Qīngdài de xūlì wǎngwǎng shìdài-xiāngchuán, dìfāngguān bànshì líbukāi tāmen.
In the Qing dynasty clerk posts were often handed down from generation to generation, and local officials could not get anything done without them.
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胥吏 held no official rank and drew little or no salary, so many lived on fees squeezed from the public. Magistrates were moved to a new post every few years, while the clerks stayed and knew the local rules, which gave them real power.
