During the orthodox years of the Ming Dynasty, Yu Qian, who was then the governor of Henan, needed to go to Beijing to play things because of something.
However, his colleagues around him persuaded him that after going to Beijing, he must find the eunuch Wang Zhen, and only by currying favor with him could things be done well.
Yu Qian raised his hands and waved his sleeves, then smiled and said, "With a fresh breeze!" ”
This is a very powerful mockery of the ugliness of those who flatter.
Since then, the idiom of "two sleeves and a clean wind" has also been passed down and has become a common idiom used by the world to praise qing officials.
However, there is also an old saying that "three years of Qing prefect, 100,000 snowflakes of silver". It is said that some clean officials who look incorruptible as water on the surface are actually plundering behind their backs, and this kind of person is the most hateful.
Today's story is related to the Ming Dynasty Qing official Wang Shiqi, because when his tomb was opened, a large number of treasures were found, was he a fake Qing official?
An ancient tomb from more than 300 years ago
In 1956, the 12th issue of Cultural Relics Reference Materials published an article about the tomb of the Ming Dynasty military expert Wang Shiqi.
According to the description in the article, a member of the Agricultural Society in Linhai City, Zhejiang Province, found an ancient tomb while building a pigsty.
So the villagers dug along with them, and found a large number of treasures and epitaphs, which made it known that the ancient tomb belonged to Wang Shiqi of the Ming Dynasty.
The village cadres immediately contacted the cultural relics department and handed over all the excavated cultural relics to the cultural relics department.
After liquidation, there are a total of 107 treasures, of which 22 are national first-class cultural relics, with a total value of more than 1 billion.
However, according to historical records, Wang Shiqi more than 300 years ago was a good official who was as clean as water and had a clean wind in his sleeves, and even when he died, he could only be buried wrapped in a straw mat because he was too poor.
But why are there so many treasures in his tomb? Is he also a fake official with a straight face? If not, where did these treasures come from?
Famous generals of the Anti-Japanese War
Wang Shiqi, a native of Linhai, Zhejiang, was born in a scholarly mendi, his father Wang Zongmu was born as a jinshi, and he wrote many works in his lifetime, such as "Song Yuan Zizhi Tongjian" and "Haiyun Zhi", which were compiled by his father.
Influenced by his father, Wang Shiqi also studied poetry hard in his early years, and eventually he was admitted to the jinshi like his father and was appointed as a soldier.
Legendary figures are generally all-rounders of literature and martial arts.
Don't look at Wang Shiqi's early years as a polite and polite literati, but in the twenty-sixth year of the Wanli Calendar, because of the rampant Behavior of the Wokou and the invasion of Korea by the famous Japanese general Toyotomi Hideyoshi, wang Shiqi, who was then serving as the supervisor of the Shandong Suffragette Rank, led the army to lead the battle.
Eventually, under his command, he repelled several Wokou.
At that time, the Japanese side had Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three heroes of the Warring States, and although his military talent was outstanding, he could not defeat Wang Shiqi and eventually died of illness in a foreign land.
With the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Korean War of the twenty-sixth year of the Wanli calendar came to an end.
After this battle, Wang Shiqi became a famous general in the war against the Wu Dynasty, and his outstanding military talent was widely recognized.
Ten Umbrella Lane
Don't look at Wang Shiqi's mighty power on the battlefield, but he is usually gentle and elegant, kind and generous, especially in treating the people, that is, responding to every need, and taking care of everything.
Although he served in many places throughout his life, no matter where he was, he was a clean official and a good official who was praised by the people.
According to historical records, Wang Shiqi worked hard for the officials, often staying up all night to deal with them because of official duties, so he would accumulate fatigue and illness and die in the forty years of the Wanli Calendar during his tenure as inspector of Datong.
Unfortunately, Wang Shiqi was so poor that his family could not even afford to buy a coffin, and finally had to wrap it in a straw mat and bury it.
The people in Linhai's hometown were very sad after hearing about it, so they mobilized to make ten umbrellas for them, and Wang Shiqi's former residence was also named, Ten Umbrella Lane.
The mystery of the funerary goods
As we all know, items such as the Book of Ten Thousand Peoples and the Umbrella of ten thousand people made by the ancient people were all handed over to the emperor.
When Emperor Myeongshinjong learned of Wang Shiqi's situation, he was greatly moved, so he sent craftsmen to build a tomb in his hometown and rewarded many treasures for burial.
This experience is recorded in the Records of the Myōshin Sect.
It is mentioned in the book that before Wang Shiqi died, he deliberately advised that after his death, he should be simple in everything, not to trouble the people, and not to trouble the fathers and elders in the clan.
As mentioned earlier, Wang Shiqi was born in Shuxiang Mendi, and his family is also one of the four most prestigious families in Linhai.
So as long as Wang Shiqi opened his mouth, don't say a small coffin, even if it is a grand funeral.
However, as an official of the imperial court, he knew the duty of an official, and where could he take the lead in extravagance and waste.
It was precisely because of this spirit of his that the Myōjin Sect decided to rebuild the ancient tomb for him and rewarded him with 107 treasures.
I have to say that in life, as long as you are in the right body, you will naturally be recognized by the world, not to mention the big words such as famous history, at least worthy of yourself, which is the most important.
References: History of the Ming Dynasty, Records of the Ming Dynasty