Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 307 The Eight Offices and Four Courts of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices
The Imperial Academy of Ceremonies in Luoyang was located in the eastern part of Luoyang Palace, south of the Ministry of Personnel. Zhang Dai had traveled to this area many times, but he mainly went to the Ministry of Personnel and didn't pay much attention to the Imperial Academy of Ceremonies.

As soon as he entered Chengfu Gate in the East City, a middle-aged man in a light blue robe quickly came up to him from the side of the gate and bowed to him from a distance, saying, "Zhang Xielu, I am Zhao Ling, the registrar of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. I have been ordered to wait here and guide you into the office."

"Thank you for welcoming me, Registrar Zhao!"

Zhang Dai hadn't expected the Taichang Temple to be so thoughtful, so he walked over to the registrar Zhao Ling, bowed to him in greeting, and asked with a smile, "Excuse me, Registrar Zhao, has the newly appointed Taile Cheng Wang Qian, who was appointed on the same day as me, already arrived at his post? Shall we wait here for a while?"

“Wang Cheng, this Wang Lang, will not be coming. His father, Wang Zuo Cheng, recently sent a family member to inform him of a family tragedy, that his father had passed away. He can only respectfully thank the family for their instructions and return home to handle the funeral arrangements.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ling quickly added.

Zhang Dai was taken aback by these words, thinking to himself, "Are the Langya Wang clan really this stubborn? They'd rather die than accept an official position they don't like?"

Of course, this was just a momentary thought, and the situation was mostly a coincidence. If this were during the Eastern Jin or Southern Dynasties, it would be one thing for these aristocratic families to put on airs and play tricks like "What can be done to the common people if Anshi doesn't come out?" But in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, they couldn't show off their power like that. If you didn't want to be an official, there were plenty of others who could.

Take Li Deyu, who deeply resented the imperial examination system during the mid-Tang Dynasty, for example. His grandfather still had to eagerly participate in the imperial examinations, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to get a proper social status.

Since Wang Qian wasn't coming, Zhang Dai, led by Zhao Ling, headed straight for the Taichang Temple office. Along the way, Zhao Ling explained the Taichang Temple's history and rules to Zhang Dai in great detail.

In the central government of the Tang Dynasty, the Three Departments and Six Ministries were in charge of administrative decision-making and execution, while the Nine Temples and Five Directorates were responsible for managing specific affairs.

As the head of the nine temples, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was responsible for various matters such as the worship of imperial tombs and temples, rites and music, medicine, divination and numerology. It had eight departments and four institutes under its jurisdiction.

Its subordinate agencies included the suburban altars of the two capitals, the mausoleum administration, the Yongkang and Xingning mausoleum administration, the mausoleums of the crown princes, the mausoleum of the crown prince, and the temple administration of the Qi Taigong Temple in the two capitals. This was the so-called mausoleum and temple complex, which together consisted of the suburban altars, the imperial temple, and the mausoleum administration.

In short, if the Court of Imperial Sacrifices neglected its duties, the emperors of the Tang Dynasty would have to cease all offerings of incense and rites.

When Zhang Dai heard Zhao Ling introduce the various mausoleums and temples of the princes, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "This is truly the great Tang Dynasty's meticulousness and respect for tradition."

These princes were often the losers eliminated in the Xuanwu Gate Incident or other political struggles, such as Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, Crown Prince Li Xian, and Crown Prince Li Chongjun. Although they were eliminated in the struggle, mausoleums and temples were built for them to enjoy worship.

In addition to the various imperial mausoleums and temples, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices also had subordinate agencies such as the Court of Music, the Court of Drums and Wind Instruments, the Court of Imperial Physicians, the Court of Imperial Divination, and the Court of Sacrificial Animals. Their functions can be basically seen from their names. The Court of Sacrificial Animals was an agency that specifically provided the various imperial mausoleums with sacrificial offerings such as the three kinds of sacrificial animals.

Therefore, the entire Taichang Temple was a very large structure, with hundreds of officials in the office alone. The specific personnel under the jurisdiction of the Taichang Temple included Taichang music and music personnel, Taiyue and drum and wind instrument musicians, musicians from various prefectures and counties, miscellaneous Taichang households, and various imperial tomb households, totaling tens of thousands of people!

"The Court of Imperial Sacrifices actually has jurisdiction over so many people?"

Upon hearing Zhao Ling's introduction, Zhang Dai's eyes widened in astonishment. He had originally thought that only the Northern and Southern Offices within the capital region could directly govern such a large population, but now it seemed that the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was no less powerful!

Seeing Zhang Dai's surprised expression, Zhao Ling smiled with a hint of pride and said, "This is because the current sage has separated the refined and the common, and set up the Left and Right Music Bureaus to house actors and perform various plays according to customs. Before that, the Music Bureaus had even more slaves under their jurisdiction."

"With so many people, surely they all live in the palace?"

Zhang Dai couldn't help but press further, thinking to himself that since he was in charge of so many people, he needed to know where to gather them so that he would know where to find help when he fought against the Northern Army again.

“The musicians of the various departments reside in the inner gardens, and on ordinary days they also live scattered in various neighborhoods. Neighborhoods such as Tongyuan and Xingyi in Luobei are where musicians from both inside and outside the city gather.”

Zhao Ling was unaware of Zhang Dai's inner thoughts, and patiently answered the question.

Zhang Dai secretly memorized these locations, planning to scout them out when he had some free time.

Chang'an and Luoyang in the Tang Dynasty were both densely populated metropolises with thriving commerce and industry. However, even so, commerce and industry alone could not support such a large urban population that had moved away from farming and weaving. Therefore, the urban population in the two capitals included a large number of government slaves who provided various services to high-ranking officials and nobles. Among them, the musicians and miscellaneous households under the jurisdiction of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices constituted a considerable proportion.

In terms of sheer numbers, the palace was not inferior to the Northern and Southern Military Offices. In terms of sheer numbers, the number of musicians inside and outside the palace even exceeded the number of guards in the Northern and Southern Military Offices. After all, a single grand court session or banquet could involve thousands of musicians and ceremonial personnel!
Although these men had not undergone rigorous military training or organization, the North Gate also had a large number of cockfighting and dog-hunting enthusiasts. While the Tanglong Coup certainly made the North Gate's 10,000 cavalry famous, many entertainers and musicians also participated, and if it came to a real fight, they were no less formidable than the North Gate itself.

After learning all this, Zhang Dai inwardly sighed that he had come to the right place. From the perspective of fighting against the Northern Army, even if he were to become a general in the Southern Army, it would most likely only be a nominal position, and he would not be able to actually control the troops.

Because of its high authority and importance, the Taichang Temple's official residence was quite large, comparable to the Ministry of Personnel to the north. The main gate was spacious, and the interior was bright and inviting, even more impressive than the Secretariat and Chancellery.

This is quite normal, because the eastern city of Luoyang Palace was built under the supervision of Prime Minister Li Zhaode during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian. Its layout was more open than the original imperial city, so the government offices that moved here were also built to be more spacious, unlike the cramped and narrow imperial city.

The Taichang Temple's official residence consisted of several courtyards, with connecting corridors and rows of side buildings on the left and right. The front courtyard was mainly the office area for various departments, where the officials and judges of each department adjudicated their duties. They had to pass through the front courtyard to enter the main hall of the Taichang Temple's official residence, which was the office of the officials directly under the Taichang Temple.

Behind it was a very spacious courtyard, which was divided into different courtyards of different sizes. This courtyard served as a warehouse for storing the ceremonial artifacts, as well as a place for the musicians of the Imperial Music Bureau and the various music and dance departments to live, teach, and rehearse.

"This is the Dusi Hall, where one of the Grand Ministers or Vice Ministers must be on duty every day. After Zhang Xielu took office, he also had to sit in the hall to prepare for affairs every day before noon. Only after the official on duty had left could he return to his residence."

Upon hearing the term "sitting in the court," which sounds very much like a court official's position, Zhang Dai couldn't help but sigh, "Once you enter the public service, it's like entering a deep sea; you'll never be free again!"
Led by Zhao Ling, he entered the hall and soon saw a middle-aged man in a scarlet official robe sitting in the seat behind the table. Zhao Ling stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Reporting to Vice Minister Wei, I have been ordered to lead the newly appointed Zhang Xielu to the hall to pay his respects to the superior."

"This humble official, Zhang Dai, Assistant Musician, greets Vice Minister Wei!"

Zhang Dai also quickly stepped forward to bow and greet him, while glancing at his superior.

The Court of Imperial Sacrifices had one Minister of Imperial Sacrifices, who was Cui Rizhi, Zhang Shuo's close friend. There were two Vice Ministers of Imperial Sacrifices, one of whom was Wei Tao, the nephew of the former prime minister Wei Anshi.

Another one was originally Zhang Jiuling. When Zhang Shuo was dismissed from his post as prime minister, Zhang Jiuling, as his confidant, was transferred from the position of Zhongshu Sheren to Taichang Shaoqing. In the political turmoil at the beginning of the year, Zhang Jiuling was appointed as the governor of Jizhou. However, Zhang Jiuling was unwilling to go to Hebei and resigned directly. Later, he was transferred to the position of governor of Hongzhou and has already gone south to take up his post.

The other Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices who succeeded Zhang Jiuling in this position was named Xue Tao.

The two Vice Ministers of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices not only share the same name, but also have similar backgrounds, both being in-laws of the current emperor. Wei Tao is the father-in-law of the emperor's fourth son, Prince Di, Li Qia, while Xue Tao is even more impressive, being the father-in-law of the current crown prince.

The official on duty in the hall today was Wei Tao, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Upon seeing Zhang Dai enter the hall, he smiled and rose slightly from his seat, saying, "We recently learned that Zhang Lang has been selected to serve as the Assistant Musician, bringing with him many talented young men. We, the officials of the temple, are all very pleased and eagerly await his arrival. Today, we have witnessed firsthand the remarkable talents personally taught by Lord Zhang Yan!"

Wei Tao was quite enthusiastic towards Zhang Dai. He accepted the imperial edict and official document that Zhang Dai presented, and after verifying that they were correct, he issued Zhang Dai a personal fish tally. In this way, Zhang Dai completed his onboarding procedures and officially became an official under the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

"Without the rites and sacrifices, the position of Taichang is merely a sinecure. Zhang Xielu need not rush into anything. Instead, under the guidance of Zhao Lushi, he should tour the temple and government offices to familiarize himself with the personnel."

After completing Zhang Dai's personnel procedures, Wei Tao waved to him and said something.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai rose to take his leave and walked out of the Dushi Hall with Zhao Ling. Zhao Ling stood under the corridor, looking at him with a smile, and asked, "Where does Zhang Xielu intend to tour the temples and government offices from?"

Of course, it's the place with the most beautiful sights and sounds, and the most entertainers!
Zhang Dai muttered to himself, but since he had just taken office, he had to maintain a dignified demeanor. He pointed to a tall building behind the office and asked, "This building is very tall and stands out in the office. What is its purpose?"

The entire Taichang Temple was arranged in an orderly and grand manner. However, behind the main hall stood a tall building, which looked like a wooden stick standing up from the ground. It was quite eye-catching, which naturally aroused Zhang Dai's curiosity. He wondered to himself if it was some kind of astronomical divination or geomantic formation.
I must not do anything rash or offensive out of ignorance; I must find out the truth of the matter.

"There is indeed a reason for this building incident. After I have finished speaking, I request that Zhang Xielu not discuss it lightly in the office in the future!"

Upon hearing this question, Zhao Ling's face showed a hint of embarrassment and wariness. He glanced around before leaning closer to Zhang Dai and whispering, "This building was built by Minister Cui..."

(End of this chapter)