Traditional Chinese culture stresses morality and character, teaching people to be kind, righteous and trustworthy. In ancient China, people believed that "Lack of greed is a precious trait." It was a commonly held view among all different social classes, including scholars who undertook the responsibility of carrying on and passing down the culture as well as businessmen who strictly followed the rule of the ethics even though they dealt with money every day. There was a saying, "A gentleman who loves money only obtains it in righteous ways."
Yang Bo was a famous official from Ming Dynasty. He came from Puzhou City. Yang Pu's father Yang Zhang used to be a businessman before he became an official. Yang Zhang once operated his business in Huai Yang area. During that time, a salt merchant who came from Northern China asked Yang Zhang to temporally keep one thousand gold coins for him. However, the salt merchant never came back for the money. Yang Zhang did not know what to do with the money and so he buried the gold coins in a flowerpot and planted flowers in the pot to hide the money. At the same time, he sent someone to Northern China to look for the salt merchant. He was able to locate the salt merchant's home. However, the salt merchant had passed away and there was only a son at home.
Upon getting the news, Yang Zhang invited the son to his home. Yang pointed at the flowerpot and said to him, "This is the money that your father left with me before his death. Now please take them with you." The businessman's son was very astonished. He didn't know about the money and dared not accept it. Yang Zhang said, "This is your family's money. Please do not decline it." He told the son about the background story of the gold coins. The son was deeply moved. He knelt before Yang Zhang to thank him formally and then left with the gold.
Later Yang Zhang had a son and named him Yang Bo. Ever since he was a child, Yang Bo was intelligent and loved to learn. During the period of Jia Jing, he passed an imperial examination for the civil service and was appointed as an official in the Department of Administration. He was then appointed the governor of Liliao. He led the local army and defended the local residents against pirates several times. Because of his accomplishments, he was called to serve in the imperial court and promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs. Emperor Ming Shi Zong appreciated Yang Bo's talents and characters, and relied on him heavily as his closest assistant.
Yang Bo's son, Jun Ming, also passed the imperial civil service examination and eventually became the Minister of Finance. The family's prestige lasted for many generations.
Yang Bo's father Yang Zhang was only a simple merchant when he agreed to keep the gold for the salt merchant. After the salt merchant disappeared, he not only didn't keep the money for himself, he went through a lot of trouble and sent people to travel more than a thousand mile to locate the salt merchant's family and return the money. People with noble minds and characters like Yang Zhang are not only rewarded themselves for their nobility, their next generations will be rewarded as well. It shows that Heaven rewards great virtues exactly the way they deserve to be rewarded.
* * *
You are welcome to print and circulate all articles published on Clearharmony and their content, but please quote the source.
more ...