Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 172 Hanlin Qinggui (Part [-])
The word "Hanlin" first appeared in Han Dynasty.In the Han Dynasty, Yang Ziyun said in "Chang Yang Fu": "The article is written because of the pen and ink, and the original Hanlin is the master." The original meaning is the forest of literature, that is, the place where literary and Han gather.In the Tang Dynasty, "Hanlin" officially became the official signature.Since the Tang Dynasty, the Hanlin Academy has been set up in all dynasties.The early Hanlin Academy was "the place where those who see the world's art skills and technology are located." It recruited all kinds of talents from all over the world for the emperor's needs, and gradually became a pivotal institution for participating in politics and compiling history.

In the Ming Dynasty, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang set up the Hanlin Academy very early, and its function was positioned as an auxiliary political think tank.But at that time, due to the existence of the prime minister, the Imperial Academy was actually just an empty shelf, so Zhu Yuanzhang raised the status of the Imperial Academy after the abolition of Zhongshu Sheng and the prime minister.Since then, the functional orientation of the Imperial Academy has undergone some changes: first, it took over the administrative work of the prime minister and shared the work pressure of the emperor; second, it served as an independent political force for the emperor to strengthen the imperial power; third, it served as an official history , History-revision institutions, grasp the important discourse power of national public opinion.

From the perspective of electing and setting up officials, the Imperial Academy system of the Ming Dynasty was more complete than that of the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, and it can be said to be the result of all dynasties.The selection of imperial officials in the Ming Dynasty was closely related to the imperial examinations, especially the establishment of the Shujishi system, which ensured the quality of the imperial officials.In the early Ming Dynasty, because Hanlin officials were mainly selected through recommendation and recruitment, the quality was different, and even good and bad were mixed.In the 18th year of Hongwu, the Shujishi system was formally established, which formed a close connection between the Imperial Academy system and the imperial examination system, and finally formed the situation that "non-jinshi cannot enter the Hanlin".

The Shujishi system, also known as the library selection system, simply means that the imperial court selects outstanding talents through the imperial examination to become Shujishi, and trains them specially.That is to say, to be selected as a good scholar means to have obtained the preparatory qualifications to become a Hanlin official, and after three years of study and training of "teaching courtiers as teachers and taking classics and epics as lessons", you can participate in the "Separate Hall" "Examinations, those with excellent results will be awarded the post of Hanlin officials.

In the Ming Dynasty, first passed the imperial examination to become a scholar, and then became an imperial official through study and inspection. This was the only way for talents to enter the Imperial Academy, and it was also an important way to enter the cabinet as a minister to a large extent.

However, this system that Hanlin people are so proud of seems to have encountered a small challenge - one person who was only eight years old, a child with a yellow mouth, no fame, and falsely claiming to be a Confucian boy, unexpectedly became an official of the Hanlin Academy .

When the news came out yesterday, the Imperial Academy was quite shaken, and there was a lot of discussion, which led to several lecturers who were born in the Imperial Academy returning to the courtyard, and were almost scolded to death as traitors.

Except for Shen Shixing, who attended the banquet with Zhijing, who was the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Gu Yangqian, the lecturer, who was the doctor of the Ministry of Industry, the remaining five people, Chen Jingbang, Shen Li, Xu Guo, Zhang Wei, and Chen Yubi, because of their The official is in the Hanlin Academy, and it is really inevitable that he was blocked by a group of Hanlin officials to "visit".

Several lecturers from the Hanlin Academy repeatedly explained that the official Gao Yushi was only a name in the Imperial Academy.They also took Gao Yushi's "Longwen Whip Shadow" as an example, to prove that they were not unscrupulous in agreeing with the emperor.After all, he finally saved his life.

Why is it that a mere prince who is studying with a prince or pretending to be a bachelor can provoke the anger of these noble civil servants so much?In fact, in the final analysis, the root cause is the positioning of Hanlin officials: Qinggui!
In the early Ming Dynasty, imitating the Yuan system, the Hanlin Academy was called the Hanlin Academy of National History, with a rank of three grades.Although major changes have taken place after the restructuring, the basic structure is roughly similar. The official officials include one bachelor, who is the fifth rank;It belongs to officials, including two servants and two servants, and they are six grades.Historiographers, including compilation, follow the sixth rank; editors, correct the seventh rank; review, follow the seventh rank.In addition, there are Shujishi, who have no rank and no quota.

The Imperial Academy of the Ming Dynasty was indeed not high in grade, lower than the previous Hanlin Academy or similar institutions, but because it was close to the center of power, it was an important central secretarial institution exclusively for the emperor, providing services directly to the emperor, so it was highly valued by the emperor.There is a very close connection between it and the cabinet.

The above can be said to be "expensive".What about "clear"?

The Imperial Academy was directly ordered by the emperor to undertake the duties of preparing for the emperor's consultation, compiling books and writing history, drafting imperial edicts, reading for members of the royal family, and serving as examiners for imperial examinations.The bachelor is responsible for writing, detailing the text, discussing the system, etc., and at the same time prepares the emperor's advisor; the attendant reads and attendants are responsible for reading scriptures and history for members of the royal family; books etc.

In addition, the responsibilities of the Hanlin Academy also included taking charge of imperial examination affairs, teaching Shuji scholars, organizing major ceremonies, inspecting the archives of the Lifan Academy, and so on.In theory, all these are errands with a great name but little oil and water, so they are "clear".

As we all know, the salary of officials in the Ming Dynasty was the last in all dynasties. Originally, this "top spot" should have been in the Qing Dynasty, but since Yongzheng, the system of double salary for officials in Beijing and the system of supporting honest and honest officials for foreign officials have been implemented, and the treatment of officials has been greatly improved. big boost.And the Beijing officials in Ming Dynasty are notoriously poor. If it weren’t for the filial piety such as Bing Jing and Tan Jing in the local area, the Beijing officials could not even support a family with their own salaries, and the Hanlin officials were even among the poor officials. of fighter jets.

The fundamental reason why Hanlin is the poorest is that it is not actually an administrative institution. It has no power in its hands and can only rely on wages to survive.Strictly speaking, the Hanlin Academy of the Ming Dynasty cannot be regarded as a formal yamen. It seems more accurate to say that it is a training institution. The Hanlin Academy is actually the reserve talents of the Ming Empire—high-level reserve talents.

But poverty is temporary, and the identity of Hanlin contains infinite potential.Because the Hanlin Academy was the place where the imperial examination elites gathered in the Ming Dynasty.In the early Ming Dynasty, all officials in the Hanlin Academy were specially recommended or recommended by the emperor. During the Hongwu period, a large part of the Hanlin officials were selected by other means. Since then, it has been gradually monopolized by Kejia Jinshi.

Since then, there are only two situations for entering the Imperial Academy: one is the top three in the palace examination, that is, the champion, the second place, and Tanhua are directly awarded to officials such as editors and editors of the Imperial Academy; It is to select those who are excellent in literature, that is, those who are good at calligraphy, from the second-class and third-class Jinshi, as Shu Jishi. Of course, the premise is to pass the exam, that is, "chaokao".Those who pass the examination enter the Hanlin Academy to study for three years, and the outstanding ones stay in the Imperial Academy.

Although Hanlin officials usually have "clear" jobs, once they are promoted, they will have advantages that ordinary people do not have.For example, there are regulations in the official system of the Ming Dynasty that the Minister of Rites and the Minister of the Ministry of Rites in the northern and southern capitals, and the Minister of the Right of the Ministry of Officials, are not appointed by non-Hanlin officials.The six ministers are those who were born in the Hanlin, and they are also Hanlin bachelors, and the servants are also serving as readers and lecturers.

In addition, the officials of Zhan Shifu (Zuo Chunfang) and the Bureau of Economics and Economics who tutored the prince must carry the official title of Hanlin no matter what they are: Zhan Shi and Shao Zhan Shi have a bachelor's degree, and Chunfang University Scholars are not permanent. De, Zhongyun, Zanshan, and Xima will give lectures and read a bachelor's degree.In other words, these officials who assist the prince can become important members of the new dynasty when the new king ascends the throne in the future.

In addition, Guozijian, which is in charge of national education, also has a close relationship with Hanlin.Although Guozijian is also a Qingshui yamen, it is responsible for the national education plan. Therefore, in the official system of the Ming Dynasty, it was stipulated that the highest officer of the Guozijian, Jijiu and Siye, could not be transferred unless they were born in the Imperial Academy.

According to Gao Pragmatic's understanding, the Hanlin officials in the Ming Dynasty not only influenced all aspects as a servant organization, but also took on the task of sending talents to important departments of the country.If the Guozijian is the place to cultivate and store talents, then the Imperial Academy is the place to raise and store officials.

At this point, readers must understand that during the three years of studying in the Imperial Academy, the Imperial Scholars were truly poor, but why did the Jinshi want to squeeze into the Imperial Academy even if they squeezed their heads?The reason is simple, because after graduation, their employment prospects are much higher than that of ordinary Jinshi.

If a Jinshi is released as a seventh-rank county magistrate, it means that he will be promoted slowly level by level, and once a Shujishi graduates, he may move several times a year, and there is a great chance to join the cabinet in the future , became the assistant minister of the country.

Finally, there is a perhaps even more important reason, that is, officials from the Imperial Academy have a great honor after their death: they can use "Wen" as their posthumous posthumous title, for example, the highest posthumous title of civil servants is "Wenzheng" - you are not Hanlin Don’t even think about family background, this is also one of the goals of many Jinshi’s attempts to become Hanlin.

It is precisely because they are used to this kind of "nobility", even if they are so poor that they have a strong sense of psychological superiority, they are of course extremely dissatisfied with a "colleague" who is "not qualified".

(End of this chapter)