Chapter 1497 The Sudden Change in Suzhou——Conversation of the Xiao Family
"Xiao Tong, why did you leave the capital at this time?" In the Li Mansion, Xiao Zhuo couldn't help but ask after greeting his nephew and his wife.
"Uncle, my father hasn't seen me for almost two years. He missed me very much, so he sent someone to the capital to ask me to go to Qingpu County to celebrate the New Year. I saw that there was still time, so I set off for Qingpu County. What, is there anything wrong?
"Xiao Tong said. Because they are nephews, they care closely about each other and speak more casually.
"If you want to go to the Imperial Academy, how can you leave the capital at this time? Although the Imperial Academy only opens on the third day of February, new students are admitted in the first month of the year. If you leave the capital now, can you rush back?" Xiao Zhuo said.
"To be honest, uncle, I haven't decided yet whether to go to the Imperial College or not." Xiao Tong replied.
"Xiao Tong, uncle said to you, do you still want to pass the Jinshi exam?" Xiao Zhuo said: "It's not that my uncle thinks that you will definitely fail the Jinshi exam. The more you read, the better you will become. It's not like the academy exam that just mentions what you learned.
I definitely don’t want to select older candidates. It’s normal to study until you are in your forties and pass the Jinshi exam, but is that good?”
"Now that you are studying in the Imperial College, you don't need to read scriptures as a scholar. You can directly enter the Taoist monastery. If you study in the Chengxin Second Hall, you will graduate and be promoted to Suixing Hall in about two years. You will graduate from the Imperial College in another year and be selected by the Ministry of Officials.
Official position. Because of your cousin's relationship, our family has also made friends with some officials, and you can be assigned to be an official in the yamen in the capital or provincial capital. In these yamen, you only need to work hard and have good relations with your superiors.
It takes another three years to be promoted from the seventh grade to the sixth grade, and then from the sixth grade to the fifth grade, and then to the fourth grade. It only takes nine years. You are twenty-eight years old this year, you have studied in the Imperial College for three years, and you have been in officialdom for nine years.
You can achieve the fourth level of integrity at the age of forty."
Xiao Zhuo analyzed: "If you take the Jinshi exam, uncle, I have calculated the Chinese age of Jinshi since the Ming Dynasty began in the third year of Hongwu. Most of them are around thirty-five years old. Even if you pass the exam at the age of thirty-four, like them,
The yamen in the capital are assigned to serve as local officials for one year. Most of them first serve as county magistrate in a middle county for one year. If they make no mistakes, they will be transferred to the county magistrate in the second year. After that, they will be the county magistrate for three years and the state magistrate for three years.
After three years as magistrate of the state and three years as magistrate of the prefecture, by the time three years as magistrate of the prefecture are completed, you can be promoted to a fourth-grade prefect, which is a full eight years later than when you started from the Imperial College. At this time, you will continue to be promoted.
He can be the chief envoy of each province, participate in political affairs, and be the chief seal officer and assistant officer of various yamen in the imperial court."
"Although Jinshi people can continue to advance to higher ranks, there are more than 100 prefectures in the imperial court, but there are only 14 provinces. If you want to continue to advance from the fourth rank to the third rank, it is ten times more difficult than from the fifth rank to the fourth rank. 90% of Jinshis will be promoted in their lifetime.
Even if you are wandering around in the fourth and fifth grades, it is extremely rare to be promoted to the third grade. Unless your uncle attacks you, you may not be able to rise. The relationship between our family is of no use when the fourth grade is promoted to the third grade."
"That's not all. You have been magistrate of the county for three years, magistrate of the state for three years, magistrate of the state for three years, and magistrate of the government for three years. It is the most ideal situation to be an official. But more than 70% of the Jinshi cannot be such officials.
Appointment and dismissal are more strict than those of affairs officers, and it is not easy to operate from them."
"Besides, it is not necessarily impossible to continue to rise as an official. The selection of the fourth auxiliary officers and the ministers does not depend on the background of the official or the political officer. Although the hope is slim, it is still possible. In this way, it is not necessarily the case that one is a Jinshi and becomes an official.
It’s better than judging people by family background.”
Although Yun followed the European and American system and divided officials into administrative officers and affairs officers, the Ming Dynasty soon became very different from what they were in Europe and the United States. In Europe and the United States, administrative officers were mostly people from aristocrats or political families, and ordinary people from ordinary people.
Basically, they can only serve as affairs officers; but in the Ming Dynasty, all political affairs officers were people from the middle and lower classes who passed the Jinshi examination. On the contrary, most of the people from the nobility in the capital became affairs officers.
This is of course also in line with the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty. In Europe and the United States, people from aristocratic and political families lack the ability to handle practical matters. Instead, because their growth environment is suitable for doing some high-level things, they are suitable to be political officers, and the specific tasks are left to the middle and lower levels.
However, in the Ming Dynasty, most of the people who passed the imperial examination and won the Jinshi were not familiar with common affairs. On the contrary, the nobles were relatively more capable of handling practical problems, so the political affairs officers were handed over to these Jinshi who had never done anything except study.
, people of noble origin and scholars and scholars trained by the Imperial College serve as affairs officers.
Of course, although this situation formed naturally at first, after being discovered later, he also deliberately promoted the formation of this situation. After all, the situation in the Ming Dynasty was different from that in Europe and the United States. This situation in which the nobles were dominant but had the checks and balances of Jinshi was the most ideal.
It was in line with Yun's wishes, so it was gradually consolidated. As various conventions slowly formed, it would be impossible for latecomers to change them twenty or thirty years later.
Although they are all working as affairs officers, those from aristocratic families certainly have an advantage and can be promoted faster. The Xiao family is also related to the royal family, so Xiao Zhuo dared to compare the fastest promotion route for affairs officers with those of political affairs officers, and came to the conclusion
This leads to the conclusion that it is easier for service officers to be promoted.
"Uncle, of course I understand what you said. But, but," Xiao Tong said hesitantly.
"But what, don't hesitate." Xiao Zhuo said impatiently.
"Uncle, my nephew doesn't want to take the imperial examination, but he suddenly feels that being an official is meaningless and he doesn't want to be an official anymore." Xiao Tong hesitated for a long time before telling his true thoughts.
When he passed the examination, his family no longer forced him to continue studying seriously. For the first time, the choice was left to him, but he did not want to choose either of the two options.
Because of his cousin Xiao Yong, Xiao Tong himself had a good relationship with the queen's brother Xue Xiyang, and he knew the officialdom well. In his opinion, being an official was really boring. He was busy with paperwork all day, and he was looking at the transfer department.
The daily life of an official is that he is completely unwilling to be an official.
But Xiao Zhuo was stunned by his idea. "What, you don't want to be an official?"
"Yes, uncle." Xiao Tong was still hesitant and nervous when he told his true thoughts, but now he may have broken the pot and said very smoothly: "Uncle, I have seen the affairs officer working all day long.
What are you busy with? My nephew really doesn't want to do these things... Besides, since Xiao Yong became the consort, our family doesn't need anyone to be an official to keep the property. Why force my nephew to become an official? My nephew stays at home and teaches me.
Isn’t it good for future generations to study?”
Xiao Zhuo pointed at him, so angry that he didn't know what to say. Indeed, his family's situation became better because Xiao Yong became the consort. Even if there are a few more officials in the family, they will be of limited use to continue to improve the family's status, but as you,
The family's seed for reading actually doesn't want to make progress! How can this be done!
"Since you don't want to be an official, why do you still study in the capital in the name of being admitted to the imperial examination?" Xiao Zhuo spent a lot of effort to suppress his anger and said to him in a normal tone.
"If my nephew does not study in the capital in the name of being admitted to the imperial examination, he will be forced to enroll in the Imperial College. In this case, it is better to continue studying and take the imperial examination. Besides, the job of a political officer is more interesting than that of an administrative officer. If he can really
After passing the Jinshi examination, my nephew is reluctantly willing to become an official." Xiao Tong said.
Hearing this, Xiao Zhuo's anger that he had finally suppressed rose again. Nowadays, there is no tax-free preferential treatment for candidates. Although he can still get money and food from the government every month, Xiao Tong can support himself with the money and food he allots every month, but he is like this
Studying in the capital not only has no contribution to the family now, but also because of the mentality of doing everything, most of the studies are half-hearted. The hope of passing the Jinshi examination is extremely slim, and there will be no contribution to the family in the future. "You, you
," Xiao Zhuo was so angry that he couldn't speak again.
"Niece-in-law, are you just watching him waste his days like this?" Xiao Zhuo asked Li Yonglin who was sitting aside.
"Uncle, my wife thinks this is good. Since my husband doesn't have to be an official or go to the Imperial College, he can take more care of the family, especially my wife is pregnant with a child. Many people say that this baby will be a son. Since
It is better for him to be a son, or to be taught by his father. But if he becomes an official, and the current affairs officials are very busy, they will definitely not have time to teach their children, and it will not be good for the children. Without the guidance of the father, it will not be easy for the children to become talented. Therefore,
My daughter-in-law thinks this is not bad." Li Yonglin said a few words, and finally said: "My daughter-in-law has been through so many things, and she feels that it is best to be ordinary."
When Li Yonglin spoke, Xiao Zhuo was originally very angry, but he calmed down after hearing her last words. Li Yonglin once married the Dan family, but was divorced, which made her care more about whether her husband cared about her and whether he cared about their children.
Care, this is also common sense. Naturally, he can criticize Li Yonglin's thoughts, but it will be meaningless in solving the actual problem.
"Xiao Tong, uncle, can you think that you don't like and are unwilling to take the official position of affairs officer, where you have to do the same errands every day?" Xiao Zhuo sat on the chair and pondered for a while and said.
"Yes, uncle." Xiao Tong thought for a while and replied.
"In this case, you don't have to be the six ministries. The chief envoy can be the affairs officer of the yamen. You can be the affairs officer of the yamen such as the Shipping Department or Lifanyuan." Xiao Zhuo said: "These yamen have to deal with people.
The errand is not static. One time you have to deal with the envoys or businessmen from Mongolia, the next time you have to deal with the envoys or businessmen from Tianfang, the next time you have to deal with the envoys or businessmen from Fulai, it will be different every time, and you will not be disappointed.
I feel like the job remains the same forever.”
"These yamen?" When Xiao Tong considered officialdom in the past, it was probably because there were too few such yamen. He had never thought about yamen like Lifanyuan and Shibosi. He didn't know how to answer Xiao Zhuo's words. Xiao Zhuo didn't push him.
, just waiting quietly.
After a while, Xiao Tong said: "My nephew has never understood what the officials of these two yamen do every day, so he dare not answer my uncle."
"In that case, let's go and find out more when you have time." Xiao Zhuo said with a smile: "You happen to be going to Qingpu County. The Shanghai Shipping Company is near Qingpu County. You can go to the Shanghai Shipping Company after the new year to have a look.
They won't stop you if you have the reputation of being a civil servant. See if you like the work of the Shanghai Shipping Department. If you don't like it, you can go back to Beijing and see the work of the Lifan Yuan."
"Yes, uncle. When my nephew has free time in Qingpu, he will go to the Shanghai Shipping Department to have a look." Xiao Tong said. This is not entirely because of Xiao Zhuo's persuasion. Although he is a descendant of the Xiao family, he used to be a member of the whole family.
Reading requires serious reading. I have never been to Shanghai Bosi, and I really want to see this place, which is said to be diverse and weird.
"That's good." Xiao Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was very angry with Xiao Tong, he understood that getting angry would not solve any problem. Telling Xiao Tong's father about the matter and asking his father to force him would be even worse. He could only think of this way
He persuaded Xiao Tong.
Xiao Zhuo was about to say a few more words to introduce the interesting aspects of the errands of the Municipal Shipping Department and Lifanyuan when he suddenly saw Li Taiyuan walking in and smiled at him: "Brother Guan Gao, long time no see."
"Brother An Xuan, I haven't seen you for a long time. I miss you so much." Xiao Zhuo also stood up to greet him.
"I heard that you went to Nanyang with His Highness Prince An. Since His Highness Prince An is back, you should also come back. I wanted to see you when I went to see you twice, but you were not there, and you knew that your younger brother was coming to Suzhou City.
Not coming to my house to talk is really chilling." Li Taiyuan said with a smile.
"Brother An Xuan said something. I wanted to come to see you when I came to the place in Suzhou, but His Highness had something to say to me, so I couldn't come. I also had something to say this morning, so I didn't find the time to come here in the afternoon." Xiao Zhuo responded with a smile.
"I see." Li Taiyuan said again with a smile, glanced at Xiao Tong and Li Yonglin, and asked: "Brother Guan Gao, it's getting late for this matter, it's time to have dinner. I've come to invite Brother Guan Gao.
Let’s go to the banquet. If there are still things I haven’t finished talking to Xiao Tong, it won’t be too late to talk after the banquet later.”
"That's what Brother An Xuan said." Xiao Zhuo did not refuse and said with a smile, "Then it's better for me to be respectful than obey my orders."
They joked for a while and then went to the front hall to have dinner hand in hand. Xiao Tong also walked to his wife and wanted to help her there. But at this moment, there was a sudden noise from outside, and someone ran in and shouted:
"Sir, it's not good!"
"What's wrong!" Li Taiyuan scolded: "Why are you whistling like that!"
The servant was frightened by him and was speechless. Just as Li Taiyuan was about to ask again, he saw one of Xiao Zhuo's followers running in and shouted: "Master, there is a rebellion in the city!"
