Why did ancient officials reluctantly stay in the bustling capital after retirement? Must you go back to your hometown for the elderly? Is the capital too dangerous? Or is there an endless list of benefits to your hometown? To understand this problem, we must first know the retirement system of ancient officials.
Regarding the origin of the ancient retirement system, it is clearly recorded in the Zhou Dynasty's "Book of Rites", "The doctor is seventy and the shi is dedicated." "With that said, the ancient scholars could retire at the age of 70. The official term for retirement is "zhishi" or "zhizheng". It can be seen that China's retirement system may have existed for more than 3,000 years.
It has a long history. So why is retirement happening? The main reason is that the officials are older and do not have the energy to deal with government affairs anymore. And a country needs a steady stream of young talents to be more alive.
According to the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", since the Beginning of the Yongzheng Dynasty, the subordinate officials of the ministries and courts have reached the age of 55 and can apply for retirement. If he does not apply, he can also report to the officials by the ministry or the court official after he reaches the age of 70, and then he can get approval very quickly. However, important officials, university scholars, and other important ministers did not have such good treatment. Many university scholars in the Qing Dynasty worked directly until they were seventy or eighty years old or even older.
Moreover, there are many people who are not willing to retire when they reach the age. Not because they are workaholic, but because they are nostalgic for the treatment and prestige of their time in office. Some officials have even changed their age in order to occupy their posts, and there is a situation that makes people cry and laugh at fifty-five this year and fifty-one next year. But this ethos was also recognized at the time. There is also a case of ordering retirement, which is mainly aimed at officials who fail the examination and neglect their duties. After they were impeached by Mishi, they were forced to do so after verification. So what about the treatment of officials after retirement? Is there a pension?
What kind of treatment should be enjoyed by each retired official, according to their rank and rank at the time of their appointment,
And the economic situation at that time. It is also linked to their assessment results. Some officials can get the full salary after retirement, while some officials can only get half of the salary, or even lower.
During the Han Dynasty, officials with more than two thousand stones were able to get one-third of the original Feng Lu after retirement. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, officials also had subsidies after retirement. Emperor Wu of Liang issued an edict stipulating that the pension should be one-half of that of Feng Lu during his tenure. In the Tang Dynasty, feng lu was mainly in the form of rice or field, and the system stipulated that the civil and military officials with more than five pins of merit were treated half of the salaries when they were in office, and for meritorious ministers, the emperor would specifically allow them to enjoy the treatment of the whole feng.
In the Song Dynasty, like the Tang Dynasty, retired officials were also appointed to the post
Half of the time. Even in order to encourage officials to retire, retired officials are given many preferential treatment. During the Liaojin period, retired officials also took half of the Feng Lu when they were in office. In the Yuan Dynasty, officials who were poor in their families after retirement enjoyed half of the Feng Lu when they were in office. By the time of the Ming Dynasty, officials had basically not retired. But they can also enjoy some political treatment. Without real power but with a grade, they can continue to enjoy privileges such as tax exemption and exemption for serving officials. In addition, the emperor would give them the gifts, dispatch miscellaneous servants, and reward them with houses.
Finally, when it came to the Qing Dynasty, the overall economic treatment was much better than that of the Ming Dynasty. After retirement, the treatment of officials is still divided into three types: full salary, half salary, and no food, but after retirement, officials are not only still listed in official status, but also enjoy the privilege of tax exemption and exemption from military service.
He also had the power to complain to the Emperor about local government affairs. Moreover, in addition to economic treatment, some retired officials also enjoy great benefits for their children and grandchildren. This system, because of the merits of the elders, makes the younger generations have special treatment in being officials,
Also known as the Grace System. So since they all have economic and political treatment after retirement, why don't officials choose to enjoy their old age in the bustling capital? Must you go back to your hometown?
From the emperor's point of view, if all retired officials stayed in the capital to retire, it would have a great obstacle to the change of the personnel position of the imperial court. Because if these old ministers remained in the capital, then they might use their connections to interfere with the decisions of the imperial court and thus interfere with the emperor's plans.
So the easiest and most effective way is to drive them all out of the capital and then send someone to monitor them for a while to make sure they are really at ease to retire. In this way, it not only solved the problem of housing shortage in the capital, but also drove the original forces out of the capital, and protected the interests of the emperor to the greatest extent. From the perspective of officials, it is the idea of "returning to the roots of the leaves".
For ancient officials, being an official was indeed enough to shine the lintel and even change the fate of their own families.
But it also means a long-term isolation from their hometown, so by the time officials reach retirement age, they have been away from their hometown for decades. For these homesick officials, it is naturally a natural choice to return to their hometowns to retire and enjoy their old age in peace. Nostalgia has become a major motivator for officials to take the initiative to go home for the elderly.
What's more, officials can go home to retire and can be friends
Accompanied and cared for by friends and loved ones, he lives without scruples and carefreeness. Stay away from the stormy disputes in the official arena and enjoy the free time of your old age happily. Coupled with the high economic cost of the capital, housing also needs to obtain household registration in the capital. So in this case, going home for the elderly is the best choice.