Gala's embarrassing life.

1925 or so, Galla, the author of the Tiantan Constitution, left the post of Chief Justice of Beijing Government for the third and last time. Since then, at the age of 40, he let go and bid farewell to the politics of the Republic of China.

In June, 2004, the Dream of Constitutional Salvation-Galazeng Wencun published by Law Publishing House extracted all the diaries of Gala from September 26th, 65438 to July, 65438. After the early years of the Republic of China, many historical materials were scattered all over the place. As an activist who was once active in the political arena of the Republic of China, Zeng Gala's Diary provides us with a very informative reading about him and his time.

The author is incompetent. After reading these diaries, I was deeply surprised that this "tumbler" who has experienced ups and downs in the position of attorney general was penniless after retirement.

After bidding farewell to the post of attorney general, Gallas became the head of the legal rights discussion Committee. It was not until June 1927 that Zhang led the army into Beijing and hung up the seal and left. He lives in the suburbs of Beijing "with no official but heavy", reading all day, thinking in a wide range of fields, painting poems and living with his family for a long time. It's been almost half a year, during which I didn't say a word about the hardships of life except worrying about China's newly reported debts (which are business debts).

In the diary of165438+1October 28th, Gala began to lament that money was not enough:

So recently, I have a plan to abandon political life, do not do rural life, buy three or five acres of land, and build seven or eight houses in remote places in cities such as Jishuitan and Xizhimen. The construction is extremely simple and the equipment is convenient. I will plant fruit trees and vegetables, raise chickens and silkworms, work hard, read and paint, and observe the astronomical phenomena, so as to nourish my spirit, be natural and enjoy my life. If you can work hard every day, you will have a bright future for mankind. It seems that you can't carry out what your conscience tells you. Even if you succeed, you will be better than those who have nothing to do with the evolution of life. I miss this for a long time, but I can't decide, so I have to have considerable funds to prepare. I have been in politics for ten years, so far, I have suffered too much. Considering the situation, I still can't make friends with nature calmly. What a pity!

In fact, Gallas' life at this time is far more difficult than what he said in his diary. Not to mention buying a house and books, he had to think twice and finally gave up what he wanted. This is written in the diary of 12 and 14. "On the first day of spring, Yi Sheng's younger brother held an album with 12 pages open, all of whom were writers in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. I looked at it carefully, and it was both true and false. I only asked for 30 yuan, which is not expensive, but now I'm in an embarrassing hometown, and I can't support it here, so I have to pay it back, but I made a brief note: I counted two pages of Shen landscape. Gala's scholar character is reflected here, but we can't afford to write down all the names? You can buy it when you have money in the future! In fact, all scholars have this common problem, and I am afraid that this kind of missed book will not be encountered for the second time in this life.

12 On February 27th, Jia Cai was written in a diary: "People from Wenxian County, Gansu Province came to talk about the depression behind Zhou Wenshan, please ask friends to help, and Yu Mian should respond. However, after checking that the savings at home are less than 40 yuan, I still don't know why I left. Hey. " Four days earlier, Gala had spent 20 yuan "going to Shao Huai's nephew's house, ... and bought 80 copies of Chronicle of Tong Jian and Chronicle of Song and Yuan Dynasties next year * * which were collected by Xianbo Juqi." Counting this 20 yuan, all he has is 60 yuan. It's really hard for this retired Gao Qian, and life is beyond imagination.

65438+February 3 1 is New Year's Eve in the solar calendar. On this day in previous years, there was a family dinner. Now that the past is gone forever, Gala once wrote in her diary that she couldn't help but think of the lively scene of pommel horse in front of her door and issued a long sigh and sigh: "In recent years, the money advanced at the end of the year has ranged from more than 1,000 to several hundred. There is nothing these days, and society and individuals are very depressed. Therefore, there is no New Year's Eve, just a few people are invited to eat flat dishes at a table and play small cards. " The next day, 1 92865438+1October1,the calendar of the Republic of China was changed, but for Galazeng, the only new atmosphere of the Chinese New Year was that "relatives get together at night, just like in previous years, except that the richness of food and wine is far from eye-catching." In ancient times, the poor always comforted themselves with "being sad every year". For Yico Zeng, this year is not only a sad year, but also an embarrassing year. After all, he is over 30 years old, with a good wife and four orbs beside him. Besides, he has been ups and downs for 20 years. How did this happen this year?

Half a month later, Gala once again calculated the expenses of the recent Chinese New Year with her wife: "The daily debts and miscellaneous expenses for the Chinese New Year should be at least 200 yuan, while the deposit on hand is only 10 yuan, and the deposit in Jincheng is only 150 yuan; The use of line drawing is still not enough. If the allowances of the Law Committee and the Law Museum are paid in advance, it is better to celebrate the New Year with peace of mind, otherwise SARS will be bad. " Gallas once understood that this was unprecedented. "I have been studying abroad for more than ten years, and I am afraid it is the first time that I can spend my old age safely." Gallas once wrote in his diary:

In this embarrassing situation, people who see the superficial situation of the Yu family will not believe it, but will not expect it. In the past five or six years, the surplus wage income has never stopped, and there are several months in the middle, and the number of days is 50 thousand, which is not small. When I resigned as the chairman of the Legal Rights Protection Committee this summer, I only had 1000 yuan in cash, and another 700 yuan went to 800 yuan to spend on renting a house in Tianjin. Since the beginning of the wave, I have been fortunate enough to have two consultant allowances from the Law Society and the Law Museum for half a year, with an average daily use allowance of more than 200 yuan per month, otherwise I would have been deprived of my job. I don't gamble or go whoring, and I don't dare to be extravagant. My family are all (Zhang's wife, author's note) people, especially frugal, and never buy expensive women's ornaments. I make a lot of money every year, but I seem to have some savings. I was surprised by the cold. For this reason, about half of the houses in this building have been consumed; In the past, it was also huge to supplement the China New Newspaper and pay its debts. It also subsidized the old political society for public use and borrowed money from relatives and friends. The other is daily use. I'm going to list the annual expenditure according to the account book, so as to know the type and quantity of expenditure, and thus know the appropriate situation of our expenditure, so that ordinary children can learn from it.

Here, the corners once again show the lovely side of the literati's personality. I hope that future generations can take their own embarrassment as a negative teaching material, take the ancestors as a mirror and face future generations, so that at least the embarrassment experienced by the corners today will not be experienced by those who open the door. In this diary, the Spring Festival Gala also had regrets:

On the sixth day of the People's Republic of China, after the dismissal of the Chief Justice, the Speaker said, "There is no advantage in being an official this time, but we can really understand one thing, that is, whoever is an official and makes a fortune will not obey the law." Cover an official to the chief, can be described as a high-paying foster daughter, can be described as well-fed and well-fed. However, if I am the commander-in-chief for one year and I remain the same, then others will get rich because of their official career, and their sources will be safe. Unknown? This is true, and I still believe it.

Gala once said this clearly, but he was confused, or did he say it clearly and do it clearly? Anyone who comes later can get what he needs and explain himself.

On the third day after sending out this feeling, that is, the Lunar New Year's Eve, the Law Society and the Law Museum each paid a month's salary. "One year is barely enough."

Of course, the salaries of the Law Society and the Law Museum are just a drop in the bucket for Gala, but after the New Year, they are cash-strapped. 65438+1October 3 1 diary is very short, "Visit Wanghai Village again. I haven't bought a book at a high price in detail, but it's not useless to know more about several book versions. " This is telling the truth. On February 4th, "You Wang Haicun. After reading the book stand, I bought a copy of "Four Tonggu Zhai Hua Lun Ji Engraving Edition". The book I wanted to buy was written on the left because of the high price, and I will wait another day: …… "This is the second time that I am addicted to this book, and Gala was once pitiful, lovely and respectable.

Life is not the saddest. On February 20, it can be said that the Zhang family was in the most embarrassing time-

Children's tuition fees have never been paid, housing donations have been urged many times, and there is no yuan at home. After checking the bank deposit with Mo Jun, there is only 50 yuan left, which is not enough for ten days. After further discussion, we only have 400 yuan's national debt (of which 200 yuan is Liang's), so we can try to borrow it. However, Jingdi tried to borrow 200 yuan from the bank, but she didn't know why.

Four days later, "I went to Jing Di's banquet in the Ministry of Justice at night and borrowed 200 yuan from the Rural Commercial Bank, with a monthly interest rate of 1.3%." On February 29th, "I talked to He Hai and Qiu Lai, and I asked him to apply for the house as a loan. He agreed to do his best and said that if he needed it urgently, he could have a deposit for emergency, so I thanked him." It seems that these loans have not been repaid, as can be seen from the diary on March 23:

Mingzhu Chen introduced Yang to see the surplus houses and planned to sell them. I have been running for half my life and got private property, only four acres of land and more than forty rooms. In addition, there is not only no savings, but also liabilities (except corporate liabilities). Now that life is poor, this small property is not guaranteed. As the old saying goes, an honest official can do what he doesn't do, and his words speak from his heart. However, in the separated world, there are many people who have no support for their families. I have been guarding this Lushe for four years, so I will be blessed as soon as possible. I am ashamed that there is no money to accumulate in running state affairs, and the builder of a rafter is not without people. So, take a step back and think about everything, and you will have no complaints; It's unnatural to take the law, but we can see it from here. It is a pity that those who regard their husbands as powerful, take advantage of others' power and eat others' to enrich themselves are often rich and prosperous, with high status and children. Sincere people are not suitable for survival; Cunning and fierce people are superior, fearing that the world will decline!

Did Gala ever laugh at herself or masturbate, or regret it? Maybe both. Since then, Gallas sold his car for his own use, dismissed the driver on the grounds of "throttling" (March 3 1), and "checked the remaining 150 yuan national debt at home, and finally got 103 yuan to pay" (April 4). Since then, life seems to have gradually improved. In Gallas' diary, he reads books and visits friends, but rarely mentions the embarrassing situation of lack of money. 1in August, 928, gala lived in Shanghai and opened a law firm with Shen Junru, and lived a good life from then on.