Although Jia Quan concealed himself very well, Huang Qiong accurately caught his extremely brief absence. I'm afraid that when it comes to relationships, Jia Quan is far from free and easy as he said. There is probably someone in my heart, but the two of them are not suitable for being together for some reason. Thinking of this, Huang Qiong realized that she had paid too little attention to Jia Quan in these years. With such a big living person in front of him, he actually knew nothing about him other than official business, and he was even worse than Lao Li.
Although he feels a little sorry for Jia Quan in his heart, Huang Qiong has become accustomed to it after serving as king for many years. Even if the sky falls, there will be no expression on his face that reveals his true thoughts. No matter how much and deep the guilt in his heart was, Huang Qiong's concern could not be shown on his face. Jia Quan doesn't want to say it himself, I'm afraid this relationship is not simple, or it is simply invisible. Standing up and walking to Jia Quan, Huang Qiong patted his shoulder gently and said, "I admit that I have indeed neglected you in the past few years."
"But I am still the Hejian County King back then, and I have never changed. But you have become no longer like you. These years are really unbearable to look back on. Although the person back then was poor, he still upheld his pride and perseverance. A scholar who is not for sale. Now not only is his pride gone, but also the pride that I have always been thinking about is gone. In the General Affairs Department, why have you been unwilling to talk to me for so many years? Do you know, these Nian, I have been looking forward to you coming over and reaching out to me for something."
"Even if one day you tell me that you want to work abroad and seek a lucrative job abroad, I will not refuse you. Do you know that I have been waiting for you. But you just don't say it. When did the relationship between our monarchs and ministers become like this? Where is the once arrogant scholar in my eyes? I really don’t want you to go to the Western Regions from the bottom of my heart. It’s not that you are not capable enough, but that I can’t let you go. Now everyone is The army and horses are gathering, and there will still be some time before departure. During this time, you can come to see me at any time."
After Huang Qiong finished speaking, Jia Quan sighed: "Your Majesty, time has passed by, and I am no longer the crazy person I was back then. Your Majesty, I am no longer the Hejian County King I was back then. I know that your Majesty still misses me. Because of the old friendship. But the more this happens, the less able the ministers are to go to your majesty. If your majesty reuses me because I am an old minister of Qiandi, then the public will no longer be a public servant. I am not a Jinshi, and I do When we reach the General Administration Department, we have already received enough criticism. How can I go to see His Majesty again?"
"The reason why I insist on going to the Western Regions is not only for the public interest I mentioned, but also for my selfish motives. Ever since I took office as the Secretary of General Affairs, even though His Majesty has openly suppressed me, those dirty villains have not dared to say anything. But privately, because I was not born in the second rank of Jinshi, the criticism has never subsided. I just want to make some achievements in the Western Regions, so as to stop the mouths of everyone in Youyou. Let them see that I am not a Jinshi person. , you may not have real abilities. As long as you are dedicated to serving the public, your background is not that important."
Jia Quan's words were full of humility, but also revealed the arrogance in his bones, making Huang Qiong sigh slightly. In fact, the General Affairs Department of this dynasty has no real power and is only responsible for the various affairs. As well as dealing with the so-called advice to the imperial court from those scholars who passed the imperial examination. Real official memorials are all forwarded by the Zhongshu Ministry of Education. In the Qi Dynasty, you didn't need to be an official to be eligible for the official title. Since the emperor did not have the right to grant special secret documents, local officials could only be qualified for the official title if they were above the third rank.
Central officials can only get discounts if they are above the fourth rank. There is only one special case, that is, all the ways in the world, whether they are divided into guarding ways, patrolling ways, military preparation ways, or grain ways, can all submit memorials. Because these Taoists are all responsible for the specific affairs of one or several governments. Although his position is not high, his powers and responsibilities are quite heavy. Therefore, starting from the reign of Emperor Taizong when Taoist officials were established, all Taoists have the right to go to Zhezi. Because the affairs managed by the various Dao are complex, ranging from punishment to farming, to water conservancy, salt affairs, water transportation, and military preparation.
Even tea horses, and catching thieves and other matters. Although the actual power is not as good as that of the prefect of one place, he is in charge of the affairs of several prefectures, which are complex, numerous and trivial, but are related to the national economy and the people's livelihood. Therefore, when the prefect has no right to go up to Zhezi, all Taoists are given the right to go directly to Tianting. Even the dynasty's right to report rumors, the Taoists are the first batch of authorizers. It is said that because more and more Taoist platforms are being established in the world, the affairs they manage are becoming more and more complicated, and the number of records has increased dramatically. During the reign of Emperor Shizong's Juanzheng, he directly stopped all rights and interests.
But as soon as the old man gained power, he restored Zhezi's rights on the Taoist platform. After Huang Qiong succeeded to the throne, the Daotai Zhezi was transferred to the General Affairs Department, and the Yushitai was added to supervise the censor. However, all matters related to the Taoism are still handled by the General Affairs Department. Because the affairs of the Daoguan are cumbersome, at least in name, they can manage certain specific affairs of several governments. However, actual implementation still depends on local states and counties. The General Affairs Department only handled memorials from the public platform, so it was nicknamed the "Nosy Yamen".
The authority of the General Affairs Department in this dynasty has been greatly reduced in this dynasty. It's not even as good as Dengwen Guyuan, where the people complained to the officials. Jia Quan serves as a right counselor in the General Affairs Department. Apart from handling secret matters for himself, he actually has no real power. But even so, it was still because of his background, and he was not even a civil servant. Therefore, he was attacked by those so-called second-ranking Jinshi who came from the right path in the court. Just as Jia Quan said, on the surface those people did not dare to attack him openly, but privately they were quite repulsive.
At the beginning, Jia Quan chose to go to the General Affairs Department and declined his idea of releasing him, just to avoid suspicion. But he didn't expect that he would still be squeezed out by those real officials. Even his colleagues in the General Affairs Department made concerted efforts to exclude him. Among the officials in Beijing, except for a few people before, he didn't even have anyone to talk to in the capital. Gao Huaiyuan reported to himself more than once that no one had ever visited Jia Quan's mansion, except for a few drinking friends he had made in his early years.
He knew these things, but he never made any changes, waiting for Jia Quan to take the initiative to find him. But he never thought that Jia Quan would endure it for so many years in order not to embarrass himself, the emperor. After all, the imperial court is still dominated by the two-ranked Jinshi. If I really go to war for him, it will shake the core of the imperial court. Even if I knew that he had been wronged, I couldn't help him much. At most, I could only let him go. Thinking of this, Huang Qiong couldn't help but apologize more to Jia Quan.
I even want to understand why Jia Quan went to the Western Regions. Because even if he let him go, before he succeeded to the throne, except for the one given by the Supreme Emperor, who was jokingly called Mrs. Ru in the official circles, and was even born with the same Jinshi status as a good brothel girl, he didn't even have the honor of being a scholar. The only fame he has is that he is a scholar. That is to say, it is put outside. Under the circumstances that the elected officials cannot be the official seal officials and cannot hold the positions above the fourth rank. Even though he was a scholar, he would be ostracized.
Not to mention that his superiors and colleagues who were ranked among the top two scholars would embarrass him. Even those county magistrates, prefecture magistrates, and prefectural magistrates who were elected officials may not pay attention to him. By that time, if you serve a three-year term, let alone have no political achievements, I am afraid that those who evaluate you will do something dirty. If he were to go out, it would be better to stay under his nose in the capital, and maybe he would be less angry. He is not Fan Jian. Although Fan Jian does not have a famous family background, he is the famous Fan family behind him. Ordinary officials would not dare to provoke the Fan family easily.
Even if those officials who were born in the second rank of Jinshi looked down upon Fan Jian, they did not dare to do anything to Fan Jian because they were jealous of the Fan family. What's more, even if his bosses, colleagues, and subordinates crowd out him, the Fan family can still buy him political achievements with money. Fan Jian cannot communicate with gods, but the Fan family's money can. In addition, although the officials of the imperial court have always looked down on Jianghu people, they are not willing to offend those Jianghu people who come and go until they have to. After all, if you really offend those people, you may not even know when your head is lost.
Fan Jian has a huge support from the Fan family behind him. Although he is not from a second-ranking Jinshi or Juren background, he still does his job with great taste. But his family was in decline. If he hadn't taken action himself, Jia Quan might not even have been able to bury his deceased father, so he would be ostracized wherever he went. Those people were able to use various methods to humiliate him even under the eyes of themselves, the emperor. If it is released to the outside world, when the sky is high and the emperor is far away, I am afraid those people will become more unscrupulous and can do anything.
Jia Quan was ruthless, and his methods were no less than those of those people. But how can a person compete with a system? No matter how many tricks he has, he is still unable to defend against him. In ancient and modern times and abroad, for five thousand years, the darkest place is the officialdom. Once those officials get together for a benefit, it will be a bit taboo for the emperor himself, let alone Jia Quan, who is alone and powerful. Jia Quan sees things more clearly than he does and chooses to go outside. Even if he is a fourth-grade prefect, it is better for him to stay in the capital.
And if I really release him to the prefecture, it will break the development of power in order to check and balance the noble families and wealthy families since the founding of the country. In order to win over the scholars, the imperial court established the convention that no matter whether it was Enmeng or the selection of officials, they could not be the fourth-rank palm seal officials. For those civil servants who achieved the rank of Jinshi, it broke the benefits they had enjoyed exclusively for more than a hundred years. This is undoubtedly tantamount to offending the entire civil service system in the DPRK and China. I am afraid that even Fu Yuanshan, Lu Mengzheng and Lu Meng, whom I value highly, cannot accept it.
Compared with the mainland, the Western Region is vast and sparsely populated, and there is even a lack of Han people. Since the Anshi Rebellion in the former Tang Dynasty, the Western Regions fell into the hands of Tubo. Except for caravans on the Silk Road, no Han officials have entered the Western Regions for hundreds of years. Coupled with the long distance, it has always been regarded as a wilderness by officials. From the time he selected that guy to go to the Western Regions, he selected civil servants to follow him to the Western Regions. Even if you are offered a three-year job and are promoted to two levels after completing your term, you will be given priority to be transferred or transferred when there are vacancies. During the period in the Western Regions, there were only a few people who responded to the generous conditions for double salary.
After the recruitment failed, he was forced to appoint himself. Some of those who were selected said on the spot that they were ill and incapable of taking up the job. Some of them gave up on promising a bright future. Some of them directly proposed to become officials. Some people even fainted on the spot after being selected by themselves. Not to mention those who are on the second list of Jinshi, they are unwilling to go to the Western Regions life or death. Even those who select officials, no one wants to go. In order to meet his needs, he has even changed the first choice place for those officials who committed crimes but did not deserve the death penalty in recent years, from Longyou Ningxia Mansion to the Western Regions.
He also issued an edict that if he stayed in the Western Regions for five years, he would be pardoned as a citizen after returning. But even so, some criminal officials actually hanged themselves after learning that they were going to be exiled to the Western Regions. Compared with the mainland, when Jia Quan arrives in the Western Regions, not only will he not be squeezed out, but because of his status as a civil servant, it will be more convenient for him to do things.
