Zhang Zhidong has been an official for more than 40 years, and does not add a room and an acre of land to the death room.

Zhang Zhidong was undoubtedly an outstanding official in the Qing Dynasty. This is not only because he advocated new learning and began to westernize; More because of his outstanding achievements, he is an honest official. His integrity includes "material integrity" on the material level and "credibility integrity" on the honor level.

If he becomes the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, according to the usual practice, he can get 200 thousand silver dollars from Taiping Customs. Although it was not a bribe, he refused to enrich himself and resolutely confiscated all his money. In the twenty-eighth year of Guangxu, he became the Minister of Commerce in charge of supervision, and later served as the Governor of Liangjiang. A Taoist priest gave a wealthy businessman 202,000 silver dollars as a birthday present, and took this opportunity to ask for mining in Haizhou. He was so angry that he flatly refused the birthday gifts and demands of the wealthy businessman, impeached and fired the Taoist priest.

Zhang Zhidong's integrity is consistent. Until his deathbed, he left this will to future generations: ". He has been an official for more than forty years, working hard and not pursuing personal interests. Until I add a room and an acre of land to my death room, I can't be innocent of my ancestors. I hope you don't forget the elegance of the nation, don't fall into the family style, and you will know the difference between a gentleman and a villain. Don't fight for property, don't go to dirty places. It is said that after his death, his family was "heavily in debt, and more than 80 people had almost no livelihood". It's his funeral expenses, which his family can't get. Most of them are funded by relatives, friends and students. No wonder the draft of Qing history commented on him like this: "If you send it to Xinjiang for decades, you won't add an acre of cloud at home. "

Zhang Zhidong is not only greedy, but also not greedy for fame. For those who celebrate their "image project", no matter what their motives are, he will resolutely stop it after hearing it.

1in the summer of 907, Zhang Zhidong went to Beijing and left Wuhan after serving as governor of Huguang 19 years. At this time, his students and subordinates built a memorial hall for him in Wuhan to commemorate his achievements. Soldiers raised funds to build an ice house on Binyangmen Snake Mountain in Wuchang, and scholars raised funds to build Fengdu Building on Huangfu Mountain. After hearing the news in Beijing, Zhang Zhidong immediately sent a telegram to stop it:

Yesterday, I read a newspaper in Hankou, and I was surprised to see that teachers, students and troops from various schools would help our soldiers build houses to install stone statues and bronze statues in this cabinet hall. Our Cabinet Department has ruled Hubei for a long time, without the merits of the people. Because rare unity and rare opportunities are often too ambitious to do this, but only two-thirds of people can do it. Guilt can't be explained. All schools and camps have added regrets. Try the portrait of Lu' an commune, which is also owned by the ancients; But this is either out of the sympathy of the villagers or the admiration of the officials after leaving office. Dismissed by the cabinet, he went to Hubei, with mixed comments, and listened to what scholars did. If you do this at this time, you should treat the other party as a vulgar official, not a gentleman, absolutely not! CCBA, CCBA and CCBA immediately notified and followed up and stopped all activities. It is a good thing to beautify the scenic spots and overlook the mountains and rivers. Why is it only designed for Confucian diseases?

But some people don't understand Zhang Zhidong's original intention and still build memorial halls. Hearing this, Zhang Zhidong called Chen, the new governor of Huguang, and said, "The new building on the mountain should be named" Aoluolou "according to the meaning of" Aoluocheng, Suinanhai ". This building is related to the situation in the whole province. One person is not allowed to use it exclusively. This is a desirable change plaque, and I will use it as a book. " Although the building commemorating him has been completed, Zhang Zhidong still insists on "one can't specialize", and insists on renaming his building "Fengdu House" as "Aoluo House" and setting up a plaque for him.

Seeing that Zhang Zhidong was unwilling to build a memorial hall for himself, someone came up with other ideas.

There is a subordinate named Liang Jiean who is opportunistic and flatters the boss. He contacted some people and planned to build an ancestral temple for Zhang Zhidong in the old site of the Guandi Temple in Zhuodaoquan, Hongshan, Wuchang, and telegraphed the news to Zhang Zhidong. Traditionally, building a shrine is to build a temple for the living and offer sacrifices. This is an excellent opportunity for officials to show their reputation. Some people think this is a great honor, but Zhang Zhidong scoffs at it. He sent a telegram to Liang Jiean and others: "Zhuo Daoquan is the foundation of the ancestral hall in Zhongxian County, Wei Ming. Loyalty and filial piety were defeated, ancestral halls were demolished and Guandi Temple was rebuilt. Today, I was built on a shrine, treating me as Wei Zhongxian. Hubei teachers have been educated for more than ten years, why not learn? Sell this trick early, don't let the world laugh. " Zhang Zhidong despises such a powerful traitor as Wei Zhongxian, and is even more unwilling to follow in his footsteps and set up a temple on his own temple site to promote himself.

Of course, as a senior official in feudal society, Zhang Zhidong also attached great importance to honor, and he didn't want to be famous. But he knows that fame can't be achieved by "image project". If there is no virtue, just like Wei Zhongxian, even if a shrine is built, it will attract tens of thousands of people to denounce it and will eventually be demolished. On the contrary, if you are respected and have made contributions to the country and people, even if you don't go to Gai Lou, you can build a monument in everyone's heart. Based on this correct judgment and sober understanding, Zhang Zhidong decisively rejected all kinds of compliments and all kinds of "bribes" and always repaid kindness with kindness. As a result, he is more famous, more famous and more popular!