What is a sweet official and a bitter official?

During the Yongzheng period, there was a small clerk in the cabinet (for service) named Lan, who was very good at flattering at work. In the sixth year of Yongzheng (1728), on the night of Lantern Festival, all his colleagues went home for the New Year, and he was the only one who stayed in the office and drank alone at the moon. He drank happily. Suddenly, a handsome man burst in. Lan thought it was an official on duty in the imperial palace and came to inspect. He stood up to meet him and invited him to drink with him. The bearer took a seat gladly and asked him what officer he was. Lan said: not an official, but a small service. After people asked his name, they asked him what he did, how many colleagues he had and where he went. Lan said that there are more than 40 colleagues who do some paperwork to send and receive things, and now they all go home for the New Year. Someone asked: Then why do you stay here? Lan said that the imperial court had heavy official duties. If everyone helps themselves, who will be responsible in case something happens? The bearer asked again: How about confession? Lan said that when the days are full in the future, I hope to choose a small official to do it. Someone asked: Is the young official fun? Lan said with a smile, if you are lucky, it will be fun to be elected as an official of Guangdong River Park! People don't understand: why is it fun? Lan said that the river berth is near the sea and there is much feed on board. After listening to the nod, the guest had a few drinks before leaving. Another classification of ancient officialdom

There is nothing to say all night. The next day, the ministers went to the Golden Palace to attend the early dynasty. After talking about business with everyone, Emperor Sejong of the Qing Dynasty (that is, Yongzheng) suddenly asked: Is there a river berth in Guangdong? Ministers said: Yes. Sejong of the Qing dynasty said: you can join the cabinet, and Lan can add the official of the river park. Ministers kowtowed to the court and were surprised when they went out. They have never heard of the officials appointed by the emperor by the river. How can the name of such a small minister spread to the sky? So I found a little eunuch to inquire carefully: it turned out that the person who went to the cabinet to check the night last night was Qing Sejong!

After a while, the imperial edict that Lan was appointed as the official of Guangdong Hepo by the emperor was sent to the cabinet. Lan is so happy that all his colleagues envy him.

This is another kind of small official who has not flowed in, but has a sweet taste, so it is called a sweet official. What are the names of the sweet officer * * * under the guidance of the county magistrate? Let's take the establishment of state and county offices in Ming Dynasty as an example.

River berthing officials, specializing in collecting fishing tax; Gate officials and dam officials are responsible for the opening and closing of gate dams. In the fifteenth year of Hongwu (1382), there were 252 river banks in the world (Volume 75 of Ming History), with 3 officials, 2 officials 1000 stone and 1 300 stone.

The tax bureau is responsible for the collection of regular taxes for merchants, butchers and miscellaneous cities.

Ambassadors and deputy ambassadors' laboratories specialize in the monopoly of tea and salt.

These small dam officials, small tax officials, small monopoly management officials, like the officials of Hepo Hospital, have no rank. How much sweet and fat water there is depends on everyone's conscience and ability.

Compared with sweet officials, bitter officials are post officials, that is, officials in charge of local postal transportation and official guest house affairs. Take the Ming Dynasty as an example, each county has at least one comprehensive post station, and in addition, express delivery shops are generally set up; If it is located in the thoroughfare avenue of the traffic trunk line, there are also special water hills, Magang and delivery stations. For example, there are express shops 10 1 home in seven counties under the jurisdiction of Huangzhou Prefecture, each with three halls, three east and west wing rooms, a postal kiosk, a store door, a brand door, a wall and a set of tables and chairs (Hongzhi's Huangzhou Prefecture Records); The setting of Shuigang and Magang is divided according to mileage, so as to prepare the scale for distinguishing the number of horses and boats; The post station is a special line for transporting military supplies and tributes. In the tenth year of Hongzhi (1497), there were 324 delivery stations in China. The three systems of post, dispatch and delivery are relatively independent, and each department does its own thing. The grass-roots governors of the three systems, namely, the post office, the shop, the diplomatic envoy and the deputy envoy, are the lowest among the officials and are all under the jurisdiction of the governors of prefectures and counties.

According to the provisions of the Ming dynasty system, the post office is a standard postal service to greet and see off; All ships, horses, horses, horses and thick accounts are provided according to the level of passengers and the number of servants (official records of the Ming Dynasty). As soon as you listen, you will know that it is the hard work of waiting on the Hou people, so at that time, people had the saying that the rank was not inferior to that of the post office, and things did not argue with the post office (Liu Guangsheng, editor-in-chief of China Ancient Postal History). Especially those princes and nobles, dignitaries, not only do not regard the post officer as an official, but even treat him as a person. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, many officials who stayed in the post office killed Cheng Yi. For example, in the fifth year of orthodoxy (1440), Hao Jingcheng, a right-wing politician in Shaanxi, passed by Huaqing Post, and Cheng Yi Zhang Geng happened to be out of the post office. Hao Jing flew into a rage and sent his entourage to his house to tie him up and kill him.

China's Ancient Officialdom System

China's Ancient Officialdom System

Of course, on the other hand, the so-called bitter official also refers to the general situation. According to the Records of Xiyuan News, the appointment of Cheng Yi in Ming Dynasty was divided into three parts: upper, middle and lower. The shortage refers to the fat shortage with oil and water, accounting for about one tenth of the national post offices; About three-tenths of the vacancies are empty, indicating that the conditions are average; What is lacking is really hard work, accounting for six tenths. Wang Yangming, a famous Neo-Confucianism master in Ming Dynasty, was a post-service of Longchang Post in Guizhou. Liu Jin, who offended the official, was demoted to such a miserable situation to have a taste. In history books or ancient novels, the usage of dropping five grades is often regarded as a joke. Imagine that a seven-product sesame official has dropped five levels in a row, which means it has fallen on the people. How does he use it? In fact, this can only be said to be a joke played by the official department at the meeting, because in addition to 18 18, you still dragged such a string of dirty tails to make you a post-official. Isn't it that you have dropped five levels and still stay in the official range? During the period of our time, Zhejiang Daodu suggested Zhou Guang and exhorted Ming Wuzong. Therefore, he was first demoted to Huaiyuan Cheng Yi, and then to Zhu Zhai Cheng Yi, which was also a punishment.

Since Cheng Yi's job is so humble, why are some people willing to do it instead of quitting quickly? There are of course reasons for this: first, it is possible to be promoted at the expiration of his term of office; Second, this errand is humble, but it also has the opportunity to please; Third, as people often say, there are people who can't finish reading under the veil. Those who deliberately want to keep their hair, even if they are in pain, can earn a few votes. At the same time, A Qing writer He Gangde also talked about some skills. It turns out that all officials who are qualified to live in the post station have reconnaissance cooperation certificates issued by the Ministry of War. Every time they go to a station, they have to tie a knot, indicating that they will supply horses and chariots as usual, and there is no extra demand, so they will have to pay them back later. It's impossible without extra charge. As usual, this expense is a local financial burden, and Cheng Yi's trick is to report the extra money as high as possible to earn the difference between reimbursement and actual expenses, and on the other hand, to use this procedure as much as possible to deal with the excessive extortion of officials and their entourage. In this way, although people are hard, they still have some oil and water.

Compared with Cheng Yi's humble greetings and flattery, this inspector is much more powerful, hence the name Spicy Officer.

According to the history of China's ancient official system, the governor's office first appeared in the Song Dynasty, mainly located in the frontier or the pass area. Most of them are in Wuzhi, some are in charge of public security at the junction of several counties, and some are only in one county, but they are all under the leadership of county officials. During the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, the scope of the inspection department was limited to one county. Generally, inspection departments were set up in townships, towns, towns, crossroads and passes that deviated from the county, responsible for catching thieves, questioning traitors and preventing counterfeiting. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, this system was still preserved, but the grade increased. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was listed as Jiupin. In the Ming dynasty, both the inspection department and the deputy inspection department were subordinate to the nine products. After that, there was still no inflow.

Why is this kind of just inspection that always wanders between ranks superior to ordinary colleagues and small officials? There are two main reasons:

First, customarily, the inspection department has the nature of an institution of the county yamen, which can manage and handle the small matters in this area, and has a little purlin power, especially in front of the country people. For example, in the Song Dynasty's Collection of Famous Officials' Comments on Qingming Festival, there are several articles about Shen Zhen's harassment of farmers. It is mentioned in the article that he has been doing weekly patrol these days, and he has also stretched out his hand to urge the department, suppressed the lawsuit, and even sent people, so all his relatives went out and four people in his family were arrested innocently. Within a township, neighbors go with the wind. I was so angry that my boss scolded him, saying that since the lawsuit was booming and there were many small people in other places, there were such lawsuits every day in the county. If there is something bigger than this, what about the noise? This was the case in the Song Dynasty. Ming and Qing dynasties are even more extraordinary. According to the records of Ming Dynasty officials, in February of the 13th year of Hongwu (1380), Zhu Yuanzhang specially ordered to inspect the world. With such a sword in hand, I'm afraid even his boss can't blame him at will.

Secondly, the inspection department also has a convenient position in Jin Yao, where it can properly cross-examine fraud and check the road management. Many inspections also have the duty of collecting taxes. In real life, although one person guards the inspection department, the * * * above ten thousand people cannot force it not only to play tricks in front of ordinary passengers, but sometimes even to be ripped off by him on past business trips. Take a new official as an example. His entourage will inevitably do a little smuggling business by the way, and he will only serve when he meets a post along the way. But it's different when you meet the inspection department. His duty is to check, and it's no trouble to find some trouble. There is an article "Chasing Inspection with Tools" in the Collection of Judgments of Famous Officials in Tomb-Sweeping Day, which is caused by geese? ND037？ Town inspector Zhao scratched his head on the road, and his boss moved to Wenzhou County to scold: Goose? ND037？ A town is the most rebellious. Recently, the chief quarryman went to our company to collect money, and he was also arrested. With the money to supervise the company all the way, I'm still afraid of this. It robs the rich and helps the poor, doing everything it can, and the river will be harmed by it! If you dare to bully our company today, it will be of great benefit. Finally, the state and county should immediately let Zhao personally come here to explain clearly, and please don't send powerful officials (agents) to inspect and supervise the affairs. In fact, if you think about it carefully, it is not difficult to sniff out that there must be privacy in the money of the leader detained by Zhao Xunjian. On the one hand, the company had to use the method of pressing one level at a time to let the local state and county police officers come forward to put pressure. On the other hand, asking Zhao Xunjian to go to the company for analysis also contains the hint of face-to-face trading.

Of course, the popularity of patrol inspection is also related to the fact that he can take military and police measures at any time, such as catching thieves and police rape. It doesn't matter if he finds out, he is really doing his duty as an official eagle dog. For example, in Lang Wen written by Chen Kangqi in Qing Dynasty, a historical fact was recorded: Emperor Qianlong visited Jehol, and a governor named Zhang Ruoying was in charge of public security in this area. A eunuch thinks he is the retinue of the son of heaven, causing trouble along the way. Zhang Ruoying persuaded him a few words, saying that a husband would not take a small inspection seriously, so he growled and cursed. In a rage, Zhang Ruoying immediately asked his men to tie it up and increase the pain. Fang, the governor of Zhili, almost fainted after hearing the news and shouted that Zhang was crazy! Impeach immediately. However, Emperor Qianlong didn't think so. Instead, he thought that Zhang Ruoying was a loyal and dutiful person and made a decree to promote him to magistrate of a county.

The so-called salty official is actually transformed from a light word. There is also a Buddhist and Taoist Department that is responsible for religious affairs, a medical code department (state) and a medical training department (county) that are responsible for medical affairs, and are responsible for the yin-yang training of astronomical and meteorological forecasting. According to the regulations of the system, all these institutions have officials and do not give them remuneration, so they are all called Daoguang (direct management department). How can I make it taste a little? You want to steal salt like a monkey, so it's also called salty. The way is to use your authority. For example, in ancient times, in order to ensure the collection of labor and taxes, there was a quota for the number of monks and nuns, which was distributed to counties in proportion. This quota is in the hands of monks and Taoist officials. Can people who apply to become monks not pay bribes? After becoming a monk, all kinds of affairs in temples, Taoist temples and miscellaneous shrines, as well as disputes with laymen, were also asked by monks and Taoist officials. He can use secular laws to suppress monks and Taoists, and he can also use religious policies to suppress laymen. Where the scales are tilted, weight is his wealth. Do you want to run and sign the bill? Sorry, you have to go to the department of the county yamen monks association to open a letter of introduction, or you will be arrested everywhere. Another example is the medical officer. In the aforementioned "My Good Scenery before Officials", it has been introduced that they earn money and receive gifts by going to public hospitals. In fact, they also exercise medical administrative power on behalf of * *. Whether it's planting apricots to run a clinic, opening a pharmacy, or going out to be a travel doctor, the approval right is completely in the hands of this medical officer. There's always a chance to taste salty, right?