He had a good reputation and had been elected as a civil servant before, but he failed repeatedly in the level examination, so he finally gave up the idea and donated money to become a county magistrate. He worked as a county magistrate somewhere in Shaanxi for several years, and

In the Ming Dynasty Wanli , there was a large family somewhere in Shandong whose surname was Zhang. The head of the family was surnamed Zhao and named Jingzhi. He had a good reputation and had been elected as a civil servant before, but he failed repeatedly in the level examination, so he finally gave up the idea and donated money to become a county magistrate. He worked as a county magistrate somewhere in Shaanxi for several years, and later He was dismissed from office because he offended his boss and was impeached.

After Zhao Jingzhi was dismissed from office by the imperial court, he bought a piece of land where he lived and built a large house. The original dilapidated house was sold by him. After taking root in the local area, he made a living by renting out land and teaching people. Although he only served as a county magistrate for a few years, he still saved some money because his expenses were small, so he was able to have money to buy land and build a house.

Zhao Jingzhi is an honest official and a relatively upright person. Everyone in the village knows how qualified he is. It is because of this that his superiors cannot tolerate him. After returning to his hometown, he gained everyone's respect. If there was any need to distinguish right from wrong in the local area, Zhao Jingzhi would be consulted for judgment. If he disagreed, he would go to the government.

When Zhao Jingzhi was an official, he once helped an unjust scholar to clarify the facts and reasons of the case, and cleared his unfair grievances. The man was very grateful to him and knew that he was an upright official and would not accept gold, silver and jewelry, so he He was given a Buddha statue because Zhao Jingzhi was very interested in Buddhist affairs, which was also influenced by his mother. His mother was very devout about Buddhism when she was young, so Zhao Jingzhi was naturally also very devout about Buddhism. He knew that God was watching what people did, so he did not want to join in with some people in the officialdom. For this reason, he was eventually feared by his superiors. And participate in impeachment. But his official reputation is well-known locally.

One day in the 40th year of Wanli, when Zhao Jingzhi was at home, he suddenly heard a rumor among the servants that the wife of a friend he knew well was often abused by her mother-in-law at home and finally chose to hang herself. Since both families were wealthy local families, Zhao Jingzhi tried his best to persuade the woman's father and brother not to get involved in the lawsuit after learning about it.

But something strange happened to him because of this. Late that night, he was resting at home and suddenly heard a woman's cry coming from a distance, gradually entering the room and gradually coming out of the window. The woman was crying and speaking, and her words were very painful. She seemed to be speaking to Zhao Jingzhi. She deeply complained that Zhao Jingzhi had settled the lawsuit and was unwilling to seek justice for his family. After hearing what she said, Zhao Jingzhi knew the reason. Instead, he scolded her and said, "There is no legal provision for a mother-in-law to abuse her daughter-in-law to death. Even if you file a complaint, it will not make you happy. And the complaint must be tested, and once tested, it must be tested." Wouldn't it be more insulting to the two families to be naked?"

still cried after hearing this. Zhao added: "There are no lawsuits between monarchs and ministers, and no lawsuits between father and son. It is okay for people to pity you for dying in vain, and to accuse your mother-in-law of being tyrannical. If you want to sue your mother-in-law as your daughter-in-law, this is already a violation of the name. Let it go. If you appeal to the wise gods, they will definitely not forgive you." After hearing this, the ghost left silently.

After he got up the next day, he told his family about what happened at night. The family were all surprised. None of them heard anyone talking outside the window at night, but they all felt that Zhao Jingzhi was right, so only ghosts listened. and left after that. After this incident, Zhao Jingzhi's reputation became even more famous.

​