"The first official position up for auction today is that of a candidate magistrate, with a starting bid of one thousand taels of silver." As Song Quan finished speaking, a servant from the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel brought out a rack displaying the seventh-rank magistrate's official robes.
Purchased offices naturally carried no real power, but they did officially enter one into the register of government officials. To preserve the dignity of the Imperial Court, the terms "buying an office" or "donating an office" were avoided, and they were collectively referred to as "candidate officials."
It was all about flexible interpretation.
Chapter 912