During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, Ju County had a county order that was quite loved by the people - Zhang Ling, Zhang Ling was an official and upright, and he was witty in judging cases, and he soon cleared a lot of old cases that had been backlogged for many years in Ju County. Zhang Ling is not only good at judging cases, but also good at farmland and water conservancy construction, so that many of the land in Ju County that had failed to harvest year after year has become fertile land, so he is quite loved by the people.

Although Zhang County ordered the government to be diligent and love the people, but he had no choice but to suffer from locust plagues and social turmoil for many years, the people were still struggling to make a living, and the people hoped that the government would come up with more effective measures. But at this moment, Zhang Xianling suddenly resigned due to illness. For a while, people speculated about the real reason for Zhang Xianling's resignation, but few people could guess because there was a little-known story in it.

The story should start with a robbery. The ruffian Zhao Zhong robbed the things of the pedestrians in the village at the head of the village, and happened to be recognized by that person, so he sued the official, and when the official caught Zhao Zhong, Zhao Zhong had not had time to collect the stolen goods, which can be said to be full of human and material evidence.

In the court, Zhang Ling shouted loudly and asked Zhao Zhong why he robbed other people's property, and Zhao Zhong actually replied unexpectedly: "The eldest master quits the court!" ”

Zhang Ling was extremely angry and continued to ask Zhao Zhong, but he didn't expect Zhang Zhong to say the same thing. Zhang Ling was both puzzled and angry, and shouted angrily: "Be bold and don't answer truthfully, why do you ask me to quit the court?" ”

The official next to him was a stick on Zhao Zhong's back, knocking Zhao Zhong to the ground, but Zhao Zhong still bared his teeth and said, "Master, retreat!" ”

Zhang Xianling felt really strange, so he stood up and left his seat. At this time, only to hear a commotion overhead, Zhang Xianling hurriedly dodged, and as a result, the bricks and tiles that fell from the top of his head smashed his seat to pieces. Zhang Xianling was shocked into a cold sweat, thinking in his heart that if Zhao Zhong hadn't told him to retire, he would not have been able to smash to death, and he would definitely be crippled.

It turned out that the county government had been in disrepair for a long time, and the wood on the roof had rotted, so that such a thing happened, but how did Zhao Zhong know about it in advance? So Zhang Xianling retired from the court, took Zhao Zhong into the inner house, and asked about the specific situation.

Zhao Zhong said that his grandfather asked him to say this, Zhang Xianling asked him where his grandfather was, Zhao Zhong said that his grandfather had been dead for more than 30 years, and he was only more than ten years old when his grandfather died.

Zhang Ling asked Zhao Zhong's grandfather what his name was, Zhao Zhong said that his name was Zhao Xingye, and he was known for being good at divination before his death. Zhang Xianling was suspicious, and finally temporarily detained Zhao Zhong in the prison and let the guards take care of him.

The next day, Zhang Xianling asked the master about Zhao Xingye's true situation, and the master told Zhang Xianling a lot of Zhao Xingye's legacy, which became more and more mysterious the more he talked. Zhang Ling was fascinated when he listened to it, and of course he believed that what Zhao Zhong said was true.

A few days later, the county government was repaired and the case was raised again, and Zhao Zhong had changed his story. Zhao Zhong said that he didn't rob at all, but just borrowed two bean cakes from others, because the other party was afraid that he would not pay them back, so he repented and sued him for robbery. Zhang Ling asked the plaintiff if this was the case, and the man nodded yes, so Zhang Ling asked Zhao Zhong to immediately compensate six bean cakes to others, and the plaintiff nodded in agreement.

In fact, all of this was secretly coordinated by Zhang County's order, and Zhao Zhong's six bean cakes were also helped by the county order. In fact, Zhao Zhong is not the kind of heinous person, but his years are not good, and he is not good at management, so he ended up poor. That day, he saw that his child was really hungry, so he went to rob someone else's two bean cakes.

Shortly thereafter, Zhang Xianling resigned due to illness, and Zhao Zhong also changed from a poor person to a medium-sized family with more than 40 acres of land. Later, people in the know said that the money for the land was given to Zhao Zhong by Zhang Ling, because Zhao Zhong gave Zhang Ling his grandfather's book of divination.

For the sake of a few books, I didn't even do the county order, and at the beginning, people felt that Zhang County's order was lost because of a small loss. Half a year later, the Taiping Army's Northern Expedition passed through Ju County, and the successor county commander led the officers and soldiers to resist for several days, and finally died in the city due to being outnumbered. Only then did people think of Zhang Xianling's resignation, and they all said that if Zhang Xianling did not resign, he would definitely not be able to escape the defeat and death.

It is said that Zhang Xianling resigned and returned to his hometown, but he was actually enlightened by Zhao Xingye, because when Zhao Zhong opened the porcelain altar sealed by his grandfather with paraffin before his death, and took out the books to Zhang Ling, he found that there was a yellowed note inside, and there were 16 words on the note: I apprentice Zhang Ling, return to my hometown to cultivate. Obsessed with official career, every time you die!