After half a year, after getting acquainted with the etiquette of the palace, we were scattered to the two provinces to learn new content.

The ministers of the Great Song Dynasty were divided into two provinces: the Inner Servant Province and the Inner Servant Province. Entering the inner province through the ban, in charge of the affairs of the harem, also known as the Hou Province, the North Division; The inner service province is in charge of the worship of the inner dynasty and the sprinkling of miscellaneous servants in the palace, also known as the former province and the southern class.

I was placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Because I want to be in charge of calligraphy in the future, so there are well-informed and proficient in Hanmo ministers to teach us, except for the small yellow men must do the sprinkle sweeping and other miscellaneous work, the rest of my time is spent in reading poetry and studying seals, subordinates, lines, grass, chapter grass, flying white.

I like the peaceful atmosphere and the peaceful life in the college, but Zhang Chengzhao is different, and he complains a lot on weekdays.

Zhang Chengzhao is my partner in the Hanlin Calligraphy and Art Bureau, he is two months younger than me, but he entered the palace a year earlier, and he likes to regard himself as a senior in front of the new palace entrants, and often takes the initiative to talk to us about things in the palace in a teaching tone. The others were disgusted with him, but I didn't say much, and listened silently every time, so we became friends.

He was bent on transferring to the Inner Servant Province, and it was from his mouth that I learned that the status of the two Inner Servants was not the same.

One day, the two of us were ordered to send the scrolls transcribed by the Calligraphy Bureau to the door of Zhongshu, because the princess was in a hurry, we trotted all the way, and accidentally collided with two chamberlains who came from the other side at a corner, who were taller than us, and only stumbled twice, and we both fell to the ground, and the scrolls were scattered.

"Little bunnies, don't you have eyes?" The two of them yelled at us.

I ignored them, and just rushed to pick up the scrolls to see if there were any defacements. Zhang Chengzhao was quite annoyed when he heard this, and got up to scold back, but when he saw their uniforms clearly, he was immediately discouraged, but laughed and said: "We were careless and blocked the way of the two elder brothers, please forgive my brother." It's time to fight, it's time to fight! ”

After saying that, he slapped himself, smiled and bowed down to apologize, and the two of them looked at us again before Shi Shiran left.

I was puzzled and asked, "Why are you so humble to them?" ”

Zhang Chengzhao punched and kicked the backs of the two of them, and spat fiercely before he replied: "First, they are high-ranking servants Huangmen; Second, they are the Yellow Gate of Inner Servants who entered the Inner Servant Province. ”

I know that we are just a small yellow gate without rank, and the inner servant yellow gate is one level higher than us, but I don't understand why the inner servant yellow gate who entered the inner service province deserves special respect.

"They are the ones who serve the officials, the mothers, and the princesses! If we fanned the flames in front of our master, we would have good fruit to eat. Zhang Chengzhao said depressedly: "I was lazy back then, and I didn't pay attention to learning etiquette, so I wasn't assigned to the inner province." ”

After returning from the Zhongshu Gate, Zhang Chengzhao explained to me one by one the importance of entering the inner chamber and serving the provincial ministers: "Needless to say, those who directly enter the official palace or serve the queen, ladies and princesses are all selected from the back province. In addition, the departments under the jurisdiction of the province are not simple: the Imperial Pharmacy, in charge of the examination of medical prescriptions, repair of medicines, to be used to enter the palace and worship the forbidden, is the most respected by the people in the palace, and cannot be appointed unless there is merit. If someone is found to be carrying suspicious items, they can also directly submit them to the Imperial City Division for handling or to report to the Zhongshu Sect, with their supervision, even the officials do not dare to reward people and property at will; Long Tu, Yu Chang, Baowen Pavilion, the collection of ancestral articles, picture books and Fu Rui treasure toys are all extremely valuable, and the natural identities of the ministers who serve there are also different. ”

"Isn't the Ministry of Internal Affairs also doing things for the official family? Why is it necessary to divide the two provinces? I asked him.

"It's a big difference, there's a difference!" Zhang Chengzhao said repeatedly: "Look at what the former provincial ministers are doing: managing the affairs of going to and from the Guoxin Office, and taking charge of the Khitan envoys, although they are idle on weekdays, they have nothing to do with the people in the palace, and no one is stammered; Houyuan is an official, in charge of the garden, pond and marsh, and garden miscellaneous decorations in the palace, in order to prepare for the official family's mother's luck, and the people who serve under it are actually a group of artisan gardeners; The crafting office, the production of forbidden objects and the marriage of royal subjects, are all done with rough work; The head of the army introduces the division, and the head of the temple enshrines the matter of guarding the army's entry, which is equivalent to leading the way; The Hanlin Academy, to which we belong, has jurisdiction over astronomy, calligraphy, painting, and medical officers, and is in charge of observing celestial phenomena, calligraphy, painting, medicine, etc., although it is slightly better, but no matter how good our calligraphy is, at most it is to do some transcription work under the edicts of the academy, and even the edge of the inner palace cannot be touched ......."

I was silent, and then I heard him sigh heavily: "Moreover, the people in the two provinces are not the same." Take the worship officials in the two provinces as an example, the monthly salary of the worship officials in our former province is 10,000, 5 horses of spring and winter silk, and 20 taels of cotton in winter, and 12,000 in the later provinces, 5 horses of spring silk, 7 horses in winter, and 30 taels of cotton...... If there is a vacancy in the officials of the later province, and the former province is filled, it is a promotion, and the person who is filled usually laughs from ear to ear...... You see that the officials of the province are dressed more brightly than the other......"

"No," I thought of one: "Mr. Zhang, who is at the east gate of the inner hall, is dressed very plainly." ”

Zhang Chengzhao was speechless for a while, scratched his head and thought about it, and said: "Maybe he wants to save money, so he lives frugally." ”

When I mentioned it, he suddenly became curious again and asked me, "Do you know?" I heard that it was Mr. Zhang's suggestion that you come to Hallym Academy. It's weird, isn't he nice to you? Your name is still taken by him, why didn't he let you go to the back province? ”

I smiled and said, "I guess this is a better place for me." I thought so too. ”

He shook his head disdainfully, and looked at me with a look that clearly said, "You can't teach a child."

After another year passed, we were also relocated to the Yellow Gate as an internal servant. As an internal servant, Zhang Chengzhao is quite sincere in striving for promotion, and every day he is counting the official ranks to be experienced from now to the best of the inner servants: "Inner Servant Huangmen, Inner Servant High Class, Inner Servant Gaopin, Inner Servant Palace, Inner West Head Worship Officer, Inner East Head Worship Officer, Escort Class, Deputy Know, All Know, All Know, All Know...... Both provinces know ......" Every time he said "both provinces know", he couldn't help but smile, as if he saw that this minister's best official position was already waving to him, and I often laughed when I saw it.

I once asked him, "Why do you want to be known to both provinces?" ”

"There's a lot of money!" He blurted out, "Both provinces know that there are at least fifty thousand monthly salaries, which is fifty times that of us. ”

I don't understand why he's so obsessed with money: "What do we want so much money for?" They could neither buy land nor marry their wives, nor have any descendants to deliver. ”

This stopped him, and after a while, he said: "Not to mention money, I know that both provinces know that except for the official family, no one dares to beat me and scold me, only I go to beat and scold others...... We're working hard in the palace, so we have to figure something out, right? If you don't want to be promoted, what are you trying to do? ”

This time I was silent. At that time, I seemed to live every day indifferently, with no goal and no hope.