In the winter of the fourteenth year of Lu Zhaogong, a serious murder occurred in the court of the Jin Kingdom; The incident resulted in the death of three doctors, including the famous corrupt official Sheeptongue Carp. Murder has nothing to do with politics and does not involve a struggle for power; In fact, it is just a case of a victim of a miscarriage of justice who angrily draws his sword and stabs the judge who took the bribes and the defendant who gave the bribes, and finally is executed.

More than 60 years ago, the Chu doctor Shen Gong Wuchen fled to the Jin Kingdom, and the Jin Jing Gong gave him half of the Yan Tian because the area of the Yan Tian was too large, and after the death of Shen Gong Wu Chen, his son Xing Hou inherited the throne. Twenty years ago, Yongzi, another doctor of the Chu State, also went into exile in the Chu State, and the Duke of Jin Ping gave the other half of the Yan Tian to Yongzi.

Xing Hou and Yongzi are both fallen people at the end of the world, and they should cherish each other and care for each other; But Xing Hou was arrogant and had no one in his eyes, and Yongzi was greedy and forgot his righteousness, so the two neighbors couldn't get along at all.

The land of the two was originally bounded by a small river flowing north-south, with the land of Xinghou in the west and the land of Yongzi in the east. But then due to a change in the landscape, the river was diverted overnight. The new river channel divided the land of Xinghou, and the land area east of the river increased in vain, and Yongzi was overjoyed, and immediately called the tenants to occupy the new land.

Xing Hou was furious, he was Shuxiang's brother-in-law, and he was ashamed to argue with Yongzi, so he sued Yongzi with his boss. As soon as the Great Situ Shi Mi Mu took over the case, the Bank of China Wu was ready to attack Xianyu, and Shi Mi Mu accepted Shi Ying's order to go out with the army; After the end of the war, Shi Mimu was ready to start hearing the case again, but he had to hold the Pingqiu Alliance; He had to suspend the trial again and accompany Jin Zhaogong to the league meeting; On the way back to China, he was pulled by Wu of the Bank of China to attack Xianyu; Soon after returning to China, he was sent to Chu by the Duke of Jin Zhao to congratulate King Chuping on his accession to the throne, and did not return for several months. As a result, the case dragged on indefinitely.

Seeing that his land had been occupied by Yongzi for three years, and the losses caused by the infringement were getting bigger and bigger, Xing Hou had to go to Han Qi and ask him to send someone to try it immediately.

Han Qi handed over the case to Shao Situ Sheep Tongue Carp for trial. Yongzi's defence was that when he was given land that year, the officials of the Situ Department explicitly told him that he was bounded by a small river, and that the change of the river course was providential, and that he was certainly entitled to the new land. Xing Hou said angrily: "If the river brings Xinjiang in, do you still want to live in the palace?" ”

Since the circumstances of the case were not complicated, Yongzi's defense was obviously untenable, and everyone knew that the defendant would face the outcome of losing the case and paying huge damages. But since the Inquisitor is a greedy and shameless villain, then the outcome is not easy to judge.

In order to win the lawsuit, he did not hesitate to give one of his fairy-looking daughters to the sheep's tongue carp as a concubine; Xing Hou, on the other hand, disdained to win the case through bribery. Sheeptongue carp accepted a bribe from the beautiful woman, and the final judgment rejected Xing Hou's lawsuit.

Xing Hou stayed awake all night, and after the end of the court the next morning, the ministers and doctors entered the official office to handle official business. Xing Hou first broke into Yongzi's room and stabbed him to death without a sound; He stabbed the sheep's tongue carp to death in the same way, and after the incident, he took the murder weapon to the Judicial Office and surrendered.

This kind of bloody thing has never happened, Han Qi summoned Shu Xiang and asked Shu Xiang as the Taifu, in charge of the country's judicial power: "How should this case be handled?" ”

Shu Xiang replied: "Yongzi knew that he was guilty but used bribery to avoid losing the lawsuit, the sheep's tongue carp was corrupt and perverted the law, and Xing Hou killed the public doctor." The three men committed crimes of equal magnitude and should be punished in the same way: according to the law, Xing Hou should be executed, and the bodies of the three should be displayed in public. Knowing a crime and giving a bribe is called fainting, accepting a bribe and perverting the law is called ink, and killing people without scruples is called a thief. Xia Shu said: Faint, ink, thief, kill! This is a punishment that has been handed down from the Gaotao period and has been used for thousands of years. Please dispose of it in accordance with this law. ”

Han Qi then beheaded Xing Hou and hung the bodies of the three in the market for public display.

Confucius later said: "Shu Xiang has the virtues of the ancients, and the punishment of governing the country is not favored by kinship." He condemned the crime of the sheep's tongue carp three times without mercy, which is the great righteousness and great virtue: Shu Xiang condemned his greed at the Pingqiu meeting, so as to comfort the country and prevent Jin from being violent; condemned his treachery in persuading Ji Sun to leave, so as to comfort the Lu State and make Jin not abused; In the case of Yongzi and Xing Hou, he condemned his corruption, and punished him with a letter of punishment, so that Jin would not be evil. Three words to remove the three evils, increase the three benefits, kill relatives and be praised by the world, this is the great righteousness. ”

In the autumn of BC527 in the fifteenth year of Lu Zhaogong, Bank of China Wu attacked the Xianyu group for the third time, and the Jin army surrounded the Gu State. The Drum Kingdom has been repeatedly attacked and has become weakened; Xianyu people did not dare to go to the rescue. The surrender faction in the Drum Kingdom launched a rebellion to surrender to the Jin people, so they sent people to secretly find Zhongxing Wu and reveal the rebellion plan to him, but Zhongxing Wu firmly disagreed. His deputy asked, "You don't need to work hard to get the enemy country, this is the least costly way, why does the master refuse the other party?" ”

Bank of China Wu replied: "Uncle Xiang once taught me: likes and dislikes cannot go against common sense, and the people know how to adapt; The people understand good and evil, and they can do everything. I hate the presence of traitors in the Jin Kingdom, and is it worth it for the enemy to start a rebellion? No, they are equally disgusting to me, and you demand that I accept them; Once I have accepted it, I will reward them. I reward what I hate, and how do I do what I like? If I don't reward and lose my credit, how will I win the hearts and minds of the people? If you can win the crusade against the enemy, you will attack, and if you can't, you will withdraw your troops and do what you can; If you steal from your enemies by treacherous people, you will gain much more than you lose. ”

BOC Wu immediately handed over the traitor's messenger to the drum man. The drummers eliminated the rebel group and strengthened the garrison to resist the Jin army. After three months of siege, the city began to experience a shortage of food and supplies, and the drummers gradually lost their fighting spirit.

The drum knew that the defeat was decided, so he had to send an envoy out of the city to ask for surrender. Seeing that the people were full of energy and acting as usual, Wu said: "Your food is still sufficient, and it is not yet time to surrender; Go back and continue to resist, and surrender when you run out of food! ”

This request is too pedantic. Those who know BOC Wu know that he is serious, and those who don't know think that he is playing drummer. The subordinates asked puzzledly: "Can you accept the surrender but not not, can occupy the city but not occupy it; After waiting for the enemy to starve to death, wasting time and food in vain, what will the master use to serve the monarch? ”

Bank of China Wu said: "If you get a city but you get drummers and the whole army are lazy, the gains outweigh the losses, what is the use of this city?" It is better to use the city to buy laziness, so that people can maintain the spirit of diligence; Laziness will not lead to success, and abandonment of diligence is ominous. The drummer can serve the monarch, and so can I. If you were to replace the drummers, would you be able to surrender in this situation? Who would? Stand up and let me see? Keep the morality consistent, and only after getting the city will the people know the righteousness, and there is no death without two hearts. Isn't it a teaching to the Jin people? ”