In ancient times, officials did not build yamen. Why?

Please refer to the following:

Core tip: The ancients said that "officials do not build offices, and customers do not build shops." The main reasons why officials do not build yamen are believed to be financial constraints, troublesome approvals, and various restrictions such as institutional ethics. Therefore, except for a few who used the palaces of the previous dynasty to renovate, there was absolutely no possibility of building luxurious office buildings

In September of the fourth year of Yuanyou (1089), Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty, the mayor of Hangzhou (Mayor of Hangzhou) who had just taken office ( Su Dongpo, who knew Hangzhou), wrote a letter to the central government called "Begging for a Certificate of Enlightenment to Repair the Houses". The general content is: Most of the government buildings in Hangzhou are buildings left over from the Wu and Yue regimes in the Five Dynasties. Over the past hundred years, they have been damaged by wind and rain. The day will be ruined. Due to financial constraints, governments at all levels are especially taboo on construction. If the expenditure reaches 10,000 yuan, they must ask their superiors for approval and cannot spend money arbitrarily. Therefore, they can only support and prolong the time. During the Xining period, I came to Hangzhou to serve as a magistrate, and I saw that the buildings of the state department were leaning one after another. Now, fifteen or sixteen years have passed, and the bad situation can be seen. On the day I took office, I saw that the buildings of the state government were crooked and open, and they were all supported by small logs. Every time I passed them, I felt chilled. When I asked the general magistrate and other colleagues, the situation in their respective government offices was like this. Whenever there was a heavy storm, they did not dare to sleep peacefully. In June this year, the office building of the Judge's Office collapsed, injuring two clerks. In August, the Gujiao Tower collapsed, killing the four members of the family who were on duty, including a pregnant woman. Now officials and their families in various units are all worried and frightened. The minister did not dare to sit idly by and organized inspections in the past few days. It was found that there were 27 dilapidated buildings with large areas of deterioration. The estimated repair cost is more than 40,000 yuan. If we had to wait until it was completely destroyed within three to five years before rebuilding, it would be far from more than 40,000 strings. Therefore, I requested that Hangzhou be granted two hundred Taoist certificates (certificates for monks and monks issued by the government) and sell them on their own to confiscate the cost of repairing the mansion. If the central government investigated and found that the statement was untrue and the request was inappropriate, I would be guilty of deception.

The author has not verified whether Su Dongpo's application was approved, but it was not easy for the government to build government offices at that time, and the finances were so scarce that they had to rely on special approval from the central government to sell off the ultimatum to cover the cost of a major overhaul. It is difficult for modern people to imagine.

From the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, those who were good at building mansions were punished

Looking back from the beginning, the ancient government building system went through an evolution process. According to historical records, during the Jin and Six Dynasties, as well as during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, many government officials had the autonomy to build government offices. Starting from the Northern Song Dynasty, the imperial court had strict financial management. All finances outside the regular routine of the state army were required to be reported to the Department of Transportation, which represented the central finance. Taking the construction project as an example, according to Ouyang Xiu's "Yanhong Embankment": During the reign of Emperor Renzong, Yuezhou wanted to build Yanhong Embankment. He first applied to the Transportation Department and proposed a plan and budget. The Transportation Department selected capable personnel to go to the state to survey and review the plan. , after three repeated revisions, it was reported to the imperial court and reviewed by the Third Bureau (the highest financial and economic institution). "Then it was said that it was OK," and an approval was issued. Just imagine, the construction of dikes that benefit the country and the people needs to go through such a strict approval process. In contrast, it is not easy to use financial resources to build office buildings, staff dormitories, etc., which have no direct economic benefits. The quote from Su Dongpo's memorial at the beginning of this article, "In recent years, the supervisors have been eager to use money, and they are especially taboo about building construction. If the number exceeds ten thousand, no unauthorized expenditure is allowed." This is probably a reflection of these systems.

In "Xuzizhi Tongjian Changbian", we can often see records of local officials being punished for building government offices. For example, in the third year of Jingde reign of Zhenzong (1006), Hangzhou magistrate Xue Ying and his superior Yao Xuan were upset. Xue Ying reported several things to Yao Xuan to the Censor's Office, one of which was "adept at building more buildings", which was verified by the Censor's Office. Later, Yao Xuan was demoted from the transfer envoy to Lianzhou Literature. A few years later, the central government issued a document instructing all supervisors to "not be good at repairing villas."

With financial controls and precedents for punishment, it is not difficult to imagine that many local government buildings in the Song Dynasty were in disrepair. Moreover, the Song Dynasty also had systems for government property management. Volume 12 of "Rong Zhai Four Strokes" records that in the early years of the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, Taizu Zhao Kuangyin issued an edict requiring that all "all roads, vassal towns, prefectures, offices, public buildings and warehouses that are in any state of deterioration" must be "repaired" immediately. , "From now on, the governors, observers, defenders, regimental training envoys, governors, governors, and general judges have been dismissed from their posts. Whether the houses they governed have deteriorated or not, as well as the additions and repairs, they will be recorded as books and taught one after another." That is to say, all damage and additions to official properties must be recorded as a matter for the predecessor to explain to his successor. At the same time, the record must also be "written in the examination calendar", that is, it is listed as an item for official assessment. "If the damage is incomplete, the palace will be selected (one point will be deducted); if the repair and construction does not disturb the people, an additional point will be added." One choice (plus one point)”.

Putting yourself in my shoes, there are multiple financial constraints on one hand, and there are handover and assessment systems on the other. It is really difficult to force a horse to run and not eat grass. Faced with this problem, many officials will choose to add one point rather than one less thing, because officials have a term of office, and they must leave after completing their term. They cannot take the public house with them. The difficulty of applying for funds has been mentioned before, but it is a little bit A large-scale construction would take several months to complete. It is self-evident that this series of troubles are more serious than the possible but not certain "choice of a damaged or incomplete palace".

On the other hand, officials who are interested in doing something practical but are afraid of being caught by others need to be extra careful. Su Dongpo once wrote an article "Teng County Public Hall Notes" at the invitation of Fan Chun. The main idea is: The government office in Teng County is an old building left by the previous dynasty. More than a few years later, the county magistrate Zhang Taisu presided over a major renovation. After that, successive officials were afraid of making mistakes, "if they were corrupted, they would have to pay each other, and they would not dare to change a rafter". More than fifty years later, Fan Chun, a Zanshan doctor, was demoted to Teng County as the county magistrate. He couldn't stand it any longer, so another overhaul was carried out. From office buildings to government dormitories, there are a total of 116 houses, all of which have been renovated. Only the daily life of the county magistrate and his family has not been managed, because "I have not enough time to do it." To put it bluntly, we must first eliminate the suspicion of building the government office for personal enjoyment, so as not to be caught in a pigtail.

In short, during the two and three hundred years of the Song Dynasty, it gradually became a common concept among officials to build government offices frugally and sparingly. When we look at the writings about the reconstruction of government offices written by people in the Song Dynasty, most of them emphasize how dilapidated they were originally and how the reconstruction project did not harass the people. A kind of fear of being criticized is naturally revealed.

The Ming Dynasty customized and unified the model of yamen all over the world, but many yamen were unable to meet the standards

The construction of yamen in the Ming Dynasty generally has the following "highlights".

First, the basic structure, building scale and repair standards of government offices at all levels must abide by the "regulations" promulgated in the form of edicts in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, also known as "French style" or "system" . These rules were later adopted by the Qing Dynasty. In today's Shanxi, Henan, Jiangxi and other places, there are some remains of county government buildings in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and some have been developed as special tourist attractions. After visiting them all, you will immediately feel that all the yamen in the world are the same.

Secondly, the "regulations" are limited and there are no requirements for meeting the standards. Just like there is a rule that department-level units can buy BMW cars, but it does not require you to take a BMW. If you are not financially capable, you can take a BMW first. In fact, most of the local governments in the Ming Dynasty, especially the state and county-level government agencies, were rebuilt on the old Yuan Dynasty rule that was destroyed by war. When they were first established, they were primitive and simple, and often required many additions and expansions over hundreds of years before they could be built. reach regulations. Volume 1 of "Jianjing Jiangyin County Chronicle" introduces the construction process of the county office: it was first built in the first year of Hongwu (1368), added once in the fifth year of Xuande (1430), and then renovated in the eighth year of Hongzhi (1495). It can be called "system preparation". Some even failed to meet the regulations due to limited economic capacity. For example, Shen Bang, who served as magistrate of Shangyuan and Wanping counties, once complained: Shangyuan in Nanjing and Wanping in Beijing are the first counties of the capital at the same level. The government offices of the Shangyuan Dynasty were all built according to the regulations set in the early days of the Kingdom, "the base is broad and the wood and stone are strong." As for Wanping, it has been nearly two hundred years since Yongle moved the capital to Beijing to Wanli Renchen (1592). Its official office regulations are far from commensurate with its status as the first county in the world: the area is too small, and it is only a few feet behind the lobby. County Magistrate's Office. There is only one Houxie (that is, the housing for the county magistrate and his family), which is uneven and adjacent to private houses. The official residences of several other officials, such as Liangma County Magistrate, Junjiang County Magistrate, Guantun Chief Secretary, and Dianshi, are all connected to the citizens through walls, and their voices can be communicated. There is no dedicated land for the officials' dormitories, which are scattered among the official residences, so most of the officials use residential buildings. “I don’t know when it was created and what accommodations were made, but it’s just like making things simple and crudely prepared!” Not only did it make things simple when laying the foundation, but it also lacked the conditions to improve and meet the standards in the future. Shen Bang said in his own account that when he came to Wanping to receive the seal in July of the 18th year of Wanli (1590), his inventory was only fifty-two taels of silver, and the various payments waiting to be paid amounted to more than four thousand taels. It seems that financial distress should be one of the important reasons why Shen Bang and his predecessors are content with the status quo.

Thirdly, regardless of fiscal expenditure budget or capital construction projects, the construction of government offices is listed as a "not urgent matter", and even the offices of the central government are treated the same way.

For example, in the 19th year of Yongle (1421), the capital of the Ming Dynasty moved from Nanjing to Beijing, but no new office buildings for the central ministries such as the Five Governments, Six Ministries and other temple supervisors were built, "all because the old official buildings were Therefore, they are scattered and disorderly.” Among them, the Ministry of Rites, which is in charge of diplomacy and tribute affairs, and its affiliated institutions, Huitongguan (State Guest House), were really embarrassed because of the dignity issues of the Ming Dynasty, so they were the first to be built in the fifth to sixth year of Xuande (1430-1431). Ministry of Rites and Huitong Hall. The rest of the civil service, household, military, criminal, and industrial ministries, as well as the five-army governor's office, as well as the Duchayuan, Honglu Temple, Qintianjian, Taiyuan Hospital, Taichang Temple, General Affairs Department, Jinyiwei, Dali Temple, etc., all have to go to Zhengtong. Seven years later (1442), construction began one after another.

In the 1940s, Mr. Shan Shiyuan and Mr. Wang Biwen collected historical materials such as "Ming Shilu", "Ming Dianhui", "Ming Huidian" and so on, and compiled a rich and comprehensive book. "Chronology of Major Architectural Events in the Ming Dynasty" in 25 printed sheets. This chronology combines government agencies, warehouses, prisons, enterprises, schools, almshouses and other financial appropriation units into one volume. The author accidentally discovered that the government attaches far more importance to school construction than government offices. For example, during the Hongwu period from the beginning to the end of the 31st year, 674 schools were newly built or rebuilt in Wei County, Fuzhou, and there were only 26 local government projects during the same period. Another example is that during the Yongle period, 97 schools were built in Wei County, Fuzhou, but only 5 local government projects were built. During the Xuande Orthodox period, the government offices of the Beijing Dynasty were fully constructed. From the central to the local government, there were a total of 55 government office construction or repair projects, but this was still not as high as the 159 school construction or renovation projects during the same period. As I write this, I naturally think of the reports in the media about the contrast between "luxurious government offices" and dilapidated school buildings. I really don't know what to say.

Under the new system of the Qing Dynasty, those who wanted to repair government offices had to pay for it themselves

The Qing Dynasty adopted the Ming system and had stricter controls on government office repairs. From the central government to the local governments, there is no funding for this. Anyone who wants to build a government office must pay for it himself. The specific method is: if there are any small leaks and damages in the government offices, they are ordered to repair them at any time. Only those who are really in dire straits are allowed to separate their priorities and make an estimate (that is, to be as simple and frugal as possible), and are allowed to borrow idle silver for construction, and then deduct the money from the borrower's yanglian bank quarter by quarter. Its construction cost shall not exceed 1,500 taels for roads and prefectures, 800 taels for Tongzhi, and 600 taels for general judgments; for prefectures and counties, it shall not exceed 1,200 taels for large administrations and for middle administrations, it shall not exceed one thousand taels. , Xiaozhi cannot exceed 800 taels, and Zuza and leaders cannot exceed 200 taels. The time for withholding and returning the money is calculated from the next quarter after receiving the silver. Initially, the county magistrates of Dao and Fuzhou were limited to three years, and the chiefs of Zuoza were limited to four years. The number of years will be relaxed in the future, up to eight years.

If you want to repair a government office, you not only have to pay for it yourself, but you also have to ensure the quality of the project. Otherwise, you will be held accountable and bear economic losses. Those who inspect and accept the project will also be punished and have their wages deducted: "Any official who borrows money in advance will If the government office built by the ICAC involves moving the old materials to another location or dismantling the entire building and constructing a new building, within the ten-year warranty period after the completion of the construction, in the event of collapse or damage, the successor will be asked to find out the original repair plan and estimated construction materials. , explain to the superiors that the commissioned inspection is accurate, and the original officer will pay the compensation according to the amount, and the person who can be inspected and concluded will be reported to the Ministry of Supervisors. If the case cannot be found out, the case will be settled and a one-year fine will be imposed."

There is no need to continue quoting and comparing. The above few items alone are enough to make the concept of "officials not repairing yamen" more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people than it was in the Ming Dynasty. Please read Yu Chenglong, who is known as the "first honest official in the Qing Dynasty", describing his first appointment as the magistrate of Luocheng County, Guangxi: "I took office at dawn, (the county government) had no gate, no ceremonial gate, and the two thatched hills were like a deserted suburb. There were three thatched houses in the middle hall. There is a hotel room on the east side and a study room on the west side. There is a door in the middle, and there are three huts, and there are no walls around. What a living hell!"

There were reports in the media about the construction of luxurious office buildings and cadre villas in Puyang, Henan Province, and said that in addition to financial allocations, the funding sources also include "support" from subordinate units. This method of fundraising has existed since ancient times. For example, "Tongzhi of Eight Banners" records that in the 40th year of Kangxi's reign (1701), someone reported to the emperor that there was a private faction problem in the decoration or construction of the two government offices of Fu and Fan in Guangxi. Kangxi asked Xiao Yongzao, the new governor of Guangxi, to find out the feedback. Xiao Yongzao said: After investigation, all the equipment for the governor's office was "collected and supplied voluntarily by various units in the provincial capital, not sent out as donations." Now the minister has ordered all to be returned; when the Chief Secretary built the government office, all the equipment was also provided. Regarding "everyone donates his own money", only one magistrate, Liu Zhengguo, was found to have "privately distributed eighty taels of private silver" and should be prosecuted. As a result, the issues related to the Fu and Fan offices were no longer investigated, and only Liu Zhengguo was "dismissed and interrogated" and became a scapegoat to perfunctory public opinion.

Logically speaking, prefectures and counties can also learn from their superiors and let "each one contribute his own money" to the cost of building government offices. In fact, many public welfare projects in ancient counties and towns, such as paving roads and building bridges, building schools, or building Wenchang Pavilion or Feng Shui tower, were all implemented by the government's advocacy of "pay money if you have money, and work if you have strength." . However, for gentry and merchants, building a pavilion and erecting a monument after building a bridge and paving the road can show good deeds and make a name for future generations; building a Feng Shui tower or something like this can also bring good rewards to the academic career of one's children. This government office is the only one that I don't live in, and the people who live in it can leave at will, so I can't always rely on them, so I can't be motivated. In this way, if the construction funds of state and county government offices are labeled as "donations", they cannot escape the word "scientific school". There are several such cases in the "Review of Criminal Cases" of the Qing Dynasty. There was Yan Jiazheng, the magistrate of Linqu County in Shandong Province, who "for preparing funds for the academy and repairing the government office, he frequently fined county residents Shen Wensi and other money." After the incident, he was punished for being guilty of embezzlement and was dismissed from his post on the spot. There was also Xu Zhen, the Prime Minister of Wanping County. Not long after he took office, he asked the gentry and merchants to send him money in the name of "congratulatory seal". He said that the money he received was to "replenish and build the government office." When the matter was brought to the fore, no one protected him. As a result, he was convicted according to the law that "an official takes property for himself except for official duties."