The status and authority of the county magistrate in the Qing Dynasty were very limited, in fact, it was equivalent to the position of deputy county magistrate or deputy secretary in modern times. In the Qing Dynasty, not every county was established, and it was usually only established in the county where it was most needed, and their political status and real power were significantly inferior to those of the magistrate.
Counties have little decision-making power over administrative decision-making, and their offices are often far from the county seats, and they have very limited legal powers. It can be said that the scope of duties and powers of the county magistrate in the Qing Dynasty is far from that of the modern deputy county magistrate or deputy secretary. In the Qing Dynasty bureaucratic system, not every county had a county setup.
According to the records of the Guangxu Huidian, there are a total of 1,314 counties in the country, but only 345 counties have established counties. The setting of a county is related to the characteristics and needs of the county, and is usually established only in the county where it is most needed. Sometimes, the county will also be in charge of specific aspects of affairs, such as river affairs, grain and horses, water transportation, etc.
Therefore, the status of the county is not comparable to that of the county. As for actual power, the county officials of the Qing Dynasty basically had no real power in their hands, and their status was not even as good as that of their staff members who had no official qualities.
In terms of political status and real power, the county officials of the Qing Dynasty were far inferior to the Ming Dynasty, and the county officials of the Ming Dynasty were the assistants of the county magistrates in the real sense, while the county officials of the Qing Dynasty were basically "idle Cao" and "redundant officials". Compared with the modern deputy county magistrate or deputy secretary, the county magistrate is obviously at a disadvantage in terms of status and real power. In addition, the job responsibilities of the county officials in the Qing Dynasty were very limited.
Although they assisted the county magistrate in handling administrative affairs, they did not have the right to make decisions on specific administrative decisions, and the county officials' offices were usually far away from the county seat, and their powers granted by law were very limited.
From a modern point of view, the functions of the county secretary are similar to those of the current township secretary, and they also perform the functions of the township and town organs, and there is still a big gap between the status of the deputy county magistrate or deputy secretary. On the whole, the status and real power of the county magistrate in the Qing Dynasty were obviously restricted, and their actual role was far less than that of the deputy county magistrate or deputy secretary.
In the Qing Dynasty officialdom, the status of the Zhengyin official was unshakable, while the status of the Zuo II official was relatively low and had no real influence on administrative decision-making. Therefore, the status of the county in the Qing Dynasty was fixed, and the power was limited, and it could only play a role on a local scale.