王密 / Wang Mi (late Han)

Overview

王密 / Wang Mi is a late-Han Changyi county magistrate whose nighttime gold gift to 杨震 becomes the concrete foil for Yang’s Four Knows reputation.

Current Profile

Hanji 783 presents Wang Mi as a former maocai recommended by Yang Zhen. When Yang passes through Changyi on his way to Donglai, Wang visits at night with ten jin of gold and says that no one will know.

Yang refuses the gold by answering that Heaven knows, spirits know, Yang knows, and Wang knows. The episode treats Wang’s gift as probably gratitude and continuing investment in someone who once helped him, but the moral weight of the scene comes from Yang turning a hidden private transaction into public self-knowledge.

Key Characteristics

• County magistrate at Changyi when Yang Zhen passes through on the way to Donglai.
• Former maocai whose career had been helped by Yang Zhen’s recommendation.
• Offers a large gold gift at night, framed by the source as gratitude and relationship investment.
• Functions mainly as Yang Zhen’s foil in the Four Knows integrity story.

Evidence

• Office and relationship: Hanji 783 identifies Wang Mi as Changyi county magistrate and a former maocai recommended by Yang Zhen.
• Gold gift: Hanji 783 says Wang brings ten jin of gold at night and argues that no one will know.
• Foil to Yang’s integrity: Hanji 783 records Yang’s Four Knows response and Wang’s ashamed withdrawal with the gold.

Qualifications

The current evidence is limited to the Four Knows scene in Hanji 783. The source does not supply Wang Mi’s wider career, factional position, later conduct, or a proven corrupt request attached to the gold; the host interprets the gift as gratitude and relationship maintenance rather than documenting a specific demanded favor.

What Changed

• Created this page to keep Wang Mi distinct as the named gift-giver in Yang Zhen’s Four Knows case.

Relationships

• 杨震 - former recommender and recipient who refuses Wang’s gold.
• 拒礼立威 - concept illustrated by Yang’s refusal of Wang’s gift.
• 私恩任官侵蚀 - adjacent institutional risk because recommendation gratitude can become an office-linked private obligation.
• 道德声望政治资本 - Yang’s handling of Wang’s gift becomes durable reputation capital.