There was a strange story in Chennai City in the Tianzhu Province of the British Empire under Li Lu's rule: Zhao Dechang, the magistrate of the county, should have been promoted to secretary and supervisor of the school because of his remarkable achievements in governing the local area, but Li Lu suddenly issued an imperial decree, saying that Zhao Dechang must switch careers with his lame brother Zhao Dezhong, who made a living by begging.The position of secretary and supervisor was filled by Zhao Dezhong, and Zhao Dechang went to be a beggar.Zhao Dezhong and Zhao Dechang are a pair of brothers, why did Zhao Dechang become an official, while his brother Zhao Dezhong became a beggar?
Speaking of which, there's an interesting origin here!
It turned out that the Zhao brothers were originally the children of everyone, and both of them were very studious since they were children, and they both aimed to become officials.After the death of their parents, the brothers were not good at managing their finances at a young age, and soon the family road fell into ruin.The brothers had a sad meal, and all the valuable things in the house were pawned, and life was very difficult.It just so happened that the annual imperial civil service qualification examination was about to start, and the brothers both wanted to go to Beijing to fight, but they had no choice but to be cheeky and borrow it.Unexpectedly, those relatives and friends who were like the Zhao family in the past, seeing that the Zhao family is not what it used to be, they all looked down on people, and no one refused to lend money to these two impoverished descendants.The brothers ran around for a few days, and finally returned home dejected with two leaky slaps empty.Seeing that the exam date was approaching day by day, the two of them thought about it and finally came up with a way.Zhao Dezhong proposed: "Brother, in my brother's opinion, this time you will take the Broken Leaf Exam."
I'll be a beggar, and I'll follow you all the way, and I'll get money and food for you to use along the way.After you pass the big exam, how about you sponsor me to take the exam in Beijing in the future?
”When Zhao Dechang heard this, he felt that this method was good, but he put on an embarrassed look and said: "Brother, if you come up with such an idea, how can I rush to take the exam for myself and let you suffer such a big grievance?"
I should beg along the road for my brother to catch the exam!......"
"Look at what you said," Zhao Dezhong said with a smile, "We are brothers, what else do we share with each other?"
Don't fight with me, it's decided!
”Zhao Dechang saw that his brother was so decisive, and hurriedly said: "Brother, if I become an official on the gold list, I will definitely sponsor my brother to go to Beijing to compete." ”Early that morning, the brothers set off for Broken Leaves.Zhao Dechang was dressed in an ancient satin gown and shook a folding fan, looking like a scholar.And Zhao Dezhong is dressed in rags, holding a dog beating stick in one hand and a rice basket in the other, no matter how you look at it, it looks like a family from a family who wants food.The brothers were afraid of being laughed at by others, so one of them walked in front and the other in the back, and the distance between them was far away, pretending not to know each other.Every time he went to a lodging place, Zhao Dezhong paid his younger brother accommodation and food expenses in advance, and he did not live with his younger brother.The most unfortunate thing is that on a rainy day, the younger brother lives in the hotel and sleeps peacefully, but the elder brother huddles under the eaves of other people's houses and suffers from wind and rain.Being a beggar also requires the ability to prevent being bitten by dogs.Zhao Dezhong didn't have this ability, once he came to the door of a large family, stretched out his hand and didn't ask for anything, and was bitten on the leg by a vicious dog released by others.Because there was no money for treatment, the wound on that leg was infected, rotten and swollen, and by the time we arrived at the broken leaf, one leg was crippled.Zhao Dechang took the civil service examination, and he was really handy, ranked in the list, and got the opportunity to enter the imperial government system, he got a small official position for a long time, and because of his outstanding performance, he was appointed by Li Lu as the magistrate of his hometown Chennai.Zhao Dechang returned to his hometown Chennai, and those who had cut off contact with the Zhao family in the past came to get close to him one by one.There is a rich man named Xia Linsheng, his daughter Xia Cuiwen is a famous beauty in the city, many people have wanted to marry her, but Xia Rich has high eyes, and wants to climb a rich and powerful family to be a backer.Now, Xia Fuhao saw that Zhao Dechang had a career in high school, so he took the initiative to go to the yamen to be a matchmaker for his daughter, and wanted to marry his daughter to Zhao Dechang.Zhao Dechang naturally couldn't ask for it.So, the marriage was settled.As soon as she entered the Zhao Mansion, she seized all the financial power of the family and set up many terms for Zhao Dechang, one of which was: You must no longer associate with the crippled brother Zhao Dezhong who begged for food.Xia Cuiwen said: "Xianggong, your brother is now a cripple, and according to the rules, he will not be able to participate in the big competition of broken leaf civil servants in the future, and there is only one way for a useless person like him to go, that is, to continue to make a living by begging."
No matter how much money you fund him, he won't be able to do business, what's the use?
”Zhao Dechang had already learned the power of his wife at this time, how dare he talk more?
nodded again and again and agreed to stop funding his brother, and forgot all about his brother begging for his own reference, I have to say that this Zhao Dechang, who is afraid of guilt, is an out-and-out white-eyed wolf.One day in the middle of the night, Zhao Dechang found Zhao Dezhong, and cried to his brother with snot and tears: "Brother, now I can't be the master at home, and I ask my brother to forgive me!"
Don't blame your brother for this......"
He repeated Xia Cuiwen's words.When Zhao Dezhong heard this, his heart was cold, but after thinking about it, he had already reached this point, and it was difficult to do anything, so he said: "Brother, you can have today's appearance, I am very happy to be an elder brother, but our Zhao family also has a character."
Brother, I may be born a beggar, who can blame me?
There is only one request for my brother, I hope you will be a diligent and loving official, and don't insult the face of our ancestors of the Zhao family!
”Zhao Dechang couldn't imagine that his brother would be so knowledgeable, he was really indescribably grateful, he said: "Brother, please rest assured, I will definitely be a good official, and I will never disappoint you!"
”After speaking, Zhao Dezhong tearfully waved his younger brother Zhao Dechang away.Zhao Dechang really did what he said, and everyone who wanted to give gifts and bribes was turned away by him.Zhao Dezhong never went to his brother's door again, afraid that he would be difficult to behave in front of his wife and continue to be his beggar.However, many people know that Zhao Dezhong is the elder brother of the county, so some people who want to tie up with Zhao Dechang use charity as an excuse to stuff him with a lot of money.Zhao Dezhong received it correctly, and then gave it to those poor people.Although Zhao Dezhong broke off contact with his younger brother, he was always at ease in his heart, worried that if he married such a greedy and powerful woman, he would not be able to stand firm for a long time and become a corrupt official who was scolded by thousands of people.Therefore, wherever he went, he paid attention to inquiring about the opinions and hopes of the people about the new county officials, recorded them in detail in a booklet, and then asked the officials to transfer the booklet to Zhao Dechang.There are several twists and turns in Chennai, which were solved through Zhao Dezhong's walks and visits to the people.