Tao Kan carries bricks

a demotion from his post.

Tao Kan did not lose heart when he arrived in Guangzhou. Every morning, he carried a hundred bricks (pì in Mandarin) from his study to the outside of his room; at night, he carried them to his house in stacks. When people saw him doing this every day, they were surprised and couldn't help but ask him why he did it.

Tao Kan said seriously: "Although I am in the south, what I want is to recover the Central Plains. If I am used to being idle, how can I take up important responsibilities when the country needs me in the future? Therefore, I take this opportunity to practice my muscles and bones every day."

Only after Wang Dun's defeat, the Eastern Jin Dynasty promoted Tao Kan to be the General of Shanxi and the Assassin of Jingzhou. When the people of Jingzhou heard that Tao Kan had returned, they celebrated with each other happily.

Although the office had become bigger, Tao Kan was still very careful and cautious. He inspected all the small and big things in the Jingzhou government office, and never relaxed. He often said to his subordinates: "Da Yu is a sage, but also loves to cherish an inch of time. Ordinary people like us, who are far behind Dayu in terms of wisdom and ability, should cherish every minute, and should not be greedy for comfort. If we live without contributing to the country and die without leaving any good reputation, is that not self-abandonment?"

Some officials under his ministry liked to drink and gamble, and often delayed their official duties. Tao Kan was very angry when he found out. He ordered people to put away the wine and gambling equipment and throw them into the river; he also whipped those officials. After this, everyone was too scared to gamble and drink again.

Once, Tao Kan went to the countryside to inspect, and saw a passer-by walking, while picking a handful of unripe rice ears, holding it in his hand, and playing with them.

Tao Kan called him and asked, "What are you doing with this rice?" The passer-by had to say truthfully: "Nothing, I just plucked a little by hand for fun.

When Tao Kan heard that, he was furious and said, "You don't cultivate the rice yourself, but you destroy people's crops for no reason.

After that, he ordered his soldiers to tie the man up and whipped him severely before releasing him.

When people heard that the governor protected the crops in this way, they became more diligent in planting. The area of Jingzhou gradually became richer.

Jingzhou is on the Yangtze River. The government often leaves a lot of wood chips and bamboo heads behind when building ships. If in the hands of others, either cleaned up or burned. But Tao Kan instructed people to pack it up and collect it in the warehouse. People saw, do not understand why he did this and did not dare to ask.

Later, there was a new spring festival, and Jingzhou officials all came to the official residence to pay respect to Tao Kan. It happened that there were several heavy snowfalls a few days before. After the weather cleared and the snow melted, the front of the hall was wet and slippery, so it was not easy to walk. Tao Kan instructed the official in charge to take out the wood chips from the warehouse to pave the floor so that when walking, he was no longer afraid of the slippery crosses.

Another time, the Eastern Jin navy to build a batch of warships need bamboo nails. Tao Kan also asked people to collect the bamboo head out to the soldiers to make the bamboo nails for shipbuilding.

By this time, everyone knew the purpose of Tao Kan's collection of wood chips and bamboo heads, and admired him for his thoughtfulness.

Tao Kan led the soldiers for forty-one years, and everyone admired him for his strict law enforcement and seriousness. It is said that in his jurisdiction, the social order was stable, and he achieved the goal of "not picking up anything on the road".