Note 403 — Chapter XVIII

A few years ago a certain Chinese magistrate in a district very near Weihaiwei was much disgusted, on arriving at his post, to find that the opportunities for "squeeze" were so severely limited that he was likely to remain a poor man. On his own responsibility he decided to tap a new source of revenue, and issued a proclamation to the necessary effect. In a few days the populace was up in arms, the magistrate's official residence was pulled to pieces (it is still almost a ruin), and he was himself a disgraced fugitive.