There is a saying among the people that "dogs don't live for eight years, chickens don't last for six years." The original meaning is that after a dog lives for eight years, a strange thing will happen after a chicken is raised for six years. Later, it is extended to the old dog and the old chickens are old and can understand human nature.

The IQ of adult dogs is about the same as that of children aged six or seven. After getting along with people for a long time, their understanding ability gradually becomes stronger, and they are good at communicating emotions with humans through body language and barking.

There are many stories about righteous dogs in ancient books. Today we will share a paragraph about righteous dogs rescuing their benefactors during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty.

"Things Are Like This" records: "Shunzhi Bingshen Autumn, there are Taiyuan guests, Nanjia still, Ce Yiwei, and gold can be five or six hundred. Occasionally crossing the border of Zhongmu County, the rest road is left..."

In the autumn of the 12th year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1656 AD), a Taiyuan merchant rode a donkey and carried five or six hundred taels of silver, returning to Shanxi from the south.

Passing through Zhongmu County (now Zhengzhou, Henan Province), the merchant was resting on the roadside when he found a teenager carrying a wooden stick with a dog tied to it. He also stopped and sat on the roadside to rest.

The dog made a "babbling" sound to the merchant, as if asking for help.

The merchant felt that the dog must have been stolen by the teenager. If it was not sold, it had to be killed to eat meat, so he showed great compassion and discussed with the teenager whether to buy the dog and release it.

The young man found that the merchant's luggage was bulging and decided that it must be silver, so he followed it secretly to a secluded place, beat the merchant to death with a wooden stick, and then placed the merchant's body under the small bridge by the water, covered it with sand and reeds, and left quietly with the merchant's luggage on his back.

The young man thought he had done it unknowingly, but the dog rescued by the merchant discovered all this from a distance. It quietly followed the young man to his door, remembered the surrounding environment, and ran straight to the county yamen.

At this time, the county magistrate was preparing to rise to the court to ask the case, and the two classes of yamen were majestic and shouted "prestige – martial".

The dog (which should be called a righteous dog from now on) went directly into the lobby, "Call the name according to the place, if you cry or complain, you will not be able to drive him away."

The county magistrate was very surprised, so he said to the righteous dog, "What's your grievance? I can send the county official to go with you."

The righteous dog seemed to understand, whimpering, guiding the county officials out of the gate of the county yamen and straight to the place where the merchants were killed.

The righteous dog "barked at the water," the county official lifted the reed, found body of the merchant, and immediately returned to report to the county magistrate.

Due to the limited evidence at the crime scene, the real murderer could not be found for a while. When the county magistrate was at a loss, he found that the righteous dog appeared outside the gate again, calling and jumping.

The county magistrate then said to the righteous dog, "Do you know where the murderer is? I can send someone to find it with you!"

The righteous dog led the way again, and the county magistrate sent a few police officers to follow the dog. After walking for about 20 miles, they came to a small secluded village. The righteous dog stopped in front of a house, and the righteous dog went straight in, coinciding with the evil boy in the yard.

The righteous dog was extremely excited, whistling and jumping, biting the teenager's arm. The teenager's clothes were bitten and blood dripped out.

Several yamen swarmed up and arrested the evil teenager and took him to the county yamen. The evil teenager confessed to his crime.

After interrogation, the county magistrate learned that the stolen silver was still there, so he sent a yamen to the teenager's house to retrieve it. Upon inspection, he found that there was a booklet in the package, recording the merchant's name and address.

The county magistrate sentenced the juvenile to death, and after listening, the stolen goods were returned to the government warehouse.

The righteous dog barked again in front of the hall, and the county magistrate did not know what he meant. He murmured in his heart, "Although the merchant is dead, his home must still be there. Who should own the money in this package?

The county magistrate then dispatched yamen to Taiyuan, hometown of the merchants, and the righteous dogs followed.

When they arrived at the merchant's house, his family heard that he had died and that the silver was still there. The merchant's family was very sad.

The merchant's son packed his bags and followed the yamen to Zhongmu County Yamen.

By this time, the evil criminal had already died in prison.

The county magistrate ordered someone to take out the merchant's package, and after public acceptance and verification, handed it over to the merchant's son.

The merchant's son carried the package left by his father and escorted his father's coffin back to Taiyuan. The righteous dog escorted the merchant's coffin along the way, far behind the merchant's son, trekking thousands of miles, and staying overnight along the way, like a "person."

The author of "Things Are Like This", Hanlin Xu Qian of the Qing Dynasty, commented at the end of the article: "Lack of patience is difficult to achieve great things. If this dog rushes against the evil boy when the merchant is attacked, although it can be called heroic and fearless, it will not help, but it will be killed at the same time."

The righteous dog did not choose to fight directly with the evil boy, but silently waited for the opportunity, quietly followed the murderer, found the murderer's residence, and then went to the government to complain. It was not until it was clear that the murderer had been unable to escape the law that he appeared to bite the murderer and worked with the yamen to capture the murderer.

In ancient times, Jingke, Nie Zheng, Zhang Liang, and Yu Rang failed to achieve success, but this dog succeeded in avenging its benefactor, not only because of its complaints in the lobby, but also because of its strangeness and grandeur that traveled thousands of miles away.

Although I am sad about what happened to the merchant, I am also envious that he has such a "silent friend."