Research On A Study Of The Officer Of Ministry Of Revenue In Southern Song Dynasty

Since the Southern Song Dynasty,the Ministry of Revenue(户部)has been an institution in name only due to the game between the Ministry of Revenue and Neicangku(内藏库),Chaotingqianku(朝廷钱库),and Zonglingsuo(总领所),and the Officer of the Ministry of Revenue has dealt with government affairs in the form of posting orders and taking orders from the government.According to statistics,there were 55 Shangshu(尚书)of the Ministry of Revenue in the Southern Song Dynasty,which was set up for about one-half of the Southern Song Dynasty;there were 166 Shilang(侍郎),and the Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue was set up almost all the time with the Southern Song Dynasty,and occasionally it was not set up,which was seen at the end of the Song Dynasty and the end of the kingdom,that is,the Southern Song Dynasty showed that the shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue was not set up often,and the Shilang often took the place of the shangshu and became the top leader of the Ministry of Revenue,and led the political operation of the institution.With regard to the selection and appointment of the Minister of Finance,the three main ways to enter the Ministry of Finance were through civil-service examination system imperial examination(科举),the Enyin(恩荫),and the Taixue(太学).The Southern Song monarchs often chose the Minister of Revenue as the prerequisite for the selection of the Minister of Revenue by virtue of his skill in financial management and knowledge of the world’s sources of profit,and then promoted him by virtue of his experience in civil affairs and knowledge of financial resources,and finally awarded the corresponding position by special decree(特旨除授).In the case of the Minister of Revenue,the incoming officials were mainly from the central level of the Shangshu Province(尚书省),which involved the officials of the Li Department(吏部),the Ministry of Revenue,the Xing Department(刑部),and the Gong Department(工部);in the case of the Shilang the Minister of Revenue,the incoming officials were mainly from the central level of the provincial temples(省寺监),as well as the road(路),prefectural(府),and state institutions and palace institutions(宫观机构);the outgoing officials of the Shangshu and the Shilang of Revenue had similar characteristics,such as promotion,transfer to the same level,or to the local level as Zhifu(知府),Zhizhou(知州)and shrine officials(祠禄官)for reasons such as dismissal,demotion and illness.The factors that led to the dismissal of the Minister of Finance II can be attributed to their negligence,disagreement with the Chancellor,and personal misconduct.The main duties of the Officer of Minister of the Revenue included presiding over the production of the accounting records(《会计录》),managing the money and goods inspection,implementing the law on economic boundaries(经界法),participating in political affairs,and recommending officials,etc.In addition,the Officer of the Minister of the Revenue also had other part-time duties,mainly as an official who Xiangdingchilingguan(详定敕令官)and an official who took the imperial examinations(科举应试官).Thus,the study of Officer of the Ministry of the Revenue as an object of research will,on the one hand,outline the practical utility of this group in the Southern Song government and,on the other hand,reveal the position of the Officer of the Ministry of the Revenue in the Southern Song bureaucracy and give an objective and accurate evaluation.