When his coffin was transported back to his hometown by water from Nanjing, crowds of people stood on both sides of the Yangtze River to see him off. Many people made portraits of him and kept them at home. His deeds are also very contagious to people today hundreds of years later, and his high integrity has inspired officials in all dynasties.
The story about Hai Rui's case was widely circulated among the people. It was first talked about in the streets and passed down by word of mouth, and then there were hand-copied rap scripts. Later, it was processed and compiled by scholars and writers, and finally became a very famous long public case novel. Hai Rui in the book, like Bao Zheng of the Song Dynasty, is a model of upright officials and a symbol of justice in the history of our country; the story of the case is bizarre, complex, ups and downs, shocking and exciting.
