Original Text
Zhang Huadong of Zouping County, by imperial decree, journeyed to offer sacrifices at the Southern Mountain Heng. Passing through the Jianghuai region, he prepared to lodge at a post station. The advance scouts said, "There are strange occurrences in that station; staying there will surely invite trouble." Zhang Huadong paid them no heed. At midnight, dressed in his official robes and bearing a sword, he sat in the station. Presently, he heard the sound of boots entering—an old man with grizzled hair and beard, wearing a black gauze cap and black sash. Zhang Huadong asked him who he was. The old man knelt and kowtowed, saying, "I am the treasury officer, who has long guarded the stored goods for you, my lord. Fortunately, your distant journey brings you here, allowing me to lay down this heavy burden." Zhang Huadong inquired, "How much is in the treasury?" The old man replied, "Twenty-three thousand five hundred taels of silver." Zhang Huadong, fearing the burden of carrying so much silver, agreed to settle the matter upon his return, and the old man assented, then turned and departed.
Zhang Huadong traveled south and received many gifts. When he returned to the Jianghuai region and lodged at a post station, the old man came to visit him again. Upon inquiring about the stored goods and funds, the old man said, "They have already been allocated to Liaodong to serve as military provisions." Zhang Huadong was greatly astonished and perplexed by the old man's contradictory statements. The old man then said, "A person's allotted income in life is fixed by fate; not a single cent can be added or subtracted. Your Excellency, on this southern journey, has already obtained the amount destined for you—what more do you seek?" With these words, he rose and departed. Zhang Huadong then calculated the total wealth he had received and found it exactly matched the amount of silver the old man had mentioned as stored. Only then did he sigh, realizing that even a single meal or a single sip is predetermined by fate and cannot be pursued recklessly.
Commentary
The original intent of the tale is to emphasize that human wealth is predetermined by fate, and one should not seek it through improper means, yet it also reveals the corruption of the late Ming officialdom and the dire straits of national defense finances. Zhang Huadong was historically considered a relatively upright official, and his journey at that time was merely to offer sacrifices to the Southern Mountain by imperial decree, yet the gifts he received along the way amounted to as much as twenty-three thousand five hundred pieces of gold, illustrating the extreme extent of official corruption! No wonder the national treasury was empty and border defenses were strained.