What did the undertaker do in the Song Dynasty? Is this position important?

Song Jiang in The Water Margin was originally the undertaker of Yuncheng county government. He is generous and people give him the reputation of "timely rain". Song Jiang is very popular in the local area and has great energy. Almost everyone respects him. So what is his position in the company?

Before the Song Dynasty, officials appointed by the imperial court could hire small officials to handle the daily affairs of the government after taking office in local areas. These petty officials are all supernumerary personnel and are not listed in the organization department of the imperial court, which means that they are not "officials" and have no cadre status.

Although he has no cadre status, if he has good ability and strong relationship with officials, he still has the opportunity to enter the system as an official.

But after the Song Dynasty, the boundaries between officials and officials were strictly distinguished. Generally speaking, as a small official of the county government, there is no chance to become a full member and enter the cadre sequence. Once you become an official, you will be an official for almost your whole life unless you resign.

In the county government of Song Dynasty, except for a few local officials appointed by the imperial court, the rest were all officials appointed by local governors, and a large number of daily affairs in the county government were completed by them.

The types of officials are very complicated. In the county government, there are two departments, namely the escort department and the postal department. They are mainly engaged in collecting taxes, managing household registration and handling prison proceedings. Song Jiang's escort status in Water Margin is an official engaged in prison litigation in the county government.

At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, the courtiers in the county government were generally sent from the "upper households".

The so-called "shanghu", in layman's terms, is also a family with property, that is, a rich household. Song Jiang in Water Margin comes from a small landlord family.

Due to the higher requirements for the company, it is necessary to write well and be an accountant, so it is inevitable to be short of manpower. Later, the company added two kinds of services, recruitment and inheritance.

According to historical records, a county government is generally equipped with eight people. But the rankings of these eight people are not the same.

Feng Menglong recorded in epigram that the company ranked first and second. According to the description in the Water Margin, Song Jiang is the first escort, and he is the tallest escort.

In the Song Dynasty, there was a strict distinction between the clothes of ordinary people and officials. Yasi's dress is similar to that of a scholar, and he can wear long gowns and boots, which is obviously different from that of ordinary people (ordinary people wear short gowns and high heels).

Although Yasi's dress is different from that of ordinary people, Yasi's identity is "human" after all, not "official". Therefore, Yasi was looked down upon by scholars, and his political status was very low, and he was at the bottom of the bureaucratic system.

In the Song Dynasty, there was no salary or very little salary for the position of escort. However, they manage the people on behalf of the government, have been local officials for many years, are familiar with the people's feelings, and have certain real power in their hands, so it is also local real power figures who can do the work of the swearing-in company. So it is not difficult for us to understand why Song Jiang is also a prominent figure in the local area.

Since the company's salary is very small, why does Song Jiang always give this gold to that silver?

"Water Margin" mentioned that Song Jiang was born in a small landlord family, and his family assets should be relatively strong. In addition, although the company has a low position in the bureaucracy, it has many positions, such as collecting taxes and taking charge of prison proceedings. They are very powerful and rich in oil and water. As you can imagine, sung river will not remain uncorrupted.

Although the company's position is very lucrative, due to his identity, Song Jiang will never be able to enter the official career and get ahead. This makes Song Jiang, who has received traditional Confucian education since childhood and thinks highly of himself, feel bitter.

Song Jiang later wrote an anti-poem in Xunyanglou, saying, "Just like a tiger lying on a barren hill, its latent minions endure ... if they go to Ling, they dare to laugh at Huang Chao without a husband." It is not difficult to see that Song Jiang has endured for a long time and does not want to be trapped in the resentment of petty officials.

Song Jiang privately released his classic works, and was blackmailed by Yan Poxi, who later angered and killed Yan Poxi to rebel. When he became the boss of Liangshan, Song Jiang finally accepted the favor of the imperial court. It is not difficult to see that in Song Jiang's mind, seeking fame and serving the court is always orthodox.