In ancient times, a clean official who could enforce the law impartially was often rare. In order to obtain greater benefits, many people want to get an official position by finding connections. If a position is short of people, it will attract the covetousness of many people. This set of secret trading in the official field has led to many people who do not meet the requirements to sit in the seats of high-ranking officials, but if the officials who go through the back door are strictly enforced, then those who want to get official positions through connections will only hit the wall.
During the Song Dynasty, there was such a strict law enforcement prime minister
Chen Zhizhong
He struggled for many years in the official arena before he sat in the position of prime minister. During his tenure as prime minister, he acted strictly according to the rules and did not give those who wanted to find the back door a chance. Therefore, he also gained a good reputation. He had a son-in-law who had failed the imperial examination many times, and because he could not pass the imperial examination, he found him and begged him to give him an official and a half post. However, he sternly refused, telling his son-in-law that the official position was of the imperial court, and that he could not be special because he was his son-in-law, and that he could only obtain the official position through formal channels if he wanted to obtain it.
He is very determined toward those who are looking for relationships, and he attaches great importance to those who are capable. When he saw that Wang Anshi was talented, he left him to serve in the Herd Priests. Wang Anshi was not a casual eater, and the position had no future for him, so he asked to be transferred to a local post. As soon as Wang Anshi resigned, the official position of the judge of the Qunmu Division was vacated, and those who had coveted it for a long time began to open the back door to him.
Shen Kang approached Chen Zhizhong and recommended him, saying that he was capable of obtaining this official position. Chen Zhizhong naturally knew that he had a few pounds and a few pairs, so he told him that Wang Anshi had that ability, and the imperial court gave him a high-ranking official position. Even though Shen Kang had deep qualifications, he could not compare with Wang Anshi in this regard, and he also criticized him. Chen Zhizhong was fair,000, so he offended many of his colleagues, who had always wanted to find an opportunity to take him down. But an upright official usually acts transparently and justly, so that they have never been able to find a breakthrough to complain to the emperor. An upright official, even if he does not do anything illegal, it is difficult to guarantee that his family will abide by the law as much as he does.
He has a little wife, Zhang Shi, who became arrogant because he bore him a son. This Zhang clan has a penchant for abusing people, and once the foot wash water brought to her by the maid was too hot, she beat the maid to death with a whip. Killing a maid was not a big deal, and she strictly ordered the people in the palace not to leak the wind. After a while, she saw that no one had revealed this, and she began to abuse the maid again. This time she did not directly beat the maid to death, every few days she beat the maid with a whip, and the maid could not stand it and chose to commit suicide. This time, the maid's family sued Zhang Shi to the official palace, but Fu Yin, seeing that Zhang Shi was the wife of the prime minister, did not pursue the matter deeply and released Zhang Shi.
Those whom Chen Zhizhong had offended took advantage of this to lash out at him in front of the emperor, and the emperor naturally attached more importance to such an impartial law-enforcing prime minister, and ignored the demands of these people. When they saw that the emperor was partial to Chen Zhizhong, they launched a further investigation into Chen Zhizhong and found evidence that Chen Zhizhong was having an affair. In this way, the emperor wanted to shield Chen Zhizhong again, and there was no good reason, so Chen Zhizhong was deposed from the post of prime minister. Ministers like Chen Zhizhong, who could act according to the rules, were rare in that dynasty. In the end, he was dismissed because of the crimes committed by his family, which seems to be forced to be helpless. The only thing to blame is that he didn't manage his job well.