Legend has it that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the county government office in Pingyao, Shanxi Province, came to see a county tyrant surnamed Zhang. This county tyrant was famous for his severe trial, beating people and fines when he got angry, and shouting "hit eight hundred boards" or "fine eight hundred silver" when he threw down the signature. Although there was a rule at that time, hitting people with the top ten, getting eighty boards at once was enough to choke! After a long time, people gave him a nickname: "Zhang Eight Hundred."

Once, the county yamen had nothing to do for a few days, and Zhang Babai was either reading and writing in the study or taking a walk in the courtyard to water the flowers. During this time, he found that the yamen were lazy and scattered, and every day they didn't miss Zhang San, Li Si, or Ren Liu and Hou Qi; if you want to send someone to do something, you have to find someone now. Zhang Babai thought: This is fine! Master, I have something to do, you have to "work" for me here!

I can't control you, how can I govern Fengning's territory? Well, this yamen rule must be adjusted.

That day, Zhang Babai strolled to the lobby and looked up to see an old man with a nutty head looking around the lobby. When the old man saw an official in official clothes and a dignified expression turn out from behind the screen, his whole body trembled with fear, his knees went soft, he knelt down "plop", kowtowed a few times, and said, "Master, master, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm not complaining, I'm not going to sue..."

Seeing the old man's appearance, Zhang Babai felt amused and asked, "Where are you from? Why did you come to the lobby?"

The old man stammered with fright.

It turned out that this old man lived in Xigou, Narrow Ridge, a hundred miles away from the county seat, and was a small rich man. For the first time in most of his life, he came out of the mountain valley to the county seat. He went to the county seat from the south to the north, saw the temples, slipped through the streets, strolled through the market, and was about to ride a donkey home. Suddenly, he thought that he had finally come to the county seat, and he had not been to the big master's yamen for sightseeing. Yes, you must see what style the yamen lobby is, and what kind of prestige the old master sits in the courtroom to hear the case. When I returned to Xigou, Narrow Ridge, after dinner, I sat on the big stone in the village, hummed, and talked to the villagers. They must be swayed. Thinking of this, the old man tied the donkey to the trough of the store and went straight to the yamen alley. When he walked to the entrance of the alley and looked inside, the door was wide open, and there was no movement inside, so the old man had the courage to look around, all the way to the entrance of the hall.

When the old man said this, he bowed again and again and said, "I think back to seeing lobby of the old master, open my eyes, open my eyes, you, you, don't blame me!"

Looking at the old man's honest appearance, Zhang Babai suddenly had an idea and thought of an idea to rectify the rules of the government, so he said, "Get up. Your Narrow Ridge West Ditch is also Pingyao territory. Since it is under the control of the master, I will use you today. I wonder if you are willing or not?" The old man said again and again, "Ken, Ken, Ken, the master will just lay out the row."

I saw Zhang Babai dressed and said to the old man, "You serve me up."

The old man was dumbfounded when he heard that. He knelt down and said, "Oh, master, please forgive me."

Zhang Babai held back his laughter and said, "It's okay, I'll teach you as soon as I can."

As he spoke, he pointed to the drumsticks and drumsticks on the side and said, "You take the drumsticks and hit the big drum three times, shouting, 'It's time to rise!' It's none of your business. Can't do this?"

Helpless, the old man trembled as he picked up the drumstick and worked hard. He hit the drumstick three times, and shouted in a trembling voice: "It's up to the first--"

As soon as the shouts fell, the three clothes inside and outside were soaked. The old man put down the drumstick and turned to leave. Zhang Babai was quick and grabbed the old man and said, "Don't go, don't go, stand here and watch."

This time, I saw a lot of people running from all over, including the master of the study, the yamen of the torture room, and the head of the prison, seven long and eight short, standing on both sides. When the old man saw this battle, his legs trembled with fright: What are you going to do? The yamen also felt puzzled: It's noon now, which hall will you be promoted to?

At that time, Zhang Babai said, "You food eaters, see who hasn't arrived yet?"

The group of people who were standing looked at each other from front to back, left to right, and reported, "There are still Ren Liu and Hou Qi missing, and Lai Jiu, who is working overtime outside, has not arrived yet!"

Zhang Babai immediately ordered the police: "You must know where they are going, and give me a stick of incense to find them!"

How could the police dare to neglect him? After a short while, they found Lai Jiu and the other three. The three of them knelt trembling on the ground, waiting to be dealt with.

Zhang Babai was shocked and shouted, "Master, I'm not on vacation, and you are not on duty at the yamen, where have you all gone?

These three people were afraid that Zhang Babai would say "hit 800", so they quickly told the truth.

It turned out that Ren Liu went to the casino to bet on treasures, Hou Qi went to the teahouse to listen to books, and the concubine at the head of the class went to drink flower wine.

When Zhang Babai heard that, he was really angry: "You bastards, you eat money and grain and don't work in the yamen, but go to eat, drink, prostitute and gamble, where is tolerance! Pull me down and fight -"

As soon as the word "type" came out, the three of them were so frightened that they couldn't stop screaming, "spare my life, spare my life." They knew that the master's exit was "eight hundred," could they bear it? Zhang Eight Hundred thought: That's true! It's all broken, who will run errands for me: "Come, Ren Liu and Hou Qi will each hit two hundred, and the head of the squad will hit four hundred!" A sign was thrown down the hall entrance, and the left and right could not be divided, and the three were dragged down to fight.

After beating three people, Zhang Babai still had a sullen face and said to all the people in the hall: "You are on duty in the yamen, sir, I have never treated you badly, and I have received your monthly money, food and salary on time. But not only can you not abide by the rules of the yamen, but you have to go out and do evil, and you can't punish the police without severe punishment. Ren Liu and Hou Qi will be deducted for one month; the head of the squad will be deducted for two months. Listen to me, no matter what happens in the future, you will not be allowed to leave without permission unless you are on vacation."

Everyone below answered in unison, "Chirp!"

Zhang Babai calmed down a little, pointed to the old man beside him, and said, "Look, Master, I have something to do today, and no one is here. Helpless, I have to come from the West Valley of the Narrow Ridge, a hundred miles away, to find this old man to beat the drum for me to rise to the hall. What do you think of this style? Ren Liu, hand over the copper coin you won in court, and I will reward this man who is on duty for you. Retreat!"

From then on, the yamen up and down the service, everyone dutiful, all careful, no one dared to hang around.