Many people believe that words can reflect a person's character, such as Yue Fei, a famous anti-gold general at that time, who wrote words like dragons and tigers, and felt that justice was awe-inspiring at a glance. However, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, there was a traitor, and his calligraphy completely violated everyone's understanding. This person's name is Zheng Xiaoxu, born in 1860, who participated in scientific expeditions during the Guangxu years and successfully became a lifter.
When Zheng Xiaoxu was young, he always followed Li Hongzhang's side, came into contact with many big people, and eventually became a political envoy in Hunan. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he threw away his black hat and could only hide at home and complain with the old courtiers of the Qing Dynasty. In 1913, Zheng Xiaoxu was very thoughtful, he believed that the revolutionary wave had passed and he could come out and be active. He began to organize Bible readings, which attracted the attention of many people.
Only at this time, he did not have the court's Qilu, nor did he have the rights he once had. He thought about it and felt that his only way out was to sell calligraphy. Zheng Xiaoxu's calligraphy was born out of famous calligraphers such as Su Shi and Ouyang Xiu, who in the process of continuous copying, learned from each other's strengths and eventually became a school of his own, giving people the feeling of being vigorous and simple. Zheng Xiaoxu's calligraphy is indeed very well written, so many people come to buy his words.
Zheng Xiaoxu is not a fuel-saving lamp, and when he sells words, he offers a very high price. Sometimes, he can sell for about 10 taels with a single word. You must know that the professor at that time, the monthly salary was less than 10 taels. Therefore, Zheng Xiaoxu's words can be called sky-high prices. Although the price he offered was very expensive, there was still a steady stream of people who came to him to write.
In 1908, when the Bank of Communications of China was officially established, they heard that Zheng Xiaoxu's calligraphy was praised by everyone, so they contacted him, hoping that he would help the bank write a signboard. Zheng Xiaoxu did not refuse after knowing it, but the words he wrote for the bank were not free, he opened his mouth to ask for 4,000 taels of gold, and the bank with great wealth did not refuse, and gave the money painfully and happily, so there were 4 big characters of the Bank of Communications.
The 4 characters written by the traitor Zheng Xiaoxu with a stroke of his pen have been circulated for a hundred years and can now be seen everywhere, but he himself has no bones. After Zheng Xiaoxu colluded with the Japanese and became a traitor, many people broke off friendship with him. Zheng Xiaoxu eventually became a traitor hated by everyone, and his body was buried next to Nurhaci after his death. It is often said that there is a destiny in the underworld. In the 1960s, Zheng Xiaoxu's grave was devastated, and some farmers dug up his grave and burned his bones.