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Story 72: A Penny and a Black Gauze Hat
A Penny and a Black Gauze Hat
Author: Anonymous
During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, in the shop of Lianji Bookstore on Yanshou Temple Street in Beijing, a scholar-looking young man was standing by the bookshelf not far from the account counter, reading. At this time, a young man in front of the counter bought a copy of “Lu’s Spring and Autumn” and was paying for it. A copper coin fell to the ground and rolled to the young man’s feet.
The young man glanced around with squinting eyes, then moved his right foot and stepped on the copper coin under his feet. After a while, the young man paid the money and left the shop. The young man bent down and picked up the copper coin under his feet.
It happened that the scene of this young man stepping on the money and withdrawing it was seen by an old man sitting on a stool in the store. Seeing this scene, he stared at the young man for a long time, then stood up, walked to the young man, chatted with him, and found out that his name was Fan Xiaojie and also learned about his family situation.
It turns out that Fan Xiaojie’s father was a teaching assistant at the Imperial College. He followed his father to Beijing and studied at the Imperial College for many years. Today I happened to walk by Yanshou Temple Street and saw that the book prices at Lianji Bookstore were lower than other bookstores, so I came in to take a look. The old man smiled coldly and left.
Later, Fan Xiaojie entered the Transcription Hall as a supervisor. Soon after he passed the examination at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he was selected to be assigned to Changshu County, Jiangsu Province as a county lieutenant. Fan Xiaojie was so happy that he traveled south by land and water to take office.
On the second day after arriving in Nanjing, he first went to Jiangning Mansion, the superior government office in Changshu County, to report and request an audience with his superiors.
At that time, Tang Bin, the governor of Jiangsu Province, was at the Jiangning government office. He accepted Fan Xiaojie’s name card but did not receive him. Fan Xiaojie had no choice but to go back to the post house to stay. I went there for a day and still couldn’t get an audience. This lasted for 10 days.
On the 11th day, Fan Xiaojie patiently went to see the majestic government security officer again and conveyed to him the governor’s order: “Fan Xiaojie does not need to go to Changshu County to take office. Your name has been included in the impeachment memorial and you will be dismissed from office.”
“Your Majesty, impeach me, what crime have I committed?” Fan Xiaojie asked impatiently, confused.
“Greedy for money,” the guard replied calmly.
“Ah” Fan Xiaojie was shocked and thought to himself: How come I have evidence of corruption before I take office? The governor must have made a mistake. I hurriedly requested to clarify the facts to the governor in person.
The guard officer went in to report and then came out to convey the governor’s words: “Fan Xiaojie, don’t you remember what happened in the bookstore on Yanshou Temple Street? When you were a scholar, you loved a copper coin as much as your life.
Now you are lucky enough to become a local official. Can you not?” Have you racked your brains for corruption and become a robber wearing a black gauze hat? Please take off your official seal and leave here immediately, so as not to make the people suffer.”
Fan Xiaojie then remembered that the old man he met in Lianji’s bookstore turned out to be the governor Tang Bin who was on a private inspection tour.
