Qing dynasty officials joke

Liu Yushu was born in a rich family, and his father wanted his son to be a dragon. He hoped that he could be promoted as soon as possible, so he invited a gentleman to his side very early.

However, Liu Yushu was born dull and couldn't even recognize words when he was fourteen or fifteen years old. His father was in a hurry, and he felt that at this rate, he would definitely fail in everything he did, even if the family business was passed on to him.

Therefore, Liu Yushu's father made a sesame official for Liu Yushu through the official donation system. Liu Yushu didn't know how to fight for it, so he waited for 20 years and got a supervisory position in Guangdong since he donated officials.

After getting the official position, Liu Yushu went to Beijing to pay tribute to Long En. When I arrived in Beijing, I heard that I would go to the noon gate to give thanks at dawn the next day. So he dressed in government clothes early in the morning, tidied up his clothes, knelt down three times at the noon gate and knocked nine times to express his gratitude.

Just then, a prince went to the court and happened to see this scene. He was curious and asked his servant to find out. It turned out that there was a man named Liu Yushu who took himself seriously and went to give thanks when he visited Guangdong from Do. After listening to this, the prince couldn't help laughing and went to the palace at once.

When the prince arrived at the court, he met the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and remembered Liu Yushu who thanked him at the noon. He casually said to the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, "One of your counties is inspecting Liu …" Before he finished, the prince was summoned by the Queen Mother.

The governor of Guangdong and Guangxi was absent-minded and thought that the prince had friendship with Liu Yushu. He wanted to ask the prince clearly, but he never saw him again. Later, the governor returned to Guangdong from Beijing, and Liu Yushu took office.

When Liu Yushu went to visit the governor, he gave himself his last name. The Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi suddenly remembered what the Prince had said to him when he was in Beijing, and asked Liu Yushu, "What happened to the Prince?"

Liu Yushu was puzzled, but he had to deal with it casually. Later, Liu Yushu was promoted to magistrate of a county one year later.

After a while, the governor wanted to give a gift to the prince and asked Liu Yushu to go in person. Liu Yushu went to Beijing to send a gift to Wang Fu, and housekeeper Wang Fu received a gift and a letter from the governor.

The letter said: Your Majesty, Liu Yushu is an old acquaintance of yours, and he works very hard. I promoted him to a Taoist priest. After reading the letter, the prince looked puzzled and couldn't remember Liu Yushu at all Later, the emperor summoned the prince to discuss the appointment and removal of Guangdong envoys.

The emperor asked the prince if there was a suitable candidate. The prince couldn't figure out who it was at the moment, so he casually named Liu Yushu. In this way, accidentally, Liu Yushu changed from a small official with nine grades to a political envoy.

Extended data:

During the Qing dynasty, the large military expenditure led to the emptiness of the national treasury, and the court had to find ways to increase the national treasury income. Officials in the Qing dynasty thought of the quickest way to make money, that is, selling officials and titles.

Although it is selling officials and titles, it can't be called that on the surface. This system has a scientific name "donation".

Donation became an important system to supplement the imperial examination. There are both examples of donations and examples of regular donations, and they are managed in a unified way and clearly marked. People donate official hats such as red, yellow and blue, but there is no "black top".

Donations are becoming more and more rampant, and in many cases, 60% of officials come from donations. In addition, Jinshi can not only "donate officials", but also donate seals, virtual titles and official uniforms, and even donate imperial academy diplomas, which is called "spending money to buy diplomas".

The result of the flood of donations is that officials are corrupt and corrupt. The so-called "three years to clear the magistrate, 100 thousand snowflakes silver", it costs 4600 taels of silver to buy a magistrate, but its salary is only 60 taels of silver.

In order to get back the money of "donating officials" as soon as possible, the officials involved will choose to take bribes, just to get back the capital, but they have no intention of doing it. When bureaucracy is broken and thieves are everywhere, serious political and social problems have emerged.