Chapter 65 Is it authentic?
Ministry of Personnel, at the entrance.
Two figures stood there, waiting quietly.
Li Nuo wanted to go to the Ministry of Personnel to check the files, but he couldn't do it alone. He and his wife had only become a little familiar with each other in the past two days, and he had never spoken a single word to his father-in-law.
After the concierge informed them, a thin middle-aged man came out not long after. Seeing Li Nuo and Song Jiaren standing there, he asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"
Without waiting for Li Nuo to answer, he said again: "Come in first."
Li Nuo and Song Jiaren followed him, passed through three doors, and walked into a duty room in the left yard.
In terms of real power, the Ministry of Personnel is undoubtedly the head of the six ministries.
There is one Shangshu and two Shilang in the ministry, which is in charge of four departments, namely the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Enfeoffment, the Ministry of Honors, and the Ministry of Examinations.
Among them, the Ministry of Personnel was the main department, and the chief officials were the left and right doctors. His father-in-law was the right doctor of the Ministry of Personnel.
Although his fifth-rank official position was insignificant compared to his father's, he was undoubtedly the fifth most powerful person in the Ministry of Personnel. Although the Langzhong of the Ministry of Examination was at the same level as him, his actual power was far less than that.
This duty room was his independent office. Song Zhe asked the two to sit down on the two chairs in the guest area, and then asked, "What are you doing in the Ministry of Personnel?"
Li Nuo didn't beat around the bush and said straight to the point: "Father-in-law, I want to see the files of Qinghe County Magistrate Gu Wenhan."
"Gu Wenhan?" Song Zhe glanced at Li Nuo. Gu Wenhan's case was brought up again during the morning court session. In the afternoon, Li Nuo came to the Ministry of Personnel and wanted to check Gu Wenhan's files. He did not agree immediately, but asked, "Why are you looking at his files?"
Li Nuo did not hide it and said, "I want to know if he is really an unforgivable corrupt official."
Song Zhe glanced at Li Nuo again, took a sip of tea, walked out the door, and waved his hand gently. A figure immediately ran over and asked, "What do you want, Lord Song?"
Song Zhe said, "Go to the case library and ask Fang Zhanggu to find the files of the former Qinghe County Magistrate Gu Wenhan and send them to me."
"yes."
The official from the Ministry of Personnel responded and immediately turned around and trotted off in a certain direction.
The Ministry of Personnel, a quiet little courtyard somewhere.
Two security officers were sitting in the duty room, playing chess out of boredom.
Every government office in the imperial court generates official documents every day. These documents may be consulted at any time in the future and generally cannot be destroyed at will. They need to be properly stored. The files of the Ministry of Personnel involve the resumes and assessments of officials in the court and are particularly important.
To this end, the Ministry of Personnel specially set aside an entire small courtyard in the deepest part of the yamen as a case library to store files.
The Minister of Personnel was in charge of looking after the case library.
Zhang Gu’s official position was not high, only the ninth rank, and he was one of the lowest-ranking officials in Daxia.
However, their duties on weekdays are relatively easy. They just have to ensure that the file library does not get burned or stolen when they are in charge, and take out the files to dry them in the sun every once in a while to prevent them from getting moldy or infested with insects.
This is undoubtedly a good job for officials who like leisure and do not have too many ambitions.
But for those who are ambitious and want to make a difference in officialdom, this position is too boring.
The younger of the two chess masters put down his chess piece, sighed softly, and said, "I, Zhao, have studied hard for more than ten years, mastered the six arts, and finally passed the imperial examination. Could it be that I am here just to be a warehouse keeper..."
He shook his head and continued to sigh: "If I had known this would happen, I would have been better off being a rich man in my hometown and living a carefree life..."
The middle-aged official opposite said with a smile: "You have only studied hard for more than ten years, and I have studied hard for thirty years, and I have only become an official. You can only blame yourself for not working hard enough. If we were not ranked last in the Jinshi exam, but were the top scholar, the first official position we would be awarded would be the sixth rank. Even if we were ranked in the middle, we could still be a seventh rank county magistrate in a remote county. But it's because we are ranked last in the Jinshi exam that we can only look after the warehouse. There are many people who want to come to the Ministry of Personnel to look after the warehouse, but they don't have this opportunity..."
The young Zhang Gu let out a long sigh. What Zhang Gu Fang said was right. Even the small Zhang Gu of the Ministry of Personnel was a leader selected from thousands of miles away. The other 999 people were not even qualified to watch the warehouse.
But he still refused to accept...
He became famous at a young age, and has always been regarded as a genius in the eyes of others since he was a child.
In fact, he was indeed a genius. He lived up to everyone's expectations when he took the imperial examination for the first time three years ago and passed it with flying colors. He was the only Jinshi in Liangzhou in that imperial examination.
In his hometown, Shahe County, Liangzhou, there have only been two Jinshi in history, and he was one of them. Later, he had his own separate page in the county annals.
However, even though he had become a legend in his hometown, due to his poor ranking in the imperial examination, he only got a ninth-rank official position and had been working as a warehouse keeper in the Ministry of Personnel for three years.
He didn't want to waste his life here. This was not the life he wanted. The young Zhang Gu took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and said firmly: "I still believe that I, Zhao He, will be successful one day!"
The middle-aged Zhang Gu shook his head slightly and said, "I don't seek to be outstanding, as long as I can retire peacefully without losing my head."
Because he had no background, he had been in charge of the documents in the Ministry of Personnel for twenty years and had long given up hope of promotion.
Over the past twenty years, officials in the court have been replaced one after another, and he has personally handled countless files. He has long seen through this.
Most of those mediocre and unambitious officials of the eighth and ninth ranks eventually retired peacefully, while those ambitious people who were unwilling to be mediocre and always wanted to stand out often ended up losing their heads and their families torn apart.
The two men made a few more moves, and a figure walked into the duty room. The two turned their heads and looked at him. The middle-aged Zhang Gu smiled and said, "Feng Lingshi, how come you have time to come here today?"
Feng Lingshi saw the two playing chess and didn't say much, just said: "Fang Zhanggu, let's play chess later. Doctor Song wants the file of former Qinghe County Magistrate Gu Wenhan. Please find it quickly. I'm waiting to send it to Lord Song..."
As the head of the imperial guard, it was their daily job to search for files in the vast archives. Fang Zhanggu stood up and said to the young head of the imperial guard, "I'll be back after I find the files that Lord Song wants. Let Feng Lingshi and you play this game first..."
After saying that, he took out the key from the cabinet and walked towards the warehouse.
Feng Lingshi waved his hand and said, "Forget it. Lord Song seems to be in a hurry. I don't feel like playing chess. You can continue playing when you find it later..."
After saying that, he walked to the door of the warehouse and waited.
Neither of them noticed that when the young man heard a certain name, his body trembled slightly, but soon returned to normal.
Ministry of Personnel.
The Right Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel is on duty.
The official just now acted very quickly. He brought the file that Li Nuo wanted when Li Nuo had only finished half of his cup of tea.
The so-called file is actually a book that records an official's promotion, demotion, and performance evaluation from the time he entered the government to the time he retired. It is equivalent to the personnel files of later generations and has existed from ancient times to the present.
The official from the Ministry of Personnel respectfully handed the file to Song Zhe and said, "Sir Song, this is Gu Wenhan's file."
After Song Zhe took it, he didn't even look at it, then handed it to Li Nuo and said, "The file is old, be careful when reading it, and be careful not to damage it."
An official's file begins recording from the day he enters the officialdom.
Gu Wenhan had been an official for more than ten years, and this file had also been around for fifteen years. Before Li Nuo even opened it, he could already smell a faint scent of an old book.
The files of the Ministry of Personnel were well preserved and he did not see any moldy parts.
Li Nuo placed the book on the table and carefully opened the first page.
This page records his experiences when he first entered officialdom.
Gu Wenhan was a Jinshi in the 18th year of the Zhisheng reign, and this year is the 33rd year of the Zhisheng reign. In other words, he was a successful candidate in the imperial examination 15 years ago.
In that imperial examination, a total of one hundred Jinshi were admitted, and Gu Wenhan ranked ninety-sixth, so he only got an official position as a ninth-rank proofreader.
The ninth rank is the lowest official rank in Daxia.
Official ranks before the ninth rank are divided into regular and minor ranks. The ninth rank is just the ninth rank, without any distinction between regular and minor ranks. It is the lowest level of officials in the real Daxia. After studying hard for more than ten years, one finally passes the imperial examination and becomes a Jinshi. The job may be to guard warehouses, run errands, pass messages, and do other odd jobs.
However, it cannot be said that the imperial court was unfair. The first official position of a newly-appointed Jinshi was directly related to his ranking in the imperial examination.
If one could get the top spot in the imperial examination, he would start as a sixth-rank official.
The second and third place winners were ranked sixth, the fourth to tenth were ranked seventh, and the official positions after that decreased with the ranking until the lowest rank was ninth.
Gu Wenhan’s first job was as a proofreader in the Eastern Palace’s Internal Affairs Bureau, where he was responsible for proofreading and organizing the Eastern Palace’s books and documents.
Although the position is low, the future is promising.
The proofreaders in other departments, if they don't have any background, may just be librarians their whole lives. The Neizhi Bureau is under the Eastern Palace, and once the prince ascends the throne, they are the emperor's direct descendants, and their promotion speed is far faster than others.
But Gu Wenhan was unlucky.
He entered the Eastern Palace in the 18th year of the Zhisheng reign. Five years later, in the 23rd year of the Zhisheng reign, the crown prince died. From being the future emperor with a promising future, he became an orphan overnight.
Even if His Majesty soon appoints a new crown prince, the new crown prince will bring his own direct descendants into the Eastern Palace.
What's more, after the crown prince passed away, His Majesty was deeply shocked. From then on, he devoted himself to spiritual practice and ignored the affairs of state. The Eastern Palace existed in name only, and all the former officials of the Eastern Palace were transferred out.
Gu Wenhan was transferred from a ninth-rank proofreader to a lower-rank county thousands of miles away from Chang'an, where he served as a ninth-rank county lieutenant.
In the following ten years, his official position was promoted step by step, from the ninth rank to the eighth rank, the eighth rank, the seventh rank..., and finally four years ago, he was transferred to Qinghe County and became the seventh rank Qinghe County Magistrate.
And his performance evaluation has always been very good.
Daxia had set nine levels for the assessment of officials: A-top, A, A-bottom, B-top, B, B-bottom, C-top, C, C-bottom. A was good, B was average, and C was unqualified.
Gu Wenhan's performance evaluations over the past ten years were mostly at the "A" level, with some above A, and especially in the last few years, there was not even a single B.
If the assessment of the Ministry of Personnel is credible, then he is not only an honest official, but also a capable minister.
After thinking for a moment, Li Nuo looked at Song Zhe and asked carefully, "Father-in-law, are the results of your Ministry of Personnel's assessment authentic?"
[ps: It will be available at midnight on the 13th, and there will be more updates then. ]
(End of this chapter)
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