We are all familiar with the story of “The officials are allowed to set fires, but the common people are not allowed to light lamps.” The reason why historical allusions are classic is that they understand the world and people’s hearts, and they will not be outdated even after hundreds or thousands of years.
Well, Datong, Shanxi, history is repeating itself.
In order to make the scenic area look joyful and peaceful, and brightly lit, a historical city scenic area in Pingcheng District, Datong City, issued a “Proposal” to all merchants, requiring all merchants in the ancient city to keep the indoor and outdoor lights on all night from the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, regardless of whether they are open for business.
According to a staff member of Pingcheng District who was interviewed by the media, “Keeping the lights on all night is a unified regulation of the city.”
See? It’s called a proposal when it’s written on paper, and it’s actually a regulation when it’s implemented. Whether it’s a proposal or a regulation, in short, the officials are doing it for your own good, for the sake of the overall situation.
So, in order to take care of the overall situation, if the officials encounter those who are disobedient and uncooperative when implementing the lighting requirements, they will have to enforce it.
On the evening of the sixth day of the first lunar month, after Mr. Yue, a merchant in the ancient city, closed his shop after normal business hours, the sign and lights outside the shop remained lit, and he turned off the lights inside the shop. After all, no one would reimburse him for the electricity bill of more than 3,000 yuan a month.
At 11 p.m., the law enforcement officers found that the indoor lights of Mr. Yue’s shop were not lit, and called him to come over from home to turn on the lights immediately, with a very strong attitude:
Didn’t you get notified that you have to keep the lights on tonight? If you don’t turn them on, the public security will come over and cut them off for you, and we will turn them on for you. You don’t believe it, you can try.
Don’t think they are just scaring people. Mr. Yue was unwilling to go back to the shop to turn on the lights because he had to coax his baby who was just a month old to sleep. A group of people in “Pingcheng Comprehensive Law Enforcement” uniforms directly cut the locks and pried open the doors, broke into the shop through two locks, and turned on the disobedient lights.
Although we don’t know which country’s law on prying locks these people in uniforms are specifically enforcing, the officials’ orders were obviously carried out meticulously.
Later generations have a poem to praise:
The officials pry locks in the middle of the night, forcing the people to light lamps.
To optimize the business environment, look at Datong, Shanxi.
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