Zeng Guofan is a standard traditional bureaucrat. How did he receive the gift?

Zeng Guofan is a standard traditional bureaucrat. He was born in the imperial examination system, from imperial academy to assistant minister of does, and then he was promoted to a college student and governor of Liangjiang. Contacting Beijing officials is a necessary habit for local officials. Zeng Guofan has been a Beijing official for many years, and there are not a few people who come to curry favor with him.

No subordinate who comes to visit will go home empty-handed. Being in the officialdom, it is impossible to stick to the ceremony from beginning to end, and it is not conducive to establishing basic emotional ties with his subordinates. Therefore, when he really can't refuse, he will choose one or two gifts with the lightest value from his subordinates and accept them. Zeng Guofan also received a gift from a Chinese American. Entrusted by Zeng Guofan, China people bought machines from the United States and brought them back to China.

Because Zeng Guofan gave him this wonderful job, according to China officialdom practice, the China people will definitely give him a gift. Zeng Guofan was not in Beijing at that time, so he specially wrote to his son and told him that if the price of something sent by the other party was less than 20 gold, he could take it. If it is expensive, don't accept it. It can be seen that Zeng Guofan has a default "price line" for accepting gifts. However, Zeng Guofan's own life is simple and strict with his family. There are only two maids in the family, and his life is very poor.

But in terms of gifts, I am not stingy. Every winter, he sends charcoal worship to officials in Beijing, mainly to Beijing officials from Hunan, who are from his hometown. This money is at least several thousand two hundred every year. Besides worshipping charcoal, another big expense is rice. It's a gift from him after he got promoted and made a fortune. In addition, a friend passed by Beijing on business. In addition to inviting people to dinner, I gave him one hundred and twenty pieces of silver for the trip.