The word "Hanlin" was first seen in the Han Dynasty. Yang Ziyun of the Han Dynasty said in "Changyang Fu": "Talking about the writing of the article, so Hanlin thought it was the master. "It originally meant the forest of literature, that is, the place where literature and Han gathered. In the Tang Dynasty, "Hanlin" officially became an official signature. Since the Tang Dynasty, all dynasties have set up Hanlin Academy. In the early days, the Hanlin Academy was "the place where the edict was held for the world's arts and technology", which was to gather all kinds of talents from all over the world for the emperor's needs, and later gradually became a pivotal institution for participating in politics and revising history.

In the Ming Dynasty, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang set up the Hanlin Academy very early, and its function was positioned as an auxiliary political think tank. However, due to the existence of the prime minister at that time, the Hanlin Academy was actually just an empty shelf, so Zhu Yuanzhang improved the status of the Hanlin Academy after the abolition of Zhongshu Province and the prime minister. Since then, the functional positioning of the Hanlin Academy has undergone some changes: first, it took over the administrative work of the prime minister and shared the work pressure of the emperor; secondly, as an independent political force for the emperor to drive, it strengthened the imperial power; Thirdly, as an official historical compilation and revision institution, it has an important right to speak in national public opinion.

From the perspective of election and official establishment, the Hanlin Yuan system of the Ming Dynasty is more perfect than that of the Tang, Song, Yuan and other dynasties, and it can be said that it is a collection of past dynasties. The selection of Hanlin officials in the Ming Dynasty is very closely related to the imperial examination, especially the establishment of the Shujishi system, which ensures the quality of Hanlin officials. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, because the Hanlin officials were mainly selected through recommendation and recruitment, their quality was different, and even mixed. In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, the Shujishi system was formally established, which formed a close connection between the Hanlin Academy system and the imperial examination system, and finally formed a situation of "non-Jinshi do not enter Hanlin".

The Shu Ji Shi system, also known as the hall selection system, simply put, means that the imperial court selects outstanding talents to become Shu Ji Shi through the imperial examination and specially cultivates them. In other words, being selected as a Shujishi means that you have obtained the preparatory qualifications to become a Hanlin official, and after three years of study and training of "taking courtiers as teachers and epic scriptures as lessons", you can take the "Sanguan" exam, and those with excellent grades will be awarded the position of Hanlin official.

In the Ming Dynasty, first through the imperial examination to become a scholar, and then through study and inspection to become a Hanlin official, this is the only way for talents to enter the Hanlin Academy, and it is also an important way to enter the cabinet as an auxiliary minister to a large extent.

However, this system, which the Hanlin people were so proud of, seemed to have encountered a slight challenge—one man who was only eight years old, a yellow-mouthed child, who had no merit and called a Confucian child, became an official of the Hanlin Dynasty.

When the news came yesterday, the Hanlin Academy was quite shaken, and then there was a lot of discussion, causing several lecturers from Hanlin to return to the courtyard and were almost scolded to death as moles.

In addition to Shen Shixing, who also knew the scriptures and feasts, the official was the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, and Gu Yangqian, the lecturer, was Langzhong of the Ministry of Works, the remaining five people, Chen Jingbang, Shen Li, Xu Guo, Zhang Wei, and Chen Yuma, because the official was in the Hanlin Academy, there was really no way to avoid it, and they were blocked by a group of Hanlin officials to "visit".

Several lecturers from Hanlin repeatedly explained that Gao Shishi's official was only in the Hanlin Academy, but in fact, it was not even an ordinary and no grade, and advised everyone not to be too excited. and took Gao Pragmatic's "Dragon Whip Shadow" to say things, proving that several of them were by no means unscrupulous to echo the emperor, it was indeed because Gao Pragmatic "Although his teeth are young, he can be used". To put it mildly, he finally saved his net worth.

Why did a mere prince accompany a scholar and a fake bachelor to provoke these noble scholars so angry? In fact, in the final analysis, the root cause is still the positioning of the Hanlin official: Qinggui!

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the imitation yuan system, the Hanlin Academy was called the Hanlin National History Institute, and the rank was three products. Although there have been great changes after the restructuring later, the basic pattern is roughly similar, and its official officials, including one bachelor and five grades; There are two bachelors and two bachelors, from the fifth grade. Its subordinate officials, including two attendants and two attendants, are six grades. Its historians, including revisions, from the six grades; Editing, seven products; Review from the seven pins. The other is the Gilles, who has no grade and no quota.

The grade of the Hanlin Academy of the Ming Dynasty is indeed not high, lower than that of the previous generation of the Hanlin Academy or similar institutions, but because of its proximity to the center of power, it is an important central secretarial institution exclusive to the emperor, and directly provides services to the emperor, so it is highly valued by the emperor. It is very closely related to the Cabinet.

All of the above can be said to be "expensive". And what about "clear"?

The Hanlin Academy was directly ordered by the emperor and undertook the duties of preparing the emperor for consultation, revising books and writing history, drafting edicts, serving members of the imperial family, and serving as examiners for imperial examinations. The bachelor is responsible for writing and detailing the documents, the examination system, etc., and at the same time preparing the advisor of the Son of Heaven; The attendant and the attendant are responsible for teaching the history of the scriptures to the members of the royal family; Revision, editing, review, etc., responsible for the compilation of records, jade, historical records, etc.

In addition, the responsibilities of the Hanlin Academy also included taking charge of the affairs of the imperial examinations, teaching and training the scholars, organizing major ceremonies, and inspecting the archives of the Imperial Academy. All of these are theoretically very nominal errands, but there is little oil and water, so they are "clean".

As we all know, the officials of the Ming Dynasty are the first to last in the past dynasties, and the "top spot" should be the Qing Dynasty, but since Yongzheng, the Beijing official double Yulu system has been implemented, and the foreign officials have raised the system of incorruptible silver, and the treatment of officials has been greatly improved. And the Beijing officials of the Ming Dynasty are notoriously poor, if it weren't for the local Bingjing, Tan Jing and other filial piety, the Beijing officials could not even support their families on their own, and the Hanlin officials were even the fighters among the poor officials.

The fundamental reason why Hanlin is the poorest is that it is not actually an administrative body, and it has no power in its hands, so it can only live on a small salary. Strictly speaking, the Hanlin Academy of the Ming Dynasty cannot be regarded as a formal yamen, and it seems more accurate to say that it is a training institution, and the Hanlin Academy is actually the reserve talents of the Ming Empire - high-level reserve talents.

But poverty is temporary, and the identity of Hanlin contains infinite potential. Because, the Hanlin Academy was a place where the elites of the imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty gathered. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Hanlin officials were recommended by the emperor or recommended, during the Hongwu period, a large part of the Hanlin was selected by him, and during the Jingtai period, the Hanlin Academy was not born in the Jinshi and four or five out of ten, and since then, it has gradually been monopolized by the Kejia Jinshi.

Since then, there are only two situations if you want to enter the Hanlin Academy: one is the top three in the palace examination, that is, the champion, the top eye, and the three Tanhua are directly awarded to the Hanlin Academy for revision, editing and other officials; The second is the selection of the museum, that is, from the second and third class Jinshi to select the best in literature, that is, the good book as the Shu Jishi, of course, the premise is to pass the examination, that is, the "court examination". Those who are admitted by the examination will study in the Hanlin Academy for three years, and those who are excellent will stay in the Hanlin Academy.

Although the usual work of Hanlin officials is "clear", once promoted, they will have advantages that ordinary people do not have. For example, there are regulations in the official system of the Ming Dynasty that the Shangshu and Shilang of the Ministry of Rites in the north and south of Beijing, and the right Shilang of the Ministry of Officials, are not appointed by Hanlin. Those who were born in Hanlin are also scholars of Hanlin, and squires are also scholars and lecturers.

In addition, the officials of the Zhan Shifu (left and right Chunfang) and the Department of Economic Affairs who tutor the prince must have the official title of Hanlin no matter what the product: Zhan Shi and Shao Zhan Shi have the title of bachelor, Chunfang University Scholar is not permanent, and the concubine, Yude, Zhongyun, Zanshan, and Xima have the title of lecture and bachelor. In other words, these officials who assist the crown prince can become important members of the new dynasty when the new monarch ascends the throne in the future.

In addition, Guozijian, who is in charge of national education, also has a close relationship with Hanlin. Although Guozijian is also a Qingshui Yamen, it is responsible for the national education plan, so the official system of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that the highest prefect of Guozijian cannot be transferred if he is not from Hanlin background.

According to a pragmatic understanding, the Hanlin officials of the Ming Dynasty not only influenced all aspects as an attendant organization, but also undertook the task of providing talents for important departments of the state. If it is said that Guozijian is a place for cultivating and storing talents, then the Hanlin Academy is a place for raising officials and storing officials.

Speaking of which, readers must understand that during the three years of Hanlin study, the Hanlin people were veritable poor, but why did the Jinshi want to squeeze into the Hanlin Academy even if they broke their heads? The reason is simple, because after graduation, their employment prospects are much higher than those of ordinary jinshi.

If a Jinshi is released as a Qipin Zhi County, then it means that he will be slowly promoted one level at a time, and once Shu Jishi graduates, he may move several times a year, and there is a great chance to enter the cabinet in the future and become an auxiliary minister of the country.

Finally, there is a perhaps more important reason, that is, there is a great honor after the death of officials from Hanlin: they can use "Wen" as a nickname, such as the highest title of Wenchen "Wenzheng" - if you are not from Hanlin, then don't even think about it, which is also one of the purposes of many Jinshi who try to become Hanlin as well.

It is precisely because they are accustomed to this kind of "nobility" that even if they are so poor that they drink and smoke, they have a strong sense of psychological superiority, and they are of course extremely dissatisfied with a "colleague" who is "not qualified".