This is a story from the Spring and Autumn period.
After two days of heavy snowfall, the surrounding mountains were transformed into a pristine, jade-like landscape. The snow finally stopped, but the sky remained overcast.
Bian Zhuangzi, the magistrate of Bian Town in the state of Lu, led a group of villagers armed with swords and clubs up the mountain. Tigers had recently been roaming the area, killing several people, so they had come to hunt them down. After crossing ridge after ridge, they finally reached the tigers' lair.
Suddenly, several short tiger roars shook the mountain forest.
In a clearing just ahead, a large and a small tiger with white foreheads and piercing eyes faced off, locked in a duel stance. Beside them lay an ox, motionless—clearly either dead or too weak to move.
Bian Zhuangzi drew his sword and was about to charge forward, but the innkeeper's boy quickly stopped him, saying, "Wait! The two tigers are about to fight over the cow. The smaller one will be killed, and the larger one will be wounded. Then you can strike the wounded tiger and claim both tigers with a single effort."
"Why?" Bian Zhuangzi was somewhat puzzled.
“Sir, look,” the innkeeper said unhurriedly, “these two tigers are both ferocious beasts. Fighting over a cow, they are bound to clash. When two tigers fight, one will be hurt—likely the big one injured and the small one dead. By then, we only need to kill one tiger, and we’ll achieve two goals at once!”
Bian Zhuangzi nodded repeatedly, a smile spreading across his face.
In the blink of an eye, the two tigers clashed—one pouncing, the other swiping, kicking and biting fiercely. Within the time it takes to smoke a pipe, the younger tiger lay dead, while the older one, badly wounded, collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.
Bian Zhuangzi led his men charging down the ravine and, with a few swift moves, killed the great tiger as well.
Bian Zhuangzi had his servants carry the two dead tigers and happily returned home in a sedan chair.
The sun emerged, its rosy light enveloping the entire peak, cloaked in red and white, exceptionally enchanting.
Later, the idiom "kill two birds with one stone" came to describe doing one thing and gaining benefits in two aspects at the same time.
Source: *Records of the Grand Historian*, "Biography of Zhang Yi"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "一举两得" came to describe doing one thing and gaining benefits in two aspects at the same time.