Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 446 0441 [Ge Shengzhong's new errand]

Ge Shengzhong and Ge Lifang, father and son, resigned from Ruzhou and came to Hanzhong in the early spring of this year.

The main reason is that after arriving in Xiangyang, the snow fell heavily, so I stayed at the inn.

Ge Shengzhong wanted to save face very much. Although he had two letters to Zhu Ming, they were both discussing the issue of governing the country, and Zhu Ming did not make any solicitation in the letter.So he clearly arrived in Xiangyang, but instead of going to meet Zhu Ming to seek an official, he quietly observed the people's livelihood in Xiangyang.

When they crossed the Fangcheng Mountain pass, they entered the country with Zhu Ming's personal letter, and the soldiers also reported it to their superiors.

So Zhu Ming knew that the Ge family and his son were coming, but they never saw anyone, thinking that they were staying in Nanyang because of the heavy snow.

During the Spring Festival, Ge Shengzhong had a very happy time, and the festive atmosphere here was extremely grand.

The main reason is that Xiaomin is also celebrating the New Year happily. Such a situation has rarely been seen in the north in recent years.The New Year must be passed, but Xiaomin's life is extremely difficult.

When the snow stopped in spring, Ge Shengzhong left a letter for Zhu Ming, and then went straight to Hanzhong by boat.

Observing all the way in various counties in Hanzhong, Ge Shengzhong was inexplicably shocked. He thought he had arrived in Jiangnan 30 years ago!

The father and son met Zhu Guoxiang in the Jinglue Mansion, explained their identity and expressed their intentions, and were warmly welcomed.Then, they were not directly appointed, and they were asked to watch the government and other vacancies in the Jinglue Mansion first.

More than three months have passed and still waiting.

"This Zhu Guoxiang is so rude," Ge Lifang was indignant, "My father and son resigned to vote, but he didn't even give him a real official, and he didn't know how long he would be short! What can such a neglect of talents do? "

Ge Shengzhong was actually very dissatisfied in his heart, but he smiled and said to his son: "This is what it looks like to do big things, and everything is done according to the rules. You and I are here for a long time, so at least two problems can be explained. First, the Chuanxia side Second, Zhu Guoxiang has no shortage of officials."

"At least it should be given a job!" Ge Cufang said.

Ge Shengzhong shook his head: "Zhu Guoxiang also has a purpose in letting you and I observe politics. First, let us familiarize ourselves with his system and rules."

The selection and appointment system of the Zhu family and his sons is similar to that of the Song court, but those "small differences" are particularly illustrative.

There were five forms of selecting officials in the Song Dynasty, namely: selecting scholars through imperial examinations, recruiting officials from the family, supplementing military merits, resigning officials, and buying officials with cash.

The father and son removed Yinbu and Nasu, that is, they could not rely on the favor of their parents and spend money to buy officials.

Ge Shengzhong said: "How did the redundant officials in the Song Dynasty come about? Not to mention that Nasu bought officials, anyway, they can only buy some idle jobs. But the shadow of the family occupies a large part. Every year, countless children of officials and eunuchs rely on the shadow of their parents to get jobs. And most of the official positions are actually lacking. If you want to reform redundant officials and maladministration, you must cancel the yin and yang supplements.”

The yin official system in the Song Dynasty was not messed up at the beginning, it was flooded after the Chanyuan Alliance.

Song Zhenzong was unable to regain Yanyun, and his prestige was greatly reduced due to the defeat in the war, so he went to Fengchan Taishan to save face, and then went crazy to buy people's hearts.

The emperor's accession to the throne, the appointment of a queen, the emperor's or the queen mother's birthday, annual sacrifices in the countryside, officials sacrificing their lives for the country, important ministers retiring to serve... all of which had to be supplemented by a number of benevolent officials.

Not only the clan can provide support, but when civil and military officials reach a certain level, they can also recommend family members to become officials.

In the end, even when the concubine gave birth to a son, she had to make up a batch of benevolent officials.

There are also many messy special favors, such as when the new emperor ascends the throne, the son of a certain prefect comes to congratulate the emperor with local tribute, and the emperor directly appoints an official when he is happy.This situation is very common, so once the emperor changes, local officials quickly send their son to Beijing to congratulate him. This son has a high chance of becoming an official immediately.

The system of shady compensation has spread to such an extent that it can even benefit small officials like county captains and village owners!

In the Southern Song Dynasty, Song Xiaozong decided to rectify the yin compensation system, reducing the number of yin and yin quotas enjoyed by officials by one-third as a whole.

After the reduction, the amount of yin officials for the descendants of officials is as follows: ten prime ministers, eight people in power, six attendants, four doctors, and three leading officials... Only this kind of yin, hundreds of shady officials will emerge every year Waiting to be filled.

With the redundancy of officials to such an extent, why are there so many officials and officials in local areas?

Because most of them are in the capital because they were first conferred grace officials!
When you drink flower wine in Tokyo and compete with the room next door to be jealous, you pick up a stool and throw it at it, and one stool can hit several private officials.

Ge Lifang laughed and said: "It's only Zhu Xianggong who can abolish the subsidy system. Whoever dares to say this in the Song court will be impeached even if he is a prime minister!"

"Hanzhong has already established a system, and the rules of instruction are there. Unless a new government office is established or the territory is expanded, otherwise you have to wait slowly if you want to become an official," Ge Shengzhong said. "I don't think it will take long. Nanyang, Xiangyang, and Hanzhong With so many soldiers, we can't stay there all the time to eat dry food."

Annotation is also called poor annotation, especially referring to the system of conferring officials.

There are three forms of official appointment by the Song Dynasty:
One is Zhongzhi, appointed by the emperor himself.For example, the prime minister and the censor must be taught by the emperor himself;
The second is the removal of the hall, which will be appointed by Zhongshumenxia Province, and after the restructuring of Yuanfeng, it will be appointed by the three provinces, and the Privy Council can also grant some official positions;

The third is the election, and the Ministry of Officials is responsible for this matter, which requires the assessment of political performance.

Ge Lifang said: "Although there are no three provinces and six departments in Hanzhong, there are similar yamen. Zhu Xianggong seems to intend to cancel the hall."

Ge Shengzhong said: "With the cancellation of the church, it will be difficult for anyone who wants to be a powerful minister in the future. It is almost impossible to cover the sky with one hand. It may be to avoid the likes of Cai Jing and Wang Fu."

Cai Jing and Wang Fu said that whoever is appointed to be an official can be appointed as an official, and they can directly bypass the Ministry of Officials.

This is not a bad rule, but using the power of the church!
Only the appointment and dismissal of the censor, the powerful officials are uncertain, and it is always in the hands of the emperor, so the censor is always the focus of wooing.

Ge Lifang smiled and said: "My child heard an interesting story. That Zhu Xianggong leveled the garden of the back house, and took his wife and concubines to go to the fields every day. In the yamen close to the Jinglue Mansion, the officials could even smell the excrement occasionally. Taste." "Maybe it's true." Ge Shengzhong said.

Ge Lifang couldn't help laughing: "If it's true, then it's ridiculous. The stupid king in Tokyo demolished the houses and built gardens, and collected strange rocks from all over the world for his enjoyment. Selling it to wealthy households. It’s completely the other way around, and the history books of later generations must be written with rich ink and color.”

Ge Shengzhong said with emotion: "So the hearts of the people in Hanzhong belong to the Zhu family."

The father and son were talking, when suddenly an official came to invite them.

They went straight to Jinglue Mansion, Zhu Guoxiang was already waiting.

"Meet Mr. Zhu!" The two bowed to each other.

"The matter is urgent, so to make a long story short, I won't make any detours." Zhu Guoxiang went straight to the point, "The people of Jin go south, and the Song Dynasty may not be able to resist. My son wants to lead troops to the north. Your Excellency is familiar with the civil affairs of Gyeonggi, and will go out with the army to be the magistrate of Yingchang. Ru The state council will be cancelled, and all counties will be merged into Yingchang Prefecture."

Ge Shengzhong was a little dazed when he heard it. He still felt neglected these days, and he was given such a heavy responsibility all at once.

Ruzhou was merged into Yingchang Mansion, and then let him be the magistrate of Yingchang, which is equivalent to managing one prefecture and one prefecture, which belonged to the senior officials under the hands of the Zhu family and his son.

"Duke Ming is responsible, so dare not obey!" Ge Shengzhong got up quickly.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Many of Yingchang and Ruzhou were exploited by the West City, and the people were displaced and found it hard to settle down. When you go there, the most urgent task is to stabilize the people's hearts. It happens that there is a shortage of people in Nanyang, and recruiting too many civilians will delay production. You can recruit refugees in Yingchang, Be my son's food transporter. It can not only temporarily deal with the crisis of refugees, but also ensure the delivery of military food."

"This is a good idea." Ge Shengzhong said.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Let's go home and prepare. We will set off by boat tomorrow."

If Yingchang Mansion is completely taken down, it will only be 150 miles away from Kaifeng.

The father and son were about to retire when Zhu Guoxiang suddenly said: "Chang Zhi (Ge Lifang) stays with me to do paperwork."

Ge Lifang was overjoyed: "Thank you for your appreciation!"

It doesn't matter if they stay as hostages or not, anyway, the Ge family father and son didn't think of defecting.

Chengdu is prosperous and stable, and the clan forces are intertwined, so Zhang Gen needs to be allowed to govern, and no one knows anyone to be impartial.

Yingchang and Ruzhou are in a mess, and they are also the springboard for Zhu Ming to march into Kaifeng. This requires officials who are familiar with the people's conditions to govern.Any corrupt officials can be left alone for the time being, and any class conflicts can be put aside first, and everything is to stabilize the hearts of the people.

The next day, Ge Shengzhong went by the boat owner.

Along the banks of the Han River, a large number of people gathered and walked towards Fucheng.

Standing on the boat, Ge Shengzhong smacked his tongue secretly: Zhu Xianggong recruited and transferred the civilian husband so fast!

And those civilian husbands who were recruited did not have a look of sadness on their faces, which was in stark contrast to Song Guo.

One is that Zhu Ming is known as the Grand Marshal of Changsheng. Under the deliberate propaganda of the government, the common people don't pay attention to Song Bing, and they are not afraid that transporting food with the army will be life-threatening.

The second is that they are conscripted as grain transporters, and this year's tax can be reduced or exempted accordingly, which is not considered to be a white job for the government.

In fact, Hanzhong folk husbands only need to transport grain to Shaanxi, and then recruit refugees on the spot in Shaanxi.

Ge Shengzhong felt the terrifying mobilization ability of Hanzhong through the starting speed of the civilian husband.

If it was placed in the Song Dynasty, it is estimated that the chief of Baojia has just been notified at this time, and it will take at least half a month before the civilian husband leaves.

But I saw that every branch of the peasantry was carrying banners made of coarse cloth.

Flag bearers are paid, and they have to do ideological work along the way. They come and go and just say a few words: "Fathers and folks, help the rebels to transport food this time, and they will soon defeat the officers and soldiers. Come to Hanzhong to collect taxes indiscriminately! Call me, the rebels will win!"

"The righteous army is victorious!"

The folks yelled, the atmosphere was not serious, and many people were still laughing.

But the reason is that after listening to it, life has become better and better in the past two years, and no one wants to turn back and live a hard life.Even though many common people were conscripted to build water conservancy projects, they all recruited nearby farmers, and whoever made the most profit from irrigation would pay the most money and people.

There are also young farmers who dream of becoming soldiers one day.

Last winter, Zhu Ming deliberately gave the whole army some places to visit relatives, so that they could go back to their hometowns for the New Year.

The soldiers told the elders in their hometown about the grant of land.

People in the same village are inevitably jealous. They all have at least a dozen acres of land. I heard that some officers have dozens of acres of land.

Not to mention serving as a soldier, some farmers who have a hard time even want to sign up to open up wasteland in the Nanxiang Basin!
(End of this chapter)