Zeng Guofan, an important official in the late Qing Dynasty, was not only good at "using troops with difficulty and cruelty", but also very knowledgeable. There is a famous saying: evil looks at the eyes and nose, and true and false looks at the lips; Fame depends on spirit, wealth depends on spirit; The mind depends on the fingers and claws, and the storm depends on the ribs; If you want to see order, everything is in the language. He often uses various methods to inspect, identify or select talents to decide whether to be promoted or healthy.

During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, he visited Anqing House, Anhui Province, and happened to meet Zhao Zhe, the new department of susong county, who came to visit before his death. He put down his pen and decided to take this opportunity to examine the young man.

After taking a seat, Zeng Guofan asked him to talk about whether officials in susong county are honest and clean. In fact, Zeng Guofan has mastered a lot of materials in the inspection and knows it well. At that time, the life of ordinary people in susong county was very hard, and floods, droughts, wars and disasters were one of the important reasons. Another reason is that officials, big and small, are not in charge of political affairs, and they are greedy for the big and the small, and few people remain indifferent.

"What's the performance of the king mouse?" Zeng Guofan asked questions.

Wang ratty had a good relationship with Zeng Guofan, and Ye Zhao had heard about it. After careful consideration, he thought it was better to be frank, so he didn't hide the problem of Wang ratty and was not afraid of Zeng Guofan's embarrassment. He said: "The king mouse is a small official in charge of money and grain. Every night when he comes home, he will decorate his pockets with food, which he is not shy about. In my opinion, a bag of food is a trivial matter, but over time it will be a big deal. The rope was sawed off, the stone was broken, and the national granary was stolen. Corrupt officials are like rats! "

Zeng Guofan nodded repeatedly and said, "Speaking of corrupt officials, I have a couplet here. You see-rats, big or small, are called old. "

Zhao couldn't think of the right words at the moment, and it was difficult to deal with it at the moment. Just as he was worried, Ying Ge's euphemistic song suddenly came from his ear. He turned and looked out of the window and saw a big birdcage hanging on the cherry tree. Four yellow-backed green Ying Ge jumped around happily in the cage, so he asked Zeng Guofan about the difference between yellow-backed green Ying Ge and myna. "In Ying Ge, how can you tell a man from a woman?" Zhao asked again, his attitude is very sincere.

"Male Ying Ge, the feathers are cyan, female, and the feathers are light brown or brown, which is easy to distinguish." Zeng Guofan explained. As soon as Zeng Guofan had finished speaking, Zhao had a brainwave and said, "My Lord, my next couplet is ready-all parrots are called brothers."

Zeng Guofan was very satisfied with Zhao's "outspoken" and quick thinking, so he decided to reuse him.