In ancient China, from the Western Han Dynasty onwards, a system of recusal from appointment to officials was established and implemented, and officials were not allowed to serve in their hometowns or neighboring areas, so there were many people who left their hometowns and served in other places, many of whom did not bring their families to their posts and were alone. Looking through the historical materials, there are many stories of wives and children for the people, and being a clean official in a foreign land alone, and now I have selected a few examples to encourage each other.
Wang Liang of the Eastern Han Dynasty taught students at home before his departure, and his reputation was far and wide. The Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu tried every means to invite him out of the mountains, and after entering the dynasty, the official worshiped the Great Situ Sizhi, who was responsible for supervising the hundred officials, and his status was lofty, and Feng Lu was also very generous. Wang Liang was courteous and frugal in office, "his wife did not enter the official house, and the cloth was clothed with tiles." The Book of later Han records that Situ Shi Baohui went to the East China Sea, passed through Wang Liang's hometown, and saw a peasant woman wearing a cloth skirt and dragging firewood and grass back from the field. Bao Hui reported to her home and told her that he had come specifically to get the letter and wanted to see your wife. The peasant woman said, "I am." I was so hard at work that I had no letters to bring to my husband. Bao Hui then bowed down and returned with a sigh. Wang Liang was an official in Beijing, but his family was so poor that "those who heard it could not be praised."
During the Three Kingdoms period, Lü Dai devoted his life to serving the public and expanding the territory for Sun Wu, and his merits were outstanding. When he was an official in Jiaozhou, he did not have a wife and was alone. He was "clean and obedient", did not give money to the family for many years, and his wife and children were hungry and sleepy. When Sun Quan heard about this, he sighed and said to the group of ministers: "Lü Dai went out on a campaign, was thousands of miles away, working hard for the country, and his family was so difficult, and I did not know it early. As a humeral ear and ear, you don't even know where your responsibilities are? So he doubled the reward for the Lü family's money and rice cloth silk, and there was a fixed amount every year. Lü Daigong forgot his family, and although he was poor, he won the recognition and respect of the imperial court.
There was an official in the Southern Dynasty named Kong Wan, the thirty-first grandson of Confucius, who was known for his "terrier". He served as the Taishou of Jinling, which is the area around today's Changzhou, and was rich and prosperous. Before Kong Yan took office, several terms of taishou "committed many acts of aggression and violence", and the people complained a lot. Kong Yi defended himself with innocence, and when he took office, he did not bring his family with him, but only came to the county by a boat, and the income was distributed to orphans and widows as soon as he arrived, and the people were touched and happy, and called them "God King". There was a rich man in the county, Yin Qi, who saw that Kong Wan was living a frugal life, and came to his house to give him a piece of clothing and a felt quilt. Kong Yan said, "There are a lot of people who are too guarded, how can they not afford these things, but the people's lives are difficult, and I am not allowed to enjoy food and clothing alone." With your kindness, I hope you will not bother anymore. "What Kong Yi guards is innocence, and what he gets is the will of the people."
Zhang Zonglian of the Ming Dynasty was a sage recommended by the Qing official Guan Zhong. He also used to be an official in Changzhou, did not bring his wife, and when he was seriously ill and asked for medical treatment, there was no lamp in the room. The book boy asked for a little oil from outside to light the lamp, and Zong Lian ordered him to return it immediately. Life is so poor, but Zhang Zonglian is open-minded in asking for the people's lives. Once, the imperial court sent Yushi Li Li to sort out the Jiangnan military registers and order Zhang Zonglian to follow him. Li Li listened to the words of some cunning people and repeatedly forced civilians to charge the army, Zong Lian repeatedly argued, Li Li was angry, and he immediately "lay on the ground begging for a staff, asking the people to die" so as not to connect more people. Until the time of his death, Zhang Zonglian was unable to meet his wife and children in Jishui for the last time, and after his death, "the people of Changzhou sent more than a thousand mourners in white clothes to build a shrine to Junshan Mountain."
Qing Dynasty officials Chen Yao, together with Hai Rui and Qiu Mao, were known as the "Three Great Qing Officials of Lingnan". In other places, he served as an official "for twenty years, did not try to save his dependents, and extended the curtain". His son wanted to visit him, but was unable to make up for his travel expenses. He often fed on fruits and vegetables, and was called "an ascetic old monk" by Kangxi, and "the whole world is called Qing". Chen Wei is not only honest and honest, but also diligent and good governance. During the Kangxi Dynasty, he served as a County of Zhi County in Taiwan, and during his reign in Taiwan, he had many good governance, "one prohibits the use of additional consumption to make the people poor, one prohibits torture to emphasize the lives of the people, one bans the feeding of officials to suppress the official proverbs, one bans the accumulation of grain to help the people's food, one buys a social warehouse to follow the people's convenience, one worships frugality to spare the people's wealth, one starts to transport money and grain, one bans on military preparation to build up the army, and one long academy is used to revitalize culture and education."
The Yuan Dynasty literary scholar Wei Chu wrote in the poem "Send Yang Jihai": "The relatives have zero sideburns like silk, and the sleeves are fresh and a bunch of poems." These two sentences are precisely praises to those honest and self-disciplined officials in ancient times who were in a foreign land. Although they have the loneliness of "making friends with each other and falling apart" and the hard work of "sideburns like silk," they can serve as officials and benefit one party, and their spiritual character of "two sleeves with a clean wind and hard work for the people" is commendable. (Xu Li)
Source: Website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission
Publisher: China Economic and Trade Rule of Law Convergence Media Center
Editor-in-Charge: Ice and snow