Chapter 001: Light Cars and Simple Obedience (Part 2)
Jie Ying is a time-honored tradition in the officialdom. It is not a rule, but it has been passed down silently in the "official history" for more than two thousand years. It was still very popular until later generations came to the Ming Dynasty with their high pragmatism.
market.
The so-called boundary greeting means that local officials lead their subordinates to the border of their jurisdiction to greet them.
As for who to greet, it's hard to say. Generally speaking, it must be to greet the Shangguan. Moreover, the boundary greeting is the highest standard for welcoming the Shangguan. At the same time, there is no doubt that if you welcome the imperial chariot, you must greet the Shangguan.
Of course, Gao Shidu's Dajia is far less noble than Yujia. What's the difference? However, this may not be the case for Liang Xianzun. For him, Gao Shidu's Dajia may really be more important than Yujia.
.
Not to mention that in the Ming Dynasty, it was almost impossible for local officials to meet the imperial chariot. Even if they could really receive the imperial chariot, His Majesty the Emperor would not pay attention to him as a mere small county magistrate. It is impossible for heaven to send him good luck to Liang County.
Lord, let him rise to the top, be promoted and move to the right.
But Gao Shidu's position was different. Liang Xianzun felt that if Gao Shidu could be satisfied, after he returned to Beijing in the future, he could just praise himself a few words in front of Mr. Gao Ge, and his evaluation would not necessarily be "excellent".
"?
You must know that Mr. Gao Ge is also the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and all the affairs of the world are in his hands! For a mere seventh-grade county magistrate, if he asks you to be promoted, you will definitely be promoted; if he asks you to be demoted, you will be promoted.
It will definitely be surrendered... Who dares to offend this? Magistrate Liang doesn't dare to do it anyway.
In the officialdom of ancient China, there were the so-called Three Provinces and Six Ministries very early on. Among them, the "Three Provinces" were abolished and replaced in different ways, but the six ministries have been stably maintained to this day, and the most special one among the six ministries is the Ministry of Personnel.
According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty at this time, officials in the capital did not need to kneel down to say goodbye when they saw their superiors, but if they met a cabinet scholar or a minister of the Ministry of Personnel, they had to kneel down to say hello.
There is a question here, why do you not have to kneel down when you see other ministers, but you have to kneel down when you meet the Minister of Libu? Why can the Minister of Libu be so special as "Although he does not have the name of prime minister, he has the actual status of prime minister"
"Is the cabinet bachelor the same?"
Without him, there is power.
Because of the Ministry of Personnel, it determines the future of most officials.
As mentioned earlier in this book, since the formation of the cabinet system, the cabinet began to gradually erode the power originally belonging to the six ministries (Wufeng's note: this refers to the strengthened power of the six ministries after Zhu Yuanzhang deposed the prime minister). In the Jiajing Dynasty, especially after Yan Song came to power,
So far, the authority of the chief minister is at its peak. Except that he does not have a "house", he is almost the same as the prime minister. Of course, Li Chunfang may be an exception...
How serious is this erosion? Take the Ministry of War, for example. Without the approval of the cabinet, the dignified Minister of War cannot even mobilize troops. If a border army general receives an order from the Ministry of War to mobilize troops, he will not execute it immediately, but first
Will ask: Is there a cabinet document?
If not, then I'm really sorry, "I'm sorry that I don't dare to accept the transfer."
All in all, in short, except for the Ministry of Personnel, the power of the other five ministers has been greatly reduced. In the Ming Dynasty, some ministers of the Ministry of Personnel were even unwilling to join the cabinet. Because if they entered the cabinet, if they were ranked lower, then
It may be that he was promoted openly and secretly, but his actual power was not as good as that of the Minister of Civil Affairs.
The officials in the capital face all kinds of big shots every day, and they are no strangers to senior officials. But if they are the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the officials in the capital call them Master Tianguan. This is far beyond the reach of other ministers, even if they are from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
In name, the Ministry of Rites is number one, but in terms of actual power, the Ministry of Rites is not even as good as the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The only advantage of the Minister of Rites is that it is relatively easy to enter the cabinet. Before joining the cabinet, many cabinet ministers will first name themselves as the Minister of Rites, and then hold court nominations to join the cabinet - for example, Gao Gong did the same thing back then.
Why is the Ministry of Civil Affairs so powerful? Because its most important function is to evaluate, approve, and appoint and remove officials at all levels.
According to the rules of the imperial court, the appointment and dismissal of officials below the fourth rank are decided by the Ministry of Personnel. Only officials above the fourth rank need to be discussed by the cabinet and the Ministry of Personnel - note that they are discussed with the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Personnel still has a big say.
right.
Generally speaking, officials above the fourth rank belong to middle and high-ranking officials. According to the official system of the Ming Dynasty, the local chief officials only have soldiers and prefects with important positions.
It's just a number. If an official offends the official, the official can retaliate reasonably within the normal scope of work.
For example, if you transfer an official to Yunnan this year and immediately transfer him to Liaodong the next year, how do you feel about it? Half of your term of office this year has been delayed on the road! Can I kill you? How dare you not?
Are you obedient? If not, you will continue to return to Yunnan next year.
The reason why Gao Gong resigned from the Ministry of Civil Affairs several times in succession was because he had too much power: he was originally the second assistant, and Li Chunfang didn't dare to take charge. He was actually in charge of the cabinet, and he was also an official.
Once a minister wants to decide on the promotion or demotion of an official, even if it is the fourth rank or above, it is equivalent to discussing it with himself - before, Hai Rui, the dignified governor of Yingtian, didn't Gao Gong transfer him just because he said he would be transferred?
That's okay! In the eyes of outsiders who don't know the truth, isn't this just "stealing the power and blessings of others to serve oneself"? If this charge is true, then he is a treacherous traitor!
Therefore, in the past six months, Gao Gong has resigned from the post of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs three times in a row. However, the emperor insisted on refusing, so there was nothing he could do. At this time, Gao Gong himself did not know that in history, he had resigned in just two years.
Over the course of more than a year, he formally submitted his resignation to the Ministry of Civil Affairs eight times, but the emperor remained unmoved.
This shows how deeply Longqing believed in Gao Gong.
As the so-called "prophet of spring river water warms ducks", Gao Pragmatic was in Gyeonggi, but he didn't know enough about Gao Gong's power. However, Liang Wuliang County Lord was in the local area, but he had a deeper understanding of the authority of his benevolent prime minister.
So, at noon that day, Gao Pangshi had just followed the Xuanhua Horse Post and crossed the border of Dingxing County when he saw a scene that surprised him.
Originally, he thought that he was "returning to his hometown to prepare for the exam" with a full two hundred cavalry, which was already a huge ostentation. Who would have expected that in terms of ostentation, the local officials would be even more impressive - Liang County Zun was dressed in official uniform and brought Hexian County with him.
Officials, government officials, gentry and elders, as well as extras hired from unknown sources, a total of five or six hundred people, lined up on both sides of the post road to welcome him.
Gao Pragmatic was stunned and dumbfounded.
"What the hell are you doing...I'm really just passing by!" In a voice that could not be heard by outsiders, Gao Shidu, who was well-known in the capital for his literary reputation, cursed without grace while sitting in the carriage.