Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 108 The origin of a specially gifted warrior

Chapter 108 The origin of a specially gifted warrior
After Zhu Youjian asked the matter of special gift and Jinshi into two things, he saw that the officials had different attitudes, so he once again resorted to a show of hands and asked the officials to vote.

The first thing is that the special grant to the same Jinshi was not surprisingly opposed by the vast majority of civil servants with Jinshi background——

They all believed that Jinshi was obtained through examination and could not be specially awarded by the emperor.

Even if some ministers want to support it, they have to worry about public opinion.

The second thing is that controversies began to arise due to special birth, and there were not so many officials who opposed it——

After all, if their children are able to shackle officials, how can they not give them a way out?

The previous opposition to the special conferment of Jinshi was from the position of Jinshi. This time, I agreed with the special family background from the standpoint of my family.

During the Ming Dynasty, there were only a few families that could pass the Jinshi examination for generations, and the succession of civil servants was very unstable. Therefore, after realizing the advantages of the military Jinshi, the civil servants initially dismissed Wuyin, but now they are proudly called "Yonsei Kingo" and are eager for the post of Imperial Guard.

Therefore, they have no objection to the special birth. They feel that it will be more conducive to the family inheritance if they can make contributions and have their children be given a special birth.

In the end, the matter of special birth was reluctantly passed in the court. What the ministers need to discuss is the name of this birth.

Some civil servants don't want to think of a good name, just like they didn't want to give a special Jinshi before. These people said that they might as well just use "special birth", or "special birth" which is more in line with the norm.

This incident really happened in history. In the 13th year of Chongzhen's reign, Emperor Chongzhen felt that there was a shortage of talents, so he specially ordered those who were promoted to serve as ministers, ministers, and county magistrates. These two hundred and sixty-three people were named Gengchen Special Use.

These people are treated as Jinshi when they are appointed as officials, but they do not have the status of Jinshi. Many local chronicles include "special functions" in the list of local Jinshi, which is actually a misunderstanding. In fact, these people are not Jinshi, and they are not specially granted Jinshi status. They are not the same as the special titles of the Song Dynasty.

Now that the matter of special births has been advanced, some officials in the court put forward this opinion, thinking that it would be enough to call them "special births" without giving them another name.

Of course, Zhu Youjian was unwilling to accept such a casual title. He ignored the official who made this statement and let the ministers continue to discuss.

The Ministry of Rites was the first to bear the brunt. After Shangshu Lai Zongdao received the news, he thought about the matter and said:

"The Book of Rites says: The emperor established six officials, three princes, nine ministers, twenty-seven officials, and eighty-one scholars."

"In the 22nd year of Hongwu, Taizu appointed eighty-one to Shizhong, which matched the number of ancient Yuanshi, so he changed the name to Yuanshi. He also took the six subjects as the origin of Shizhong and changed it to Yuanshi. Later. Return it to Shizhong."

"I think we can call those who are specially given a birthplace as Yuanshi, and those who are specially given a Yuanshi birthplace."

This title is not bad, and Taizu once used it. There is nothing taboo about it, and many people agree with it.

Some people also expressed different opinions, thinking that the title Yuanshi was too good and should be changed to another one.

How can one be qualified as a scholar if he is from a privileged background?

The title "Yuanshi" sounded pretty good to Zhu Youjian, and it was pronounced like "Academician". Thinking that he might establish an academy of sciences and appoint academicians in the future, Zhu Youjian said to those who objected:

"If you are not called a Yuanshi, how about being called a Mingshi?"

"Those who have been specially given birth certificates are all Ming Dynasty scholars!"

This title is even better. How can those with special backgrounds afford it?
After Zhu Youjian proposed to demolish the house, the officials quickly accepted the opening of the skylight and recognized the title Yuanshi. It was decided to give a special gift to people with a special background, "special gift to a Yuanshi", and receive treatment similar to that of a Jinshi.

However, Zhu Youjian's statement of "a scholar of the Ming Dynasty" also spread. Many of those who were specially granted the title of Yuanshi regarded themselves as national scholars.

The title "Guoshi" is certainly good, but the requirements are also high. "You treat me as a scholar of the country, and I will repay you as a scholar of the country." Since these people who were specially granted the title of scholar of the country call themselves scholars of the country, others will naturally ask them to treat them as scholars of the country. They need to be more loyal to the Ming Emperor.

Zhu Youjian used Yuanshi and its informal nickname Guoshi to win over many people.

These things will appear during implementation later. Of course Zhu Youjian didn't know that his casual words would trigger such changes.

After confirming the system of origin of specially conferred Yuanshi, he couldn't wait to use this system and specially conferred the first Yuanshi:
"Qian Jiazheng, a tribute student in Jiaxing County, Zhejiang Province, served in the impeachment of the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, and is specially awarded a Yuanshi origin." "If he can pass the judicial arithmetic examination, he can be awarded the ninth-grade official position and be transferred to a similar Jinshi."

Rather than letting Qian Jiazheng be directly appointed as an official, Zhu Youjian limited the condition of "passing the judicial arithmetic examination" to prevent both good and bad people from entering the officialdom. Moreover, the initial award for Yuanshi who did not have an official position was only the ninth rank, which was a little lower than that of Wujia Jinshi.

This treatment was not very good in the eyes of the ministers, and many people put aside their worries about Yuanshi. I feel that although the transfer of Yuanshi is similar to that of Jinshi, it is not enough to pose a threat to Jinshi.

Yuan Keli did not let down his guard, and thought about the dispute between himself and the emperor about quotas. He knew that the emperor would definitely grant many Yuanshi origins, and asked:

"Your Majesty, please confirm the number of specially awarded Yuanshi."

"The number of Yuanshi should not be too large to avoid redundant officials."

Many civil servants also reacted and realized that if there were too many Yuanshi, they would occupy the positions that should have been occupied by Jinshi. He also requested the emperor to fix the quota of Yuanshi.

Zhu Youjian wanted to fight for more places and said to the ministers:

"The number of Yuanshi should not be too many, but it should not be too few either."

"How much do you think should be appropriate?"

Kick the ball to the ministers and see how much they decide.

Yuan Keli wanted to settle on twenty, thinking that was enough.

But 20 quotas for three years is enough for senior officials, but far from it for middle- and low-level officials. If the quota is low, the emperor will only grant descendants of high-ranking officials. How will they get their turn?
Even some ministers and ministers felt that twenty places in three years was too few. They believed that increasing the number to fifty would be more in line with the needs of the court.

The lower-ranking doctors and Yuanwailang require more quotas. Even the officials of the Ministry of Science and Technology believe that there should be more quotas.

Honorable nobles also began to join in the fun, thinking that the more the better, it would be convenient for their nephews to be specially granted a military status.

Yuan Ke immediately saw that the situation was not good. Seeing that the quota requested by the ministers was about to exceed 100 people, he hurriedly changed his tone and expressed his backup idea:
"I believe that the number of Yuanshi should be related to the number of Jinshi."

“It’s better to have no more than the number of people taking the middle roll!”

The proportion for winning the middle examination is 10%, which means that the quota for Yuanshi cannot exceed 10% for Jinshi.

Based on the calculation of 600 people being taken next year, the number of Yuanshi specially granted by the emperor in the next three years cannot exceed 60 people.

If in the future each subject takes three to four hundred people, then only thirty or forty Yuanshi can be specially awarded.

This amount is already a bottom line in Yuan Keli's opinion. After being linked to the number of Jinshi, it can restrain the emperor from randomly granting Yuanshi birth status. Otherwise, the number of Jinshi scholars must be increased, otherwise it will be difficult for them to survive in court.

After the officials figured this out, most of them agreed with this approach. It is believed that the number of Yuanshi should be related to Jinshi.

Although some people felt that the quota was small, they thought that if the number of Yuanshi exceeded 10% of Jinshi, it might have an impact on the Jinshi community. They did not raise any objections and believed that the 10% ratio was appropriate.

This quota is temporarily acceptable, and Zhu Youjian appreciates the method proposed by Yuan Keli. Moreover, it is believed that the quota of Yuanshi is linked to that of Jinshi, which is equivalent to de facto recognition that the status of the two is equal.

This was a great thing for establishing the status of Yuanshi, so he immediately made a decision to set the title of Yuanshi as 10% of Jinshi, which could not be exceeded at will.

The birth system of specially granted Yuanshi was gradually formulated and improved.

 "History of Ming Dynasty":
  (Chongzhen) In the summer of the 13th year, the emperor thought of employing people in an unusual way, and selected those who were qualified and Jinshi through examinations. He specially ordered the candidates to be selected as candidates for teaching positions, and all of them were promoted to officials and magistrates of the Ministry, Temple, Division, and County. There were 263 people named Specially used for Gengchen. …

  In the 22nd year of Hongwu (Hongwu), the number of people in Shizhong was increased to eighty-one. At the beginning, Wei Min, Zhuo Jing and other eighty-one people were involved in the work. It was changed to Yuanshi in order to match the number of ancient Yuanshi. As a result, the six subjects were regarded as the origin of things and changed to Yuanshi. Not long after, it was back to work.

  
 
(End of this chapter)

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