救时的偏方——论阎敬铭对山东吏政的“徐图补救”(1863-1867)

Non-fundamental Treatments for Managing Officials:On Yan Jingming's Rectifying Problems of Official Governance in Shandong(1863-1867)

同治二年(1863年),阎敬铭蒙清廷重托,赴山东整饬省政。面对"吏道之堕,心术之坏,至今已极"的局面,阎氏通过明察暗访,逐渐认识到造成该省政情恶化的缘由,并提出"安民必先察吏"的睿见,围绕官吏任用与奖惩两个方面开展工作,而其间清查钱粮亏空则为其革新山东吏政的大端。尽管阎敬铭能使山东吏政壁垒一新,但其改革理路依旧是"鉴古"传统下的消耗性转化,与近代化的趋向背道而驰,只能算作"救时偏方"。

In 1863, Yan Jingming was appointed as Xunfu（provincial governor） of Shandong. Facing the corruption of official governance there, Yan came to realize the real fact through investigating openly and secretly. Meanwhile, he put forward an idea that examining the local governors before settling villagers down. Centralizing these two tasks which combined official appointment with official rewards and punishments, Yan conducted his mission of bureaucratic readjustment. Among these things, the most important one was the investigation of fiscal deficits. Though Yan Jingming made the official governance of Shandong advanced, he could not change the whole political climate of Qing Dynasty. After all, it is merely an outdated recipe.