The specific system plan was almost announced, and Su Yonglin talked about some minor things.
Finally, there is the arrangement of titles and honors.
In this regard, Su Yonglin set a rule for the new dynasty.
No title can be granted to any person who has not performed meritorious service in the army, and no title can be granted unless it is for a special purpose.
Civilian officials govern a country, manage the people, and build water conservancy projects. Therefore, the military merits of the country are mainly obtained by generals, and it is difficult for civilian officials to obtain them. This regulation is equivalent to denying most civilian officials from entering the title system in disguise.
This arrangement caused a stir in the minds of civil servants in the administrative system who had been appointed by default.
Due to the characteristics of literati politics in the Song Dynasty, civil servants who achieved a certain level and made certain contributions would be awarded titles. Many famous literati had titles attached to them, which made them very popular.
The Jin Dynasty inherited the Song Dynasty system, and the issue of titles was relatively loose. There were also many civil servants with titles, which almost became a political feature of this period.
But Su Yonglin changed this rule.
He stipulated that no knighthood could be granted except for military merit.
"There was a rule in the Han Dynasty that no one without the surname Liu could be crowned king, and no one could be named a marquis without military merit. In my opinion, this is not meaningless. Soldiers go into battle to kill the enemy and fight with their lives. It is really something worthy of admiration. So I decided to make this a rule."
Su Yonglin explained it this way, but it sounded far-fetched no matter how hard it sounded.
Not only that, Su Yonglin also inherited some of the advantages of the Song Dynasty's title system.
For example, the honorable nature of the title has been greatly reduced, and the taste of nobility has been greatly weakened.
Although there were many titles in the Song Dynasty, and dukes and marquises were everywhere, it seemed that it was easy to grant titles, but in fact, officials received relatively few benefits from their titles.
Some military officers in the Song Dynasty were granted high titles, such as Di Qing, who actually granted titles to 2,100 households, while civil servants had nominal titles of 10,000 households, but the highest number of titles granted was only 1,000 households.
Not to mention the number of titles, the benefits of the title are also greatly reduced. The only benefit is that when the salary is paid, it is equivalent to 25 cents per household. When the salary is paid out together, it feels more like a title given to give more money. Rather than a title of nobility.
Civil servants have it, military officers have it, everyone has it.
However, because most of these titles are lifelong titles for one generation, it is difficult for children to inherit the titles. Therefore, people’s pursuit of titles during this period was not very enthusiastic. In this era, people wrote epitaphs for high officials and listed the titles they had obtained personally. It's written at the end of the title, as if it doesn't matter.
These two points were also inherited by Su Yonglin.
He stipulated that titles in the new dynasty would not be granted world titles, and there would be no such thing as a father's title being inherited by his son.
The only benefit that the title brings to officials is that a household's real estate is converted into twenty-five cents, which is distributed together with the monthly salary.
In fact, a title is equivalent to a title that brings money. With a title, you can get an extra salary. That's it. It has no other meaning, because it does not exist that you can become a noble by becoming a knight.
This is also one of the civilian characteristics of Song and Jin politics.
The appointed civil servants look at me and I look at you. They feel a little dissatisfied with this series of regulations on titles, but they dare not say anything more.
Because of the establishment of the new dynasty, their efforts were really limited, and they were almost able to win. They had no confidence to fight for this benefit against the team of generals who fought hard for the Golden Army to break out of the new dynasty.
So Kong Zheng, Huo Jianbai, Yelu Chenghui and others silently acquiesced to this ending.
As for the generals.
Those were the confidants brought out by Su Yonglin, and they obeyed his orders completely. Even if Su Yonglin did not give him a title, they would not object, let alone now?
The regulations for titles are also very simple. Su Yonglin only has seven titles: Prince, Duke, County Duke, County Marquis, County Count, County Son, and County Male. They are awarded based on merit.
Then there are the honors.
There is no special care for generals due to the honorary rank.
Su Yonglin announced that civil and military officials who have made outstanding contributions will be awarded twelfth-level honors as an additional benefit in addition to their duties and titles.
Compared with titles, civil servants and generals with honors will not gain any more power because of their titles, but their titles can help them fill vacancies first when there are vacancies in their ranks.
This provision has attracted widespread attention and approval from the civil service community.
Compared with knighthoods that simply confer money and symbolic honors, knighthoods appear to be more practical.
In terms of the arrangement of honors, Su Yonglin referred to the honors system of the Sui and Tang Dynasties and set up twelve levels of honors. Civil and military officials all had a twelve-level honors system.
The twelfth-level civil service titles are Shangzhi Guo, Zhu Guo, Zhengzhi Shangqing, Zhengzhi Qing, Zizhiyin, Zizhi Shaoyin, Zanzhiyin, Zanzhi Shaoyin, Xiezhi Shuyin and Xiezheng Shuyin.
The twelfth-level military attaché ranks are Shangzhuguo, Zhuguo, Shanghujun, Hujun, Qingqiduwei, Qingqiduwei, Shangqiduwei, Qiduwei, Xiaoqiwei, Feiqiwei and Yunqiwei. , Wuqiwei.
The first criterion for obtaining an honorary rank is to start an official position, starting from the fifth rank for civil servants and the sixth rank for military attachés.
The second is the visible achievements in running the country and running the army.
So Su Yonglin awarded a number of titles and honors to the current senior civil servants and military generals.
For example, Zhao Zuoliang became the only holder of a civil official Zhuguo and a civil official title, and was named the Duke of Linyi County.
Subsequently, a number of civil servants were awarded titles below the rank of Zhengzhiqing, and no civil servants ever received titles again.
As for the ranks of military generals, the commanders of the five major corps were all awarded the title of Zhuguo. Later, mid-level and high-level honors such as the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Guard were also awarded to officers who had made meritorious services.
In terms of titles, the commanders of the five major corps were uniformly awarded the title of Founding County Duke, and most of them had titles such as County Marquis, County Count, etc.
Because of their outstanding meritorious service, military generals received far more honors than civilian officials, not to mention their titles.
The civil servants were not very happy about the fact that it was difficult for them to obtain the title, but they still accepted the compensation of being able to obtain the title.
Basically, the national new system planning meeting ends here.
After this closed-door meeting, the rules and regulations of the new dynasty were all in full view. Everyone had different opinions, especially the civil servants. After the meeting, what they generally felt was Su Yonglin's absolute confidence in himself and his power. Desire and control.
In all senses, they are pessimistic about the political rules of the new dynasty in the future and feel that this is not a good thing for their subjects.
But this is definitely a good thing for the new dynasty.
But Su Yonglin took advantage of this God-given opportunity to radically eliminate some of the stubborn diseases that had persisted through the ages.
He cut off the existence and expenditure of many redundant officials, cut off the expenditure on many titles, and cut off many unreasonable rules and regulations, saving the court a lot of money.
He eliminated the Song Dynasty's system problems of redundant officials and soldiers, allowing the new dynasty to march lightly and make great strides forward, laying a financial foundation for further changes in the future.
This secret meeting determined the political and military structure of the new dynasty in advance. Although there are still many things that have not been confirmed and there are some things that are worrying, overall, the results of this meeting are gratifying.
Su Yonglin is determined to proclaim himself emperor, and the political and military powers of the new dynasty have been divided. Next, it is time to wait quietly for the day when Su Yonglin officially decides to proclaim himself emperor.
and the name of the new country that has yet to be decided.
On September 14, after the secret closed-door meeting, Su Yonglin formally held an enlarged meeting of the General Affairs Bureau.
He called all the leading officials of the General Affairs Bureau, large and small, to a meeting and publicly announced to them his preparations to proclaim himself emperor and the new country and new system.
Of course, it still surprises people who have never known the inside story.
For example, the provincial system, the judicial independence system, the new title system, and the reality that the personnel power is completely controlled by Su Yonglin.
But when they found that their Shangguan was unanimously supporting Su Yonglin and no Shangguan raised any objections, they understood that the real State Council meeting was over.
They came for an informing meeting, not a consultative meeting.
As long as they accept this ending and wait for the judgment of fate, nothing else matters.
Now that things have come to this, what else can be done?
With the sense of loss of not being able to join the group of senior officials of the new dynasty, and with the disappointment of not gaining the true trust of Su Yonglin, they began to look forward to the arrival of a new future.
At this meeting, in addition to announcing what had been decided before and unifying everyone's understanding, Su Yonglin also decided to launch the name of the new country - this issue is a very important issue, it is a symbol of a country and must be solemn.
So a series of future high-ranking officials and dignitaries gathered together to express their opinions on the future national title.
Everyone expressed their opinions and vowed to choose a high-end and classy national title for the new dynasty.
