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How much is the monthly salary of the ancient Qipin County Order? I finally know why people like to be officials

Three years of Qing Governor's Mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver? From the salary of the Qipin County Order, we can get a glimpse of the "unspoken rules" of ancient officialdom

"Three years of Qing Governor's Mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver", this saying is familiar to everyone, and it exhausts the unspoken rule of "goose plucking" in ancient officialdom. But have you ever wondered how much money an ancient official had to make this proverb pass down to this day? Today, we will start with the question of "how much is the monthly salary of the ancient Qipin County Order" to explore the economic secrets of ancient officialdom.

The article mentioned in the article used the price of rice in different dynasties to convert the wages of the ancient Qipin county order. The county order of the Tang Dynasty has an annual salary of up to 660,000 yuan! The Song Dynasty is not bad, with a monthly salary of 180,000! Even in the Ming Dynasty, where the "lowest official salary" was, the county order could receive nearly 5,000 yuan a month. The Qing Dynasty was even more exaggerated, in addition to the annual salary, there were also hundreds to thousands of taels of "incorruptible silver".

Seeing this, you may think, the income of the ancient county order is so high, doesn't everyone want to be an official? Indeed, in the feudal society where "everything is inferior, only the study is high", becoming an official is almost the only way for ordinary people to change their fate. However, we must also note that these figures are only the official standard of income, and do not fully represent the real income of ancient officials.

The source of income of ancient officials, in addition to the Yulu issued by the imperial court, also had various gray incomes. In order to obtain convenience, local gentry often "give gifts" to officials, and they are constantly "filial piety" during the New Year's holidays. These "unspoken rules" are often much more lucrative than their income.

The expenditures of officials in ancient times were also quite staggering. They need to feed their families and maintain a huge social network. What's more, in order to get promoted and make a fortune, officials often need to spend huge amounts of "activity funds". Even a high-paying prefectural magistrate may not be able to live a truly prosperous life.

How much did ancient officials really earn? There is probably no standard answer to this question. After all, there are huge differences in the income levels of officials in different dynasties, regions, and levels. But one thing is certain, that is, "three years of Qing prefect's mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver" is not groundless, and the corruption problem in ancient officialdom is indeed shocking.

In January 2023, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of a Culture of Integrity in the New Era", emphasizing the need to "persist in taking cases as examples, using cases to promote reform, in-depth analysis of typical cases, and play a warning and deterrent role". This shows that anti-corruption is still an important task in the new era.

Looking back at history, it is not difficult for us to find that all dynasties and dynasties have regarded the fight against corruption as a major issue related to the rise and fall of a country. From Zhu Yuanzhang's "peeling the skin and grass" to the Yongzheng Emperor's "returning to the public with envy" and today's "fighting tigers and swatting flies", all of them show that the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government attach great importance to the problem of corruption.

In the fight against corruption, we must not only rely on severe punishment and strict law, but also start with the building of systems to plug the loopholes of corruption at the source. Establish and improve the system of declaring the assets of officials, strengthen supervision and restraint on power, and so on.

I would like to ask you a question: how can corruption be better prevented and punished in today's society? Everyone is welcome to leave a message to discuss and share your insights.

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