In 406 BCE, Marquis Wen of Wei appointed Li Kui as his prime minister to implement reforms aimed at strengthening the state of Wei. Meanwhile, because the Ye region bordered the states of Han and Zhao and was a strategic military location, he sent Ximen Bao to serve as the magistrate of Ye. Upon arriving in Ye, Ximen Bao found that all industries had fallen into disrepair, the fields were overgrown and barren, the population was sparse, and the area presented a desolate and bleak scene. He immediately went among the common people to inquire about their hardships and gathered the local elders of high moral standing to learn about the situation from them.
They told Ximen Bao that it was because of the need to marry the River God that the local population was sparse and the people were impoverished.
In the region of Ye, there was a river called the Zhang River. Every year during the rainy season, the Zhang River would overflow, flooding farmland and destroying people's homes. However, instead of managing the flood control, the local officials hired several witches, hoping they could use magic to suppress the floods. The witches claimed that the Zhang River flooded because the River God wanted a wife but could not get one; as long as they gave him a beautiful wife every year, he would stop causing floods and harming the people. Under the pretext of marrying a wife for the River God, the local elders and officials in Ye increased taxes on the people, extorting millions in cash each year. But in reality, they only set aside two to three hundred thousand for the marriage expenses, splitting the rest with the witches and pocketing it. When it was time to marry off a wife to the River God, the witches would go around inspecting, and whenever they saw a beautiful daughter from a poor family, they would immediately offer a betrothal gift, saying the River God wanted to marry her. Then, they would place her in a house by the river. This riverside house was specially prepared for the River God's bride, with someone assigned to provide her meals. Separated from her family, the bride had to live there alone. After about ten days, they would dress her up nicely, decorate the bed and pillows, and have her sit on the bed, which was then placed into the river along with her, letting her drift toward the center. The bed would float on the water for a while before sinking. Families in Ye County with daughters, fearing their daughters might be chosen as the River God's wife, fled with their daughters. Over time, the city's population dwindled, and Ye City nearly became an empty city.
Ximen Bao immediately understood what was happening. He simply instructed them that when the time came to marry the River God, they should have the village elders, the shaman, and the common people go to the riverbank to see off the bride, and he added that they must inform him when the time came, as he too wanted to see off the young woman.
On the day of marrying the River God, Ximen Bao personally arrived at the riverbank, where he saw the village elders, local officials, gentry, and over two to three thousand commoners gathered, along with a sorceress who had brought over a dozen female disciples, all of them dressed in very elaborate attire.
When everyone had arrived, Ximen Bao personally presided over the Hebo (River God)'s "wedding." Before the ceremony began, he said, "Bring the bride over; I want to see if she's pretty enough for the River God." Soon, people helped a young woman to stand before Ximen Bao. He scrutinized her from head to toe with great seriousness, shook his head, and said, "This woman isn't very attractive; the River God certainly won't like her. I'll trouble the great witch to go tell the River God that I need to find a more beautiful one for him and will send her over a few days later." Without allowing any argument, he ordered his attendants to lift the great witch and throw her into the river. After waiting a while, he said, "Why hasn't the witch returned yet? Let her disciple go urge her!" With that, he threw another disciple into the river. After waiting a bit longer, he said, "Why is this disciple taking so long too? Send someone else to hurry them up!" Then he threw yet another disciple into the river.
After waiting a short while, Ximen Bao said, "The witch and her disciples are all women, probably unable to deliver the message clearly. In that case, I'll trouble the village elder to go and relay my words instead." Then the village elder was also thrown into the river. This time, Ximen Bao straightened his official robes and stood respectfully by the riverbank, gazing toward the center of the river as if he were truly waiting for the River God's reply.
He waited on the riverbank for a long time, while the elders and court officials stood to the side, their legs trembling with fear. Finally, Ximen Bao spoke up, saying, "It seems the River God is quite hospitable, having kept the witch and the three elders and others. What should we do now? Perhaps we should send someone else to call them back."
The elder and the court attendant, their faces ashen with terror, hastily knelt and kowtowed vigorously. Ximen Bao said, "Alright, you two stay and wait a bit longer." After a moment, he added, "You may rise now. It seems the River God has kept them, so all you villagers need not wait any longer—go home!" The officials and commoners of Ye were utterly stunned, and from then on, no one dared to mention marrying a bride to the River God again.
Ximen Bao used this incident to punish local evil forces, educate the masses, and then issued decrees to ban the prevalence of witchcraft.
After eliminating the scourge, Ximen Bao began to harness the Zhang River, personally leading people to survey water sources and mobilizing the populace to dig twelve canals, diverting water from the Yellow River to irrigate farmland, ensuring that large tracts of land could yield stable harvests regardless of drought or flood. The people of Ye grew increasingly prosperous, and those who had fled earlier all returned.
While developing agriculture, Ximen Bao reduced taxes and corvée labor, implementing the policy of "embedding military strength within farming and storing grain among the people," so that upon hearing the call to arms, the common people could immediately assemble into an army. Under Ximen Bao's governance, the Ye region prospered with wealthy citizens and a strong military, becoming a key northeastern stronghold of the Wei State.