Since ancient times, officials had to put in a lot of hard work to climb up from the bottom. Most officials needed many years to climb up one level. There were even many officials who stayed in the most basic positions for decades. Even when they retired, they were still in the position they had been in when they were young. It could be seen that being promoted was not an easy thing. One needed to sharpen their brains and drill their way up.
However, there were also a small number of officials who were promoted very quickly. Within a year, they could be promoted several times. Even within a day, they could be promoted several times. However, there were not many lucky people like this. It was a treatment that only a small number of people could get. If one was not a genius, it was very difficult to have such an opportunity.
Of course, there was another situation that could lead to such a situation. That was, the Emperor's favoritism. Yang Guozhong belonged to this situation. Moreover, Yang Guozhong benefited from the Imperial Concubine. Otherwise, with his level, he could not have become an important minister in the court.
Before Yang Yuhuan was favored, Yang Guozhong, as her cousin, was just a very humble county magistrate, equivalent to the county bureau chief in the future. It seemed that his official position was not too small. But this kind of official position, in any era, was very small. It was about the eighth or ninth level. It could not even be called an official. It was just a small official.
However, ever since he basked in Yang Yuhuan's glory, his official position shot up like a rocket. In an instant, he surpassed many intermediate positions and directly became the imperial censor of the court. Compared to his previous official position, he rose a lot.
Then, the Emperor promoted him to Deputy Minister Du Zi and Imperial Censor. In less than a year, he held more than 15 positions and became an important minister in the court of the Tang dynasty.
After that, the Emperor gave him a purple-gold fish bag and a position of Minister of Imperial Treasury. The Emperor favored him more and more, which made other ministers envious.
As for the purple-gold fish bag, it was unique to the officials of the Tang dynasty. In the Tang dynasty, the officials' uniforms were divided into different colors. The officials of the third level and above wore purple robes with a goldfish bag. The officials of the fourth and fifth level wore red robes with a silver fish bag. The officials of the sixth level and below wore green robes with no fish bag. That was to say, one only needed to look at the color of an official's uniform to know his rank.
However, when the Prime Minister was conferred the title of Prime Minister, if the Prime Minister's official rank was below the third rank, he would be bestowed with a purple goldfish pouch. Thus, even a fourth rank official could wear a purple official robe and wear a goldfish pouch ornament.
Another very important favor was the bestowment of a name. Yang Guozhong's original name was Yang Guozhong. He thought it was not a good name because it had a golden knife in it, so he asked the Emperor to give him a new name. Emperor Xuanzong gave him the name of Guo Zhong almost without hesitation. This name greatly increased Yang Guozhong's political status.
All kinds of imperial favor made Yang Guozhong a very popular person in the court of the Tang dynasty. Of course, Ang Lee was also very popular and received no less attention than this guy. However, Ang Lee was more in charge of doing practical things and was responsible for the development of various machines. He had little involvement in the court and had no interest in it. On the other hand, Yang Guozhong was very fond of the court and had a strong desire to succeed Li Linfu. Previously, he had also received hints from the Emperor. But recently, he had made the Emperor unhappy, so there were some changes.
In short, according to the prediction of many ordinary people, Yang Guozhong had a great chance of becoming the head of the Prime Ministers. But this was naturally not what ordinary people wanted. They hoped that there would be a virtuous minister like Yao Chong to lead the officials.
However, this wish was not easy to realize. Because for so many years, after being pushed aside by Li Linfu, all the capable officials who ruled the country had been pushed aside. Some were even killed. Most of those who remained in the court were slippery old foxes, such as Chen Xilie. No one could harm him as the Prime Minister. Although he had no real power, his status in the Tang dynasty had always been very high. When Li Linfu was in power, he was the second-in-command. After Yang Guozhong took over, he was still the second-in-command.
Because all the power had been monopolized by the top leader, as a second-in-command, he had nothing to do. However, his salary and bonus would not be reduced. Having nothing to do but having a high salary, this kind of job was not too comfortable. Many people in the later generations were very optimistic about this kind of job. This kind of job was the most nourishing. Otherwise, Chen Xilie would not have been raised to such a long age.
No virtuous minister was born. They needed to be trained step by step. It was not so easy to train and train a virtuous minister. It took time and process. Therefore, once the existing virtuous minister was killed, it would be a huge loss to the court.
In addition, the officialdom, like the business world, had a lot of inertia. Once the atmosphere of the officialdom changed, it would be difficult to reverse it.
For example, when most of the officials were old foxes, no matter how capable a leader was, he would be burdened to death. Even if he wanted to work for the people, he would be powerless because the higher-ups would not cooperate. At the same time, the people below him would not do a good job either. As a result, this person would be disheartened after a long time. He would go with the flow and transform into a new old foxes. He would just dawdle in his position and do as little as possible. If there was work, he would deal with it. If he could push it off, he would push it off as much as possible. Only if he could not push it off would he deal with it.
The atmosphere of the officialdom that many people hated the most was the prevalence of corruption and the prevalence of talk. Once these two atmospheres were formed, it would be fatal to an empire.
The disadvantages of the prevalence of corruption were obvious. The officials all had money in their eyes. They would do things for whoever paid them. Once this atmosphere prevailed, it would be terrible.
The trend of idle chatter was also very scary, because all the officials were not willing to do anything. They were all idle chatter, talking about romantic affairs that had nothing to do with the government and the people's livelihood. As for their own jobs, they did not care at all. They even felt that it was a disgrace to the refined, and that these topics were too vulgar.
If this trend of talk prevailed, the court would become more and more corrupt. The lives of the people would be very difficult. This kind of atmosphere was more rampant during the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
The beginning of the trend of talk was during the reign of Cao Cao. This traitor Cao Cao not only had the ability to command troops to fight, but also the ability to write poems. He had a sense of freedom. During the Southern Expedition, the situation was very critical, but Cao Cao was still in the mood to drink wine and write poems. He even used the strength of the wine to kill people who made mistakes in his music. He was very open in his actions, and his poems had the aura of an emperor.
After that, when the world was settled and the economy was prosperous, Cao Cao's sons, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, began to use beautiful words in their poems. Cao Zhi was a poet who drank too much. Even Li Bai admired his style of drinking. The style of writing of this period could be summarized as handsome, open, powerful, and beautiful.
At the end of the Wei Dynasty, when the Sima family was in power, they produced the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest. All seven of them were drunkards. They were literati and had a taste of alcohol. They were enlightened. There was one called Ruan Ji who went overboard. When he was drunk, his clothes would be disheveled. After being scolded by others, he asked the others, "I use the sky as my blanket and the earth as my seat. Why did you crawl into my pants?" Ji Kang was even more overboard. Not only did he deny the morals of that time, he even scolded the sky. These guys started the trend of hermits. Since then, there were many recluses among the scholars of Hua Xia. After the Seven Sages, there were also some who did not live in seclusion. Ruan Ji and Ji Kang broke off relations with these people who did not live in seclusion.
After the Jin Dynasty was settled, the country was more stable and prosperous, and the achievements in literature and art were higher. Therefore, many scholars liked to wear wide sleeves and big guns, drink and write at gatherings, and talk loudly. Those who were not good at talking would be ridiculed.
In general, since the Jin Dynasty, scholars paid great attention to spiritual feelings. Mr. Tao Yuanming was not even full, but he was still in the mood to pick chrysanthemums under the eastern fence and leisurely saw Nanshan. In the eyes of the later generations, these kinds of behaviors were quite immortal. Therefore, the essence of the style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties was the word "recluse". Most scholars were fascinated when they talked about the style of a recluse.
Even in the civilized society of later generations, there were many people who took drugs and drank, and there were even more people who talked in seclusion.
However, in general, the current Great Tang officialdom was filled with corruption. Most of the officials were wily old foxes. Even a famous general like Guo Ziyi was a wily old foxes. However, he was a wily old foxes who could accomplish great things.
As for the style of talking in seclusion, there were many in the Tang Dynasty. Li Bai should be the representative. His poems were very heroic, his flattery was not weak, and no one could compare with him when it came to drinking.
However, Ang Lee always felt that Li Bai had never done anything practical. This guy had never had the chance to be an official. When he finally had the chance to play in the palace, he got drunk every time. Even when he was drunk, he even asked the powerful Gao Lishi to take off his boots, which ruined his political future in vain.
Moreover, Li Bai's poems were bold and exaggerated, full of the artistic conception of the style of talking in seclusion. Even if he was a high-ranking official, he might not be a good one. Think about it. How could a high-ranking official who was drunk all day be a good official? How could an official who invited his friends to a restaurant to drink and write poems be a good official who could do practical things for the people? In short, Ang Lee always had a bad impression of people who drank too much. He always felt that people who drank too much were not good people. In addition, people who were dissolute and unrestrained were not suitable to be officials.
Although talking about the officialdom was taboo in any era, in Chang 'an City of the Tang Dynasty, ordinary people could not help but talk about the state affairs.
"Look at this. Idiot Liu jumped into the well. He's just an insignificant servant. Did he really jump into the well? Anyway, I don't believe it."
"Could it be that he exposed the censor's shortcomings and was retaliated against?"
"I don't think so! Why would a minister of the imperial court bother with a fool? "
"Maybe it was really an accident?"
"Who cares? Anyway, it has nothing to do with us. Let's just watch the fun. "
"This is just a small matter. He's just a fool. So what if he's dead? Have you heard about the big thing now? The Right Chief Minister has passed away. It happened this morning. This is the big thing that concerns the state of the court. "
"Yes! We all heard about it. He had been enduring for more than half a year. Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore. "
"For so many years, how many people have been killed by him? Now it's finally his turn. "
"Keep your voice down. Be careful. Walls have ears."
"What are you afraid of? He's already dead. Are you afraid of his revenge? When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Once the master dies, the subordinates will find another master. There's nothing to be afraid of."
"The Right Chief Minister has passed away. Who will take over the position next? Who do you think it will be? "
"Today, the most favored one by His Majesty is Yang Guozhong. How can it not be him? It's a sure thing."
"But look at the news of the Tang dynasty. Yang Guozhong's family has been in trouble one after another. Won't that have an impact?"
"These are all small things. It won't affect anything. He's still favored by His Majesty. I'm afraid he'll be the Right Chief Minister soon."
"I'm afraid you won't be able to find a good official like Prime Minister Yao in the court. No matter who becomes the Prime Minister, it'll be the same."
"Forget it. Don't talk so much! No matter who becomes the Prime Minister, we'll live our lives as usual. As long as our business isn't affected, everything else is a small problem. "
"Yes, yes, yes. As long as our business isn't affected, who cares who becomes the Prime Minister?"
In a luxurious restaurant, several reputable businessmen were gathered together to discuss important matters of the country.
Although honesty in the officialdom was good for businessmen, these people were old foxes. Even if the officialdom was corrupt and rampant, they still had ways to make themselves live a good life. Treating guests, giving gifts, and currying favor with the officials were their strengths. They just had to spend a little more money, but it didn't affect them much. After all, one wouldn't slap a smiling face. Even if the corrupt officials ran rampant, they wouldn't deliberately make businessmen unable to do business. If the businessmen were driven away, these officials would have no one to show filial piety. At this moment, the business of the Tang dynasty was very prosperous. Moreover, it was in the stage of taking off. As long as one opened a shop to do business, one could easily make a lot of money. It was just like when business was just beginning to develop in the future. Casually opening a shop could make money. Therefore, it didn't matter if they spent some money on gifts.
As a bystander, the businessmen could only care about the changes of the officials in the court. No matter who became the Prime Minister, it wouldn't affect them much. However, as an official, the feeling was different.
After hearing the news of Li Linfu's death, Yang Guozhong was the most nervous. It wasn't that he didn't want Li Linfu to die, but it was a pity that he died at the wrong time. He died when something happened to his family, which made him very sad.
Originally, relying on the Emperor's favor, he was full of confidence to take the position of the Prime Minister. However, since the thing in his family offended the Princess and then made the Emperor unhappy, there was a follow-up to this matter that further damaged his reputation. In this case, it was very likely that his position as the Right Prime Minister would be changed. For this reason, he was very worried.
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