Chapter 2 preface

"Unspoken rules" is a word I coined.I also thought of some other words, such as gray rules, internal regulations, informal systems, etc., but I always feel that they are not as appropriate as "hidden rules".This word is not invented out of thin air, it comes from a period of my life experience. In 1983, I worked as an editor and reporter for "China Peasant Daily" (now called "Farmer Daily"), and I often read letters from the masses.One letter said that the leaders of the agricultural means of production department in Kaifeng, Henan Province approved a large number of notes, and approved the cheap chemical fertilizers distributed and supplied by the state according to the plan to their personal connections.Their "relationship" resells cheap chemical fertilizers at high prices, and between resales, the relationship generates huge profits.In fact, this is the problem of using the dual-track system to make profits that people are used to. Of course, it violates the official regulations of the country, but it cannot be prohibited.At that time, I had just graduated from university for less than a year. When I saw such bad things, I immediately became excited like Don Quixote seeing a windmill. , The heroic story of eradicating violence and Anliang.Impatiently, I invited two colleagues to investigate.

What surprised me was that those notes that I thought should be hidden, which were similar to stolen goods, were all well preserved, just like the official files in the government office, and the insiders didn't seem to have any shady worries—do you want to see it?Come on, here's a big stack.Moreover, there are rules about how many "fat notes" can be approved at which level, who has the power to approve how many notes at each level, which leader outside the circle has valid notes, and which leader's notes are not effective.These things that obviously do not conform to the express regulations, the insiders actually take it for granted.At the end of the interview, I understood a truth, that is, in Chinese society, in addition to the various formally stipulated systems, behind the various express regulations, there is actually an unwritten and widely recognized rule. Something called an internal charter.It is precisely this kind of thing, rather than high-sounding formal regulations, that governs the operation of real life.

"Precisely... rather than..." This kind of sentence may be extreme, but at least there are partial facts as the basis for saying so.According to the official regulations of the government, almost all of the cheap chemical fertilizers supplied to farmers are linked to the cotton and wheat that farmers sell at a fair price, so they are also called linked fertilizers.However, our interview team has been investigating for nearly a month, but we have not seen an ordinary farmer who admits to buying cheap fertilizers.Resource controllers at every level from the central to the local level will issue notes, cutting out a piece of cheap fertilizer for their own someone.It's like a pipe with a serious leak. The water in the pipe is intercepted before it reaches the common people's kitchen, and the kitchen faucet can't turn on a single drop.So, what is it that nourishes this society?Is it an official pipeline or a water dealer pushing a water truck?Isn't that very clear?

Later, we published the follow-up report, and the impact at that time was not small. The Ministry of Commerce and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection also issued a special notice to reiterate the formal system.A few months later, the Ministry of Commerce and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection sent a joint investigation team to Kaifeng to investigate and deal with the matter. When I followed the investigation as a member of the team, I was surprised to find that the note was still being approved, which was no different from what we reported before. .That is to say, the local government and the higher-level leaders of the supply department of agricultural production materials did not regard the phenomenon we reported as a problem.They obviously knew it and didn't care about it-it turned out that they didn't care because they didn't know.Leaders in the official theory should obviously not be like this, which is another unspoken rule.

Long story short.I have followed this matter for several years, and I understand a truth: this is not the moral good and evil problem I imagined at first, what I am facing is the common or normal behavior of most people in a pattern of interests, which is based on The realistic calculation of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages that everyone can understand.If we don’t touch this pattern, reports or investigations, notifications, and even dismissals are, to put it bluntly, nothing more than stopping the boiling soup. In my personal experience, because the spoons used to raise the soup are too small and too few, it is impossible to stop the boiling soup.Later, what really solved this problem was the increase in the supply of chemical fertilizers, the withdrawal of the government, and the liberalization of the market. Now the supply and demand of chemical fertilizers fluctuate, often in excess, and the rules of supply and demand in the market have replaced the unspoken rules of officialdom.

The evolution of fertilizer distribution rules and my understanding process have come to an end.But I vaguely feel that unspoken rules have a long history in Chinese history, and there will be many interesting discoveries if we continue to pursue them. Five years ago, I left the official unit and could spend my time more freely, so I picked up this idea again, and soon began to read Ming history.I read "Historical Records" when I was in college, and it was like reading a novel. When I encountered "Biao" and "Zhi" that didn't have a story, I would skip over them.After reading "Hanshu" and "Houhanshu" as a reporter, I was completely overwhelmed by the messy names and events, and felt drowsy.I also read it in accordance with the fashion, but when I read the Later Han Dynasty, I was in great pain and gave up halfway.Unexpectedly, I had an idea of ​​"hidden rules" in my heart, and I read history with great interest. My eyes were full of chaos, and suddenly my brows became clear, and I couldn't control it.So I preached my history reading experience to my friends, and was encouraged by my friends to write these articles. I wrote and posted them as I wrote them, and gradually I had the space of a small book.I understand that the world seen by different animals is different, and the world seen through different glasses is also different.What these articles describe is the Chinese officialdom and its traditions that I see after putting on the glasses of unspoken rules.

These essays generally talk about "eliminating upright officials", explaining why it is difficult for upright officials to succeed as they publicly declare, and why they often suffer the fate of being eliminated, so that Master Qingtian has become a part of our national dream. "Elimination of clean and honest officials" is just one of the unspoken rules of officialdom that I can sort out, and the lower level is supported by many unspoken rules of the lower order. There are many large and small unspoken rules about "elimination of clean and honest officials", which I will continue to write in the future.Looking back, the existing ten essays can be organized into the following structure:

Talking about the relationship between officials and common people: "Pursue a sharp weapon", "The common people are taken advantage of", "Second Class Fairness". Talk about the relationship between officials and superior leaders, including the emperor: "The Reasons for Being a Corrupt Official", "Evil Government is a Sieve", "The Emperor Is Taken Too Much". Talking about the relationship within the officialdom: "Settling Violators", "Evaluating seniority is also a good thing". Mix several kinds of relationships together: "The Law of New Officials' Fall", "Yan Shi's Transformation".

Summary: "Chongzhen Death Bend". The table of contents is arranged according to this structure, but the two mixed lectures are mentioned to the front. This book also attaches several articles beyond the unspoken rules.A synonym for unspoken rules in the Ming Dynasty was "shabby rules". If you write too much of this kind of thing, people tend to look "ugly", with your head full of calculations, and the calculations are all old accounts. Know what spirit and ideals are.I didn't want to leave such an impression on the readers, and hoped that the book and the author's appearance would be fuller, so I added a few miscellaneous articles, which also talked about Lei Feng and personality ideals.The article on personality ideals was written relatively early. If I start to write now, I think I can still be a little more clever when measured by Mr. Feng Youlan's "extremely brilliant and moderate" standard. The two articles on good fortune and superstition can provide some evidence.

My e-mail is: [email protected]