In ancient film and television dramas, we often see civil and military officials in the imperial palace going to the court with the emperor, telling the emperor about their work or what happened in a certain place that the emperor needs to decide. So in real history, which rank of official was eligible to participate in the Imperial Council? And according to what rules did they stand in the court?
The ancient Shang Dynasty, also known as the Dian Dynasty, refers to the pilgrimage at this hour of the 卯時. The hour was about five to seven o'clock this morning, much earlier than most of us today. Then, in general, the civil and military forces are divided into two sides, with the civilian officials on the left and the military generals on the right. The first in the ranks of civilian officials is the prime minister, while the ranks of military generals are at the top of the ranks of the lieutenants, and then they are ranked accordingly.
Those who can qualify for the upper dynasty are generally beijing officials with more than four pins, and in special cases, such as the great dynasty meeting, the governors of the provinces are also eligible to participate in the pilgrimage to see the emperor.
The officials who were able to go to the court were collectively called court officials, and the chancellor was called a foreign court official, because the mansions of the chancellor were outside the palace. The emperor's close subjects such as Shizhong (侍中), Chang Shi (常侍), Zhi Shizhong (給事中), Grand Sima (大司馬), and generals of the left, right, front, and rear, as well as the generals of the Scattered Horse, the Officials, the Zhu Langs, and the Doctor were called Internal Dynasty Officials, and there were all officials from one to five pins. During the Ming Dynasty, the three scholars and the six Shangshu who could go to the dynasty were all high-ranking officials of the first and second products, and the second six shilangs were the officials of the three products, but the six ministries were only seven officials. Similarly, there is the imperial history of the Inspectorate, which is generally only six or seven products, but it can also participate in the imperial meeting.
However, if it is a local official, unless it is more than four pins, that is, at least the inspector, today's position at the level of provincial governor is eligible to go to the court.
In fact, throughout the country, officials above the three pins are rare, in addition to the three scholars, six Shangshu and Shilang, there are thirteen provinces of envoys and inspectors. Therefore, if you count the civil officials alone, there are only no more than one hundred and twenty officials with more than three pins, and no more than fifteen officials who need to go to the heavens and the sky. Not all of the seventy or eighty people in the Six Ministries had to go to court every day, but only when they had matters that had to be raised in the meeting. Although the imperial historians of the Inspectorate were required to go to the court every day, they all added up to less than thirty people, and there were many special cases in which they did not have to come. Therefore, in total, the number of people who will meet each day is about forty people. Zhu Yuanzhang once broke the rule that only high-ranking officials could participate in the imperial meeting, and ordered that all officials serving in the capital were eligible to participate.
Therefore, the imperial history of the Ming Dynasty and the officials who gave six or seven products such as Shizhong could also go to the dynasty.
In the Qing Dynasty, after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the Customs, it quickly sinicized, learned from the Han tradition, and basically followed the original bureaucratic system. During the Kangxi Dynasty, there was a precedent for the shang and early dynasties, and the rule established at that time was ten days and one dynasty, including the five days and one dynasty in the special period. But in fact, when to open completely depends on the emperor's will, if the emperor is lazy, it is possible that the king will not go to the dynasty early, but the emperors of the Qing Dynasty are almost very diligent and hardworking, and the frequency of the court meeting is often greater than the prescribed number of times. The most diligent Yongzheng Emperor had to go to the court almost every day, and the officials had to suffer along. The Qing Dynasty stipulated that officials above the level of four pins must participate in the imperial meeting, and if they were below the level of four pins or local officials, it depended on whether the emperor had summoned them, and if not, they were not needed.
The number of people participating in the imperial meeting varies from dynasty to dynasty, but most of the time it is about thirty to fifty people, and it is rare to see hundreds of people going to the dynasty at the same time in film and television dramas, unless it is on a major day such as the sacrifice of ancestors or the great dynasty meeting.