Chapter 439 Official Status
On New Year's Eve, a banquet was about to end in Shao Mansion outside Xuchang City.
Most of the participants were young people below the age of a weakling. To be more precise, they were mostly fledgling student soldiers between the ages of fifteen and twenty.
Some "seniors" who have graduated many years ago also participated. Everyone sat together, and they were relatively reserved at first. After drinking too much, the distance immediately became closer.
Jin Zheng drank too much, and when he became interested, he took off his clothes, pointed at the scar on his body, and said with a big tongue: "If this scar is a little crooked, I will die. I don't know who stabbed it. This one should have been injured in the battle of Zhemati. The armor leaf fell off and was shot by an arrow. Uh-"
Jin Zheng burped and cursed: "I don’t know which grandson shot him. He shot Aweng with an arrow, but he didn't feel any pain at the time. After the battle, he found that he was in terrible pain."
Everyone burst into laughter. After laughing, they looked at Jin Zheng with admiration.
"Jin San, you went crazy as soon as Master Shao left. If you don't say a few words, you will die!" Lu Rong said with an unhappy look on his face.
"Lu Heigou, what are you barking at?" Jin Zheng said angrily as he slapped the table.
Lu Rong’s veins were exposed on his forehead and he was glaring angrily.
As part of the same group of student soldiers, and all from Donghai, Lu Rong was wounded by Shi Le's tribe in the Battle of Dongwuyang, and his promising future was ruined. Now he is living in Ye County as the county magistrate, full of gloom, hearing Jin San's insistence I couldn't bear the bragging, so I scolded him a few times.
Jin San drank too much, but he also had a bad temper. He yelled back, allowing Lu Rong to break his defense directly.
No one dares to call him "Lu Heigou" now, but Jin San shouted it in front of all the juniors, which is really unbearable.
However, after a year of hard work in the officialdom, he was no longer the young boy he was before. After suppressing his anger, he calmly said: "Jin San, I heard that when you were competing for the position of Zuoying Governor, you and Wang Que'er..."
"Bang!" Jin San suddenly stood up, his fierce look revealed, and just as he was about to step forward to teach Lu Rong a lesson, someone suddenly kicked him in the crook of his leg.
Jin San was furious, turned around, and was about to take action, but immediately gave up.
Shao Xun came back from going to the toilet and changed his clothes. He saw Jin San acting violently. He was annoyed on the spot and slapped him directly on the ear and neck and said: "Go back to your seat."
" "No." Jin San smiled, his anger completely gone, and he sat back dejectedly.
“You guys!” Shao Xun gave a wry smile and said, “In the past when I was in Pan Yuan, I brought you up one by one and taught you skills and knowledge. I didn’t let you be a gangster.”< br>
Jin San lowered his head in shame.
Lu Rong's expression changed, and he stood up and said, "Master Shao's teachings should be kept in mind by students. It's my fault today."
Shao Xun looked at Jin Zheng again.
Jin Zheng secretly cursed Lu Heigou, stood up and said: "I was drunk and caused trouble today, and I hope Master Shao will punish me."
Shao Xun looked at Jin Zheng and said nothing.
Jin Zheng felt a little unnatural and didn't know what the problem was.
Shao Xun sighed and said, "Sit down and just listen."
Jin Zheng sat down in fear.
Gathering with students today, Shao Xun drank a lot of wine. At this time, he was drunk, and he was not so cautious when he spoke: "Do you know what are the ways to become an official?"
Everyone stopped and looked at each other.
Shao Xun did not wait for their reply, and said to himself: "There are about six or seven ways, but none of them use military merit as a way to advance. Besides, becoming an official also depends on appearance, demeanor, family status, etc. Wait, it’s even more difficult.”
"The Silver Spear Army went into battle and fought hard and made great achievements. I made all kinds of efforts and made many efforts, but I can only make a small number of people become officials, and they are all minor officials of the eighth or ninth grade. Is it easy?"
"Besides, there are often not so many official positions left for you. Have you ever planted turnips? Every turnip is a pit, and a civil servant is also a pit."
"There are tens of thousands of official positions in the world, most of them are They are all ministerial officers. Even scholars may not be able to wait until they are available immediately, let alone you."
"It is very difficult, even impossible, for you to become an official. "
"Are you sad? Why do some people go out and have fun all day long, but they have a prosperous career? Promoted? "
"Don't you know that this can't go on? Why do you want to try your best to win over others?"
"Because they have culture, property, and tribes. . Although many of their disciples are useless, there are also many who are capable; they have private armies that can make weapons and raise horses; they know the past and present and know how to govern the place, instead of just messing around. "
"Tell me, can you do without them?"
After Shao Xun finished speaking, he picked up the wine bottle and drank it all.
The students sat in silence, thinking quietly.
Who doesn’t want to be an official? Who doesn't want to be rich? Who doesn’t want to honor their ancestors?
Master Shao pointed out the naked reality, causing everyone to feel an unspeakable emotion.
If you kill the enemy and perform meritorious service on the battlefield, you can only get some money and silk as a reward.
This is because Master Shao loves his soldiers as much as his sons, never withholding rewards, and has also established a salary field system for lower-level officers. The leader level can receive an income of fifty acres of land.
Since the establishment of Shitian, more than 7,000 sergeants have received pensions - they previously received 20 hu of dendrobium per year, but from next year they will receive 24 hu of dendrobium.
Such favorable conditions allowed the Silver Spear sergeants, who had never had a good life, to burst out with strong combat effectiveness, defeating the enemy and defeating thieves many times.
But he is now telling everyone that your room for advancement is extremely narrow and you must compete with scholars for limited official positions, and the competition is very small. These are still troubled times, and some people at the bottom can rise to the top with their military exploits, but behind these lucky ones are warriors who have dozens or even hundreds of times their military exploits, but have no way to get promoted.
If it were a peaceful and prosperous age, the opportunities for people at the bottom would be even smaller, because the system will not protect your interests.
If you want to get ahead, there may be only one way: let the court clearly write down in black and white what kind of official you can be based on what kind of military exploits.
"Have you figured it out?" Shao Xun asked after finishing his drink and looking at everyone.
"Master Shao, the official system is the foundation of the imperial court, is it not easy to change?" asked Mao Bang, a minister in the shogunate.
Shao Xun did not answer, just looked at everyone.
“Don’t think about it.” Lu Rong shook his head and said, “After serving as an official in Ye County for one year, I finally understood that the imperial court relies too much on the gentry and it cannot be changed.”
Only after getting involved in officialdom can you have a profound understanding.
Lu Rong understood that his county magistrate was obtained by Master Shao for him.
First of all, not just anyone can become a Imperial College student. Once he became an imperial student, he was qualified to be an official.
Secondly, it is impossible for the vast majority of Tai students to become officials based solely on their qualifications as a Tai student, and it is even more difficult for the county magistrate to fall on someone without family background.
Finally, if Master Shao no longer takes care of him, county magistrate will be the end of his life, and promotion will be impossible.
"If the imperial court refuses, just press the emperor's head to make him agree." Jin Zheng had a bad temper and said directly: "If it doesn't work, just establish a new imperial court and a new official system."
"Can you govern the place? ?" Mao Bang turned his head, looked at Jin Zheng, and asked.
"Mao Er, who are you speaking for?" Jin Zheng said angrily.
"I'm telling the truth." Mao Bang said: "Things in the world are extremely complicated, and you can't just do whatever you want."
"Mao Er, do you feel that you should You already have a family background to be a Zhonglang?" Jin Zheng sneered: "Do scholars think highly of you? I heard that you have a lot of contacts with the Yingchuan noble clan. Why do you think you are a scholar?" >
Mao Bang blushed and secretly regretted talking to such a reckless man as Jin Zheng.
"Mao Er——" Jin Zheng didn't let him go, but was interrupted by Shao Xun.
“That’s enough!” Shao Xun slapped the table and said, “I didn’t listen to what I just said. The Silver Spear Army has only twenty-four buildings and more than 14,000 generals so far. Are you taking the people of the world seriously? You know that if you keep fighting, it will be impossible for you to stand up."
"Master Shao, I..." Jin Zheng said calmly.
"Master Shao, I'll listen to you." Mao Bang said with his hands in hand.
Shao Xun nodded, stood up, and said: "The world's affairs are more important than moderation. It is definitely not possible for scholars to control the career path, but as Mao Er said, it is not possible to abandon them. You don't need to be stubborn. In the past ten years, Liang County Martial Arts also provided me with four to five hundred students who took the literary route, but most of them were only qualified as shogunate clerks, military scribes, public servants, and county officials. They were talented enough to serve as county officials. There are not many. Moreover, they lack local connections and are only suitable to serve as officials in Chenjun, Nanton, Xincai, and Xiangcheng. I think it will be difficult to get things done. ”
In this era of forts and manors everywhere, it is really difficult to be an official without connections.
Places with many farmers are better off. This is the main reason why the student soldiers mentioned by Shao Xun can only go to the four counties of Xiangcheng to serve as officials.
In short, scholars have too many advantages as local officials. The knowledge they possess is only part of the knowledge. Personal connections and relationships may be more important, especially the old families that have been in the local area for more than a hundred years.
Shao Xun now only relies on the four counties of Xiangcheng and more than 20 counties in Luonan to subdue the many other counties controlled by scholars, typically small and large.
To put it bluntly, without the external pressure brought by Liu Han, he would not have been able to make the scholars compromise so easily.
The Huns were too unscrupulous in their behavior, and coupled with the geographical differences, the Henan nobles decided to cooperate with Shao Xun "tolerance for the sake of the country" after waiting and watching for a long time.
This is the essence of his separatist regime, and marrying Yu Wenjun as his wife is the result of this essence.
He has always had a very clear understanding of this.
The first-mover advantage of the gentry is too great. It has been accumulated for one or two hundred years. Since the troubled times, the number of farmers has been decreasing day by day. The absolute power of the gentry has indeed declined, but the relative strength has actually increased, showing an upward trend. .
If Shao Xun does not want to become the "alliance leader" promoted by the nobles, he must find a way to expand his base.
It is good to gain more strength for the basic market, which means that his bargaining power has been improved.
"Relying solely on the literary students to take care of my place is too rugged and may not work." Shao Xun looked at the students and continued: "We still have to develop both civil and military skills, but You must first unite and not allow internal rifts to be made fun of by outsiders. When the time comes, I will ask the imperial court to appoint honorary officers, the highest of which will be the "Shangzhu Kingdom", with a rank higher than that of a second-rank official. . ”
“Anyone with meritorious service in the Silver Spear, Fu Bing, and Tuntian armies can be promoted. We will discuss whether you have a position or not. I will first get you an official status so that you will not be looked down upon. ”
Speaking of this, he looked at Mao Bang.
Mao Bang understood and asked: "Master Shao, what if the court disagrees?"
Shao Xun smiled and said nothing.
Students, you look at me and I look at you. The atmosphere was a little subtle for a while.
The struggle for interests is a matter of life and death. There is nothing more to say.
Master Shao is seeking benefits for everyone, fighting for benefits, just unite around him and do it!
"What I said today should not be passed on to anyone else." After seeing everyone's expressions, Shao Xun laughed and said, "Come on, let's continue the banquet."
(End of this chapter)