Chapter 271 New Year
Zhu Jingyu told Zhao Xing in detail what he had seen and heard in Jiangnan.
Zhao Xing listened quietly, and after Zhu Jingyu stopped talking, he said, "You have been praising Jiangnan. You make it sound like a paradise on earth. Does Jiangnan only have advantages in your eyes, without any disadvantages?"
"Naturally there is."
Zhu Jingyu pulled out a letter from his sleeve and said, "I have written down in detail some of the malpractices and problems I have seen in Jiangnan. Your Highness, please take a look!"
Without Zhao Xing's instructions, Sanshui stepped forward, took the bundle and handed it to Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing took it and started to read it. The more he read, the colder his expression became.
The content of Zhu Jingyu's letter was very extensive, ranging from small things like yamen runners collecting taxes in the countryside to big things like officials taking bribes and committing crimes. Everything he saw was recorded in detail.
The most common of these is collusion between officials and businessmen.
The business in the south of the Yangtze River was prosperous, and the Port of Hangzhou was one of the four major commercial ports in the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty's maritime trade flourished, and many trading ports were set up.
Hangzhou Port ranks among the top among all ports.
This means that a large number of merchant ships depart from Hangzhou Port to other countries, while a large number of merchant ships from other countries also transport goods from various countries to Hangzhou.
This also laid the foundation for the prosperity of Jiangnan's business.
When business prospers, all kinds of competition will naturally exist, and bribing officials will naturally be very common.
Officials in Jiangnan even disdain to exploit the people. After all, how much money can they get by exploiting the people?
If those businessmen could just give a little bit of respect, they could make money much faster than by exploiting the people. Who would care about those poor people?
However, collusion between officials and businessmen has a big drawback, which is that many things have almost formed a monopoly.
Some officials tasted the sweetness of life in Jiangnan. They spent a lot of money to bribe officials in the Ministry of Personnel, falsified their evaluations, and tried their best to stay in the same place and be re-elected. When they could not be re-elected, they were transferred within Jiangnan.
In order to stay in Jiangnan, many people are even unwilling to be promoted.
"He has really become a local emperor!" Zhao Xing sneered after reading it.
"Your Highness, these are the benefits I have received while serving in Jiangnan over the years. I have not spent a penny of them, all are here." Zhu Jingyu said as he took out a stack of silver bills.
It was Zhao Xing who highly valued him before he took up the post in Jiangnan.
His identity cannot be concealed. If he does not take the money, the officials in Jiangnan will be wary of him.
Fortunately, Zhao Xing has an uncle who is greedy for money. Although he has become much more honest in recent years, the previous stereotyped impression of him still exists.
After Zhu Jingyu went to Jiangnan to take up his post, those people sent people to give him money as a deliberate test.
Zhu Jingyu received Zhao Xing's instructions and accepted all the offers.
Gradually, the officials in Jiangnan also felt relieved.
This allowed Zhu Jingyu to find out these secrets.
Zhao Xing took the banknote from Sanshui and took a look at it. There were actually more than 50,000 taels of silver.
You should know that Zhu Jingyu was promoted to county magistrate only two years ago.
No wonder they say that being an honest magistrate for three years can earn you 100,000 silver coins.
This is certainly due to the relationship between Zhu Jingyu and him, but it also proves the official's ability to make money.
"The people are poor, the court is poor, but these officials are all very rich."
The official salaries of the Song Dynasty were the highest in history, but these officials were either fighting for power or for profit, which was truly hateful.
"Thank you for your hard work, cousin. You don't have to rush to take up the office after the New Year. Stay at home and spend more time with your uncle and aunt. It won't be too late to take up the office after the appointment document comes down from the Ministry of Personnel," said Zhao Xing.
"Yes!" Zhu Jingyu didn't even ask where he would be transferred to next, and Zhao Xing didn't say anything either.
After chatting about family matters for a while, Zhao Xing glanced at Sanshui. Sanshui understood, bowed and left.
After about an incense stick of time, Sanshui came back again.
Zhao Xing let Zhu Jingyu go back.
Not long after Zhu Jingyu left the East Palace, his wife Fang also came over, led by a palace maid.
Behind him was a group of palace maids and eunuchs carrying things.
"Sir, these are rewards from the Crown Princess." Fang said.
"Yeah." Zhu Jingyu nodded and said, "Let's go."
…………
After Zhu Jingyu left, Zhao Xing looked at his hairpin again and rubbed his head.
The various shortcomings of the Song Dynasty were more serious than he had imagined.
The most serious problem is the shadow seal.
The imperial examination system was well established in the Song Dynasty, and the imperial court also attached great importance to education.
Learning is valuable than anything else.
The nobles and nobles throughout the dynasty were all scholars.
These all describe the status of scholars in the Song Dynasty.
But in reality, officials who entered the government through the imperial examination accounted for less than half of the total number.
More than half of the court officials entered the government through nepotism.
If a civil official is of the fifth rank or above, his descendants can receive a title and can directly enter the civil service without having to take the imperial examination.
In addition, when large sacrificial activities were held or on the emperor's birthday, the officials and their descendants and relatives who participated could all receive titles and honors.
When an official retires or dies, his family members can also receive titles and honors.
There are many high-ranking officials whose descendants have given titles to dozens or even more than twenty people in their family.
The seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's door.
The original meaning of this sentence is that the status of the doorman in the prime minister's house is equivalent to that of a seventh-rank official.
But in the Song Dynasty, this situation could actually happen.
Because the imperial court's system of enfeoffment can be used not only to enfeoff descendants, but also relatives, students, and servants. The redundancy of officials in the Song Dynasty was actually caused by the rampant enfeoffment system.
Zhao Xing remembered seeing a statistic in his previous life that during the three hundred years of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, there were only a little over 100,000 officials admitted through the imperial examinations.
On average, more than 300 students are admitted each year, which is actually not a large number.
You should know that the number of officials in the imperial court has long been maintained at around 20,000.
It doesn't sound like a lot at first glance, but during the peak of the Tang Dynasty, the number of officials was less than 20,000.
However, the territory of the Song Dynasty was only one-third or one-fourth of that of the Tang Dynasty.
The number of 20,000 officials is not too many if more than 300 officials are added every year.
However, the number of officials who enter the government through imperial appointments each year is several times the number of officials who enter the government through imperial examinations.
But in fact, the court did not need so many officials at all. In order to accommodate the increasing number of officials, the court could only disperse power and increase positions.
Even so, it was still not enough, so many officials could only hold sinecure positions and had no real jobs.
To put it bluntly, it means just getting paid without doing any work.
But a real job not only brings power, but also allows you to make money.
The officials who were granted titles through hereditary pretext all had backgrounds, and their families helped them make arrangements, so they were basically able to get real jobs.
On the contrary, for those who entered the officialdom through the imperial examination, those at the top of the first and second classes were better off, but those at the bottom would find it almost impossible to get a real job if they did not have a background.
This also led to a decreasing proportion of powerful officials who entered the government through the imperial examination.
Jiangnan is a prosperous place and is the first choice for these officials.
As far as Zhao Xing knew, 80% of the officials in Jiangnan were appointed through imperial patronage.
It is said that the aristocratic families have disappeared, but the high-ranking officials of the Song Dynasty were no different from the aristocratic families of the Han and Jin Dynasties.
They occupied a large number of official positions by relying on their connections. Even if children from poor families were able to pass the imperial examinations, it would be difficult for them to get ahead without a background.
Therefore, many people can only become disciples of those high-ranking officials.
Zhao Xing had great confidence in solving many of the Song Dynasty's long-standing problems, but he had no confidence on this point.
Because all officials are beneficiaries of the system of hereditary titles.
Senior officials have already benefited, and those officials who are not eligible for titles are also working hard to climb up, hoping to become fifth-rank officials and pass on titles to their descendants.
If the hereditary titles were to be cancelled or reduced, not only the officials above the fifth rank, but even those of the sixth and seventh ranks would not agree.
The failure of Mr. Fan's new law had a lot to do with his desire to change this.
Those officials really don't care that much about the thorough investigation of hidden fields and the thorough investigation of salt affairs.
As long as they are still officials, they can get everything, whether it is land or money.
"Whoo~"
Zhao Xing exhaled and murmured, "Why think so much? When we destroy Xixia and Liao in the future, I will learn from Zhu the Butcher and kill all those who disagree with me."
If we cannot destroy Western Xia and Liao, the Song Dynasty will perish sooner or later, so why bother?
If you can't do it, just be a tyrant and enjoy yourself. When you die, don't worry about the flood.
…………
On New Year's Eve, Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen entered the palace to keep vigil with their father, the emperor, and their mother, the empress.
When the midnight hour arrived, bells rang in the palace, indicating that a new year had begun.
Zhao Xing and his father went to the Taimiao to worship their ancestors. After completing the worship, they ate dumplings and then went back to their rooms to sleep.
That night Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen stayed in the palace.
The next morning, all civil and military officials entered the palace and followed the emperor and Zhao Xing to the Taimiao to offer sacrifices, and then the annual New Year's Day court meeting began.
The New Year's Day Grand Court Assembly is actually the day when all officials pay New Year's greetings to the emperor and vassal states from various countries pay homage to him.
Unfortunately, the Song Dynasty had no actual vassal states, and the New Year's Day court meeting ended hastily after the officials paid homage.
After the grand court meeting, the emperor held a banquet to entertain all the officials.
In the harem, Empress Cao and Zhang Guifen were also entertaining the female members of the family.
On the first day of the first lunar month, officials would enter the palace to pay New Year's greetings to the emperor, and ladies of honor would enter the palace to pay New Year's greetings to the empress.
The emperor entertained officials, while the empress entertained the female relatives.
This is something that must be done every year.
After New Year's Day, Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen returned to the Eastern Palace.
Liu Sanshi came out and followed beside him, telling him about what had happened in the East Palace in the past few days.
"Imperial Physician Ma has been checking Concubine Sheng's pulse every morning, noon and evening, and everything is normal. Concubine Li, however, has had severe morning sickness, and Imperial Physician Ma can do nothing about it."
Zhao Xing frowned slightly when he heard this, and said, "Crown Princess, send someone to inform Old Madam He and ask her to come to the East Palace as soon as possible."
Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen had previously discussed the matter of inviting Old Madam He to the Eastern Palace. Zhang Guifen sent someone to invite Old Madam He over and told her about the matter.
After considering it, Mrs. He agreed. She is old and doesn't care about these things.
But her grandson is still young and she has to consider him.
Although relying on the connections she has accumulated over the years, the family's medicinal materials business is doing very well.
But after a hundred years, it is inevitable that some people will be jealous of her.
If He Hongwen had the identity of an imperial physician, no one would dare to take over the He family's business.
Mrs. He meant to wait until after the Lantern Festival next year before coming to the East Palace.
But when Zhao Xing heard that Li Yunchu had severe morning sickness and the imperial physician could do nothing, he could no longer wait.
"Your Highness, although I am not a doctor, I know that morning sickness is a normal reaction for women. What can a doctor do? The old maids are more useful than doctors in this regard. How about I send Mama Qian to take care of her for a few days?" Zhang Guifen said.
(End of this chapter)