I studied in modern times

Chapter 711 The Growing Street Division
The Daqing Hall is where the annual New Year's Day court assembly of the Song Dynasty is held, and it is also the venue for various national celebrations.

Magnificent and huge in scale!
There are nine palaces and pavilions alone, representing the supremacy.

In front of each palace gate, there are twelve spears lined up on the left and right, corresponding to the twelve months of a year.

Standing between the steps of the palace were all personal officials wearing exquisite armor with mountain patterns.

The armor of these close officials was all painted a bright red.

The bonfire illuminated the figures of these soldiers. From a distance, they looked like the angry Vajra statues in a temple, which was chilling.

Yelu Ju and Yelu Yongchang, along with their delegation members, carried state gifts and came from the Wende Hall next to the Daqing Hall to the pavilion specially prepared for the Liao envoys.

Because the relationship between Song and Liao is now very close, in order to demonstrate the friendship between the two allies.

Both the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty were willing to make relatively friendly changes in some details.

When it comes to the treatment of each other's envoys, each side's envoys can get better treatment from the other side.

Therefore, the Liao delegation was arranged to stay in the place closest to the main hall of Daqing Palace.

This place is only a hundred steps away from the main hall of Daqing Palace.

Therefore, the Liao people could easily see, in the light of the bonfire, outside the east and west gates, the civil and military officials of the Song Dynasty were lining up, preparing to enter the court to attend the court.

Yelu Yongchang was very concerned about this matter - every time the Liao literati went on a diplomatic mission to the Song Dynasty, whenever they had the chance, they would take the opportunity to observe the rules and etiquette of the Song Dynasty, and then go back to copy the homework and apply it to their own country.

Generally speaking, as long as you can copy it and get approval from the junior high school.

Then, this person might become an expert in etiquette of the Liao Dynasty.

Even the Liao ruler would be close to him.

There is no way, the Liao people just don’t have this foundation.

So, he stood in front of the palace gate, observing, examining, and sizing up everything carefully, even though the ministers had not yet entered the palace and the grand court ceremony had not yet begun.

However, the cultural heritage and momentum displayed in the details of this national ceremony still shocked him! He couldn't help but sigh: "In terms of etiquette and rituals, the Liao Dynasty is far inferior!"

But Yelu Ju didn't care about this.

As soon as he entered the palace, he took a fancy to some snacks placed on the table, which were specially prepared for the Liao envoys.

He even asked about the officials from the Ministry of Rites who were arranged to accompany (supervise) him in the palace.

Yelu Yongchang turned around, saw Yelu Ju's appearance, and came over.

Then he saw a porcelain plate in Yelu Ju's hand, which contained some white crystal-like substances.

"What is this?" He also became curious.

"This is our tribute from Jiaozhou, called sugar frost..." the official from the Ministry of Rites nearby replied with a smile.

"Icing sugar?" Yelu Yongchang didn't understand and asked, "Sugar?"

He had never seen white crystalline sugar.

Not to mention white sugar, even brown sugar is rare among the Liao people.

There are few bees in the north, and only the occasional wild beehive can provide a certain amount of honey.

"Your Excellency may wish to try it!" the official from the Ministry of Rites suggested politely.

Yelu Yongchang tried to pick up a thumb-sized white crystal and carefully put it into his mouth.

In an instant, sweetness explodes in your mouth and your taste buds start screaming.

"This...this...this..." He held the piece of frosting in his mouth and his speech began to stutter.

no way!
Sweetness is a taste sensation that humans cannot resist.

Especially northerners!

The colder the place, the more people like sweet food.

Yelu Yongchang was a nobleman of the Chongde Palace system, which was located in Liaoyang Prefecture of the Liao Kingdom.

How could he resist his body's craving for sugar?
At this time, the official from the Ministry of Rites began to whisper like a devil: "To be honest with you, there are many tributes of this kind in Jiaozhou, so you may want to consult the scholar of punishment."

"If the price is right, maybe we can buy some."

Yelu Yongchang and Yelu Ju looked at each other.

Then they made a decision at the same time - buy it! Must buy it! If you don't buy it, you are not a loyal subject of the Liao emperor!

……

Han Jiang rode a horse, walking on the Imperial Street, surrounded by dozens of Yuan followers and hundreds of imperial guards.

At this moment, it is still dark.

But Imperial Street has become lively.

Under the imperial corridors on both sides, small vendors were hawking all kinds of food from all over the world.

However, there is no longer the chaos and disorder of previous years.

Because, in the darkness of the night, street officials were patrolling, holding sticks, wearing black clothes, and holding lanterns.

Seeing this, Han Jiang couldn't help but sigh: "Jia Zhongmin is really a powerful person."

"It's a pity that I'm about to retire, otherwise, I would really like to get closer to him!"

Jia Zhongmin's Street Office has now become the most prominent office in the city of Bianjing.

Under the Street Office, there were more than a hundred officials.

There are also hundreds of officials.

These officials were all scholars recruited through the public examination of Kaifeng Prefecture.

The monthly salary is five strings of coins, plus the warehouse money, you can get more than seven strings of coins a month!
If you add in the monthly rice allowance, the cloth given at all seasons, and the gifts and red envelopes given at festivals, it would be at least ten strings of cash each month.

It was enough to provide a healthy man with enough food and clothing in the city of Bianjing. If one saved a little, it could easily support a family of four.

Thinking about the civil service examination system of Kaifeng Prefecture, Han Jiang couldn't help but applaud and said, "This is really a good policy! The malpractice of clerks throughout the ages has been resolved today!"

Nowadays, the civil servant examination in Kaifeng Prefecture may be held several times every month.

The number of people recruited is not fixed and the requirements are also different.

But the system is consistent - all officials who pass the civil service examination must sign a contract, which stipulates a term of office, duties and salary.

Because they were recruited through public examinations and signed contracts, they were not considered clerks but employees of the street office, and would be allowed to take the imperial examinations in the future.

Therefore, many scholars stranded in Bianliang would participate in the civil service examination in Kaifeng Prefecture.

If you pass the exam, you can have enough food and clothing in the city of Bianjing, and wait for the Flying Dragon List in the third year of Yuanyou, to compete for the opportunity to become a disciple of the emperor.

Can’t pass the exam…

He couldn't even pass the Kaifeng Prefecture's civil service examination, an examination just for recruiting clerks.

Then why are you still taking the imperial examination?
Go back home quickly!
However, the civil service examination in Kaifeng Prefecture is very interesting.

It does not focus on the meaning of classics, but on arithmetic, criminal law and regulations.

People have explained it very clearly - we are not selecting talents for the country.

We just want to hire some clerks who are good at accounting, understand criminal law and money, and are familiar with the law.

The meaning of the classics, that is something that should be tested in the imperial examinations!
At the beginning, the scholars in Bianliang were hesitant and refused to participate.

Some even pretended to be noble and said, "Officials are the kind who drive people around, who work like flies and dogs and bend over backwards for a few grains of rice. How can we, the scholars and officials, do such things?"

But being noble and aloof cannot make a living.

When your stomach is growling and you can’t even pay the rent.

The once noble scholars had to change their Confucian robes and put on blue clothes to take part in the civil service examination in Kaifeng Prefecture.

Nowadays, including the Street Office and the entire Kaifeng Prefecture, new clerks basically have to take civil service examinations.

Every time there is a vacancy, a civil service examination must be taken.

The clerks in Kaifeng Prefecture who had held certain positions for decades or even hundreds of years were now in a panic. They did not dare to retire or make mistakes.

Because once you retire, you can forget about your father retiring and your son taking over the job. People will directly recruit from outside.

At the same time, if someone makes a mistake and is caught, he will be fired immediately without mercy!

The means that clerks used to control civil servants have now become basically ineffective.

Because Kaifeng Prefecture can directly recruit a large number of officials from the market.

After the treatment of civil servants was improved, many people were willing to take the civil service examination in order to have enough food and clothing, so that they could continue to stay in the city of Bianliang and wait for the scholars on the Flying Dragon List in the third year of Yuanyou.

And how many of these people are there?
Thousands!

Since the Qingli Education Movement, the Song Dynasty has greatly developed education in prefectures and counties.

The hair-drying tests in many places have been rolled into a dough twist.

For example, in Jiangxi Province, there were often thousands of people in one state competing for forty or fifty places in the examination.

The situation in Fujian was even worse, with 10,000 people competing for 78 places!

What should we do if we can’t get the local vote?
Enter Beijing!

He came to Bian Jing and followed the example of his Tang Dynasty predecessors in submitting poems and essays in the hope of being appreciated by high-ranking officials. Then, like the two Su brothers, he entered the Kaifeng Prefecture School.

The competition pressure in Kaifeng Prefecture’s examination is much smaller.

Therefore, there were thousands or even tens of thousands of scholars from other places floating around Bianjing all year round.

These people came to Beijing in an endless stream, but most of them returned disappointed after wasting several years.

But, because of miracles that happen occasionally.

There are always more people coming than leaving.

It was these people who pushed up the rental prices in Bianjing.

These people have never been discovered for their value in the past.

But now, Kaifeng Prefecture relied on these people to start cleaning up its own internal clerks.

If you want to do it, do it. If you don’t want to do it, get out!
It has become a catchphrase for many civil servants in Kaifeng Prefecture when facing clerks.

This was praised by both the government and the public.

All the clerks said he could be killed!

For most people, seeing a clerk get humiliated is more satisfying than seeing themselves defeat their mortal enemy!
The reason Kaifeng Prefecture was able to support these officials recruited through civil service examinations was because of the income from the Street Office.

It was also because Kaifeng Prefecture frequently held civil service examinations to recruit officials.

So, nearby states and counties.

For example, scholars from Jingxi Road, Jingdong Road, Henan Prefecture, and Daming Prefecture are now flocking to Bianliang.

How does the Street Division make money?
Just as Han Jiang sees now.

Jia Zhongmin went shopping in all the places where stalls could be set up under the imperial corridors on both sides of the entire Imperial Street.

As long as you pay the purchase money to the street office, the street office will allow you to set up a stall here.

This is not only the case with the Imperial Corridor, but also with the stalls in Ma Xing Street, Daxiangguo Temple, Sangjiawazi and other places.

All vendors must participate in the street department's purchase, sign a contract with the street department, and then operate in the designated place.

Anyone setting up stalls randomly will be regarded as invading the street.

However, invading the streets, according to the emperor's will, actually disturbs the appearance of the city, causes suffering to the common people and annoys the scholars, and this evil should be abolished!

In order to rectify the malpractice of street encroachment, the emperor of the time shed tears and executed Ma Su.

The grandson of Duke Xu, a nobleman of the imperial dynasty, was thrown into prison and his property was confiscated!

The emperor set an example by taking action against the nobles who were closest to the royal family.

The Street Division, of course, enforces the law in accordance with the imperial edict!
Under the instructions of the Emperor, the Street Office enforces the law strictly!

Jia Zhongmin personally took to the battlefield, patrolling the streets with a stick, monitoring and supervising law enforcement.

Once street vendors are found encroaching on the street, at the very least, all their possessions will be confiscated, or at worst, they will be beaten with sticks by the street officials, leaving them screaming on the ground.

In addition to collecting money from stalls, the Street Office also collected money from various shops, main stores, restaurants, and brothels.

This money is called "property money" and includes several items.

There are so-called 'garbage money', 'sanitation money', 'street cleaning money' and so on.

You don’t have to pay it!
The next day, the people from the street department will pile up all the garbage and filth from the neighborhood in front of your store.

After paying the money, the Street Office did do the work.

Jia Zhongmin hired thousands of women and elderly people at less than 60% of the normal market price to clean the streets of Bianjing and collect garbage every morning and evening. The garbage was then transported out of the city via rails and buried in large pits dug for activities such as taking soil for firing porcelain.

Thanks to Jia Zhongmin's actions, the appearance of Bianjing city was completely renewed.

The main streets are no longer littered with garbage or flooded with sewage.

Traffic has also improved greatly, and it is rare for Taiping buses to be stuck in traffic for half an hour or an hour.

What’s interesting is that when Jia Zhongmin did this, the crows in the Censorate pretended not to see anything and didn’t say a word.

Han Jiang knew that this was because the Street Office was also responsible for the cleaning and garbage removal at the entrances of officials' offices, residences, and official residences, and provided officials with cheap services including but not limited to laundry, furniture repair, and house cleaning.

Therefore, the Street Office has a very good reputation among the scholars.

Many people praised Jia Zhongmin as a role model among scholars and officials and a gentleman.

The crows' self-positioning is always very accurate.

Speak for the people!
Since the scholars all say that Jia Zhongmin is a role model and a gentleman.

At the same time, the officials also appreciate and like each other.

Then there is no need to make yourself unhappy.

While thinking about these things, Han Jiang heard a familiar local accent shouting at the imperial corridor not far away: "Smoked chicken, authentic Yingchang smoked chicken, the best smoked chicken specially smoked in Yingchang and shipped to Beijing..."

Han Jiang's homesickness was immediately aroused.

Although his ancestral home was Zhending, his ancestors had already moved to Kaifeng Prefecture.

His father was an official in Yingchang for many years, and he and his brothers basically spent their childhood in Yingchang.

Therefore, the place of origin Han Jiang wrote on the letter was: Changsha County, Yingchang Prefecture.

Reining his horse, Han Jiang called a follower to his side and told him, "Go buy me some Yingchang smoked chicken!"

He had eaten something at home before coming to court.

But he is old and can't eat much.

The grand court meeting required standing in the hall until the end, and various cumbersome rituals were required.

Coincidentally, I met someone selling Yingchang smoked chicken.

When he was young, his favorite food was Yingchang's smoked chicken.

Nowadays, I haven’t tasted Yingchang’s smoked chicken for many years.

It's time to give it a taste.

Yuan Sui took the order and ran to the imperial corridor.

Han Jiang rode on horseback and led his men forward.

Under the Xuande Gate in the distance, countless lanterns were hung high under the city wall. On the city wall, a bonfire was burning, making the Xuande Gate as bright as day.

From afar, the civil and military officials, as well as the relatives, nobles, and clan members who were queuing in front of Xuande Gate, saw Han Jiang's team and automatically and consciously moved aside.

This is the authority of the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty!

When attending court, he was most polite to all his officials!
When on the road, all the ministers give way!
Apart from the emperor and the two palaces, even the princes had to give way, perform salutes, and show respect in front of the prime minister!
(End of this chapter)