The ancient "civil servants", like today, were the "sunshine avenue" that scholars had to squeeze in even if they broke their heads. The year-end awards of "civil servants" are also divided into three or six grades according to the size of official positions.
The general's year-end bonus is very generous.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, generals and Sangong each gave 200,000 yuan, 200 Jin of beef and 200 tons of rice. Jiuqing each sent 6.5438 million yuan; A captain sends 50 thousand yuan each; Shangshu each sent thirty thousand dollars; The waiter gave 20 thousand yuan each.
According to purchasing power, the year-end bonus that generals and Sangong can get is about 654.38+10,000 yuan, while the monthly salary of generals and Sangong at that time was only 7,000 yuan. Take the year-end bonus of more than one year's salary, so the big officials and small officials are looking forward to the Spring Festival.
Bao Gong's year-end bonus is very high.
The Northern Song Dynasty was the "era of high salary" in ancient China, with high wages and few year-end awards. The year-end bonus given by the emperor to the prime minister and other senior cadres is nothing more than five sheep, five stone noodles, two stone meters and two jars of yellow wine. These Chinese New Year benefits are nothing to their wages. For example, Zheng's salary in Kaifeng, plus various subsidies, translates into more than 6 million yuan per year, while US President Barack Obama's annual salary is only 400,000 US dollars.
Too poor to sell pants.
Envy and jealousy of year-end awards have existed since ancient times. Lu You, a great poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, said in a jingle: "The official seal will take the exam, but the pen will not fail;" Every family spends their time in the gold warehouse, busy day and night; Li Dian staple food, I do not know how to judge the inkstone; The soldiers opened the library and ordered pants. "It means that there are too many red envelopes to be collected for the promotion and salary distribution of the officials in charge of the official department and the household department; The Ministry of Ritual is in charge of culture and education, and the Ministry of War is of little use at ordinary times, and nobody cares about it, so the officials of these two yamen don't have many red envelopes, so they are poor enough to wear as pants.
Lending usury and issuing red envelopes
During the period of Tang Suzong and Song Shenzong, the imperial court allowed usury, and the main target was the businessmen in the yamen area. The loan period is short, ranging from a few days to a year, and the monthly interest rate is at least 3%, which is a "snowball usury". The state finances take a small part of the profits, most of which go to the yamen "small treasury" to adjust to the "top leaders", some eat, drink and have fun, and some of them send out new year's goods and red envelopes at the end of the year.
Selling illicit salt for profiteering is a year-end bonus.
Others do business with public funds. Wine, vinegar and salt were monopolized by the court in most dynasties, and the profits were amazing. These profits went into the pockets of local officials, who gave red envelopes to the people below, which were also considered as year-end bonuses.
There is also ancient real estate, that is, buying a piece of land in a prosperous area (or taking advantage of one's authority to occupy a piece of land), and then building a facade on it and selling or renting it out. For example, Yue Fei, a famous Song Dynasty star, managed real estate in Jiujiang, Jiangxi and Hangzhou, Zhejiang, but the operating income was mainly used to subsidize the army and set up education. However, other civilian military commanders are not as honest as he is, losing money and using public funds to offset accounts; If you earn it, just take it yourself and give some red envelopes to your colleagues and subordinates.
Collect official documents and sell waste products
During the Qin, Han and Wei Dynasties, official documents were not written on paper, but on bamboo slips. A long official document needs a pile of bamboo slips. After the official document is written, it will be passed from one department to another. Afraid that the bamboo slips would be lost and tampered with, they had to be put in their pockets, tied tightly, glued with dirt and stamped with official seals. Another department receives the bag, peels off the glue, pours out the bamboo slips, and the bag containing the bamboo slips becomes waste. At that time, bamboo slips were packed in leather, silk and hemp bags and could be sold for money. Larger departments, such as Yushitai, which is responsible for supervising officials, have the most official documents and the most pockets. It will be shipped to the market for sale by the end of the year, and clerks in all departments will have year-end bonuses. After the Northern and Southern Dynasties, official documents were mainly paper. In view of the fact that the fax machine hasn't come out yet, the official documents can only be sent by post horse, and they have to be packed in envelopes for fear of paper wear on the road. This kind of envelope is mainly made of cloth, which was called "book bag" in history. Some poor yamen have piled up a lot of old books, and tailors can change them into clothes or sheets for your colleagues during the Spring Festival. Although meager, it is also a year-end award. As for the paper used for writing official documents, a lot of paper will be saved every year or so. After the confidentiality period, the waste products are sold, and the money sold can also get the year-end bonus.
Public funds are used for business.
Some yamen think that usury is not fast enough, and they directly use fund-raising or even public funds to do business.
What business do you do? Brewing wine, making vinegar, investing in real estate and selling illicit salt. Wine, vinegar and salt were monopolized in most dynasties, and the profits were amazing. At least since the late Tang Dynasty, the real estate business has flourished. Many warlords in the late Tang Dynasty, generals in five dynasties and ten countries, princes in the Song Dynasty and Beijing officials in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were all engaged in real estate development. At that time, the real estate development was still very primitive. The main form was to buy a piece of land in a prosperous area (or use one's authority to occupy a piece of land), then build a facade house on it, and then sell or rent it out. For example, Yue Fei, a famous Song Dynasty star, managed real estate in Jiujiang, Jiangxi and Hangzhou, Zhejiang, but he was honest and clean. The operating income is mainly used to subsidize the army and set up education. He did not put it in his private pocket, nor did he give his subordinates a year-end bonus. But other civilian commanders are not as honest as him. They sell smuggled salt, smuggle other contraband, invest in real estate, lose money, use public funds to offset accounts, make money, take it for themselves, and give some red envelopes to colleagues and subordinates.
Hanlin receives red envelopes directly.
Imperial academy had no power and no financial power. Officials run errands and rarely come here to give gifts, so the poor academician is sure. Fortunately, the emperor gave them a chance to receive red envelopes. For example, in the Song Dynasty, when the imperial court conferred a title on an official, it was generally necessary for Hanlin to draft a letter of appointment. After drafting, the emperor will order the awarded officials to send a thank-you gift to Hanlin who drafted the appointment letter. This kind of thank-you gift is often thousands of copper coins, or hundreds of silks, or dozens of good horses, which is quite rich. In order to share the benefits, every time the letter of appointment is drafted, the Hanlins try their best to be collective. Xiao Ming is in charge of the outline, Xiao Qiang is in charge of the first draft, Xiao Pang is in charge of the revision, Xiao Zhang is in charge of the polishing, and finally Xiao Li is asked to copy it. Since most letters of appointment are the result of collective efforts, thank-you gifts will naturally be distributed collectively. How to distribute it? Pay attention, twice a year, once in dog days and once at the end of the year. It will be the year-end award at the end of this year. To some extent, Hanlin people distribute the year-end awards in this way, which is equivalent to making themselves happy.
There are two kinds of Hanlin in the Tang Dynasty. One is a bachelor of Hanlin, who has a high level and has the opportunity to draft a letter of appointment and get a thank-you gift. One is Hanlin Hou Zhao (Li Bai was in this position in those days), with a low level, so it is generally not their turn to draft a letter of appointment. However, Hanlin had many opportunities to see the emperor. If one day he please the emperor, he will be promoted to a very high position if he is not careful. Therefore, Hanlin candidates set a rule: no matter which Hanlin candidate is promoted, they must pay the Hanlin candidate who has not been promoted. The bigger the promoted officials, the more money they have to pay. Therefore, Hanlin, who has never been promoted, can get a sum of money from time to time. They put the money into the "small vault". Give everyone a red envelope at the end of the year, and everyone will go home happily and have a happy New Year.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Beijing officials relied on local places to offer charcoal and money.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the salaries of officials were very low, and the year-end bonus of Beijing officials came from local officials, not the court. At that time, local officials had many channels to get money, and Beijing officials were poorer. In order to get information and get the care of Beijing officials, local officials often think that Beijing officials buy heating charcoal in this name and cash money to six officials, which is called "charcoal worship" There is a poem to prove it: "Xue Rui is at large, hanging lanterns in the official department." Knock on Zhumen frequently to offer a heater, and jade makes a fireplace to melt charcoal red. "
In fact, charcoal worship is the Spring Festival holiday fee, which is called festival worship locally. Charcoal burning means "Happy New Year" (New Year gift). Therefore, in the attached letters submitted by local officials, numbers are generally not directly stated, but eight rhymes, ten rhymes or dozens of rhymes of plum blossom poems are used instead. If it's forty taels of silver, it's called "forty sages", and three hundred taels is called "a poem by Mao", which is very elegant. Someone gave Baylor Zai Tao 1,200 pieces of silver, with the words "Thousand Buddhas Famous Classics" written on the envelope, but the playboy didn't even understand the meaning, so he showed it to others. Later, he opened it and found that there were 1200 silver tickets in it.
The Qing emperors distributed wallets.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor rewarded ministers with wallets. "Xiao Ting's Continued Record" contains: During the reign of Ganjia, "All princes and ministers gave gifts at the end of the year; All the ministers in power gave "Peace through the Year" and "a purse". How much money will be in the purse of this reward? At the end of the year, the emperor gave the Mongolian prince a pair of big wallets, which generally contained all kinds of jade treasures; Four pairs of small wallets, each containing a gold, silver and eight treasures; There is also a small purse containing four gold and silver coins and four gold and silver shovels, which is quite a rich "year-end award".
The boss of the folk year-end award has the final say.
During the Republic of China, shop assistants, craftsmen in workshops, employees in companies and pawnbrokers generally received year-end bonuses. Their bonuses are linked to the benefits of the "unit" and personal performance.
During the Republic of China, there were many apprentices in workshops or shops. These apprentices have no salary, but by the end of the year, year-end bonuses are indispensable, ranging from 20 yuan to 30 yuan, and the boss will treat them to a meal. This form of floating bonuses and red envelopes is similar to today.
As for the employees of the company, it depends not only on the level of recipients and the caliber of winners, but also on the efficiency of the unit and everyone's work performance. In the same factory, the manager can get a year-end bonus of several thousand dollars, while the small staff and ordinary workers can only get dozens or several dollars.