In the winter of 1856, an official named Zhang Jixin was transferred from the post of envoy of Henan to the envoy of Gansu.
Zhang Jixin was a jinshi in 1829 and had been in the official arena for more than 20 years. Today, at the age of 56, he still has not mixed with the rank of inspector-level feudal official, so he is very disappointed. In the past, almost every time Zhang Jixin left Beijing for his post, he would happily throw money in the capital and send "farewell respect" to the palace of the prince and minister to contact and enhance his feelings. Each time, more than 10,000 taels of silver will be given away. But this time, Zhang Jixin did not have any intention of throwing money, but just set up a few tables of banquets in the Wenchang Pavilion and invited his fellow villagers and friends to dinner.
Zhang Jixin left Beijing to take up his post, and must pass through Baoding, Hebei. One of his friends, Wen Lian, served as the prefect of Baoding. Wen Lian told him that after this trip to Baoding, he must send money to Gui Liang, the governor directly under baoding, which means, "This old man must have money... Why don't you do your best, just be a prostitute and do the head-tying fee. Otherwise, Zhang Jixin would inevitably be harassed by Gui Liang after the guarantee time.
What is the origin of Guiliang?
Guiliang is a Manchurian Zhenghongqi person, one of the eight surnames of the Manchu people, the Guarjia clan, the family power is extremely powerful. At the age of 23, he was appointed by the Gongsheng Donation Department and entered the official field. Since then, he has been promoted all the way, successively serving as the governor of Henan, the governor of Huguang, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, the governor of Yungui, the shangshu of the army and the commander of the White Banner of the Han Army, and the official to the dongge university scholar and the governor directly subordinate to it.
Zhang Jixin was born in the Jinshi Class of the Eight Classics of Zheng'er, had entered the Hanlin Academy, and pretended to be a high-ranking official, and he did not look down on Gui Liang, an official who entered the official field by donation. In his eyes, Guiliang's "chest is like grass and mustard, and his mouth is like a city well", which is not worth making friends. Moreover, Zhang Jixin and Guiliang also had a period of festival. When Zhang Jixin was serving as a political envoy in Henan, he was impeached by Guiliang because of his impartial handling of affairs, and he almost dropped his black hat. In this way, Zhang Jixin is even more unlikely to send money to Guiliang.
Wen Lian saw this and frankly told Zhang Jixin that Guiliang was not an ordinary official, he was the father-in-law of Prince Gong Yixuan. Guiliang, using Prince Gong's power, openly sold and accepted bribes, unscrupulously. When local officials arrive, they must first send money. The price of the alternate Daoist is 500 taels of silver, and even the ministry selection personnel must send 200-300 taels of silver before they dare to take office, otherwise this official will not be able to do it for a long time. The high-ranking officials of the imperial court all worshiped as protégés, "each of them has thousands of gold as a bribe, and they will be at peace."
If you change to another feudal official, if you dare to do so, you will inevitably be impeached by Kodo. However, Guiliang's identity is different, even if his deeds are bad, no one dares to impeach him. This makes Guiliang more fearless.
Hearing these words, Zhang Jixin changed her attention, quickly prepared a silver gift, and sent someone to the Governor's Office in advance to express the meaning of "wanting to worship the disciples and perform the disciple ceremony". Subsequently, a batch of greeting gifts were sent: "Yu feeds the eight colors of Tuyi, carries them into the Internal Bureau, and examines them one by one." Collect one piece of mink tail coat tube, two big pieces of snuff in a large iron box, two pairs of natural color mink hats, four sets of clothing, and a large box of flat gold pendants, a total of five pieces, and return three pieces. Door bag tip, all complete, do not dare to neglect a little. ”
Zhang Jixin deliberately catered to and gave generous gifts, which improved the relationship with Guiliang. As a result, due to spending too much money, the travel expenses to gansu's envoys spent a lot, and they had to borrow a sum of money to take up their posts.
[References: "Records of the Observations of the Daoxian Eunuch Sea", "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", etc.]