A Study On The Promotion And Relegation Of Consuls In Southern Song Dynasty

The Consuls were a general designation of Deputy Prime Ministers and chiefs of the Privy Council in Song Dynasty.The research object of this paper is 286 of 254 consuls in the Southern Song Dynasty.The purpose of the study is to make quantitative statistics and analysis on the process of their promotion and relegation,including appointment,officeholding,promotion and deposition.In the central authority,the original officers of consuls mainly included Libu Shangshu(????),Libu Shangshu(????),Imperial Minister and Hanlin Academicians Zhizhigao(???).In the municipal government,magistrate of prefectures also provided a large number of excellent talents for this group.The level of the original officers of consuls mainly focused on the second ranks and third ranks,in one word,the sequence of the rank of officers kept a promotion stete.The main reasons for the consuls'appointment include personal ability,loyalty to emperor,recommendation by senior officials and other factors.During consuls'tenures,assistant administrator and deputy Privy Council(?????????????)were the most frequently position which they would be delegated to,while the number of privy councillors and deputy privy councillors was relatively small.The consuls had been in office for only half a year,the average tenure was short.After leaving their position,58 of the 56 consuls rase to the rank of Prime Minister.Their average tenure was two and a half years,which was higher than the average term of the consuls.Different from the criteria taken in electing consuls,which considered the personal talents as the main standard,the election of Prime minister firstly depended on whether the one can meet the needs of the emperor,then the personal ability,the performance in political events and other officials' recommendations.228 of 208 consuls who had not been promoted to prime minister,some of them died because of their sickness and overworking.Some were impeached by senior officials and finally served as local monastic officers.Also,some consuls retired voluntarily and spent their old ages in leisure.Contrarily,some consuls chose to betray their country just in order to keep themselves safe during the national crisis.Moving path of Consul of the effected by the joint force of the situation of the southern song dynasty,the power of emperor,the power of prime minister and particular political power of the period.