In fact, the most painful thing in the court was the emperor, because the iron king and the flowing courtiers went to court. Although the Qin Dynasty existed for a short time since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the relevant etiquette was not yet mature. By the time Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, all the princes were Liu Bang's good friends at this time. On such a serious occasion, he is still used to being friends, which makes it easy to go to court. At a gathering of the monarch and ministers in the imperial court, some people drank too much, danced and danced, and some people shouted, which made Liu Bang, as a leader and emperor, lose face. So I asked Dr. Shu Han to make etiquette for the court. After a grand and complicated etiquette demonstration, Liu Bang sighed and realized the authority of the emperor.
After the Han Dynasty, the time and rules of going to court began to be clear, because the time of going to court in the early days was basically determined according to the sunrise time of the sun all year round, which made the emperor get up early every day. The system of going to court every other day was implemented in the Tang Dynasty, and the emperor and courtiers could have a day off. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, they went to court every day.
Although the emperors' bedrooms are very close to the imperial court, they should attend no matter whether it is windy or rainy, so that they will finish washing at four o'clock in the morning at the latest, ready to read the newspaper and instruct the courtiers. But for ministers, except the prime minister and princes, they attend the morning outing of the emperor every day, and all departments have their own officials on duty, so they can attend it on the day of the court.
This contrast, as the emperor of today's dynasty, if he wants to shine on the earth, he must make good work arrangements the night before the court, get up early to arrange the work of courtiers, and ministers prepare their work in the court, just answering questions. It is the emperor who can't have a good rest every day.
The principle of building an official residence nearby is adopted to solve the problem of officials going to court for a long time. Officials who have participated in the court for a long time are all institutions. These people basically entered the officialdom through imperial examinations or other channels. They can be said to have come from all corners of the country and gathered at the feet of the Emperor of Beijing. The first problem we face is the housing problem. Compared with local officials, you can have a yamen to live in. At the foot of the son of heaven, land is precious in any dynasty. Except for officials with well-off families, they can buy real estate and settle down at will.
For ordinary officials, if they live too far away and are used to walking in information transmission, they will not be able to participate in court in time. In order to solve this problem, since the Tang and Song Dynasties, the court has set up official residences to house officials. These places are basically far from offices and courts, but not too far. There are also some officials who come to Beijing from other places to be officials. Returning to China after retirement is their ultimate destination, so many officials choose to rent private houses, so that they can live comfortably without being crowded with others in the official residence.
In this case, the distance from home to the imperial court is constant, although the emperors of all previous dynasties stipulated that the imperial court would rain or shine. Starting every morning, as long as you try to calculate the time and keep up with it in time, you won't be late, although it's hard.
After appearing in court, the unit provides meals and guarantees rest in the afternoon. There are morning court and big court. Officials like the grand court best. Since the Western Han Dynasty, there are usually important festivals. The emperor accepted sacrifices from officials, and gave them meals and sometimes music performances. On this day, the emperor will not arrange any work. After the ceremony, the courtiers will retreat to the court and then go home.
The early dynasty was a daily office. Before the Tang dynasty, officials entered the DPRK collectively, while in the Song dynasty, they entered the DPRK in batches. In the Ming dynasty, the cabinet system was used to handle government affairs, while in the Qing dynasty, it learned the lessons from the demise of the Ming dynasty, obeyed the government, and strengthened its ties with officials. At the beginning of the dynasty, after the emperor arranged everything, officials rushed back to their offices in time after receiving the imperial edict. From 5 am to the end of the first dynasty, it was basically completed at 7: 00.
By this time, the officials who went to the yamen were probably hungry. They usually provide breakfast, start work in time after dinner, and provide another lunch at noon. You can get off work at this time, because the yamen will leave the staff on duty. If there is nothing urgent and you are not on duty, you can get up and leave.
Tell an interesting story about going to court and being an office worker. Wei Zhongxian, the great eunuch of the Ming Dynasty, cancelled the street lamps on the road facing the imperial court on the grounds of eliminating the fire in the Forbidden City. There is no lighting. He just arrived outside the palace gate in the early morning. At this time, it was very troublesome for officials to walk, and some officials fell into the river and drowned.
However, this ban has no effect on princes and ministers. They have special lantern bearers, so they wait outside the palace gate for ordinary officials of the court. When they saw that such a family had lights, they quickly gathered around to rub them. Is it similar to squeezing the bus to work now?
Call in sick, miss the morning meeting, and go to eat, drink and be merry. In the early dynasties, people who did not take part in absenteeism not only had to deduct their wages, but also had to be punished with big boards. "All civil and military officials attended the meeting, and those who were absent for no reason got a season's salary." These punishments seem severe, but in fact they are much cry and little rain. During Song Renzong's period, Zhang Yi, the right-hand patrol ambassador, impeached more than 30 officials to ask for leave in one breath and took part in banquets and entertainment activities. Song Renzong had no choice but to reprimand them and arrange medical staff to check their condition.