Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 67 Characteristics of the official system of the Tang Dynasty from Kaiyuan to Tianbao (1)

I originally wanted to write an expansion pack about the official system of the Tang Dynasty, but then I found that there were too many flaws, the topic was too big, and the thinking it elicited was too deep, which would deviate from the theme of the book.

Therefore, the parts related to the content of this book are excerpted and published as a separate chapter.These contents are basically beyond the psychological expectations of the readers, so I still have to say a few more nonsense.

The first thing to talk about is the involution and polarization of officialdom.

The so-called involution means that there are too many people serving as officials, and the "official position" (this word is in quotation marks, I will explain it later) is not enough.

In the middle and late Tang Dynasty society (including Kaiyuan Tianbao), the entire officialdom had been institutionalized, which triggered a series of chain reactions.For example, some novels (I won’t say which one specifically) like to quote Feng Yan’s “Ba Jun Shuo”, that is, there are eight steps to promotion to become a prime minister, and each step has two options for official positions, to explain that this is the dream of Tang Dynasty scholars to become officials. .

Bajun said that he couldn't be wrong, but he missed the point. Considering the context, it was completely wrong.

Scholars in the Tang Dynasty can be understood as those who were awarded official positions after passing middle school, or those who aspired to be officials.Therefore, Zhang Jiuling was a scholar, and the frustrated scholar who failed the imperial examination was also a scholar.So, is the ideal of scholars really the "eight-step promotion method" to the prime minister?
Actually not, their dreams are just "clear" and "want".

Qing, the concept is very complex. To put it simply, it means not doing anything, or doing less.A hard-working official position like the governor is definitely not considered "clear", so there is absolutely no such official title as the governor in the eight-step promotion method.

After explaining clearly, let's explain "requirement". The so-called "requirement" simply means important.Some officials are pure and unnecessary. They are very idle, but they are not important at all. For example, officials such as the administrator of the Library Pavilion.

After explaining this, let's explain what "scholars" are. Simply put, it means that people who study are for officials and their families.From birth, there was only one path for them, either to become an official with grace, or to be on the way to the imperial examination, or to be "raised" at home after being dismissed from office, and to be in a state of unemployment.

In short, it is impossible for them to participate in social labor, to farm, to do business, and to marry the children of non-officials.

After understanding these concepts, the involution of the Kaiyuan and Tianbao periods is easy to understand.

An average of 27 Jinshi a year seems to be very small, but there are even fewer suitable official positions.That’s not to mention, it will take three years for Zhongjinshi to be selected as an official. These three years are the preparation period for these Jinshi to go through the back door through connections!

Including those who became officials after Mingjing, those vacant official positions are far from enough.

Although there were many official positions in the Tang Dynasty, but!Not all of these scholars will serve!This point is very important. Tang Dynasty historical novels that ignore this point are basically just talking to themselves for fun.

Scholars monopolized noble official positions. If there was no promotion by the emperor, they would not allow people of Li Linfu's background to hold such official positions, let alone Niu Xianke who had no background and did not take the imperial examination.

For the same reason, these people will not hold non-noble official positions, such as magic officers. There are a large number of such officials, such as medical officers in Taiyuan Hospital, or a large number of grassroots workers in prefectures and counties.

They have official positions, they have official positions, and they are not low-level officials, but there are no official historical records. Many official positions are determined by archaeological epitaphs unearthed in later generations.

Then a terrible conclusion can be deduced from this: the history of Tang Dynasty written by Song people is actually only the history of Tang Dynasty scholars, and the history of Tang Dynasty in the eyes of Song Dynasty scholar-bureaucrats.The types of noble officials in the Tang Dynasty accounted for only 20%-25% (100+/400+) of the total number of civil servants in the Tang Dynasty. up.

Officials in the Tang Dynasty generally had a 4-year term of office. Generally, they would be transferred after the term was over.It is easy to resign, but it is difficult to be awarded an official position.Many readers have the impression that those who become officials should continue to be officials until they die.

But this was not the case in the Tang Dynasty.

People like Zhang Jiuling, Bai Juyi, and Li Deyu have transferred more than 20 official positions, basically they belong to those who have been serving as officials all the time, and they belong to the leaders of successful officials.But what about ordinary officials?

It's just 3-5 terms. Maybe an official career is only 12-20 years in full. Many people who live to be 60 or [-] years old have an official career of less than ten years!He spent most of his life in seclusion.

Either working as an official or being forced to live in seclusion at home, this is the living condition of officials.Some people who were officials themselves but were not considered officials in the eyes of the scholar-bureaucrats who revised history in the Song Dynasty, such as magic officers, etc., because history books did not record them, there are very few records about these people, and the historical materials are fragmented.

But one thing is certain is that after the Anshi Rebellion, because Jiedushi needed a large number of practical officials to maintain the scene, a large part of these people were reused.The festival commanders have a great demand for talents, and the salaries they offer are also high, providing a large number of jobs for various trick officers who have not been recorded in detail in the history books.

To sum it up: in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the bureaucratic class dominated by scholars was severely solidified, the lower-level upward channels were blocked, and the competition among scholars was fierce.

The second thing I want to say is: After the mid-Tang Dynasty, it gradually became common practice to set up officials based on "things". The system of three provinces and six ministries was ineffective.

This point is also inseparable from the gradual decline of the scholar class.People with real talents and knowledge often come through "special channels", and the things they do often come because of "special channels".The three provinces and six ministries that maintained the operation of the imperial court, as well as many unimportant departments and official positions, gradually became idle.

For example, the Ministry of Household Affairs is responsible for collecting taxes, but it can only collect those taxes that were set when the Tang Dynasty was founded.As for the extra sex workers and handymen, there is no way at all.After the Anshi Rebellion, the position of Minister of the Household Department became a vacant position, and there are countless similar examples.

Therefore, whatever duties the emperor or the central government needs to do, they set up whatever positions they need.

If you need to manage the transportation of taxes, then set up a "transshipment envoy".

If it is necessary to collect salt tax, then set up a "salt and iron envoy".

Even Li Longji sent people to search for beautiful women among the people, and set up a "Flower and Bird Envoy"!
These continuously created special positions for the necessary offices have greatly impacted the structure of the three provinces and six ministries.Since the end of the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang court has been operating at a low efficiency for 30 years. Officials often go to work only every few days, so leisurely that they almost fade away.

The reason is that many official positions in the three provinces and six ministries have been vacated by new positions in charge of exclusive matters.

The evolution of this process is one-way and irreversible. Li Longji's appointment of financial officials for financial management is a passive response to these virtualizations. It is also the call of the times and does not depend on personal will.

After reading the above, I think readers should also understand what I want to express.

The general trend of history is mighty and mighty; those who follow me will prosper, and those who go against me will perish.

Where is there any absolute right or wrong, and where is there any absolute good person?
Zhang Jiuling must be a good person?Li Linfu must be a bad guy?

These questions need to take into account the position of the questioner and what he wants to know in order to have an appropriate answer.

Many people have asked, and I don’t mind saying that in the process of researching historical materials, I have increasingly discovered that the model of the prosperous Tang Dynasty was unsustainable.The Tang Dynasty is hopeless. If you like to read the plot of saving the Tang Dynasty, maybe it would be better to read a book without thinking. My book cannot be saved.

I can't change the materialist view of history in this book just because I want to watch the plot of Saving the Tang Dynasty.

Regarding the content of the official system of the Tang Dynasty, I will add more later.

(End of this chapter)