Chapter 11 9 Settling violators

Where are the upright officials in Nali?The upright official died gloriously and became a good example for everyone.Compared with the benefits and risks of being an upright official, which one is greater? 【Shanxi Officialdom Crisis】 At the end of the nineteenth year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1839), there was a crisis in Shanxi's official circles: a county magistrate surnamed Lin in Jiexiu County submitted a report to the provincial government, denouncing a series of high-ranking officials' violations of law and discipline, and Please forward the report to the emperor.County magistrate Lin's revelation was an official document, not a letter of complaint or an anonymous letter that could be withheld at will, and the governor could not conceal it or not report it.But County Magistrate Lin's revelation was really scary.He exposed a total of 22 items, the most serious one of which was to report that the imperial envoy had accepted generous gifts①.

County magistrate Lin revealed that when the imperial envoys came to Shanxi, such as Tang Jinzhao University scholar and Long Yunzhang Shangshu respectively, the Taiyuan government (similar to the current Taiyuan city government) always came forward to pay Shanxi officials in the name of office expenses. The vassal (similar to the provincial government, in charge of finance, taxation and personnel affairs) borrowed 20,000 taels of silver to entertain imperial envoys.Afterwards, apportionment was made to the subordinates, and the amount apportioned each time was 30,000 to 50,000 taels of silver.

Three to fifty thousand taels of silver is not a decimal number.At that time, families in Fujian Province fought with each other and hired people to fight. One life was only worth thirty taels of silver, and these three to fifty thousand taels of silver could buy thousands of lives.At that time, the price of buying a yard with a main house and a side room in the south of the Yangtze River was only one or two hundred taels of silver, and the three to fifty thousand taels could buy two to three hundred yards.If converted into food prices, this amount is about NT$40 million.At the same time, the magistrate Lin’s magistrate is an even more important figure, his status is similar to that of an alternate member of the Politburo or a member of the State Council, and the minister is also the official minister of the central government. At that time, the central government had only six ministries, unlike today’s Dozens.

The problem exposed by County Magistrate Lin is actually an unspoken rule for local officials to interact with imperial envoys, which was called bad rules at the time.The word shabby rules often appeared in Ming Dynasty documents, and the behavior referred to by the word shackles was not uncommon in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, and it can be said to have a long history.Naturally, it is not easy to say it clearly, and it is also illegal to say it, but both parties know that this is a rule, a code of conduct recognized by both parties, and a tacit expectation of each other.As soon as the imperial envoy left Beijing, he knew that there would be this income, and the local officials also knew that the imperial envoy would get this income, so they would try their best to take care of the province and accommodate everything, at least they would not intentionally seek trouble.The specific method of sending money has also evolved with the times. Originally, it was given to the imperial envoy as a fee to take away. Later, the imperial envoy refused to take it away.In short, the cooperation between the two parties has long been a tacit understanding, and the violation is an accident.Probably because of this habit, the leaders of Taiyuan Prefecture relaxed their vigilance, and even wrote a letter to their subordinates in person, requesting apportionment of funds and sending them to Taiyuan Prefecture for a summary.County magistrate Lin holds these evidences in his hand, including the personal letter of the first Jiang Mei (similar to the secretary of the Taiyuan Municipal Party Committee), which can be called a mountain of ironclad evidence.

In addition, the vassals (i.e., the chief ministers, similar to the current provincial government) often ask for extra fees and receive various types of favor fees when they do things for the county.In the central government, this is called the ministry fee (now it is probably called the running department fee, which is not as simple as the ancient name), and in the localities it is collectively called the envoy fee.All these are unspoken rules in the officialdom, tacit internal regulations, and now they are all revealed by Lin County Magistrate, and there are receipts issued by the officials of the feudal bureau as evidence, no one can deny it.

It is said that Zhang Lizhong, the Fantai (chief political envoy, similar to the governor, was the second-in-command), was unable to sleep for several nights after receiving the report from County Magistrate Lin.He has his part in all these things, and if he plays them to the emperor, he will definitely not be able to eat them well.But withholding the memorial to the emperor without authorization, I am afraid that the crime is even greater, and it may not be able to cover it up in the end.After several sleepless nights of weighing, Zhang Lizhong had no choice but to ask Governor Yang Guozhen (similar to the secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee, the top leader) for instructions and report.

Not long after Governor Yang was transferred to Shanxi, he was inspecting Yanbei.After reading Governor Zhang's report, I was shocked not because of the imperial envoy fees and envoy fees, but because Shanxi officials didn't go on the road. Even the officials in Shanxi were too naive to report the bad rules that the officialdom abides by.Governor Yang showed Zhang Fantai's report to Zhang Jixin, the magistrate of Shuoping (similar to the current commissioner of the Yanbei District Administrative Office) who accompanied him on the inspection, and asked: Why is the official style in Shanxi so absurd?Zhang Jixin knew the inside story of this grievance in Shanxi official circles, and replied: It was provoked.

【Can't keep the rules in vain】 Jiexiu's county magistrate Lin is not an upright official who ambushes and attacks, nor is he a melon egg.He is an old slippery official who knows the unspoken rules of the officialdom very well and abides by them seriously.If the leader asks him to apportion, he will apportion. If the superior department asks for benefits, he will give them, and he has no intention of resisting.But the higher-ups are suspected of not following the rules. A few months ago, Shanxi received an instruction from the emperor, saying that according to Wang Yushi (similar to the current director of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection), the son of Zhang Jinling, a robber in Pingyao County, gang-raped a woman and chopped off the woman's feet after rape. The local officials did not arrest and deal with such a serious case.The emperor ordered that he be punished immediately.After receiving the emperor's order, Shanxi immediately acted urgently and appointed Zhang Jixin to investigate and deal with it in Jiexiu, Pingyao.

According to Zhang Jixin, when he went to Jiexiu to investigate, County Magistrate Lin sent this and that, but he himself refused.County magistrate Lin begged repeatedly, and he accepted one or two kinds of food, and rejected all other things.It can be seen that magistrate Lin knows the rules very well.It is part of the rules to ask others to accept the gift, and the purpose is to let the leader gain both strength and face, both as a bitch and an archway.Zhang Jixin described that because he only accepted one or two kinds of food, Lin Ling thought that there was no way to host him, and felt very uneasy.This further proves that magistrate Lin understands the rules.He knows how to be a host, and he feels uneasy if he is not allowed to follow the rules of the host, which shows that the rules have been deeply rooted in his heart.

However, the other party's failure to accept gifts according to the rules also implies two other possibilities. The first is that people want to do business in a business-like manner and not show favoritism.The censor has already sued the magistrate for dereliction of duty, so business affairs are of course worrying.The second possibility is that you think you don't give too much, and want to hit you hard.This is a sign of danger.Zhang Jixin understood County Magistrate Lin's concerns. When people petitioned for complaints other than the gang rape and chopped feet case, they would all be sent to County Magistrate Lin's superiors as usual.So magistrate Lin dispelled his worries, and felt that he owed Zhang Jixin.This kind of acknowledgment once again proved that magistrate Lin understood the rules: he admitted that people should eat more and take more, and accept gifts and bribes.

The case of gang rape and chopped feet came to fruition soon.The son of the thief Zhang Jinling was captured, but he only admitted the theft, not the gang rape and chopping his feet.Zhang Jixin checked the report records, interviewed the squires, and said that there was no such case.After checking and checking, I learned a rumor that a female family member of a Gongsheng student in Jiexiu County was watching a play in the village, and was spotted by thieves, who followed her into the house and raped her, and finally took off the woman's bow shoes.Zhang Jixin called Gongsheng again, and repeatedly enlightened him. Gongsheng only admitted that his home was stolen, and he firmly refused to admit that there was such a thing as gang rape. The case could have been closed.But the case entrusted by the emperor, after checking and checking, he said that it was nothing like that, it was just an ordinary theft case, and there was always something wrong.It just so happened that the former governor of Shanxi passed away, and the new leader took over and ordered another investigation.The second in command, Zhang Lizhong Fantai, accepted the task and appointed his trusted magistrate Yu to investigate Jiexiu, and this investigation found something wrong. But it is said that after the magistrate Yu arrived in Jiexiu, he was picky in every possible way, wanting this and that, drinking day and night, and even coercing women into prostitution.Magistrate Lin endured all this.After all, they are here to investigate themselves, and the power to deal with this matter is in their hands, and they can give them whatever they want.After two months of arguing, the conclusion reached was no different from Zhang Jixin's. Prefect Yu had had enough fun and returned with a rewarding experience.Back in the province, he wrote a report to the emperor, to the effect that the victim only admitted the robber, not the adulterer.This is related to the face of the two families. Once the confession is made, it will be difficult for the folks in the village to see each other.Anyway, the culprit has already been killed, and the gang rape is true, so I suggest closing the case here.The emperor agreed and praised that it was well done. In this way, Jiexiu's county magistrate Lin did not conceal his dereliction of duty, so naturally he should not be punished.But since the censor had sued, he always wanted to give others a face, so the magistrate Yu urged Zhang Fantai to report the mistake that magistrate Lin had concealed and failed to report in another case. As a result, the central government ordered magistrate Lin to be reprimanded.The magistrate of Lin County was fighting like chickens and eggs, he kept the rules in vain, and flattered his superiors in vain. County magistrate Lin's counterattack was extremely fierce.We know that he exposed the imperial envoy, the provincial government, and the Taiyuan government with ironclad evidence.He also exposed the prefect of Yu, and collected the confessions of the messenger who helped the prefect of Yu find prostitutes, as well as the confessions of the prostitutes that the prefect of Yu had prostituted, showing a high professional level.As long as the report of County Magistrate Lin is sent to Beijing, there will be a big prison in Shanxi and even the whole country. 【Crisis Management】 In officialdom, violations of unspoken rules are not common.When I was reading history books, I collected carefully for several months, but I gained very little.After a long time, I also figured out the truth.Violation of unspoken rules means that one of the parties in the interaction will raise or lower prices without authorization.This is no small matter, it is simply a robbery of money.Unless there is a significant change in the ability of both parties to benefit or harm, the unspoken rules cannot be modified and violated casually.However, the imperial system has lasted for more than two thousand years, and the pattern of interests has been quite stable.Both parties recognize that it is in their best interest to abide by this set of conventions.This is like a transaction. One is willing to buy and the other is willing to sell. Failure to make a deal is not beneficial to both parties.Since it is a transaction, taking people's money means eliminating disasters for others.Taking other people's things and harming others is fine for ordinary people who are powerless to resist, but it is inevitable to be retaliated in officialdom. In the relationship between Prefect Yu and County Magistrate Lin, County Magistrate Lin has fulfilled his duty as a host, and even found prostitutes for him, and Prefect Yu wants to persuade Zhang Fantai to betray County Magistrate Lin. From the perspective of unspoken rules, This is the prefect Yu's fault. In the relationship between Zhang Fantai and Lin County Magistrate, Lin County Magistrate is also considered to be careful.When the provincial government asks for mission fees, Jiexiu honestly pays them without making irresponsible remarks.It was not the direct responsibility of County Magistrate Lin to entertain the imperial envoy. The imperial envoy received tens of thousands of taels of silver, and could only receive favors from a few provincial and municipal leaders. He would never receive favors from county magistrate Lin. Ling didn't say anything.What he bought was the face of provincial and municipal leaders.Now that County Magistrate Lin has fulfilled his responsibilities in the bad rules and did not show a businesslike face, the provincial and municipal leaders are also obliged to cover up for him, and can no longer put on a businesslike posture.That being the case, how can he sell his little mistake to the censor?From the perspective of unspoken rules, this is Zhang Fantai's fault again. In short, although it seems that County Magistrate Lin violated the rules on the surface, as if he did not understand the rules and exposed the private transactions between the imperial envoy and several leaders of Shanxi, in essence, County Magistrate Lin did not violate the rules. On the contrary, what he did What he did was to maintain the dignity of the unspoken rules, and he wanted to punish violators.The betrayal of the imperial envoy is only an indirect connection, a trump card to punish violators. After being hit hard by County Magistrate Lin, Zhang Fantai quickly came to his senses, and he immediately decided to bow his head to the seventh-rank Zhima official.While reporting to Governor Yang, the leader, Zhang Fantai and Jiang Shoudao (the leader in Taiyuan) negotiated with County Magistrate Lin, agreeing to pay him a huge sum of money for the loss of being dismissed, and asking him to admit his mistake and withdraw his appeal.The huge amount Zhang Fantai was willing to pay was 10,000 taels of silver, and the magistrate Yu was the most responsible for the upheaval. One person paid 3,000 taels, and the remaining 7,000 taels were shared by Zhang Fantai, Jiang Shoudao, and the prefect Wang of Taiyuan. Converted to the grain price stipulated by the central government at that time, 10,000 taels of silver was nearly NT$8 million, which is not a small number.I don’t know how much the official price of donating a county magistrate was during the Daoguang period, but I know that during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, that is, 20 or 30 years after this incident, buying a county magistrate only cost 3,000 taels of silver②.From this point of view, magistrate Lin made a lot of money, but he still didn't do it.After several twists and turns, the two parties finally reached an agreement: County magistrate Lin declared that Jiexiu had a huge financial deficit, and Zhang Fantai and Jiang Shoudao agreed that their successors would bear the loss.According to the official rules of the Qing Dynasty, County Magistrate Lin had to make up for the deficit by himself, and if he couldn't afford it, he would ransack the house.Now county magistrate Lin doesn't have to pay, which is equivalent to another ten thousand taels of silver.For Zhang Fantai's side, the advantage of this plan is that they don't have to pay out of their own pockets. The trouble is that they need to find someone who is willing to take over the huge loss to take over as the county magistrate of Jiexiu.Jiang Shoudao found such a big head named Duo Rui, and all problems were solved. Therefore, County Magistrate Lin admitted his mistake and withdrew the lawsuit, and Jiang Shoudao reported to Governor Yang, the top leader, saying that the matter had been found out and there was no need to enter the emperor.Governor Yang read the report and said to Zhang Jixin: Since Jiang Shoudao and others have already investigated and found out, I don't want to be sued.Once he enters the emperor, Zhang Fantai may not be immune to the consequences.However, this apportionment of imperial mission fees is a matter of great importance, and it must be checked again to avoid future troubles.Governor Yang appointed Zhang Jixin and Ye Mingchen to investigate the money. I think Governor Yang's decision is very wise, and this matter cannot just end like this.With a few letters, County Magistrate Lin tormented the provincial leaders in Shanxi, and it took 20,000 taels of silver to settle the matter. This clearly set a dangerous example. How many people want to learn from County Magistrate Lin?How many of these landmine-like letters are going to explode as soon as the subordinate officials are punished?How much money will it cost to settle?With such a major hidden danger, how can the provincial leader be a leader? After Zhang Jixin was ordered, he discussed with Ye Mingchen a way to clear the landmines. The name was serious, the concept was ingenious, and the clearing was thorough, which made me dumbfounded and applauded.Zhang Jixin claimed that this matter cannot be believed to be true just because County Magistrate Lin said a word, nor can it be concluded that nothing is true just because County Magistrate Lin admits a mistake.Therefore, all levels of government in Shanxi Province are specially notified of this matter, and anyone who has apportioned imperial envoy fees must report the truth immediately.For those who have not apportioned, they must also issue a practical written guarantee, affix a seal, and send it to the province for record. Just imagine, what is the situation when Lin County Magistrate and the leader fall out?He has been reprimanded by the central government and has become a proletarian, with nothing to lose.What is the current situation of leaders at all levels?The most important thing for them is to protect and promote officials. Who wants to risk their own future and blackmail leaders like kidnapping bandits?Sure enough, Zhang Jixin soon received a letter of guarantee stamped by the subordinate governments at all levels, and there was no apportionment problem in the whole province.The mines were scrapped, and the crisis was settled. 【Business of Beijing officials】 If we compare the unspoken rules system in officialdom to a building, then this building has always been hidden in the shadow of the majestic formal rules building, and the above-mentioned incident was just a few months of trouble in a high-rise apartment of the gloomy building. A little thing.There are also many floors and many rooms in the building, where people live more ordinary than lively lives every day.In the courtyard outside the building, some wonderful plays are also staged from time to time. It is far beyond the competence of this article to comprehensively describe the inside and outside of the unspoken rule building and its long history, but we might as well follow Zhang Jixin to go up the stairs in the northwest corner a few floors to see what other floors and rooms look like.Because there are too many floors and rooms, I can only focus on static descriptions, and quickly browse the dimensions of the doors and windows of some rooms. The stories that happened in the rooms have to be simplified or represented by the previous events.But it is not difficult for readers to imagine that in every house, brilliant dramas may have been staged. On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month in the twenty-fifth year of Daoguang (1845), five years after the above-mentioned crisis had passed, the 45-year-old Zhang Jixin was appointed by the emperor to serve as the grain governor of Shaanxi.This official is a well-known vacancies, similar to the current Director of the Logistics Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Military Region, barely can also be called the Director of the Provincial Grain Bureau, mainly responsible for the collection, storage and supply of military rations in the Northwest region.As the saying goes, three cents of fat is obtained by hand. Shaanxi Liangdao hands over 200,000 shi (approximately 15,000 tons) of grain every year. How fat should he be?And how to divide the fertilizer ③? I have to make a statement first: Zhang Jixin is not a corrupt official. According to the real standard of officialdom, his conduct is quite good.Even the emperor appreciated this.On the second day after receiving the appointment, Zhang Jixin visited the emperor. The emperor said: I heard that your conduct is very good. A few years ago, Shen Qixian (the top leader in Shanxi) had a secret year-end exam and praised your conduct.Now go to Shaanxi, you have to persist, old and dutiful, keep the late festival of the minister.Zhang Jixin said: Please follow the hadith. After receiving the emperor's instructions, Zhang Jixin began to deal with the issue of fertilizer distribution according to unspoken rules. Generally speaking, Beijing officials in the Qing Dynasty were poorer than foreign officials.Foreign officials have a large amount of money to support honesty, the amount is often twenty or thirty times that of the regular salary, and the gray income is also relatively large.However, Beijing officials have a relatively large influence on the promotion and appointment of foreign officials. It is not difficult to understand why there are people in the court who are good at being officials.As a result, an exchange mechanism has been formed in the long-term official transactions: Beijing officials take care of foreign officials by virtue of their power and influence, and foreign officials send money and things to Beijing officials.The imperial envoy fee mentioned earlier is a kind of this kind of exchange.The names of such bad practices also include farewell tributes from Beijing, ice tributes in summer and charcoal tributes in winter.The specific weight of respect depends on the depth of the relationship between the two parties, the usefulness of Beijing officials and the size of foreign officials. When Zhang Jixin received the appointment, she had already lived in Beijing for four months, and her travel expenses were almost exhausted.He wrote: Now that I have this shortage, I have always been famous, so I have to pay for it.So borrow heavily.He entrusted someone to borrow 9,000 taels of silver from Guangdong Foreign Bank at 9% interest, 5,000 taels of silver from Shanxi Bank, and 2,000 taels of silver from colleagues and friends.Zhang Jixin recorded: Together with the hundreds of taels of silver I bought gifts in Beijing, I shared 17,000 taels of farewell, almost no travel expenses. The number seventeen thousand taels seems a bit scary.We know that this is equivalent to NT$14,500,000, which can buy hundreds of properties or five or six hundred lives.Can Shaanxi Liangdao be so fat?In addition, is it necessary to bleed so much fat?We will see how fat the Liang Dao is in a moment.As for the distribution of fat, it is reasonable to speculate that the party who pays the private pocket must know how distressed it is. Zhang Jixin also used the word "had to", presumably because he had no choice but to dare not disobey the rules. Zhang Jixin did not record in detail how the fertilizer was distributed in Beijing this time.But two years later, he was transferred to Sichuan Jiesi (deputy governor in charge of public security and justice), and gave another 15,000 taels of silver in Beijing, and wrote down the specific size: Minister of Military Aircraft (similar to a member of the Politburo) For Bie Jing, four hundred taels of silver each; for two shifts of Zhang Jing (similar to the secretariat serving the Military Aircraft Department, a total of thirty-two people), sixteen taels each.Among them, those who have friendship with him, or have correspondence with him, and help him with the paperwork, ranging from one hundred taels to eighty taels; six ministers, general constitution (similar to the minister of supervision), one hundred taels each; ministers (deputy ministers) ), Da Jiuqing fifty-two.in descending order.Those from the same town, the same year, and the same year have a good family background, and they must be entertained.Looking at these figures, one or two houses are sold at every turn, at least half a person's life is lost. The important task of wealth distribution undertaken by the unspoken rules is really impressive. During Zhang Jixin's tenure, he also sent charcoal tributes to the capital every year, but the specific number has not been recorded. We have completed the transfer to the Beijing official level of the Unspoken Rules Building, and now we continue to transfer as Zhang Jixin descends the stairs. 【Deal with the military】 The daily work of Shaanxi Liangdao is to send and receive military rations.The process of distributing military rations contains major stakes, and the most prone to problems is the quality of food.Zhang Jixin experienced conflicts in this aspect as soon as he took office. Zhang Jixin's predecessor, Fang Yongyi, was a greedy man. Before leaving office, his nephew and his family bought four thousand shi of wheat husks in the market under the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and mixed them into the Dongcang.This is a huge amount. If these husks are used to replace the wheat and sold on a truck with a load capacity of three tons, it will take about 100 truckloads, and the value will be as high as several million NT dollars.Ordinarily, if the scale is large, it will be difficult to hide from others, and it will not be easy to succeed in cheating. The successor is unwilling to take such a big blame for the predecessor. After hearing the wind, he usually refuses to sign to take over.However, it was not Fang Yongyi himself who went through the handover procedures with Zhang Jixin, but Liu Yuanhao, the acting superintendent of Liangdao.Acting as the director of Liangdao is a recognized opportunity to make money. If Liu Yuanhao and Fang Yongyi refuse to sign when they go through the handover procedures, they will obviously lose this good opportunity, so he signed and Fang Yongyi cheated.I guess Fang Yongyi dared to cheat on such a large scale precisely because he had figured out what Liu Yuanhao was thinking.At that time, there was a popular metaphor called "department is like robbery".Acting means acting as an agent, and beating and robbing is a standard short-term behavioral feature.What this metaphor describes can be called the unspoken rules of the agency. After Zhang Jixin took office, she visited and found out about this matter, so she refused to take over the signature from Liu Yuanhao.Liu Yuanhao persuaded him hard, saying that there must be no shortage of losses in other aspects of granaries. Besides, Fang Yongyi has returned to his hometown in Jiangxi, so can the emperor transfer him back to deal with this matter?Take a closer look at Liu Yuanhao's reasons for persuading Zhang Jixin, which contains a hint: If the loophole is indeed only a few thousand taels of silver, in order to wait for Fang Yongyi to come back and re-handover, the time spent on official documents and travel may take several months. Zhang Jixin's material loss due to waiting may exceed these few thousand taels of silver.What about the loss of offending people and the reputation loss of being unwilling to accommodate in the officialdom?In other words, the cost of waiting for official business is too high to be worth it, and it is still worthwhile to admit it.Zhang Jixin was really persuaded and accepted.Backtracking from this, Fang Yongyi decided to mix one hundred truckloads of wheat husks instead of fifty or two hundred truckloads before leaving office. According to the routine, the officers and soldiers of the Eight Banners in the full battalion receive food in eight days every month.When it was time to receive the rations, Zhang Jixin told his subordinates: This is the first time I have released rations, absolutely not allowed to adulterate like Fang Yongyi did, and let the officers and soldiers despise me, and it will be difficult to handle future official affairs.He appointed to make good use of the granary for grain. The officers and soldiers who received the grain came. They had known about Fang Yongyi's mixing of wheat husks for a long time, and they were very vigilant. They concluded that the warehouse that the storekeeper took them to was the wheat husk warehouse.The granary officials tried their best to argue, and the officers and soldiers became more suspicious. There was a riot around the granary, and they refused to receive grain from the granary designated by Zhang Jixin.So the grain road asked the officers and soldiers to designate the warehouse themselves. Unexpectedly, the warehouse designated by the officers and soldiers happened to be a warehouse mixed with wheat husks. After opening the warehouse, the officers and soldiers changed their faces and began to complain to each other.Zhang Jixin ordered to open the designated warehouse just now for them to see, and it really contained Yuanjing good wheat.Finally, Zhang Jixin ordered the four thousand shi wheat husks to be sifted out and spread on the road to the granary, dispelling the suspicion of the soldiers. The arrogant soldiers of the Eight Banners are not easy to mess with.Provoking the army to make trouble is a serious crime that is difficult to cover up in any era, and the grain road cannot be careless. According to the procedures, before the Eight Banners receive rice every month, the granary will send officials to send rice samples to the general for inspection.The generals mentioned here are the top leaders of the garrisons in the provinces, the provincial military-level cadres, and the main targets of the grain roads.His attitude towards the quality of food has a great influence on the officers and soldiers receiving food. If the general is a little picky, the proud soldiers of the Eight Banners who receive food on the front line will turn upside down.Zhang Jixin said that Liang Dao had to entertain the general because he was afraid that he would be a hindrance. The way of entertaining generals has long been established.First of all, according to the regulations, the general and the two deputy governors themselves were given a combination of rice and millet, and rice was expensive and millet was cheap, so the general naturally didn't want millet, so the grain minister gave them all rice.It's a small thing, nothing to worry about.Secondly, both the general and the vice commander recommended their family members to work in Liangdao, even in name only, and when the time came to receive the money, Liangdao would accept it as usual.Again, it is customary to give gifts to generals and other senior military officers. The popular gift-giving name in official circles in the Qing Dynasty was three festivals and two longevity.The three festivals refer to the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, and the two birthdays refer to the birthdays of the officials themselves and their wives.The number of Liangshou for the three festivals given by Shaanxi Liangdao to the general is as follows: 800 taels of silver each time, a total of 4,000 taels five times a year; eight colors for table gifts and water gifts each time; Distributed by him to the general's personal assistant) forty taels each time, two hundred taels a year.I don't know the value of the eight-color table gift and water gift, but the size of the bad rules given to the general every year should be more than five thousand taels of silver. The military officers who have the right to speak on the food issue also include the deputy capital commander and the leader of the Eight Banners Association.Liang Dao also sent two deputy Dutong three festivals, but they didn't have two lives.The bad rules of the three festivals are two hundred taels of silver per festival, six hundred taels a year.In addition, there are four-color water rituals.There are eight leaders of the Eight Banners Association, each of whom will give twenty taels of silver and four stones of high-quality white rice for each festival. We already know that the officers and soldiers who go directly to the warehouse to collect rice have reason to be vigilant, and they cannot be too honest.Then again, they are not honest, they have never been fuel-efficient lamps, and they need to be careful with food and entertainment.Zhang Jixin said that every day when the rice is released, a low-ranking officer from the full battalion will lead the soldiers to collect the grain. According to the rules, a table of banquets is prepared on the grain road, which is called a delivery warehouse. have a meal.The camp is full of Eight Banners, and they have to stay with them for eight days in a row.When encountering picky bannermen, the warehouse staff had to swallow their anger, and when there was a big disturbance, they had to invite family members recommended by the general and the deputy capital commander to work with them, so as to comfort and persuade them, so as not to cause trouble. Liang Dao's regular entertainment in the army, as well as the annual Spring and Autumn Festival banquet.The banquet for the general and the deputy capital must have opera troupe singing, which is called opera feast.The mid-level officers of the Manying and Luying (Han army) stationed in Xi'an also have a banquet every spring and autumn.These bonding efforts are clearly paying off.Before Zhang Jixin, an official named Yutai served as an agent of grain supervision for half a year.The bad food that the official received would end up in the stomachs of the soldiers and their families, but Zhang Jixin hadn't seen any record of the army making trouble for this. This is generally the case with the bad rules related to the military.Next, let's change to another floor to see the relationship between Liangdao and local officials. [Distribution of benefits in local official circles] In the twenty-sixth year of Daoguang (1846), when Zhang Jixin was serving as the grain governor of Shaanxi, the governor (top leader) of Shaanxi was the famous Lin Zexu.We know that Lin Zexu wrote the famous couplet about the life and death of a country that benefited the country, should it be avoided because of misfortune and good fortune, and he has indeed practiced it in this way.Will such a good official accept bad rules?According to Zhang Jixin's records, due to the famine that year, the collection of military rations was stopped, but the governor and general's bad rules continued to send them as usual, so that Shaanxi's grain roads were deeply difficult.The so-called governor refers to the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu and the governor of Shaanxi.This clearly tells us: Lin Zexu also accepts bad rules like everyone else.I don't mean to belittle Lin Zexu, he is indeed a rare official with integrity.What I want to emphasize is that such a noble conduct does not exclude bad rules, which further proves how broad the scope of unspoken rules is. Liang Dao gave Lin Zexu more bad rules than any leader.This is because the governor of Shaanxi has to secretly report to the emperor every year the conduct, ability and performance of subordinate officials. This is called the year-end secret examination, which has a huge impact on the future of officials.The bad rules of the grain road to the governor are delivered according to the season, 1,300 taels per season, and 5,200 taels a year.In addition, there are table gifts, water gifts, door bags and miscellaneous fees for three festivals and two lives.This is a huge sum of several million NT dollars. The governor of Shaanxi-Gansu is a bit older than the governor of Shaanxi, but he is separated from each other, he is not considered a direct leader, and he does not live in Xi'an, so the number of illegal regulations is slightly lower than that of the governor.The governor's bad rules are given in three festivals, one thousand taels per festival. In addition, there are table gifts, water ceremonies and door bag miscellaneous fees. All these things are sent by the governor Liangdao to Lanzhou, where the governor is stationed. Shaanxi Liangdao is known as the Temple of Wealth, and the provincial leaders naturally don't allow the monks in the temple to take advantage of it all. They use Liangdao as a small treasury, and Liangdao pays for all guests. This is also a long-established rule.Next, let's take a closer look at how the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty treated guests to dinner.Zhang Jixin's records on this aspect are extremely detailed and the language is relatively clear. I will copy the original text as follows: In case of passers-by, they are all undertaken by Liangdao.Xi'an is a tunnel, and Tibet, Xinjiang, Long, and Shu are all roads that must pass through.When the passers-by arrived, Liang Dao followed the general and Zhong Cheng (that is, the governor of Shaanxi) to greet them in the official hall. After the officials returned to the office (that is, after the leaders returned to the yamen), they sent people to ask for their names. The master I invited) wrote it and sent it to the various departments. After seeing that it was good, they sent people to the official mansion, where they decorated with lanterns and festoons, and passed on the opera to prepare the seats. Every time there are two classes.There are five tables for the upper seats and fourteen tables for the middle seats.The top table must be barbecued bird's nest, and the middle table also has shark's fin and sea cucumber.Live fish in Xi'an are rare, and each large fish is worth four to five thousand renminbi.Others, such as white eel and deer tail, are precious and rare things, so you must try to buy them, otherwise it is said to be stingy in the Tao.After the opera feast is over, no matter whether it is winter or summer, it is always at the end of the child and the beginning of the ugly (around one o'clock in the middle of the night).The group leader sent the guests out of the Dengyu (that is, seeing the guests on the sedan chair), and then the landlord greeted them one by one, and then the people held the group leader’s name stickers, and went to the guest’s mansion to talk (it can be seen that Liangdao is purely for the military and political leaders of the province). Holding the title card of Liang Dao, until the departments run out of roads (each department is the leader of the provincial yamen, it can be seen that Liang Dao knows that he wants to serve the master and not the guest).The next day, the passer-by got up and went to the west of the city to send it to the public, and gave it a coil. The thickness of the gift depends on the dignity of the official position. Every banquet, including the theater prices, rewards, banquet miscellaneous expenses, is always more than two hundred gold (that is, more than two hundred taels of silver, equivalent to about NT$160,000), Cheng Yi is outside. Others, such as the deputy capital commander and chief soldier, who are not friends with the courtyard (that is, the governor), do not have a big banquet, but only send wine and food.For example, Changjing for camel horses and Zhangjing for food and pay, although the official position is small, you must take the letter from the adults in the city to think it is a plan, and you will send four dishes and two points in the way, and Cheng Yi will be ten or twenty gold, or forty or fifty gold. There is no moon without it for a big banquet, and no day for a small entertainment.During the Spring and Autumn Festival, generals, deputy capitals, Zhongcheng and Si (that is, the leaders of the feudal and standard divisions, the feudal divisions are responsible for the province's money and food, and the standard divisions are responsible for the province's prisons), Taoist and government officials must be invited. The prefectures are equivalent to the current prefecture-level officials), counties, and those who enter the province from foreign prefectures and counties are all opera feasts. For example, for ten days and a half months, fortunately, there were no disturbances from passing visitors. There were two divisions in Daozhong (feudal division and standard division), and Yandao (responsible for the production, transportation and sales of the salt industry in the whole province. It's better that it is not enough to connect with friendship if it is a small collection of traditional dramas. There is a pair of couplets on the third hall of Liangdao Yamen in Shaanxi Province, which clearly depicts the life of Du Liangdao. The couplet says: Ask this official what is the busiest thing, the crown and cover are far away, wine, wine, sheng and spring are all important to politics; Laughing at the end of the year to be married, the grease has been exhausted, who knows the kindness of relatives, friends, children and servants? Although Zhang Jixin is so busy and spends so much money, he doesn't appreciate it.Because this is the rule, it should be done, and you may not be doing it right.Even if they appreciate it, foreigners mainly accept the favor of the provincial leaders. If the provincial leaders are satisfied, even if Zhang Jixin is not in vain. Just as there is a tendency to equalize profits in a competitive market, there seems to be a tendency to equalize official interests in officialdoms that compete for prestige, relationships, security, and popularity.Of course, this is not accurate, because the interests of the officialdom flow toward the ability to create benefits and harm. If everyone has a little bit of the ability to create benefits and harm, there will be a situation of equal benefits, but the distribution of this ability is not so even.On average, every official with influence in the officialdom has a reason to think: none of us spoke ill of you, we were capable of harming you but did not harm you, and we even spoke good things about you to make you With such a good job and fat job, can't you shed some blood and let everyone get a little bit of credit?From the perspective of inequality, officials such as Beijing officials, generals, and superiors have the most ability to benefit or harm, so naturally they should get more points.The strength of this ability diminishes circularly like a water wave, and so does the distribution of benefits.Playing the autumn wind, treating guests to dinner, presenting salutes, Chengyi, charcoal respect, ice respect, three festivals and two longevity, etc., are all the official profit distribution mechanisms governed by this law. What happens if these bad rules are not followed?Zhang Jixin only mentioned briefly: If you don't treat precious and rare items such as white eel and deer tail when you treat guests, others will say that you are stingy.Obviously, a person who is regarded as stingy, awkward, ignorant of rules, and self-sufficient may not be so optimistic about his official career: there are too many people who speak ill of you and find fault with you, and you are not a sage. Planted somewhere inexplicably.Zhang Jixin does not have detailed records in this regard, but we can find vivid supplements in the late Qing novel "The Appearance of Officialdom". The forty-first chapter of "Official Appearance" wrote: In the prefectural and county yamen, whenever there is a new year, a festival, and the governor, governor, vassal, standard, Taoist, government six-fold boss or celebration, etc., the subordinates have a certain amount of filial piety, and what is lacking should be as much as possible. , dare not add or subtract a cent.In addition, there are staff in the boss's yamen, as well as places for supervising seals, copywriting, civil and military patrols, or new year festivals, or arrivals, and places that deserve entertainment, all of which have a certain size.至於門敬、跟敬（給上司跟班的錢），更是各種衙門所不能免。另外府考、院考辦差，總督大閱辦差，欽差大臣過境辦差，還有查驛站的委員，查地丁的委員，查錢糧的委員，查監獄的委員，重重疊疊，一時也說他不盡。諸如此類，種種開銷，倘無一定而不可易的章程，將來開銷起來，少則固惹人言，多則遂成為例。所以這州、縣官帳房一席，竟非有絕大才幹不能勝任。 後來，在這些規矩之上又生出了一個規矩：前後任交接時，要用數十兩銀子甚至上百兩銀子買這本帳。《官場現形記》中的一位候補官員好不容易得了個缺，不懂這個規矩，惹怒了前任帳房師爺，該師爺便給他做了一本假帳，記載的尺寸都是錯的。結果這位知州按照假帳孝敬上司，得罪了一圈人還不知道是怎麼回事，一年就被參劾革職了好多懂規矩的候補官員正排隊等著這個位置呢。 【利益的根源】 現在我們轉到了潛規則大樓的基層。 據張集馨記載，陝西糧道每年花在請客送禮（包括京城炭敬）方面的銀子在五萬兩左右，他本人的進項每年在一兩萬兩銀子之間，糧道每年的入項有六萬多兩銀子。按照當時中央規定的糧食價格折算，這相當於四千多萬新台幣④。 這麼一大筆額外收入，究竟是從那裡來的呢？張集馨說得很清楚：雖非勒折，確是浮收。缺之所以稱美者，不過斗斛盈餘耳。 浮收勒折是明清社會的常用語，其流行程度與如今糧食收購中的打白條和壓級壓價不相上下。所謂勒折，就是糧食部門不肯收糧，強迫百姓交納現金，而現金與糧食的比價又由官方說了算，明明市場上六毛錢一斤大米，官方硬規定為一塊，他還一定有理，譬如說三年中市場平均價就是一塊等等。於是，百姓每交一百斤大米，就要被官方勒折走四十塊錢。 浮收則是變著法地多收，多收的手段花樣繁多。張集馨沒有記載當地浮收的花樣，但我們可以從別的地方找到參照。下邊是清朝康熙十七年（一六七九年）和乾隆十七年（一七五二年）蘇州府常熟縣禁止浮收的兩塊石碑上提到的花樣，原文羅列就用了二三千字，我摘錄部分名目如下： 不許淋尖、踢斛、側拖、虛推。不許將米斛敲鬆撬薄甚至私置大升大斗。不許索取看樣米、起斛米、扒斛錢、篩箱錢。不許勒索耗費、外加、內扣。不許勒索入廒錢、篩扇錢、斛腳錢、酒錢、票錢、舖墊等錢。不許索取順風米、養斛米、鼠耗米。不許索要兌例、心紅、夫價、舖設、通關席面、中夥、較斛、提斛、跟役、催兌、開兌等陋規。不許開私戳小票，令民執此票到家丁親友寓所額外私加贈耗，方給倒換截票。不許故意耽擱，挨至深夜收受⑤。 這一切手段所以能夠奏效，是因為農民必須完成納糧任務，否則就受到合法暴力的追究懲罰。不交皇糧是要挨板子蹲監獄的。這樣一來，農民就成了求人的一方，衙役就成了被求的一方。利害格局如此，各種敲詐勒索的花樣早晚要被創造發明出來。張集馨明白這一點，他說：小民終歲勤動，所得幾何？赴倉納糧，任聽魚肉而不敢一較。他的數萬銀子就是如此魚肉百姓的成果。因此，他寫道：余居是官，心每不安。 從每年二十萬石糧食周轉，得六七萬兩銀子的數字推算，農民比應交數額多交三分之一。但這只是張集馨可以控制的那一部分。民間還有棍徒包攬，官方還有倉手斗級等一大堆在第一線搜刮的嘍囉，他們的所得也絕不是小數。我看到過清朝四川一個縣裡負責徵收錢糧的典吏（比副科級幹部略低）因為分贓不均而寫的揭發信，這個小吏每年浮收勒折的收入就有一萬多兩銀子⑥。張集馨把這等巨額數字說成斗斛盈餘，未免過於輕描淡寫了。 順便再提一句：本文講述的故事基本都發生在清雍正（一七二三︱一七三五年）之後，這並不意味著雍正之前就沒有這類事情。雍正之前的陋規非常嚴重，不過官員的工資很低，雍正皇上體諒部下，認為官員們離開陋規很難生活，乾脆把陋規的收入合法化了，變成了養廉銀子。按理說俸祿高了，陋規從灰變白了，天下也該太平了。可是我們看到的結果表明，皇上考慮不周，對潛規則的性質認識不透，他的期望落空了。 【清官光榮地犧牲了】 以上提到的人物事件，都是一些生活在潛規則陰影裡的人，叫人看了難免生疑：莫非洪桐縣裡沒好人麼？有好人。總有那麼一些人，他們是清官中的僥僥者，堅決不肯拿老百姓和國家的利益做交易。 清嘉慶十三年（一八○八年）秋，黃河決口，淮安一帶鬧災，人民流散，朝廷下詔放賑。江蘇山陽縣當年領得賑銀九萬餘兩，知縣王伸漢一人就貪汙了二萬五千兩。這時，兩江總督鐵保按照慣例派官員赴各地檢查賑災工作，派到山陽縣的官員是新科進士、剛分配到江蘇工作的李毓昌。 李毓昌到達後，山陽知縣王伸漢就派出自己的長隨（近似生活秘書）包祥，與李毓昌的長隨李祥接觸，行話叫二爺們代老爺講斤頭，一般都是討論利益如何分配的問題。這是常規，貪汙者不能獨吞，監督者總會憑藉自己的加害能力得到或大或小的份額。 李毓昌的長隨李祥告訴王伸漢的長隨包祥，自家的老爺到各鄉巡視了，看到災民瀕死的慘狀，十分震驚。回到縣裡調集戶冊核對後，發現了嚴重的貪冒情況，正打算擬文呈報呢。李祥的意思很明白，他亮出了一張王牌：我們老爺掌握了證據，能害你們老爺，你肯花多少錢買安全？王伸漢立刻開出了價格，讓自己的長隨傳話，願意拿出一萬兩銀子。 沒想到李毓昌是個新官，一心要當個清官，不熟悉這些官場黑幕，當即嚴詞拒絕，還要把王伸漢行賄的事情向兩江總督彙報。 這樣一來，不僅貪官王伸漢和包祥罵他是書呆子，李毓昌的長隨李祥等人也罵他。不替自己打算，也不替自家人打算，放著這麼好的買賣不做，這長隨還有什麼幹頭？包祥看出了對方陣營的內部矛盾，就許以重利，讓他們把李毓昌掌握的清冊偷出來燒毀。李毓昌覆命的時間要到了，一旦燒了，沒有時間從頭查。以後再查，就有時間做手腳了。李祥等同意。沒想到李毓昌警惕性很高，長隨難以得手。王伸漢被逼急了，派包祥出面和李祥等三人談判，只要他們下手害死主人，重金酬謝，還要替他們另找新主人。這幾位二爺想來合算，反正李毓昌這傢伙也不懂事，跟著他發不了財，不如先拿他賣個好價錢。於是他們在茶水中投毒，然後又用繩子將李毓昌勒死，偽造了一個自縊身亡的現場。 查賑官員自縊，按說也不是小事。但是王伸漢拿了二千兩銀票找淮安知府王轂活動，王轂再擬一道呈文到省，大事先就化小了。布政使和按察使都接受了自殺的結論，兩江總督鐵保也點頭同意，小事又進一步化無了。萬事大吉之後，王伸漢通知死者家屬來領棺柩，再把李祥推薦給長州通判當長隨，把另外兩個長隨也推薦出去，又給了重金酬謝，事情就算處理妥當了。 偏偏死者的家屬在遺物中發現了一份文稿，上面有山陽知縣冒賑，以利啖毓昌，毓昌不敢受等語。家人頓生疑心。但是這案子連總督都核准了，沒有特別過硬的證據很難翻案，只好先運棺柩回鄉。 靈柩到了家，李毓昌的妻子收拾遺物，發現他平常穿的一件皮衣上有血跡，疑心大起，告訴了運靈柩回來的族叔。族叔做主開棺驗屍，發現了中毒症狀。家屬立刻進京向都察院喊冤。都察院按程序奏呈皇帝，皇帝立即責成軍機處追查，很快破案。 後來，李毓昌被樹為官員的榜樣，皇上親自寫詩褒揚，追加知府銜，皇上還為他過繼了一個兒子傳宗接代，並賞這兒子舉人功名。王伸漢和包祥處斬。李祥和另外兩個參與謀殺的長隨被凌遲處死。有關領導也受到了嚴厲處分⑦。 那麼清官究竟在那裡呢？清官光榮地犧牲了，成了大家的好榜樣。 我想，每個人都會從這個案例得出自己的結論：同流合污的利益和風險與當清官的利益和風險比較，究竟哪頭大。當然，這不是單邊的計算，而是一場雙邊博弈的計算，雙方的行為相互影響，各自的得失還要取決於對方的策略。李毓昌與王知縣互鬥，真正的贏家是根本就沒資格上台面當對手的零散百姓，兩位旗鼓相當的對手得到的卻是雙輸的結局，雙方同歸於盡。既然這場對局成了一場要命的災難，恐怕雙方的策略都難以為後人效法，我們也就不能指望其成為定勢或者叫常規。真實的常規是：對局者雙贏，老百姓買單。 Notes: ①關於整個事件的描述，見張集馨《道咸宦海見聞錄》，道光十九年。中華書局一九八一年版。張集馨（一八○○︱七八年），江蘇儀徵人，道光年間中進士，入翰林，歷任知府、道員、按察使和布政使，《道咸宦海見聞錄》是他的自編年譜。 ②劉愚《醒予山房文存》卷七，第三十頁，轉引自魯子建編《清代四川財政史料》上，第五二一頁。 ③全部描述參見張集馨《道咸宦海見聞錄》，道光二十五年。 ④據《道咸宦海見聞錄》道光三十年記載，甘肅一帶糧食部價每石一兩，清代每石稻穀的重量為七十一．六公斤。本文通過糧價進行的銀子與新台幣比價的折算，大體以此部價為根據。在平常年頭，西北糧食的市場價格並沒有這麼高，稻穀的比重也不如圓淨小麥。所以本文對銀子的購買力的估計偏低，讀者不妨把我提到的新台幣的數字看做很保守的估計。 ⑤參見《江蘇省明清以來碑刻資料選集》第六○五、六四七頁，轉引自洪煥椿《明清蘇州農村經濟資料》第五六八、五七一頁。 ⑥四川省社科院歷史所藏《巴檔抄件》，轉引自《清代四川財政史料》上，第五八○頁。 ⑦引自完顏邵元：《封建衙門探秘》，天津教育出版社，第二一○頁。