Zhao Ding grew up with a golden spoon in his mouth. He has never worked in the bottom officialdom, so he doesn't know how difficult it is to be an official. In the era of autocratic and corrupt emperors, it was ten thousand times more difficult to be an honest official than a competent one.
Take the Ming and Qing Dynasties as an example. The salary of officials is meager. If there is no income from corruption, bribery or even gray areas, they can't afford not only to hire aides, but also to support their wives and children. The most famous Harry, he was an honest official in the Ming Dynasty, but he couldn't even afford a coffin when he died. Yu Chenglong, an upright official in the Qing Dynasty, wore clothes made by his wife. And such an honest official, living in this world, must have a strong will to support, and must have the support of reasonable family members, otherwise he can't resist the ridicule of colleagues, the contempt of relatives and friends, and the complaints of family members.
However, the Song Dynasty was an exception: the salaries of officials in the Song Dynasty were the richest in China's history. Therefore, it is relatively easy to be an honest official, but the resistance from relatives and friends still exists. For example, when Bao Zheng, who we know well, went to Hefei, Anhui Province, many relatives and friends heard that he was going to be a parent, and they flocked to ask him to do things, and many people gave gifts. There are also people who cheat, bully and so on under his banner. Bao can't catch all of them, so he can only make an example and catch the worst cousin and sentence him to death!
Traditional China is an acquaintance society. People oppose corrupt officials, but for their own benefit, they force their acquaintances to be corrupt officials. And if an official can't make a profit for his acquaintances, he will cut off contacts with them.
Unlike Bao Zheng, he is not only a senior official, but also has a good salary and a simple life, so he still has a lot of savings. And I spend a lot of money to help my relatives and friends for free, so as not to do things for me.
Bao Zheng also has an ancestral motto: "Those who commit crimes of official abuse in future generations shall not return to their own homes and shall not be buried in big coffins after death."
Because of this ancestral motto, Bao Zheng's son Bao Mao and grandson Bao Yongnian were both later famous honest officials.