Empresses' Wage Standard and Bonus System in Qing Dynasty
The "wages" paid by the early emperors to empresses were based on the grain supply system, which mainly distributed grains and daily necessities. With the vigorous development of economy and society, after the Tang Dynasty, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, emperors with deep pockets paid their wives and employees in the form of money. Of course, according to the currency circulation at that time, these wages were also paid in the form of gold and silver, which is the so-called "ingot", which is closer to the monthly salary of white-collar workers in today's company.
Employees in different positions naturally have certain differences in salary levels. Of course, different levels of empresses receive different annual salaries, which is a common phenomenon in the "enterprises" managed by emperors in previous dynasties. For example. During the Qing dynasty, the annual salary of empresses in the harem was divided into nine grades. Empress Dowager Cixi, as the mother of the "chairman", naturally has the highest annual salary, receiving 20 taels of gold and 2,000 taels of silver each year. The annual salary of the wife of the "chairman", the queen, is naturally "below one person and above ten thousand people", and she can get 1000 silver every year. The "employee" of other positions is Huang Fei Huang: 800 taels of silver; Imperial concubine: 600 taels of silver; Princess: three hundred and twenty pieces of silver; Me: 200 taels of silver; Noble: silver 100 two; Chang: 50 taels of silver; Promise: thirty taels of silver. If silver is converted into RMB, then these empresses are like "golden collars" and "white-collar workers" in famous enterprises.
As the leader of the "enterprise", the emperor is considerate of these female employees who love beauty, except for a fixed amount of money. Considering women's love of beauty, the emperor prepared a large number of valuables such as silks, satins and minks for them. Take "fee" as an example. In addition to the annual salary of 300 taels of silver, they can also get-python satin 1, woven gold 1, cosmetic satin 1, Japanese satin 2, shiny satin 1, gold satin 1, cloud satin 4, plain satin 2, blue satin/kloc. 5 cotton wool, 5 Korean cloth, 2 three-thread cloth, 65,438 +00 wool cloth, 65,438+00 dark blue cloth, 3 coarse cloth, 65,438 gold thread+00 winding, 5 kg cashmere, 3 kg cotton thread, 20 kg kapok, 65,438+00 wrapped mink and 20 pieces of Ula mink. There are so many high-grade fabrics, although they can't go shopping in Taobao every day like today's white-collar workers, these ancient white-collar workers don't worry about changing clothes.
In addition to the normal salary and welfare benefits, empresses can also receive all kinds of "red envelopes", such as "giving money" and "giving salary", which belong to the nature of "red envelopes" or "tips".
In addition, queens who shoulder the responsibility of continuing the "Long Mai" for the royal family can also receive various "red envelopes", which are usually distributed on holidays or special days such as childbirth, sacrifice and birthdays. After all, accepting "red envelopes" and "tips" also requires a legitimate reason. Otherwise, even if there is no suspicion of "taking bribes", there are 3,000 beautiful women among the serving officials, which is too biased and it is really difficult to convince the public. What's more, there is always a little bit of comparison between women, who are "employed" in the same company and "employed" by the same boss.
In the Qing Dynasty, every queen received different gifts on her birthday. For example, on the birthday of the queen, the emperor will give 90 taels of gold, 900 taels of silver, 45 satin yarns, 9 python satin yarns, 9 satin yarns, 9 Ningsi yarns, 9 palace silk yarns, 9 yarn yarns, 9 spring silk yarns and 9 silk yarns.
Empresses give birth to children with full moons, and emperors also give red envelopes-silver 1000 and 300 coins to the queen; Imperial concubine: 500 taels of silver, 200 taels of coins, 400 taels of silver and 65438 taels of coins +000 taels; Princess: 300 taels of silver and 70 taels of coins; 200 taels of silver and 40 taels of coins; Noble person: silver 100, 20 coins; Often: silver 100 two, currency 20 tail; Commitment: 50 taels of silver, 10 taels. It seems that in ancient times, white-collar workers not only had maternity leave, but also received generous "red envelopes", not to mention the fear of losing their jobs after maternity leave. This may be the difference between ancient white-collar workers and contemporary white-collar workers-having children is a powerful weight to keep your job and even get promoted and raised.
In addition, these ancient white-collar workers also have pocket money. If they know how to read and feel, they will be able to serve the emperor very happily, and they will also get extra bonus "red envelopes", such as good clothes and jewelry. These extra incomes are collectively referred to as "gifts".
Daily living expenses are huge.
Due to the large number of "employees" and the fact that the emperor rarely "laid off employees", the "salary" of the concubines in the palace alone is already a very large figure. However, these so-called huge expenses are "dwarfed" if compared with the daily living expenses and room supplies of the empresses.
According to the History of the Imperial Palace in Zhou Dynasty, there are more than 30 kinds of cups, plates and bowls in the princess rooms in Qing Dynasty-silver teacups 1, silver spoons 1, silver dentures 1 pairs, silver teapots 1, silver spears 1, and silver beam knives/. 4 tin teapots, 3 tin pots, 3 tin braziers, 2 tin sitting pots, 1 tin watering can, 1 gold-plated iron cloud corner table, 1 silver-plated iron tweezers, 2 yellow-green dragon porcelain plates, 20 disks of various colors and 4 yellow-green dragon porcelain plates.