Chapter 44 Hunan: The Story of Bai Tiaoer's Sealing of Officials

Indiscriminate appointment of officials and titles was not uncommon in ancient times.Whenever at the end of the dynasty, the rules were broken, and the emperor was only thinking about making money for his small family, the best way was to privately sell the official rank.It is a bit inaccurate to say that it is a private sale, because in ancient Chinese imperial countries, the emperor was like the chairman of the board, and all officials were like his hired employees, who received their wages on a regular basis.Therefore, in theory, there is no problem with who he wants to give the official title to.However, in ancient times, the concept of "home world" was somewhat taboo.If the words were made clear, the scholar-bureaucrats might not give their lives to the emperor, and at the same time, the emperor's legitimacy would also be weakened.Therefore, the wiser emperor said that he wanted to share the world with the scholar-bureaucrats.And scholar-officials often appear as interpreters of mainstream ideology, taking it for granted that he is doing things for the people of the world and cultivating Qi Zhiping.Therefore, under such circumstances, the emperor was regarded as a back door by conferring officials without going through the formalities of the bureaucratic machine.

Official titles at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty could be bought, but the resources were limited, because what the emperor could control were some state governors and county prefects.The big seller is the title, this thing, in theory, you can sell as much as you want.Therefore, the main business item of the partnership between the emperor and the eunuch is this.At the end of the sale, the Marquis of Guannei, the sheep's head, and the mink tail for the title hat were not enough, so he had to use the dog's tail to deal with it, so he contributed an idiom to Chinese: the dog's tail continues the mink.In the Tang Dynasty, all official positions were controlled by the central government, so the emperor sold his official position directly for personal gain.Instead of going through the political affairs hall, seal it obliquely, and seal some white board officials.The last dynasty in China, the Qing Dynasty, had a lot of officials and nobles because of donations.It's just that the emergence of donating classes is not the emperor's personal will, but a way for the country to solve financial difficulties.In the end, official titles and official vacancies (positions) need to be sold separately. For one official position, there are a lot of vacancies waiting in line behind it.

Indiscriminate appointment of officials is a disease of the dynasty, to be precise, it is a disease of the end of the dynasty. The reason why the revolutionaries carry out revolution is to a large extent to eradicate this disease.However, during the Revolution of 1911, in the independent provinces, as long as the revolutionaries had the final say, the phenomenon of indiscriminate appointment of officials was very serious.The indiscriminate appointment of officials is not for making money, but for rewarding merit. Even those who are banned have no credit at all.After Jiangxi became independent, division commanders and brigade commanders were everywhere.It can also be said that because the governor is not a revolutionary party, he cannot withstand the threat of party members who claim to be a revolutionary party.However, after Hunan's independence, the governor and deputy governor were both revolutionary parties, but the appointment of officials was even more indiscriminate than that of Jiangxi.

In Hunan's independence, almost no guns were used. The governor Yu Chengge slipped away and only killed Huang Zhonghao, the commander of the patrol battalion who did not resist.When it comes to credit, in fact, everyone has nothing to do with it, but when everyone discusses it, they all talk about historical merit.Jiao Dafeng was originally a bit reluctant to be the governor, but none of the big shots were present, and that was him.However, Chen Zuoxin, who had been in the New Army and the Hui Party, was even more reluctant to be the deputy governor. It is said that this gentleman is not very popular, and he insisted on a deputy governor.Jiao and Chen can be governors, why can't others?Since the opening of the new government, fans of the Gelaohui, the Patrol Battalion, and the New Army have all come one after another.Everyone said that they had made great contributions, were senior, wanted officials, and wanted money.If you don't give it, you will yell, draw your gun, and swing your knife.The Dudu Mansion has to open 400 tables every day, and eat with running water, day and night.Jiao Dafeng was only twenty-five years old at the time, and he had been hanging around in elder brothers' associations for a long time, so he didn't understand official rules at all.He and Chen Zuoxin each had a white belt slanted on their bodies, with the words "Chief Governor" and "Deputy Governor" written on it, and the seal of the Governor's Mansion was stamped underneath.All the officials are the same as them, with white belts slanted and official titles written on them.It's too late to order serious official uniforms, so let's get addicted to the official first, and then enjoy it yourself, and of course the brothers in the gang will also enjoy the same blessings.Anyone who comes to seek an official position will also wear a white tape, and the clerk will write the official title on it, just put it on diagonally.Later, there were more and more people, and the clerk was too busy, so he got some white tapes, stamped them, and hung them there. Whoever came and what he wanted were written by the officials themselves.The official titles are messed up and weird.Anyway, the people who come here can write whatever they think the official is.Just wanting officials is not counted, some people want money, claiming that they will pay a sum of money and leave as many people as they want to recruit.You said that you can invite a bid, that's good, the standard, and he said that you can recruit an association, that's good, the association.The money has just been withdrawn, and the next day I will come back to ask for it.The accountant asked him the detailed account of the expenses, and he said, we are doing big things, what kind of detailed account is it!If you don't give it, you will make a fuss, draw out your command knife, and chop everywhere.At that time, the only store in Changsha that sold the commander's knife was sold out of stock, and everyone in the street was wearing a commander's knife.There are only two soldiers at the entrance of the command department in many standard and coordinating units. They are hired to stand guard, and their guns may be borrowed.Originally, the new army in Hunan had only one brigade (brigades), but after the revolution, there were several more brigades, and even towns (divisions) came out.Jiao Dafeng, as the governor, must have no idea how many soldiers there are.During the massive expansion of the army, Mao Zedong, who was still a middle school student at the time, also joined the new army and became a soldier.He received seven yuan a month for military pay, two yuan for food, plus some change for water, and the rest for books.He was a soldier for half a year, but he never fired a single shot or fought a single battle.With such a huge army and so many officers, among other things, the military government after independence spent all the money that Hunan had saved for so many years in half a year.

The behavior of Jiao Dafeng and Chen Zuoxin is actually the style of the heroes of the world, who share the blessings and suffer together, the eldest brother becomes the emperor, and the brothers must have an official.Loyalty is enough loyalty, but even the emperor can't do it.In order to get quick results, the revolutionaries unite the party, but often it is not the revolutionary party that influences the party, but the party that influences the revolution.Participating in the party revolution means conquering the country and sitting in the country, and going to the city to enjoy the blessings.After coming and going, the revolutionaries themselves became less aware of the ideals of revolution and the pursuit of a democratic republic. After winning the country, they were eager to taste the fruits of the revolution—to share it with their brothers.According to the records of the people at the time, Jiao Dafeng and Chen Zuoxin worked in the governor's mansion every day. Apart from being appointed officials, they were busy making their own governor's uniforms. Fortunately, the uniforms were driven out before they were assassinated.It is a pity that the portrait of Jiao Dafeng that we can see now does not seem to look like a young hero in the military uniform of the governor.Although we are very sympathetic to the deaths of these two people, we have to say that it is indeed not long to be a governor in this way.