Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Before dawn, Zhu Ming, Bai Chongyan, and Min Zishun were eating.

Then he went out with a lantern. Ju Ming rode a horse by himself, while Bai and Min took a taxi.

When we arrived at the imperial city, the morning light was already fading.

Occasionally I met officials along the way, all of whom were attending court meetings.

There were four types of court meetings in the Song Dynasty:

First, the Great Court Meeting.

It is only held on New Year's Day, the first day of May and the winter solstice every year. All officials must come and kneel down to worship.

Second, Chang Chaoyi.

That is to say, the daily company morning meeting was formalistic and officials were often absent. It was abolished by the time of Emperor Yingzong of Song Dynasty.

Third, live regularly.

At the tea party held by the emperor every day, officials needed to greet him and make arrangements. The emperor sometimes came every day, and sometimes only came for a month or two. By the Southern Song Dynasty, it was basically abolished.

Fourth, the entrance ceremony.

It is held on the first and fifteenth day of every month, which is probably the internal team building of the company. After paying homage to the emperor, you have to take care of the food.

Today, on the first day of the lunar month, I took advantage of the entrance ceremony to confer the official position of Jinshi to the new branch.

Zhu Ming followed the civil and military officials and waited outside the Wende Hall.

Song Huizong also got up very early and took a carriage to the Changchun Palace to rest. The two cultivators were very tired last night and didn't get much rest. The emperor kept yawning.

Qin Hui's third uncle, Li Qingzhao's third uncle, Empress Zheng's younger brother, Cai Jing's number one political enemy, and privy envoy Zheng Juzhong, came to the Changchun Hall as usual to report: "The official family, hundreds of officials have arrived."

Song Huizong yawned and stood up: "Let's go."

So, Zheng Juzhong led the way, and the emperor and eunuchs followed, all the way to Wende Palace to prepare for the court.

"The emperor ascends to the palace!"

The ceremonial music started and the officials arranged their queues.

After another series of procedures, hundreds of officials began to enter the palace, and the new scholars also followed.

Civil and military officials stood on both sides, and new scholars stood in the hall.

Zhu Ming held the wat tablet in his hand and saluted with the ministers. Two prayers, inserting the wat, dancing, three prayers, no need to kneel.

Song Huizong just wanted to go back and sleep soundly. He couldn't muster any energy at the moment. He leaned on the throne and said a few words casually, and then asked the staff to announce the status of the appointment.

Liu Huan, a member of Cai Jing's party and the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, went out to announce the situation: "He Su, the first person to be a Jinshi in this department, is awarded the title of Xuanyi Lang and Secretary Provincial Secretary Lang!"

He Su came out to express gratitude.

Xuanyi Lang was sent from the eighth rank as a Jingguan (sending salary officer), and the secretary, Provincial School Secretary Lang, was sent from the eighth rank.

The number one scholar is different. It is directly awarded to the official in the capital.

"Pan Lianggui, the second Jinshi Jinshi, was awarded Wen Linlang and Guizhou Shicao to join the army."

This appointment was given, and all the ministers looked at him with suspicion.

The grades of sending officials and dispatching officials are correct, but sending them to Guizhou is a bit suppressive.

Pan Lianggui smiled bitterly and went out to thank him. He knew what was going on.

He is almost thirty years old and has not married yet. A few days ago, Cai Jing wanted to marry his granddaughter, but Pan Lianggui refused, and the result was to be thrown directly to Guizhou.

This is nothing. Wang Juzheng, who was ranked second in the next Jinshi class, was thrown to Jiangxi to be the county magistrate. He was so angry that he resigned directly.

"Ju Ming, the third Jinshi scholar in this department, was awarded Wen Linlang and Taixue Xuezheng!"

Ju Ming came out to express his gratitude and couldn't help but look at the emperor.

Song Huizong was also interesting. He covered his mouth and yawned, then raised his hand and smiled at Ju Ming. Obviously, this official position was appointed by the emperor, and it had something to do with his recommendation of Xue Daoguang.

Wen Linlang was selected from the eighth rank and sent to the third rank (to be sent to the official position), while Taixue Xue Zhengze was sent from the ninth rank (to be the teaching director of Taixue).

"Guo Xiaoyou, the fourth Jinshi scholar in this department, is awarded the rank of Deng Shilang and professor of Shenzhou State Studies!"

Guo Xiaoyou came out to express his gratitude and felt very helpless.

Starting from the fourth place, all the top two Jinshi were appointed as state school principals. It can be seen that there were so many officials at this time that there were no good positions available for Jinshi.

Most of the top three Jinshi were state military officers, chief administrators, and county captains.

Sijia Jinshi, all teachers of state studies.

There are a large number of Wujia Jinshi, and they are all awarded Di Gonglang (the lowest ones are selected from the ninth grade). There are no assignments at the moment, I need to take the customs exam.

This is the case for Bai Chongyan and Min Zishun. The good news is that they have become Di Gonglang and can start receiving wages. The bad news is that there are no specific official positions, and the competition for the examination is fierce, and it is very likely that there will be no official positions within two or three years.

At noon, the emperor gave a banquet, and all the officials ate in the corridor.

Qin Hui held the wine glass and sighed. Although he had become the grandson-in-law of the late prime minister, the current Privy Councilor was still his wife's third uncle. But his third uncle was fighting with Cai Jing, and the official department was in the hands of Cai's party.

When he was appointed, he didn't get any preferential treatment, so Qin Hui was sent to Michigan to be the principal.

Zhu Ming drank and ate meat carelessly, while Pan Lianggui, who was sitting in front of him, did not think about food or tea.

"Brother Yirong, who did you offend?" Zhu Ming poked Pan Lianggui's back with his chopsticks.

Pan Lianggui whispered: "Cai Jing wanted to recruit me as his grandson-in-law, but I politely refused. Alas, even if I follow the crowd, how can I dare to tarnish the Pan family's family tradition?"

Zhu Ming was surprised and said: "Brother Yirong, Gui Geng is twenty-nine, and he hasn't married yet?"

Pan Lianggui said: "I was too busy studying to get married. There was also an engagement. My wife, who was not married to me, died of illness before she was eighteen years old. I fell in love with her and was not interested in other women, so I declined. Many people proposed marriage.”

Ju Ming said: "Unexpectedly, Brother Yirong is still an infatuated man."

The two chatted and ate while Cai Jing sat at the front and ate.

After swallowing a few mouthfuls, Cai Jing stood up and left, followed by his sons out of the palace.

The fifth son, Cai Chi, who had not entered the court, handed over a private letter.

Cai Jing read the letter and sighed: "Something is going to go wrong in the northwest. Tong Guan and Zheng Juzhong were too eager to achieve success. Wang Fu was also greedy for military pay, so the soldiers in the front were bound to be full of resentment. He filled the soldiers with resentment and went to attack forcefully. The enemy has a fortified city and if Liu Fa's army is not mobilized to respond, it is likely to result in the loss of troops and generals."

The eldest son Cai You said happily: "Once the front is defeated, Zheng Juzhong, Wang Fu, and Tong Guan will be punished by the officials, and my father can regain military and financial power!"

Cai Jing shook his head: "The worse the defeat ahead, the less favored I will be. Officials also want to save face."

The sons were very surprised. Thinking about it carefully, it was true.

The current military situation was all arranged by Song Huizong. Even if there is a big defeat ahead, the emperor will help Tong Guan and others hide it for the sake of face.

Cai Jing's situation was very bad at this time. In order to divide his power, the emperor made Zheng Juzhong the Privy Councilor and Wang Fu the Minister of Household Affairs, taking away all the military and financial power from Cai Jing.

Tong Guan felt this change and gradually drifted away from Cai Jing. Because Tong Guan led the army in battle, he had to work closely with the privy envoys and the Minister of Household Affairs (after the restructuring of Yuanfeng, the money and food affairs of the three departments were transferred to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and military rations needed to be raised by the Ministry of Household Affairs).

Cai Jing thought carefully for a moment and said: "After the officers and soldiers are defeated, we can impeach Wang Fu and take back the Ministry of Household Affairs! But we cannot impeach him for being greedy for military pay. This will damage the official's face. After this war, the finance department It will definitely be difficult to support, and we only need to impeach Wang Fu for his poor financial management. In addition, I am afraid that the officials will not give him the post of privy envoy, so do not impeach Zheng Juzhong for the time being."

Then he said: "Let Zhu Meng offer more rare stones and try his best to please the officials, otherwise the favor of my father and son will not be guaranteed."

Cai You said flatteringly: "My father's temple is like a god, but Wang Fu can't cause any trouble."

Cai Jing continued: "The official family is alienated from me, but they are very kind to you. My father and son can act in a play, in which the father and son turn against each other. The official family will definitely like it after watching it. But we can't do it now, otherwise it will be too fake. , wait until you get promoted."

"Yes!" Cai You said with his hands in hand.

Cai Jing sighed: "The officials have taken away my military and financial rights, demoted officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial College, and placed people in various Changping departments. Even the house given to our Cai family has to be moved in by Taoist priests. Alas, this How afraid of me you are."

The third son, Cai Yi, said: "The official family cannot live without his father. The day when Zheng Juzhong, Wang Fu and others make many mistakes and the official family has no money to spare, they will surely remember the kindness of their father."

"I hope so," Cai Jing sneered, "people like Zheng Juzhong and Wang Fu are only greedy, how can they know how to make money?"

The fourth son, Cai Suan, asked again: "Xue Daoguang has moved into Nanyuan and occupied our house. Should we drive this Taoist priest away like we did with Wang Laozhi?"

Cai Jing shook his head and said: "Wang Laozhi is too ostentatious. He invites powerful people to preach on Dharma every day, which makes our family a mess. Xue Daoguang is different. He refuses the guests who come to seek Taoism, and just practices in Nanyuan. In this case, Just let him stay. You can also visit Xue Dao on weekdays and make good friends with him. Maybe you can make Xue Daoguang one of your own."

Cai You asked: "What about Ju Ming? Xue Daoguang was recommended by Ju Ming, and Ju Ming was awarded the title of Imperial Academy. I heard that the officials wanted to recruit his father. In time, this person will be favored by the officials."

"Ju Ming offended the poets of Dasheng during the roll call, and he offended the officials in public when he heard about the wedding banquet. This man has a strong character, and I am afraid he will not be used by me." Cai Sui said.

Cai Jing thought for a while: "Send someone to propose marriage to see if you can recruit him as your son-in-law. We have a bunch of drunkards and can be good at flattering horses, but there are not many who can do anything. This Zhu Ming seems to be quite talented. Maybe he can be entrusted to him in the future. Heavy responsibility.”

The Cai family and his son discussed various matters in detail. They have reached a low point in power again and must work together to get out.

The next day, the Cai family sent a retainer to Ju Ming's rented house.

"Xiangong Cai wants me to be his grandson-in-law?" Zhu Ming smiled, cupped his hands and said, "Xiangong Cai has all the power in the government and the public. I can only choose one person, and it is really beyond my reach. Please come back!"

The messenger who proposed the marriage was furious: "You know you are seeking too much, yet you still dare to refuse the marriage. You are really ignorant of current affairs!"

Ju Ming said: "Those who know the current affairs are heroes. I am not a hero. I am only a disciple of the sages. I have read all the books of the sages and there is nothing that teaches people to follow and advance."

The messenger who proposed marriage walked away in a hurry. Cai Jing recruited a grandson-in-law twice in a row, but was rejected by the second and third overall picks. Soon, it spread throughout Tokyo and became a laughing stock.

The two Jinshi who refused to marry Cai Jing became the talk of the world.