Chapter 4 4. Xin Ke Jinshi is the best political background

There were four capitals in the Northern Song Dynasty: Kaifeng Mansion in Bianliang, Tokyo (now Kaifeng City, Henan Province), Henan Mansion in Xijing (now Luoyang City, Henan Province), Yingtian Mansion in Nanjing (now Shangqiu City, Henan Province), and Daming Mansion in Beijing (now Handan City, Hebei Province) Daming County).Kaifeng is the capital, and the other three cities are the accompanying capitals.At that time, Kaifeng had a population of over 1 million, making it a veritable international metropolis, the largest in the world.Cities with a population of more than 100,000 include today's Luoyang, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, and Shangqiu.At that time, the largest city in Europe had a population of only a few hundred thousand people. Historical materials such as "Tokyo Menghualu", "Capital Jisheng", and "Menglianglu" recorded the high prosperity of Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty and Lin'an in the Southern Song Dynasty. Many lives in today's modern society can be found in the Song Dynasty. Credit, commodity street, fairs, night markets, 24-hour nightclubs, performing arts plaza, etc.

I don’t need to go into details about the prosperity, but just talk about the 72nd chapter “Chai Jin’s hairpin flowers enter the forbidden courtyard, Li Kui makes troubles in Tokyo at night”, Song Jiang, a small official from Yuncheng County, came to the capital, and felt that “Tokyo is the number one capital in the world. Prosperity and wealth".It was Lantern Festival at the night of the Yuan Dynasty again. Song Jiang came back to the big city for the first time and had never seen the world. Tie the lamp shed, match the hanging lamp, and shine like the day."Going shopping and accidentally entered Li Shishi's mansion, Song Jiang had never seen such a beauty, "Song Jiang made several rounds of wine shops, Song Jiang's mouth was slippery, fists and bare sleeves, pointing fingers, and using tricks out of Liangshanbo", the nature of the robber was fully revealed.It can be seen that the prosperity and customs of Kaifeng make the bosses of the world dizzy.Many people like to work hard in big cities because there are many opportunities there. Just as being in the center has obvious geographical advantages, and being in the center of power has more opportunities to "fill in the gaps".

Living in the capital has its advantages, but naturally it also has its hardships. In the face of huge political advantages, staying in the central government is undoubtedly the first choice for Xinke Jinshi, but whether to stay in the central government is not up to the individual, it depends on the background of the Jinshi. In the Song Dynasty, the imperial examinations were divided into five grades (three grades in the Ming and Qing Dynasties). The first and second grades were awarded Jinshi and second grades, the third grades were awarded Jinshi’s background, and the fourth and fifth grades were awarded with Jinshi’s background.The top three ranks are usually awarded the official positions of Guozijian Jiancheng (an executive of Taixue), Dali Jushi (a member of the judiciary department), and secretary provincial school secretary (editing and editing of the National Library).If you don't want to stay in the imperial court, if you go to work in a local area, you will be awarded a contract to judge a certain state, county magistrate, etc.The fourth and fifth grades are awarded to the chief book (secretary), county lieutenant (director of the county public security bureau) and other posts.

It can be seen from the background that first-, second-, and third-class Jinshi have the right to choose to stay in the court or go to the local area, while fourth- and fifth-class Jinshi have no qualifications to stay in the capital.What one's background reflects is the official rank, commonly known as "rules".Mencius said, there is no way to achieve a square without rules.Rule is a general term, it is social etiquette in folks, and it is official etiquette in officialdom.If the etiquette system exceeds the official position, it is called "overstepping", which is a serious crime of beheading.

The officialdom in the Song Dynasty was strictly hierarchical, which was mainly reflected in the scope of work, salary and family background. In the Song Dynasty, government departments and agencies overlapped seriously, and their work scopes conflicted with each other. For example, the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, Yushitai, and Judicial Yuan were in charge of the national judiciary. Ministry of Finance) also has the power to participate in the judiciary.The third division envoy has a small prison, which specializes in managing economic cases.Specific to the work, such as Hanlin Bachelor, Zhongshu Sheren, and Zhi Zhigao belong to the "two system officials", the former is internal system, the latter is external system, the work content is the same, and they are all responsible for drafting documents.The external system is an imperial edict drafted by a formal institution under Zhongshu, while the internal system is an edict issued directly by the emperor from the court. The difference is that one office is in the office and the other is in the dormitory.In terms of salary and treatment, some "retirement officials" who have become officials (retired) have good treatment.Therefore, the best way to distinguish the rank of officials is their origin.

In the simplest terms, it is the official uniform worn. People rely on clothes and horses rely on saddles. We are always good at judging a person's social status by dressing. The Song inherited the Tang system, the purple robes above the third rank, the scarlet robes above the fifth rank, and the green robes below the sixth rank, and even the cassocks worn by monks can also be distinguished by rank.After the Southern and Northern Dynasties, purple clothes were the official uniforms of high officials, so there is a saying of "purple clothes and red crowns".Zheng Gushi, a famous poet in the late Tang Dynasty, was called Zheng Duguan, and there was a poem "chasing victories and stealing time to Du Ling, loving monks but not purple-clothed monks". "Return to the Field" records that Taizu Zhao Kuangyin once went to Xiangguo Temple to offer incense, hesitated for a long time, and asked the monk Zanning next to him, whether to worship or not?Zan Ning said no.Zhao Kuangyin asked why?Zan Ning said: "Now the Buddha does not worship the past Buddha." The Taizu is very good, and Long Yan is very happy.In "Liu Yi Shi Hua" written by Ouyang Xiu, it is said that Tai Zu promoted Zan Ning to "Master Tong Hui" and bestowed purple clothes on him.Master Zan Ning's status is not what it used to be, people come and go in groups, and the scene is quite big.An Hongjian, a Confucian scholar, has a keen sense of writing, and can't understand his style. Once the two met on the road, An Hongjian sneered: "The ones that Zheng Duguan doesn't love are always in the team." Zan Ning retorted: " Qin Shihuang's undefeated people are often in groups."

Even if the Buddhist monastery is like this, the officialdom is even more evil.For example, "Sushui Jiwen" contains: "The prime minister says that he is extremely polite, and everyone who sees him, no matter how old or young, worships him, and the prime minister hangs his hands to support him. Seeing off guests is not a low-level." No matter how old you are an official, when you see the prime minister Everyone has to salute, even if the prime minister is your son, you still have to salute, this is the rule of the court.When officials went to the prime minister's house to pay respects, the prime minister dropped his hands to support him.After talking about the matter and leaving, the prime minister will see you off, but it is only a two-step walk, meaning that you don't go down the steps.It's the same as going to the leader's house to visit. At most, I will send you to the elevator.If the prime minister is too embarrassed to talk about it, if he doesn’t leave after finishing talking, the servant will shout "respect, Mr. Xianggong", which is to give the official an order to leave immediately, and the official "retires".

In the fifth year of Taiping Xingguo (980) of Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty, Gengchenke, Su Yijian and his father Su Xiong were all successful in the examination.But Su Yijian was the number one scholar, and his father came in at the bottom.Later, Su Yijian was promoted to a Hanlin bachelor, and his father worked as a junior staff member in the capital.As soon as the father and father met, Xiao Su wanted to pay respects to his father, and when they arrived at the court, Lao Su wanted to give Xiao Su an official ceremony.Lao Su lamented that the father's reference to his son is putting the cart before the horse ("Facts Class Garden").No way, this is officialdom rules, this is the hierarchy.When discussing politics in the office, the hierarchy is more obvious.The promoted officials above the Beijing official sit, and those below the Beijing official stand.Those with two or more official titles on their heads, such as Bao Zheng, used to be the doctor of Shangshu Sheng Yousi Langzhong, the direct scholar of Longtuge, and the official of Kaifeng. , is his actual work.This kind of official has tea to drink when discussing matters in the office, and there is a special fan to fan the weather in hot weather, and there is a hot pot in cold weather.Other officials have no such treatment.

To sum up, the political background of Xinke Jinshi determines his fate.The ones that the emperor took special care of were special cases. For example, Wang Yu, a Jinshi in the eighth year of Taiping Xingguo, is a special case.Wang Yu's literary talent is outstanding, he was a giant in the early Northern Song Dynasty, but he had the common problem of being a literati. in place.Hearing that Wang Yu died, Zhenzong cried. "Sushui Jiwen" records that during Song Renzong's reign, there was an examinee named Wang Fen. poor.Song Renzong changed the grade and asked him to work in the capital. The examiner didn't know why, so he asked why. Renzong sighed, this is also Wang Yusun.

Can officials with low political status stay and work in the capital by going away?This possibility is relatively low, because the Song Dynasty was a society under moral control, and the "ritual system" best reflects this control.The prime minister of the imperial court is often dismissed because of moral issues. Who dares to overstep in this regard?In order to ensure that you, a small staff member, stay in Beijing to report on your work and put your political future on the line, how much should you pay to achieve a balance of interests between the two?When the new official's three-year grinding process is over, it is still necessary to be active at that time.Usually the bosses don't touch new melon eggs, and they can't make it.Because of his grandfather's relationship, Wang Fen did not do well in the exam, so he made an exception and changed his sentence to a Beijing official.If you take a closer look, it is not difficult to find that although the emperor took special care of him, he still had to follow the rules.It's just that the grade has been changed, which shows that the emperor, as the highest leader of the empire, is familiar with the etiquette rules, and he dare not destroy them, let alone other ministers?