Everyone stood in front of a restaurant called "Zhixian Meal Imitation" in the east of the county government, and saw that the appearance of the whole restaurant was decorated in an antique manner, and the people dining inside were bustling and very lively.

Seeing a group of five people standing in front of the door and hesitating, a young woman in her thirties in the restaurant came out with a smile on her face and said, "Bosses, please come in, after visiting our Licheng County Ya, come to us to experience what the life of a county official is like." We have a full range of traditional dishes here, which will surely make you feel comfortable and satisfied. ”

Unable to resist the young woman's warm greeting, everyone had to follow her into the restaurant. The young woman took the five people to a small private room inside, there was an antique Eight Immortals table in the private room, everyone sat down around the Eight Immortals table, the young woman made a pot of tea very quickly, and then poured a cup in front of each person, and said, the bosses drink tea first, this is the authentic Licheng Maojian, in ancient times, we here The county master drank such tea.

Yue Haohan took the menu, ordered the dishes, the young woman went out of the private room, arranged to stir-fry the vegetables, Yue Haohan took a cup and took a sip of tea, and said, today you have gained a lot of harvest from the county government, especially after reading the "Forbidden Stone Tablet of the Three Courtyards" in front of the gate just now, let me realize that the good experience in history is still worth learning from, and the lessons of history should be taken as a warning, and we should actively learn from the excellent culture of clean government in history, and constantly improve the ability to resist corruption, prevent degeneration and resist risks.

Zhang Haiming said with a smile, I think the entire county government embodies the official culture of ancient times. What is official morality? In fact, official morality is the professional ethics of those in power, a comprehensive reflection of the morality of politicians, the soul of officials, the foundation of politics, and the way of using power. In ancient China, "inner sage and outer king" is the basic feature of Confucianism, which refers to self-cultivation to become a saint and sage, and to realize the ideal of governing the country and leveling the world. It emphasizes that virtue is the premise of governing the country, that is to say, only with virtue as the guide, can there be the right direction.

Ye Yunqing took over and said, Professor Zhang summed it up very thoroughly, according to Professor Zhang's statement, I think that these ways of being officials are actually worthy of our reference in many aspects, for modern society, only by forming a moral demonstration group based on the leading cadres can the moral outlook of the whole society be truly improved.

Fu Rongsheng said, I agree with Yunqing's point of view, our Chinese society has always had an upward and downward atmosphere, and a herd mentality; If officials are able to exercise self-discipline and cultivate morality, then the social atmosphere will naturally be affected for the better. If most of the officials are greedy and corrupt and do not cultivate virtue, and if this goes on for a long time, then good social customs will gradually disappear.

At this time, Cheng Ziying, who was sitting there quietly drinking tea, put down the teacup in her hand and asked Professor Zhang Haiming curiously, "Teacher Zhang, I have been thinking about the animal on the wall outside the yamen that is a bit like a unicorn, not like a lion and a tiger or a leopard wolf, with a bloody mouth, a god like a greedy and treacherous, is there really such a thing on the earth?" Perhaps they became extinct like the dinosaurs? ”

Zhang Haiming smiled, joking with Cheng Ziying, and quipped: "Yes! They are not extinct on the planet. It is called "Xiao Greed", this is a strange word, it is a word created by the ancestors of Confucius to educate future generations, and this word is generally not found in the dictionary. And the "greed" painted on the wall is the corrupt officials and corrupt officials who are consumed by the desire for profit, black-hearted and black-hearted, and dark, do you want to talk about this thing now? They will never go extinct!"

Cheng Ziying stared at Professor Zhang Haiming with a pair of beautiful eyes, and asked, "Teacher Zhang, is this celestial artifact created by the descendants of Confucius, this word "greedy"?" ”

Zhang Haiming replied: "Yes, in fact, it means 'greed'. It is said that since the beginning of Confucius, the Confucian Mansion has a rule: those who are officials and corrupt the law in later generations, and those who insult the ancestors of Confucius, are not allowed to be buried in Confucius after death. Qufu Confucius Forest, the ancient cypress towers to the sky inside, the streams and rivers flow, solemn and solemn, the area is vast, from Confucius, the descendants of the prominent people of the Confucian family are buried here. It can be seen that the ancestral teachings of Confucius are anti-corruption and anti-corruption. ”

Fu Rongsheng sighed and said: "All dynasties and dynasties have fought corruption, but the corrupt officials in this world just can't be killed, what is the reason?" ”

Ye Yunqing smiled and said, "What is the reason? Human nature is greedy, and the word 'profit' is making trouble! The hustle and bustle of the world is for profit, and the hustle and bustle of the world is for profit. However, many troubles in life are mostly caused by the word "greed"; Many disasters in the world are also caused by the word "greed". To the right of the word "profit" is a knife, and if you are greedy and pursue money and self-interest, you will hit the knife. ”

Zhang Haiming continued: "As the saying goes, only by consolidating the foundation can we get rid of evil spirits. The so-called consolidation of the foundation is to eliminate greed and gluttony, and enhance the "immunity" of anti-corruption and anti-corruption in one's own thinking. Most of the Qing officials in history rejected temptation and set an example for the world to overcome temptation with their noble character. But where does the noble character of man come from? "I Ching" cloud, not a prince, noble business. It means that if you don't do things for the prince, your behavior can be very noble. Only by being pure and doing nothing and being alone can we achieve true sentiments. Therefore, it is difficult to be a person of noble character, and it is even more difficult to be an official of noble character! It is precisely because of the difficulty that Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, ordered to paint the thing "greed" on the wall in front of all the official yamen to warn the officials. ”

While chatting, the young woman in the restaurant began to serve the food, first a large bowl of blue and white porcelain "sauerkraut carp", then a plate of "stir-fried bacon with wild bamboo shoots", then a large plate of "chestnut stewed chicken", and finally two plates of seasonal vegetarian dishes.

Cheng Ziying looked at the dishes on the table of the Eight Immortals, and asked the young woman mischievously: "Boss, the life of the county magistrate is luxurious enough, right?" ”

The young woman smiled and replied, "Girl, this is the county magistrate entertaining guests, in fact, in ancient times, the ordinary life of the county lord could not keep up with the lives of ordinary people now. ”

Yue Haohan asked for two bottles of beer, and after opening them, he said, "Let's have two beers." ”

Ye Yunqing said: "A few of you drink, I have to drive in the afternoon, and the road is not very good, so I won't drink it, I will put this sauerkraut fish soup in a bowl to accompany you." ”

The beer was served, everyone drank a glass, Zhang Haiming put down the cup, and said: "The proprietress just now was right, in the Qing Dynasty, if a county magistrate was not greedy or very honest, his life really couldn't keep up with the current ordinary people." ”

Cheng Ziying asked, "Why?" Don't they have a fortune? Three years of Qing Governor's Mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver. ”

After Zhang Haiming took a bite of food, he put down his chopsticks and said: "A county official in the Qing Dynasty was 45 taels of silver per year according to the regulations, plus 20 taels of rice. The 45 taels of silver are the annual salary, in today's terms, that is, the income written on the pay slip. If the rice is converted into silver, the annual salary is only about 60 taels of silver, which is about 12,000 yuan when converted into the current yuan. In addition to supporting his family, the magistrate also has to take out some of the money to hire a master. Tell me, if you are a truly honest county, how much better can life be? ”

Cheng Ziying asked again: "Teacher Zhang, how did you talk about the Qing Governor's Mansion and 100,000 snowflakes in those three years?" ”

Zhang Haiming said: "When the Qing government was in charge of Kangxi, the officials had "fire consumption" silver, and in the Yongzheng period, the fire consumption returned to the public, cutting off the officials' money, and the officials had great opinions, and the system of raising incorruptible silver was introduced in the Qianlong period. The incorruptible silver of the Qipin County Order can probably have 400 to 2,000 taels. It is seven to thirty times the appearance of the official Yulu. With these, coupled with the corruption of officials in the later period of the Qing government, there is a saying that 'three years of Qing prefect, 100,000 snowflakes of silver'. ”

After drinking two bottles of beer, the proprietress came in with five bowls of staple food on a tray, and put a bowl in front of everyone, Cheng Ziying looked at the bowl, it was a yellow-orange-orange corn paste mixed with noodles, sauerkraut, chili, green onions, ginger, garlic, it seems that everyone has never eaten such a thing.

Cheng Ziying called out to the young woman who was about to leave the private room and asked, "Boss, what is your staple food?" I've never seen it, let alone eaten it. ”

The young woman smiled and replied, "This is unique to our area, it is called 'carp jumping sand', and every household here will make it, and it is very delicious, girl, you can taste it quickly, and make sure you still want to eat this bowl." ”

Cheng Ziying tasted two bites, and felt that the entrance was round and full, the taste was smooth, and the taste was particularly fragrant. The young woman, still smiling and not leaving, looked at Cheng Ziying and asked, "Girl, how is it?" I kid you not. ”

Cheng Ziying nodded and said, "It tastes good, it's delicious." How? ”

The young woman said, "It's very simple, after the corn grits are cooked in water, put in the noodles and sauerkraut, and stir while boiling over a simmer to prevent them from sticking to the pan." Wait until it is cooked into a slimy paste. In a bowl, add the mashed red pepper, green onion, ginger, garlic, and add some sesame oil. This carp jumps into the sand, in fact, we have a local name here, that is, 'paste noodle soup' is our home-cooked meal here. ”

After the meal, everyone sat down in the restaurant for a while, and then checked out and left, walking towards the place where the car was parked. When I passed by a French plane tree on the side of the road opposite the restaurant, I saw a table under the shade of the tree, on which a white cloth was spread, and a gossip map was drawn on it, and on both sides of the gossip map were written word measurement, asking about the future, and pushing the eight characters, and on the right side of the table was a sign holder for fortune telling, and behind the table sat an old man in his sixties, a little thin, dressed like a private school gentleman.

The old man who told the fortune told saw the group laughing and passing by his own hexagram stall, so he said in a slow voice: "You are all rare rich and noble people, why don't you measure a word here, a hexagram on a divination, row eight characters, and ask about the future?" One yin and one yang is the way, and Lotte knows his fate and doesn't worry! ”

Hearing the old man say this, Yue Haohan stopped, tilted his head, looked at Zhang Haiming with an inquiring gaze, and asked, "Teacher Zhang, how about we test a word?" See what this old gentleman is capable of? ”

Zhang Haiming smiled and replied, "Okay, just test the word and see." ”

Yue Haohan took a piece of white paper and a ballpoint pen on the table, and wrote a big word "De" on the paper without hesitation, and then handed it to the old man and said, "Old man, you can measure this word 'De' and see what can be measured from this word, how about it?" ”

The old man took the white paper, stared at the word "De" on it for a while, raised his head and looked at Yue Haohan carefully, and then said: "Gentleman Lide, nobleman, the old man is not mistaken!"

Yue Haohan looked at the old man and asked, "Old man, how do you explain?" ”

The old man said: "The gentleman is virtuous, and the villain is profitable." The gentleman stood and wrote the word 'de' without thinking, which inferred that the gentleman should be a gentleman, not a villain. Although you are young, you are a very cultivated and virtuous person. ”

Yue Haohan said: "Old man, don't bring me a high hat, what else?" What else can be seen from this word? ”

After a while, he dropped the pen in his hand, looked up at Yue Haohan, and said slowly: "De is composed of 彳, ten, eye, one, and heart. 彳, small step also, indicates that it is related to walking. The original meaning is, to climb, to climb. By extension, as long as Mr. keeps in mind the German character in his career in the future, he will climb to a high position step by step. ”

Yue Haohan didn't interject, he stood quietly in front of the table, looked at the old man, and listened to his further dismantling, the old man paused, and then said, "Ten, it represents the correct goal and direction. Ten times is a pair of eyes, indicating the meaning of aiming and direct shooting. One, the Tao stands in one, and then divides the heavens and the earth, and turns into all things. The heart, below which is the heart, means to follow the nature, the meaning of the heart. To sum up, the meaning of virtue is to look directly at the direction of the road, identify the goal, follow the nature and heart, and follow nature, which is virtue; At the beginning of the heart, the nature is good, and the self is not, you can become virtuous. If you give up what you want, you can be called virtuous. ”

The old man explained it half-literally, Cheng Ziying tilted her head and looked at Yue Haohan, and then asked the old man: "Old man, why didn't I understand what you said?" You explain it carefully. ”

The old man said: "Just now I dismantled the meaning of the word 'de', the original meaning of the word 'de' is to advocate people to conform to the objective laws of nature, society, and human beings to do things. Do not violate the laws of nature to develop society and improve yourself. The Tao is carrying everything, and virtue is revealing everything in the Tao. The road is simple, wordless and formless, invisible, inaudible, inaudible, intangible, only through our thinking consciousness to know and perceive it; Virtue, on the other hand, is the concrete example of the Tao, the embodiment of the Tao, the human mind that we can see, and the actions we carry out through perception. Therefore, if there is no virtue, we cannot understand the concept of the Tao vividly. This is the relationship between virtue and Tao. The combination of the two is morality. ”

Yue Haohan asked, "Old man, how can a person be regarded as a virtuous person?" ”

The old man said, "Good question! Xunzi said, if you don't know, you ask, if you can't, you can learn, although you can, you must let it, and then for virtue. That is to say, a person must be able to ask, learn, and let in order to be considered virtuous. In the "Book of Changes", it is said that a gentleman should enter the moral profession. A person who is loyal and trustworthy can enhance his morality, and if he checks his words and establishes his sincerity, he can create his foundation. Knowing what to do and working hard to do it is called foresight; Knowing that you should abdicate and give up your position can preserve your great achievements, which is called self-knowledge. Only in this way can we face many dangers without disasters, and such people can be called virtuous people. ”

Yue Haohan listened to the old man's words, pondered and savored, took out ten yuan from his body and handed it to the old man, and said, "Old man, admire!" It's a word you measured very well, and it's very inspiring. Don't be too little for these ten yuan. Then, the group left the hexagram stall and walked towards the place where the car was parked......