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卷八十二 志第三十二: 選舉二

Volume 82 Treatises 35: Selection of Officials 2

Chapter 82 of 元史 · History of Yuan
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1
Selection of Officials 2 — Appointment Regulations, Upper Section
2
宿宿使
On appointments from the keshig ranks: in the early Yuan the left and right palace guards served as the dynasty’s innermost bulwark, so descendants of the four keshig corps held the headship of the guard in hereditary succession and were allowed to nominate their own followers. Keshig who had long served at court were frequently advanced to prominent posts; only when a chief officer recommended someone for appointment did fixed rules apply. In Zhiyuan 20 it was decided: those who had long served within the palace precincts and came from eminent families, upon first receiving a court-appointed nominal rank, would have their substantive post reduced by one grade; others would have theirs reduced by two grades as appropriate. In Zhida 4 an edict stipulated that Mongols would be reduced one grade, Semu two grades, and Han three grades.
3
滿 便
On appointments to the censorate and surveillance service: in Dade 1 the Secretariat proposed that, whereas censorate posts had once lacked a formal selection process and were filled from the civil bureaucracy, the two sides had later begun nominating one another’s candidates, with the Secretariat and Censorate each conducting its own selection. Censorate officials and their staff should be free to choose their own appointees; only regional surveillance commissioners would be selected jointly by the Secretariat and Censorate. When censorate officials chose candidates from the Secretariat or ministries, they would deliberate jointly with Secretariat officials; when Secretariat officials chose from the censorate or surveillance ranks, they would likewise consult censorate officials. In Zhiyuan 8 it was stipulated that when investigating censors finished a term without notable achievements in office, those who had originally held seventh rank or below would routinely advance one grade, while those of sixth rank or above would receive promotion. Those who defied powerful interests, impeached wrongdoing, or advanced the public good would have their advancement considered separately. If any proved unfit, their appointments would be adjusted at discretion.
4
On the selection of prefects and magistrates: in Zhiyuan 8 an edict designated as top candidates officials who had achieved all five standards—growth in registered households, reclamation of farmland, reduction of litigation, suppression of banditry, and equitable taxes and corvée. In the ninth year, officials who fulfilled all five criteria were ranked as top selections and advanced one grade. Those who fulfilled four criteria had one qualification period waived toward promotion. Those who achieved three criteria were middle selections and transferred under the usual regulations. Those who fell short on four criteria had one qualification period added before promotion. Those who failed on all five counts were demoted one grade. In the twenty-third year an edict declared that officials who promoted farming and sericulture and diligently performed their duties would be promoted and rewarded in due order. Those who neglected their duties were flogged and removed from office. In the twenty-eighth year an edict ordered that, aside from darughachi posts, chief officials at circuit, prefecture, subprefecture, and county levels should be drawn from reputable Han families, households of meritorious ministers, and qualified Confucian-trained clerks, while deputies should be appointed from both Semu and Han candidates, so that administration would be equitable, litigation orderly, the people secure, banditry suppressed, and all five performance standards met.
5
使 滿 滿 調滿 歿 歿 歿 歿 歿
On the promotion of military officers: in Zhiyuan 15 an edict ruled that officers promoted for merit had traditionally been succeeded by their sons; those killed in battle could be succeeded by heirs; and if an office was vacated otherwise, a meritorious appointee would take the post. In the seventeenth year an edict specified that Cross-River zongguan and centurion-commanders promoted for merit would inherit one grade below the qianhu rank; centurion-commanders without a lower title in the succession chain would retain their original grade. In the nineteenth year a proposal was submitted: when wanhu, qianhu, or baihu officers died, qualified descendants would inherit under the usual rules; but for grand marshals, pacification commissioners, and zongguan, qualified descendants would command only the original troops associated with the post. A marshal’s or pacification commissioner’s descendant would become a wanhu; a zongguan’s descendant a qianhu; a zongguan’s descendant a baihu—and would receive the original gold or silver tally of office. Death from illness entailed inheritance at a reduced grade; only death in battle allowed succession at the original grade. In the twenty-first year an edict ordered wanhu, qianhu, and baihu divided into upper, middle, and lower thirds, with promotion registers established for transfers throughout the system. A three-year term would complete service; qualifications would be reckoned and ranks advanced. If an officer died of old age or illness, his sons would receive hereditary privilege under the usual rules. That same year, because the old system had fathers and sons succeed one another in command of original troops without separate Mongol military officers, qualification terms were fixed at three years with transfers applied throughout. Later, when Mongol officers were appointed at every level in each wing and officers were also dispatched on campaigns away from their units, they could no longer be transferred or granted hereditary privilege like civilian officials. Wanhu, qianhu, and zhenfu would therefore count three-year terms from the date of approved memorial and transfer under the general rule. Centurion-commanders and lower ranks were not subject to this rule. Military officers were promoted or demoted according to verified achievements or failures in the field. Mongol ordo officials were also regulated: under large-wing wanhu an ordo chief steward’s office of rank 4b was established. Under small-wing wanhu an ordo official of rank 5b was established. Each qianhu ordo likewise had an ordo official appointed by commission from the Bureau of Military Affairs. Qianhu ordos numbering fewer than one thousand households—whether two or three hundred—would be consolidated from nearby and smaller units into qianhu-wing ordo officials commissioned by the Bureau. Where appanage holdings obstructed consolidation, the matter should be reconsidered. Leading officers were also required to hold edict patents: bureau managers and clerks of marshal and pacification offices would serve as wanhu-office managers and clerks upon exchange of patents; if the original wing was abolished, they would be reassigned elsewhere. Managers holding princely orders, provincial commissions, or Bureau commissions would serve as clerks in middle- and lower-grade wanhu offices. Provincial and departmental commissions would fill document-controller posts; managers and clerics appointed by each wing’s wanhu would uniformly serve as document controllers under Bureau commission. It was further proposed that document controllers attached to court guard qianhu and zhenfu should receive Bureau commission, while those on provincial assignment should be approved by the province and commissioned by the wanhu office. In the twenty-fourth year an edict declared that anyone seeking to inherit a father’s or elder brother’s post must be examined for fitness before appointment. Sons of veteran ministers from meritorious houses and families with battle honors should first be given minor posts; if they proved capable, they could be promoted to major appointments. In the twenty-fifth year, officers killed in battle could inherit at the original grade; those who died of illness would have succession reduced by two grades. Even when an officer died in battle, unfit sons would not be appointed. Even when an officer died of illness, capable sons need not suffer grade reduction and could be appointed at the original rank. In Dade 4, because darughachi of wanhu, qianhu, and baihu posts in the Shangdu Tiger Guard and Martial Guard had died without approved rules for hereditary succession, the practice seemed unfairly inconsistent. Henceforth, when a wing’s darughachi died, capable sons would be examined and appointed; incapable heirs would not succeed. In the fifth year an edict ruled that officers who failed to report, were detained by illness or affairs, or who after finishing an assignment used private excuses not to return would henceforth be limited to six months’ absence. Those exceeding the limit would be replaced; after a year they would receive another appointment. In the eleventh year an edict provided that when a Semu zhenfu died, a capable son would be appointed under the usual rules. If the son was a minor, a capable nephew would serve temporarily until the son came of age, when the post would be restored to him. In Zhida 2 it was proposed that leading officers of guard wings, from bureau manager upward, could not be promoted or demoted like regular troops, which prevented their descendants from inheriting posts. Henceforth, officers over seventy holding nominal ranks up to fourth grade would be reassigned within fifth-grade military posts. In the fourth year an edict ordered that when a military officer left office through death or other cause, his eldest legitimate son would succeed; if the son had died, the eldest legitimate grandson would. If the eldest legitimate grandson had died, the eldest legitimate son of that grandson would succeed. If no legitimate eldest heirs remained, a suitable nephew would succeed."
6
The Grand Prosperity Bureau. In Tianli 1 the Bureau of Assembled Blessings and Bureau of Special Auspice were abolished and this bureau was established at rank 2a. Subordinate offices under its jurisdiction were staffed at its own discretion.
7
The Bureau of Palace Insignia. In Huangqing 2 Secretariat ministers reported that warehouse and garrison-farm officials under the bureau were appointed half by the Metropolitan Secretariat and half by the bureau itself. By imperial order, all such appointments were to be made by Secretariat ministers.
8
The Central Governance Bureau. In Zhida 4 it was ordered that selection for fiscal posts in various bureaus would be managed by the Secretariat, which could appoint replacements and issue edict commissions. In Yanyou 7 bureau ministers reported that appointments by the empress’s Central Governance Bureau would follow the precedents of the Bureau of Military Affairs and Censorate, per imperial rescript.
9
宿
Direct secretariat attendants attended the chief minister within the palace and transmitted Secretariat orders without; they were chosen from palace guards and sons of meritorious ministers. Two senior attendants were further selected to handle memorials exclusively. In Zhiyuan 25 Secretariat ministers proposed that holders of this office should receive formal appointment patents. In Dade 8 it was stipulated that after sixty months of service they could enter regular government posts.
10
殿 滿 滿
On ritual offices: the Court of Imperial Sacrifices collator, in Zhiyuan 13, would be appointed to rank 8b after one hundred months of service. There was the Censorate Hall Duty shift manager; in the fifteenth year, appointment to rank 8a after ninety months was proposed. There were communication attendants; in the twentieth year it was decided that regular-rank officials would be chosen from the bureau and, upon completing a term, promoted one grade according to verified qualifications. Officials outside the regular ranks would serve as ceremonial attendants under Secretariat commission and be appointed to rank 9b after one term. In the thirtieth year it was decided that sons of second- and third-rank officials would be selected without hereditary restrictions and promoted to rank 7b after two terms. Ceremonial attendants would be chosen from sons of fourth- and fifth-rank officials without hereditary limits and appointed to rank 9b after one term. In Dade 3 it was decided that vacancies would be filled from rank-9a and 9b officials at the ministry under provincial commission for thirty-month terms with promotion like court officials; if insufficient, qualified Confucian-school instructors would serve one term for rank 9a appointment. The ritual duty controller: in Dade 3 qualified personnel selected by the province would be recommended by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; those not appointed through regular selection would be ranked only within their original bureau after completing a term. Two directors of suburban altar treasury stores: in Zhida 3 those with provincial commission required more than one term, those with ministry commission more than two, plus one term as a bureau subordinate, for appointment within rank 9b. In Tianli 2 court literary offices would nominate National University students for these posts.
11
滿 滿 滿
In Zhiyuan 9 the ministry proposed that patrol inspectors, as extra-regular posts, would complete thirty-month terms and transfer at rank 9b upon return. In the twentieth year patrol inspectors would be promoted to rank 9b after sixty months. In Dade 7 locally commissioned patrol inspectors would count from their register date; those with more than two terms would leave post after ninety months under the old rule; those with fewer than two terms must serve one hundred twenty months before transfer. In the tenth year the Secretariat reported that metropolitan patrol inspectors who completed terms would be reassigned only within patrol inspector ranks. Those with insufficient service would be placed among fiscal officers, with patrol inspector months counted toward qualification. Provincial patrol inspectors who completed review would be decided by the province; those not yet completing review would be assigned to fiscal posts with months counted toward promotion under the old rules; those with less than one term who qualified by hereditary privilege or document-controller precedent would be assigned to miscellaneous offices and, upon review, have months counted at their original grade for promotion."
12
滿 使滿 滿 西西 使 滿滿滿 滿使使 滿 滿使使使 滿 使使 使 西滿 滿 滿 滿 滿 滿 滿 使滿滿 使 使使 西西 使使 西使使 使西 滿 滿 滿 滿 滿滿
Metropolitan paper-note treasuries: in Zhiyuan 19 the ministry proposed selecting rank-8 and 9 prefectural and county officials for thirty-month terms, with one qualification period waived toward promotion upon return. Treasury managers, commissioned by the Metropolitan Secretariat, would receive preferential promotion upon completing a term. Deputy treasurers, commissioned by the circuit, would serve twenty-month terms and rotate by public selection from leading local households. Paper-note treasuries under supervisory offices in Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xixia Zhongxing, and other circuits, all under provincial administration, would select officers as above and obtain edict patents and commissions from the Metropolitan Secretariat. The Secretariat decided that aside from treasury managers and deputies selected by each province, supervisors would be appointed by the provincial ministry. For metropolitan officials, in the twenty-sixth year appointment to warehouse and similar posts would advance one grade above due qualification, with service months counted toward promotion. Jiangnan officials who had previously served in the metropolitan interior would be promoted according to regulation if prior qualifications matched. Officials who had served in the Jianghuai region and moved elsewhere: if service exceeded one term, one term would count as foundation and remaining months would apply to later posts; those with less than one term would have one qualification period added. If appointed to warehouse and similar posts, they would advance one grade above due qualification and, upon return, be promoted in the metropolitan interior under the rules above. Officials appointed in succession to warehouse and related posts who would be rank 7b in their home region were credited with metropolitan-interior rank-7b qualifications. Those who had served one full term would begin counting months and days from that point, with remaining time carried over to later appointments. Any months beyond one term would also carry forward to later posts. Those with less than one term would add one qualification period before promotion. Fujian and Two Guang officials appointed to warehouse posts who would be rank 7b locally were credited with Jiangnan rank-7b qualifications. Those who had completed one term would begin counting months and days from that point; Any months beyond one term would carry forward to later posts. Those with less than one term would add one qualification period before promotion. Regular officials, upon completing a special appointment, could only be reassigned within the regular bureaucracy; miscellaneous officers would be promoted only within miscellaneous posts. The Trillion Treasury, Paper-Note General Treasury, and Eight Crafts Directorate had originally one-year terms, but their vast holdings made handover difficult, so two-year terms were set, with smaller offices at one year. Shangdu tax officers would follow the same promotion rules above. Under the Metropolitan Secretariat, two-year terms applied to: all Regional Transport commissioners, subordinates, and section heads; Grand Canal Transport commissioners and section heads; circuit-wide paper-note supervisors; circulation treasuries in the metropolitan interior and Jiangnan; paper-note printing treasuries; iron, gold, and silver supervisory offices and their section heads; grain-transport supervisory offices (new and old) and section heads; and section heads of the Trillion Treasury, Eight Crafts Directorate, and Paper-Note General Treasury. One-year terms covered: Rich Storehouse officers under the Commissariat; Grain-Ration, Four-Guest, and Light-Levy treasuries; Dadu tax, liquor, grand granary, and brewery-source supervisory offices and their section heads; provincial and river granaries; Tongzhou granaries; miscellaneous fiscal yard officers under ministry commission; the Dadu circulation treasury; note-burning treasuries; paper mills; and worn-note treasuries. Provincial jurisdictions with two-year terms included: Regional Transport and Grand Canal Transport commissioners and section heads; provincial paper-note supervisors; circulation treasuries in the metropolitan interior and Jiangnan; Regional Transport commissioners at Ganzhou and Ningxia; and maritime-trade and tea-monopoly supervisory offices with their section heads. One-year terms applied to Flourishing Exchange treasuries under the provincial Commissariat and to provincial receipt-and-disbursement treasuries for cash, silks, and goods. In the thirtieth year the ministry ruled that circulation treasury supervisors would be rank 7b, commissioners rank 8b, and deputies rank 9b throughout the realm. Regular officials appointed to these posts would receive one waived qualification period toward promotion upon return. Miscellaneous appointees would count only service months at their original grade. In Yuanzhen 2 the ministry ruled that vacant granary posts would be filled from qualified candidates and from clerical translators, interpreters, seal keepers, dispatch envoys, and presentation memorial envoys with two or more terms of service, with promotion grades set by collection difficulty and grain volume, and reassignment upon return to appropriate posts. Granary officers at Tongzhou, Hexi Station, Li'er Temple, and similar posts would advance one grade above due qualification; upon completing a term with no shortages at handover, they would receive one waived qualification period counted toward promotion. Capital and suburban granary officers handling more than fifty thousand piculs would advance one grade above due qualification and, upon completing a term with no shortages, be transferred under standard rules; Officers handling more than ten thousand piculs would be appointed at due rank only and, upon completing a term with no shortages, receive one waived qualification period counted toward promotion. In Dade 1 the province proposed that officers of the four Dadu Trillion Treasuries, Funing Treasury, Paper-Note General Treasury, and Shangdu Trillion Treasury be appointed at due qualification, serve two full years with no shortages, and advance one grade like court-attendant officials. In the second year the province ruled that Shangdu and Yingchang granary officers, like Trillion Treasury officers, would serve two-year terms and advance one grade above due qualification. In the sixth year the ministry ruled that capital circulation treasury officers would have two-year terms like those in the provinces, with one waived qualification period for regular officials upon return. Experienced Trillion Treasury clerks would advance one grade, while document controllers would receive reduced qualification requirements for transfer. Granaries at Karakorum, Sibaoci Balghasan, and Konggulie were reorganized as rank-5b supervisory offices. Each office would have a rank-5b supervisor, rank-6b associate supervisor, and rank-7b deputy supervisor on one-year terms, selected from candidates and advanced two grades above due qualification, with service months carried forward upon reassignment. On the Gan and Su circuits each site would have a rank-6a receipt overseer, rank-6b granary commissioner, and rank-7a deputy on two-year terms, appointed from candidates with one grade upon entry and another upon completing a term with no shortages. Receipt-and-disbursement treasuries would have rank-9b supervisors, provincially commissioned commissioners and deputies, and two clerks and two attendants each. In the seventh year the ministry proposed appointing the Dadu Circuit Ever-Abundant Treasury's rank-7b supervisor, rank-8b commissioner, and rank-9b deputy from qualified candidates. Circulation treasuries were established at Yingde Circuit and Hexi Station in Jiangxi, with rank-7b and lower officers appointed under standard rules. Yingde Circuit's circulation treasury would have one rank-7b supervisor, one rank-8b commissioner, and one rank-9b deputy. Hexi Station's circulation treasury would have a rank-8b commissioner and a Ministry-appointed deputy. Gansu's Abundant-Provision Treasury would have a rank-7b supervisor and rank-8a commissioner, appointed with grade advancement from western-qualified candidates. Datong granary officers would rotate every two years; Ever-Abundant Granary officers would advance one grade, while the other six granaries' officers would receive one waived qualification period upon return. In the eighth year the ministry ruled that Huguang subprefectural clerks appointed as granary officers, like Henan's, would rank below those drawn from surveillance-commission clerks. In Zhide 2 the ministry proposed that circulation treasuries have two regular officials and Ever-Normal Granaries three, all on two-year terms with standard qualification reductions. In the fourth year the ministry ruled that Shangdu's two granaries would have two-year terms with one grade above due qualification, and prior service months would henceforth count proportionally toward promotion. In Huangqing 1 the ministry ruled that Shangdu's Ever-Abundant Treasury would have two-year terms with one waived qualification period toward promotion. In Yanyou 4 the ministry ruled that active Jiang-Zhe circuit clerks with two terms appointed as granary officers handling more than fifty thousand piculs would be treated like record clerks who had completed review, advancing to clerk registrar after one term. Those handling less than fifty thousand piculs would add one term to their record-clerk standing and transfer under standard rules. Huguang granary officers who were route clerks with two terms would serve one tenure like review-completed record clerks, advance to clerk registrar after one term, then transfer to treasury posts with one year counting at original grade before standard promotion.
13
使 使 使滿 使 滿 使使使調使 使 使使 滿 使使 使
Tax officer promotions: in Zhiyuan 21 the province divided revenue officers into three grades, with one supervisor and one commissioner for offices above one hundred ingots. Offices above fifty ingots would have one yard commissioner. Offices below fifty ingots would have one chief inspector. Offices below ten ingots would be managed by circuit appointees. Chief inspectors would advance to yard commissioner after three tenures on one-year terms, with shortfalls in service time carried forward. Yard commissioners would advance to supervisor after three tenures. Supervisors would become provincially commissioned fiscal officers after three tenures, and after three more tenures be appointed among qualified fiscal and miscellaneous posts. Deputy officers whose revenue increased by two compensation shares could be reappointed by their dispatching office. Increases of three shares or more, or further increases in a later tenure, required ministry approval. In the twenty-ninth year the province set promotions and demotions based on revenue increase and deficit figures. A sixty-percent increase merited two grades of promotion; a thirty-percent increase merited one. Increases below the threshold would still receive preferential consideration at selection compared with no increase. A ten-percent deficit would demote one grade. In the thirtieth year the province proposed two-year supervisor terms appointed from regular officials, with ranks from 6b (above ten thousand ingots) down to 8b (above five hundred). Commissioners and deputies would rotate annually, with commissioners transferred by the provincial personnel ministry from qualified candidates and deputies publicly selected from leading local households. In Zhide 3 an edict established the revenue-management regulations. Revenue yards below one hundred ingots were divided into three grades; upper-grade yards above fifty ingots would have a provincially commissioned supervisor and a ministry-commissioned commissioner; middle-grade yards above twenty ingots would have one commissioner and one deputy; lower-grade yards below twenty ingots would have ministry-commissioned chief and associate inspectors on one-year terms with simultaneous rotation. Chief and associate inspectors would advance to deputy after four tenures, commissioner after four more, supervisor after three more, and qualified fiscal or miscellaneous posts after three more. Provincially dispatched officers would require two additional tenures for each promotion, counting service from the established tenure onward only among officers with proper promotion backgrounds, without appointing unqualified persons. Under the prior regulations, supervisors would be drawn from commissioners and chief inspectors appointed at original grade, counting only twelve tenures of service. After Zhide 3, newly appointed fiscal officers and enfeoffed descendants of rank-6 and 7 officials would follow the old promotion rules without extra tenures, while other entrants would need fourteen tenures under the new rules.
14
滿 滿 滿 調 滿 滿滿 滿
In Zhiyuan 9 the ministry noted that surveillance-commission document controllers, mostly long-serving officials, should transfer to rank 9b upon review like patrol inspectors. Since rank 9b was reserved for patrol inspectors, literate case documenters were ill-suited to arrest duties, and rank-9b vacancies far exceeded qualified candidates. Promotion rules: rank 9b required three terms for rank 8b, rank 9a two terms; patrol inspectors and case documenters entered at rank 9b after review, then three terms for rank 8b, with one hundred twenty months counted together. Patrol inspectors would follow existing rules, while case documenters would provisionally reach rank 9a in sixty months and rank 9b after one hundred twenty months—an easier path than patrol-inspector subordinate posts. Clerk registrars would advance to chief clerk registrar after one term, case documenter after another, and enter the regular bureaucracy upon review. When no vacancy existed for chief or clerk registrars, they would remain at their current title until promotion could be verified. In the twentieth year the ministry proposed rank-9 promotion for document controllers after ninety months. In the twenty-fifth year the ministry proposed that circuit clerks serve sixty months, clerk registrars advance to chief clerk registrar after two terms, document controller after one more, and rank 9a after two more. If circuit clerks served ninety months, clerk registrars would reach chief clerk registrar after one term, with remaining promotions as above. The province ruled that Jiangnan document controllers would follow the Zhiyuan 25 metropolitan-interior circuit-clerk standard, while direct appointees and those with two terms of case documents would need additional qualifications. In the thirtieth year the province approved that document controllers filling patrol-inspector posts would not compete for promotion precedence, and those with prior service would transfer only within document-controller posts. In the thirty-first year the province ruled that mismatched chief clerk registrar and patrol-inspector vacancies should be filled flexibly—patrol-inspector candidates first, then reported appointments—with each officer counting service at original grade upon return. In Dade 2 the province approved that capital and provincial granary record clerks would be drawn from Dadu prefectural clerks and county record clerks and advance to clerk registrar after two years. Outside provincial jurisdictions, over one hundred clerk-registrar posts in metropolitan lower prefectures and miscellaneous offices would be filled in roster order on thirty-month terms, with non-sequential reassignment within grade upon return. In the third year the ministry unified all document-controller and chief clerk registrar terms to thirty months regardless of prior one-, two-, or three-year rules. In the eighth year the province approved one supplemental clerk registrar for Karakorum Military Command document managers, with rank-9b appointment and one added qualification period upon return. Four clerks skilled in administrative work would be selected from the command and appointed as document controllers after sixty months. In the ninth year the ministry proposed filling clerk-registrar vacancies from registered case documenters by seniority, with each counting service at original grade. In the eleventh year Jiang-Zhe ministers noted that circuit document controllers receiving disposition edicts lacked precedent. The ministry noted that north-of-the-Yangtze document controllers rose from local offices through route clerk (ninety months), clerk registrar, chief clerk registrar, and document controller (rank 9a after two terms), entering the regular bureaucracy after two hundred ten months, while provincial appointees reached rank 9 in ninety months. The proposed abolition of document controllers would have provinces appoint from subprefectural and prefectural case documenters, chief clerk registrars, and miscellaneous fiscal officers, counting service months toward promotion. Thereafter provincial document controllers and chief clerk registrars would follow the north-of-the-Yangtze path from local offices through route clerk, with service months counted together, entering the regular bureaucracy only upon review completion."
15
使滿 使滿 使 滿 使滿 使使使 滿 使 滿 使 滿 使 滿 便 滿 使 使 滿
Selection of dispatch and presentation memorial envoys: in Zhiyuan 19 the ministry proposed that each ministry select four presentation memorial envoys per ten quota (rank 9b after ninety months), with remaining posts filled from patrol inspectors, case documenters, and chief clerk registrars upon review. The province required selection only from candidates with complete credentials and joint verification. Candidates due for clerk registrar would serve three terms as presentation memorial envoys before receiving rank 9b. Clerk registrars due for chief clerk registrar after one term would serve two terms as presentation memorial envoys before rank 9b. Chief clerk registrars due for case documenter after one term would serve one term as presentation memorial envoys before rank 9b. Patrol inspectors and case documenters after one term would serve one term as presentation memorial envoys before rank 9a. In the twenty-sixth year the province approved that Shangdu Rear-Guard record clerks with ninety months' service, like Communications Council precedent, could become dispatch envoys with promotion decided upon review. In the twenty-ninth year the province ruled that provincial dispatch envoys would be drawn from rank-9 officials with credentials, or if insufficient from Pacification Commission presentation memorial envoys with one term or office record clerks with three. The itinerant censorate would draw from rank-9 officials first, then Surveillance Commission presentation memorial envoys or office record clerks with three terms, with balanced Semu and Han selection. Self-nominated candidates must still be qualified, receive one grade lower upon review, and serve ninety months before leaving office. Dispatch envoys throughout the bureaucracy would balance Semu and Han appointees on ninety-month terms, with self-nominated candidates demoted one grade. Vacancies for Metropolitan Secretariat dispatch envoys among all internal and external dispatch envoys, communication attendants, seal keepers, and presentation memorial envoys would be filled from senior dispatch envoys in the Censorate and commissions or from credentialed rank-8 officials, except for direct Metropolitan Secretariat picks, with balanced Semu and Han selection. Self-nominated candidates would be demoted one grade upon review and required to serve ninety months before leaving office. Privy Council dispatch envoys would be drawn from rank-9 officials with balanced Semu and Han appointment. Self-nominated Privy Council candidates must still be qualified, receive one grade lower upon review, and serve ninety months before leaving office. Censorate dispatch envoys would be selected from rank-9 officials. Self-nominated Censorate candidates would be demoted one grade upon review and serve ninety months before leaving office. Xuanzheng Commission dispatch envoys would follow the same selection rules. Pacification Commission presentation memorial envoys would be chosen from office record clerks with three terms of service. Self-nominated candidates would receive demoted-grade promotion, require balanced Semu and Han use, and serve ninety months before leaving office. Shandong Transport Commission presentation memorial envoys would serve ninety months and be drawn from junior fiscal grain officers. The Dadu Transport Commission would follow the same rule. In the seventh year the province approved that Gongchang Pacification-General registrars would share Pacification Commission registrar origins, with self-nominated candidates demoted one grade and vacancies filled from three-term commission record clerks. In the eighth year the ministry ruled that temple and supervisory commissions nominating local record clerks for presentation memorial envoys would treat salaried record clerks and bureau insiders like self-nominated candidates upon review. In the ninth year Xuanhui Commission record clerks with ninety months' service could become dispatch envoys or registrars of subordinate temples. In the tenth year the province proposed Zhongzheng Commission dispatch envoys from three-term office record clerks or rank-9 officials with balanced Semu and Han selection, demoting self-nominated candidates one grade. In the eleventh year the province proposed that Yannan Surveillance Commission presentation memorial envoys be drawn from prefectural clerks and, upon review, advance among chief clerk registrars. In Yanyou 3 the province required ninety months' service before record clerks could become presentation memorial envoys.
16
使使 使使 使使 使使使 使使 滿 使使 使使
Craftsman officials: in Zhiyuan 9 the Works Ministry set route craftsman ranks by verified household counts from two thousand down to one hundred. The province ruled that only metropolitan directorates-general would be exempt; elsewhere the draft would apply. For Dongping Miscellaneous Manufacture and route Dyeing Directorates with two thousand or more households, the intendant would be rank 5a, associate 6b, and deputy 7b. At one thousand or more households, ranks would be intendant 5b, associate 7a, and deputy 8a. From five hundred to one thousand households, ranks would be intendant 6a, associate 7b, and deputy 8b. At three hundred or more households, the director would be rank 7a and the deputy 8a. At one hundred or more households, the director would be rank 7b and the deputy 8b. Below one hundred households there would be one institute director, like institute affairs staff outside the regular bureaucracy, receiving a modest food allowance. Craftsman officials under one hundred households who held a superior's writ would serve as institute directors under the draft. Bureau envoys holding edict plaques would be ranked one step below hundred-household bureau directors, at rank 9a qualification. In the twenty-second year promotion rules for craftsman officials left no fixed ranks for directorates of two thousand or more households. At one thousand or more households, ranks would be intendant 5b, associate 7a, and deputy 8a. From five hundred to under one thousand households, ranks would be intendant 6a, associate 7b, and deputy 8b. For three hundred or more households, the bureau director would be rank 7a and the deputy 8a. At one hundred or more households, the bureau director would be rank 7b and the deputy 8b. Below one hundred households there would be one institute director, like an affairs institute, outside the regular bureaucracy. The Works Ministry proposed rank-8b deputy directors for three-hundred-household bureaus and rank-9a for hundred-household bureaus, filling vacancies from sub-hundred institute directors. Institute directors would advance after 120 months to rank 9a, then through stated terms to ranks 8b and 7b. Vacant rank-8a posts without qualified candidates would be filled from rank-8b craftsman officials with ninety months' total service before promotion to 7b; rank 7b required three terms for 7a, and rank 7a two terms for 6b; rank 6b required three terms and rank 6a two terms for promotion to 5b. Without subordinate rank-6b posts, a craftsman official with two terms at 7a could receive honorary 6b and remain among 7a craftsman officials until ninety months brought promotion to 5b. Vacant rank-6a craftsman posts would be filled from honorary rank-6b holders with ninety months' service for promotion to 5b. After three terms at 5b, promotion to 5a was proposed; without rank-5a craftsman posts, honorary 5a would be added while officials remained among rank-5b craftsman officers. Long-serving officials would receive case-by-case decisions. Those commissioned before Zhiyuan 12 would keep their received qualifications under civilian-official precedent. After Zhiyuan 13, over-promoted appointees would have salaries verified and transfer capped one grade below due qualification. Vacant craftsman posts without qualified candidates would be filled from miscellaneous-service appointees of matching qualification. In the Central Plains and Jiang-Huai, sons of rank-5 officials would inherit rank-9 craftsman posts, and sons of rank-6 and 7 officials would serve as institute directors. With no rank-9b craftsman posts, inheriting sons of rank-5 officials would register at rank 9a and have service reckoned from the ninth month upon return. In the twenty-third year an edict barred transfer of craftsman officials whose output varied in quality or quantity. In the twenty-fourth year the ministry required craftsman office leaders skilled in manufacture to remain in post while the ministry filled document duties from the regular selection pool on rotating terms. In Yuanzhen 1 Huguang's draft was approved: three-thousand-household directorates at rank 5b, with intendant 5b, associate 7a, and deputy 8a. Two-thousand-household directorates would be rank 6a, with intendant 6a, associate 7b, and deputy 8b. Thousand-household bureaus would have a rank-7a director and rank-8a deputy. Five-hundred-household bureaus would have a rank-7b director and rank-9a deputy. Below five hundred households there would be one institute director.
17
簿
Princes holding appanage lands or ceremonial fiefs could nominate their own men, report names to court, and receive appointment thereafter. In Zhiyuan 2 appanage surveillance chiefs would not leave their jurisdictions, but subordinate prefectural and county officials would rotate within the appanage's assigned cities. In the fourth year a provincial writ required household verification before granting seals to officials holding imperial, princely, appanage, or central-government commissions. In the fifth year an edict required Mongol personnel among all appanage officials. In the sixth year most non-Mongol darughachi among Jurchen, Khitan, and Han appointees were to be removed, except Hui, Uighur, Naiman, and Tangut treated like Mongols, with former incumbents reassigned as civilian officials. In the nineteenth year appanage chiefs were ordered to rotate every three years. Provincial ministers argued that Jiangnan appanage chiefs who also commanded troops as darughachi should not be replaced wholesale under the rotation rule. Such officials should countersign above the appanage chief and govern jointly. In the twentieth year it was decided that Jiangnan appanage qianhu already serving as chiefs showed that prefectural and county chiefs should follow the same practice. In the twenty-third year recommended personnel with prior service would be placed in prefectures and counties by verified qualification; those without service history would remain within their appanage. By the thirtieth year appanage prefectural and county chiefs would rotate every three years on issued credentials, or report to central authorities and the Surveillance Commission when no rotation was possible. In Dade 1 appanage darughachi of rank 7b and below would follow categorical selection rules. In the tenth year appanage officials were forbidden to leave office without Secretariat or ministry authorization. In Huangqing 2 regular-selection chiefs would rank above appanage appointees in fief cities, with one fewer regular post per circuit prefecture and county. In the third year lower and middle county registrars and Record Affairs recorders handling revenue and policing would not be cut, and a deputy darughachi would be added. In the fourth year appanage prefectures could appoint their own darughachi and deputy posts were abolished. Appanage vacancies would be filled internally, not from the regular selection pool.
18
滿
Ditch-fort officials: in Zhiyuan 19, with the Waterways Commission merged into the ministry, they would follow Six Ministries presentation memorial envoy origins. In Dade 2 ditch-fort officials would receive rank 9b upon completing review.
19
西西 滿 西 西 西 西 西
Grain-for-office appointments: in Tiansli 3 wealthy donors in Jiangnan, Shaanxi, and Henan could transport grain to famine areas, receive tallies and notes, and gain substantive tea-salt circulating offices through provincial consultation. Provincial fiscal officials would be registered by their branch secretariat and metropolitan ones by the Ministry of Personnel, with promotion upon review. Donors paying in notes would use Zhongtong currency as the standard. Rates would be forty taels per shi in Jiangnan, eighty in Shaanxi, and sixty in Henan and the interior. Substantive appointees unwilling to serve could instead ennoble their parents. In Shaanxi, one thousand five hundred shi or more brought rank 7b. One thousand shi or more brought rank 8a. Five hundred shi or more brought rank 8b. Three hundred shi or more brought rank 9a. Two hundred shi or more brought rank 9b. One hundred shi or more conferred upper-grade fiscal grain official status. Eighty shi or more conferred middle-grade fiscal grain official status. Fifty shi or more conferred lower-grade fiscal grain official status. Thirty shi or more brought commendation at the gate and lane. In Henan and the interior, two thousand shi or more brought rank 7b. Fifteen hundred shi or more brought rank 8a. One thousand shi or more brought rank 8b. Five hundred shi or more brought rank 9a. Three hundred shi or more brought rank 9b. Two hundred shi or more conferred upper-grade fiscal grain official status. One hundred fifty shi or more conferred middle-grade fiscal grain official status. One hundred shi or more conferred lower-grade fiscal grain official status. In the three Jiangnan provinces, ten thousand shi or more brought rank 7a. Five thousand shi or more brought rank 7b. Three thousand shi or more brought rank 8a. Two thousand shi or more brought rank 8b. One thousand shi or more brought rank 9a. Five hundred shi or more brought rank 9b. Three hundred shi or more brought an upper-grade fiscal grain office. Two hundred fifty shi or more brought a middle-grade fiscal grain office. Two hundred shi or more brought a lower-grade fiscal grain office. Those who had previously donated grain for distant honorary titles would, upon donating again, receive substantive tea-and-salt regular offices matching verified grain amounts and their due qualifications. In Shaanxi, one thousand shi or more brought rank 7b. Six hundred sixty shi or more brought rank 8a. Three hundred thirty shi or more brought rank 8b. Two hundred shi or more brought rank 9a. One hundred thirty shi or more brought rank 9b. In Henan and the metropolitan interior, one thousand three hundred shi or more brought rank 7b. One thousand shi or more brought rank 8a. Six hundred sixty shi or more brought rank 8b. Three hundred thirty shi or more brought rank 9a. Two hundred shi or more brought rank 9b. In the three Jiangnan provinces, six thousand six hundred sixty shi or more brought rank 7a. Three thousand three hundred thirty shi or more brought rank 7b. Two thousand shi or more brought rank 8a. One thousand three hundred thirty shi or more brought rank 8b. Six hundred sixty shi or more brought rank 9a. Three hundred thirty shi or more brought rank 9b. Those who had already received substantive tea-and-salt offices through grain donation would, upon donating again, advance one grade according to verified grain amounts. In Shaanxi the promotion thresholds were seven hundred fifty, five hundred, two hundred fifty, one hundred fifty, and one hundred shi. In Henan and the metropolitan interior the promotion thresholds were one thousand, seven hundred fifty, five hundred, two hundred fifty, and one hundred fifty shi. Monks and priests who relieved famine victims from their own resources would receive a six-character honorific title from the Metropolitan Secretariat at three hundred shi or more. At two hundred shi or more, a four-character honorific title was granted; one hundred shi or more brought a two-character honorific title; all issued by the Ministry of Rites. Affluent households in Sichuan jurisdictions able to transport grain to Jiangling would follow the Henan grain-for-office precedent. When the grain was to be deployed, the senior authority would decide. Jiangzhe, Jiangxi, and Huguang had sold official grain; agents would take the resulting paper notes to Henan for separate storage, with deployment decided by the senior authority when needed."
20
On rewards of office for capturing bandits: in Dade 5 an edict declared that capturing five armed robbers would earn an official appointment. Bandit-capture officers and authorized pursuers who failed to catch thieves in their own district but caught thieves elsewhere could offset gains against losses. Beyond five armed robbers, capture officers would receive one waived qualification period; at fifteen captives they advanced one grade; authorized pursuers received an appointment outside the standard merit-reward reckoning."
21
On yudianchi attendants: in Zhiyuan 27 those who had served thirty to ninety months would receive appointment as county darughachi or Advance-in-Merit deputy commandant. Those with one hundred months or more of service would receive the office of Dunwu commandant. In Zhida 2 yudianchi were temporarily appointed from among prefectural judges and county assistants. In the third year the old rule was restored: after ninety months they would be appointed lower subordinate seventh-rank county darughachi, with one qualification period added upon return.
22
調 調
On barbarian and tribal officials: it was proposed that the Bozhou Pacification Commission’s recommendations for deputy chiefs in tribal territories, as posts outside regular transfer for distant peoples, should be approved as presented. Although tribal territories were exempt from regular transfer rules, recommended candidates were often unqualified. Henceforth, aside from hereditary native chiefs, urgent or long-vacant tribal posts would be filled by suitable candidates under standard rules without advance nomination; violators and responsible offices would be punished."
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