The bureaucratic system in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty was, in short, bloated and corrupt.
Let's start with bloat.
The number is gradually increasing.
The development of society and the complexity of government affairs require more officials to deal with it.
Chinese officials often expanded from the inner court to the outer court. Zaiben was the steward of the nobility, and the king's zai was to serve the king's family, and later he was also in charge of the affairs of the kingdom until he developed into the later prime minister; Shangshu was originally the emperor's "private secretary" in charge of the documents (Shang is dedicated to serving the emperor, such as Shang Yi, Shang Shi, Shang Yu), during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty for the confrontation with the outer court, ** Prime Minister) and reused, and later developed into *** The same situation also appeared in the Tang Dynasty, such as the Hanlin Academy, which was the emperor's private entertainment venue, full of literature, calligraphy and painting, chess, Fangshu and other people, and later literature gradually stood out, and the Hanlin Academy was prosperous for a while, and the Hanlin Academy became a ** institution in the Song Dynasty; The emperor of the Ming Dynasty had a cabinet, which was also a special secretarial agency, probably drafting documents for the emperor, lecturing historical scriptures, and preparing votes for approval, etc., and then participated in the government and became the first then, the bureaucracy continued to differentiate from the inner court to the outer court, and the institutions and officials became more and more bloated.
There is also a differentiation of roles. For example, "admonishment" is the duty of all **, and anyone who is an official can give advice to the emperor and **, and even ordinary nobles. But the emperor didn't like it, every time there was a meeting, a group of people beeped and opened fire, and they were annoyed, so they developed a special counselor to give advice. (The officials also had "professional ethics" and did not dare to shoot at the emperor, so as soon as the emperor was wooed, many people aimed their guns at the prime minister and became the helpers of the imperial power against the prime minister.) ）
After the division of the big sect, there will be many small sects, and there are many capable and thoughtful people in the small sects, who want to get ahead, and they will cling to the powerful in order to get the clan or even the best position. If the position is not enough, it may be possible to open a single line for it. There are also temporary offices that have been set up due to temporary circumstances. However, in a system, once something is turned on, it will exist almost forever if it is not forbidden by an external force. Moreover, the person in charge of this matter will "raise his own respect" and continue to maintain his position of power in order to obtain continuous benefits from it. The Qing Dynasty Military Aircraft Department was originally a temporary institution for Yongzheng to facilitate the handling of military affairs (of course, there were also purposes such as fighting against the outer court and the Han Dynasty), but later it became permanent and existed until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
For a variety of reasons, the bureaucracy has grown larger, even to the point where it is too large to spend.
Gu Yang's "The Transformation of Officials in the Middle Western Zhou Dynasty" relies on Jinwen data to investigate the transformation of officials in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and believes that in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the hierarchical relationship between the officials of the first and the local (vassal states) had not yet formed a hierarchical relationship between the upper and lower subordinates, and many departments within the system were in a state of parallel and parallel. In the middle period, the rank of official is more obvious; The focus of rule gradually shifted from land control to population control; Under external military pressure, more emphasis was placed on military attachés, and wealth was often rewarded in exchange for their loyalty; The number of clans is inflated, and special officials need to be set up to manage them; Locally, the changes are basically the same as those of the royal family. The bureaucratic system of the Western Zhou Dynasty gradually became bloated. Xu Zhuoyun's "History of the Western Zhou Dynasty" said: "The era of the four kings ......There are many officials and the national strength is gradually depleted in the waste, which is a sign that the Zhou government is about to be defeated."
List of high-quality authorsLet's talk about corruption.
A bloated bureaucracy, the selfishness of the elite, and the social law that "if the law does not work, the society will be chaotic from above", will lead to the failure of the entire social system.
I'm hereThe inscription describes the Western Zhou Dynasty and is also the earliest and most complete litigation case and record in China. A cowherd, presumably a large cattle farmer or a small cattle farmer, put his boss (left and right; also as a training) was sued, which may involve the "five husbands" in the inscription, and Boyang's father is responsible for handling it. He believed that the cattle herding "sued the officials" (you dare to sue the teacher), or falsely accused, and had sworn not to sue again but violated the oath and still sued, and was punished with a thousand lashes, an ink tattoo on the face, and a "small black house". However, because of the cattle herding's intercession, Boyang's father was given a light sentence, fined 500 whips, and paid "300 taels (锊, weight unit)" gold (when it was copper). and sent his subordinates to let the cattle swear - "From now on, I dare to disturb Naixiao**", from now on, I will never go to trouble again; He also threatened him, "If you sue your boss again, I will whip you 1,000 and give you a tattoo according to the regulations and the original sentence." The cattle then swore an oath and paid the fine. I won the lawsuit, so I commemorate it.
Some people explain that the cattle herd bribed Boyang's father to be able to get a light sentence. "Shangshu Lü Xing" has a saying that ink will punish one hundred yuan, and the price paid by the cattle to exempt the ink punishment is three hundred yuan, and the other two hundred yuan of gold is put into Boyang's father's pocket. In fact, the flogging for cattle herding was reduced from 1,000 to 500, and the oath was violated and sued many times, and there were reasons for aggravating the punishment. Therefore, it cannot be considered that Boyang's father is greedy for two hundred yuan.
But judging from the ins and outs of the incident, the cattle herd repeatedly violated the oath and went back on his word - either Diao Min or indeed wronged.
A): If the cow herd is a villain who goes back on his word, and the punishment has a turnaround, what is the reason? Or do the cattle make compromises and offer bribes in exchange for light fines?
B): In the Zhou period, there was a saying that "the commission is a minister" (see the feudal system and the title system of the Zhou Dynasty are not what is recorded in the book and what you imagine). To become someone else's subordinate, you must swear loyalty to your superiors, absolutely obey your superiors, and never litigate with your superiors. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were strict restrictions on humiliation, and Muniu insisted on suing his boss at the expense of violating the "red line" to sue his boss, which is likely to be indeed wronged, otherwise it is difficult to think of why he kept suing. What if the cattle were really wronged, and Boyang's father favored me, or accepted a bribe from me? 1 tael is equivalent to about 6 taels, and in ancient times, 16 taels was 1 catty, so "300 taels" is about 20 catties today. Cattle have to pay 20 catties of copper. For the commoners of the Western Zhou Dynasty who used pottery a lot, it should not be a small number. Bo Yang's father did not investigate whether the matter of herding cattle to sue me was true, but directly judged that cattle herding was unreasonable because the cattle violated their oath and the subordinates sued their superiors! Therefore, no matter how you look at it, there was already a prototype of "bureaucrats" in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and ** gave gifts and asked each other to "protect each other"!
famous".Xuan Sheng three instruments("Five Years of Living"; two pieces with the same inscription "Five Years of Xuan Shengzun"; The inscription is a series of continuous records of the same event that occurred in the first month of the fifth year of a certain king, September of the fifth year, and April of the sixth year of the Western Zhou Dynasty (there are two versions of filial piety, Yi or Xuan period). Due to the large number of characters involved, the complexity of the names and the relationship between different characters, and the difficulty of interpretation due to repeated quotations, different experts have different interpretations.
The initial interpretation was generally to be a land litigation event. It is probably said that Xuan Sheng is a descendant of the small sect of Zhao Gongxiu at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, he encroached on the fields, and the big sect Zhao Bohu was responsible for dealing with it. During this period, Xuan Sheng gave gifts to Zhao Bohu's mother and Zhao Bohu himself many times, and the lawsuit was finally resolved by Zhao Bohu.
Because of Xuan Sheng's many gifts, some people interpret it as a case of corruption, Xuan Sheng offered bribes to Zhao Bohu and his mother, and Zhao Bohu and his mother accepted ** bribes to help Xuan Sheng solve the case.
If this is the case, bribery is already a trend at that time, and it has reached the point of rampant, and it will even be shamelessly recorded on bronzes! But why is it blatant? This was dictated by the ideology of the time. Zhao Bohu is a big sect, and Zhou Sheng is a small sect, and he thinks he has the responsibility and obligation to protect the small sect. That's why I made a move. And Xiaozong also has to show something. In the end, this matter was done, and as a family achievement, it was natural to record it and pass it on to future generations to admire.
There are also those who believe that this is not a case of greedy ink, but a normal case and a normal "exchange of courtesy" under the Western Zhou Dynasty ritual system, or just a process of separation. For example, Feng Shi's "Research on the Inscription of the "Three Instruments of Xuansheng" also believes that it records the drinking ceremony in the Western Zhou Township; Xu Yihua's "Analysis of the Newly Unearthed "Five-Year Xuanshengzun" and Xuansheng Inscription believes that although there are many characters and titles, in fact, there are only 4 people with different titles, and clarifies the relationship, "recording a complete separation process, that is, there is coordination within the family, there is also the participation of ** officials, and a large number of related etiquette".
In fact, even if there is no bribe, ** nature but the so-called "gift exchange", but when the gift exceeds a certain limit, it is inevitable that it is not suspicious; Moreover, the so-called "gentleman's friendship is as light as water, and the villain's friendship is sweet" ("Zhuangzi Shanmu"), if both parties have received excess benefits in the exchange, it will not be suspicious; Moreover, the gifts of large sums and valuables among the great nobles reflected the further concentration of wealth. Just like the "bride price", the bride price was originally a picture of the head and joy, but after the social atmosphere deteriorated, the bride price became an overwhelmed burden for some families. This is because, for wealthy families, it is within their ability to be generous, but the atmosphere spreads, and ordinary families are trapped because of this, let alone poor families?
"Xuansheng Sanqi" at least reflects that under the patriarchal system of ritual music, the clan family forms a community of interests.
Judging from the "Three Instruments" and "Xuansheng Three Instruments", during the Western Zhou Dynasty, a community of interests had been formed. It is self-evident that the nobles of the Western Zhou Dynasty society "protected each other" and did not hesitate to violate the system or even bend the law for personal gain for the sake of clan, family, and private interests. The interests of these "circles" must defend each other, although there must be internal struggles, but they are the same for the fooling, exploitation and embezzlement of public property and the property of the Zhou royal family by the people at the bottom.
Ding"It's a very special bronze, and unlike the usual bronze that records one thing, it records three (or even four) things. The inscription is divided into three sections, which respectively record: the glory of Cao (Yinhu), a case of "middleman" embezzling transaction money, and a dispute over theft of grain.
The first paragraph is that the first year of a certain king inherited the official position of the family under the mandate of the Son of Heaven, and Cao ShouUncle JingReward. This is the glory of the little nobleman.
In the second paragraph, Cao sold to the five husbands of the family through the middleman "limit" and the middleman of the buyer's "clan", ** is a hundred gold, a horse, and a bundle of silk. However, after delivering the five husbands, he only received a horse bundle, not a hundred hundred. In this regard, Cao filed a lawsuit against the family, and the father was his ** person and witness respectively, and the chief judge happened to be Uncle Jing. The clan argued that it had already paid hundreds, and in the endUncle JingThe verdict is to no longer be entangled in the issue of Baiyu, and the clan will return the five husbands.
It is said that the sale was carried out at the same time as the payment of money and delivery, and if the "credit account" was made, there was a proof that the family claimed to have paid 100 yuan, but Cao insisted that he did not receive it. And Uncle Jing didn't find out, so he made a verdict in favor of Cao. This may be because Cao is familiar with Uncle Jing, and Uncle Jing is partial to Cao.
The matter is rather bizarre. The process of payment should be a matter of imitation, and everyone is suspicious. The biggest suspicion may be that the intermediaries on both sides follow the father and the limit, and it is likely that one of the two of them embezzled the payment.
In the third paragraph, in a certain year of famine, twenty people under the command of "Kuang" (also known as Kuang Ji) stole and cut off the ten crops of the Cao family, and Cao wanted to complain to the "East Palace" (* name). Donggong accepted it and asked Kuang to take the initiative to hand over the thieves. Kuang then went to apologize to Cao, saying that he couldn't find those people, and said that he was willing to pay Wutian, Sanchen, and others (it can be seen that the theft was true) as compensation. But Cao was not satisfied, and resorted to the East Palace again, insisting that he compensate for the stolen He. Finally, the East Palace referee: Kuang will compensate Cao He ten times in the coming year, and fine ten times, a total of twenty pieces, if he does not compensate in the coming year, it will be doubled; plus two fields and one minister. Kuang did not take out 20 yuan in the coming year, but doubled. Coupled with Kuang's initiative to mediate, he took out Wutian and four husbands, and Cao got a total of thirty Zihe (ten of the forty Zihe were originally his), Qitian, and Wufu.
In the years of famine, the landlord's family had no surplus food, so Kuang did the dirty thing of stealing, and he couldn't get the food in the next year, resulting in compensation; Also due to the famine, the landlord's family had no surplus food, and he had to compensate him.
When the hunger was old, the landlord's family had no surplus food, so how could they steal? Kuang's stealing behavior certainly reflects his shamelessness, but the important thing is that Kuang is also a nobleman, and even nobles steal, so what about the "villain"? And, is this a special case, or is it a universal phenomenon? Whenever one thing breaks out, then similar incidents must be widespread, and it is likely that this should not be an isolated case, indicating the shamelessness of the aristocracy and the degradation of society in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Since the number of "villains" is greater than that of the powerful, theft was very common in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
The five husbands (including the five husbands in "I", the three ministers, the several, and the first minister may all be slaves. It can be seen that slaves could be bought and sold freely in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and could be used as the object of compensation. According to "Cao Ding", the five husbands ** are 100 and a horse bundle.
Therefore, there were many social contradictions in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty. “SnatchThe inscription records that Zhou Tianzi ordered to seize the matter of "Si Cheng Zhou's lawsuit and Yin Eight Divisions". The court was to interrogate disputes and deal with prison lawsuits, and the king of Zhou ordered to take over the prison lawsuits between Cheng Zhou and Yin Bashi. In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, litigation was generally held by Sima, Sikong, Situ or the Chief Executive, and judicial power was only an additional duty in addition to the main office. And Zhou Tianzi specifically mentioned the lawsuit, which shows that there are many lawsuits in the eighth division of the Zhou Dynasty. In the "Little (Shanfu) Keding", the king ordered Shanfuke to be purged into the Eighth Division of Zhou, reflecting the fatigue of the army at that time, to the point where it needed to be specially rectified. “Pastoral CounselIn it, there is a record of Zhou Tianzi denouncing the hundreds of bureaucrats who "abuse the common people" for being corrupt and not following the policies formulated at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty.
Bureaucratic bloat is often accompanied by various malaises such as superficiality, rampant corruption, and formalism, and the result is political sluggishness and the people's misery. It can be seen that in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the authority of the Son of Heaven declined, the politics were loose and the bureaucracy was corrupt.