During the period of china's feudal society, except for some officials who have always been in high positions, their families are entangled, and they have no worries about food and clothing. Many poor families and ordinary families could only rely on reading or joining the army to serve the imperial court if they wanted to get ahead. After all, joining the army is a bet with life, and many people's physical fitness is not suitable for joining the army, so most people will choose to study hard in the cold window and pass the imperial examination to get the opportunity to become an official, even if it is a nine-pin sesame official.
Power and wealth are extremely attractive to ninety-nine percent of people, especially in ancient times, you could even control the life and death of others. Students have been studying hard for decades in order to stand out in the imperial examination. In the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, many people were even more eager to become officials, after all, at that time there was a saying that "three years of Qing prefects, 100,000 snowflakes of silver", which can also be seen how serious the bribery and corruption of Officials in the Qing Dynasty were. Among the Manchu civil and military officials of the Qing Dynasty, there were only a few who did not receive a bribe once, or who never embezzled. There was an official in the Qing Dynasty who was an old minister of the Three Dynasties, and he was a veritable Qing official. He was Sun Jiagan, from the Kangxi dynasty to the yongzheng throne, and finally to Qianlong became a generation of monarchs, he has always been an official in the imperial court.
Sun Jiagan was born into a poor family, but he was very studious and intelligent as a child. With this talent and his own efforts, during the Kangxi Dynasty, he passed the jinshi examination and thus began his career. At the beginning of Yongzheng's reign, Sun Jiagan dared to speak out, and although he angered Yongzheng, Yongzheng did not punish him under the intercession of several other ministers. Moreover, after the fact, Yongzheng himself also wanted to understand, he knew that Sun Jiagan was a minister who could be appointed. He not only gave Sun Jiagan praise, but also began to entrust heavy responsibilities. During Yongzheng's reign, Sun Jiagan was promoted all the way, and by the time Yongzheng died, he was already a servant of the official department at that time.
After Qianlong ascended the throne, he also promoted Sun Jiagan, and he even became the Shangshu of the Punishment Department the following year. Sun Jiagan's clarity and justice are obvious to all, and he is praised by Qianlong and respected by everyone. Later, he not only became the Shangshu of the Punishment Department, but also became the Shangshu of the Bureaucracy. People with a certain amount of historical knowledge know that the work of the officials is the selection of officials in charge of the state, and the officials Shangshu are the people who are in charge of the entire official department, so naturally it is a very important official position, and it can even be said that it is the head of the hundred officials. Therefore, many people from rich families wanted to take shortcuts through Sun Jiagan and bribed him many times, but he rejected them with righteous words.
It is precisely because Sun Jiagan is too clear and upright, although many people admire him and admire him, but he has offended many people because of this. Therefore, during the Qianlong period, he was dismissed from his post because of xie jishi's improper handling of the matter, and finally directly applied for his own return to his hometown.
Having been an official in the dynasty, it was actually a happy thing for Sun Jiagan to return to his hometown, after all, he was also so old, but there was one thing that made him start to worry. That is, he did not have a lot of wealth, and the officials at that time all said that they would return to their hometowns with their clothes on clothes, so that when they returned to their hometowns, they would be warmly treated by the people and local officials. Later, he thought of a next strategy, he ordered people to fill five wooden boxes with bricks, and after covering them, others did not know what was inside, so that to outsiders, it seemed that he was returning home without worry.
However, what surprised Sun Jiagan was that this matter was actually sued by those officials with ulterior motives and went to Qianlong, because Qianlong knew Sun Jiagan's personality, so he knew that he would immediately send someone to investigate this matter. When the people sent out came back to tell Qianlong the truth, Qianlong felt both touched and amused. In order to praise Sun Jiagan and to express his condolences for his hard work as an official for many years, Qianlong sent someone to replace all the stones in Sun Jiagan's five wooden boxes with real gold and silver jewelry.
This matter was widely publicized by later generations, and it can also be called a good story. Being honest and honest is a virtue that should be promoted, and Sun Jiagan's next move almost ruined the reputation he had accumulated over the years, but fortunately he was lucky to meet Qianlong.