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Today, we are talking for you about the story of Zhang Zhidong, a late Qing Dynasty official in the southern part of Hebei Province.
Zhang Zhidong was a famous courtier of the late Qing Dynasty, he was born in Guizhou but his ancestral home was Hebei, he served in important positions in the late Qing Dynasty and became a veritable feudal official, but Zhang Zhidong was relatively clean and did not like luxury, and his usual dress and clothing, food, and housing requirements were simple and simple, and he had a good reputation.
According to the data, Zhang Zhidong usually used the value of the beads, hooks and miscellaneous pairs of only ten silver, and the draperies and clothes he used at home were made of coarse cloth without silk. During his tenure as governor of Liangguang, Zhang Zhidong even personally planted vegetables in Yamen to promote the style of incorruptibility. Gu Hongming, who was in his shogunate at the time, praised Zhang Zhidong, saying that his yamen were dilapidated, and that he was the only governor of the country who did not talk about pomp and circumstance.
Biography of Liu Ming
Zhang Zhidong liked such things as antiques and calligraphy and painting, and during his tenure as the governor of Shanxi, some people gave him several ancient books inscribed in the Song Dynasty, which was a rare authenticity at that time. The other party hoped to ask for an errand in Shanxi, but Zhang Zhidong categorically refused and did not accept it. When he was the governor of Liangguang, Duanyan in Guangdong had been discontinued for many years, and Zhang Zhidong supported the merchant He Kunyu in producing Duanyan. Afterwards, He Shi gave Zhang Zhidong ten pieces of fine duan yan in the mansion to show his gratitude, but Zhang Zhidong did not take it for free, but gave He Kunyu a discount of twenty-two for each yantai.
When he was the governor of Liangjiang, a wealthy local merchant wanted to open a mine in Haizhou (present-day Lianyungang), so he gave Zhang Zhidong 200,000 taels of silver, but Zhang Zhidong flatly refused, and even the men who introduced him were severely punished afterwards.
Old shadow of Guangya Academy
During the term of governor of Liangguang, Zhang Zhidong simply closed his door to customers during his birthday in order to prevent bribes from subordinates. At that time, Guangdong Customs had 3,000 taels of silver per month given to the governor Yamen, and this money Zhang Zhidong could take for himself, but he still gave this money to the Aftermath Bureau, and later used this money to help the victims and established The Guangya Academy.
Zhang Zhidong has served as a high-ranking official at the local level for decades, but he has never bought a house or land in his hometown, and even when he returns to his hometown and province to worship his ancestors, he is very low-key. In 1904, Zhang Zhidong returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors, and his palanquin stopped when he was more than a mile away from his hometown village, at this time, the elderly Zhang Zhidong personally got off the car and walked back to his hometown to worship his ancestors to express his respect for his hometown fathers and elders.
Li Bingheng
In 1897, he returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors, and the emperor specially gave him 50,000 taels of silver. But Zhang Zhidong donated this money to build an academy in his hometown and purchased land, using the rent of this land as the cost of the school.
Gu Hongming
In state affairs, Zhang Zhidong also appeared to be selfless. During the Sino-French War, he assisted Liu Ming in passing on arms and sent the newly trained Cantonese army to assist in the war. During the Sino-Japanese War, Weihaiwei was in a hurry, and Zhang Zhidong sent 1,000 fast guns and 1 million bullets to Li Bingheng, the governor of Shandong, for use. Lee later sent a special telegram to express his gratitude.
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