The Qingli New Deal was successfully passed by the Constitutional Yuan. A few days later, at the morning parliament on February 7, Fan Zhongyan formally presented his examination method and proposed it at the parliament.
Unexpectedly, there were very few opponents. With the support of the Constitutional Yuan, Zhao Zhen successfully accepted the birth of the Kao Cheng Law.
Fan Zhongyan was very surprised at that time. He did not expect that the law would be promulgated so easily after passing the test.
He thought he would be opposed by the Manchu ministers.
After analyzing it with Zhao Jun afterwards, I realized that it was because the officials didn't know how powerful the imperial examination was, so naturally they didn't have the guts to offend Lao Fan, a great hero who had just finished the war.
Including historically, there was not much resistance when the Qingli New Deal was first implemented.
After half a year, that is, in October 1043 AD, the Qingli New Deal began. In April 1044 AD, after the implementation of the New Deal, the number of favors decreased and the scrutiny became stricter. Those who wanted to get lucky felt deeply inconvenienced, so they slandered the New Deal. Gradually increase.
There was also Wang Anshi's reform. It was also about a year after the promulgation of the law that conservatives found that the reform violated their interests, and then the "old and new party disputes" emerged.
In other words, the issuance of a new decree by the imperial court will not be greatly hindered.
Only after the decree was issued and started to be implemented, those whose interests were harmed found that this decree made them feel that their interests were harmed, so they began to resist, continue to engage in party disputes, and undermine the achievements of the reform.
The reform has just begun, and everyone still doesn't know what it means to pass the exam, so the opposition will naturally not make any trouble.
So the test method was successfully issued.
Jinzouyuan quickly conveyed the new regulations to officials across the country in just one month, ordering them to complete their assigned duties every month. From now on, starting from two months later, they will be required to complete their duties every month. Check the performance once.
The first two months of the promulgation of the Examination Law went very smoothly. In order to give officials time to adapt, the court deliberately promulgated it in early February, and then in late May, the assessment phase officially began.
After all, transportation was inconvenient in ancient times, and it would take a month just to convey the court's intentions to officials across the country.
It will take about a month or two for officials to understand the meaning of the examination and let them adapt to the new working conditions.
Otherwise, it would be too outrageous to immediately conduct verification as soon as it is promulgated. It is estimated that at least most of the more than 40,000 officials in the country will be eliminated.
So give officials some tolerance.
And this means that officials across the country are actually given a minimum of two and a half months to adapt. Officials closer to Bianliang, who were quickly conveyed the new policy, even have a three and a half month adaptation period.
This gave the officials enough time. If they could not adapt to such circumstances and were dismissed from the first batch of assessments, it would naturally not be the court's problem.
Everything went smoothly during the adaptation period. Soon after a month, officials across the country basically understood the situation, and the orders from above were passed on from level to level.
Officials from the imperial court instruct road-level officials on the tasks to be completed every month, what tasks they are required to do and how to deal with things. The road-level officials then pass this idea on to the state, and the state then passes it on to the county.
As a result, the officialdom of the Song Dynasty quickly entered a working state after one month, which greatly improved the previous situation where officials had unclear superiors and subordinates, confused responsibilities and did not know what they should do, and the efficiency of government affairs was slow. Many local officials even received orders every day. The current situation where wages do not work.
certainly.
There must be some officials who do not take the New Deal seriously at all and continue to go their own way.
Anyway, the court only gave them two or three months, and the opportunity was given to them. If they couldn't seize it, no one would be blamed.
So before the assessment officially started, everything was calm.
But the results are obvious.
At least the officials of the central court are indeed much more efficient than before, and the operation speed of various departments is also quite effective.
After all, the lower roads, prefectures, and counties are assessed every month, and are inspected once a month by superiors and subordinates as well as the Yushi Department.
The official censorship desk and the inspection departments of various institutions on the imperial court are around, watching every day. Even if there are no records and verifications, the pressure will naturally be put on many officials.
Under the influence of this trend, even the officials did not dare to go to prostitutes.
In the Song Dynasty, officials were actually prohibited from having prostitutes, but everyone knew that this law was in vain, and Su Shi often had prostitutes.
Zhao Jun, an elective course in the History Department of Renmin University of China, said in "The History of Prostitution in China": Although prostitution was prohibited in the Song Dynasty, the practice was even worse than in the Tang Dynasty. You can know how powerful the practice of officials and prostitutes was at that time.
But now the imperial court is cracking down hard. Although the stick has been raised but has not yet fallen, the officials in the capital are well-informed and know that the imperial court is serious about it, so they have restrained themselves a lot.
Anyway, you can't have sex with prostitutes, but you can play with concubines. There is no need to commit crimes against the wind.
For a time, the atmosphere in Bianliang was very good.
Officials at all levels are in good order, and Bianliang's public security, business environment, people's lives and all aspects are much better.
And amidst all this going well, Zhao Jun formally proposed marriage to Cao Mansion in February of the Qingli year.
After more than a month of tedious procedures such as three letters and six etiquettes, we finally decided on a formal wedding date in April and welcomed the bride in May.
On May 6th, an auspicious day, Zhao Jun's mansion was quite lively.
He still lived in the small courtyard outside Xihua Gate. Since the place was not spacious, he rented the Xiangding Building on the same street as a venue for banquets with colleagues.
There was also a small banquet at my home.
The main guests at the banquet were people with relatively good connections, such as colleagues from the Constitutional Yuan, as well as Di Qing, Cao Xiu, Wang Su, Yang Cha, Yang Gao, Zhao Pian, Chen Xiliang, Bao Zheng and other more appreciated subordinates.
Zhao Jun didn't have many friends in the Song Dynasty, including Fan Zhongyan and Yan Shu. As for Lu Yijian, they were actually friends and enemies. The rest, Wang Zeng and others, were half colleagues and half friends. After all, the age gap between the two parties was too big to establish a relationship. close.
As for the one with the best relationship, it is undoubtedly Zhao Zhen.
Zhao Zhen strongly requested to leave the palace to attend the wedding, on the grounds that Zhao Jun had no relatives, and as Zhao Jun's collateral ancestor, he should replace Zhao Jun's parents as the male elder.
certainly.
This reason was given to the Constitutional Yuan, and the external reason was that Zhao Jun was an important minister that he relied on, and he paid attention to his wedding.
But it was a big deal for the emperor to leave the palace, so the court was in commotion for several days and tried to dissuade him.
In the end, it was Empress Cao who took the initiative, and the imperial guards sealed Qingtai Street for about an hour in the evening when the wedding was taking place. The emperor and empress came to the venue to participate in the ceremony.
Anyway, Qingtai Street is right outside Xihua Gate, just after leaving the palace, and most of the street shops are closed in the evening.
Although this is still a bit ostentatious and a waste of money, the cost is not as high as going out of the city.
At 4 o'clock in the morning, the Zhao Mansion was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and a few tables were set up in the small courtyard outside. The guests had not arrived yet, so now the main task was to decorate the venue.
Because the wedding ceremony at that time was not called a wedding, but called a dusk ceremony, which was held in the evening.
Therefore, we often see that the wedding ceremony scenes in TV dramas are all at night, and the banquet must be prepared during the day.
Xiangdinglou has been taken over, and ingredients are being prepared now.
Zhao Jun's mansion was assigned a royal chef from the palace, and the standards were still very high.
By the afternoon, Zhao Jun was wearing a red robe, whose scientific name is Zhanjiaofutou, round-collar official robe, short shirt, trousers, long shirt, leather belt, black leather boots, similar to Zhao Zhen's dragon robe. Quite dazzling.
Surrounded by Cao Xiu, Di Qing and other Imperial Guardsmen, he mounted a tall horse, took the betrothal gifts in large and small packages, and headed towards Cao Mansion in a mighty way.
The Cao Mansion was also very busy early in the morning. Not only did they have to prepare the dowry, Cao Miaoxin also had to put on a dress and look beautiful.
Unlike later generations who thought that ancient weddings wore phoenix crowns and harems, wedding attires were different in different dynasties.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the bride's clothing was mainly black, but by the end of the Han Dynasty, it gradually evolved into black and red. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the clothing became white. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it turned cyan again.
At that time, there was a saying that "the flower hairpin is green and the clothes are connected to the clothes, and the green clothes and leather are worn with sandals".
The Song Dynasty inherited more of the Tang Dynasty, and the bride also wore a green dress. She was required to wear a "long-sleeved dress, blue quality, plain gauze singlet, knee coverings, large belts, leather belts, shoes of the same color as the dress, flower hairpins, and hairpins" , the two temples are adorned with gold, silver and miscellaneous treasures."
It was not until the Ming and Qing Dynasties that Fengguan Xiapei began to be used.
Because the dressing style of the Tang and Song Dynasties was relatively cumbersome, Cao Miaoxin spent a whole morning dressing up at home. By noon, he had not eaten anything, so the maid made a plate of pastries.
In the afternoon, Zhao Jun came to greet the bride, and Cao Cong, as the only living elder of the Cao family, came out to greet him personally.
The two parties saw the gift, and the guards moved the betrothal gifts in box by box.
Zhao Jun is actually quite poor. Even though he travels around the world and confiscates homes, many high-ranking officials have a lot of money, all of which he has pocketed.
But most of them were handed over to the treasury by him to support the wars against Xixia and Liao.
The rest was put into the funds of the Imperial City Department.
Nowadays, the Imperial City Division has spread all over the country, selecting elite soldiers to serve as guards. Tens of thousands of them have gone to various roads, states, and counties across the country to establish strongholds.
These all cost money like water.
The officials objected to funds coming from the treasury, and Zhao Jun was too lazy to argue with them and raised funds himself.
For example, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has established many state-owned enterprises in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Nantong and other places to establish trade with Japan's Koryo. The money earned is not only used for enterprise development, but also turned over to internal funds to support the construction of the Imperial City. .
So he didn't have much money on hand. After all, he could feed himself and the whole family was not hungry, and his expenses were not large. The salary he paid every year would either help the poor or give money to the treasurer of the imperial city.
However, he has many valuable antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and treasures on hand.
It's not that they came from corruption. Most of them were gifts from Zhao Zhen, and some of them were gifts from Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng. It's not a problem to calculate that the value exceeds one million yuan.
Therefore, although he didn't have much money, giving these things was more prestigious than giving money directly.
At this moment, guests from inside and outside the Cao Mansion gathered and came to congratulate them. They wanted to have a meal at the Cao Mansion at noon. The officials heard the praises being sung continuously: "Han Gan's "Royal Horse Picture"!"
"A jade crystal coral from the South China Sea!"
"A gilded jade Buddha in the Nanliang Palace!"
"Three letters written by Yan Zhenqing!"
"Ten pounds of dragon and phoenix tea!"
．
Guests from all walks of life were shocked.
What a family.
Is this priceless thing a betrothal gift?
Zhiyuan is really generous.
Only Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others who were sitting on the main seats looked at each other.
With tears in my eyes, tears fell like rain, and I fainted in the toilet.
Those are their treasures!
It’s all a bitch.
But obviously Zhao Jun didn't bother to care about them.
Cao Cong happily welcomed Zhao Jun in and held a welcoming ceremony.
By the end of Shenshi, when the guests had almost eaten and the ceremony was over, the bride was carried out and sat on the sedan chair.
At this time, there was a lot of excitement inside and outside Cao's mansion, and neighbors from all walks of life came over to ask for money.
The servants of the Cao family kept waving red envelopes and throwing out copper coins, which everyone robbed.
Firecrackers lit up instantly.
"Crack!" "Dong-dong-dong-dong!" "Doo-doo-doo!" "Didi-dip-dip-dip!"
Various suonas, gongs, drums, and flutes play cheerful music.
Many relatives, friends, and officials who came to congratulate also went out one after another. The senior officials took carriages and sedan chairs, and the junior officials walked toward Qingtai Street.
At this moment, Qingtai Street has been closed. Every household in Zhao Jun has given a certain amount of red envelopes as compensation, and Xiangding Tower has prepared sumptuous food.
Most of the officials were welcomed into Xiangding Tower for dinner.
Zhao Jun was still riding on his horse and took the bride back to his small courtyard.
Although the yard is small, it feels like home.
After getting off the sedan, the music officials and servants stood outside the sedan and sang a poem about stopping the sedan.
The maid next to Cao Miaoxin handed out the red envelopes.
Then many children from the surrounding neighbors swarmed up and clamored for red envelopes.
The maid also immediately threw out a large amount of copper coins.
At that time, this was called "blocking the door to celebrate", "throwing beans" and "seeking good luck".
After finally getting off the sedan, Zhao Jun went up and took Cao Miaoxin's hand. In an instant, Cao Miaoxin's cheeks turned crimson.
After all, people in the Song Dynasty did not wear red headscarves when getting married, so Cao Miaoxin was particularly shy at the time.
But feeling Zhao Jun's warm hand, she quickly and unconsciously leaned against it.
Two people entered the house.
This process is called entering the hall, and bowing to both parents is called worshiping the hall.
At this moment, Wang Shouzhong shouted: "Your Majesty is here!"
As a group of forbidden troops from Ulala came, separating the crowd of ordinary people watching the excitement, a wide and tall carriage slowly stopped at the entrance of Zhao Mansion.
Cao Cong, Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and other senior officials rushed to greet him.
Zhao Zhen got off the carriage with Queen Cao, looked around, and said with a smile: "I'm not too late."
"It's just the right time."
Cao Cong smiled and said: "I am about to pay my respects now."
"Then hurry up."
Zhao Zhen pulled Queen Cao and urged her to enter the house.
After a while, Zhao Zhen and Queen Cao, as well as Cao Cong and Cao Miaoxin's mother, Mrs. Shen, sat down on the left and right together.
no way.
Zhao Zhen is an ancestral member of Zhao Jun.
Cao Miaoxin's father, Cao Wei, died early, so naturally he had to be replaced by his uncle.
It's getting dark.
The singer shouted loudly: "The bride and groom enter the hall!"
Zhao Jun pulled Cao Miaoxin into the hall.
"Worship heaven and earth!"
the ceremonial officer shouted.
The two of them knelt down and worshiped outside the hall.
"Two thanks to Gaotang!"
The two kowtowed to Zhao Zhen, Cao Cong and the others.
"Couple greetings!"
The two of them bowed to each other.
"Send it to the bridal chamber!"
After the last shout, the two of them were escorted into the bedroom.
The bedrooms were naturally rearranged.
There are ceremonial female officials who perform the rituals of "laying tents" and "closing buns" for them.
Then Cao Miaoxin sat in the bedroom. After Zhao Jun confessed to him, he went out to accompany the guests.
During this process, Cao Miaoxin was accompanied by female officials and maids.
Zhao Jun is going to toast Zhao Zhen and the others.
At the banquet, Zhao Zhen was very happy. With a wave of his hand, he gave Zhao Jun a period of time to get married. The whole wedding was concluded successfully.
(End of chapter)
