The writer Po Yang says that history shows that if rulers are upstanding, pure and able officials will rise to the top. With those below following their example, the bureaucracy will naturally be clean. Otherwise, being an honest official is a lonely job. "If a good official is blocking people's path to money," Po Yang says, "he may get slandered until he's removed."
作家柏楊也指出，歷史上，如果君主英明，廉能官員能被拔擢重用，上行下效的結果，吏治自然澄清；否則，做一個清官，其實是很寂寞的：「有時擋了人家財路，不但遭到汙蔑抹黑，甚至還因此丟官」，柏楊說。