(Clearwisdom.net) Citizens are the foundation of any society. In traditional Chinese culture, cherishing citizens is what government officials were supposed to do. Anything that can benefit the general public should be done. In Chinese history, many government officials have set examples about how to cherish citizens. Zhongli Yi was such a role model.

One year during Zhongli Yi's tenure as Huiji County Sheriff, an epidemic spread quickly. In a matter of just a few days, over 10,000 people died. Facing this situation, Zhongli Yi couldn't eat or sleep. He kept blaming himself, "Can I still be considered a good official when I can't relieve my citizens' pain?" Paying no attention to the possibility of being infected, he went door to door to comfort patients and their families. He also ordered his subordinates to recruit doctors to develop new drugs. Several days later, the doctors developed a new medicine. However, they did not dare to have patients try it right away. The reason was that several ingredients of this medicine were in fact toxic herbs. After learning of this, Zhongli Yi said, "Isn't this simple enough? Let me try this medicine first." Despite everyone's objection, he grabbed the bowl containing the medicine and downed it right away. It turned out the medicine was safe. Patients were then given this medicine. Not long after, the epidemic was well contained and Zhongli Yi no longer had this burden on his heart.