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19 How t o be Corrupt an d Stay Respectabl e When Intendant Guo received the copy of the charges from Lada, he saw that the list of names was very long. Starting with the Governor, the list went all the way down to petty officials, loca l squires, clerks and even domestic servants. There wer e ove r twent y charge s implicatin g tw o hundred person s o r more . H e made an appointment t o meet Lada on the following day and left . He called on the Governor at once and showed him the list. Without reading it throug h bu t simpl y concentratin g o n wha t concerne d himself , h e tosse d th e sheets of paper on the table and said, 'What i s their real intention?' Intendant Guo told him that they demanded two million. 'I am willing to fight th e case in the Capital,' the Governor protested. 'He' s asking for such an enormous amount — does he want to eat everything our province possesses? Is he no t t o leave a little for others ? Since it' s money he wants , I too have my own way. Just put this matter aside for the time being and ignore him. As to th e expenditur e fo r peopl e dow n below , i t i s within reaso n t o spen d te n o r twenty thousan d tael s o f silver . Yo u jus t g o an d dra w th e mone y a t th e Rehabilitation Bureau tomorrow.' Intendant Guo could see that he was getting nowhere with the Governor. He was however secretly pleased on one account: 'The Governor has acknowledge d my debit note for twenty thousand. So my involvement no longer poses a problem. I shall set my sail according to the wind, and then decide what to do.' Seeing that nothing happened for three days, Lada had to come himself an d seek clarification from Intendant Guo. On being told what the Governor's reaction was, Lada felt as if he had been struck with a soundless thunderbolt. He waited for 160 Officialdom Unmasked half a day and returned dejectedly. When he reached the temporary residence, he found the senior Plenipotentiary waiting eagerly for news! Lada had no alternative but to tell him the truth. When he heard this, he flew into a rage and swore that he did not want a single coin. Immediately, he sent the Governor an official note , enquiring wha t progres s h e wa s makin g wit h th e culprit s an d threatenin g t o commence the trial forthwith . When this message became widely known, the officials of the whole province were greatly alarmed. The senior staff gathered in front of Governor Liu to devise a way out of their predicament. The Governor reasoned, 'There are only twenty-odd charges. Since they have opened the bid and asked for money, this thing is easy to handle even if there wer e t o b e mor e charges . Now, al l th e incident s whic h for m th e subjec t matter of the investigation involve me as head of the province. As senior officials, you are also implicated to a large extent. But we need not panic because of these charges. Money will be the remedy and money speaks on our behalf. But it will be easier for u s to entertain th e clai m i f the amoun t i s smaller. Now tha t h e start s with two million, we cannot guarantee that they will not ask for more if they fail to settle everythin g for us , or if a Censor bring s further charges , or perhaps tw o more Plenipotentiaries ar e sent. Are we to promise them twent y million i f they should make the demand? The plan for now is to shelve the whole thing. If there is anything to say, I shall speak with them in the Capital!' Readers all! You have to realize that i t was the intention of Governor Liu to ignore the Plenipotentiary so that he would withdraw of his own accord, with th e result tha t a smaller su m would be paid. However , th e Plenipotentiar y wa s no t prepared to play his game by another rule; he simply held fast...

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