Mr. and Mrs. Qu insisted on deducting 100 yuan from Mr. Qian's salary, but Mr. Qian refused and said he'd quit. Mr. Qu was in a panic and quickly asked someone to persuade Mr. Qian to stay. Mrs. Qu kept arguing about deducting the money, saying, "If we can't deduct it this quarter, we can deduct it over four quarters! Not a cent less!" Mr. Qu had no choice but to agree.
When they got their hands on the account book, the most important thing was to give a gift to the new grandson at the Fu's residence. Looking through the account book, there were no specific rules for this. Mrs. Qu was clever and used other regulations as a reference. There was a rule in the account book that said, "When a young master is appointed in this department, the office shall give a gift of 100 yuan." Mrs. Qu said, "Let's follow this. Our residence is one rank lower than this department, so that's an 80% discount, making it 80 yuan. And he's not the eldest son, so another 20% off – that's 64 yuan!" So she had the clerk write a gift note and sent someone to deliver it to the Fu's residence.
I didn't expect that the top dog was from the Qing Dynasty, with the official name Xi Yuan. His grandfather was named "Sixty-four" because his father was 64 when he was born. Qing people have a quirk about others violating their superstitions, not just the governor but also Xi. His grandfather was named Sixty-four, and no one could touch those three characters. After Xi took office, someone recommended a legal clerk named Lu, but he wasn't happy when he saw it, saying, "It sounds weird, whether you write it in capitals or lowercase. Can the clerk change his name?" The clerk replied, "Other things can be changed, but how can I change my surname?" Knowing it was not a good place to stay, he left. Xi had no choice but to let him go. Although Xi was not very literate, he had to write the dates on official documents himself. Every time he wrote "Sixty-four," he deliberately missed a stroke. The first time he tried to write "ten," he missed a stroke, making it look like "one." Someone suggested a clever way to write it so it was still clearly "ten" but avoided the taboo. Xi was delighted to hear this and started writing like this from then on, only writing half of the vertical stroke when writing "ten." He praised the person who came up with the idea as talented, saying, "We can get ahead now, isn't it all because our ancestors raised us? Otherwise, where would we get official positions? Now we have even forgotten our ancestors' superstitions, are we still human? I am now the top dog, and no one in the mansion can violate my superstitions!" So everyone in the office walked on eggshells, terrified of upsetting the boss!
Well, wouldn't you know it, this time when little Master Sun turned one month old, the congratulatory note from Xingguo Prefecture read, "A joyous gift of sixty-four yuan." When the head steward saw it, he didn't even think the amount was too small, but frowned upon seeing the characters on the note, thinking to himself, "What a coincidence! Six characters using ones that happen to be part of the names of both father and son. If this isn't explained clearly and sent directly, it will definitely get them into hot water, and they'll blame us for not teaching them." After some thought, he noticed that the cover of the gift list clearly read "Six Yuan and Four Jiao" (approximately $X, depending on the exchange rate at the time). He then realized that the gift from Xingguo Prefecture was not enough. So he asked the messenger, "Your master's rank is pretty middling in Hubei, isn't it? Why didn't you check the accounts properly and send such a small amount? This kind of thing has rules." The steward sent by Qu Nai'an replied, "We checked the rules; there is no such regulation. Our boss is afraid of being criticized by superiors, so we specifically checked a few other regulations before setting this amount. Could you please hand this up for us?" The head steward shook his head and said, "Is this your boss's first term in office, or has he served several terms before?" The steward replied, "It's his first term." The head steward said, "No wonder your boss doesn't know the rules." The steward asked, "What rules?" The head steward said, "Didn't you see the characters on the note? It says 'Joy Yuan' and 'Sixty-Four,' using characters that happen to be part of the names of both father and son. Since your boss is his subordinate, how can he not even inquire about his name? You know how touchy the Manchus are about this sort of thing, right? It's worse than calling them names. How can your boss take office without inquiring properly?" The steward's jaw dropped at his words, and he could only ask for his help in smoothing this over, saying, "Could you help us smooth this over? Our boss will be very grateful and will definitely make amends." The head steward saw that the money sent was not much and knew that this boss was not wealthy, so he figured he'd have a bit of fun at his expense. He decided to let the guy sweat it out a bit, then the guy would come crawling back and really grease his palms.
With his mind made up, he kept silent, first pocketed six yuan and forty cents, then took sixty-four dollars and ran straight upstairs to inform the master. Fortunately, Xitai Zun was upstairs playing mahjong with his concubine, engaged in a game of mahjong with two-yuan stakes. Xitai Zun had refused to pay up earlier when he lost money, but now he had won a hand, and his concubine wanted to settle the score. He refused and stood up to grab her chips. Just then, the doorkeeper came in with silver dollars. His concubine said, "Stop grabbing, the money has arrived!" Xitai Zun immediately let go when he heard about the silver dollars and asked eagerly, "Where's the money?" The doorkeeper calmly placed a ledger and a letter in front of Xitai Zun. Xitai Zun saw the ledger and recognized it as something sent by the newly appointed Governor Qu of Xingguo State. Suddenly, he remembered something and asked the doorkeeper, "Governor Qu has been in office for several days; why hasn't he sent the official notification of arrival yet? Xingguo State is a plum job, and he's so leisurely—who can I rely on as the governor?" The doorkeeper said, "This is the money for Master Sun's first month gift. He has someone here, but the official notification of arrival hasn't been sent." Only then did Xitai Zun turn his head to look at the silver dollars. He saw the six characters "Xijing sixty-four yuan," and his face changed immediately. He stood up from his chair, exclaiming, "Oh my! Oh my!" twice, then turned to the doorkeeper and asked, "He's in office now; why didn't you write a letter to remind him?" The doorkeeper replied, "They should come to inquire on their own. Since they are subordinates, they should take care of these matters themselves. When they ask me, I will naturally tell them. If they don't ask, how can I write a letter to remind them?" Xitai Zun said, "It wouldn't hurt to write a couple of letters! Since you didn't inform them, when he comes, you should tell him to take it back and rewrite it before sending it again. Are you trying to put me on the spot by showing me this now?" The doorkeeper said, "Calm down, sir; first check if the amount of money he sent is correct." Xitai Zun then realized that only sixty-four dollars were sent. Regardless of whether his father's name was on the note, he flung the money to the floor, scattering the bills and ripping the paper. Xitai Zun stomped his feet and cursed, "This is unbelievable! This is preposterous! He's clearly looking down on me! I've been the governor for a while now; does he dare to ruin my rules? Does this governor think he's better than me and doesn't care about my authority? He didn't send the official notification of arrival, and the gift is so small! Hmph! He doesn't care about me! Can he escape my grasp on certain matters? Give this money back to him; I won't accept it!" With that, Xitai Zun threw down his tiles and stormed off to stew in his own juices.
Old Man Menzheng picked up the money on the ground piece by piece and took out the account book as well. The steward sent by Qu Nai'an was waiting outside. Old Man Menzheng walked into the gatehouse, threw the money and account book onto the table, and said, "Hey there! They said 'thanks,' take it back!" The steward wanted to say something, but Old Man Menzheng saw someone else come to talk, so he chatted with the other person and ignored him. The steward had no choice but to take the money and account book and leave. After returning, he realized he was in trouble, so he dared not go back to Xingguo Prefecture directly. He wrote a report to his boss, explaining what happened and waiting for orders. After receiving the report, Qu Nai'an was sweating bullets, so he quickly went to ask his wife. Unexpectedly, his wife was not worried at all, saying, "It's good that he didn't accept it! My money wasn't earned here; I must show him respect. At any rate, we're just acting officials. If it goes well, fine; if not, a year later, we'll be going our separate ways, I won't know him, I won't flatter him, let's see if he recognizes me. Quickly write a letter to recall the person sent, tell him I don't give a damn about this prefecture, and see how he deals with me!" After hearing his wife's words, Qu Nai'an felt it made sense, so he wrote a letter to recall the steward. Later, Xitai Zun waited for half a month, but there was no movement from Xingguo Prefecture, and the paperwork was not delivered. He was puzzled. After inquiring carefully, he found out that he had such a powerful wife. Although he didn't say anything on the surface, he had to work things out behind the scenes.
Forget the rest. The thing is, Qu Nai'an and his wife, seeing that the powers that be couldn't do anything to them, became more and more daring. Apart from the governor and the two departments, they didn't even put the local officials in their sights. During festivals and holidays, they would bribe their superiors, and although they didn't dare reduce the amount, they always sent it according to the accounts left by their predecessors. Officials at all levels looked the other way because of their connections, but they all hated their guts behind their backs. Qu Nai'an himself wasn’t sure whether he was sending too much or too little, figuring that following the books was safe enough. Only the governor and the department head were difficult to deal with. If they sent too little in gifts or red envelopes, the county magistrate would get a message to them – either a chewing out or a demand for more cash. Qu Nai'an couldn’t understand and would say to others, "I sent it by the book! What's their problem?" With no choice, he had to make up for it in front of the governor. Sometimes he would make up the full amount, sometimes not, but it never seemed to be enough for them, and this happened all the time. Any inspector, whether passing through or on a special assignment, would also receive the amount according to the accounts, and one inspector even gave him a hard time about it.
Time flies; in the blink of an eye, Qu Nai'an has been in office for half a year. The common people are fed up with his incompetence, looking glum, which is quite normal. Even his superiors and colleagues do not like him. Everywhere, people are speaking ill of him, and no one has a good word to say. He felt pretty hard done by: "I've been more than respectful to my superiors and done right by my colleagues. I haven't been stingy with the gifts, all according to the accounts left by my predecessor. It's just that there was a bit of a spat when I first took office, but later the county magistrate came out to mediate. I had no choice. I followed the rules of taking office and gave the appropriate gifts to the government as stated in the accounts. I did my best." Yet the higher-ups still had it in for him. People were up in arms, but he himself had no idea what was going on. Just then, out of the blue, his wife's maternal grandfather, who is a high-ranking official, was ordered to go to Beijing. Following that, he was appointed as the deputy governor of Zhili province and couldn't come back for a while. So the high-ranking official appointed a deputy governor. If he was away, the provincial deputy governor stepped in, and so on, down the line. They also appointed a new acting salt commissioner. The major affairs of the province were basically settled, with officials from various departments getting rid of the old guard and bringing in the new, busy as can be, so I won't go into details here.
As for this deputy governor, his surname is Jia, and his name is Shiwen. He came from a scholarly background, served as a teacher, and later became a county magistrate. He climbed the ladder and became a high-ranking official in less than twenty years. He served as the governor of Hubei for three years and is now sixty-six years old, fit as a fiddle and spirited. He prided himself on his two great skills: painting plum blossoms and calligraphy.
His calligraphy is said to be in the style of Wang Xizhi. He often tells people, "I have a scroll of Wang Xizhi's *Lanting Xu*; every character is in perfect regular script, elegant and flowing, without a single flaw. I heard it was carved by a famous Han Dynasty stone carver. After I obtained this scroll, I copy it every single day." Luckily, not many officials knew much about art history – probably only two or three out of a hundred knew who Wang Xizhi was. Those in the know chuckled, while the others swallowed it whole. He also said that famous officials like Peng Yulin and Ren Daorong enjoy painting plum blossoms, so he learned to paint them too. His secret to painting plum blossoms? Round circles, thick stems – that's all it took, he claimed. Whenever he painted, whether it was a large piece or a screen, he couldn't finish in time, so he asked his steward to help him draw the circles. If the steward couldn't manage a perfect circle, he'd just trace a few coins. After the steward finished drawing, he would outline the branches and leaves himself, embellishing the details. Some subordinates wanted to flatter him, so every time they came to report on their work, after discussing business, they would take out a piece of paper or a fan from their sleeve or boot, hold it with both hands, and say, "I'd be honored if you'd write something for me," or "I'd be grateful for a painting from you." This delighted him. "You really like my work, eh?" he'd ask. A "yes" made his day. He'd finish before dark and have a servant deliver it.
Everyone slowly figured out Jia Zhitai's temper. There was a man named Wei Zan, whose courtesy name was Zhanxian, an aspirant county magistrate who couldn't make it in the province. Half a month ago, he had asked Jia Zhitai to paint a small hall painting. Jia Zhitai had a habit: when someone asked him to paint or write calligraphy, he had to learn their background thoroughly and fill any gaps before proceeding. Many aspirant officials made a good name for themselves this way, and Wei Zhanxian wanted to give it a try. However, there were too many people asking for paintings, and with so many official positions in Hubei, there simply weren't enough to go around. So, although Jia Zhitai never turned anyone down, there were often not enough positions available. Wei Zhanxian pondered for a while, made up his mind, and deliberately said he had something to report.
The attendant went in to report, and when Jia Zhitai saw that it was the person who had asked for a painting last time, he let him in. After a bit of small talk, Wei Zhanxian nervously pulled out a scroll of paper from his sleeve and said, "Sir, I absolutely adored the plum blossom painting you did! I would like to ask you to paint another one for me, to pass down to my descendants." Jia Zhitai replied, "Didn't I already paint one for you?" Wei Zhanxian blushed and stammered, "My apologies, sir. I was in a bit of a bind! Because I was so poor during my time as a substitute, I sold that painting two days after receiving it." When Jia Zhitai heard this, he laughed and asked, "Someone bought my painting?" Wei Zhanxian firmly said, "Not only did someone buy it, it sold like hotcakes! Initially, I asked for ten taels of silver." Jia Zhitai frowned and shook his head, "Not worth it! Not worth it!" Then he asked, "How much did you actually sell it for?" Wei Zhanxian said, "I actually received twenty dollars." Jia Zhitai was surprised, "You only asked for ten taels, yet you got twenty dollars? How'd that happen?"
Wei Zhanxian explained, "I asked that person for ten ounces of silver, and he went home to get the money. At that time, a Japanese man came and said he heard from a friend that I had a plum blossom painting by a master and wanted to buy it. I told him there was only one, and it had already been sold to someone else. He offered fourteen dollars, but I told him it had already been sold and I couldn't refund the money. He kept raising the price, and finally offered twenty dollars, threw the money down, and grabbed the painting and ran off. Later, the person who had originally bought the painting came back with ten ounces of silver, and I had to tell him it had been sold to someone else, which made him very unhappy." Jia Zhitai said, "That wasn't right." Wei Zhanxian quickly agreed. Jia Zhitai said, "Since you promised someone ten ounces, how could you sell it to a Japanese person? If the Japanese person really wanted it, you should have kept him waiting for a few more days, told me, and I would have painted another one for him." Wei Zhanxian repeatedly agreed, saying he had done it because he was suffering during his probation period. Jia Zhitai said, "Since someone wants it, I will paint a few more for you." So he had Wei Zhanxian follow him to the signing room.
After Jia Zhitai entered the room, he kicked off his shoes, tossed aside his hat and coat, told the steward to grind the ink, then spread out his paper, dipped his brush, and started painting. He also had Wei Zhanxian take off his clothes and hat to watch on the side. Just as he was enjoying painting, a patrol officer came to report, "The magistrate needs to see you." Jia Zhitai said, "Wait a moment." Then the school superintendent also came to pay his respects. Jia Zhitai said, "I'm swamped, shoo them away!" After the patrol officer left, the Xiakou magistrate came to report, saying that he had arrested some reformists and asked for instructions on how to handle them, and the magistrate of Xiakou Hall also came along. Other officials came to report as well, and the office was packed with officials waiting to see him. However, he was completely focused on painting plum blossoms for Wei Zhanxian and refused to come out.
Although the student was blocked outside the door, the Provincial Treasurer, the Judicial Commissioner, and other officials were growing impatient. The Provincial Treasurer inquired, "Who is the inspector seeing inside? Why hasn't he come out after half a day?" After finally finding out, it was said that the inspector was drawing pictures for an acting county magistrate named Wei in his private office. The Provincial Treasurer, who had always been irritable, upon hearing this, was furious and shouted in the official hall, "We've got official business! We've been kept waiting half a day while he's off drawing pictures? That's outrageous! I'm an imperial official; I haven't got all day! Since he won't see us, we're leaving!" After speaking, he stormed out.
This particular Provincial Treasurer in Wuchang, Hubei, was a thirty-year-old banner man (a member of the Manchu military aristocracy) named Gazhating E. His father used to be a Minister of War and passed away when Gazhating was twenty-one. He purchased a Langzhong position to study at the Ministry of War at a young age. After his father's death, the emperor allowed him to continue as a Langzhong, filling vacancies as they arose. His father-in-law was in charge of the Military Affairs Department at the time, and after resting for three years, he caught up with the imperial examination and was recommended by the officials of the Ministry of War. After being summoned by the emperor, he was appointed as a circuit intendant and a prefect. In less than half a year, he was promoted to the Salt Commissioner of Wuchang, Hubei, when he was only twenty-seven years old. He was young and ambitious, eager to be a good official, and did a lot for the local area, earning a good reputation. The following year, he was recommended by the Tuanzhi Tai (a specific title related to military governance), his achievements were reported to the emperor, and he received the emperor's praise. With the help of his father-in-law and the recommendation of the governor, he was promoted to the provincial Judicial Commissioner in less than three years. This time, the Tuanzhi Tai was transferred to the Governor of Zhili, and the provincial governor acted as the governor while the Provincial Treasurer acted as the provincial governor, so he was appointed as the Provincial Treasurer. After taking office, relying on his father-in-law's influence, he became somewhat arrogant and conceited. For matters that the Provincial Treasurer should handle, others had to consult the governor and the provincial governor, but he acted independently, ignoring the governor and provincial governor entirely.
This time he came to see Jia Zhitai for official business, but Jia Zhitai was busy painting with Wei Zhanxian and didn’t come out to meet him right away, keeping him waiting in the office for a bit. Fed up with waiting, he hopped in his sedan chair and left the yamen, forgetting all about his work. After a while, Jia Zhitai finished his painting, signed it, stamped it, and they looked it over together before realizing that the official had been waiting a long time. He hurried to the hall to meet him, but was told that the official had already left. Hearing that the official had gone, Jia Zhitai just shrugged it off.
Jia Zhitai is a person who is usually very casual and has an irregular lifestyle. When he suddenly wants to see someone, whether it's a provincial governor or a judicial commissioner, he immediately summons them. But when the person arrives, he either paints or writes and can even go missing for ten days, completely forgetting about them. Everyone at the yamen knows better than to mess with him; after relaying the message back and forth several times, afraid of making him angry, they can only make the person wait in the government hall. People summoned in the morning might still be waiting at night, and those summoned at night might be waiting until dawn. He sleeps whenever he feels like it and can doze off twenty or thirty times a day, even while meeting guests or reading official documents. Fortunately, he sleeps lightly and can wake up after a short nap. He has a strange aversion to getting his head shaved, claiming it is more painful than being hacked with a sword. So he often goes one or two months without shaving his head or tying his hair. People would get a real shock when they saw him; if they didn't know he was an official, they would definitely think he was a beggar. In addition to painting plum blossoms and writing, he loves to write parallel couplets. He often discusses with some old scholars, saying that as long as a person can write parallel couplets, their other knowledge must also be good, because mastery of parallel couplets indicates high intelligence, as it requires precise balancing of words and sounds. Tones are even more important; a letter should flow smoothly like water, without any pause. The clerks know that Jia Zhitai pays attention to this, so they all carefully consider it. He wasn't too fussy about the content or whether the allusions were perfect.
It is said that Jia Zhitai has a second cousin once removed, who is his mother's cousin and had tutored him before, so he can be considered his teacher. His maternal family is from Yuanzhou, Jiangxi. This old scholar has always been a scholar, but now that he is getting older and has a large family to support, he suddenly wants to become an official. After much consideration, he realizes that only his favored nephew can help him get a few hundred taels of silver. Later, when he heard that his nephew had been promoted to governor, he was overjoyed. He decided to personally visit Hubei, both to see his nephew and to find a little work. "Even if it doesn't work out, a few hundred taels would still help. I could get a teaching job, donate some money, and maybe even get a position to see me through my old age." After making up his mind, he finally saved up enough money for the journey. Just as he was about to set off, he suddenly fell ill. Being elderly, he couldn't withstand the illness and within two days, he became skin and bones. He tried to struggle to leave, but his wife and son talked him out of it, so he gave up. He then wrote a letter, asking his eldest son to take a boat to Hubei's capital and find a good inn to stay in. His eldest son is Jia Zhitai's cousin. This cousin is a bit bald, with the surname Xiao, and people in the countryside called him "Bald Xiao," which eventually got shortened to "Little Rabbit."
The little rabbit has never seen much of the world in his life. In his hometown, even meeting a constable makes him feel like he's meeting a noble person. Now he is about to meet the magistrate, and he hears that the magistrate's rank is seventeen or eighteen levels higher than that of a constable. Even the magistrate's assistants have much higher ranks than a constable. He is extremely nervous all the way. When he arrives in the provincial capital, he thinks that he has come this far and can only pluck up his courage. He wears new clothes, puts on an old-fashioned hat, prepares some local specialties from his hometown, and asks the innkeeper to help carry them to the magistrate's office. He looks around anxiously and finally finds someone. He respectfully hands over a business card that reads, "Your Humble Cousin, Xiao Shen," and says softly, "I am the magistrate's cousin. My cousin is the magistrate. I have something to discuss with him. Please inform him." After the person gives him a once-over and sees that he is the magistrate's cousin, he points to a waiting room and lets him in.
The little rabbit waits at the door of the waiting room for a long time before seeing someone sleeping on the bed. He has no choice but to wake him up. When the person in the waiting room sees the business card and realizes that he is a relative of the magistrate, he doesn't dare to be negligent and quickly informs the magistrate. Soon, someone comes out and says, "Please." The person in the waiting room still helps him with the local specialties and leads him in to see his cousin. Magistrate Jia reads the letter from his uncle, makes small talk, and asks questions. The little rabbit can only nod and agree, unable to say anything else. Seeing that he is not good at talking, Magistrate Jia doesn't have much to chat about and tells him to hang out at the inn, saying, "Wait for me to write a reply and send it along with the silver."
The little rabbit is already afraid of officials. When his cousin asks him to wait outside for a reply, he doesn't dare to go to the office again. Magistrate Jia is busy with official duties and is forgetful, so he forgets about this for a month. Later, he receives another letter from his uncle and remembers. He quickly asks Mr. Shuqi for help in writing a reply, stating that he will send five hundred taels of silver to his uncle. He specifically instructs Mr. Shuqi, "This is my uncle. Keep it informal, you know? Don't make it too stiff." Mr. Shuqi writes a letter in the format of a casual letter and shows it to Magistrate Jia. After reading it, Magistrate Jia feels that the letter is too informal and uncomfortable, so he calls in the clerk.
He kept nagging the committee, emphasizing, "Although it’s a casual letter, my uncle and I used to critique articles together when I was young. It needs a bit of pizazz, you know, to let the old gentleman see how well I write now." After the committee agreed and went downstairs to plan, about three hours later, he wrote and submitted it. The letter was full of allusions Jia Zhitai didn't get, which really ticked him off. Later, when he saw the words "Wei Yang" in the letter, his eyes widened, and he praised the writer for his talent, saying, "This letter is for sending money to my uncle. I still remember the two lines from the Book of Songs: 'I send my uncle, saying to Wei Yang'—that’s perfect! Good, good, good! But the rest of it’s way too fancy for a letter to your uncle. For this letter, I really trouble you. I'm not happy with it. You don't need to bother anymore. I'll write it myself!" After the writer left, Jia Zhitai showed the two letters to others, saying, "I can't believe they can't even write a decent letter in Wuchang! It’s really difficult for an old man like me to worry about it!" Everyone thought he would immediately write the letter himself; after all, his old uncle was still waiting for the money.
Unexpectedly, the kid was a real clam, staying at the inn for two months and daring not to go see his cousin. Jia Zhitai had many things to do and was disturbed several times, completely forgetting about this matter. One day, he suddenly received a telegram from his aunt, saying that his old uncle had passed away and requesting that his son be sent back quickly. Jia Zhitai then remembered that he had not yet sent the five hundred taels of silver or written the letter, and now it was too late. So he had someone track down his nephew and chewed him out, "Why'd you disappear on me? And why didn't you come back after we met? I thought you had already gone back. Who am I supposed to give this to?" The kid stayed silent, and despite Jia Zhitai's complaints, he didn't say a word. In the end, Jia Zhitai gave him some money for the journey, and the next day he set off back to his hometown. To be continued!
