Chapter 23 3. Redemption of power

Too low salary and too much power in prefectures and counties is only one of the reasons for official corruption.It is neither the whole cause nor the root cause of corruption.To figure this out, we have to trace where state and county exploits go. The whereabouts are also very simple: some fall into private pockets, and some serve their bosses. First of all, we must be clear that the extra income including "consumption envy" is only available to the prefectures and counties, because only the prefectures and counties are the "herdsmen's officials" who deal directly with the people.Only they can charge additional distributions in addition to the regular taxes and fees.This will cause a huge imbalance, that is, the income of the lowest-level prefectures and counties is substantially higher than that of government officials, governors, and central officials (Beijing officials).Of course, this is absolutely impossible. In fact, states and counties dare not swallow their own fat.A considerable part of their extra income is used to honor their superiors.The problem is that there must be a name and a rule.Without a name, there will be suspicion of bribery; without rules, there will be no way to control the scale.Fortunately, when encountering such problems, the officials of the empire have never lacked wisdom, and an effective plan was quickly produced in practice.Its name is "official bad rules".

The bad rules in the officialdom are also called "rules and rituals", that is, gift money to be given according to the rules.These rituals include both temporary and routine.The regular ones are generally once in winter and summer, called "Charcoal King" (heating fee) and "Bing King" (cooling fee) respectively.Then there are "three festivals" (Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival), and "two birthdays" (the birthday of the leader and his wife), and "day gifts" and "birthday gifts".The amount of gift money varies from place to place (poor counties and rich counties) and job titles (fat and poor jobs), but it is impossible not to give it away.

Temporary gifts also have certain rules.For example, when superiors come to inspect, they need to send "Cheng Yi" (that is, "travel expenses"); when subordinates go to the higher-level yamen to do business, they need to send "envoy fees" and "ministry fees". The ministry is called "department fee".In addition, "Men Jing" should be sent to the concierge of the chief, and "Jing Jing" should be sent to the attendant.If you receive an appointment and go to Beijing to say your majesty, or you were originally in Beijing and are about to take up the post, you must send a "farewell" to the relevant officials when you leave Beijing.In 1845 AD (the 25th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty), when a magistrate named Zhang Jixin was transferred from the prefect of Shuoping to Duliangdao of Shaanxi (the magistrate in charge of military rations in Northwest China), the "Bie Jing" in Beijing alone spent Seventeen thousand taels of silver.After taking office, only the rites given to the governor cost a total of 5,200 taels throughout the year; and this Shaanxi governor is none other than the famous Lin Zexu (please refer to Zhang Jixin's "Experience Records of Daoxian Officials").In fact, with the exception of Hai Rui and a few people, there are almost no states and counties that do not accept "consumption envy", no governors do not accept "rude regulations", and no Beijing officials do not accept "filial piety".If you can not increase the size outside the routine, you will be an upright official.The so-called "three years to clear the magistrate, one hundred thousand snowflakes and silver", that is what it means.This is something that even an emperor like Kangxi can do nothing about (only Emperor Yongzheng tried to get rid of it, but it was restored in Qianlong).Just because the emperor acquiesces and all officials follow it, no one seriously regards it as corruption. Therefore, it is a kind of corruption that is not considered corruption. I call it "atypical corruption."

Here, we clearly see the embarrassment and dilemma of the empire. As we all know, Kangxi is not a foolish emperor. Doesn't he know that there is a problem with "consumption and envy"?of course I know.Why not change it?Because it cannot be changed.Similarly, Lin Zexu is not a corrupt official. Doesn't he know that "bad rules" are corruption?of course I know.Why still charge it?Because you have to accept it.In fact, the word "shabby regulations" has long been revealed in one word, and it is simply so vivid-knowing that it is corruption (ugliness), but it must be done (regulations).Please think about it, is there anything more absurd than this in the world?

The source of the absurdity lies nowhere else but in the imperial system itself.As mentioned earlier, the imperial system has three major characteristics, namely centralization, ethical governance and official agency, the most important of which is centralization.This determines that officials at all levels of the empire can only be agents of imperial power, and cannot be spokespersons for the people.Moreover, this kind of agency can only decrease from top to bottom.The state officials and county officials who have the closest relationship with the people are also the farthest from the center of power.But this does not mean in the slightest that because "the sky is high and the emperor is far away", they can act on their own.Because not too far away from them, there is the supervisor of Jianlin.Above these bosses, there are bosses.It is the bosses and the bosses of the bosses, not the people, who determine their future.That is to say, if an official wants to go straight to the sky, the key lies in the appreciation and support of his superiors.It is of course better to be appreciated and supported by the emperor, but for middle and low-level officials, this possibility is extremely small.Therefore, almost every lower-level official understands the truth that they must have a good relationship with their superiors, at least not offend them.

The problem is that the relationship between imperial officials is extremely unequal.It is easy for a superior to bring benefits or cause harm to a subordinate, but it is difficult for a subordinate to use the power in his hands to bring any benefits to the superior, unless he honors the superior by exploiting the people.Therefore, although honoring the superior will inevitably hurt the people, many officials will choose the former without hesitation between respecting the superior and protecting the people.Because everyone can calculate that, as a temporary worker hired by the empire to herd sheep, making the contractor happy is obviously more important than the healthy growth of the flock.No matter how good and fat the flock is, it belongs to the farmer (emperor), but his benefits can only come from the contractor (superior).What's more, there are so many sheep in the empire, it doesn't hurt to pluck a few hairs.The task of sheep is to produce wool, and if it is pulled out, it will grow again.It doesn't matter even if they pull them all out, because restoring the health of the flock is already the job of the next shepherd.

Of course, the empire would not fail to think of this. Its method is to constantly send people such as patrol officers, supervisory censors, and imperial envoys to check its shepherds.Unfortunately, the effectiveness of this approach is very dubious.Not to mention whether the empire has so many inspectors to send, even if there are, these inspectors can be dealt with by dealing with their superiors.In other words, local officials only need to show respect to supervisory officials in the same way they honor superior officials.The problem is that the money to honor superior officials is "in plan"; the money to honor supervisory officials is "out of plan".This money does not fall from the sky, it is born involuntarily, and it can only be used on the common people.As a result, the empire sent commissioners to monitor the shepherds. As a result, the flock was plucked again.

The absurdity doesn't stop there.For example, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was even such an official rule: Whenever the imperial ministers came to the province, all prefectures, prefectures and counties, regardless of whether they were involved in the case or not, had to participate in fundraising for entertainment needs.The total amount of funds raised is often more than the cost of entertainment.For example, during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court sent officials to Shanxi to investigate cases, and the Taiyuan government borrowed silver from the Shanxi vassal treasury in the name of office expenses, and then apportioned it to subordinates afterwards.Each loan was about 20,000 taels of silver, but the apportionment afterwards was as much as 30,000 to 50,000 taels (please refer to Zhang Jixin's "Records of Daoxian Officials' Experience").As a result, the imperial supervision not only failed to fight corruption and promote integrity, but instead provided court ministers and local officials with an opportunity to amass money, which is really ironic.As for the apportioned money handed over to the province by subordinate governments, roads, states, and counties, of course it will not come from the private pockets of officials, but can only be obtained by exploiting the people.

It can be seen that the reason why the prefectures and counties want to exploit the people is not only that the salary is too low, but also because they want to honor their superiors; while the reason why the superior local officials accept the filial piety from the subordinates is because they want to win over Beijing officials and send imperial envoys. One of the important reasons why decent magistrates (such as Lin Zexu) also had to collect bad regulations.The reason why subordinates must honor their superiors is very simple, because superiors are "officials of pastors".His black hat and even his life are in the hands of his boss.Similarly, the reason why the governor, who is a first- and second-rank official, wants to win over Beijing officials, including those lower-ranked Beijing officials and eunuchs with no rank, is simply because they are closer to the center of power than himself.Power, is the general conductor and general director of all this.

In fact, the so-called "official rules" are completely designed and implemented in accordance with power and power relations.As long as there is a power relationship, there will be bad rules at the same time, regardless of whether the other party is an official or an official, or what level they are.For example, when a local government goes to the capital to do business with seals, it needs to send "seal regulations", and the money is given to the clerks.Of course, clerks do not dare to take it privately, and must distribute it to their superiors and colleagues according to certain rules.Go to the superior leader to ask for instructions and report work, and also give red envelopes to the porter and attendants.Porters and attendants are not officials, not even officials, they are servants.However, the seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister.The concierge and attendants are close to the power, and they also have a little power (to inform you or not), so there is also a bad rule.Even if they are both higher-level officials, the amount of bad regulations and money is only proportional to the power relationship, not the rank.For example, Shaanxi Duliangdao gave the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu Province three times a year, one thousand taels each time, a total of three thousand taels; the one given to the governor of Shaanxi was four times a year, one thousand three hundred taels each time, a total of three thousand taels Five thousand two hundred taels.The reason is that the governor of Shaanxi is the immediate boss and has the right to "secret year-end examination", which has a great relationship with the future of officials.Although the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu has a high official rank, he is far away in Lanzhou and has little actual influence, so a little expression is enough.

Apparently, "atypical corruption" like "typical corruption" is also a redemption of power.They are all behaviors in which certain people in power exchange their power for benefits, or people who do not own a certain power exchange currency, material objects or other powers for this power.The only difference is that the occurrence of "typical corruption" is often due to a specific purpose, such as seeking employment, obtaining approval documents, leaking exam questions, embezzling public funds, and even reducing major crimes to minor ones. , or to cover up the truth and cover up the real culprit, so its harmfulness is more obvious.After the incident, the punishment is also heavy. "Atypical corruption" is different.It does not require the party accepting the bribe to break the law or even ask the other party to do anything.Even if it is done, it is just a routine, such as appropriating funds according to approval documents, or reimbursement according to regulations.Ice respect, charcoal respect, yearly ceremony, festival rules and the like are nothing but "normal" human relations, let alone naked power and money transactions, so they are not regarded as corruption.Even the apparently intercessory practice of entertaining and bribing imperial envoys was not considered corruption.On the contrary, if someone disagrees and exposes criticism, it will be regarded as a strange thing.For example, when the above-mentioned matter of raising funds to entertain imperial envoys in Shanxi Province was exposed by a subordinate county magistrate, the first reaction of the new governor of Shanxi at that time was: Why is the official style in Shanxi so absurd? However, the seriousness of the problem is also here.A kind of corruption has become the rule, or to the extent that everyone does not regard it as corruption, and whoever opposes it is ridiculous, it can only show that corruption has become the fashion of the empire. Of course, the formation of the atmosphere was not achieved overnight, but the culprit was undoubtedly the imperial system itself.As a centralized system, the Empire stipulates the basic principle that resources and wealth can be taken away and appropriated through power.Moreover, what can be deprived and possessed through power includes not only the property rights of the people, but also their personal rights.In fact, it is through this kind of deprivation and possession that the empire exercises its rule.For example, confiscating family property, or rewarding acres of land; another example is sending more servants, or reducing or exempting taxes.Since this kind of rule can only be carried out through the agency of officials, officials at all levels, especially the state officials and county officials who directly herdsmen, possess incalculable resources and wealth in disguise, and the power given to them by the empire has become An "intangible asset" and a "marketable security".It has a price, is redeemable, and has no loss.Power does not cease to be power because it is exercised.On the contrary, power is not power unless it is exercised.No official understands this truth. Under this premise, it is not surprising that corruption occurs, and it is even logical: a thing can be exchanged for money, a lot of money, and it does not lose itself after being exchanged. So, who can resist such a temptation?Similarly, with one thing, with it, one can do anything, get anything, and who wouldn't covet it?As long as it can be bought and sold, someone will naturally be willing to pay.What's more, as "intangible assets" and "negotiable securities", power is really a resource and wealth only when it is redeemed by others.Therefore, in a power society, there must be someone who buys power, and someone who must sell power.In this sense, we can say that corruption is something inherent in the empire, and it is the fetal poison of the empire.