"My Thirty Years in the Officialdom of the Qing Dynasty" was originally written as "Records of the Daoxian Officials". It is a self-narrated chronology of Zhang Jixin, an important official in the Qing Dynasty. It is a record of his keen observations and opinions on the ups and downs of officialdom and personnel he experienced during his tenure. It is called a chronicle, but it is actually almost a novel. It depicts the ghostly situation in the officialdom in detail, no less than "The Appearance of the Officialdom" and "The Strange Current Situation Witnessed in Twenty Years" in the late Qing Dynasty. It is more realistic than other similar novels and has high historical value. Famous scholars who study Qing history have quoted this book many times when writing about the history of Xian Dynasty.
The original work "My Thirty Years in the Officialdom of the Qing Dynasty" was written in classical Chinese. Although the writing is clear and beautiful, it is not easy for ordinary readers today to read through. "My Thirty Years in the Officialdom of the Qing Dynasty" changes the text of Zhang Jixin's chronology to white, deletes the complex and simplifies it, and reconnects the historical facts into a text. "My Thirty Years in the Officialdom of the Qing Dynasty" is an "oral history" style. It does not joke or distort. The language is vivid, story-telling and informative. The author processes historical materials in lively and interesting language, making it highly readable.
who I am
First of all, let me state that this is history, not time travel! If anyone is interested in the Qing Dynasty in the Daoguang and Xianfeng eras, I will stand here and wait for you to travel through time---The premise is that you can only come alone, otherwise, you may lose your head---Hong Xiuquan did not allow men and women to live together--not even those who had obtained certificates.
My name is Zhang Jixin. I was born in my old home in Yizheng, Jiangsu Province on March 29, the fifth year of Jiaqing (7:00 to 9:00 a.m. on April 22, 1800 AD). According to the family tree, I am the N+1 generation descendant of Zhang Fei. My family relationship is a bit complicated. In order to facilitate the understanding of current readers, it is necessary to introduce it first. My father's name is Zhang Shifeng. He has five brothers and one sister. When I was eight years old, my mother, Mrs. Wu, passed away; when I was ten years old, my father married my stepmother, Mrs. Xu; when I was twenty years old, my father passed away. Before my father passed away, he adopted me to my fourth uncle. Because my family was poor, my fourth uncle never married, so I became his stepson. When I was thirty-five years old, my fifth uncle, because he was old and had no children, asked me to inherit two clans at the same time. The heir who inherits the family. Later, although my fifth uncle had a biological son, he never sent me back. In this way, in addition to my biological father, I also have a stepfather---called "Jikao" in the book, and a stepfather---called "Jiankao" in the book; similarly, In addition to my mother, I also have a stepmother (who is my father's second wife, not my stepfather's wife, and my stepfather never married) and a part-time mother---called in the book " "Also kind".
My marriage is also quite complicated in modern eyes. When I was seventeen years old, I engaged Mrs. Li. Just two months before the wedding, this poor girl died of illness---if we talk about fortune telling, this can be regarded as the first woman I killed. I officially married my first wife, Mrs. Huang, when I was twenty-eight years old; twelve years later, Mrs. Huang passed away. Two years later, I married my second wife, Shaw; eight years later, Shaw also passed away. In addition, I also married three Concub!nes: one named Wang, named Xiufo; one named Tan, named Xiuying; and one named Qi, without a name. Two years after Mrs. Shao's death, I made the embroidered Buddha my third wife. To my regret, these six women died before me.
But this complicated marriage was unusual at the time. However, my descendants are very simple - all these women only gave birth to one son for me - Zhang Zhaolan, the daughter of Mrs. Shao. Zhang Zhaolan later worked in the Prime Minister's Yamen, and his official career was even worse than mine. He wrote "Essays of Ruisunxuan", "Quanyuanhuizhenji" and "Huaiyin Guest Talk", etc. Although I have a daughter in my name, she was adopted from my third brother and later married Li Hongzhang’s eldest son, Li Jingfang, as my second wife.
In 1829 (the ninth year of Daoguang), I passed the imperial examination and passed the imperial examination. For the next eight years, I spent many leisurely years in the Hanlin Academy. In 1836 (the 16th year of Daoguang's reign), I was sent to the prefecture of Shuoping, Shanxi Province, and began my career as a local official. Later, I served successively as chief envoy of Tingzhang Longdao in Fujian, governor of grain roads in Shaanxi, inspector of Sichuan, chief envoy of Guizhou, chief envoy of Gansu, and He held the posts of chief envoy to Henan, chief envoy to Henan, chief envoy to Hubei, chief envoy to Zhili, chief envoy to Fujian, and chief envoy to Shaanxi until he became ill due to illness in 1865 (the fourth year of Tongzhi).
In the past thirty years, I have served in eight provinces and witnessed all kinds of official scandals. I have self-discipline, I am dedicated, I am diligent, I have worked hard, I have worked hard, and I have worked hard for the Qing Dynasty, but in the end I was unable to reverse its decline. Not only that, I was framed several times and dismissed from office several times. My official career started at the fourth rank and ended at the third rank. It went up and down from the fourth rank to the second rank. It can be described as twists and turns.
A century and a half have passed now. The dynasty I served has long been wiped out. China has undergone earth-shaking changes, especially the material form of society. Compared with the era I lived in, it is completely different. However, I also found that amidst the changes, there are still many things that have not changed much, or that are the same between ancient and modern times, such as "power comes from the top" and "government is achieved through bribery".
Because of this little discovery, I felt itchy and took you to visit the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty.
1836, the 16th year of Daoguang's reign
In February, Lan Zhengzun, a Yao citizen in the Wugang area of Hunan Province, led a crowd to revolt. Ne'er Jing'e, the governor of Huguang, was ordered to put down the rebellion. Lan Zhengzun was captured and killed.
In March, all provinces banned "bandits".
In November, England sent people to Guangdong to take charge of its merchants and sailors, ordering them to obey the rules.
Leave Zhang Shuoping Mansion
"Poor Hanlin" received a special letter
I remember clearly that that day was May 24, the 16th year of Daoguang's reign (July 7, 1836 AD). The emperor appointed me as the prefect of Shuoping, Shanxi. Eight years have passed since the ninth year of Daoguang's reign. In the Hanlin Academy, I recited poems and composed poems all day long, and sang poems and wines with my close friends. It was quite a leisurely journey. I didn't expect that the emperor would let me go outside. I was really surprised, happy, and disappointed. Although the Hanlin Academy was clear It was expensive, but very poor, and was known as the "poor Hanlin"; being a local official was much more affordable, but of course, it was also much more difficult and tiring.
On the 25th, I went to Jingmingyuan to express my gratitude and ask for advice. This was also the usual practice. The emperor summoned me at Qingyinzhai on Yuquan Mountain.
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