The way of transportation of officials in the Northern Song Dynasty reveals the things behind the o

Mondo Cars Updated on 2024-01-31

Liu Gong's father, a scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty, was a jinshi in the same year as his brother Liu Yuan's father, and Sima Guangxiu "Zizhi Tongjian" was Liu Gong's father's assistant. Around the time of the reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Song Dynasty, after being recommended by Ouyang Xiu, a bigwig in the academic world, Liu Gong's father was appointed as the pavilion proofreader. Pavilion survey is the highest academic institution in the Song Dynasty surveyor, can be the pavilion survey, basically are the academic cattle at that time, but the pavilion is Qingshui Yamen, the salary is not very high, and it is not equipped with a "bus", in order to facilitate commuting, Liu Gong's father bought a very cheap horse (female horse) out of his own pocket.

The price of horses in the Northern Song Dynasty was seven yuan per horse, equivalent to three or four thousand yuan, and the price of an electric bicycleThe noble horse is more than 100 yuan, which is equivalent to 670,000 yuan, which is about the same as the ** of today's high-end cars. With Liu Gong's father's salary income, he can only buy low-grade means of transportation.

Horses are not really suitable for transportation, because horses are timid and can easily run or kick people in fright. When his colleagues saw that Liu Gong's father had bought a horse to walk, they made fun of him: "Someone else drives a Mercedes-Benz BMW, but it's good for you to buy a horse, aren't you afraid that it will be frightened and kick people?"Liu Gongfu said, "I have my own way." My colleague asked, "What's the idea?"Liu Gong's father said, "I bought a piece of green cloth and tied it to the horse's buttocks." A colleague said, "It's even weirder." Liu Gong's father replied: "In addition to the first fortunate pavilion, I was frugal and did not give Gui a salary, because I took this horse for cheap value." I don't mean that the kings are too deep, so I will cover up the mouth of the speaker. ”

From this experience of Liu Gongfu, we can get a glimpse of some aspects of the "official car" system in the Northern Song Dynasty: the vast majority of the Song Dynasty could not enjoy the treatment of being equipped with "public cars" (official horses). If you don't want to walk hard to get to and from work, you can only buy a "private horse" out of your own pocket.

Some ** may not be able to afford a decent "private horse", and they don't want to buy a horse like Liu Gong's father, so what should I do?You can ride a "rental horse". In the Song Dynasty, the "rental horse" service industry of Kaifeng Mansion was very developed, and it was very convenient to rent a horse or a horse-drawn carriage, even if it was a second watch at night, there were horses for rent in the city. "Tokyo Menghualu" records that the citizens of Tokyo "usually go out of the street and the city officials, a little like the road is tired, from one square to the other side of the city, the city of Xiangqiao, and they have their own fake rental of pommel horses, but only 100 yuan", the citizens of Kaifeng Mansion usually go out, used to rent a horse for travel, and it only takes about 100 yuan to rent a rent.

During the time of Song Renzong, there was a judge named Sun Liangru in the Military Patrol Court (Court) of Kaifeng Prefecture, who liked to pretend to be poor on weekdays, "because he was poor, he did not raise horses, and every time he went out, he would rent them", that is, on the grounds of poverty, there was no "private horse" at home, and he took a "rental horse" when he went out on business. Once, when he escorted a death row prisoner to the execution ground, the Kaifeng court did not send him a "bus" to use, but still called a "rental horse". The groom asked, "Where are the officials going?"Sun Liangru said, "Go to the execution ground." The groom asked again, "Will you come back then?"Those who heard it couldn't help but burst into laughter.

In the Song Dynasty, the ** level of the ruler was equipped with a special official horse (the military ministers were different, and the middle and high-level military ministers were equipped with more than three official horses), which was equivalent to a "special car";It is also allocated to the groom who controls the horse, which is equivalent to a full-time "driver";There is also an item of "horse and millet" on the salary list, which is equivalent to "fuel subsidy". When Wang Dan was the prime minister, there was a groom who controlled the horses for his carriage for five years, and when the work period expired, the groom came to bid farewell to Wang Dan, and Wang Dan said in surprise: "Why don't I know you?"When the groom turned to leave, Wang Dan looked at his background and felt very familiar, so he suddenly remembered and hurriedly called the groom: "You are someone?""A very generous gift for the groom. It turned out that the horseman controlled the horse every day, and Wang Dan "saw his back and did not look at his face;."Because I went to see his back, Fang Province also". We can guess from this detail that the carriage Wang Dan rode in and the groom who controlled the horse should be assigned to the prime minister, and it is unlikely that Wang Dan hired it himself, otherwise, how could he "not look at his face"?

However, once the prime minister retires, he will cancel the "bus treatment", such as the famous minister Fubi and Wang Anshi Zhishi, who bought a little donkey to ride. Fu Bi once "crossed the donkey to go out of the suburbs", and met a petty official "Shuinan Inspection", and the horse pawn of the inspection shouted to Fu Bi to get off the donkey and give way. Fu Bi didn't care, and silently whipped the donkey away. If Fu Bi sat on a luxury bus with the prime minister's brand, how could a small inspection dare to be so presumptuous?

Although the administrative level of the civil servants (Xu officials) of the prime minister's office (three provinces) is not high, because of the busy official business and the important nature of the work, they can also take the "official car": "The officials of the three provinces are tired and ranked, they are given meat every day, they enjoy a good fortune every month, they have clothes in the cold and summer, and they take official horses in and out", and their treatment is very high.

In addition, the general ** is not equipped with an "official car". If we think that an official with a sesame seed in the Song Dynasty can occupy a "bus", then we are wrong. However, Wenchen from the sixth rank official (equivalent to the deputy hall) and above, all issued "official car subsidies", the Song people called it "Ma Shusu". According to the Song system, "those who give horses and horses are from twenty to one, and all are seventh", that is, "official car subsidies" are divided into seven grades, with the highest subsidy for 20 horses and the lowest subsidy for 1 horse.

Some friends may ask: Didn't the ancients all take sedan chairs?Why don't you mention the sedan chair that the Song Dynasty sat on?In fact, doctors of the Northern Song Dynasty rarely sat in a sedan chair. Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty recalled: "I remember that when the Beijing division was in its heyday, all officials only rode horses, although the attendants also rode horses. Sedans are usually reserved for women, married brides and elderly people.

Wang Dan, the prime minister of the Song Zhenzong Dynasty, once came home from work and was blocked in the middle of the road by a scholar, who pointed at him and scolded: "The people are poor and drought, and they are extremely tired!."Xiang Gong is heavy, and his heart is safeScolding and scolding, he threw the book in his hand over, hitting Wang Dan's head. It can be seen that Prime Minister Wang Dan did not take a sedan chair after work, otherwise the book would not have been thrown in his head. Prime Minister Wang was also really generous, and said: "I have done it in my words, what is his crime?""Tell the guards on the left and right not to embarrass the scholar and let him go.

During the Song Dynasty, after Wang Anshi resigned from the post of prime minister, he lived in seclusion in Jinling, and went in and out of "only riding a donkey". Relatives and friends thought of his advanced age and persuaded him to take a sedan chair, Wang Anshi said: "Since ancient times, although the prince is not Taoist, he has not dared to replace animals with people. ”

Wang Anshi's political opponent Sima Guang also "does not like the sedan chair (sedan chair), and he also rides horses in the mountains." He went out in a carriage, without opening the umbrella of his entourage, and holding a fan to protect himself from the sun. Friend Cheng Yi said of him: "Sima Gong doesn't even have a messenger to follow when he goes out, it's too low-key, and the people don't know that you are Master Sima, I'm afraid it's not very convenient." Sima Guang said: "A certain person does not know what to do. Cheng Yi is also "since he was a child, he has not tasted a sedan chair", once he and two ** traveled to Shu, the mountain road was rugged and difficult, and the ** who accompanied him proposed to sit in a sedan chair, Cheng Yi resolutely objected, and said: "I can't bear to ride, and it is clear that people are replaced by animals." If it is sick and muddy, it is a last resort. At that time, most of the scholars were ashamed of taking a sedan chair, thinking that it was "replacing animals with people", which was inhumane. Some scholars and doctors "may have old and sick diseases, and the imperial court orders them to take a sedan chair, and they still try to accept it after resigning", even if they have to sit in a sedan chair, they are repeatedly refused.

If the Song Dynasty had to go out on business, was there a "bus" to pick it up?In the third year of Song Renzong's reign (1036), Ouyang Xiu, a friend of Liu Gong's father, was demoted to Yiling County Order by the Pavilion School Survey because of his participation in political disputes. From Jingshi to Yiling, there are two ways by land and water, the land route is closer, and the waterway is farther, but Ouyang Xiu's family has no good horses, so he has to give up the near and far, and hire a boat to take the waterway: "I started to go to Yiling by land, and I used the heat to do it, and there was no horse, so I made this trip." The Song Dynasty had a well-developed system of delivery shops and post stations. The delivery shop is responsible for the delivery of fast horses, and the post station is responsible for official reception. According to the system, if you are "on a business trip", that is, on a business trip, such as being assigned to a foreign place to manage prison cases, compensate victims, inspect places, or enter the court, etc., you can apply to the Privy Council, the household department or the local transfer department for a "horse leader" and a "post ticket" With the "horse leader" can call the official horses of the post station and the delivery shop;With the "post coupon", you can enjoy free food and accommodation at various post stations.

However, the Song Dynasty ** on the delivery of shop officials and horses and post station accommodation management is very strict, only urgent official business or urgent to go to work, can use the post, such as Song Zhenzong a legislation stipulated: "In the future, in addition to the urgent trip to the post and the urgent business, that is, to beg to ride the horse, the rest of the more begging to borrow." If the offense is violated, the investigation will be severe. Ouyang Xiu was demoted to Yiling as a small county commander, which was not a major and urgent matter, of course, he couldn't use the resources of the delivery shop and the post station, so he could only hire a boat by himself.

What if ** violates the system and uses the official horses of the post station and the delivery shop without authorization?According to the legislation of the Song Dynasty, "those who deceive and ride stagecoaches shall be added to the service;Yiguan and others are aware of the same crime";"Whoever does not deserve to ride a stagecoach shall be imprisoned for one year";"Privately) that is, to borrow a stagecoach, and to borrow it, a hundred rods, five days a year." Riding a stagecoach by fraud was sentenced to exile;Riding a stagecoach without obtaining a certificate shall be sentenced to one year's imprisonment;If you borrow a stagecoach for five days, you will be sentenced to one year's imprisonment. During the reign of Song Zhenzong, Mei Xun, the transfer envoy of Jinghu North Road, lent the post station official horse to the son of Shao Ye, the governor of Guangzhou, without authorization, so that he could rush to Guangzhou to visit his critically ill father, resulting in the death of the post horse on the way. Although Mei Xun had good intentions, he had no choice but to violate the stagecoach system, and could only receive the administrative punishment of demotion, and was demoted to Xiangzhou General Judgment.

The "official car" system of the Northern Song Dynasty is roughly like this: the prime minister's level is equipped with a special "official car" (official horse);Civil servants of important departments can also take official horses when they go in and out of business;Those who are on a business trip to undertake urgent official business can apply for the use of the post;Generally, ** is not equipped with "official cars", * only a part of the "horse squirt" subsidy, want to find a mount?Pay for a "private horse" yourself, or rent a "rental horse".

The Northern Song Dynasty ** travel revealed the secret: the prime minister's "special car", the scholar's donkey riding, and the indissoluble bond with the official car system.

In this article, the author takes the first substitute in the Northern Song Dynasty as the starting point, and reveals in detail the "official car" system at that time, as well as the various situations in which they choose transportation in their daily lives. Such a historical investigation is thought-provoking, and it can't help but give people a more realistic understanding of the life of the ancient **.

First of all, the article shows the social hierarchy of the Northern Song Dynasty through the difference between the prime minister's level and the general ** in the means of transportation. As the highest administrative **, the prime minister enjoys a special "official car" (official horse), and has a unique treatment in transportation. This difference not only reflects the status of **, but also implies that the social strata are distinct. At the same time, for the general **, although equipped with "official car subsidies", the relatively low grade and quantity make them relatively limited in the choice of transportation, and they need to solve the traffic problem by themselves.

Secondly, the article exposes the vivid scenes of the avoidance of sedan chairs and their preference for riding horses. This reflects the adherence of the scholar class at that time to traditional values, and they believed that the sedan chair was "replacing animals with people", which violated the way of human ethics. This choice of means of transportation is not only a way of life, but also a manifestation of identity and values.

The article also vividly describes the scene of the prime minister buying a small donkey to ride after retirement, and the situation that the officials (civil servants) of the prime minister's office (three provinces) can ride official horses. This not only highlights the glory and treatment of the prime minister when he was in office, but also reflects the end of the "official car" treatment after retirement, and everything returns to the ordinary.

Finally, through the introduction of the delivery shop and the post station system, as well as the restrictions on the use of post station official horses, the strict management of public resources in the Northern Song Dynasty was demonstrated. **Whether we can use the resources of the post station and the delivery shop when we are on a business trip or urgent official business needs to go through layers of approval, and violators will face legal sanctions. This management system reflects the effective allocation of resources, and also highlights the responsibilities and obligations in the use of public resources.

Overall, this article presents us with a real and rich historical picture through an in-depth analysis of the Northern Song Dynasty. Through these vivid historical details, readers can get a glimpse of the unique style of the social hierarchy, values, and choice of transportation at that time, making this history more vivid and interesting, and thought-provoking.

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