The Southern Dynasty Qidantu County made Shen Zanzhi reluctant to eat and drink with his colleagues around him, because it always cost money. He is not willing to spend public funds, and his salary can not afford to socialize, so he simply does not interact with people, does not invite guests to give gifts, and becomes an otaku in his official leisure. This kind of person is too obstructive in the ranks of officials, and it is also a hindrance to things. Finally, once, someone found a stubble and fell into prison. Shen Zanzhi looked up at the sky and sighed, saying, "The matter has come to an end, Shen Mou has no other wish, he can let me see the emperor, and I will die without regrets."
When Emperor Qi Gao found out and was very curious, he took Shen Zanzhi to the court for interrogation and asked him why he wanted to see himself, and Shen Zanzhi said that he had been given a very unique crime. Emperor Qi Gao asked what the crime was, and Shen Zanzhi said, "To cleanse the sin is that there is nothing to flatter those cattle people, and this is the crime committed by the courtiers!" Emperor Qi Gao was a little angry and asked him who was the cattle man. Shen Zanzhi pointed at the Manchu Dynasty officials and said, "These are the well-dressed people!" It was silent.
Emperor Qi Gao at first felt that Shen Zanzhi's words were a bit exaggerated, but he thought about it calmly and felt that there must be a reason why Shen Zanzhi was so angry, so he re-examined his case after retiring from the dynasty. The conclusion was that this guy was indeed crystal clear, but he was framed by the surrounding courtiers. What to do? Emperor Qi Gao handled the matter in a low-key manner, allowing Shen Zanzhi to resume his post, without much explanation, but only allowing him to recuperate for a while. Shen Zanzhi was very touched, and after returning to his post, he was even more self-encouraged, and his colleagues around him did not dare to criticize him.
In fact, such "cleansing" has always existed. Li Yongqing during the Guangxu period had a nickname in the official field called "Tianxia Jian". When he returned to Beijing from his native Shanxi to resume his post, he walked more than 3,000 miles without hiring a car. This made the officials of the same era feel very hateful. At that time, li Ciming, a university scholar, ridiculed Li Yongqing, saying that he had poor writing and no other talents, that is, he was very "hard-working", good at running around, and grew up in poor and remote areas, and he was an old hat for generations, and he would not enjoy life at all.
Soon after, Li Yongqing was appointed as a political envoy in Shaanxi, and as the second-in-command of the province, he continued to practice economy, recuperate, and prohibit opium. This time, he offended the number one, the Inspector of Shaanxi. Why? The problem is also that he is too "clean"—keeping the door of the clan too tight. He could double the Shaanxi Treasury Silver in one year, and the Inspector was of course happy; but with so much silver, he would not let the Inspector take a son, and the Inspector would not be happy. The inspector wanted to take the silver into the capital to honor the western empress, dot the beijing officials, and dredge the important joints, but Li Yongqing did not cooperate. Reluctantly, as the first-in-command inspector, he personally participated in the impeachment of the second-in-command, saying that Li Yongqing was uneasy about his position. In the end, Li Yongqing returned to his hometown as the head of jinyang academy for ten years, and ended up depressed.
Weng Tonggong, a university scholar who had been a master of Guangxu, was very important to Li Yongqing, but he could not protect Li Yongqing, and after Li Yongqing was dismissed from his post and returned to his hometown, Weng Tonggong sighed in his diary: "When it is rotten, it is inevitable to clean up sins." In the official arena, there are more corrupt people, and incorruptible people are particularly abrupt, and they are regarded as nails in the eye and thorns in the flesh, and it is only a matter of time before they are pulled out. People want to clean up officials, and the history books also praise clean officials, but in fact, clean officials can't even protect themselves, which is not a kind of irony!
Interesting, informative, with depth The author | Xu Shilin Source| Hundred Tribunes magazine