Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

It was already the early spring of this year when father and son Ge Shengzhong and Ge Lifang resigned from Ruzhou and came to Hanzhong.

Mainly because after arriving in Xiangyang, it snowed heavily, so I stayed in an inn.

Ge Shengzhong wanted to save face. Although he exchanged two letters with Ju Ming, they were both discussing the issue of governing the country, and Ju Ming did not include any solicitation in the letters. So when he arrived in Xiangyang, he did not go to see Ju Ming to ask for an official position. Instead, he quietly observed the people's livelihood in Xiangyang.

When they passed the Fangcheng Mountain Pass, they entered the country with Ju Ming's handwritten letter, and the soldiers also reported it to their superiors.

So Zhu Ming knew that the Ge family and his son were here, but they never saw anyone. He thought they were staying in Nanyang because of the heavy snow.

During the Spring Festival, Ge Shengzhong had a very happy time, and the festive atmosphere here was extremely grand.

Mainly, ordinary people are also celebrating the New Year happily. This situation has been rare in the north in recent years. We must have had a good time, but the ordinary people have had a very difficult time.

When the snow stopped in spring, Ge Shengzhong left a letter to Zhu Ming and took a boat straight to Hanzhong.

Observing all the counties in Hanzhong, Ge Shengzhong was inexplicably shocked. He thought he had arrived in Jiangnan thirty years ago!

The father and son met Zhu Guoxiang in Jinglue Mansion, revealed his identity and expressed their intentions, and received a warm welcome. Then, they were not directly appointed, but were asked to observe the government in the Economic and Strategy Mansion and wait for their vacancies.

More than three months later, we are still waiting.

"This Zhu Guoxiang is so rude," Ge Lifang said indignantly. "My father and his son resigned and came to join us. He didn't even give him a real official position, and he didn't know how long he would be waiting for it! What can he do if he neglects talents like this? "

Ge Shengzhong was actually very dissatisfied, but he smiled and said to his son: "This is how to do big things. Everything must be done according to the rules. You and I have been waiting here for many days, which means at least two problems. First, here in the Sichuan Gorge Secondly, Zhu Guoxiang has no shortage of officials under him."

"At least he should be given a casual position!" Ge Lifang said.

Ge Shengzhong shook his head: "Zhu Guoxiang has a purpose in letting you and I observe politics. First let us familiarize ourselves with his system and rules."

The official selection and appointment system of the Zhu family and his son was very similar to that of the Song Dynasty court, but those "small differences" are particularly revealing.

There were five forms of official selection in the Song Dynasty, namely: selecting officials through imperial examinations, supplementing officials with family support, supplementing military merit, taking official positions, and purchasing officials with grain.

The father and son removed the yinbu and nansu, which meant that they could not rely on the kindness of their parents or spending money to buy officials.

Ge Shengzhong said: "Where did the redundant officials in the Song Dynasty come from? Not to mention buying officials with grains, they can only buy some idle positions anyway. Men's shadow accounts for the majority. Every year, countless officials' children rely on the remaining shadow of their fathers to obtain their wealth. Most of the official positions are actually in short supply. If we want to reform the redundant and corrupt government, we must cancel the supply of supplies."

The Yinguan system in the Song Dynasty was not chaotic from the beginning. It only became widespread after the Chanyuan Alliance.

Song Zhenzong was unable to regain Yanyun, and his prestige was greatly reduced due to the defeat in the war, so he went to Fengchan Taishan to find face, and then went crazy to win people's hearts with his kindness.

The emperor's accession to the throne, the appointment of a queen, the emperor's or the queen mother's birthday, annual sacrifices in the countryside, officials sacrificing their lives for the country, important ministers retiring to serve... all of which had to be supplemented by a number of benevolent officials.

Not only the clan can provide support, but when civil and military officials reach a certain level, they can also recommend family members to become officials.

In the end, even if the concubine gave birth to a son, a number of benevolent officials would have to be replaced.

There are also many messy special favors, such as when the new emperor ascends the throne, the son of a certain prefect comes to congratulate the emperor with local tribute, and the emperor directly appoints an official when he is happy. This situation is very common, so once the emperor changes, local officials quickly send their son to Beijing to congratulate him. This son has a high chance of becoming an official immediately.

The system of yinbu is so widespread that it can even benefit small officials such as county captains and village leaders!

In the Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty decided to rectify the favor system and reduce the overall quota of favors enjoyed by officials by one-third.

After the reduction, the number of official officials for the descendants of officials is as follows: out of ten prime ministers, eight are in charge, six are attendants, four are senior officials, and three are appointed ministers... With this favor item alone, hundreds of official officials will appear every year. Waiting to fill the gap.

With the redundancy of officials to such an extent, why are there so many officials and officials in local areas?

Because for the first time, most of the Enyin officers were in the capital!

When you were drinking wine in Tokyo and were jealous of someone in the next room, you picked up a bench and threw it at them. One bench could hit several officials.

Ge Lifang said with a smile: "Only Prime Minister Zhu can abolish the system of supplementary compensation. Whoever dares to say this in the Song Dynasty court will be impeached and put under administrative control even if he is the prime minister!"

"Hanzhong has already established a system and the rules are there. Unless a new government office is established or the territory is expanded, you will have to wait slowly if you want to be an official," Ge Shengzhong said. "I don't think we will have to wait long. Nanyang, Xiangyang, and Hanzhongtun With so many soldiers, we can’t stay there all the time to get a living.”

Annotation is also called difference annotation, which refers specifically to the official awarding system.

There were three forms of conferring officials in the Song Dynasty:

One is the central decree, which is appointed by the emperor himself. For example, prime ministers and censors must be appointed by the emperor himself;

The second is to remove the hall, and the appointment will be announced by the province under Zhongshu Men. After the restructuring of Yuanfeng, the appointment will be made by the three provinces. The Privy Council can also grant some official positions;

The third is the selection. The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for this matter, and only then does political performance need to be assessed.

Ge Lifang said: "Although Hanzhong does not have three provinces and six ministries, there are similar yamen. Zhu Xianggong seems to intend to cancel the hall."

Ge Shengzhong said: "Canceling the removal of the court will make it difficult for anyone who wants to be a powerful official in the future. It will be almost impossible to cover up the sky with one hand. This may be to avoid the recurrence of Cai Jing and Wang Fu."

Cai Jing and Wang Fu said that whoever they wanted to be an official would be allowed to be an official, and they could directly bypass the personnel department.

This is not a bad rule, but a use of the power of removal!

Only the appointment and removal of censors could not be decided by the powerful ministers. It was always in the hands of the emperor, so censors were the key targets to win over.

Ge Lifang smiled and said: "My child heard an interesting story. That Zhu Xianggong leveled the garden of the back house, and took his wife and concubines to go to the fields to farm every day. In the yamen close to the Jinglue Mansion, the officials could even smell the excrement occasionally. taste."

"Maybe it's true." Ge Shengzhong said.

Ge Li-fang couldn't help but laugh: "If it were true, that would be ridiculous. The foolish king in Tokyo demolished the houses and built gardens, and collected all kinds of strange stones from all over the world for his enjoyment. The businessman in Hanzhong destroyed the gardens and plowed acres of rockeries and rocks. Sold to wealthy households. It's exactly the opposite. The history books of future generations will definitely be written in great detail."

Ge Shengzhong sighed: "So the hearts of the people in Hanzhong belong to the Zhu family."

While the father and son were talking, an official came to invite him.

They went straight to the Jinglue Mansion, where Zhu Guoxiang was already waiting.

"Meet Mr. Zhu!" The two of them bowed.

"The matter is urgent. To make a long story short, I won't beat around the bush," Zhu Guoxiang went straight to the point. "The Jin people are going south, and the Song Dynasty may be difficult to resist. My son wants to lead troops north. Your Excellency is familiar with the civil affairs of the capital and went out with the army to be the prefect of Yingchang. Ru The state conference was cancelled, and all counties were merged into Yingchang Prefecture."

Ge Shengzhong was a little stunned when he heard this. He had felt left out in the past few days, and he was suddenly given such an important task.

Ruzhou was merged into Yingchang Prefecture, and then he was made the prefect of Yingchang, which was equivalent to managing a prefecture and a state. This was a high official under the Zhu family and his son.

"Ming Gong has an assignment, how dare you disobey me!" Ge Shengzhong stood up quickly.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Yingchang and Ruzhou are mostly exploited by the West City, and the people are displaced and find it difficult to settle down. When you go there, the top priority is to stabilize the people. Nanyang is short of people, and recruiting too many people will delay production. You recruit refugees in Yingchang, Be my son's food transporter. You can not only temporarily deal with the crisis of refugees, but also ensure the delivery of military supplies."

"This is a good idea." Ge Shengzhong said.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Let's go home and prepare. We will set off by boat tomorrow."

If Yingchang Mansion is completely captured, there will only be one hundred and fifty miles away from Kaifeng.

The father and son were about to retire when Zhu Guoxiang suddenly said: "Chang Zhi (Ge Lifang) stays with me to do paperwork."

Ge Li Fang was overjoyed: "Thank you Mr. Jinglue for your appreciation!"

It doesn't matter whether they stay as hostages or not. Anyway, the Ge family and his son have no intention of defecting.

Chengdu is prosperous and stable, and the clan forces are intertwined, so it is necessary to let Zhang Gen govern, and he can be impartial and impartial without knowing anyone.

Yingchang and Ruzhou were in complete chaos, and they were also the springboard for Zhu Ming to march into Kaifeng. This required officials who were familiar with the people's conditions to govern. Corrupt officials can be left alone for the time being, and class conflicts can be put aside for the time being. Stabilizing people's hearts and minds is the top priority.

The next day, Ge Shengzhong took a boat to the east.

Along the Han River, a large number of people were gathering and heading towards Fucheng.

Ge Shengzhong stood on the boat and secretly gasped: Zhu Xianggong recruited civilian husbands so quickly!

And those civilian husbands who were drafted did not have a look of sorrow on their faces, which was in sharp contrast to those in the Song Dynasty.

First, Zhu Ming was known as the victorious general. Under the deliberate propaganda of the government, the people did not take Song soldiers seriously and were not afraid of risking their lives by transporting food with the army.

Second, they were recruited as civilian laborers to transport grain, and their taxes this year could be reduced accordingly, so they were not considered to be working in vain for the government.

In fact, Hanzhong civilians only need to transport grain to Shaanxi, and then recruit refugees on the spot in Shaanxi.

Ge Shengzhong felt the terrifying mobilization ability of Hanzhong through Minfu's starting speed.

If it were placed in the Song Dynasty, it is estimated that the commander of the armor had just been notified at this time, and it would have to wait at least half a month before the civilian husband set off.

But I saw people from each team of civilians carrying flags made of coarse cloth.

Those who carry the flag are paid, and they have to do ideological work along the way. They just say a few words: "Fathers and fellow villagers, this time help the rebels transport food. They will soon defeat the officers and soldiers. The foolish king will never be able to do it again." We are here in Hanzhong to collect taxes randomly! Shout to me, the rebels will be victorious!"

"The rebel army is victorious!"

The peasants followed and shouted. The atmosphere was not serious, and many people were still laughing.

But if you listen to the truth, life has gotten better and better in the past two years, and no one wants to go back to the hard life. Even if many ordinary people are recruited to build water conservancy projects, they are all recruited from nearby farmers. Whoever makes the most money from irrigation will pay the most people.

There are also young farmers who dream of one day becoming soldiers.

Last winter, Ju Ming deliberately gave the entire army some quotas to visit relatives, allowing them to return to their hometowns to celebrate the New Year.

The soldiers told the elders in their hometown about the land they had been given.

People in the same village are inevitably jealous, as they all have at least ten acres of land. I heard that some officers have dozens of acres of land.

Not to mention joining the army, some farmers who are having a hard time even want to sign up to open up wasteland in the Nanxiang Basin!