Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 39 Official Assessment
In the last few days of the year, Chang'an City became more and more lively.

After working hard for a year, the people no longer have to work hard on the farm and can enjoy the few days of leisure time they have in a year.

When people have less time to do, there is less work to do, and officials have a lot more free time, so they can return to work earlier every day.

Only the envoys to the court were different.

They all carried the examination reports of every official in each prefecture and county with them and came to Chang'an City to submit the reports to the Ministry of Personnel for review. They also had to attend the grand court meeting at the beginning of the year.

The official assessment system in the Tang Dynasty, also known as Mokan, was extremely strict. No official could escape it except the emperor.

The assessment of officials from other prefectures and counties is the responsibility of Gongcao Canjun and Sigongzuo, and is supervised by the governor, dudu and other chief officials.

In addition, the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate would also send assessment envoys to supervise the assessment, and supervisory censors would conduct inspections throughout the year to ensure that local officials would not commit fraud.

As for local chief officials, the emperor personally sent special envoys to conduct assessments.

The assessment of officials in the capital was more complicated. Each government office was responsible for the examination of merits sent by the Ministry of Personnel and the examination envoys sent by the emperor. One was responsible for the assessment and the other was responsible for the supervision.

The Kaogonglang was only of the fifth rank and was only responsible for the assessment of officials below the fourth rank.

As for officials of the third rank and above, princes, and the third rank of the Secretariat, they were still assessed by officials appointed by the emperor.

This matter was agreed upon at a court meeting in early September and was put in charge by two members of the royal clan.

The assessment was completed on December 28th, and the officials below could only wait for the Ministry of Personnel to announce their assessment results after the grand court meeting.

It’s different for high-ranking officials.

They all have their own connections and have started to inquire about their test results.

No wonder they are so concerned.

Chu Suiliang's official position was Shangshu You Pushe and concurrently Minister of Personnel. Since he was exiled, these two major vacancies became vacant.

The Shangshu You Pushe was a regular prime minister who had the power to decide all major affairs of the world.

The Minister of Personnel is the head of the Ministry of Personnel, in charge of the transfer and rating of officials throughout the country. Who among the officials above the fourth rank would not want to fill these two important vacancies?
Originally, this matter had nothing to do with the neutral officials. Everyone was thinking that either an official from the aristocratic family would take over, or Xu Jingzong and his gang would take over.

However, several recent events have caused officials in the court to think something different is going on.

The Tiger Pen test explosion was strictly forbidden to be discussed, but it instead aroused curiosity, and many court officials guessed that something big had happened that day.

After that incident, an unknown eighth-rank minor official was promoted ten levels in a row, from a small legal officer to a fifth-rank doctor, and served as the acting Shaoqing of the Dali Temple.

Therefore, all the ministers secretly guessed that this matter was related to Di Renjie.

Even Yan Liben, who recommended Di Renjie, saw his reputation rise significantly because of this. Some people even thought that he might become a prime minister, and the number of visitors to Yan's mansion increased significantly.

The other is Liu Rengui.

He was the only fifth-rank official invited to the Forbidden Garden, which showed that the emperor had a special regard for him.

On the second day after the test explosion, Li Ji invited Liu Rengui into his mansion, and then Changsun Wuji, Xu Jingzong and others also began to win him over.

Many people speculated that since the emperor promoted Di Renjie out of turn, he might also promote Liu Rengui out of turn.

Although Liu Rengui was only a fifth-rank attendant, he had a long history and had worked in the Ministry of Personnel for more than ten years. Now that he was favored by the emperor, it was reasonable for him to succeed the Minister of Personnel. It was not impossible for him to be appointed as a prime minister.

Liu Rengui naturally heard these words, but he acted as if nothing had happened and handled his government affairs as usual every day.

That day, after he finished handling government affairs, he was walking on Chengtianmen Street when Shangguan Yi caught up with him from behind and said with a smile, "Brother Liu, you are really focused. You are still busy until so late every day."

Liu Rengui glanced at him and said, "Why can't I calm down?"

Shangguan Yi studied his expression and said, "Everyone is saying that you might succeed the Minister of Personnel or even become Prime Minister. Don't you know that?"

Liu Rengui said calmly, "No matter what position you hold, you are serving the country. Whether you are the Minister of Personnel or the Imperial Household Department, in my eyes, there is no difference."

Shangguan Yi's eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled and said, "If others hear you say this, they'll say you're being hypocritical."

Liu Rengui did not argue with him, but simply asked, "You came to see me, so you must have something to ask?"

Shangguan Yi smiled and said, "Mr. Xu is hosting a banquet at his home tonight, and he asked me to invite you over."

Liu Rengui: "Why doesn't he invite me himself?"

Shangguan Yi said with a half-smile, "You've been so busy lately, being invited by one person or another. He's afraid you won't want to go."

Liu Rengui knew Xu Xiaode's temper very well.

This man was a man of extreme caution, treading on thin ice, and never getting involved in any conflict. He had seen his recent popularity rise, with people from both factions coming to him, and was worried that he had already joined one side, so he sent Shangguan Yi to test him.

Liu Rengui didn't explain much, just said, "Let's go."

This sentence showed his attitude. Shangguan Yi smiled slightly, left the palace with him and headed towards Xu's house.

The two of them came to Xu Xiaode's residence together. The banquet had already begun and other old Qingliu officials had also arrived one after another.

Everyone was an old friend, so they didn't exchange many pleasantries and started eating right away.

After three rounds of drinks, some people began to joke that Liu Rengui was lucky and was more popular than Xu Xiaode recently.

Liu Rengui just drank and ignored him.

Shangguan Yi suddenly smiled and said, "In the past, at the end of the year, everyone wanted to know the assessment results in advance, and they had to go to great lengths to put on a smile. Now that we have Brother Xu, we don't have to go through so much trouble."

Someone started to make a noise, "Yes, Mr. Xu, we are not here just to drink. What are everyone's ratings? Please tell us quickly."

Xu Xiaode smiled and said, "Don't worry, you are all above the 'Zhongzhong' level and will not be demoted."

The rating of officials in the Tang Dynasty was divided into nine levels based on the "Four Virtues and Twenty-Seven Bests" standard.

The Four Virtues refer to four qualities: being virtuous and righteous, being clear and prudent, being fair and just, and being diligent and conscientious.

The twenty-seven mosts refer to whether the specific job title is competent.

For example, officials of the Ministry of Personnel: They are good at selecting people and make the best use of their talents, which is the best among the selection officials.

One best and four virtues is "top", which is the highest rating. It means that the job is done extremely well and all four virtues of an official are achieved.

Such people are bound to get promoted.

The average is the passing line. Officials who perform above this level can basically keep their official positions.

Generally speaking, moral character is the most important thing for an official in the Tang Dynasty. The more "good" one is, the easier it is to get promoted.

Shangguan Yi laughed and scolded, "You old fool, even after becoming an assistant minister, you've learned to keep secrets. Tell me now, or I'll drink up all your fine wine today."

Xu Xiaode smiled and told everyone's rating one by one.

Shangguan Yi is the best and the best, and is rated as "upper and lower".

He was very satisfied with this.

During his three years as the Secretary General, he received three ratings: one "upper middle" and two "upper and lower." Logically, he would most likely be transferred to another department this year, and this rating would help him get promoted.

Liu Rengui's rating was "one best and three good", and he was rated "upper middle". This was the first time he received such a high rating after serving in the Menxia Province for more than ten years.

This was obviously not because he had done a better job this year than in previous years, but because the emperor had appointed him and the officials above him did not want to offend him.

One person lifted it and it became upper middle.

When everyone learned the test results, some were happy and some were sad. Many people who received low scores drank two glasses of wine and then left in disappointment.

Liu Rengui remained calm and was not happy about the sudden improvement in his evaluation.

On the contrary, Shangguan Yi was in higher spirits than usual. He drank a few more glasses and showed a rare sign of drunkenness.

After the banquet, Liu Rengui was afraid that Shangguan Yi might fall off his horse on the road, so he said goodbye with him and personally sent him home before going home.

Liu Rengui was an honest and upright official, but his family was not well-off. He had no house in Chang'an, but lived in a friend's house.

His friend was an official in a remote prefecture and would not be able to return to Chang'an for several years. Seeing that Liu Rengui's family was renting a house, he lent his house to them.

When Liu Rengui returned home, he suddenly saw a carriage outside the mansion gate.

After asking the doorman, he found out that there was a guest in the house, and it was a noble from the palace.

He walked quickly into the hall and saw a palace eunuch sitting in the room, who was the eunuch supervisor Wang Fusheng.

Liu Rengui bowed and asked Wang Fusheng why he came.

Wang Fusheng smiled faintly and said, "I am here on the orders of the Holy Lord to summon Liu Jieshi to an audience. Please follow me."

Liu Rengui was secretly shocked. He changed his clothes and followed Wang Fusheng.

Soon, the two entered the palace and came to the outside of Ganlu Palace. After Wang Fusheng informed them, he took him into the palace.

(End of this chapter)