The setting up of the Dengwen drum may be traced back to the era of Yao, Shun and Yu. In the Zhou Dynasty, it was clearly recorded in "Zhou Rites".
'Build a road and drum outside the gate of the big dormitory, and take charge of its affairs, waiting for the poor and the wise orders. When they hear the sound of the drum, they will quickly rebel against the imperial servants and imperial concubines. '
That is to say, four large drums were set up outside the palace gate, under the charge of the imperial servant (one of the nine ministers), and the imperial servants and the twelve imperial concubines were sent to take turns on duty.
Later, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Han Dynasty, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties all inherited this system.
The Song Dynasty inherited the system of the Tang Dynasty, and naturally set up the Dengwen Drum at the beginning of the founding of the country. However, unlike the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty set up a special agency to manage the Dengwen Drum.
That is to say, go to Wenguyuan.
At first, in addition to the two judges, Dengwen Drum Court also had internal servants working as supervisors.
However, during the Zhenzong period, chamberlains gradually withdrew from Denwen Drum Court, and were only judged as official court officials (eighth rank or above with postal rank) or Qingjian (sixth rank).
Today, Zhou Qi's salary official is Taichang Shaoqing (sixth grade), and he also has the title of direct bachelor of Longtuge.
From a purely procedural point of view, it is reasonable for Zhou Qi to serve as the judge of Wenguyuan.
But considering Zhou Qi's previous experience, this appointment is somewhat unreasonable.
However, if others learn that Li Jie intends to expand the responsibilities of Denwen Drum Academy, then this assignment will be very suitable.
The most obvious label on Zhou Qi is that he is responsible for his duties as an official and can make good judgments. During the period when he was sentenced to the prison department and had the power to inform the Kaifeng Mansion, he cleared the grievances of countless people.
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There is almost no misjudgment in any case that passes through his hands.
Li Jie was very relieved that a person who was so conscientious and able to judge and judge was responsible for the Wenguyuan.
In Li Jie’s vision, Dengwen Drum Court will eventually become an institution similar to the intermediate court and the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Commission.
If the chief official is a weakling, or if the chief official himself is not clean, then even if the responsibilities of Denwen Drum Academy are expanded, it will still become a mere formality.
Bao Ci Hall.
Li Jie came to Baoci Hall to pay his respects as usual. When he came, it was dinner time, so he stayed at Baoci Hall and had dinner with Liu E.
After the meal, the topic of the two of them naturally turned to the imperial examination.
Immediately afterwards, the two of them chatted about Zhou Qi.
Liu E still had a deep impression of Zhou Qi.
In the third year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1010), Li gave birth to a prince. On that day, Zhou Qi happened to be performing something in the palace. Zhenzong, who was delighted with Lin'er, promoted Zhou Qi directly with a wave of his hand.
From Ren Zhou, he was appointed to the Third Class Court of Activities and concurrently to the Court of Sentence and Public Security Examination.
(The Procuratorate is an institution derived from the Procuratorate system. It is responsible for accepting cases that the Procuratorate should have accepted but did not. It is somewhat similar to the current Procuratorate.)
By coincidence, more than ten years later, Zhou Qi once again became the chief of Dengwen Drum Academy.
Moreover, Zhou Qi was also the organizer of the imperial examination for this subject.
With all these things, it was difficult for Liu E not to be impressed.
"Brother Six, I have an impression of Zhou Qi. If he is allowed to stay in Denwen Drum Courtyard, is he overqualified?"
Seeing Liu E talking about Dengwen Drum Courtyard, Li Jie thought for a while and decided that instead of being mysterious, it would be better to inform Liu E of the plan in advance.
"Actually, it should be just the right time for him to take charge."
"Madam, I want to set up subordinate institutions of Denwen Drum Yuan in Xijing (Luoyang) and Nanjing (Shangqiu, Henan) first."
"It will be decided by the Beijing officials."
"Then, when the time is right, it will be implemented in all states and capitals across the country."
Hearing this, Liu E couldn't help but feel his scalp numb.
Implemented in every state capital across the country?
There are more than 200 state capitals in the Song Dynasty. Taking the Dengwen Drum Courtyard in the capital as an example, the Dengwen Drum Courtyard must have at least two supervisors, a number of scribes, dozens of other staff, and dozens of miscellaneous affairs.
Even if the number of people attending Wenguyuan in each state capital is reduced, there will still be at least twenty people in each place receiving envoy money.
Based on this calculation, at least three to four thousand people would be needed to spread across the country.
The final number will only be more, not less.
The envoy money for three to four thousand people is not a small amount. Can the imperial government's finances afford it?
"Madam, which one do you think is more harmful, corrupt officials, mediocre officials or redundant officials?"
When Liu E heard this, she was immediately in a dilemma.
Which one is more harmful?
Her first thought was naturally about redundant officials. After all, countless ministers in the court had stated the dangers of redundant officials. If she listened too often, she would naturally be affected.
But when I think about it more carefully, I feel like I'm not sure.
The harm of redundant officials is great, but isn’t the harm of corrupt officials also great?
An incident that happened during the reign of Dazhong Xiangfu still left a deep impression on Liu E even after more than ten years.
After raiding a small place in Zhizhou, more than 100,000 yuan in cash was seized from his home.
This is just cash!
Many state governments don’t pay this much tax in a year.
If you include land, real estate and other assets, the figures are even more shocking.
On that occasion, the late emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation.
Afterwards, although another group of corrupt officials were discovered, the amount of property confiscated was far less than that of the original person.
Even if everyone is tied together, they will still be inferior to each other.
After a while, Liu E had an answer in her heart.
Corrupt officials are more harmful.
Taking that prisoner as an example, how many officials can be supported with a family fortune of several hundred thousand guan?
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Now Liu E has long passed the stage of innocence. Greed is a great desire of human beings. As long as corruption cannot be eliminated, corrupt officials cannot be completely eliminated.
There are more than 200 state capitals in the world, how many corrupt officials are hidden among them?
Moreover, compared to corrupt officials, corrupt officials are more harmful. Corrupt officials can only be corrupt for a short time, while those officials are basically tenured for life.
Not only that, officials can also pass down family traditions.
Although the amount of corruption committed by officials is far less than that of chief officials, the amount of corruption accumulated by officials is still high. If all the officials across the country are counted together, the number will definitely not be small.
Many popular riots were triggered by this type of people.
After thinking about this, Liu E also understood Li Jie's intention to expand the Dengwen Drum Courtyard.
Although this cannot completely eliminate corruption, the benefits of reducing one corrupt official are far higher than the benefits of maintaining a Dengwenguyuan.
If a corrupt official's house is confiscated, he can at least support the people of Denwenguyuan for a year.
If you think about it this way, there is no need to worry about redundancy.
However, Dengwen Guyuan must not be solely responsible for things like confiscating homes. Otherwise, it would not be the country that would be fat, but the chief official of Dengwen Drum Yuan.
"I already know what Sixth Brother means."
After pondering for a moment, Liu E suggested: "Before the Jingde period, Dengwen Drum Courtyard would often have a 'supervisor of Dengwen Drum Courtyard Gate', and this post would be filled by the chamberlain."
"Nowadays, chamberlains no longer work part-time. If Brother Six wants to implement it, he may be able to reinstate this system."
Compared with the ministers of the outer dynasty, Liu E naturally trusted the ministers in the palace more.
Not just her, most emperors in the past dynasties were like this.
