明代中后期京债探析

Usury of Beijing in the Middle and Late Ming Dynasty

明中后期,皇帝怠政,宦官弄权,朝廷政治腐败,科举仕途尤为黑暗。一些新科进士、候选官吏以及即将上任的官吏不惜花费重金甚至借京债在京候选。虽然京债利息较高,但仍有大批官员趋之若鹜,一时间京债盛行,甚至出现"拉京债"现象。一些候选官员,为早些得到官职,大举京债买通权贵,严重破坏了铨选,这给明朝的政局带来了极坏影响。

During the middle and late Ming Dynasty,the emperor neglected government affairs,eunuchs manipulated power for personal ends,political corruption spread unchecked,and the imperial examinations was going nowhere. Some new imperial scholars,candidate officials and incoming officials often spent lots of money or even borrowed usury to bribery in Beijing. Although the interest on the usury of Beijing was high,there were still a large number of officials eager to borrow,resulting in its popularity and even a peculiar phenomenon that some officials were incited to borrow it. By usury,some candidate officials bribed the higher rank and got promotion,and that greatly violated the selection process and had bad impact on the political system of the Ming Dynasty.