Speaking of corrupt officials, the people deeply hate this, so the clean officials and the corrupt officials are opposites, no one is accustomed to anyone, and everyone wants to kill whom.
During the Ming Dynasty, a very strange phenomenon occurred, that is, corrupt officials were serving the Qing officials.
What is the situation in which corrupt officials pay money and contribute to the clean officials to run for office?
Why did such a strange phenomenon occur during the Ming Dynasty?
Some people would rather be a petty official of the Seven Pins in the capital than to be a high-ranking official of the Three Pins in the local area, why is this so?
First, Hai Rui's official road
When Hai Rui is mentioned, what comes to mind him is honesty and honesty, and doing practical things.
He had been an official in Zhejiang, and when he went there, he wantonly rectified the official field and rectified the unhealthy tendencies and evil tendencies in the official field, and many people saw that Hai Rui was very afraid.
At that time, the imperial court was preparing to send people to Zhejiang to see the performance of local officials, and those corrupt officials felt that this was an opportunity for them to turn around.
If someone in the imperial court wants to come down, he can directly give them gifts and persuade these people.
There is no need to send people to the capital to give gifts.
These corrupt officials knew that even if they sent the gift to the capital, these officials might not be able to remember exactly who they really were.
They felt that as long as they received the officials from the capital and let them eat, drink, and have fun, they would definitely be able to promote their ranks and make a fortune.
But Hai Rui did not think the same as these people, he wrote a letter to this official, probably meaning that every time you go to a place, a meal will cost you three or four hundred taels of silver.
Jingguan was very angry after seeing Hai Rui's letter, but he was very helpless, and he couldn't say it was his own meaning.
There was no way to deal with Hai Rui, so he had to grit his teeth and cancel the trip.
When the minister who had prepared the silver heard the news, he was very angry, and the official level crushed the people to death, and could only acquiesce to Hai Rui's such a move.
Seeing Hai Rui's behavior, those officials did not say anything on the surface, but their hearts were so hateful that they planned to solve Hai Rui after some discussion.
However, Hai Rui was a clean and honest official, and he did not do anything bad, and it was impossible to deal with it without a handle.
Hai Rui really did practical things for the people, the people were very supportive of him, not greedy for money, and the political performance was also very good, those people did the opposite, taking the incorruptibility as the "handle" to attack Hai Rui, and used his political achievements to transfer him away.
We can't treat you openly, can we transfer you out of this place, the best solution is to promote you.
These people picked up Hai Rui and said that he was capable, had good political achievements, was willing to do practical things for the people, and was humiliated in this small place
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After some operation by these people, Hai Rui was finally transferred away.
At that time, the name given by the imperial court was "there are other reuses", but it was to level Jiangxi, and the officials in Jiangxi suffered, and they were also very afraid to see Hai Rui.
When Hai Rui arrived in Jiangxi, he did not change his original intentions, and when he got there, he made a drastic move, making those officials miserable. Hai Rui also let people re-plan the land, which touched the interests of corrupt officials.
These people can only eat yellow lian dumbly, and they can't say anything bitter.
There are also corrupt officials who have contacted Zhejiang officials, and through correspondence, they know the reason why Hai Rui was transferred to Zhejiang, feel that Zhejiang's method is very good, and they can also learn that set of methods.
In this way, these corrupt officials began to contribute money to Hai Rui and run for office for him.
Hai Rui did not officially show his skills in the local area of Jiangxi, and because of his "outstanding political achievements", he was transferred to the capital and became the head of the household department.
I don't know if this is Hai Rui's luck or misfortune, the corrupt official gave him a promotion, only because he was "too capable".
II. The System of the Ming Dynasty
In addition to the reasons of the officials themselves, there is also the system of officialdom.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhongshu Province was abolished, and Zhu Yuanzhang set up the "Three Divisions" department.
These departments later created a decentralization of local power and formed their own group centers.
In the early period, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court could not trust the three divisions, and constantly sent officials to inspect the localities, and the power of the three divisions was obviously inferior to that of the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.
This creates a somewhat chaotic state of local power insecurity.
At the beginning, the situation of great power in the capital and light power in the outside world was not obvious, and by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, this situation had a certain relationship with the emperor. At that time, the emperor paid more attention to the imperial examination, such as the first three in the examination, the first and second ranks would remain in the central part of the imperial court to hold positions, and the third class was arranged to the local government and become a local official.
After these people reached the end of their local terms, they would also be transferred to the capital.
The result of everything being centered on the capital is that all the people will all tend to the political center, that is, the capital.
If there are no soldiers in the localities, they will be replaced by people such as lifting people, and the quality of officials will certainly not be high.
At that time, it was an era of classes, and if you were a jinshi, you would definitely look down on those who lifted people and feel that your status was higher than those people.
Even if these people become officials, this situation has not abated, and local officials will naturally be slighted.
It is recorded in the historical records that at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, whether you are a Beijing official or a local official, you are treated equally, and there is a complete system that will transfer them to each other, and the power of the three divisions is the same.
The same is true of magistrates, never looking down on them because of their origins.
By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the official atmosphere had undergone great changes.
There are many people who would rather be the imperial history and affairs of the Seven Pins than be released to be officials such as participating in politics.
Some people are even very worried about this, and even suffer from depression.
There is also the Ming Dynasty's Feng Lu, whether you serve in the local area or in the capital, feng Lu has not changed.
Like Feng Lu, he was more willing to serve in the capital, after all, the classes he contacted were different.
Some people are honest and honest officials, and their lives are tight, and even then they are not willing to go to the local area to join the crowd, and they prefer to stay in the capital so that they will not offend people much.
Of course, Hai Rui is a special case, he really wants to do practical things, who knows that when he encounters the interests of others, the corrupt officials can only find a way to promote him.
III. The Officialdom of the Qing Dynasty
After the Qing Dynasty, this phenomenon slowly changed. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he made some changes to the system of the imperial court. For example, a Seven Pin Official, whether in the capital or in the locality, takes the same Feng Lu.
In order to change this phenomenon in the Ming Dynasty, the Yongzheng Emperor ate the policy of raising incorruptible silver.
At that time, some people would choose to go to the local office, so that the imperial court would have additional silver distribution, which was to raise incorruptible silver.
Many people will choose to go to the place, after all, there is extra money to take, people's hearts will be more balanced.
IV. Summary
The strange phenomenon of the Ming Dynasty's officialdom had a very big relationship with the system at that time and the emperor.
It seems that power is concentrated, but in fact it is chaotic, and the people who really do things cannot be brought into play, which will only cause chaos in the local area and lay hidden dangers for the future.
This strange circle is a product of that era, and when this situation accumulates and is difficult to return, it will be sooner or later.