Review

The new emperor was in a foul mood, and his temper was not much better.

With his temper so short, he clearly needed to vent.

A batch of civil and military officials at court had just been replaced, and he could hardly unleash his fury on the new officials, but the new emperor found some fine targets for his anger.

Dongfang Shuo, for instance.

"Come! Bring out all the bamboo slips from those who offered bribes in their bids for office!"

The new emperor gave the order.

A short while later, twenty burly eunuchs began carrying bamboo slips into the hall.

The new emperor glanced over and saw that some of the bamboo slips had banliang coins tied around them, while others had coins tucked between them. Quite a few also contained fragments of gold and silver.

"He certainly hid his well!"

The twenty eunuchs carried ten batches of bamboo slips into the hall. Nine batches had money tucked among the slips. The slips in the remaining batch were large and thick and bound tightly, but from the outside, there was no sign of hidden gold or silver.

The new emperor grumbled, unable for the moment to tell how much money Zhang Xuezhou had tucked inside.

But Zhang Xuezhou had submitted a great many bamboo slips as a bribe, accounting for nearly a tenth of the total volume of slips from those who had bribed their way in pursuit of office.

"Count all the money tucked among those bamboo slips, then record the amounts and names!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The eunuchs answered in unison, then divided up the bamboo slips and pulled the money out from between them.

Officials were bound by corresponding laws and regulations governing every kind of improper conduct. For instance, the new emperor had sent a