Chapter 12 2. Order and circle - an olive branch in official career

Song Chujian was extremely thirsty for talents, while recruiting talents through the imperial examinations, he also attracted folk celebrities.In the early Song Dynasty, there were three famous scholars, Chen Tuan, Zhong Fang, and Wei Ye, a Taoist, a Confucianist, and a poet. Zhong Fang took part in the imperial examination when he was young, but he failed the exam, so he became discouraged and went to live in seclusion, and went to Chen Tuan, the first hermit in the early Song Dynasty, to learn Taoism.Chen Tuan has a strong background, Zhao Kuangyin listened to his lectures when he was young, and his parents told him to reuse Chen Tuan.Zhao Kuangyin didn't like him, and felt that the set was flashy and far less practical than the clerk Zhao Pu's strategy, so he sent him away with some money.Chen Tuan's life was miserable, and he was robbed by bandits on the way.Zhong Fang found him to learn Taoism, and it was not what I wanted to talk about official salary.Chen Tuan pierced his mask with a word: "The head of the king is quite good. Although he is obscured in the mountains and forests, he may not be safe. He will know it in the future" ("Shaw's Wenjianlu").Chen Tuan was good at prophesying that Zhong Fang would be prime minister in the future, but this time his prediction was wrong.

Chen Tuan rejected him, so Zhong Fang and his mother came to Zhongnan Mountain to live in seclusion, gathered people to give lectures, and called friends to cite others.Zhong Fang can drink, and often gathers with friends to eat wine in small groups.In his own words, drinking is not called drinking, it is called "the empty mountain is quiet and quiet, chatting to nourish peace".Most of Zhongfang’s friends are local celebrities and local officials, so the motivation for this kind of seclusion is open to question.Zhong Fangyin concealed his fame, just like the face of a fake hermit who seeks fame by concealment described in "Beishan Yiwen".Song Weihan, the transshipment envoy of Shaanxi, recommended him, and Song Taizong ordered the local government to give him 30,000 yuan (thirty strings) as money to come to Beijing to be an official.

Zhongfang's seclusion had achieved results, and the court extended an olive branch to him.Just as Zhong Fang was about to accept it, his friend spoke. There was a magistrate named Zhang Heshan who had a good relationship with him. He reminded him that if you go to call today, the biggest official is to be a department-level employee like a supervisor.Just ask, what should I do in your opinion?Zhang Heshan made a move, you might as well say you are sick and not go away, and you will have to be a bureau-level cadre if you call in the future.Zhong Fang listened to his friend's advice and refused the court's call for an examination on the grounds of "abide by the secrecy".Taizong was furious: "Is it safe to use this man in the mountains?" He was not called again.Zhong Fang was dumbfounded, the organization ruthlessly abandoned him, and his dream of becoming an official as a hermit was shattered.The seed mother scolded him severely, you have already planned to live in seclusion, so what's the use of lecturing?Either you will become an official, or you will just sit still, I really don't know what you think.Zhong Fang listened to his mother's advice this time, and moved to a remote village to live a poor life.Thirty years have passed in a blink of an eye, the boss has changed to Song Zhenzong, and the opportunity has come again.Prime Minister Zhang Qixian recommended him, and with the lessons learned from the previous loss, Zhong Fang went to the call honestly and was appointed as an official Zuo Sijian. Zhong Fang, who is over half a century old, readily accepted ("Facts Lei Yuan").

Becoming an official is the dream of many people. Those who are talented go to the imperial examination, and those who are not capable take the relationship.Obviously, Zhongfang wanted to enter the system by "seeking fame through concealment". During Taizong's reign, he lost an opportunity to become an official, and in exchange for 30 years of poor life, the price was too heavy.Now a small ninth-rank official in the Zhenzong Dynasty, Zhong Fang actually accepted it, forgetting the lofty ideal of "observing the hidden integrity" at the beginning.The recruiter Zhang Heshan was also illiterate. Otherwise, how could he work in the local area? The person who made friends with Zhongfang was unknown in history, which shows that his consciousness is low.Looking at the difficult process of putting Zhong into an official position, he is not familiar with the way of officialdom and dreams of achieving it in one step. The possibility of this is very slim.It is also what people want to be promoted, but the premise is that they need to enter the official career system.If you fail the imperial examination, and you are not a hero who has won the country, why should you come up and work for a middle-level and high-level official?How embarrassing is that for the middle and high levels of the country.

Zhong Zhong, who entered the official career system, was smart after school, and his official career went straight to the top. He had successively served as Minister of Shizhong and the Ministry of Industry, and became the "second-in-command" of the Ministry of Construction of the imperial court.Song Taizong was right when he said that he was a "man from the mountains and fields". When he became a high-ranking official, he was so easygoing, and the old problem happened again.After the Chanyuan alliance, Song Zhenzong fell in love with auspiciousness and searched for it all over the country.Once at the Western Sacrifice, Zhong Fang passed by Zhong Fang's house. At that time, Zhong Fang's elder brother passed away, and Zhong Fang lived in mourning at home.On the way, Song Zhenzong hesitated whether to go to Xisi or not?Call the seeds and let them go to the staff.After receiving the imperial decree, Zhong Fang hurried to see the official.Zhenzong was overjoyed, took Zhongfang's hand to climb up the Guanque Tower, and invited him to go to Chang'an Xisi with him. It's because Song Zhenzong missed him.

Zhongfang suggested that there are three inconveniences in going to Chang'an, Hu Qinghe (martial law on the roads), Xingkuang Dian (making an unprecedented system), and Wen Songsheng (composing essays and singing praises), please excuse me from the officials!Zhenzong agreed.After the Western Sacrifice, Zhenzong invited him back to the capital together, but Zhong Fang didn't go because of the funeral.Before leaving, Zhenzong put down his words, and he will call you back to Beijing without waiting long.The ministers were so angry that their eyes were bloodshot, and then some masters appeared with the arrogance to kill them.The minister first sent someone to tell Zhongfang that the official called you back to Beijing and said that, you must strictly abide by the secrets.Kind of take it for granted.When Zhenzong returned to the capital, he really issued an imperial edict calling Zhong to return to Beijing.The minister said that if he is called to release him now, he will definitely resign. If he does not call for a long time, he will automatically beg for pilgrimage. If you don't believe it, try betting.Zhenzong didn't believe it, so he issued an edict, but as expected, Zhongfang didn't come, so he wrote a letter of greeting.Half a year later, the report said that Zhong Fang begged to see the emperor.Zhenzong was horrified. You didn't come if you were called at that time, but now you are automatically sent to the door if you are not called.Busily summoned the minister back then and asked, why are you so predictable?The minister said categorically, didn't the officials understand?Zhong Fang is a person who insists on hiding his integrity. How can he be a reclusive person?He knew that the position of prime minister in the imperial court was vacant, so he begged for a seat, and his purpose was not simple.Therefore, Zhenzong instructed that the request for planting should not be allowed.I will give you one hundred taels of silver to save face.Zhong Fang was filled with grief and indignation, and died that year ("Yuhu Qinghua").

The "three fires" set by Zhong played with fire and set himself on fire. His official career failed because he destroyed the political and spiritual order of the officialdom. In the Song Dynasty, civil affairs were valued over military affairs, and civil officials had a prominent position, and there were unwritten rules of order.The most prominent one is the Jinshi section in the imperial examination, followed by the various sections of the imperial examination, then Enyin, and lastly the Special Call, roughly divided into such intervals.The national imperial examination system in the Renzong Dynasty of the Northern Song Dynasty was already complete, and the selection of talents was stricter. Most of the Zaizhi were from the top three in the imperial examination, such as Han Qi was born in the second place, Wang Anshi was the fourth in the list, Wang Gui was born in the second place, and so on.Those who are specially called to be ministers are either talented or have made outstanding achievements, such as Yan Shu and Fu Bi.During Taizong's time, the prime minister Lu Duanen became an official, and Kou Zhun, who was under him, was admitted to the imperial examination. Although Lu Duan was an old minister, because of their different backgrounds, he felt that he was a part of a dwarf family, so he strongly recommended Kou Zhun.Song Taizong chose the way that the two people took turns to govern in order to maintain the balance and order of the imperial examination and grace.It is true that this order also exists in military officers, who are proud of their background in military examinations, and those who rely on real swords and guns to fight have no advantage. For example, Di Qing, a privy envoy during Renzong's time, was pushed out of the field after less than four years of service.

Those who are capable go to the imperial examination, and those who are not capable rely on their favor to gain connections. From the perspective of the way to become an official, special summoning is the most distant type, and it is not considered a regular army.The officials who are specially called into the official position are the needs of the imperial court, and they may not want you to make a difference, but just spend money to support them to decorate the appearance.The official career of specially summoned officials is like walking on thin ice, and being promoted to a rank is likely to cause criticism from scholar-bureaucrats.In terms of talent, political achievements, and awareness, you must surpass other officials and reach the level of convincing the public. Only then will your path be magnanimous. It is obvious that Zhong Fang does not have this quality.Furthermore, because of the "taint" incident of becoming an official once, all the literati and bureaucrats saw clearly the face of his hypocrisy.A hermit among the people, he is not young, and the emperor is kind to him, and everyone can understand him as the minister of the Ministry of Industry.If you want to advance to the next level, the scholar-bureaucrats will inevitably attack it together.The foundation of planting and releasing is weak, unlike Yan Shu and Fu Bi who were specially called into office, they have been operating in the court for many years, and there are only a few of them left in the old man, so it is understandable to enter the house.The weak foundation of planting directly made it impossible for him to go further. Many other ministers have spent half their lives without being able to take the position of minister.Then they repeated the old tricks to seek promotion by concealment. In terms of spirit, the scholar-bureaucrats strongly rejected such officials, because they were not people in their own circle.The officialdom is an imperial nine-series circle composed of several circles, a large circle of civil officials, a large circle of military officials, and a large circle of officials.Among the civil officials, there are Jinshi circles, grace circles, special summon circles, royal circles, princeling circles, academic circles, literary circles, etc. It is understandable that people outside the circles are attacked by scholar-bureaucrats.