The officialdom of the Qing Dynasty has always paid attention to "origin", the circles of officials of different origins are not the same, and those who are born in the right way generally do not play with the different way of origin, and they cannot look at it in their bones; the same is the right way of birth, Hanlin looks down on the jinshi, and the jinshi looks down on the lifting. All in all, the issue of "origin" is always a hurdle that officials cannot get around.
The love of comparison and vanity were not inherent characteristics of the Qing Dynasty officialdom, which had existed in all dynasties and dynasties, but not as obvious as the Qing Dynasty. Sometimes a little gap will become a capital to show off, such as the same is the birth of the soldier, to be divided into the first, second, third, the second class of the "give the birth of the soldier" and the third of the "give the same to the birth of the soldier", a "same" will make people feel that they can not look up.
Taking Zeng Guofan as an example, he was ranked as the forty-second place in the third class with unsatisfactory results in the temple examination. After the ceremony, Zeng Guofan returned to the inn sullen and unhappy, and his roommate asked him how he was doing? With a frustrated face, he replied that he had only won a third class and "bestowed the same soldier's origin", while this roommate did not even pass the test.
Although Zeng Guofan had excellent results in the imperial examination and was selected to enter the Shuchangguan of the Hanlin Academy and become a Shujishi, this "Tongjinshi origin" had always been his heart disease, and he always felt unable to lift his head in front of his colleagues. Zeng Guofan had "merit in rebuilding" the Qing Dynasty, and he was also an official in Wuyingdian University, the governor of Liangjiang, and he still had such vanity, let alone ordinary officials.
Speaking of Zeng Guofan, we have to mention Zuo Zongtang, compared with Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang is even more miserable, and several times the tests have been blocked out of the door and have no chance to enter the army. Later, as soon as his stubborn temper came up, he simply gave up the road of scientific research and devoted himself to practical scriptures.
Zuo Zongtang was a very talented man, and he successively served as a curtain under Zhang Liangji and Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Hunan. In terms of administrative and military ability, he was many times stronger than these two inspectors, so that when Luo Bingzhang was the curtain, he was called the "Second Inspector" by the Hunan officialdom.
Helplessly, the master is the master after all, and no matter how high the status is, he is not an official. Coupled with Zuo Zongtang's natural stubborn temper and comparing himself to Zhuge Liang, no one paid attention to it, and as a result, he caused a lawsuit and almost lost his life. Fortunately, under the protection of SuShun, Hu Linyi, Pan Zuyin and others, he was able to survive the rest of his life. The Xianfeng Emperor also took inspiration from the phrase "the country cannot be without Hunan for a day, and Hunan cannot be without Zuo Zongtang for a day", and awarded him the title of SipinJingtang and served in the army of Zeng Guofan.
After that, Zuo Zongtang's official Yun Hengtong, soon served as the governor of Zhejiang, moved to the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and then transferred the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, together with Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, became the top pillar on the political stage of the late Qing Dynasty. However, Zuo Zongtang, who was the most elite official, always had a grudge against his origins, and a title that raised people made him feel humiliated.
It is said that during Zuo Zongtang's tenure as the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, he was very mean to the subordinate officials who were born into the army. In particular, if a newly arrived prefecture and county official says in front of Zuo Zongtang that he is a jinshi of which department, he will be severely reprimanded, and even give small shoes to wear; if he is from a person's background, he will immediately be able to get a real shortage with a smile. Although this is a record in the history of the wild, it is not necessarily a true thing, but it can also reflect from the side that Zuo Zongtang regards the fact that he has not obtained the name of Jin Shigong as the biggest regret in his life.
However, Zuo Zongtang finally "got his wish". In the last years of the Tongzhi Dynasty, Agubai, with the support of the Kokand Khanate, took the opportunity to invade and occupy Xinjiang, and triggered a dispute between the DPRK and China over "Sai Defense and Coastal Defense". In the first year of Guangxu, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered Zuo Zongtang to be the minister of Qincha to supervise the military affairs of Xinjiang in order to quell the rebellion in Xinjiang and recover the lost territory.
Coincidentally, this year the imperial court will hold a meeting test. As the saying goes, "the hero does not ask the provenance", but the hero himself seems to care about the "provenance". It is reasonable that Zuo Zongtang made many great achievements in the pacification of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Twist army uprising, and the Huimin uprising, and although the imperial court added officials to the knighthood several times, it did not reward a jinshi status.
Therefore, this time Zuo Zongtang saw the opportunity, tens of thousands of elites had already assembled on the front line, just waiting for Zuo Dashuai's order to go out and kill the enemy. However, after Zuo Zongtang received the appointment, he was delayed in moving, what was the reason? Zuo Zongtang reported to the imperial court that he was from a human background, and just when the imperial court held a meeting examination, I wanted to participate in the examination with the students of the world, and it was good to take the examination for the meritorious name of a jinshi or the glory of the emperor.
Why did Zuo Zongtang go to the exam at this time? This is also for a reason, because at this time he is already a member of the Yipin, but it is difficult to take another step forward, because according to the custom, only those who have entered the cabinet can enter the cabinet and worship, and then they can use "Wen" as a metaphor. In other words, without the title of Jinshi, everything would be in vain.
Cixi also understood people and knew Zuo Zongtang's thoughts, so she ordered Zuo Zongtang to be given a meritorious name and granted the Hanlin Academy to review, this time the jinshi and Hanlin both had the identity, there was no need to participate in the test, and quickly returned to the front line to command it.
"Origin" discrimination was very common in the qing dynasty officialdom, and it was not only Zuo Zongtang? For example, in the case of provincial governors, all those who have been appointed as prefecture and county officials through the selection of officials must routinely report to the governor's office first, and if they are from the rank of a scholar, the treatment will be much better, at least the governor can also arrange a seat and release the vacancy as soon as possible. If you are from a different path or a person of birth, you will inevitably sit on a cold bench, and even the words are full of sarcasm.
If it is put into the present, it can be understood as a department, Hanlin and Jinshi are graduates of 985 and 211 schools, while the people are second or college graduates, and this gap will naturally make people feel weak.