司马直 / Sima Zhi (late Han)
司马直 / Sima Zhi enters the wiki through Hanji 932 as a 河内郡 man appointed administrator of 巨鹿郡 during 汉灵帝’s palace-construction fee drive. The episode presents him as unusually clean: even after the demanded office-entry payment is reduced by three million, he refuses to recover the cost by exploiting the people under his future administration.
His death makes the institutional cost visible. After an illness excuse fails and the court forces him toward office, Sima Zhi reaches Mengjin, writes a memorial naming the abuses in the palace-construction and appointment-fee system, then takes poison. Emperor Ling is moved enough to halt the palace-construction fee temporarily, so Sima Zhi’s page connects personal integrity to 修宫钱转嫁盘剥, 君臣反馈失灵, and 赴死式直谏 rather than treating him only as a moral exemplar.
Connections
- Hanji 932 - source episode.
- 巨鹿郡 - office Sima Zhi is assigned but does not reach.
- 河内郡 - home-region context and route toward Mengjin.
- 汉灵帝 - ruler whose fee system Sima Zhi challenges and who temporarily stops the fee after the memorial.
- 修宫钱转嫁盘剥 and 买官名节损耗 - fee and appointment-order concepts.
- 君臣反馈失灵, 赴死式直谏, and 民心政治安全 - feedback and people-burden concepts tied to his refusal.