Chapter 906: New Year's Gift 2

1.

Starting from January 21, Qian Jin, who gave New Year's gifts to the teachers of Toyama Middle School, began to be busy again, this time, Qian Jin wanted to give New Year's gifts to officials at all levels who were related to his career promotion.

China is a "humane society", and "courtesy and exchange" are the most basic characteristics of a humane society. The favor of officialdom is under the guise of "courtesy exchanges", and "handing over and collecting profits" is the norm.

This quote comes from "Mencius", Mencius saw King Hui of Liang.

The king said, "Coming from a thousand miles away, there will also be Eliwu's kingdom."

Mencius said to him: "King, why bother with profit? There is also benevolence and righteousness." The king said, 'Why benefit my country?' the doctor said, 'Why benefit my family?' and the Shishu people said, 'Why benefit my body?' In the country of ten thousand vehicles, whoever kills its monarch will be the home of a thousand times, and the country of a thousand vehicles, and whoever kills its monarch will be the home of a hundred vehicles. Thousands of thousands, thousands of thousands, not too much. Gou for the sake of the aftermath and the first profit, do not take away and do not eat. Those who have not been benevolent and leave their relatives behind, and those who have not been righteous and then their kings. The king also said that benevolence and righteousness are just that, so why bother with profit?"

Mencius's remark means that "benevolence and righteousness" should be the basis for dealing with others, so why should we talk about profit in everything? If the top and bottom fall into a situation of competing interests with each other, the country will be in danger. Although the ancients had this brilliant insight, they could not hinder the transaction of officialdom and profit.

Throughout the historical data, from ancient times to the present, the culture of gift-giving in Chinese officialdom, or to put it bluntly, the culture of bribery, reached its peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the pattern and degree of bribery are staggering. For example, the popular "three festivals and two longevity" in the officialdom of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the essence of which is that subordinates give bribes and gifts to their bosses, but if the timing of the gift is chosen on the boss's birthday or the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Spring Festival, the gift-giving and bribery will be covered with a veil of warmth, and there will be a little more "human touch".

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, in addition to the "three festivals and two longevity", there is also the clever name of "cold and summer send", that is, sending charcoal in winter and ice in summer, which are called "charcoal respect" and "ice respect" respectively. These "charcoal respects" and "ice respects" are "filial piety gifts" given by local officials to senior officials in Beijing, and although these two expenses seem to be similar to the current "heating expenses" and "cooling expenses" in their names, their essence is to change the law to bribe their superiors.

What's more, in the Qing Dynasty, there were even regulations on the giving of gifts by senior yamen masters. The so-called "Fu, Domain, and Shadow Friends have a bad rule for the annual birthday, and the first county apportions the book fee of the scribes of each prefecture and county, and the feudal division uses the seal to collect it on behalf of the clan." In the central yamen, the scribes gave the officials a "year-end ceremony", which was also clearly stipulated.

Chinese culture has a long history and has been inherited for thousands of years, but unfortunately some inheritances are inherited regardless of the dross, just like the culture of officialdom bribery, although it has undergone several changes, it is still the same.

2.

Although Qian Jin has spent a lot of time and energy to complete the repair and connection of the official relationship network up and down after the semester starts in September, the repair and connection of these relationships are all completed in eating and drinking, which always makes people feel that something is missing. As a result, Qian Jin's year-end gift has become indispensable.

This rush, which lasted from January 22 to the "little year" of the old calendar, took more than a week. In the past week or so, Qian Jin has gone through the relationships that he thinks may be used. Although the things sent are not valuable, that is, a little Hushan specialty, such as vermicelli, beef and mutton, etc., but Qian Jin, who has lived in officialdom for a long time, knows that "burning more incense on weekdays is better than cramming Buddha's feet temporarily".

As usual, while Qian Jin was busy giving New Year's gifts to his boss outside, Qian Jin's family also ushered in a team to give him New Year's gifts. These people include some of the school committee officials of Toyama Middle School, most of the staff of the Education Office, the principals of elementary schools in each school district, and some ordinary teachers who are actively demanding "progress".

For these people who came to the house to give New Year's gifts, Qian Jin still instructed his wife Zhong Hong to strictly follow the standards he stipulated, that is, gifts with unknown intentions cannot be accepted, gifts with outsiders present cannot be accepted, and remember to return the gifts after receiving the gifts. Zhong Hong, who had been accused by Qian Jin of causing trouble by mistakenly receiving gifts, did not dare to be sloppy, registered the situation of receiving gifts and returning gifts one by one, and reported to Qian Jin regularly every night.

After the 23rd year of the lunar month, most of the teachers in the compound of Hushan Middle School had to pack up their things and go back to their hometown for the New Year, and there were only seven or eight old teachers left in the huge family courtyard who did not return to their hometown for the New Year, and the compound of Hushan Middle School finally calmed down a lot.

Qian Jin, who has been busy for more than ten days, can finally breathe a sigh of relief, but it is Qian Jin's body that is idle, Qian Jin's brain is not idle, and he is thinking about how to go to his cousin-in-law's house, who is the director of the Education Bureau, to fight for a "New Year's gift" for himself in a few days.