The Tang Dynasty: Wu Zetian made me her imperial tutor

The Luo River flows through the capital city, running diagonally northeast from Shangyang Palace to the imperial city, before turning due east after passing the imperial city.

Based on this flow, when Emperor Yang of Sui built the Eastern Capital, he built the Imperial City to the south of the Ziwei City and the Eastern City to the east, which together protected the Ziwei City, with the Eastern City staggered towards the north.

Unlike Chang'an, where all government offices were located in the imperial city, some government offices in Shendu were located in the eastern part of the city.

For example, Wenchangtai.

Located east of North-South Street and north of Second Cross Street, it housed the offices of the provincial and six ministries.

Among the twenty-six departments of Wenchangtai, the Tianguan Department, which is ranked highest according to the play, is the former Ministry of Personnel.

The Assistant Director of the Ministry of Personnel was named Li Zhiyuan. In terms of the weight of his duties and the prestige of his position, he was second to none among all the Assistant Directors.

He's currently swearing in the street.

"The Left Chancellor didn't even clarify his stance before directly rejecting the list of officials to be appointed!"

"I have already overturned the verdict three times, and the Vice Minister has reviewed it three times. Is there any problem?"

"The road from the East City to here is not short, and I always present the documents with utmost respect, without the slightest impoliteness."

"This time, a formal complaint was also attached, yet the Left Prime Minister is still playing coy. What's going on?"

"After the palace examination on the 28th of February, the Empress Dowager ordered the list of officials to be submitted as soon as possible. Today is the first of March, and the Empress Dowager has already sent someone to urge us. She's not in a hurry, but I am!"

"If you don't give me an explanation, I won't leave!"

Li Zhiyuan stood in front of the vermilion gate of the Phoenix Pavilion, roared at the gatekeeper, and pointed directly at the opposite side.

His green robe and wide sleeves swayed incessantly, and his beard flew wildly as he spoke, growing increasingly agitated.

There were thirty or forty people standing outside the Phoenix Pavilion, some wearing green robes, some wearing scarlet robes, and some even wearing purple robes, all waiting to do their bidding.

Seeing Li Zhiyuan shouting and making a fuss, they were both curious and worried that he would use the disturbance to rush in first, so they all crowded around.

The gatekeeper said expressionlessly, "The Minister can stay; there are plenty of people queuing outside the Phoenix Pavilion."

He was the one who kept passing on cryptic messages, getting bullied from both sides, and he couldn't be bothered to give them a friendly look anymore.

Li Zhiyuan glanced around and lowered his voice, "Could you please inform the Left Prime Minister and allow me a brief audience?"

The gatekeeper said indifferently, "Minister, what kind of status do I have to speak to the Prime Minister like this? If you are indignant, you may write your anger into the register."

Looking up, it was as if I were looking at a naive young man.

Li Zhiyuan was speechless and had no choice but to turn back and trek all the way back to Wenchangtai in the East City.

He's the prime minister; even if the assistant director of the Ministry of Personnel has a high position, he's just a sixth-rank official and can't be urged to change anything.

We can only take out the roster again and review it from beginning to end to see exactly what's wrong—

Lu Jun is proposed to be appointed as a Senior Left Remonstrator, a rank of eighth grade.

Zhang Yue is proposed to be appointed as a junior ninth-rank official scribe to the Crown Prince.

Zheng Zhi is proposed to be appointed as a ninth-rank official in charge of the Crown Prince's office.

……

Wang Gou is proposed to be appointed as a low-ranking official in the city of Xiacheng, a ninth-grade rank.

Wen was dismissed and was to be appointed as a low-ranking Yiqing magistrate (a ninth-rank official).

……

"Could it be that Lu Jun's rank is really too high?" Li Zhiyuan looked around for a long time before returning his gaze to the first column.

Judging solely from the Tang Dynasty's rank system, granting him the rank of Upper Grade Eighth Grade was indeed too high.

Those who passed the imperial examinations were assigned ranks based on their scores, with each level corresponding to a specific grade, for example...

The Xiucai examination was divided into four grades: Grade A, Grade B, Grade C, Grade D, Grade D; Grade A, Grade B, Grade C, Grade D, Grade D.

The Mingjing examination was divided into four grades: Grade A, lower eighth rank; Grade B, upper ninth rank; Grade C, lower ninth rank; and Grade D, upper ninth rank.

The Jinshi degree was divided into two grades: Grade A was of the upper ninth rank, and Grade B was of the lower ninth rank.

If one has family connections, their social standing will be combined with their official rank. For example, someone with family connections who is of the lower eighth rank and passes the imperial examination in the second grade will be granted the rank of upper eighth rank.

The Xiucai examination was abolished in the second year of the Yonghui era. At that time, the highest-ranking regular examination was the Mingjing examination.

The imperial examinations were usually two grades higher than the Jinshi examinations, meaning that Grade A was the upper rank of the ninth grade and Grade B was the lower rank of the ninth grade. Therefore, Zhang Yue's appointment as "Lower Rank Crown Prince's Collator" was entirely in accordance with the regulations.

Lu Jun, in theory, should be given the rank of the ninth grade.

Li Zhiyuan initially drafted the proposal in this manner, and Lu Jun was appointed as "the ninth-rank official, the Collator of the Imperial Library."

Although the positions of Proofreader and Corrector were ninth-rank officials, they were good choices for starting out and had always been favored by scholars. That was enough.

The rest of the people can be assigned according to their performance and established procedures; this task is not difficult for Li Zhiyuan.

On the 28th of the second month, the draft was submitted to Li Jingchen, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and was approved, but was immediately rejected by Wu Chengsi...

Li Zhiyuan was stunned.

He went to the Phoenix Pavilion to request an audience, hoping to get to the bottom of things, but Wu Chengsi ignored him and only told him to resubmit the report.

Li Zhiyuan, unaware of the reason, returned to Wenchangtai and went to the Examination and Appointment Office to seek the opinion of the chief examiner of the examination.

Shen Quanqi smiled slightly and raised his index finger: "Lu Chuyu can be revised appropriately; he should be a government official in the capital."

Li Zhiyuan was also present at the palace examination and witnessed the entire process of Lu Jun's ranking. Knowing how much the Empress Dowager valued this young man, he immediately understood Shen Quanqi's meaning...

The officials in the capital city excluded local officials such as county magistrates, registrars, prefectural military advisors, and prefectural judges.

Above the ninth rank, one skips directly to the positions of Proofreader and Corrector; the most suitable position is—

He was a junior official in the eighth rank.

Although he was still a rank 8, he was already considered an honest official and could be promoted based on his abilities, bypassing the examination process.

Officials typically need to rotate through several grassroots levels and accumulate experience and prestige before they can cross this threshold.

Forty is considered the prime of life, thirty is considered exceptionally talented, and twenty-five is absolutely gifted...

Li Zhiyuan was born into the Li clan of Zhao County. He was a fair and upright man, and hesitated for a long time when he saw the name of the eighteen-year-old top scholar.

We changed it according to Shen Quanqi's suggestion.

After all, Lu Jun's performance and achievements are obvious to all, and it is a "top-tier" assessment, so she deserves to be given a special exception.

Li Zhiyuan guessed that the reason Wu Chengsi did not say it outright was to imply that he should carefully understand the Empress Dowager's intentions.

On February 29th, after the second version was submitted, Shangguan Lijingchen hesitated for only a blink of an eye before understanding the meaning and also drafting it.

Li Zhiyuan rushed to Fengge in high spirits and submitted the document again. Wu Chengsi was very efficient...

Refuse.

There is still no reason.

Li Zhiyuan was furious and wanted to get to the bottom of things, but he couldn't get into the Phoenix Pavilion, so he had to force himself to go back.

His brow furrowed: "Could it still be because of Lu Chuyu? Being appointed Left Remonstrance Official is already an overreach; we can't promote him any further, can we?"

The next highest-ranking honest official would be a Supervising Censor of the eighth rank... absolutely not.

Although the Censor-in-Chief is only an eighth-rank official, he is a special envoy of the emperor. He is either to supervise a civil administration or to oversee an army. Without sufficient experience and prestige, he is not qualified for the job.

Even if the King of Heaven himself hinted, I wouldn't give it to him!

When Li Zhiyuan went to consult Li Jingchen, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel pondered for a long time before suddenly raising his eyes:

"Lord Li, have you heard that today, during the court hearing, the Left Prime Minister and Lu Chuyu almost got into a fight..."

"His refusal to sign may not be because of Lu Chuyu, and even if it is, he may not want to promote this person..."

Li Zhiyuan's eyes immediately lit up: "Does the Vice Minister mean that the Left Prime Minister intends to demote him by a few ranks? Or is there another arrangement?"

Li Jingchen closed his eyes: "I don't know."

Old fox...

Li Zhiyuan went to the Examination and Merit Department to find Shen Quanqi and confirmed that Wu Chengsi and Lu Jun had a grudge, and that he had misunderstood before.

It's commonplace in the imperial court to use personal grudges to attack political enemies, but to deal with a mere junior like him shows true magnanimity...

If it were truly a request, his protégés would certainly be on the list, which he inadvertently underestimated.

For whatever reason, Li Zhiyuan could not accept that the prestigious Li family of Zhao County would not be coerced by him!

He decided to leave the list unchanged and wrote a long statement explaining the reasons for recommending each candidate for the position.

The last day of the second month is a day of rest, and the document is submitted on the first day of the third month.

I was rejected again.

They still didn't give a reason, and it seems they haven't even looked at the petition.

Li Zhiyuan's first reaction was that Wu Chengsi must have made a request, complaining that he had assigned too few retainers to him!

This kind of thing can't be explained openly; you have to ask and figure it out yourself, which is why I keep to myself.

Just now, Li Zhiyuan was shouting and making a scene in front of Fengge, demanding an explanation. Firstly, he was genuinely anxious, and secondly, he despised Wu Chengsi's character and wanted him to speak frankly.

This tactic failed; he had no evidence and could not expose the truth on the spot lest he be accused of defaming the prime minister.

We have no choice but to come back and look at the list again.

I'm wavering again...

Did I really grant Lu Jun a higher rank, which could be seen as flattering the Empress Dowager?

In the past two days, a poem entitled "Appreciating Peonies" has been posted in various neighborhoods of the capital. It is said to have been written by Lu Junqi during a poetry competition. The poem is exquisite and won first place, and it has been widely praised by the people.

The lines "Only the peony is truly a national beauty; when it blooms, it stirs the capital" seem to contain a deeper meaning...

Li Zhiyuan saw it yesterday, and based on the rumors circulating, he realized that there was indeed something fishy going on inside.

Lu Jun, what a smart person!

The poems are not only well-written, but also perfectly timed.

If you say he was flattering her, he never explicitly said it was a gift to the Empress Dowager; it's purely an interpretation by outsiders.

Even if you say he didn't mean it that way, the whole city is buzzing with rumors, and any dog ​​that runs around diligently can understand them.

Yesterday was a day off, but in the brothels of Nanshi, courtesans were already composing and singing songs, which are currently the most popular tunes, and there's an extra charge for ordering them individually.

The poem must have reached the Empress Dowager's ears, as she sent someone early this morning to urge her to submit the list of names; perhaps this was an implication.

I'm afraid that if I were to award Lu Junchao a fourth-level title, the Qingliu faction would laugh at me, thinking that I'm currying favor with the Empress Dowager.

"It's tough!" Li Zhiyuan shook his head and smiled bitterly.

At this moment, the Empress Dowager's envoy arrived again. It was a female official whom he recognized; her name was Shangguan Wan'er.

This person was a confidant of the Empress Dowager, holding the official position of Inner Attendant, and was also a concubine in the harem. He usually did not come to the front court.

Each time he came, there was always an important edict from the Empress Dowager.