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Text: Peng Yibin
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introduction
The ancients had to retire when they reached their age, and even had "re-employment," so what was the retirement of the ancient officialdom? What about the retirement benefits of a magistrate? Although the magistrate was only a minor official of the seventh grade, he did not look at his rank as high, but in fact he had a great influence in the local area.
(Zhixian)
1. What is the retirement treatment of the county?
Zhixian is an official position that has been there since the Song Dynasty, and it is a seven-rank official, and in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the scope of responsibilities of the county has also been divided more clearly, and the official rank has also been set at the seventh grade. During the Qing Dynasty, in order to prevent the magistrate of a county from developing his own power in the local area, there would be a policy of avoidance, that is, no one with relatives nearby could hold office.
There are also teachers and students who are recused, and for local officials, the governor and local officials are not allowed to have a teacher-student relationship. In fact, this has to some extent curbed the development of various forces in the county. In the Qing Dynasty, the scope of responsibilities and treatment of the county was more clear, and we will take a look at the retirement life of a county from the Qing Dynasty today.
(Zhixian)
First of all, before they retired, they were 45 taels of silver and 45 taels of rice, which is the amount that a Qipinzhi county can get every month. In the Yongzheng period, because of the emergence of incorruptible silver, their income increased exponentially. It can be said that the days before retirement were good.
During the Shunzhi Dynasty, the retirement treatment given to the magistrate was "all officials who give office, and the officials of the government, state, county, travel, and shou will each give 18 acres of garden land." "That is to say, after you retire as a magistrate, you can get 18 acres of land. The land can be used to develop its own economy, and the land can also be sold for money, giving the county many options.
(Zhixian)
Once 18 acres of land is operated or sold, it can be exchanged for a large amount of money. But after all, the land could not be divided for a long time, and the money was still paid later. During the Yongzheng Dynasty, if the magistrate retired, the amount you could get, that is, the original minimum amount, 45 taels of silver and rice, was not added to the incorruptible silver.
During the Qianlong Dynasty, Qianlong prescribed a method. When an official retires, some people get the full amount of the money stipulated during their tenure, while others can only get half of it.
If the magistrate wants to get 45 taels of silver, you must perform well during your tenure, and then retire voluntarily when you reach the age, so that you can still take 45 taels of silver every month.
(Qing Dynasty Zhixian)
However, there are new regulations during the Jiaqing period, that is, the treatment of retirement should be related to military merits, especially those below the third grade. And a magistrate, if you have made a first- or second-class military merit and take the initiative to retire at the age of 60, you can receive all the money after retirement. If you retire at fifty, it's only half.
Some magistrates, because of their low and remote locations, sometimes fight against the local Tusi, so this military merit came from in this way. If a magistrate has to apply for retirement before the age of 50, then it will only be a quarter of the monthly salary. In short, the imperial court should stipulate an official's salary according to your merits.
(Zhixian)
Is this condition a bit harsh at first glance, in fact, the retirement treatment of the Qing Dynasty has been very good in all dynasties. Although the magistrate's salary is not high, you must know that their influence in the local area is definitely not small. First of all, from the point of view of the division of land property, once you have a field property, you will become a local landlord and squire, which will definitely be co-opted by the bureaucratic class.
And because the magistrate has held an official position, many new officials will make friends with you, and I hope that when you encounter a problem, the old magistrate can give you some advice. What's more, if a county can retire successfully, how can it be in his hometown, there is no land, as the saying goes, "Three years of Qingzhi County, 100,000 snowflakes of silver." ”
(Zhixian has a high social status)
And some magistrates may retire before they will get "robes and clothes, or imperial systems, or official descendants", it can be said that one person retires, and the whole family is glorious.
Therefore, it is impossible for such a retired magistrate not to be respected by others.
The Qing government also enjoyed the right to "give birth to the original products" for officials below the third grade. In other words, even after the magistrate retires, he is still a seven-rank official, and he still has this official status, which ensures their social status. When the children and grandchildren are shaded, the family can once again be prominent. Even, a good county magistrate may encounter rehiring.
(Qing Dynasty Zhixian)
Judging from all of the above, after the retirement of the magistrate of the Qing Dynasty, not only the economic treatment was good, but also the political treatment was quite high. This is much better than in many dynasties, such as the Ming Dynasty, because the income of officials was very low when they were in office, and many retired officials did not even have a fixed salary at all.
2. When can officials retire?
After reading the retirement benefits of the county magistrate in the Qing Dynasty, is retirement a retirement that can be retired? In fact, in ancient times, retirement was called Zhishi, and this does not mean that you don't want to do it. All dynasties and generations also stipulate the age of Zhishi, starting from the "Book of Shang", it is written that "the doctor is seventy and Zhishi." ”
(Zhishi)
When the Book of the Later Han Dynasty was written, during the period of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, Prime Minister Wei Xian was over 70 years old and decided to return to his hometown, which was the first retired prime minister in the history of the mainland. Therefore, it is basically 70 years old, which is the retirement age stipulated by the ancients. During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang could retire at the age of 60 when he changed the city, and in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, it was also stipulated that military generals should retire at the age of 60.
But in fact, there are also seventy or eighty years old, and because their performance is so good, even the emperor will not let them retire. For example, the regulations of the Yuan Dynasty that old ministers were not allowed to retire, and when Guo Shoujing applied for retirement at the age of 70, the imperial court did not allow this, and he did not wait until he was 86 years old and died in his office.
(Guo Shoujing)
3. Retirement benefits for officials of various dynasties
In the past, in fact, the retirement treatment of officials was not good, and there was no salary to receive before the Han Dynasty. It was stipulated from the period of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty that officials with more than 2,000 stone could retire and get one-third of their original salary. The Tang Dynasty stipulated that if you retire above the fifth grade, you can get half of your salary, and if you get the emperor's weight, you can get all your retirement salary.
During the Song and Song dynasties, there was a saying that he would retire with a job, and when he retired, his rank would also be raised by one level, so it can be said that this treatment is absolutely good, even if he retires, he can still participate in the government. During the Yuan Dynasty, there was no salary, but if the family was too poor, they could receive half the salary.
(Official's Letter)
During the Ming Dynasty, the third rank or above was directly retired, and if the performance below the fourth grade was excellent, it could be promoted to one level of retirement. It can be seen that the treatment of retirement in all dynasties is really completely different, some are sincere to give back to officials, and some do not want to give.
But in fact, we can see the economic atmosphere of the dynasty at that time from the retirement treatment. In the retirement of officials in ancient times, very few people could retire successfully, and even the magistrates who successfully retired were very few, after all, in that era, political struggles were likely to take people's lives at any time.
(Zhixian)
After retiring, most of these officials can rely on their power for many years to get the social status they deserve, and their influence in the local area is only a lot more.
Resources
Most of the ancients were seventy years before "Zhishi".Guangming.com,2017-03-04
A brief discussion on the characteristics of the late Qing Dynasty official Zhishi system[J].Western Academic Journal,2020(20)