The main official positions of the Qing Dynasty were granted to the nobles of the Manchu, Mongol, and Han armies who did not need to participate in the imperial examinations. Therefore, there are very few positions that can be promoted to Jinshi. As a result, a large number of jinshi have been awarded for many years, and even for a lifetime, other jinshi need to return to the locality, and some stay in the capital, "to be elected" and "vacant". That is, when there is an official vacancy, and the nobles of the Eight Banners are unwilling to do it, they will "draw lots" among these jinshi. Generally, there are more officials in poor and remote prefectures and counties, and the grades are relatively high, but many people are reluctant to go. The low-grade petty officials in the rich prefectures and counties are still robbed. Therefore, it is not necessarily given to what grade of official. In the late Qing Dynasty, the upper-level jinshi who had no relationship basically did not confer substantive officials, and only gave an honorary title of "alternate magistrate". Most people are on alternate for life

Because it is responsible for the selection, promotion, and replacement of civil officials, the Ministry of Officials has the highest status among the six ministries, and like the current Central Organization Department, it is a department that specializes in managing personnel appointments and dismissals. Although the officials of the Qing Dynasty were not as prominent as those of the Ming Dynasty, they still held the power to appoint and dismiss middle and lower-level officials.

Many people think that once a scholar is admitted to the Jinshi, he will quickly enter the official career, or stay in the capital as an official, or go out to the provincial magistrates, but in fact, this view is not in line with the truth. In fact, whether it is a new member of the department or a promotion of incumbents, there will be no real shortage immediately, and there will be a process of selecting officials during the period.

Let's start with a few cases of candidate officials

Before talking about this issue, we must understand the appointment system of officials in the Qing Dynasty. It is mainly divided into several types: dismissal, make-up shift, transfer, change, and promotion.

Except for the class, it is a person who has obtained the qualification to be an official for the first time through the imperial examination, or through channels such as tribute supervisors and students; Make-up shifts belong to those who have already obtained a substantive position, but have not arrived for the time being due to various reasons; Transferring shifts is a flat transfer, such as the transfer of the criminal department to the middle of the household department; The change of class is from a military attache to a civilian official, or from a county magistrate to a small Beijing official; Promotion is best understood as promotion.

No matter what kind of class the officials are, their identities belong to the "candidates", and the Ministry of Officials will adopt a monthly election system for candidate officials in different situations, and the monthly elections are divided into single monthly elections, bi-monthly elections and double single monthly elections. Among them, the single-month selection is the most urgent, which is generally for make-up classes, and bi-monthly selection is aimed at promotion and dismissal.

If a candidate is to be formally inducted, he or she first needs to have a position that can be appointed. The Qing Dynasty had a huge corps of civil officials, but it was also a radish and a pit, and only when the pit was vacated could the radish be filled.

Once a vacancy is made, the official title is called "vacancy". According to the regulations, once there is a vacancy in each yamen, it must be reported to the Ministry of Officials in a timely manner, and then the Ministry of Officials will select the officials from among the many candidates. In other words, only when there are vacancies in the yamen, can the officials start the selection process.

Let's talk about the basic procedures for the selection of officials

After the officials summarize the vacant posts in each yamen, they will select the officials among the many candidates. Of course, not everyone is eligible to participate in the selection of officials, which is the same as when we apply for a job, we also have to submit a resume in advance, this process is called "confession".

The confession materials of the candidate officials are very detailed, not only to indicate the place of origin, date of birth, appearance, three generations of ancestors, and whether there is a criminal history, but also to provide whether it is a jinshi or a person in that year, and if it is a jinshi, it must also indicate how many people are in the second and third grades.

In addition, in the materials of submission, there is also a recommendation certificate from the Beijing official. Among these materials, it is necessary to ensure that they are true and correct, and if there is any fraud, they cannot participate in the selection and even face severe punishments.

Among the confession materials of the candidate officials, the most important thing for the officials is the recommendation certificate of the Beijing official. This is also an unspoken rule in the selection process, the status and power of the recommender affect the career prospects of the candidate officials to a large extent, and the officials of the Ministry of Officials are also willing to sell face to those who are important ministers of the court to accumulate political resources for themselves.

It is precisely because of the importance of recommenders that the candidate officials do not hesitate to spend a lot of money and go through the road to bribe those powerful people in Beijing, which also causes the unfairness and unfairness of the selection of officials and departments, and leads to malpractice in the selection process.

After the candidates have submitted their confessions, the next step is to enter the review process, which is called "court discussion". The court meeting is discussed and deliberated by the officials of the ministry to select a specific candidate among the candidates for submission.

However, during the court discussion, the officials will also put on a posture of being public and upright, and due to the different vacancies of each yamen, the responsibilities are naturally different. Therefore, when determining who is awarded what office, it is necessary to draw lots to decide.

It seems fair to draw lots to decide the position, but in fact, there is a lot of mystery in it. After all, some of the vacant official vacancies are fat shortages, and some are vacancies. Taking Zhixian as an example, the situation in each province is different, and everyone in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong is vying to go, while provinces like Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi are avoiding it.

Since there is a difference between fat and thin, the officials of the Ministry of Literature and Literature and Literature have taken advantage of this convenient condition to wantonly solicit bribes from the candidate officials. As a result, everyone often gives gifts, and those who are really fat are those with backgrounds.

When the candidates are decided, the officials will send the list to the vacancies, and then they will review it together with Jiuqing and Kedao, mainly to check the political background of each official and whether they meet the conditions for appointment (such as recusal, whether the ancestors have money and food shortages, etc.). But in fact, this kind of audit is just a formality, without much practical significance, and generally recognizes the selection of officials.

After the last review is passed, then the candidate can officially take office. It should be pointed out that there is a difference between the Beijing official and the local official, and the Beijing official can take office on the day of the announcement of the decree as long as the order of the official is issued.

There are still variables for magistrates, especially middle- and lower-level officials such as prefectures and counties. After the election, these new magistrates have to receive an official certificate at the official department, and then go to the local government to take up their posts.

However, after the magistrate arrived in the provinces, he had to report to the governor's and governor's yamen as a rule, and as for when he arrived, it depended on the performance of the officer, which was nothing more than filial piety. If it goes well, then you will soon be able to take up your post, and if you don't understand the world, you will have to wait a year or two or even longer.

Finally, let's briefly talk about the appointment of the new branch of the jinshi, and the three jinshi of the first class are directly awarded without the examination. The second-class and third-class jinshi are nothing more than three ways out, one is to enter the Hanlin Academy for further study through the court examination, the second is to serve in Beijing, and the third is to serve as the local magistrate.

In fact, whether the new branch jinshi is appointed as a small Beijing official or a county magistrate, it will take a relatively long time. For example, during the Kangxi period, the average number of years for Xinke Jinshi to be selected as a magistrate was 8 years, and in the late Qing Dynasty, the time was even longer. It can be seen that from candidacy to actual teaching, it is a difficult road full of unknowns.

It is also quite hesitant to donate to what kind of officials: if you donate to Beijing officials, there may be a real shortage within the year, but there is no way to be promoted, and Beijing officials are poor, where is the money to pay off debts?

And Jingguan is a bastard, and Wu Yunlin's mind of wanting to do a career is not in agreement.