Qing Yao

Chapter 12: Both money and education are important

Um.
After leaving Wu Laoer, Zhao An felt as if he had found a Roman road leading to light.

Ding Zhenglong was able to borrow 5,000 taels of high-interest loan to buy a job as an ambassador of the Tax Department, which means that as long as Zhao An has money, he can also learn from Ding Zhenglong and buy a job as a section chief.

Little did he know that if Wu Laoer knew about this idea, the old man would laugh his teeth off.

Because in the Qing Dynasty, not only could officials be bought with money, but even serious officials could be bought with money.

This is the donation system that was regarded by the Qing Dynasty as a normal national organizational system.

To put it bluntly, as long as you have money, the court will give you an official position.

It was not the prodigal son Qianlong who first created this practice, but his grandfather Kangxi.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, there was insufficient military funds for the expedition against Dzungar Khanate, so Emperor Kangxi issued an edict to encourage wealthy households to donate. As a result, Shanxi Province alone donated 12,000 county magistrates within a year, and Gansu donated 17,000 within half a year, which effectively alleviated the problem of insufficient military funds.

However, it is impossible for a province to have more than 10,000 counties for these people who donated money to take up the positions, so 99% of these so-called county magistrates are given the title of "candidate", which means they are waiting to take up the position when there is a vacancy.

As for when there will be a shortage?

It depends on whether your subsequent funds are in place.

If there is no subsequent funding, then he is just a commoner with the title of county magistrate. If there is funding deposited into the Ministry of Personnel, then he is an official official of the Qing Dynasty.

There are too many people and too little porridge, so most people who donate money to become officials do not want to take office, but want to be respected in the village and treated as such by officials who dare not bully them.

During the Yongzheng period, the people who donated the most were the students of the Imperial Academy.

Most of those who donated money to become tutors were "poor students" who were unable to pass the imperial examinations.

In the eighth year of Yongzheng's reign, Yongzheng personally supervised the examination of the Imperial College. As a result, more than 9,500 out of more than 10,000 students failed, and nearly 60% of the students handed in blank papers. Yongzheng was so angry that he trembled but he had nothing to say. After all, he had accepted other people's money.

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, because he was fond of ostentation and extravagance, the national treasury was simply not enough to cover his expenses, so the practice of donations became popular again.

Especially in the past decade or so, the trend of donations has reached its peak.

Originally, genuine Jinshi and other regular officials of the same Jinshi background would never stand in line with the officials who had donated money to the government in the court of the Qianqing Palace. But now there is no such rule, because at a glance, most of the officials are wearing hats that have been bought with money.

Compared with those who were promoted through the imperial examination system and those who were promoted through donations, the number of officials who were promoted was pitifully small.

Among those who bought official positions, there were also some who were capable of getting things done, such as the three governors-general Li Wei, Ortai, and Tian Wenjing who were established as typical officials by Emperor Yongzheng, Li Shijie, the Minister of War in the Qianlong Dynasty, and Liu E, the Governor-General of Zhili.

After all, as long as you have money, there is really no problem in becoming an official in the Qing Dynasty. It's just that the competition is too fierce.

Previously, Wu Laoer said that some officials had to borrow money from loan sharks before taking office. In addition to the fact that these people emptied their family fortunes to buy official positions, there were too many candidates for the same position, and if they wanted to take the position, they had to pay more money than other candidates.

In addition, they have to advance funds before taking office, so borrowing at high interest rates becomes the only option for these officials.

If they don't borrow, their initial investment will be wasted. If they do, not only can they repay their debts through extortion after taking office, but with luck they can even make a killing. No matter how you look at it, it's a profit, but it's a hardship for the people.

There are pragmatic people who specialize in studying donations. They know which officials are worth donating to, which officials should be donated at which point, how to donate to the most valuable officials at the lowest cost, and how to transition from one official to another. As a result, an industry similar to that of a teacher named Zhang Xuefeng in Zhao An's previous life has emerged among the people.

Those who study officials also study clerks. Ding Zhenglong, the ambassador of the Taxation Department, bought the position of ambassador from the new county magistrate at a preferential price of 5,000 taels thanks to the guidance of a famous teacher. After more than a year, he had paid off the high interest of 5,000 taels. As long as there were no major changes in the remaining three years of his term, he would be able to earn at least more than 10,000 taels when the next county magistrate sold the positions in the county again.

The court sells official positions, and officials sell clerks. This is a virtuous cycle.

From the governor and provincial governor to the prefect and county magistrate, we are all on the same boat. No one should laugh at anyone else, and no one should look down on anyone else.

Zhao An returned to the accounting room and was still calculating the accounts seriously, but he was thinking over and over again in his mind about the important information revealed by Wu Lao Er.

There is a shortcut, who would be willing to endure hardship?

However, there are two insurmountable mountains in front of Zhao An, one is the mountain of money, and the other is the mountain of diplomas.

It is understandable that he has no money. With Zhao An's current salary level, he would have to work for three or four hundred years to save enough money to buy an ambassador, and even that might not be enough.

Prices will always go up.

Borrowing money at high interest rates is not realistic. Ding Zhenglong was able to borrow 5,000 taels of interest from the money house because his ancestors had worked in the county government for generations and were well-known figures in Ganquan County. He had certain connections and a decent job as a guarantee, and the investment projects had tangible prospects. Naturally, the money house was willing to cooperate with him.

What is Zhao An?
Which bank would dare to lend 5,000 taels to a country boy who had just started working as a handyman in the tax office?
It’s like a newly graduated student goes to the bank and says, “Lend me a few million. I will buy a position as a director and pay you back with interest.” Which bank director would dare to lend him money?
Obviously, Zhao An has no way to deal with the money at the moment.

The educational background is also a big problem. As an accountant, he needs to have a student's education, and the chief section chief above him must of course be a scholar.

Being a scholar is also a prerequisite for officials to register with the Ministry of Personnel. Over the years since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, there has been no precedent for a scholar to become an official.

I can't afford to lose that person!
What's more, Zhao An's graduation certificate as a student was fake.

After thinking it over and over again, I couldn't find any solution except that I was itching to do it. I could only give up the idea of ​​taking shortcuts and focus on doing my current job well.

Having great ambitions and being too ambitious are two different evaluations.

Zhao An calculated the bill for dredging in the afternoon, but he didn't rush to hand it over to Wang Tai. Instead, he handed it over when it was almost time to get off work.

After discovering that the final result calculated by Zhao An was the same as his own, Wang Tai nodded with satisfaction, thinking that although this little guy was a little young, he was very efficient in his work. After training for a period of time, he could officially become his assistant.

He gave Zhao An some encouragement and asked him to practice using the abacus more when he had nothing to do in order to improve his calculation speed.

Zhao An naturally agreed and really took Wang Tai's words to heart. He was fiddling with the abacus before going to bed at night. Liu Xiaolou had to persuade him several times before he put down the abacus and went to bed.

In this way, Zhao An dealt with abacus beads and various accounts every day in the Taxation Department for more than a month. During this period, he did not make any mistakes in his work, but it was also very boring.

It was not until the end of the month that Wang Tai suddenly asked him to go to the county government office with him.

(End of this chapter)