When Yu Chenglong was the magistrate of Wuchang, his son came to see him from his hometown in Shanxi.
Yu Chenglong was very happy to see his beloved son after such a long separation, but he didn't prepare anything delicious for his son. Every meal is still vegetables and tofu.
When his son left Wuchang for home, Yu Chenglong was too poor to come up with a few big pennies, let alone prepared food and clothes for his son on the way. When a duck was pickled in the kitchen of a government office, Yu Chenglong cut the duck in half and asked his son to take it with him on the road.
It is also said that this happened when Yu Chenglong was a magistrate in Luocheng, Guangxi, so everyone called him a "half-duck magistrate".
As for "Yu", it's because I live a small life every day, eating tofu and vegetables. Over time, the soldiers and civilians in his jurisdiction knew that he only bought vegetables in adults' homes, and meat and fish rarely touched. Everyone calls him "Yu", which is not only a kind mockery of his frugality, but also a respect for this official.
Yu Chenglong brought the habit of eating green vegetables to Fujian provincial judges, Zhili governors and Liangjiang governors.
He has several locust trees behind Jiangning yamen with sparse leaves. That's because the government is unwilling to buy tea, so he pulls the leaves of Sophora japonica to soak in water. Under the example of the governor's green vegetables, Jiangning City has developed a new atmosphere of strict economy: literati began to mix coarse grains into their diet, went out in a hurry without using a car, and did not pay much attention to gorgeous clothes.
Everyone said that when Yu was governor, Jiangning officials were the most honest and diligent, and ordinary people lived and worked in peace and contentment.
In the twenty-third year of Kangxi, he died of illness and was appointed Governor of Liangjiang. The staff counted his relics, so they had to put San Qian, two thousand copper coins, a robe and several cans of salted lobster sauce on the bed ... Emperor Kangxi commented that Yu Chenglong was "the first honest official in the world" ~