Mending the Laws of the Eastern Han

In the third year of Yongchu, heavy snow fell in Luoyang. Anping, a low-ranking clerk in the Tingwei office, whose daily job was to mend shoes—oh no, to mend the laws. He held a scraping knife, responsible for making the military merit account of Longxi Commandery, which was short of 480 heads, look flawless. His superior said, 'If you don't fix it well, you'll be executed by waist chop.' His political enemy said, 'If you fix it well, I'll kill you.' Anping smiled, pointing at the pile of messy accounts, and said, 'This isn't an account book; this is the worn-out shoe of the Han Empire. If the sole leaks, everyone has to go barefoot.' Thus, in a countdown called 'New Year's Eve,' Anping began his career of mending shoes—ah no, mending the laws. — Description from novelcodex.org