Fu Zhi was an upright man, and believed that children and grandchildren had their own allotted fortunes, so he never used his power to seek private gain for his descendants; on the contrary, he always used private means to serve public ends.
He had forced his eldest son to become a Prince Consort, and then forced him into officialdom to run about for Great Jin, which resulted in disharmony between the couple; husband and wife both nursed grievances and vented their anger on the young Fu Changrong.
So Fu Zhi felt the deepest guilt toward Fu Tinghan, and was mostly ashamed before Fu Xuan; thinking on this, he became largely laissez‑faire with his remaining three sons, giving them the greatest freedom.
He did not insist that they must enter officialdom, nor demand that they must save the state, only hoping that they could stay alive.
Thus father and sons only corresponded occasionally, simply exchanging news of their safety.
