My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 341 The Future of Dou

There is no doubt that Prime Minister Liu She gave quite interesting feedback to Dou Ying's request for "want to be trained".

——Two markets, East and West, plus a new gathering place for small-money merchants: Huai City!
As long as he could manage these three places well, Dou Ying would not be able to rule the world, but at least he would have proved himself that he had the ability to solve specific problems and handle specific affairs.

This is important;

This is especially important in the current Liu Rong dynasty.

In fact, the current reign of Liu Rong has unknowingly become an unprecedented new era in the minds of the bureaucracy.

In the past, there were countless ways and channels for people to become officials.

You can study hard and become an academic master, then go before the emperor to give advice and seek an official position with the broad perspective of a scholar.

You can also make achievements and earn yourself a rewarding position with your military exploits;
As long as you don't make mistakes - or even just don't make big mistakes, then even if you just sit there doing nothing, at most you won't get promoted, but it will be almost impossible for you to be fired.

If you come from a lower class family and have neither the family conditions to study nor the physical qualities to achieve success in your career, you still have many other channels to become an official.

——You can be very filial to your parents, and if a story about your filial piety spreads all over the country, you can be selected as a filial and honest official and become an official based on your reputation for filial piety.
You can work very hard on farming, and even if you can't figure out any new technology, just based on your farming efforts, you can be selected as a "Li Tian" and be awarded a position like a miser, responsible for teaching the people how to farm better.

Even if you come from a merchant family, and cannot become an official by studying, cannot make achievements by joining the army, cannot be selected as a filial and honest person, or cannot be selected as a farmer, you still have your own way to seek the official position you want.

Donate an official position.

That’s right, the Han Dynasty now also has a channel to “buy officials” with money.

Moreover, unlike most dynasties in later generations, "buying an official position" in the Han Dynasty today is not a gray channel of asking people to give gifts or use connections, but a legal channel that can be purchased openly from the government - or even directly from the central government.

The Langguan appointed through this method of donating money was called: Fulang in that era.

Wealth, general funds.

To become a Lang official means to pay a sum of money to the government in exchange for the opportunity to become a Lang official.

Moreover, each Fulang is not the same as another.

Han official system: A person with a family fortune of one million yuan could donate one hundred thousand yuan to become a Lang;
Those with millions of dollars can donate 200,000 yuan to become assistant ministers;
Those who have tens of millions can donate one million to become riders.

Among them, the "Lang" who donated 100,000 yuan was mainly responsible for document sorting, copying and other matters. He was a vandal and theoretically had no chance to get close to the emperor.

If you donate 200,000 yuan in exchange for the title of "Minister", you will have the opportunity to serve Liu Rong in informal occasions, such as when Liu Rong goes from the Xuanshi Hall to a palace in the harem, and wait for orders.

As the name suggests, the knight who was bought with a million coins can become the guard knight following Liu Rong when Liu Rong leaves the palace.

In addition to this - in addition to the rich people buying official positions to become officials, the nobles also have their own channels to seek official positions.

Yin was a Lang.

The so-called "Yin", as the name suggests, means that the children of nobles benefit from the protection of their fathers and grandfathers, that is, the face of their ancestors, and are treated favorably by the emperor, and are given an opportunity to enter the palace as a Lang and serve the emperor.

All of the above cover almost every aspect of society, all classes, and even all kinds of situations.

——Nobles can study, join the army, or even directly become "official officials";
The lower class people can also choose according to their actual conditions. If they have money, they can study. If they have physical talent, they can join the army. If they really can't do that, they can find another way out, either farming well or being a filial son.
Even merchants at the bottom of the contempt and status chain in Han society still had a way to become wealthy officials.

And there are many people who have made a name for themselves!
Zhang Shizhi, the chief justice during the reign of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, became a Lang by relying on his wealthy brother's wealth.

Before being recommended by Yuan Ang, Zhang Shizhi had been a palace attendant for ten years but had not been promoted for a long time.

When he met Yuan Ang, Zhang Shizhi expressed his intention to resign and complained to Yuan Ang: Being in office for a long time has reduced my income.

——I have been an official for too long, but I have not made any achievements. As a result, my brother’s family property has been shrunk by the years I have been an official...

In other words, before the reign of Liu Rong, all Han people, no matter their status, wealth or poverty, had the opportunity to seek an official position.

But when Liu Rong came to power~
To be precise, it was from the time when Crown Prince Liu Rong became regent that everyone began to vaguely feel that, unknowingly, being an official in the Han Dynasty seemed to have an additional hidden prerequisite.

You have to know how to do things.

In the past, if a filial son was selected as a county magistrate, he could stay away from county affairs for the rest of his life, or even never show up in the county office.
He just acted as a hands-off boss, leaving all the specific matters to his deputies, while he collected a salary of 600 to 1,000 shi and lived the rest of his life in peace.

Merchants' sons became officials through wealth and nobles' sons became officials through influence. They did not need to be particularly capable. They just went to the palace to get by for two years, gilded themselves, and gained some experience.
When the time comes, you will leave the palace. With the knowledge you have gained in the palace, you can work in a remote area far away from the Chang'an court, or even directly become a county magistrate in Guandong, or even a county postman. Then you can live a life of idleness and wait for death. That would be very nice.

Only Li Tian became an official because he was good at farming. Therefore, after becoming an official, he could not lie down and had to work harder on farming.

But even in the "unable to lie flat" lifting field, you still only need to farm.

But since Crown Prince Liu Rong became regent and gradually took over the Han government, everything has changed unknowingly.

——Regarding the recommendation of filial and honest officials, Liu Rong’s first reaction was normal: he sent out imperial censors to verify whether the filial son’s deeds were true, and visited his hometown to verify his moral conduct.

But after the review was completed and it was confirmed that this was a filial son and could be selected as a filial and honest official, Liu Rong did not directly appoint him to an official position like the previous emperors did.

Instead, he first issued an imperial edict to commend him with "extreme satisfaction", and named him a filial and honest official. He also spread his story of filial piety and integrity as a positive example.

Then, those who were selected as filial and honest people would be brought back to Chang'an and directly arranged for training in specific affairs departments such as the Shaofu, Neishi, or even the Xiangfu!

It is euphemistically called: If scholars are not educated, they cannot be recruited; if officials are not educated, they cannot be appointed.

The effect of this is very significant.

Since the third year of Emperor Xiaojing's reign, when Crown Prince Liu Rong became regent, the Han Dynasty has selected a total of three filial and honest people throughout the country in the past four years.

One of them was arranged to work in Liu She's residence. After two years of training, he was sent to Guandong and became the magistrate of a poor county.

According to the news brought back by the imperial censor, the county magistrate who was born into a family of filial and honest people and had experience in the prime minister's residence did a good job - at least he managed the county affairs in an orderly manner. Although he had no ambition or ability to make progress, he was more than capable of maintaining the status quo.

As for the other two, one is still training as an internal historian. It is said that he has good talent and can already write, recognize, and handle government documents!
As for the one who went to the Shaofu for training, something went wrong - he was demoted by Liu Rong for accepting bribes and was sent to Fengyi to be the city gate officer. Fengyi was a place full of hidden talents, and this gate officer, who was born with a filial and honest family but also had a moral stain, was afraid that he would never be able to abuse his power for personal gain in his lifetime.

From the experiences of the above three people - the three filial and honest people recommended by the whole world of the Han Dynasty since Liu Rong came to power, it is not difficult to see the difference between the current Liu Rong and the previous emperors of the Han Dynasty in treating officials.

——Emperor Taizu Gao did not care about your background, ability, or even the means by which you did things, but only the results.

As long as you can get things done well, Emperor Taizu will be happy;
Even if you are a despicable person, Emperor Taizu will most likely be able to drink and chat with you.

But if you don't do things well, even if you are a moral gentleman or a great Confucian scholar of the time, Emperor Taizu can still glare at you, kick you into a ditch, and then urinate in your Confucian cap.

Emperor Xiaohui attached more importance to a person's moral character and would not employ anyone unless he was a gentleman!
On the contrary, he did not care much about these upright gentlemen, whether they were capable ministers or Zhao Kuo, who was good at talking on paper;
Emperor Taizong Xiaowen was a little more realistic - almost anyone could find his or her own value in the hands of Emperor Taizong.

Villain, Emperor Taizong used villains;
Gentlemen, Emperor Taizong also has arrangements for gentlemen.

The main theme is: accept everyone who comes, you are born to be useful!
But compared with Liu Rong's prerequisite for appointing officials that they must be able to do things, Emperor Taizong was still a bit too open-minded.

Because Emperor Taizong could use capable officials who could get things done;

Emperor Taizong could also find the "bright spots" of incompetent officials who did not do their jobs.

For example, make a chastity arch, or a clay sculpture...

Although Liu Rong has never explicitly said that "officials must be able to do their jobs and must have a political level above the passing line" when dealing with officials today, Liu Rong's actions in matters related to the appointment and removal of officials have always proved this point.

Specifically, the appointment of a certain official was vetoed by Liu Rong for a variety of reasons.

What lack of experience?
Insufficient qualifications~
There are more suitable candidates.
But if we put together all the official appointments that Liu Rong vetoed, it is not difficult to find that these people have only one thing in common, that is, they are somewhat superficial - either they become officials purely based on morality, or they rely on their past achievements to live off their past achievements, and their professional abilities are generally not up to standard.

As half of Liu Rong's original shareholder, the most outstanding representative of the contemporary Dou family's relatives, and the key link between Liu Rong and the Empress Dowager's relatives: the Dou family, Dou Ying obviously also understood Liu Rong's tendency in dealing with officials.

Therefore, Dou Ying went to Liu She to "ask for a job" this time so as to improve his business ability.

And Liu She's feedback~
how to say……

"The East Market was so complicated that even Chao Cuo during the reign of Emperor Taizong was embarrassed several times and almost failed."

“Although there are no more Ziqian merchants causing trouble in Nanshi, most of the nobles and relatives are still regular customers of Nanshi.”

"What's more, the Ziqian merchants who once took root in Nanshi, except for the extinct Wuyan clan, have now moved to Huaishi;"

"And Huai City has also been entrusted to my cousin by the Prime Minister this time..."

Shangguanli, the residence of Nanpi Marquis.

After hearing Dou Ying talking to him about the feedback he got from Liu She at the Prime Minister's Residence today, Nanpi Marquis Liu Pengzu could only smile bitterly and shook his head with a complicated expression.

After a long while, he sighed and said, "It's a bit tricky~"

"If it is done well, my cousin may be able to gain a firm foothold and no longer be looked down upon by the court or outsiders."

"But if something goes wrong..."

Hearing this, Dou Ying slowly nodded with approval, then frowned and began to think as if facing a great enemy.

——In this era, businessmen are indeed the group with the lowest social status and the lowest political status.

But at the same time, almost all the big businessmen who can take root in Chang'an, especially in Chang'an City, are the white gloves of the Gonghou family!

For example, back then, Liu Rong, who was still the crown prince, was responsible for stabilizing grain prices. It seemed that he was competing with grain merchants in a battle of wits and courage, but in fact, he was wrestling with the nobles behind them.

As things developed to the end, the final boss shocked everyone in the world: Liu Rong's aunt, the elder sister of the current emperor Qi, and the eldest daughter of Empress Dowager Dou - Princess Guantao Liu Piao!
It is no exaggeration to say that whether it is the extinct Wuyan clan, the Ziqian merchants who have moved to Huai City on the outskirts of the city, or the luxury goods merchants in Nan City, behind them stands one or even several meritorious nobles.

What Dou Ying has to do next is to try his best to avoid conflict with these businessmen who have big shots backing them - mainly with the big shots behind them, without violating the law or disappointing his people and duties.

The most difficult part is undoubtedly the grasp of the "degree".

Being too selfless may put him at odds with most of Shangguanli;

On the contrary, if it is too lenient, it will most likely disappoint the current Liu Rong. Not only will he fail to gain recognition from inside and outside the court because of his grassroots experience, but he will be further denied by inside and outside the court.

What's more, the label of "second-generation dandy" and "relying on the status of a relative to the emperor to become an official" will hang even harder on Dou Ying's head.

The worst case scenario is that people inside and outside the court may come to the conclusion that "During the Wu-Chu Rebellion, the meritorious service rendered by Wei Qihou was probably more a gift of favor than a reward of merit."

Then, Dou Ying could give up the idea of ​​"being a good prime minister", and honestly stay in the position of prime minister for three to five years, and then run back to his own state of Chehou in disgrace, and learn from Zhangwuhou Dou Guangguo to seek immortality...

"How is Nanpi Hou these days?"

Unable to think of a good solution at the moment, Dou Ying naturally asked about Dou Pengzu's recent situation.

Since being abandoned by Liu Rong because of that incident, Dou Pengzu went to Shanglin Garden and followed Dou Guangguo, Marquis of Zhangwu.

In Liu Rong's words, it was to let Dou Pengzu follow the respected elders of his clan and learn the principles of being a human being.

Nowadays, Dou Pengzu has apparently been 'released from prison' and returned to his Nanpi Marquis Mansion in Shangguanli.

But from Dou Pengzu's hesitant expression, followed by a bitter smile and lament, it was not difficult for Dou Ying to draw the conclusion.

——From now on, the fate of the Dou family's in-laws will almost entirely depend on Dou Ying.

Especially after the death of Empress Dowager Dou, the rise or fall of the Dou family's relatives by marriage - even how long they can rise or how slowly they can fall, all depends on Dou Ying's actions and achievements in the next five to ten years...

(End of this chapter)