I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 1: Apprentice Censor, suspected of being a prostitute

"I, Su Jingming, am a prostitute?"

Su Liang was holding a freshly written folk tabloid in his hand, feeling a little confused.

"The imperial censor, Zhongcheng Wang Gongchen, and the supervisory censor Liu Yuanyu jointly impeached. Su Shunqin and Liu Xun, the supervisors of the imperial court, committed suicide. They held a private banquet at public expense and invited eleven Beijing officials including Wang Yirou, Wang Zhu, Jiang Xiufu, and Su Liang. People gather to drink, some sit with prostitutes at the banquet, some drink during the mourning period, and some recite blasphemous poems about saints..."

Among them, among the small characters describing the culpability of various Beijing officials, there was a line that made Su Liang feel like a thorn in his back.

"Secretary Province Zuo Lang, Quan Supervisor Yu Shili Xing Su Liang, he has been in office for only half a month, indulged in sex with prostitutes, drank wine, and was addicted to music. The Yu Shi Tai recommended that he be removed from his post and be suspended forever."

To remove someone from public service means to remove him from public office and deprive him of his status as a citizen.

Su Liang was a little panicked.

I didn’t expect that having a banquet would be charged with such a huge crime.

This is Bianjing City in the autumn of the fourth year of Qingli, September [-]th.

At this moment, it is almost noon.

Su Liang took a rest today and took a nap.

Who would have thought that when he woke up, Lao Hong, the writer of the Yushitai Procuratorate (official name), came to tell him that he had been suspended from Xantai for being suspected of prostitution, and ordered him to wait at home to wait for summons from Kaifeng Prefecture.

Out of personal relations, Lao Hong handed over the newly obtained folk tabloid to Su Liang.

This tabloid news starts from the inside of the imperial court and is true and accurate. Explosive events in the imperial court will be updated every day.

The timeliness is much higher than that of the official imperial newspaper Jinzouyuandibao, which is published every five days.

Su Shunqin, the chief official of Jinzouyuan, has been summoned to Kaifeng Mansion, and the palace newspaper specified that it will be postponed.

Su Liang was very depressed.

Last night, at the invitation of Su Shunqin, who was in charge of the memorial hall, he went to the Qingfeng Tower outside Zhuque Gate in Bianjing City to have a drink to celebrate the Sai Shenhui.

The people sitting at the banquet were all handsome young men and officials from Bianjing City.

At a gathering of literati, there is naturally wine, poetry, and women.

At the banquet, it is normal to invite several prostitutes to sing, dance and drink with them. As long as they do not "sit together" with the prostitutes, it does not violate the laws of the Song Dynasty.

When drunk.

It is inevitable that some people will be rude and get closer to the singer, and some will start to recite poems and brag.

This is the norm for most young officials.

Su Liang had to admit.

In the tabloids, it is true that some people are sitting around with singers, and it is also true that some people are reciting blasphemous poems about saints.

It is true that the supervisor Su Shunqin committed suicide.

The main source of funding for last night's banquet came from the fifty guan earned from selling waste paper in the memorial hall.

However, this bad habit has always been present in Jinzouyuan, and it is not Su Shunqin's original creation.

These sins can be big or small, depending on whether they will be brought to the forefront.

While Su Liang was at the table, he neither slandered the saints nor said anything wrong, nor did he let any prostitute get close to him.

He really didn't know where the so-called "prostitute" came from.

A Taiwanese admonishment official who does not tolerate any loss of personal ethics would be called a "prostitute".

It is tantamount to giving up one's official career.

……

12 years ago.

Su Liang's soul traveled through the Song Dynasty and became a 14-year-old beggar in Yangzhou City.

In his previous life, he was mediocre. In his late thirties, he was still busy with postgraduate and public examinations.

Apart from reading some miscellaneous books and understanding some new ideas, I have no other talents.

The second generation is human.

He neither knows how to make wine or soap, nor is he good at making cement or glass, so he cannot climb the technological tree.

Fortunately, he was adopted by a private school teacher. He studied every day and forgot to eat and sleep.

He studies hard, not because he loves books.

But in the current Song Dynasty, the lives of ordinary people are really miserable.

There are heavy taxes and levies, exorbitant levies and miscellaneous taxes, with many names.

There is a firewood tax for selling firewood, a house tax for building a house, and a wedding tax for wedding vacations. Even if we try our best, it is difficult to have enough food and clothing.

Some intellectuals often say that the Song Dynasty was the dynasty with the highest sense of happiness.

But happiness does not belong to the working people at the bottom, but only exists in the lives of scholar-bureaucrats, big landowners, and big businessmen.

History is always strikingly similar.

Thousands of years ago, the only way to change one's fate and transcend social strata was to take the public examination.

The welfare benefits of scholar-officials in the Song Dynasty were unprecedented and unprecedented.

Ten years of cold window.

The 24-year-old Su Liang finally ranked No. 1042 on the Jinshi list in March of the second year of Qingli (12).

In the same month, he was awarded the magistrate of Changqing County and became an official since then.

In April, Su Liang married Tang Wanmei, the daughter of Tang Ze, a teacher at Shangwen Private School in Yangzhou City.It can be said that it is a double happiness.

In October of the third year of Qingli, he was awarded Qizhou Observation and Promotion Officer for his achievements in governance.

In July of the fourth year of Qingli, Su Liang impeached the governor of Qizhou for his lazy administration and presented "Lazy Officials". The words were like a knife, and he showed his sharpness for the first time. He got the special decree and was appointed as Secretary of the Ministry of Works and Zuo Lang, with the power to supervise the affairs of the censor, and became the Beijing Dynasty. official.

In the Song Dynasty, officials, positions, and dispatches were separated.

Zuo Lang, the secretary of the Ministry of Public Affairs, is an official with a salary, and Li Xing, the censor with the right to supervise, is a dispatch.

Although Qizhou Observation and Promotion Officer and Secretary Zuo Lang are both from the eighth rank, their meanings are completely different.

The former is the selection official, and the latter is the official of the Beijing Dynasty.

Only by becoming an official in the capital can you be qualified to enter the upper echelons of the court.

It is very difficult to make the leap from being an official to being an official in Beijing.Some officials even spent their whole lives drifting in the sea of ​​​​choosing, but never came ashore.

Su Liang's good luck was entirely due to the article "Lazy Officials".

This remark scolded the governor of Qizhou for being addicted to scabs and chasing smells, being lazy and incompetent, and like a gangrene attached to the bones in the eyes of the people.

And put forward a new concept: the harm of lazy officials is far worse than that of corrupt officials.

Su Liang became famous instantly and was known to both the government and the public.

Therefore, he got the good job of "supervising the affairs of the censor".

There is an internship in Li Xing.

Because Su Liang's official position was lower than that of San Cheng, he could only serve as a senior official.

Compared with the real supervisory censor, the authority and salary are somewhat less.

But that's already pretty good.

The most difficult official position in the Song Dynasty was the Taiwan Admonishment Officer.

Must be a Jinshi.

Must have served as general magistrate of a state or local magistrate.

Must be an official in Beijing.

Must not be a relative or descendant of the current prime minister.

Must be recommended by officials.

You must also not love wealth and honor, cherish your reputation and integrity, and understand the principles of governing the country.

……

Under normal circumstances, being a Taiwan admonishment officer at the age of 30 is considered young and promising.

Su Liang became the supervisory censor Li Xing at the age of 26, and was already the youngest Taiwan admonishment officer in the dynasty.

The official career is bright.

According to the current promotion system of the Song Dynasty that "emphasizes seniority over ability" and the unique attributes of Taiwan's admonishment officials, as long as Su Liang does not make big mistakes and according to his literary ability, there is a high probability that Su Liang will be able to become a middle school official at the age of 60 or so.

half a month ago.

Su Liang went to Beijing to take up his post and rented a house. He planned to take his wife to Bianjing by the end of the year.

How could I have thought of such a bad luck?

Yushitai pays attention to rumors and reports, and especially likes to make a fuss about officials' personal ethics.

Su Liang was originally from the Yushitai. If he was really found guilty, the Yushi Zhongcheng Wang Gongchen would definitely impeach him to death to show his selflessness.

Just when Su Liang was thinking about how to prove his innocence.

There was a sudden knock on the door outside.

Su Liang thought it was Kaifeng Mansion who came to summon him, so he put down the tabloid and ran out quickly.

He opened the door and looked up, and couldn't help but let out a long breath.

"Brother Xiren!" Su Liang handed over his hand.

The person who came was tall and tall, slightly fat, with fair complexion and a thick black beard under his chin.

He is no one else.

It is the current supervisory censor, 45-year-old Bao Zheng and Bao Xiren, Su Liang's superior officer, and his recommender.

In the Song Dynasty, there was a saying of "recommendations for the same crime" among Taiwanese admonishers.

If Su Liang is convicted of having sex with a prostitute, Bao Zheng will also be implicated.

Bao Zheng highly praised Su Liang's "Lazy Officials" and was of great help to Su Liang after he joined the company.

He looked at Su Liang and sighed helplessly.

Five words were clearly written in his eyes: Jingming, you are dirty!

A Taiwanese admonishment officer who has lost his personal ethics is equivalent to an unmarried woman losing her virginity.

Extremely shameful.

"Brother Xiren, I was wronged. Let's talk about it in detail in the house." Su Liang welcomed Bao Zheng into the house.

……

Note: Taijian refers to Yushitai and Jianyuan.The censor supervises hundreds of officials, admonishes the officials, regulates and admonishes.Since the beginning of the Song Dynasty, Taijian has merged and ministries have been mixed, and they are collectively referred to as Taijian.

(End of this chapter)