Chao Cuo was originally the crown prince's household steward under Emperor Wen of the Western Han, Liu Heng. Due to his talent and eloquence, he gained the prince's favor and was known as a "brain trust."
During the reign of Emperor Jing (Liu Qi), Chao Cuo served as Imperial Censor. Because the emperor adopted his proposals to weaken the feudal lords and strengthen central authority, the princes grew to resent him. The Chancellor, Shentu Jia, a man of rigid integrity, seized upon Chao Cuo's offense of cutting through the wall of the ancestral temple and prepared to petition Emperor Wen (Liu Heng) for his execution. When Chao Cuo learned of this, he rushed to the emperor first and defended himself.
After Shen Tu Jia submitted his memorial, Emperor Wen, to protect Chao Cuo, told Shen, "I agreed to let him do this." Furious, Shen Tu Jia said to others, "I regret not beheading Chao Cuo first before reporting it."
Shen Tu Jia's "execute first, then report" later evolved into the idiom "act first, report later." Originally it specifically referred to killing; later, people used it broadly to mean handling matters at work without prior consultation, reporting to superiors for approval only after the fact.
Source: *Book of Han*, "Biography of Shentu Jia"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "先斩后奏" came to describe how handling matters at work without prior consultation, reporting to superiors for approval only after the fact.