Out of sincere concern for his confidant and disciple Zhao Liewen, Zeng Guofan not only advised him to go out to become an official on many occasions, but also obtained a position of deputy governor for him in Zhejiang, and said that as long as Zhao Liewen nodded his head in agreement, he would greet the leaders of Zhejiang Province. Zeng Guofan did this, in addition to Zhao Liewen following him for many years, should be rewarded for him, more importantly, Zeng Guofan has high expectations for Zhao Liewen's ability to engage in politics, saying that he is extremely smart, the theoretical level is unmatched today, only the practical experience is slightly lacking, as long as the practice is strengthened, he will certainly be able to become an all-rounder in the future. This rating is extremely high. In the late Qing Dynasty, when it was difficult to ascend to the heavens after obtaining a real post, Zeng Guofan was able to actively take the initiative to seek an official position for Zhao Liewen, which can be said to be the greatest care. But Zhao Liewen always prevaricated for various reasons. Originally, I thought that Zhao Liewen deliberately violated the worldly sentiments to show that he was different, and some were too pretentious, until he watched his dialogue with Zeng Guofan on September 15, 1867, the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867), and found that he had lived in the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain.
The original text of the dialogue between Zeng Guofan and Zhao Liewen is:
Zeng: "If you go under your feet, I am a Zhejiang official, and I have nothing to do." The talent under the foot is extremely high, and there are two kinds of worldly learning and truth, and there is no virtual reality, and sometimes it is not possible to suffocate; if there is no reality, it is virtual, and there is nothing beautiful. On the false, it is invincible in the world, but the real place is not exhausted, and if you can work hard, you will be an all-rounder. ”
Zhao: "Being an official may not be able to bear the burden, a tourist, and those who do it are still one after another, how about being an official?" Love money can not be to confidant, do not love money can not be a body, in a dilemma, in vain bow to the vulgar, what is evil? Lie is known for his talents and false voices, once he enters the Shi version, the blame must be strict, and then he manipulates the teacher in the past, that is, the great official of the province has no view of the realm, and can there be no side evil among his peers? Therefore, taking being an official as a plot, the martyrs did not see it. As far as the government is known to the Confucian, it has nothing to do with the source. The teacher is also vain and real, and the two righteousnesses are particularly unshakable, and after the martyr returns from afar, he comes to the teacher's place for one or two years, and although the martyr is scattered, he asks himself about the study and does not dare to paint himself, and how to bear the teacher's kindness and evil intentions. ”
It turned out that Zhao Liewen did not want to go out to become an official, not because he did not want to become an official, but because he was afraid of becoming an official.
The first is to be afraid of others coming to the door to ask for things. Zhao Liewen was just an ordinary staff member, and the people who came to visit the door and trust the relationship were endless, not to mention being an official! He is a righteous gentleman, but also a very principled person, relatives and friends come to the door, ask him for official projects, etc., is it iron-faced selfless refusal? Or is it to take care of face contrary to the principle of satisfying their unreasonable demands? This was a great difficulty for Zhao Liewen, who was kind and charitable.
The second is that I am afraid that I will not be able to refuse the money and goods sent to my door by others. Others go to the door to ask for things, most of them will not be empty-handed, for the money and goods sent to the door, Zhao Liewen will pick up or not? To accept it is to accept bribes and engage in corruption, and he is unwilling to do so and cannot bear to do so; if he does not accept it, he is to refute the face of others, and he cannot get by on the face of affection. As the saying goes, people have no windfall and no wealth, horses have no night grass and no fat, if Zhao Liewen resolutely does not accept bribes, the two sleeves of the breeze only rely on dead wages, of course, after becoming an official, he cannot solve the problem of family "burden", and it is better to work in the shogunate with a higher income. Therefore, for him, it is indeed not a good thing to use being an official as a means and a way to make a living.
Third, I am afraid that I will not be able to do practical things for the people. As Zhao Liewen said, once you become an official, you must abide by the law and do practical things for the people, otherwise you will not be able to stand up to this lulu, nor will you be able to stand up to your conscience. But did the people in the ancient official arena say that they could obey the law by obeying the law? Can you say that doing practical things for the people can do practical things for the people? In the end, the vast majority of officials can only conform to the world, and the people will follow the clouds; they will go with the flow and get by; they will be full of food all day long, and they will have no intentions. And these are not what Zhao Liewen is willing to face.
The fourth is to be afraid that others will talk nonsense. Zhao Liewen was a very capable and famous person, and going out to be a middle- and lower-level official such as a county or prefect would not cause much criticism. But why do many people with ability and fame not get official positions, but you Zhao Liewen can easily get them, it is not that there are people in the DPRK who are good officials, and their backs are against the big trees to cool off! Moreover, Zeng Guofan also wanted to greet the leaders of Zhejiang and pave the way and bridge for Zhao Liewen's official path, which made Zhao Liewen feel even more embarrassed. This kind of thing of putting himself on the fire to roast, Zhao Liewen did not dare to agree no matter what.
It is precisely because of these "fears" that Zhao Liewen would rather stay in the shogunate of Zeng Guofan than enter the official field. It seems that the official is not so good!
Do people who want to enter the career or are about to enter the official arena now think clearly about the reasoning and stakes?
(From The Leadership Digest, May 2016)
Source: Monthly Miscellaneous Articles
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