Is there still a guarantee? Can you vote for Rolls-Royce?

Early the next morning after settling Liu Minzhong, Xu Ziyuan took the waist card of the secretary, put on a Confucian dress borrowed from a certain Cangzhou scholar, and walked to work in Cangzhou Palace.

At present, the official system of the Northern Ming Dynasty is not sound. Officers have military ranks instead of military ranks, to indicate the size of the rank. However, the civil officials did not indicate the size of the official rank, and there was only one dispatch, or "the integration of official positions". An official is a job, a job is an official, and there is no grade.

The reason why this is the case, on the one hand, is because the Ming Dynasty has not yet officially established the country, and the official system is naturally imperfect.

On the other hand, it is also related to the political system of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was actually a feudal democratic country, not a traditional feudal bureaucratic state. Therefore, it is impossible to copy the official system of the feudal bureaucratic state -- just as the later Emperor Mi could not copy the cadre management system in China. In Midi, a civilian without any administrative rank may even be elected president, and it is even more common to elect city governors, county magistrates, etc.

And what rank should be given to such an elected mayor? At the prefectural level? Yesterday it was a civilian, today it will be at the level of the local department, and after two years, it will be a civilian again...... Isn't that too much to say?

And Chen Dexing now has implemented aristocratic democracy and local autonomy, so there is also a problem of confusion in the civil administration level similar to that of Mi Di. Before the Yanyun-Hebei War, it was incorporated into the five prefectures and four prefectures of the Northern Ming Dynasty, and although the prefect and prefecture were appointed by Chen Dexing, the prefect and the prefect city, which directly governed the people, were all elected by the aristocratic council.

Theoretically. Any gentleman or gentry who has the right to vote may be elected to the county or city. And when their term of office expires, they lose their official positions. So they're not bureaucrats in the true sense of the word.

And granted to the loose officials who are separated from the office. Moreover, the practice of assigning grades to civil officials to determine their qualifications cannot be said to be completely inapplicable to the Northern Ming Dynasty, but it cannot be simply copied from the Song and Tang systems.

In addition, this feudal aristocratic republic of the Northern Ming Dynasty, in turn, stifled the traditional Chinese bureaucracy. Because parliamentarians at all levels and elected magistrates and magistrates are not bureaucrats in the true sense of the word, but aristocratic politicians. They belong to two completely different systems from the bureaucrats who act as clerks.

An important reason why the Northern Ming Dynasty was unable to implement the imperial examination system was also this kind of feudal aristocratic democracy -- because most of the administrative officials were elected, there were naturally not enough places to arrange the civil officials for the imperial examination. And the ladder to the sky of middle- and lower-class intellectuals has been interrupted for most of this reason!

In the opinion of a Northland scribe like Xu Ziyuan. For a scholar like him, it is very difficult to become an official of the Ming Dynasty. The way out left for them is just to be a small official who runs errands, and it is difficult to rise to the county and city after a lifetime of hard work, let alone a feudal official or a central ruler.

And he can become a "close minister of the Son of Heaven" and become a secretary, which is really tantamount to becoming an immortal!

Thinking that he would be able to rise steadily in the future, Xu Ziyuan's mood suddenly improved a lot, and his steps under his feet also accelerated. It didn't take long to arrive outside the gate of Cangzhou Palace. I don't know what happened, there were many people queuing up outside the palace, and they were not ordinary people, they all seemed to have a few net worth figures. Not only wearing silk and satin. There were a few servants around everyone, and the servants were carrying boxes and baskets, and they looked heavy. I don't know what's inside?

Xu Ziyuan walked to the side gate of the palace with a question, where there were two steel-armored warriors. He stood motionless, still holding a spear in his hand. I saw Xu Ziyuan coming over. Two spears crossed to block the way.

"Two lords, this is the waist card of the lower official." Xu Ziyuan politely called the two guards "sir", but in fact these two people were indeed squirts. And Xu Ziyuan is a commoner (in terms of knighthood), and his status is lower than theirs - the secretary of King Ming is actually lower than a big-headed soldier guarding the gate! This kind of high and low order is probably acceptable to the Northern Confucians, who are used to being bullied by the Mongols, right?

"Secretary Xu? It's time to go in. ”

After checking the waist card, as soon as the two spears were separated, the way into the door was considered smooth.

"Two lords, what are those people in line here for?" Xu Ziyuan asked.

"I'm here to buy indulgences." One of the sergeants replied with a smile, "These people are all guilty, and they have mixed with the Tartars, so they have to buy indulgences, and after buying indulgences, they will not be held accountable." ”

Another soldier also said: "If you are a Han Chinese, a coup costs 500 yuan, and if you are a color eye, it will cost 1,000 yuan." ”

And this kind of thing!? Xu Ziyuan opened his mouth, this King Chen Ming is really out of line for doing things - crime and punishment are the most important weapons of the country, how can people pay money to atone for their crimes? Isn't that the same as buying and selling the law?

Why don't you have a word of advice? By the way, Daming really doesn't have an official here.

Xu Ziyuan shook his head, and without saying much, he stepped into the palace. The courtyard of the palace was very lively, and there were officers in charge of military logistics where the gold and silver were checked, the color was first, and then the weight was weighed, and then packed and sealed......

In the end, he handed over a conviction coupon, stamped with the seal of King Ming, to a certain leader in Cangzhou City, and attached a "Gentry Canonization Instructions", which was about how the gentry identity was sold. With the continuous rise of the momentum of the Ming Kingdom, there are signs of domination of the world, and the price of the Ming gentry has naturally risen. Now the good days of buying a gentry for 200 guan are gone. The price of the gentry has risen to 500 guan!

But don't worry about not being able to sell it, spend 500 guan to buy a coupon, and spend another 500 guan to buy a gentry with voting rights, a total of only 1,000 yuan, for a gang of profiteers, it's nothing at all!

……

"Xu Ziyuan, your handwriting is neat, and you are responsible for transcribing the dictation of His Royal Highness the King, and recording the remarks of the officials of the court and the king. You must go to the king's side before the hour of each day, and you can not leave until the hour of the day. However, your dispatch is confidential and important, and you are not allowed to leave the Shogunate without my permission. This afternoon you will be allowed half a day off to clean up your belongings and arrange trivial matters, and if you have a wife with you, I will arrange a place for you and your husband to live. ”

The woman assigned the job to Xu Ziyuan was Yang Po'er, who was also the general manager of Chen Dexing, who was originally only in charge of internal affairs and was responsible for serving Chen Dexing. However, now he is also in charge of foreign affairs, because the chief of staff beside Chen Dexing has just been appointed as the governor of Cangzhou, so the post of chief attendant is temporarily held by Yang Po'er - the territory and population of the Northern Ming Dynasty have expanded greatly, and the official reserve is naturally insufficient, so he can only settle for it.

After receiving the dispatch, he reported to the attendants, received some study utensils, advanced a month's salary, and was assigned a small wing room in the inner courtyard of the palace. Only then did he take a leave of absence and went back to his house in Cangzhou City.

When he got home, Liu Minzhong was leaning on the kang in a daze, there was a wine jug on the kang table, and there were two plates of leftover snacks.

Seeing Xu Ziyuan pushing the door in, Liu Minzhong was stunned, "Brother Fuzhen, why is it so early?" ”

As soon as Xu Ziyuan sat down on the kang, he took out his advance of two small silver pieces weighing one or two, and exchanged them for copper coins with three and a half yuan, which was his monthly income as a secretary. In addition, there can be a reward during the Chinese New Year, and you can also send four clothes every year, and eat Chen Dexing's three meals a day.

If you are conscientious enough, you may be able to get a shiner and 300 acres of grange in a year or two, and you will have the opportunity to be released as a magistrate. In Chen Dexing's attendant, he already knew that his predecessor had been sent out to be the acting magistrate, and the former chief attendant was now the governor of Cangzhou.

In general, being a secretary for Chen Dexing is a promising errand, but the current income is a little meager, which is the same as the military salary of ordinary soldiers.

"Fuzhen, you are ......" Seeing the silver, Liu Minzhong suddenly had a bad premonition.

"Duanfu, you take the flowers with this silver first, I don't need this house, you can live as long as you want." Xu Ziyuan smiled bitterly, "The younger brother entered the palace as a secretary, and his responsibilities are not allowed to leave without permission." And King Ming will not stay in Cangzhou for a long time, and he will return to Yanjing in the near future. ”

"Oh, then congratulations to Brother Fuzhen, you are now a close minister of the Son of Heaven." Liu Minzhong tried to squeeze out a little smile, the Son of Heaven is close to the minister, and the future is immeasurable, if he runs away with him that day, maybe there will be a secretary now......

"It's a pity that the current salary of the Son of Heaven is meager, and he only gives a month's advance of two taels of silver......"

"Enough, enough," Liu Minzhong said with a smile, "I've already thought about it, just do some small business in Cangzhou to make a living, fortunately, I'm just one person now, one is full, and the whole family is not hungry." ”

"That's fine," Xu Ziyuan said, "First wronged Brother Duanfu for a few years, and when the younger brother is released from the state and county, he will definitely arrange an official position for Brother Duanfu." ”

"So, I'm really grateful...... Liu Minzhong's eyes suddenly moistened, now he can be said to be unaccompanied, desperate, fortunately, there is a world friend brother who is willing to help.

"Why did Brother Duanfu say this?" Xu Ziyuan sighed, "You and I are both fallen people at the end of the world, and we have a family and a business, but we have become nothing." The younger brother has some spare strength now, how can he not help his brother? If the elder brother and the younger brother change seats, they will definitely help the younger brother.

By the way, we brothers might as well worship a handle. Brother, you are three years older than me, you are the elder brother, how about sharing blessings and difficulties in the future? ”

"Okay, good," Liu Minzhong nodded gratefully, his eyes were sour, and tears came down again. Xu Ziyuan didn't feel good in his heart, thinking of his father, he also burst into tears. The two brothers hugged their heads and cried again, and after crying, they worshiped heaven and earth, oh, they worshipped the handle, and they met in Yanjing a year later. Xu Ziyuan estimated that he should have some power to help Liu Minzhong find an errand by then.

But at this moment, neither of them would have thought that this parting would be more than 20 years of spring and autumn, and the two of them have also embarked on two completely different life paths...... (To be continued......)