In the late Qing Dynasty, Wang Renkan, the prefect of Zhenjiang, was an official

Wang Renkan (1849-1893), also spelled Kezhuang, also spelled Nin'an, was a representative figure of the "Qing school" in the late Qing Dynasty. In the ninth year of Tongzhi (1870), he was selected in the examination, and in the third year of Guangxu (1877), he was a high school champion. In the fifth year of Guangxu (1879), because the envoy Chonghou signed a land-cutting and traitorous treaty with the Russians without authorization, Wang Renkan and the Hanlin Academy repaired Cao Hongxun and other impeachment. In the fourteenth year of Guangxu (1888), Empress Dowager Cixi embezzled naval funds to build the Summer Palace in order to celebrate her birthday, and Wang Renkan wrote a letter opposing it. In the sixteenth year of Guangxu (1890), he was released as the prefect of Zhenjiang. Zhenjiang's three-year political career has fully demonstrated his ability to govern and his demeanor of serving the people in a down-to-earth manner.

Knowing the interests of the people and governing for the people

During his tenure as prefect of Zhenjiang, Wang Renkan created the armor protection system to strengthen the management of local public order. At that time, bandits occurred in the Yangtze River area, especially the local bandits entangled with the British to cause trouble and disturb the people. Wang Renkan personally patrolled the defense and asked the governor of Liangjiang to issue a document to the consuls-general of various countries, asking them to formulate a charter, strictly control the unemployed foreigners, and punish all criminal acts with the local people, and finally eliminate the local bandit plague.

Wang Renkan believes that "officials who are close to the people should know the interests and diseases of the people." After Zhenjiang took office, he went through the people's sentiments and traveled to almost every corner of the jurisdiction. He found that many areas of Zhenjiang had no water sources and were prone to drought, and proposed that it was a top priority to open canals and ponds and build water conservancy projects. However, considering the shortage of treasury money, there was no hope of requesting funds, and he was unwilling to apportion and disturb the people, so he took the lead in donating money and wrote to relatives and friends for help. Zhenjiang Shangfu was moved and donated. Large and small rivers and ponds have been excavated in Danyang and Dantu counties, and a large number of ditches, canals, sluices, dams, and other water conservancy projects have been built, which not only promoted grain and cotton production, but also facilitated commercial and tourism transportation. In the eighteenth year of Guangxu (1892), Zhenjiang suffered a major drought, and Wang Renkan asked him to intercept 50,000 yuan of cao rice, relieve more than 200,000 hungry people, and raise funds to deal with the aftermath of various disaster relief, such as locust hunting, cattle relief, dredging river, planting trees, and accumulating grain.

Knowing people to make good use of chongxue and re-teaching

In the ninth year of Tongzhi (1870), Wang Renkan wrote in the Shuntianxiang Trial Scroll: "The state does not suffer from talentlessness, suffers from talent instead of using its talents, and especially suffers from talents and uses its talents lightly." "During wang renkan's tenure as vice governor of Shanxi, he straightened out the study style in light of the shortcomings of the times and strictly forbade students from smoking opium; when he was serving as deputy examiners for township examinations in Guizhou, Jiangnan, and Guangdong provinces, he selected a large number of outstanding talents, such as Liang Qichao and Wang Zhaoyong; when he was teaching shu jishi, President Xu Shichang of the Republic of China was his student; when Zhenjiang took office, he knew that people were good at use, and set strict requirements, such as reusing Danyang County Ling Cha Wenqing, Dantu County Ling Wang Zhilan, and local township gentry Han Biyuan, Liu Ke, Yan Zuolin, and Bao Chuan, all of whom brought well-being to the people of Zhenjiang.

After Wang Renkan learned about the situation that young people in Zhenjiang had received less study and education in the past hundred years, he used the remaining funds raised for disaster relief and used private money to establish the Hazel Si Cultural Society and the Nanling Bookstore (now Zhenjiang Middle School) as places for teaching and learning, and ordered all the districts under his jurisdiction to set up righteous schools to popularize folk education. He personally led people to survey, dredge, and restore The Zhongling Spring at the foot of Jinshan Mountain, and inscribed five characters of "The First Spring in the World", preserving an important cultural heritage for Zhenjiang. In order to continue the context, Wang Renkan made meticulous plans for the reconstruction of the Jinshan Wenzong Pavilion, and formulated a set of restoration implementation plans from the aspects of cost estimation and fundraising paths, but the plan was later shelved due to his transfer.

Lead by example and be honest and self-disciplined

Wang Renkan's mansion in Zhenjiang was dilapidated, because "it was in disrepair, the walls were peeling off, there were cracks in the drums, the bricks and tiles were broken, the doors and windows were decayed, the wind and rain leaked, and every time there was no place to live", "I was afraid that the wind and snow would blow and pressure, and the day would fall down", so I had to do some simple repairs. This government office was provided by the government to Wang Renkan's office and the place where his family lived, and belonged to the government. For the cost of repairs, Wang Renkan applied for an advance of his own lianyin to repay the loans paid in advance, and the remaining part was apportioned to the annual office expenses.

When the three-year term was completed, Jiangsu Province set Wang Renkan's political performance as the first in the province. In July of the nineteenth year of Guangxu (1893), Wang Renkan was transferred to Suzhou, and Zhenjiang "sent farewell to the people of the road, and even climbed and wept". The gentry wanted to set up a feast for him, but he politely refused, so everyone sent water from the Zhongling Spring to express their admiration. After less than 3 months in Suzhou, Wang Ren died of illness at the age of 45 due to overwork. When the celebrity Zhang Jian went to mourn, he sighed at his poverty: "Behind him, the public and private people are responsible for more than 7,000 gold. The public is responsible for seven thousand gold, the governor and the caretaker are raised, and the private burden is nothing. The church has an old mother, seven sons, and none of them are rafters. Gaoke Rongjin, Xiu Zhiqing name, in the end such an ear, can win the sigh! It can be seen that Wang Renkan has donated money many times and even borrowed money for official affairs, and the family burden is heavy.

In order to commemorate Wang Renkan, the people of Zhenjiang built a "Wang Gong Ancestral Hall" in the western suburbs of Zhonglingquan South, written by the celebrity Fan Zengxiang at that time and Chen Baochen's stele. An octagonal pavilion was built on the banks of the spring, named "Jian Pavilion", which means Wang Renkan High Wind and Bright Festival, such as the pond water Clear Cheng Jian ren. In order to show future generations the precious historical materials of Wang Renkan's diligence and honesty, in 2017, Zhenjiang built the Wang Renkan Memorial Hall, and the couplet in the museum reads: "For the people to love the people and the people, great achievements and great deeds have been recorded in history, and honest government and honest government have high winds and bright festivals to enlighten future generations", which is a high summary of Wang Renkan's official style.