Tang Dynasty Crossing Guide: Chang'an and People's Life Manual

Chapter 29 Attention comrades who intend to enter the political world (2)
I won’t list the specific table, but simply give the result: Jingde’s income is about 195 guanqian, or 1950 shims per year; Qin Qiong’s income is 1335 shims.

Final total addition:
尉迟门神的年总收入=食实封5.85万石米+月俸1320石米+力课2300石米+亲事帐内课1950石米=6.407万石米=1089.19万元人民币，即年薪1000多万，月薪90多万。

秦门神的年总收入=食实封3.15万石米+月俸1080石米+力课1728石米+亲事帐内课1335石米=3.5643万石米=605.931万元人民币，即年薪600多万，月薪50多万。

Are you scared to death?Not so.In fact, the income of senior officials in the Tang Dynasty is not the highest in all dynasties.According to the research of modern scholars, if the income of officials in the past dynasties is unified into rice for comparison, then the income of civil servants was the highest in the prosperous periods of the Tang and Song dynasties.Among them, senior officials in the Song Dynasty had the highest income, while middle and low-level officials in the Tang Dynasty had the highest income in history.

References & in-depth understanding recommendations for this article:
Li Jinxiu. Drafts of Financial History of the Tang Dynasty. Beijing: Peking University Press, 1995
Zhang Guogang. Official System in Tang Dynasty. Xi'an: Sanqin Publishing House, 1987
Huang Huixian, edited by Chen Feng. History of Chinese Salary System. Wuhan: Wuhan University Press, 1996
Yang Guanghui. The system of knighthood in the Han and Tang Dynasties (Second Edition). Beijing: Xueyuan Press, 2002
Do you want to be colleagues with Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi?Showing you a path to promotion

Civilian Officials' Career in the Late Tang Dynasty

After learning about the income of civil servants in the Tang Dynasty in the previous section, are you eager to become an official and get paid?This time, let's experience the civil service examination and cadre promotion process in the Tang Dynasty!

As a fan of Bai Juyi, if you can accurately travel back to his time to become an official, you can watch the friendship and interaction between him and Yuan Zhen, Liu Yuxi, Li Shangyin and others live.Write a crooked poem when you have nothing to do, drink some wine, chat about gossip, reminisce about the past, maybe one of your poems will be selected into the Chinese textbooks of later generations, and then you will become a famous Tang Dynasty famous poet.

If we say that in the Tang Dynasty before the Anshi Rebellion, the main way to become an official was to fight for opportunities, then in the second half of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination system had basically matured. A complete system, so if you want to be an official, please study hard and take the imperial examination!

Of course, the family you choose at the time of reincarnation is still very important.I don't care about those with superb technology invested in top-level royal relatives.If you want to be an official in the Tang Dynasty, you must at least be a landlord, and it is best to live near Guanzhong in the Central Plains.Pens, inks, papers and inkstones in the Tang Dynasty were very expensive. Before printing was popularized, the prices of books were even more ridiculously high. Children from poor and lower-middle peasant families basically had no hope of going to school.

You were reincarnated into a family of middle and low-level officials or landlords. Under normal circumstances, you started to study at the age of ten.As for whether to invite a tutor to teach at home or go out to school with other children, it depends on the financial conditions of the family, and the latter is more common.

A smart child, who went to school in seven or eight years, is probably ready to take the scientific examination.What makes you breathe a sigh of relief is that Tang Dynasty does not take the eight-legged essay test, and you will not become a bookworm like Fan Jin.If you plan to take the relatively easy Mingjing subjects, you still need to memorize the "Four Books" and "Five Classics", which are the main content of the exam.

However, as an aspiring student of the Tang Dynasty, you should aim for more advanced examination subjects Jinshi.Then you have to work hard on writing poems and compositions.

Every time there are thousands of students who take the imperial examination in Chang'an, 100 of them can pass the Mingjing examination, and only about 30 can pass the Jinshi examination, so the examination is not generally difficult.Your idol Bai Juyi, it is said that he went to Chang'an to take the imperial examination at the age of 16, and wrote the famous sentence "The wild fire is endless, and the spring breeze blows again". Seventeen people from all over the world signed their names together at the Wild Goose Pagoda, and proudly wrote "The place where the inscription is made under the Pagoda of Ci'en, the youngest among the 16 people." Do you know how old the boy Bai is this year?

29 years old!This age is really very young among Jinshi in the Tang Dynasty!

Let me say that you have learned enough to be an idol, and you should also be a Jinshi when you are almost 30 years old.After all the festive carnival ceremonies, such as bragging officials in Yujie, inscribing titles in Yanta, exploring spring in Xingyuan, and drinking banquets in Beili, you come to the Ministry of Rites or the Ministry of Officials and stretch out your hand: "I am the number one scholar in the new department, give me a good official!" Bar!"

The clerk of the department rolled his eyes and shouted at the top of his voice: "Guardian! The champion of the new department has lost his mind and lost his mind! Hurry up and send him to the Imperial Medical Office!"

Come in with two Nanya guards, set them up and leave.Alas, don't struggle, just bear with it for a while.I'm sorry I didn't make it clear to you, but then again, who told you that you can become an official if you pass the Jinshi exam?

Don't be excited, don't be excited... Ouch... hug your head and rub your head.Yes, I know that it was said at the beginning that to become an official, you have to take the imperial examination, but it didn't say that you can become an official immediately after being a Jinshi and a high school champion.

In the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty, those who passed the Mingjing and Jinshi exams were unlikely to give you a job right away. Generally, they had to wait for three to five or seven years in Chang'an before the Ministry of Officials had a vacant seat for you.This period of time is called "keeping the election".

What do you do during the "guarding the election" period?

First, find an unmarried girl from a noble family to marry.This kind of family generally likes to choose young unmarried new scholars as their son-in-law. If you can marry a woman of this kind of family status, you can save 30 years of struggle.

So look at the good young people in the Tang Dynasty around you, many of them first married around 30 years old.They are not leftover men, but the performance of struggling to climb up the class.Moreover, although they are not married, they don't need to pass the time with Japanese love action movies. They can chat with the maids and concubines around them late at night. Even if they have a baby, it will be fine. .

Second, continue to hang out with Yuan Zhen, Bai Juyi and the others, reciting poems, composing Fu, and writing legendary novels.The greater the fame gained in the literary world, the easier it is to get a real-time official. It's a pity that there were no forums and microblogs at the time, otherwise it would be smoother to become an online opinion leader.

Third, if you really have no place to spend money and urgently need to be an official to get a salary, then go for another exam of "Bo Xue Hong Ci" or "Excellence in Calligraphy and Judgment".This is the enhanced elite version of Jinshi. The exam is more difficult than Jinshi, but as long as you pass the exam, you can be awarded an official immediately, and you don't have to "keep the election".

If you say the test, you will take the test, and if you pass the test, you will pass the test.Those who can be tested from these enhanced subjects should be the top talents in the world. The emperor and the prime minister and officials attach great importance to it, and soon appointed you to be a ninth-rank "school secretary".

In the Tang Dynasty, many departments such as the Secretary of the Province, the Bureau of Economics and Economics, and the Hongwen Museum had the position of "reviser". The work is not too different, that is, to sort out and collate the books collected by the department.

Do you want to flip the table again? "I have passed the test all the way and worked so hard to pass the exam so many times, so that I can become a ninth-grade sesame official or a librarian?"

Don't be dissatisfied, go home and look at the reactions of relatives, friends, classmates and neighbors, everyone will envy you to death.Literati who passed the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty could become "school clerks" as soon as they became officials, or "Zhengzi" ① who were slightly lower than "school scriptures" but had similar jobs, were the best candidates for official careers. Starting point, the future is great.

Why do you say that?First, the salary of the "Scholar" is good, the social relationship is simple and has status, and there are not so many complicated affairs and necessary expenses, so life is leisurely and affluent.Listen to what Bai Juyi said after he became the "school secretary":
Entering the province in two days at thirty, because I have to support stubbornness. (I only clock in at work twice a month, and spend the rest of the time on my own.)
There are four or five huts, one horse and two servants. (Even his horse can occupy a room to himself.)
The salary is sixteen thousand, and the monthly payment is more than enough. (The income from each monthly salary is so much, not counting the distribution of rice and other in-kind items.)
There is neither food and clothing, nor personnel restraint. ②
Second, the "Scholar" can read the imperial collections at will to further enrich his knowledge. This is a particularly enviable thing for literati in a society where books were expensive before the popularization of printing.

Third, although the "School Book" and "Zhengzi" are the lowest-ranking petty officials, they are stationed in the capital and are very close to the "Taige", which is the central authority. Respond in a timely manner, such as publishing the last memorial.If a memorial is favored by the emperor or the prime minister, when the opportunity comes, it can immediately make a fortune.

① official name.It was first placed in the Secretary Province in the Northern Qi Dynasty, followed by the Sui, Tang, and Song Dynasties.Together with the "School Bookman", he is in charge of the school's classics, correcting and correcting errors, and the Secretary of the Liao Dynasty supervises the Books Bureau.In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there was also the official script of the prince, whose status was slightly inferior to that of the "Scholar", who was also in charge of collation of classics.In the Ming Dynasty, an official of "Zhengzi" was set up in the Hanlin Academy.

②From Bai Juyi's "Chang Leli Idle Home" sixteen rhymes, also sent to Liu Shiwu Gongyu, Wang Shiyi, Lu Erjiong, Lu Sijiong, Cui Shibaxuanliang, Yuan Jiuzhen, Liu 32 Dunzhi, Zhang Fifteen Zhongfang, when he was the school secretary".( ) in the text is the author's additional content.If you still can’t understand this, let’s look at a not-so-good starting point, that is, poor test scores or failure to pass the imperial examination or ancestral shadow, but from the so-called “miscellaneous” and “outsider” ① background. those who are officials.

They usually go to be a county lieutenant, and they are nine-rank officials just like "school book" and "orthographic".However, except for some particularly important counties (such as Chang'an and Wannian counties where the capital Chang'an is located, or the counties where the eastern capital Luoyang is located, and the counties adjacent to these important areas), if a scholar becomes an official, the first The official position is a relatively remote and ordinary county lieutenant. When he returns home, his eyes are probably dim and his face is dull. The probability of a big fight with his wife is very high.

This kind of county lieutenant has to do specific practical work, and may be in charge of complicated and difficult tasks such as collecting taxes, detaining prisoners, organizing labor, welcoming and sending officials, so he is looked down upon by noble scholars.Comrade Li Shangyin was a county lieutenant. Judging by Li County lieutenant's description of his work, it is really different from "school books".

At dusk, the criminals are sealed, and they are ashamed of Jingshan.

But he admired Bianhe's feet, and there was no way to recover in his life. ②
Moreover, if you become a county lieutenant in a wild place outside Huawai, such as in Guangzhou in the south of the Lingnan, it often takes more than half a year for the whole family to move there to live.Why?Because under normal circumstances, it takes four years to serve as an official, and the transportation is inconvenient and it is impossible to visit relatives often. The two places have been separated for a long time, aren't you afraid of your wife's affair?
Because of all these troublesome and despicable things, after some literati were awarded the post of lieutenant in a remote county, they refused to go to death. They would rather resign and go back to the starting point to practice again.

So, you who became a "school secretary" as soon as you became an official, don't complain anymore, just take office honestly.If you insist on being an official of the fourth and fifth ranks as soon as you are admitted to the number one scholar, then please go through the dog blood novels, the Tang Dynasty is not suitable for you.

The work of "Scholar" is very leisurely, but you also have to pay attention to your behavior and reputation.I don’t expect you to be able to sort out many great masterpieces, but don’t bring your friends into the library to have a barbecue, and then catch a fire and burn a million volumes of books.You must know that there is still an "official examination" system waiting for you there.

Examinations, that is, the current work assessment, generally include character, official reputation, work performance, etc. The standards are morality, prudence, publicity, and diligence. There is a special department in the Ministry of Officials for this.Every year, according to the assessment results, officials are classified into nine grades: upper-upper, upper-middle, upper-lower, middle-upper, middle-middle, middle-lower, lower-upper, lower-middle, and lower-lower. It is announced in person that those who are dissatisfied can appeal, and the results of the assessment are recorded. In the files of each person, those with high performance will be raised in salary and promoted cumulatively, those with poor performance will be fined and dismissed from office, and those with average performance will generally stay in their posts.

After passing the four exams in this way, that is, four years later, there will be a large-scale adjustment of officials.You can understand that those who have performed very well in the performance appraisal for four years have been promoted, and those who have poor performance in the evaluation are dismissed and returned home.But what about those middle or upper-middle officials?Do you want to stay in the same position and do the same job?

You are wrong.In the Tang Dynasty, especially in the second half of the system, after serving one term (four years), an official will automatically enter the state of being laid off and reassigned. He will go home and wait for the Ministry of Officials to arrange a new position for you.The waiting time varies from person to person, ranging from one year to 12 years, which is also called "keeping the election".If you want to shorten the time for "keeping the election" and have a new position earlier, then you must either be loud, or have a strong background, or give more money to the chief official of the Ministry of Officials.

If you, the new "school secretary", want to continue to be an official and get paid, the least costly way is to socialize desperately during your tenure and spread your reputation far and wide.In this way, when the four-year term expires, or before the four-year term expires, it is very likely that Jiedu envoys and observer envoys from other places will hire you to serve as his staff.

In the Tang Dynasty after the Anshi Rebellion, the governors from all over the country were like semi-independent local emperors, and they did not submit to the jurisdiction of Chang'an, but they all liked to hire Chang'an's noble civil servants as their staff with great gifts, and they generally respected these staff. , the salary is higher, which is several times that of a Beijing official of the same level!
If you are good at communication, have a good relationship with Jiedushi, and have cultivated a relationship of mutual trust and mutual dependence, then Jiedushi will probably still take you by his side when he is promoted or transferred, and you become his The think tank, schemer and other figures.In this case, you may carry three or four official positions at the same time, such as "Jiedu Judge", "Chaosan Doctor", "Changshu Shangshu Hubu Langzhong", and "Shanghujun".

Among them, "Jiedu judge" is the actual staff position you are engaged in, but this position is generally called "secret position", which is not considered a serious court official, so the following list is required to indicate that your official position is "equivalent to" What position in the ranks of serious officials.

"Chaosan Doctor" is your "sanguan", which is mainly used to determine status and treatment, and to receive salary.The scattered officials in the Tang Dynasty were divided into nine grades, and each grade was divided into two grades: Zheng and Cong, and each grade was divided into upper and lower grades, and each grade had a subtle progression in status and treatment.

"College Minister and Household Doctor", Shangshu Provincial Household Department is roughly equivalent to the current Ministry of Finance of the State Council, and Household Doctor is a high-level official in a department with great power. If ordinary people can do this job, it is basically over. Further up depends on opportunity.However, the word "inspection" in front of this position originally meant to act temporarily, but here it means that you are not a real doctor of the household department, and you have never worked in the Ministry of Finance. It is equivalent to the official title of "".

"Shang Hu Jun" is an honorary officer, which was originally used to mark military achievements, but it has no practical significance in the late Tang Dynasty, it is purely a symbol of honor.

But having said that, it is not easy for you to become a "Jedu judge" under the Jiedu envoy, and you should have worked for many years to get this position.If you don't want to wander around the place all the time, helping Jiedu come up with ideas to fight against the central court, then stay under him for two or three years, earn some money, and find an opportunity to ask him to recommend you a position as a Beijing official. Come back to Chang'an.

① There are two main ways for people in the Tang Dynasty to become officials: one is that their ancestors have been high officials, and their descendants can directly enter the official career, which is called "menyin"; the other is to become an official through the imperial examination.In addition to these two ways, other ways of becoming an official, such as being a small clerk (officer) first, and then gradually promoted to become an official, or buying an official by donating money, are called "miscellaneous ways" and "outflow". Official methods are looked down upon by ordinary officials.

②From Li Shangyin's "Ren Hongnong Wei Xianzhou Governor Begging for Leave to Return to Beijing".When Li Shangyin was a county lieutenant in Hongnong County, he asked the governor for leave to return to Beijing and wrote it.He worked hard all day, sealed the official seal at dusk, and had to go to the prison to count the prisoners. He laughed at himself as better than Bian He who offered Heshibi. Although his legs were cut off by the faint king, at least he didn't have to come here Run to be driven by others.If you are still relatively young at this time, and the official rank is not high, then the Jiedushi will probably recommend you to enter the Yushitai, as a "supervising censor" (upper rank eighth), "servant censor in the palace" (from seventh rank above), and even "servant censor" (from the sixth grade).Don't think that the rank of these officials is low. Many local officials who have achieved the sixth rank in the past are overjoyed to be admitted to Yushitai.

The censor is an official in charge of officials, roughly equivalent to the modern Disciplinary Inspection Commission and Supervision Bureau, which is responsible for supervising whether officials are at fault.Therefore, if a censor of the seventh or eighth rank goes out to inspect Beijing, the local emperors will respect the censor as long as they don't want to fight with the central government.When Bai Juyi's good friend Yuan Zhen was the censor, he investigated a major case in Sichuan and impeached a dead Jiedu envoy based on it.Bai Juyi wrote a poem to praise this:

Yuan Zhen is the censor, standing upright.

His heart is like a lung stone, and his movements will surely reach the poor.

The [-] families in Dongchuan express their grievances with one word. ①
So is there any middle-level official who is more powerful than the censor?There are also "Supplements" and "Buque" in Menxia Province.If it is said that the censor is in charge of officials, then these two kinds of small officials are in charge of the emperor, and they are dedicated to finding fault with the emperor.Look at Bai Juyi's introduction:
Yangcheng is an admonition, and it is its king to do business.

(End of this chapter)