Tao Shu was brilliant since he was a child. At the age of 65,438+00, the oil mill in the countryside opened, and he planned to ask someone to write a red couplet to celebrate. Even several scholars were invited to make couplets, and the host was not satisfied. Tao Shu volunteered and wanted to think a little:
Squeeze like thunder and disturb the stars all over the sky;
Shine like the moon, illuminating Wan Li Gankun.
This couplet is magnificent and perfectly matched, which makes the villagers sit up and take notice.
During his tenure as an official, Tao Shu made great contributions in eliminating evil, disaster relief, building water conservancy, rectifying finance, managing water transport, advocating shipping, innovating salt policy, rectifying public order, setting up education and cultivating talents. He also wrote poems, made great achievements, and was good at calligraphy and painting, leaving many excellent works for future generations, such as "Poem Copy of the Stone House in Guanding", "Collection of Mr. Jingjie" and "Complete Works of Tao". Where he was an official, there were many stories among the people. As a traditional repertoire of Huai Opera, Tao Shu's Private Visit to Nanjing never tires of watching it.
Lin Zexu, the governor of the two rivers in the Qing Dynasty, once jointly praised Tao Gong and made this evaluation of Tao Shu:
Generosity attracts jianghuai, humiliation forgets worries, and beauty is ultimately determined by public opinion;
The former heavy mountain battle, the pace is getting worse and worse, and the chapter is ashamed of the generations.
Tao Shu, Zi Zilin, was a scholar in the seventh year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty (1802). Because of his incorruptibility and shrewdness, he was transferred to Shanxi, Sichuan, Fujian, Anhui and other provinces, and later he was the governor of Liangjiang, with less protection for the prince.
In September of the twentieth year of Jiaqing, Tao Shu issued a letter to inspect Jiangnan Water Affairs. At that time, most officials in charge of water affairs were corrupt and extorted, which was a major drawback of the Qing Dynasty.
After leaving Beijing, Tao Shu made unannounced visits along the way. A month later, he arrived in Qingjiangpu, Jiangsu. As soon as I heard that the governor was coming, most of the officials in charge of water affairs went to visit and give gifts. Tao Shu refused to meet any of them on the grounds of fatigue from the journey, but accepted all the gifts. 10 days later, Tao Shu learned about the corruption and bribery of Cao's officials and announced that he would meet all his officials. After the promotion, after the touts read out the list of gift-giving officials and gifts, corrupt officials were sweating and did not dare to look up. After reading it, Tao Shu clapped his hands and said to the gift-giving official, "You can't give gifts with thousands of silver on your salary. Obviously blackmail and greed. Today, I won't be punished for your crimes, but all the gifts will be confiscated and sent back to the local area as funds for the construction of the academy. " Then, he said to all the grain officials: "The grain owed by all localities should be paid within one month, and offenders will be severely punished."
A month later, Tao Shu went to the court again and announced that all officials were divided into three classes: those who did not give gifts were classified as first class, reported to the court, and officials were promoted to first class; If the task of transporting grain is completed well, but the gift is given, it will be recorded once, rated as medium, and no rewards or punishments will be given; Two officials, who thought they had backgrounds, said that they were ill and ignored water affairs, and also committed the crime of bribery. They were rated as inferior, dismissed from their posts, forced to sell their property, and compensated for the water money owed by corruption over the years.
As a result, the water supply service has been greatly improved. According to records, Tao Shu toured Cao Cao "in only half a year, he ran five million meters, which is unprecedented in more than ten years". In particular, Cao Guan did not dare to embezzle and extort again, which greatly reduced the burden on the people.