Governor Cai Dispenses Rewards And Punishments As Circumstances Demand; Wang Xiao'er Changes His Face With The Turn Of Fortune

The poem says:

The golden autumn wind sighs; the traveler’s clothes are thin.
Autumn insects chirp, and the night grows cold.
A solitary lamp flickers, its flame nearly spent.
Through the long, clear night, how deeply the heart is pierced!
Far from home, the wanderer grieves without comfort.
His white-haired mother waits in vain beside the railing.
His purse holds not a coin; he is ashamed to look within.
What friend will lend him wings to fly?
Looking east across mountains and passes, he sheds tears like rain.
The brave man sings his sorrow: hard is the road ahead.

As the saying goes, “Poverty at home is no poverty; poverty on the road can drive a man to despair.” Shubao had momentarily forgotten himself when he agreed to Xiao’er’s request. When he went to fetch the silver, however, he remembered that Fan Jianwei had taken it away. How could a man admit to having nothing?

In his anxiety, he searched about and was relieved to find a packet of silver tucked into a corner of his trunk. Where had this silver come from? Shubao’s mother had given it to him before his departure to purchase Luzhou silk for her burial garments. That was why it had not been entrusted to his friend. Shubao had no choice but to take it out and hand it to Wang Xiao’er, saying:

“Here are four taels of silver. Don’t settle the account yet. Just write me a receipt.”

Wang Xiao’er said:

“Your Honor isn’t leaving, so why settle the account? A receipt will do.”

Having received the four taels, Wang Xiao’er beamed with pleasure. He took the silver into his room and told his wife, then continued attending to Shubao as before. But how could Qin Shubao feel at ease? His purse was empty, and he had not yet received his official acknowledgment. If the authorities delayed another few days, he would not merely lack the traveling expenses to return home; Wang Xiao’er would also demand more silver. What could he give him then? Though he said nothing, his heart was consumed with worry. He had no inclination to go sightseeing. After eating his fill, he spent his days leaning against the heated platform, sometimes sleeping, sometimes staring blankly.

As the saying goes:

Happy events bring fresh vigor to the spirit;
When troubles weigh upon the heart, sleep comes often.

Another two or three days passed before Governor Cai arrived. The officials of the prefecture cleared the road, and drums sounded in the main hall. The men responsible for duties in the four streets and throughout the prefecture went outside the city to welcome him. Shubao, being a man employed in government service, accompanied the others. At the Ten-Li Pavilion, the officials paid their respects, followed by the various attendants. Weary from his journey, Governor Cai entered the city in a padded sedan chair. Shubao followed him through the gate. Necessity leaves little room for ceremony. He knelt in the middle of the street and reported:

“This humble servant is an escort from Jinan Prefecture in Shandong. I have been waiting to receive Your Excellency’s official acknowledgment.”

The governor had traveled a long distance overland. Half reclining and half asleep in his sedan chair, how could he be expected to answer a man seeking an acknowledgment? The bearers and runners, borrowing authority from their master, shouted:

“Get up at once! Do you think His Excellency has no yamen where you can receive your acknowledgment? Why demand it here?”

Shubao could only rise, and the bearers quickened their pace.

Shubao thought to himself, ‘Every day I remain here, horse fodder and provisions cost me two portions of silver. The governor has returned exhausted from his journey. If he does not hold court for several days, what will become of me?’

He hurried forward, intending to slow the sedan chair so that he could kneel and petition the governor again. Unaware of his own strength, he caught hold of the carrying pole with his left hand and gave it a pull. The sedan chair tilted sideways. Its four bearers and four attendants stumbled and could not steady it. Fortunately, the governor was lying down inside. Had he been sitting upright, he would have tumbled out.

The governor immediately grew angry.

“What sort of manners are these? Do you imagine I have no yamen?”

He ordered the runners to drag Shubao away and beat him.

Shubao was clearly in the wrong and had no defense. Before the prefectural offices, in full view of the street, his trousers were lowered and he was severely punished with ten blows of the board. Had he belonged to the local yamen, the runners would naturally have shown him consideration. But Shubao was an outsider, with no one to look after him. They beat him until his skin split and his flesh tore, and fresh blood flowed. Thus it is said:

Even King Wen endured imprisonment in a foreign land;
Even Sun Bin could not escape the mutilation of his feet.

Wang Xiao’er was among the first to see what had happened. He said to his wife:

“That fellow surnamed Qin is a man of no account. He has stayed at our inn for more than a month and is still wearing the same clothes. Though he works in a government office, he knows nothing of proper manners. Today he offended an official and was taken before the prefectural gate to receive ten blows.”

After the governor entered his offices, Shubao returned to the inn. Wang Xiao’er came out to meet him and exclaimed, “Your Honor!” But his manner was no longer as pleasant as before. There was a hint of mockery in his voice.

“Master Qin, you don’t seem much like a hero of the government service. Don’t you even know when an official is pleased or angry? Fortunately, our Governor Cai is lenient. Another official might not have let you off so easily!”

Shubao could not endure this and shouted:

“What business is it of yours?”

Xiao’er replied:

“The blows fell on Your Honor, not on me. What business could it be of mine? I was only offering you good advice. I’ll bring you your meal.”

Shubao, his stomach full of anger, said:

“I don’t want food. Bring me hot water!”

Xiao’er said:

“There’s hot water here.”

Qin Shubao washed his wounds with the hot water and lay down to sleep, longing for dawn through the seemingly endless night.

The following day, despite his pain, he went to the prefectural offices to collect his document. As the saying goes, beneath another man’s low eaves, who dares not bow his head? Governor Cai was indeed a capable and virtuous official. Having been away from his post for so long, he rose early to hold court. Official documents had accumulated in great numbers, but he dispensed rewards and punishments with perfect fairness, winning everyone’s gratitude.

Qin Shubao waited until the official business was nearly finished before kneeling to report:

“This humble servant was sent by Master Liu of Qizhou. I have been waiting to receive Your Excellency’s acknowledgment.”

Why did Shubao now describe himself as Master Liu’s messenger from Qizhou? Because his legs had hurt so badly that he had not slept all night. During those sleepless hours, he had remembered that Master Liu of his home prefecture and Governor Cai were old friends who had passed the same civil examinations. By claiming to be Master Liu’s messenger, he hoped Governor Cai would extend his affection for his friend to the friend’s subordinate.

His judgment proved correct. Governor Cai’s displeasure immediately turned to pleasure.

“So you are that Master Liu’s messenger?”

Qin Shubao replied:

“This humble servant is indeed Master Liu’s messenger.”

The governor said:

“You were exceedingly reckless yesterday. That is why I ordered you given ten blows before the prefectural offices, as a warning for the future.”

Qin Qiong said:

“Your Excellency was not wrong to punish me.”

The clerk in charge brought forward the acknowledgment. Governor Cai took up his brush and signed it, but did not immediately hand it over.

He thought, ‘My old examination colleague Liu knows nothing of this man’s pulling at my sedan chair. He will only think that I have shown little regard for our friendship, sending his messenger a thousand li only to have him beaten.’

He ordered the treasury clerk to disburse three taels of silver from the prefecture’s public funds. There was no need even to wrap it. The silver was to be awarded to Master Liu’s messenger, Qin Qiong, for traveling expenses.

Shortly afterward, the treasury clerk brought the silver. The governor passed the acknowledgment to the clerk on duty and instructed him to call Master Liu’s messenger forward to receive it, together with His Excellency’s gift of three taels for his journey.

Qin Qiong kowtowed in thanks, received the acknowledgment and reward silver, and left the prefectural offices to return to the inn.