The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 28

The plays and banquets, whether winter or summer, will last until the third watch. The hosts put the officials and guests into the car, and then said goodbye in turn. Next, Liang Dao sent someone to take the name cards of each host to the mansion where the official guests lived to thank them for coming. Then, someone will be sent to the official residence of each owner with the name of the grain road to say thank you for coming. The next day, when the officials and guests set off, the grain road will accompany everyone to the west of the city to send them off. They will also give gifts and money to the officials. The amount of the gift depends on the official position of the other party. Each banquet, including the expenses for singing operas, banquets and various rewards, totaled more than two hundred taels of silver, not including the gifts.

For others, such as deputy governors and commander-in-chiefs, who are passing through the border, except for those who have close friendship with the governor or general, they usually only send wine and food, but do not hold banquets. If the camel horses Zhang Jing and Liang Pay Zhang Jing from outside the customs pass by, although their official positions are humble, they must have come with letters from adults in the province. For such guests, the Liang Dao Yamen will present four dishes and two snacks as a token of appreciation. In addition, each person is given a package ranging from twenty taels to forty or fifty taels.

Generally speaking, big banquets are held every month, and small entertainments are held every day. As for the festivals, the Liang Dao had to entertain generals, chief and deputy governors, governors, and officials from the divisions, Dao, prefectures, counties, and foreign prefectures and counties in Xi'an who came to the provincial capital. In addition to banquets, of course they also had to listen to operas. As for the co-leaders of the Man camp, the generals of the Green camp [1] and the guerrillas, they must also be invited once in the spring and autumn.

If there were no officials crossing the border for the rare ten and a half days, Liangdao would have to invite the chief envoy, the inspector general and Yandao to have a party at the official office to enjoy the opera - otherwise it would not be enough to bond with each other. The total amount spent on entertainment every year, plus the "ice tribute" given to the officials in the summer and the "charcoal tribute" given to the officials in the winter, totals about 50,000 taels of silver, not including those who come to beat the autumn wind. The annual oil and water income of the grain road is only about 60,000 taels, and after deducting personal expenses, there is almost no surplus. People inside and outside the capital say that this person can earn three to four hundred thousand taels of silver in one year. I don't know the secret of this.

Lao Xingjie wrote to me from Shanxi, saying that Shaanxi's Grain Controller was "presided over by the Caishen Temple and promoted by Wenchang Pavilion". I don't think this metaphor is quite apt. When I first arrived in Shaanxi, Governor Li Xingyuan, who was transferred to Jiangsu Province, wrote to me asking about my current situation. I wrote back and said: "I spend the whole day visiting people, drinking and listening to plays. A knowledgeable person would be deeply ashamed." Luo Suxi, who was the same year as me, wrote , also held this position, and later wrote to me when he was the Chief Envoy of Guizhou: "When I first took up this position, I felt rich and powerful, but after sitting for a long time, it became boring." In this position, I only I sat there for a year, but luckily I didn’t do it for a long time.