life. However, it was common for civil servants to hold banquets at that time. If this is a crime, the court will be more than half empty. Besides, every time Song Qi went to Shu for dinner, he lit candles to show paper, and got to the point. When people near and far saw the lights, they all knew that Mr. Song was making up Tang people. After his death, thousands of people in Chengdu cried in the temple, and it didn't seem that their reputation was very bad.

Another person who was attacked by Bao Zheng was Zhang. This man was heroic and talented, and his knowledge was unique at that time, but he did not stretch throughout his life. At that time, his property was auctioned in Beijing, and Zhang, then the third ambassador, bought a house. Bao Jia impeached him, saying that he was "shameless and could not occupy a big position." Zhang is really careless, but it seems that this alone is not enough to establish the theory of "shameless". According to Sima Guang, Zhang's misdeeds were denounced and there were many lashes. However, such an important article was not found in Bao Gong's memorial hall. In the Qing dynasty, it was speculated that the descendants of Bao Gong were unwilling to show their descendants, so they were cut down, which was groundless. But I can't see the original text, and there are always some regrets.

Coincidentally, Zhang and the Soong brothers were at odds at that time, but Bao Zheng was promoted. If we can find some clues, I don't think Bao Gong's image will be damaged too much. Instead, I feel more cordial. Everyone has three relatives and six friends, human nature, human nature, and no weakness at all, which makes people feel completely inhuman. But it is not, whether before or after, Bao Zheng's remarks have nothing to do with the affair, and they are all public.

The most talked about in Song Dynasty is tuberculosis, and it is common to describe tuberculosis. Unfortunately, in the sea of essays, there are few records about Bao Zheng. For example, Wang Anshi, together with Bao Zheng, was recommended by Ouyang Xiu. He is also a superior and a subordinate, and always does it. However, Bao Zheng was not mentioned in Linchuan Collection. So are others. Fortunately, Wu Kui, who is closely related to Bao Zheng, wrote an epitaph for him, and Zhang Tian, another self-proclaimed family member, sent a commemorative collection. Without these two people, Yuan Zaju would not have the image of Bao Gong.

I guess most people's psychology at that time may be like this: I can't say that Bao Zheng is not good, but that he is good and reluctant. Pure people have no disciples, which is also called.

The strangest thing is that Bao Zheng doesn't laugh. At that time, there was a saying: "Bao Gong laughs, Huang Heqing." -Bao Gong smiled, which is more rare than the Yellow River becoming clear. There is no record in Historical Records that Bao Zheng suffered from facial paralysis, and we have no reason to infer that he is a person with internal paralysis. But no matter why, a person who can't laugh, no matter how admirable, few people would like to have such a colleague, such a neighbor, or such a cousin.

Wang Yun, a famous minister in the Yuan Dynasty, stayed at Kaifeng Mansion overnight, and once wrote a quatrain: "Wipe away the monument and see the benefits, see the title for a thousand years;" Scared birds wander around the courtyard, fearing frost and life. "I'm still afraid of frost, which is probably the most direct impression of Bao Gong in history.