Li Shen was born in Yunzhou (now Dongping). Born into an official family, he became the magistrate of Yanshan County (now Cangzhou, Hebei Province) with Yin Bu.
It is necessary to explain to you what "shadow compensation" is. The so-called "Yin Department" is the abbreviation of Yin Department Officer. That is, according to the rank or rank of royal relatives and civil and military officials, it is an official selection system that supplements the rank for their descendants, relatives and even servants. From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the end of Qing Dynasty, it was an institutionalized privilege enjoyed by bureaucratic aristocratic groups in China feudal society.
But this privilege is generally limited to middle and senior officials. For example, in the Song Dynasty, it was stipulated that the sons, grandsons, brothers and nephews with eight grades can only be beaten with nine grades if the civil servants have more than five grades and the military officers have more than six grades. As for junior officials, unless they die in the line of duty, that is, "tying the king", they generally do not enjoy this kind of welfare.
The food supplement system in Song Dynasty was unprecedented in ancient China, and its wide coverage was one of them. Except for the Song Dynasty, the compensation scope of each dynasty is generally aimed at close relatives within three generations. For example, in the Han dynasty, only mothers, brothers or sons had shadows; In the Tang dynasty, only sons, grandchildren or great-grandchildren were followed; In the Yuan Dynasty, the eldest son, mother or son were shadowed; Only sons have shadows in the Ming Dynasty.
In the Song Dynasty, not only relatives of the same clan, but also relatives of other surnames could be covered, even door guests, old officials, doctors and servants could be covered. Every time a gift is given or an official retires, middle-and lower-level officials of grades six to eight are also eligible for shade compensation; The second is the large number of people. In terms of the number of officials, there were a little more than two in the Tang Dynasty. The four dynasties of Han, Yuan, Ming and Qing clearly stipulated that each official could only fill one person in his life. Although there were quotas in the Song Dynasty, it was normal that there were as many as a dozen or twenty people and as few as five or seven people (Long Bian left in August of the second year of Emperor You (169)).
During the reign of Injong, Empress Liu took the most care of her ex-husband's beautiful family, and even "recorded dozens of in-laws and servants" (The Biography of Songshi Liu Mei Attached to Liu Congde). Check the Ancient Biography of Songshi Cao Xiu, and the exact number of this shade supplement is 80! It is precisely because of this that the problem of redundant staff in the Song Dynasty was so serious. According to Mr. Zhang Xiqing's estimation, in the Song Dynasty, there were not less than 500 people taking shade every year, while the average number of people taking scholars every year was only 36 1.
However, in the Song Dynasty, there were also strict restrictions on those who supplemented officials with grace. First, the replenishment order is low and the promotion is slow. Under normal circumstances, the officials of the Yin Department are only Beijing officials, candidates and small envoys with less than eight grades. In addition, they are regarded as people with no background and cannot directly serve as people-friendly officials, such as the well-known magistrate and Tongguan.
Generally, junior officials can only serve as the lowest-level supervisor, principal book, county commandant, etc. People who export to counties. Only by virtue of one's own merits and years can one gradually become qualified and have a bright future. Moreover, it is not only close to the people, but also unable to rank among middle and senior bureaucrats for life. We can see that the characters in Biography of the History of Song Dynasty are rarely middle and senior officials (only 1/4), but most of them have been "choosing the sea" all their lives, but they are the police chiefs, industrial and commercial tax chiefs at the grassroots level in various counties, or the detachment leaders and squadron leaders of the armed police. Second, strict assessment and talent recruitment. Many officials who make up for the shadow are uneducated upstarts. Even those who come from bureaucratic families are mostly pampered and uneducated waste. Letting these people flood into specific jobs will not only harm others and themselves, but also endanger national affairs.
Therefore, from the beginning of Mao, it was stipulated that to be an official, you must pass the exam. In the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu (Gregorian calendar 1009), according to the suggestion of Xing Bing of imperial academy (who served as a toast ceremony in imperial academy and was a teacher of Zhenzong), he had to study in imperial academy for two years and obtain a diploma before he could go to the official academy to interpret the text and take part in the official unified examination. Since then, the method of explaining and trying to add the shadow to the official has become more and more perfect, and its rigor is not allowed in the imperial examination.
Li Shen, born of cloth, was able to become the magistrate of Yanshan County at a young age, and in the following years, he was promoted all the way to the local level, successively serving as Dingzhou judge, Jingmen magistrate, knowing and acting magistrate, Huainan, Jingxi and Shaanxi transshipment ambassador. It can be seen that his ability is extraordinary.
Children from bureaucratic families are generally divided into two categories. One is extremely unbearable mediocrity. In Mao's words, "You only know how to drink and play the piano, but you know the sufferings of the people?" (Story of Surabaya (volume 1) "Those born in the shadow of wealth must not be close to the people first") This rotten boy is even better. What's more, he regards the power of his father and brother as evil, deceives men and bullies women, takes bribes and perverts the law, and is really a demon on earth.
The other is the head of a bureaucratic family. They don't have much utilitarian heart to change their families and honor their ancestors. On the contrary, they are more concerned about the country's social responsibility and loyalty and patriotism out of class instinct. At the same time, the "skill" of being an official passed down by several generations of official families has also made them less impetuous and superficial, and they can see the essence more accurately through the phenomenon, unlike officials who were born in the imperial examination. "If you can only write poems and stick to your duty, it will be useless to learn, and political affairs will inevitably be evaluated." ("Long Edition" Volume 22 1 Xining Four Years) Once these people are interested in politics, they often accept new ideas more quickly, dare to get out of the shackles of rules and make extraordinary achievements.
Li Shen is a prominent one of the latter. This man doesn't read many books by sages, but he knows how to govern the world. He is not only good at understanding the essence, but also courageous, resourceful and responsible. Once you find it, go all out and never stop until you reach your goal. When he was a magistrate in Yanshan, he went hungry every year and the people were miserable. He even cajoled and intimidated the rich households into handing over their surplus grain and selling it to the people at low prices. It not only stabilizes the mood of the hungry, but also ensures the legitimate income of the rich.