■ Mo Qinghua
There was a prime minister in the state of Zheng who liked fish very much, so someone gave him fish. He won't even accept it. Someone asked him, "You love fish so much, why don't you accept it?" He replied, "I don't accept fish because I like it." If you accept other people's fish, you lose your salary and have no fish to eat. If I don't accept gifts and keep my salary, I will have fish to eat all my life. "For this story, see Liu Xiang's" New Order and Land Saving "in the Western Han Dynasty.
Zheng Xiang is not subject to fish, only for its own long-term interests. His "forbearance" is "eating fish for life". The words are true, there is no affectation, and there is no half sentence "I want to be honest and clean." However, he is much smarter than those corrupt officials who take bribes and bend the law.
Similar to this matter is the story of Tao Mu. Shi Shuo Xin Yu Yuan Xian XIX: Tao Kan was a fish official when he was young. This is the little official in charge of the fish beam. He once gave his mother a can of dried fish. The mother was unhappy that her son was so filial, but she refused. She sealed the dried fish and returned it to the sender, and wrote back to blame Tao Kan: "When you became an official, giving me the things from the official did me no good, but increased my worries!"
What is Tao Mu worried about? In her opinion, although it is only a can of dried fish, it is also the government's. Is it not corruption that you honor your mother with things from the government? Will corruption have any good consequences? Tao Mu not only refused to accept fish, but wrote to educate his son and built an anti-corrosion wall for him. What a sober official family! This Tao Kan was the secretariat of Guangzhou in the Western Jin Dynasty, the general of the Western Expedition in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the secretariat of Jingzhou and Jiangzhou, and served as the military commander in Bazhou. He is diligent and honest, and is praised by later generations. This is related to Tao Mu's urging him to build an anti-corrosion wall when he was a junior official in Tao Kan.
We can infer that Zheng Xiang is thinking about its long-term interests and its own future. You vote for me and know that I like to eat fish and send fish. You have satisfied my selfish desires, and you must make me use my power to satisfy your selfish desires. Isn't that dangerous? Tao Mu's worry is also for the long-term benefit, for his son's future.
Deep down, Zheng Xiang refused to accept fish, and Tao Mu refused to accept fish, not out of lofty ideological realm, but out of awe and awe of the law. Afraid of being finally punished by feudal laws. Once people have power in their hands, they will inevitably have opportunities for corruption; People, from the human nature itself, have a tendency to corruption. The question is whether you can be self-disciplined. Self-discipline has moral factors and comes from awe. This is true for officials and people. You must be in awe.