"Candidate Governor",with "Supplementary Knowledge".What's the difference?
What is an alternate?
In the Qing Dynasty, the selection process was quite complicated. Before they are officially hired, they are referred to as alternates or candidates, and they are only given the status of ** and are not officially hired. This article mainly discusses the position of the magistrate, and other officials do not describe it.
When there is a vacancy in the provincial governors, the Ministry of Officials will start the selection process. The personnel competing for the position of county magistrate can be roughly divided into eight situations: first, the "instant use" magistrate who was born as a jinshi;The second is the provocateur with excellent results;The third is the Bagong and Yougong court examiners with excellent examination results;Fourth, the provincial probationary personnel for military merit;Fifth, the Ming Bao personnel recommended by the Governor;Sixth, those who resigned and returned to work for personal reasons;Seventh, donating provincial probationers;Eight is other distribution personnel.
The above eight categories of personnel constitute the alternate magistrate in a broad sense. When it comes to selection, it can be divided into two situations. In one case, they are directly appointed through the evaluation of the ministry, and the other is that they are distributed by the provinces without being selected by the ministry.
If it is a person who has been selected by the Ministry of Officials and distributed to various provinces, then it belongs to the candidate county. After they arrived in the province, they did not need to go through the superintendent assessment, and they could take office with the certificate of the ministry.
The personnel who have passed the assessment of the local governor are called the alternate magistrates. Although they also need to be registered with the Ministry of Officials, they cannot take office immediately, but need to go through a probationary assessment and pass before they can officially take office.
Most of the magistrates of the Qing Dynasty were alternates. The Ministry of Officials divided the personnel distributed to the provinces for probation into several shifts, including a shift of "alternate magistrates". Among these candidate magistrates who were distributed to the provinces for probation, the Jinshi was the most used magistrate, the provocate, the donor, and the military meritorious.
Among these candidates, the shift of Jinshi Zhixian is the best. In addition, the alternates who have served as county governors and returned to the province and reinstated due to reasons such as worries, punishments, sick leave, and recuperation. As for the promoters, tributes, donors, and military meritorious, because they have never held actual positions, and some of them come from unusual backgrounds, they are on the bench for a longer period of time, and even if they are appointed, they are often in the minority.
It should be noted that the candidates in each province must go through a one-year probationary period, that is, as a county magistrate. At the expiration date, the provincial governor will evaluate and screen those who pass the position before they can be officially conferred the position;If they are not qualified, the Governor may recommend that they be transferred to a teaching position or returned to the Ministry of Officials.
The imperial court explicitly stipulated that all alternate magistrates who were distributed to the provinces were not allowed to fill vacancies without going through probation, or if the probationary period had not expired. If there is a problem, the Governor will be punished.
What to do at this stage
Speaking of which, there is a question, what kind of work does the candidate magistrate in the probationary stage do?Broadly speaking, probationary candidates can be divided into two categories: "rotating committees" and "discretionary committees".
The "rotation committee" is appointed according to the order of shift and arrival time, simply put, according to the principle of origin and first come, first served;"Discretionary committee" refers to the alternate county magistrate who has outstanding performance or merit, and may be appointed without following the procedures.
Regardless of whether it is a "rotating committee" or a "discretionary committee", the alternate governor will be appointed as the ** or acting magistrate, responsible for managing the affairs of a county. Their job responsibilities are no different from those of the official magistrates, and they will also enjoy a fixed salary, but with an additional probationary title.
For the alternate counties that are distributed to various provinces, they need to wait indefinitely if they do not enter the trial phase. During this period, the governor will arrange some temporary errands, such as the issuance of trials, disaster relief, inventory and other affairs.
This situation is very common, especially in some unexpected situations, which can make up for the lack of personnel in the supervision and yamen. At the same time, through temporary errands, the alternate magistrates can also get the opportunity to exercise, and the governors can also use this opportunity to evaluate their ability to do things. But more importantly, they receive a limited salary once they are offered a temporary errand. Because according to the regulations, there is no Yulu for the alternate governor.
Candidates who are assigned to the provinces will find themselves in a difficult and difficult situation if they are not given a position or probationary position, or if they are not assigned temporary errands. The only way is to borrow. Some historical descriptions of this situation are as follows:
Those who are sent to remote areas, some have to walk thousands of miles, some even more than 10,000 miles, they will go bankrupt, take their families to the provincial capital, and then wait bitterly. During this period, the rich would borrow money, and the poor would pawn their property. If you can eventually get a vacant position, you will face many probations and audits when you first take office, which will lead to losses at the beginning, and you will have to pay later if you are held responsible. When private debts are repaid, combined with the cost of official business, it is difficult to cope with both personal and official expenses, and there is ...... dilemma”
For the alternates who are distributed to the provinces, the debts owed during the waitlist period are called "stomachs". Once the position is granted, in addition to repaying the principal and interest, the debtor has to bear other conditions, and the creditor will often send the master of the account office and other entourage, known as "master with belly" and "second master with belly".
Obviously, when these people arrive at the locality, they will only extort money from the people, which will inevitably lead to corruption in grassroots governance.
At this point, readers should be clear about the difference between a candidate and an alternate, and at the same time, the questions raised earlier have been answered. His ancestor is a candidate for the magistrate, if he passes the selection of the officials, he will no longer have to sit on the cold bench after arriving in the provincial capital, nor will he need to probation, and he can directly take up his post.