What methods did Ximen Bao use to punish wizards and officials? What is the beauty of his method?

Ximen Bao punished wizards and gentry leaders by "dealing with a man as he deals with you". The beauty of Ximen Bao's method lies in subduing officials and gentry, breaking superstition and educating the people.

One of the subtleties: Let the witch officials know that "he also believes in Hebo" through the mouth of the old man, so as not to startle him, and also lay the foundation for him to eradicate the scourge and educate the people widely.

Clever second: careful arrangement. Ximen Bao said, "Show me the bride", so that the girl can be saved on the grounds that she is not beautiful and Hebo is not satisfied.

The third cleverness: keep quiet. Ximen Bao pretends to be polite.

Clever four: fake play is really done. Ximen Bao used the witch's long absence as an excuse to urge the officials and gentry leaders to throw them into the Zhanghe River.

Clever fifth: pay attention to strategy and treat it differently. Ximen Bao has a well-thought-out plan to punish evil and promote good, educate people and get rid of superstition, which shows his extraordinary wisdom and strategy.

Extended data:

Ximen Bao's wisdom and strategy are also reflected in treating ordinary officials and gentry differently. Those officials and gentry "turned pale with fear" knelt down and kowtowed for mercy, but in fact they were not beaten. He revealed the truth of marrying to the river god through the performance of officials and gentry, and achieved the purpose of educating the people. Because at that time, the common people had not really recognized the true face of the sorcerer. The purpose of Ximen Bao's doing this was to let the common people get a profound education at the scene where he married, and then wake up. This also laid a solid foundation for the future construction of water conservancy projects.