Volume 160 Treatises 113: Selection and appointment of Officials 6

選舉六〈（保任考課）〉

Selection and Appointment, Part Six. (Guarantee and Vouching; Performance Assessment)

保任之制。銓注有格，概拘以法，法可以製平而不可以擇才，故予奪升黜，品式具在，而又責官以保任之。凡改秩遷資，必視舉任有無，以為應否；至其職任優殊，則又隨事立目，往往特詔公卿、部刺史、牧守長官，即所部所知，揚其才識而任其能否。上自侍從、台諫、館學，下暨錢穀、兵武之職，時亦以薦舉命之，蓋不膠於法矣。

The system of vouching for officials. Registry assignments followed fixed formulas bound by statute. Statute could enforce uniformity but not pick talent, so promotions and dismissals followed prescribed categories while officials were still held responsible for vouching for those they recommended. Any change of rank or seniority depended on whether one had sponsors, as the basis for eligibility; For especially important or specialized posts, separate rules were often improvised. Special edicts regularly directed chief ministers, regional inspectors, and prefects to recommend those they knew locally, commending their talent and vouching for their competence. From court attendants and censorial staffs down to fiscal and military offices, appointments were sometimes made by recommendation as well, so the process was not wholly rigid.

國初，保任未立限制。建隆三年始詔：「常參官及翰林學士，舉堪充幕職、令、錄者各一人，條析其實，毋以親為避。」既而舉者頗因緣為奸，用知制誥高錫奏：「請許人訐告，得實，則有官者優擢，非仕宦者授以官，或賞緡錢；不實，則反坐之。」自是，或特命陶穀等舉才堪通判者，或詔翰林學士及常參官舉京官、幕職、州縣正員堪升朝者。藩鎮奏掌書記多越資敘，則詔曆兩任有文學方得奏。又令諸道節度、觀察使，於部內官選才識優茂、德行敦篤者各二人，防禦、團練使各舉一人，遣詣闕庭，觀其器業而進用焉。凡被舉擢官，於誥命署舉主姓名，他日不如舉狀，則連坐之。

Early in the dynasty, vouching carried no fixed restrictions. In Jianlong 3, an edict first required court officials and Hanlin scholars each to nominate one person suitable for staff, magistrate, or registrar posts, with full particulars and without exempting relatives. Soon recommenders often abused the system through connections. Edict drafter Gao Xi proposed allowing denunciations: if proven, incumbent officials would be promoted, non-officials would receive appointments, or cash rewards would be given; if false, the accuser would face reciprocal punishment." Thereafter, Tao Gu and others were sometimes specially tasked to recommend candidates for deputy commissioner posts, or Hanlin scholars and court officials were ordered to nominate capital officials, staff, and county appointees eligible for promotion to court rank. When frontier governors recommended chief secretaries who often skipped seniority rules, an edict required two terms of literary service before such recommendations could be submitted. Circuit commissioners and observation commissioners were also told to choose two subordinates of outstanding talent and solid character; defense and training commissioners one each; send them to court for evaluation of ability and achievement before appointment. Anyone promoted on recommendation had the sponsor's name recorded on the appointment commission; if the appointee later failed to match the recommendation, the sponsor was punished as well.

太宗尤嚴牧守之任，詔諸道使者察部內履行著聞、政術尤異、文學茂異者，州長吏擇判、司、簿、尉之清廉明幹者，具名以聞，驛召引對，授之知縣。又令閱屬部司理參軍，廉慎而明於推鞫者，舉之。雍熙二年，舉可升朝者，始令翰林學士、兩省、御史臺、尚書省官舉之。

Taizong was especially demanding of prefects and governors. Circuit envoys were to find locally renowned administrators and scholars; prefects were to nominate upright, capable subordinates by name, summon them to court by express courier, and appoint them county magistrates. Subordinate judicial aides were also reviewed, and those who were honest, prudent, and skilled at investigation were recommended. In Yongxi 2, responsibility for nominating officials eligible for court-rank promotion was first assigned to Hanlin scholars and officials of the Secretariat, Chancellery, Censorate, and Department of State Affairs.

淳化三年，令宰相以下至御史中丞，各舉朝官一人為轉運使，乃詔曰：「國家詳求幹事之吏，外分主計之司，雖曰轉輸，得兼按察，總覽郡國，職任尤重，物情舒慘，靡不由之。尚慮徼功，固當責實。凡轉運使厘革庶務，平反獄訟，漕運金穀，成績居最，及有建置之事，果利於民，令歲終以聞。非殊異者不得條奏。」又詔：三司、三館職事官已升擢者，不在論薦；其有懷材外任，未為朝廷所知者，方得奏舉。始令內外官，凡所舉薦有變節逾矩者，自首則原其聯坐之罪。

In Chunhua 3, every official from the chief councilors down to the vice censor-in-chief was told to nominate one court official as transport commissioner. The edict declared that the state sought capable administrators for this post, which combined fiscal transport with provincial inspection and bore directly on popular welfare. To guard against empty claims of merit, actual performance had to be required. Transport commissioners who reformed local administration, corrected wrongful cases, moved grain and funds, ranked highest in performance, or instituted measures that genuinely benefited the people were to report at year's end. Only truly exceptional cases could be reported in detail. Another edict excluded already-promoted officials of the Three Departments and Three Institutes from nomination; only talented officials serving outside whom the court did not yet know could be recommended. Officials inside and outside the capital were first told that if a nominee later misbehaved, confessing the error would spare them joint punishment.

太宗聽政之暇，每取兩省、兩製清望官名籍，擇其有德譽者，悉令舉官。所舉之人，須析其爵裏及曆任殿最以聞，不得有隱。如舉狀者有賞典，無驗者罪之。又嘗謂宰臣曰：「君子小人，趣向不同。君子畏慎，不欺暗室，名節造次靡渝；小人雖善談忠信，而履行頗僻，在官黷貨，罔畏刑罰。如薛智周以侍御史守婺，政以賄成，聚斂無已，其土產富於羅，州民謂之『羅端公』，則為治可知矣。卿等職在掄材，今令朝臣舉官，已是逐末，更不擇舉主，何由得人也。」供奉官劉文質嘗入奏，察舉兩浙部內官高輔之、李易直、艾仲孺、梅詢、高鼎、高貽慶、薑嶼、戚綸八人有治跡，並降璽書褒諭。帝曰：「文質所舉，皆良吏也。」特遷文質為西京作坊副使。

In his spare time from governing, Taizong would review registers of prestigious Secretariat and drafting-office officials, pick those of proven moral reputation, and order them all to submit nominations. Nominees' titles, residences, and full records of past performance ratings had to be reported without concealment. Accurate recommendations brought rewards; unverified ones brought punishment. He once told his chief ministers, "Gentlemen and petty men pursue different paths. The gentleman is cautious, honest even in private, and never compromises his integrity; the petty man may speak eloquently of loyalty but acts perversely, takes bribes in office, and fears no punishment. Take Xue Zhizhou, who as attendant censor governed Wu through bribery and endless exactions; the region was famous for silk, and locals called him 'Commissioner Luo'—that tells you what his rule was like. Your job is to select talent. Having court officials nominate candidates is already a secondary measure; if you do not scrutinize the nominators themselves, how will you find the right people?" Palace attendant Liu Wenzhi once reported eight Two-Zhe officials—Gao Fuzhi, Li Yizhi, Ai Zhongru, Mei Xun, Gao Ding, Gao Yiqing, Jiang Yu, and Qi Lun—as outstanding administrators, and each received an imperial commendation. The emperor said, "Everyone Wenzhi recommended is a capable official." Wenzhi was specially promoted to deputy commissioner of the Western Capital workshops.

咸平間，秘書丞陳彭年請用唐故事舉官自代。詔樞密直學士馮拯、陳堯叟參詳之。拯等上言：「往製，常參官及節度、觀察、防禦、刺史、少尹、畿赤令並七品以上清望官，授訖三日內，於四方館上表讓一人以自代。其表付中書門下，每官闕，以見舉多者量而授之。今官品制度沿革不同，請令兩省、御史臺、尚書省六品以上，諸司四品以上，授訖，具表讓一人自代，於閣門投下，方得入謝。在外者，授訖三月內，具表附驛以聞。」遂著為令。

During Xianping, Secretariat director Chen Pengnian asked to revive the Tang practice of nominating one's own successor. Feng Zheng and Chen Yaosou of the Privy Council were ordered to study the proposal. Feng Zheng and others reported that under the old Tang rule, regular court officials and prestigious seventh-rank officials and above, within three days of appointment, submitted at the Four Directions Hostel a memorial nominating a successor. The memorial went to the Secretariat and Chancellery; when a post fell vacant, the most frequently recommended candidate was appointed. Because ranks and institutions had changed, they proposed that sixth-rank officials in the Secretariat, Chancellery, Censorate, and Department of State Affairs and fourth-rank officials in other agencies, after appointment, submit a successor nomination at the Gate of Audience before entering to give thanks. Officials outside the capital had three months after appointment to send the memorial by courier. The rule was then codified.

真宗初，屢詔舉官，未立常制。大中祥符二年詔：「幕職、州縣官初任，未閑吏事，須三任六考，方得論薦。」三年，始定制：

Early in Zhenzong's reign, recommendation edicts were issued repeatedly, but no permanent system existed yet. In Dazhong Xiangfu 2, an edict required newly appointed staff and county officials to complete three terms and six evaluations before they could be nominated. In the third year a permanent system was established:

自翰林學士以上常參官，歲各舉外任京朝官、三班使臣、幕職、州縣官一人，著其治行所宜任，令閣門、御史臺歲終會其數。如無舉狀，即具奏致罰。於冬季以差出，亦須舉官後乃入辭。諸司使副、承製、崇班曾任西北邊、川、廣鈐轄、親民者，亦仿此制。諸路轉運使副、提點刑獄官，知州、通判奏舉部內官屬，則不限人數，具在任勞績，如無可舉及顯有逾濫者，亦須指述，不得顧避。以次年二月二十五日以前到京，違期則都進奏院以名聞，論如不申考帳法。

Each year, Hanlin scholars and other regular court officials were to nominate one outside capital official, third-rank envoy, staff member, or county official, stating suitable posts, with the Gate of Audience and Censorate tallying totals at year's end. Failure to submit nominations was to be reported for punishment. Winter departures also required nominations before the farewell audience. Deputy commissioners, drafting officials, and honored-rank officials who had served on the northwest frontier, in Sichuan or Guang, as regional controllers, or in popular-facing posts followed the same rule. Transport deputies, judicial inspectors, prefects, and vice-prefects could nominate any number of subordinates with full records of service; if no one qualified or excess was evident, they still had to explain, without evasion. Reports had to reach the capital by the twenty-fifth day of the second month of the following year; late arrivals were reported to the Directorate of Memorials and punished like failure to submit evaluation records.

三司使副舉在京掌事京朝官、使臣。凡被舉者，中書歲置二籍，疏其名銜，下列曆任功過、舉主姓名及薦舉數。一以留中書，一以五月一日進內。明年，籍內仍計向來功過及舉主數，使臣即樞密院置籍。兩省、尚書省、御史臺官凡出使回，須采訪所至及經歷鄰近郡官治跡善惡以聞。轉運使副、提點刑獄官、知州、通判赴闕，各具前任部內官治跡能否，如鄰近及所經州縣訪聞善惡，亦許同奏，先於閣門投進，方得入見。

Deputy commissioners of the Three Departments nominated capital officials and envoys serving in the capital. The Secretariat kept two annual registers of nominees, listing names and titles, past merits and faults, sponsors, and recommendation counts. One copy stayed at the Secretariat; the other was sent to the inner court on the first day of the fifth month. The following year the registers still tracked past performance and sponsor counts; envoys were registered at the Privy Council. Officials of the Secretariat, Chancellery, Department of State Affairs, and Censorate returning from missions had to report on the performance of officials they encountered and in neighboring prefectures. Transport deputies, judicial inspectors, prefects, and vice-prefects coming to court had to report on subordinates' performance in their former jurisdictions and could also report on neighboring or passed-through counties; they had to file at the Gate of Audience before audience.

凡朝廷須人才，及欲理州縣弊政劇務，即籍內視舉任及課績數多而資曆相當者差委，於宣敕內盡列舉主姓名。或任內幹集，特與遷秩，苟不集事，本犯雖不去官，亦移閑慢僻遠地。內外群臣所舉及三人有成績，仰中書、樞密院具姓名取旨甄獎。如並舉三人俱不集事，坐罪不至去官，亦仰奏裁，當行責降。或得失相參，亦與折當。

When the court needed talent or wanted to address local abuses or urgent tasks, it appointed from the registers those with many sponsors and strong evaluations whose qualifications fit, listing every sponsor on the commission. Successful performance brought special promotion; failure, even without dismissal, meant transfer to idle or remote posts. When a sponsor's three nominees all performed well, the Secretariat and Privy Council were to list their names for imperial reward. If all three nominees failed, even without dismissal the sponsor was reported to the throne for demotion. Mixed results were offset against one another.

天聖六年詔：「審刑院舉常參官在京刑法司者為詳議官；大理寺詳斷、刑部詳覆法直官，皆舉幕職、州縣曉法令者為之。自請試律者須五考，有舉者，乃聽試。試律三道，疏二道，又斷中小獄案二道，通者為中格。」時舉官擢人，不常其制。國子監闕講官，則詔諸路轉運使舉經義通明者；或欲不次用人，嘗詔近臣舉常參官曆通判無贓罪而才任繁劇者；欲官諸邊要，亦嘗詔節度使至閣門使、知州軍、鈐轄、諸司使，舉殿直以上材勇堪邊任者，或令三司使下至天章閣待制舉奏之。邊有警，則詔諸路轉運使、提點刑獄舉所部官才堪將帥者；三路知州、通判、縣令，則詔近臣舉廉幹吏選任之，毋拘資格。至於文行之士，錢穀之才，刑名之學，各因時所求而薦焉。

In Tiansheng 6, an edict required the Court of Judicial Review to nominate regular capital officials in criminal-law offices as detailed deliberation officers; and the Court of the Imperial Clan's adjudication officers and the Ministry of Justice's review officers were to be staff and county officials versed in law. Those who volunteered for the statute examination needed five evaluations and a sponsor before testing. The exam included three statute questions, two commentary questions, and two minor case judgments; passing all counted as a middle grade. Recommendations for promotion did not yet follow a fixed routine. When the Directorate of Education lacked lecturers, transport commissioners were ordered to recommend scholars versed in the classics; when the court wanted exceptional appointments, intimates were sometimes told to nominate court officials who had served as vice-prefects without corruption and could handle demanding posts; for key frontier posts, military commissioners down to gate envoys, military prefects, regional controllers, and department commissioners were sometimes told to recommend brave officials of palace-direct rank and above, or officials from the Three Departments commissioner down to Tianzhang Pavilion awaiting drafting were ordered to submit names. When the frontier was threatened, transport commissioners and judicial inspectors were ordered to recommend subordinates capable of generalship; for Three-Circuit prefects, vice-prefects, and magistrates, intimates were told to recommend honest, capable officials without regard to seniority rules. Scholars, fiscal experts, and legal specialists were recommended according to whatever the court needed at the time.

自天聖後，進者頗多，始戒近臣，非受詔毋輒舉官。又下詔風厲，毋以薦舉為阿私。其任用已至部使者，毋得復薦，失舉而已擢用，聽。自言不實，弗為負。初，選人四考，有舉者四人，得磨勘遷京官；始詔增為六考，舉者五人，須有本部使者。御史王端以為：「法，用舉者兩人，得為縣令。為令無過譴，遷職事官、知縣；又無過譴，遂得改京官。乃是用舉者兩人，保其三任也。朝廷初無參伍考察之法，偶幸無過，輒信而遷之。是以碌碌之人，皆得自進，因仍弗革，其弊將深。」乃定令：被薦為令，任內復有舉者始得遷，否則如常選，毋輒升補。

After Tiansheng, promotions became so numerous that intimates were warned not to nominate officials without an edict. An edict also warned against using nominations for private favoritism. Once an appointee had become a circuit envoy, the sponsor could not nominate again; failed recommendations were overlooked if the nominee was already promoted. Voluntary confession of inaccuracy carried no penalty. Initially, candidates with four evaluations and four sponsors could pass review and become capital officials; then an edict raised the requirement to six evaluations and five sponsors, including a circuit envoy from one's jurisdiction. Censor Wang Duan argued, "Under the law, two sponsors made one eligible for magistrate. Without fault as magistrate, one advanced to functional official or governing magistrate; and again without fault, one could become a capital official. Thus two sponsors effectively vouched for three terms of service. The court initially had no comparative review; anyone who happened to avoid censure was promoted on faith. Mediocre officials could thus advance themselves, and if the practice continued unreformed, the harm would only deepen." A rule was then fixed: magistrates nominated on recommendation could advance only if sponsored again during their term; otherwise they followed the regular selection track without premature promotion.

時增設禁限，常參官已授外任，毋得奏舉。京官見任知州、通判，升朝官兵馬都監、諸司副使以上，及在京員外郎嘗任知州、通判，諸司副使嘗任兵馬都監者，乃聽舉，流內銓復裁。內外臣僚歲舉數，文臣待制至侍御史，武臣自觀察至諸司副使，舉吏各有等數，毋得輒過；而被舉者須有本部監司、長吏、按察官，乃得磨勘。又限到官一考，方得薦。知雜御史、觀察使以上，歲舉京官不得過二人，其常參官毋得復舉，自是舉官之數省矣。定監司以所部州多少劇易之差，為舉令數，非本部勿舉。其後又增舉主三員。蓋官冗之弊浸極，故保薦之法，大抵初略而後詳也。

New restrictions were added: regular court officials already assigned outside posts could not submit nominations. Only capital officials currently serving as prefect or vice-prefect, court-rank military directors and deputy commissioners and above, and certain capital outer officials with comparable experience could nominate; the flowing inner selection office made final rulings. Annual nomination quotas were set for civil officials from awaiting drafting to attendant censor and military officials from observation commissioner to deputy commissioner, each with graded limits; and nominees needed sponsorship from a supervising commissioner, chief official, or inspector in their jurisdiction before review. Nominees also had to complete one evaluation after taking office before they could be recommended. Miscellaneous-affairs censors and observation commissioners and above could nominate no more than two capital officials per year, and regular court officials could not nominate again—thus reducing the volume of nominations. Supervising commissioners' magistrate nomination quotas were set according to how many prefectures they oversaw and how demanding those posts were; nominations outside one's jurisdiction were forbidden. Later the requirement was raised to three sponsors. As official redundancy worsened, vouching and recommendation rules were generally loose at first and grew stricter over time.

英宗時，御史中丞賈黯又言：「今京朝官至卿、監，凡二千八百餘員，而吏部奏舉磨勘選人，未引見者至二百五十餘人。且以先朝事較之：方天聖中，法尚簡，選人以四考改官，而諸路使者薦部吏，未有限數；而在京台閣及常參官嘗任知州、通判者，雖非部吏皆得薦。時磨勘改官者，歲才數十人，後資考頗增，而知州薦吏，視屬邑多少裁定其數，常參官不許薦士。其條約漸繁，而改官者固已眾矣，然引對猶未有待次者也。皇祐中，始限監司奏舉之數，其法益密，而磨勘待次者已不減六七十人。皇祐及今才十年耳，而猥多至於三倍。向也，法疏而其數省；今也，法密而其數增，此何故哉？正在薦吏者歲限定員，務充數而已。如郡守歲許薦五人，而歲終不滿其數，則人人以為遺己。當舉者避謗畏譏，欲止不敢，此薦者所以多，而真才實廉未免慁於無能也。宜明詔天下，使有人則薦，不必滿所限之數。」天子納其言，下詔申敕。中外臣僚歲得舉京官者，視元數以三分率之，減一分；舉職官，有舉者三人，任滿選如法。所以分減舉者數，省京官也。

Under Yingzong, Vice Censor-in-Chief Jia An observed that capital officials at minister and director rank numbered more than 2,800, while more than 250 candidates awaiting Ministry of Personnel review had not yet been granted audience. Compared with the previous reign, during Tiansheng the rules were still simple: candidates advanced after four evaluations, and circuit envoys faced no quota on subordinate nominations; and capital censorial officials and court officials who had served as prefect or vice-prefect could nominate even people outside their jurisdictions. In those days only a few dozen men a year passed merit review for promotion; as length-of-service scrutiny grew heavier, prefects were allotted nomination slots scaled to the number of counties they governed, and officials who merely attended court regularly could no longer put forward candidates. The rules grew ever more elaborate and promotions multiplied, yet no one yet had to queue for an imperial audience after merit review. During Huangyou, quotas were first imposed on recommendations from circuit supervisors; regulations tightened, and the backlog awaiting merit review already stood at sixty or seventy men. Huangyou was only a decade ago, yet the ranks had already tripled. Once the rules were lax and the lists short; now the rules are strict and the lists long—how did this come about? The cause was the annual nomination quotas: officials were expected to use every slot whether or not merit justified it. A prefect allowed five nominations who filled none by year's end was thought to have slighted every subordinate. Nominators feared blame if they held back and dared not leave quotas empty, so recommendations multiplied and able, honest men were drowned out among the unworthy. An explicit decree should tell the empire to nominate only when talent warrants it, not to meet a fixed count. The emperor took this advice and promulgated an edict to that effect. Annual nomination rights for capital officials were cut by one third across the central and provincial bureaucracy. For lower-rank posts, three sponsors still sufficed for lawful promotion when a term ended. The aim was to shrink the nominating pool and thereby curb the swelling ranks of capital officials.

判吏部流內銓蔡抗又言：「奏舉京官人，度二年引對乃可畢，計每歲所舉，無慮千九百員，被舉者既多，則磨勘者愈眾。且今天下員多闕少，率三人而待一闕，若不稍改，除吏愈難。臣以為可罷知雜御史、觀察使以上歲得舉官法。」從之。自是舉官之數彌省矣。故事，初入二府，舉所知者三人，將以觀大臣之能。後來請謁之說勝，而薦者或不以公。四年詔：「中書、樞密院舉人，皆明言才業所長，堪任何事，以副朕為官擇人之意。」

Cai Kang, chief of the Ministry of Personnel's internal selection bureau, argued: "At two years of audiences to clear the backlog, nearly nineteen hundred men are nominated each year; the more nominees, the larger the merit-review queues. Posts now outnumber openings three to one; unless the system is adjusted, filling offices will only grow harder. I propose abolishing the annual nomination privilege of supervising censors, regional commissioners, and higher ranks." The court agreed. Nomination quotas shrank still further thereafter. Custom had required newly appointed grand councillors to name three men they knew, as a test of their judgment. Patronage and personal appeals soon displaced merit, and nominations were not always disinterested. A fourth-year edict required the Secretariat and Privy Council to specify each nominee's strengths and suitable duties, matching the emperor's aim of appointing the right man to the right post.

神宗即位，乃罷兩府初入舉官。凡薦任之法，選人用以進資改秩，京朝官用以升任，舊悉有制。熙寧後，又從而損益之，故舉皆限員，而歲又分舉，製益詳矣。定十六路提點刑獄歲舉京官、縣令額。又詔察訪使者得舉官。選人任中都官者，舊無舉薦，始許其屬有選人六員者，歲得舉三員。既而帝以舊舉官往往緣求請得之，乃革去奏舉，而概以定格。詔內外舉官法皆罷，令吏部審官院參議選格。

Shenzong's accession ended the Two Departments' entry nomination custom. Recommendation had long governed both promotion of local appointees and advancement of capital officials, each under its own rules. The Xining reforms refined the scheme: every nomination carried a quota, categories were staggered across the year, and the code grew elaborate. Sixteen-circuit judicial intendants received fixed annual quotas for capital officials and county magistrates. Imperial inspection commissioners were likewise empowered to nominate. Local appointees posted to the capital had once been barred from nominating; now a bureau with six such subordinates could put forward three names a year. Seeing that nominations were too often bought by favor, the emperor scrapped open recommendation and imposed uniform promotion tables. Every nomination statute, central and local, was repealed and the Ministry of Personnel with the Review Board told to draft new selection rules.

元祐初，左司諫王岩叟言：「自罷辟舉而用選格，可以見功過而不可以見人材，中外病之。於是不得已而別為之名，以用其平日之所信，故有『踏逐申差』之目。『踏逐』實薦舉而不與同罪，且選才薦能而謂之『踏逐』，非雅名也。況委人以權而不容舉其所知，豈為通術？」遂復內外舉官法。

Early Yuanyou: remonstrator Wang Yansou complained that fixed tables showed service records but not ability, and the whole bureaucracy felt the loss. Officials therefore invented a workaround to advance men they already trusted—the so-called 'stepping pursuit and petitioned appointment' procedure. 'Stepping pursuit' was recommendation in all but name—and a graceless name for identifying able men. How can sound governance deny a responsible officer the right to name people he knows?" The central and provincial nomination laws were restored.

及司馬光為相，奏曰：

Once Sima Guang took office as chief councillor, he submitted a memorial:

為政得人則治。然人之才，或長於此而短於彼，雖皋、夔、稷、契，各守一官，中人安可求備？故孔門以四科論士，漢室以數路得人。若指瑕掩善，則朝無可用之人；苟隨器授任，則世無可棄之士。臣備位宰相，職當選官，而識短見狹，士有恬退滯淹，或孤寒遺逸，豈能周知？若專引知識，則嫌於私；若止循資序，未必皆才。莫若使有位達官，各舉所知，然後克葉至公，野無遺賢矣。

Good government rests on appointing the right people. Talents differ: even the sages Gao Yao, Kui, Ji, and Qi each mastered a single charge—no one should be expected to excel at everything. Confucius ranked disciples in four kinds of excellence; the Han drew talent through many channels. Fixate on faults and the throne will find no one fit to serve; Match the man to the task and no worthy need be wasted. As chancellor I must choose officials, yet I cannot know every capable man—especially the modest, the obscure, the poor, and the withdrawn. Rely only on my own circle and I invite charges of favoritism; follow seniority alone and many will lack real ability. Let senior officers each nominate men they know; only then can selection be truly fair and no talent left undiscovered.

欲乞朝廷設十科舉士：一曰行義純固可為師表科，〈（有官、無官人，皆可舉。）〉二曰節操方正可備獻納科，〈（舉有官人。）〉三曰智勇過人可備將帥科，〈（舉文武有官人。）〉四曰公正聰明可備監司科，〈（舉知州以上資序。）〉五曰經術精通可備講讀科，〈（有官、無官人，皆可舉。）〉六曰學問該博可備顧問科，〈（同上。）〉七曰文章典麗可備著述科，〈（同上。）〉八曰善聽獄訟盡公得實科，〈（舉有官人。）〉九曰善治財賦公私俱便科，〈（舉有官人。）〉十曰練習法令能斷請讞科。〈（同上。）〉應職事官自尚書至給舍、諫議，寄祿官自開府儀同三司至太中大夫，職自觀文殿大學士至待制，每歲須於十科內舉三人，仍具狀保任，中書置籍記之。異時有事須材，即執政案籍視其所嘗被舉科格，隨事試之，有勞，又著之籍。內外官闕，取嘗試有效者隨科授職。所賜告命，仍備所舉官姓名，其人任官無狀，坐以繆舉之罪。所貴人人重慎，所舉得才。

I ask the throne to create ten nomination categories. First: men of upright character fit to be moral exemplars, (Incumbent and private citizens alike may be nominated.) Second: men of firm integrity fit for remonstrance and memorial duties, (Incumbent officials only.) Third: men of outstanding wisdom and courage fit for military command, (Incumbent civil and military officials.) Fourth: fair and discerning men fit for circuit supervision, (Nominees must rank at prefect or higher.) Fifth: classical scholars fit to lecture at court, (Incumbent and private citizens alike.) Sixth: broadly learned men fit to serve as advisers, (Same as above.) Seventh: accomplished writers fit for literary and historical work, (Same as above.) Eighth: magistrates who hear cases impartially and establish the facts, (Incumbent officials only.) Ninth: fiscal administrators who serve both the state and the people, (Incumbent officials only.) Tenth: legal experts able to adjudicate petitions and disputed cases. (Same as above.) Every year, active officials from ministers through drafting and remonstrance posts, stipendiary ranks from Grand Preceptor down to Grandee of the Palace, and honorary titles from Grand Academician down to Attendant Drafting must each nominate three men across the ten categories, file sworn guarantees, and have the names recorded at the Secretariat. When talent is needed, the chief ministers would consult the register, note each man's nominated category, try him on the task at hand, and enter any success back into the record. Vacancies at court or in the provinces would be filled from men who had proved themselves, matched to the appropriate category. Patents of appointment would list the sponsors; if the appointee failed in office, the nominators would answer for a wrongful recommendation. The point was to make every sponsor careful and every nominee genuinely able.

光又言：「朝廷執政惟八九人，若非交舊，無以知其行能。不惟涉徇私之嫌，兼所取至狹，豈足以盡天下之賢才？若采訪毀譽，則情偽萬端。與其聽遊談之言，曷若使之結罪保舉？故臣奏設十科以舉士，其『公正聰明可備監司』，誠知請屬挾私所不能無，但有不如所舉，譴責無所寬宥，則不敢妄舉矣。」詔皆從之。

Guang added: "Only eight or nine men govern the realm; apart from personal ties, how can they know who is fit? That invites nepotism and narrows the field far too much to tap the empire's full talent. Rumors of praise and blame are endlessly unreliable. Better sworn, accountable nomination than idle gossip. Hence the ten categories—including 'fair and discerning men fit for circuit supervision.' Favoritism will occur; but if sponsors face punishment when nominees fail, they will not nominate lightly." The throne approved the entire proposal.

二年，殿中侍御史呂陶言：「郡守提封千里，生聚萬眾，所係休戚，而不察能否，一以資格用之，凡再為半刺、有薦者三人，則得之矣。不公不明，十郡而居三四，是天下之民，半失其養。請令內外從臣，歲舉可為守臣者各三人，略資序而采公言，庶是可以擇才庇民也。」詔：「內外待制、太中大夫以上，歲舉再曆通判資序、堪任知州者一人，籍於吏部。遇三路及一州而四縣者，其守臣有闕，先差本資序人，次案籍以及所薦者。」

In the second year, remonstrator Lu Tao argued that prefects govern vast territories and countless lives, yet promotion rested on seniority: two terms as deputy prefect plus three sponsors usually secured the office. Three or four prefectures in ten were thus ill served, and half the realm's people suffered under unfit magistrates. Let senior officials at court and in the provinces each year name three men fit for prefect, weighing merit over mere rank, so that able governors might be found." An edict followed: Attendant Drafting and Grandee of the Palace and above, at court and in the provinces, would each year nominate one man with two terms as deputy prefect fit for a prefecture, recorded at the Ministry of Personnel. When the Three Frontier Circuits or four-county prefectures lacked a magistrate, the post would first go to a man of qualifying rank, then to registered nominees.

頃之，侍御史韓川言：「近太中大夫以上歲舉守臣，而薦所不及，雖課入優等，皆未預選，此倚薦以為信也。然太中大夫以上，率在京師，唯馳騖請求、因緣宛轉者，常多得之。跡遠地寒，雖曆郡久、治狀著、課入上考，偶以無薦，則反在通判下，不許入三路及四縣州。且州以縣之多少而分簡劇，亦未為盡。蓋繁簡在事不在縣，固有縣多而事不繁，亦有縣少而事不簡者。願參以考績之實，著為通令，仍不以縣之多少而為簡劇。」詔吏部立法以聞。已而歲舉積久，吏部無闕以授。四年，遂罷太中大夫以上歲舉法，惟奉詔乃舉焉。

Soon remonstrator Han Chuan objected: under the new rule, even men with top fiscal ratings were passed over without a sponsor—nomination had become the gate to trust. Yet such grandees mostly lived in the capital, and those who lobbied and cultivated patrons won the nominations. Remote officials with long, distinguished prefectural service and top evaluations, lacking a patron, were ranked below deputy prefect and shut out of the frontier circuits and major prefectures. Classifying prefectures as light or heavy by county count was also inadequate. Workload, not county count, determines difficulty: some many-county posts are quiet, some single-county posts demanding. Let actual performance ratings govern assignment by universal rule, not the number of counties." The Ministry of Personnel was ordered to draft legislation and report back. In time the annual lists piled up until the Ministry had no posts to award. In the fourth year the annual nomination rule for grandees and above was abolished; nominations thereafter required an explicit imperial order.

紹聖元年，右司諫朱勃言：「選人初受任，雖能，法未得舉為京官。而有挾權善請求者，職官、縣令舉員既足，又並改官舉員求之。」詔：「曆任通及三考，而資序已入幕職、令錄，方許舉之改官。」

In Shaosheng's first year, Right Department Remonstrator Zhu Bo reported that newly appointed candidates, however able, could not by law be nominated for capital rank. Men with pull, he said, would exhaust quotas for staff and county magistrate nominations, then pursue additional slots for rank-change nominations. An edict ordered that only after three full terms of service and attainment of staff or recorder rank might sponsors nominate a man for promotion to capital status.

初，神宗罷薦舉，惟舉御史法不廢。熙寧二年，王安石言：「舉御史法太密，故難於得人。」帝曰：「豈執政者惡言官得人耶？」於是中書悉具舊法以奏。安石曰：「舊法，凡執政所薦，即不得為御史。執政取其平日所畏者薦之，則其人不復得言事矣，蓋法之弊如此。」帝乃令悉除舊法，一委中丞舉之，而稍略其資格。趙抃曰：「用京官恐非體，又不委知雜，專任中丞，亦非舊制。」帝曰：「唐以布衣馬周為之，用京官何為不可？知雜，屬也，委長為是。」侍御史劉述奏曰：「舊制，舉御史必官升京朝，資入通判。眾學士、本台丞、知雜更互論薦，每一闕上，二人而擇用一人。今專委中丞，則愛憎由己，公道廢於私恩；或受權臣之托，引所親厚，擅竊人主威福，此大不便。」弗聽。既改法，著作佐郎程顥、王子韶、謝景福方為條例司屬官，中丞呂公著薦之，遂以太子中允權監察御史裏行。

Earlier, Shenzong had abolished most nomination routes, yet the system for appointing censorial investigators survived. In the second year of Xining, Wang Anshi argued that censorial nomination rules were so tight that worthy men rarely emerged. The emperor asked: "Do the chief ministers truly dread capable censors?" The Secretariat then submitted the full text of the old regulations. Wang Anshi explained: "Under the old rules, anyone the chief ministers sponsored was barred from the censorate. Ministers would nominate men they feared, then silence them—such was the law's flaw." The emperor abolished the old rules and entrusted nominations solely to the vice censor-in-chief, with modestly eased qualifications. Zhao Bian objected that appointing capital officials fell short of proper form, and leaving out the miscellaneous-affairs censor to rely on the vice censor-in-chief alone broke precedent. The emperor replied: "Tang appointed the commoner Ma Zhou—why shouldn't capital officials serve? The miscellaneous-affairs post is subordinate; authority should rest with the chief." Attending censor Liu Shu countered that under the old system nominees had to hold capital court rank and deputy-prefect seniority. Academicians, bureau vice commissioners, and the miscellaneous-affairs censor rotated nominations; for each vacancy two names went up and one was chosen. Concentrating power in the vice censor-in-chief, he warned, invited favoritism and sacrificed public justice to private partiality; or allowed powerful ministers to plant allies who usurped the throne's authority—a grave abuse. The emperor refused to listen. After the reform, editorial assistants Cheng Hao, Wang Zishao, and Xie Jingfu of the Regulatory Commission, nominated by Vice Censor-in-Chief Lu Gongzhu, were appointed acting investigating censors as provisional vice directors of the crown prince's household.

宣仁太后聽政，詔範純仁為諫議大夫，唐叔問、蘇轍為司諫，朱光庭、范祖禹為正言。章惇曰：「故事，諫官皆薦諸侍從，然後大臣稟奏，今得無有近習援引乎？」太后曰：「大臣實皆言之，非左右也。」惇曰：「台諫所以糾大臣之越法者。故事，執政初除，苟有親戚及嘗被薦引者見為台臣，則皆他徙，防壅蔽也。今天子幼衝，太皇太后同聽萬機，故事不可違。」於是呂公著以范祖禹，韓縝、司馬光以範純仁，皆避親嫌。光曰：「純仁、祖禹實宜在諫列，不可以臣故妨賢，寧臣避位。」惇曰：「縝、光、公著必不私，他日有懷奸當國者，例此而引其親黨，蔽塞聰明，恐非國之福。純仁、祖禹請除他官，仍令侍從以上，各得奏舉。」於是，詔尚書、侍郎、給舍、諫議、中丞、待制各舉諫官二員；純仁改除天章閣待制，祖禹為著作佐郎。後又命司諫、正言、殿中侍御史、監察御史，並用升朝官通判資序。

When Empress Dowager Xuanren regained authority, Fan Chunren was made Remonstrance Grandee, Tang Shuwen and Su Zhe department remonstrators, and Zhu Guangting and Fan Zuyu correcting remonstrators. Zhang Dun objected: "By precedent remonstrators were drawn from recommendations among attendant ministers before chief ministers memorialized; were these appointments made through court favorites?" The empress dowager answered that the grand ministers themselves had proposed the appointments, not her inner circle. Zhang Dun pressed on: "Censors and remonstrators exist to check ministers who overstep the law. Precedent required that when a chief minister took office, any relative or former protégé serving in the censorate be transferred away to prevent the blocking of scrutiny. With the emperor still a child and the grand empress dowager sharing rule, such precedent must stand." Lu Gongzhu therefore stepped back from Fan Zuyu, while Han Zong and Sima Guang recused themselves over Fan Chunren. Guang argued: "Chunren and Zuyu belong in remonstrance posts; I should step aside rather than block able men because they are kin." Zhang Dun replied: "You three may be impartial, but a future schemer in power could cite this case to pack the censorate and deafen the throne—hardly a blessing for the realm. Fan Chunren and Fan Zuyu offered to take other posts and urged that attendant ministers and above retain the right to nominate remonstrators." An edict followed: ministers, vice ministers, draft-receivers, remonstrance grandees, the vice censor-in-chief, and attendants would each nominate two remonstrators; Fan Chunren became Attendant of the Hall of Heavenly Writings and Fan Zuyu an editorial assistant. Later, department remonstrators, correcting remonstrators, palace censors, and investigating censors were all required to meet capital court and deputy-prefect seniority.

元祐六年，御史中丞鄭雍言：「舊御史闕，台官得自薦，所以正名舉職也。自官制行，御史中丞與兩省分舉，而今之兩省官屬，皆與聞門下、中書政事，其自舉非故事，且有嫌。乞專委台官，若稍涉私，自有黜典。」詔御史中丞舉殿中侍御史二員，翰林學士、中書舍人同舉監察御史二員，給事中亦舉二員。雍又言：「風憲之地，責任宜專。若台屬多由他薦，恐非責任之本意。」詔中丞更舉監察御史二員。八年，侍御史楊畏言：「風憲之任，人主寄耳目焉。御史進用，宰執不得預，顧令兩省屬官舉之，非是。」遂寢前命。

In Yuanyou's sixth year, Vice Censor-in-Chief Zheng Yong noted that traditionally censorial vacancies were filled by self-nomination within the bureau, to keep titles honest and duties fulfilled. Under the new system, he argued, the vice censor-in-chief shared nomination with the two departments—but provincial secretariat staff who sat in on central policy should not nominate themselves, which was neither precedent nor free of conflict. He asked that nominations be confined to the censorate itself, with dismissal statutes for any hint of favoritism. An edict assigned the vice censor-in-chief two palace censor nominations, the Hanlin academician and Secretariat drafter two investigating censors each, and the Draft Receiving Office two as well. Zheng Yong added that censorial posts demanded undivided responsibility. Too many outside nominations, he warned, betrayed the purpose of the censorate. The throne then ordered the vice censor-in-chief to nominate two additional investigating censors. In the eighth year, attending censor Yang Wei argued that censors were the sovereign's eyes and ears. Chief ministers must not control their appointment, he said—yet provincial secretariat staff were doing exactly that. The earlier order was withdrawn.

武臣薦舉立格，有枚別職任而舉之者，有概名材武而入之銓格者，又其上則「謀略膽勇可備統眾」、「諳練兵事可任邊寄」之類。惟邊要任使隸樞密院，餘則審官西院、三班院按格注之。其後，雖時有更易，而薦舉之所重輕，選用之所隸屬，多規此立製。

Military nominations followed set forms: some listed specific posts; others cited general martial merit for roster placement; higher categories included men "of strategy and courage fit to command troops" or "skilled in warfare fit for frontier trust." Frontier-critical posts were assigned through the Bureau of Military Affairs; other appointments went through the Western Bureau for Reviewing Officials and the Three Classes Bureau by roster. Later reforms came and went, but the balance of nomination emphasis and the bureaus handling appointments largely followed this framework.

建炎兵興多事，以中外有文武材略出倫，或淹布衣，或沉下僚，命侍從、監司、郡守搜訪，各舉所知，州縣禮遣赴行在。又詔舉「忠信寬博可使絕域」與「智謀勇毅能將萬眾」者，不以有無官資，並詣登聞檢院自陳，才謀勇略可使者，赴御營司量材錄用。或命庶僚各舉內外官及布衣隱士才堪大用者，擢為輔弼，協濟大功；或命侍從舉可為台諫者，或舉縣令，或舉宗室；刺史舉忠義之士能恢復土疆保護王室者；帥臣、監司、守令舉所部見任寄居待次文武官有智謀及武藝精熟者；及訪求國初功臣後裔，中興以來忠義死節之家子孫。四年，以朝班多闕，詔：「台諫、左右司郎官已上，各薦士二人，仍令執政同選。在外待從雖在謫籍，無大過而政事才學實可用者，亦與召擢。」

After Jianyan's wars began, attendant ministers, circuit supervisors, and prefects were sent to seek extraordinary talent inside and outside the court—men languishing as commoners or low officials—and local governments were to escort nominees to the mobile court. The throne also invited self-nomination at the Gate for men of "loyalty and breadth fit for distant service" or "wisdom and courage fit to command armies," regardless of rank; the able were assessed and enrolled by the Imperial Camp Bureau. Other orders directed lower officials to nominate capable men inside and outside government, including commoners and recluses, for elevation as chief advisors to the state; attendants were to propose censorial and remonstrance candidates, county magistrates, or members of the imperial clan; regional inspectors, men of loyalty able to recover lost lands and defend the dynasty; commanders and local magistrates, civil and military officers under their jurisdiction with strategy or proven martial skill; and to seek descendants of founding ministers and of families who had died loyal since the Restoration. In the fourth year, with many court ranks unfilled, an edict required censorial remonstrators and section chiefs and above to nominate two men each, with chief ministers sharing in selection. Exiled attendants abroad without serious faults but proven in office and learning were also eligible for recall and promotion.

紹興二年，廷臣言：「今右武之世，雖二三大將，各立俊功，微賤之中，尚多奇士。願廣加薦舉，延問恢復之計。」帝然其言。詔觀察使以上各薦可為將帥者二人，樞密籍錄以備選用。又以中原士大夫隔絕滋久，流徙東南者，媒寡援疏，多致沉滯，令侍從搜訪以聞。三年，復司馬光十科，時遣五使宣諭諸道，令訪廉潔清修可以師表吏民者。錄詔宣諭官所薦，並俟終更，令入對升擢，以勸能吏。復用舊制，侍從官受命三日，舉官一員自代，中書、門下省籍記姓名，每闕官，即以舉狀多者進擬。內外武臣，舉忠勇智略可自代者一人，如文臣法。

In Shaoxing's second year a court minister observed that even amid celebrated generals, humble ranks still hid extraordinary men. He urged wider nomination and consultation on plans to recover the north. The emperor agreed. Observation commissioners and above were ordered to nominate two potential generals each for the Bureau of Military Affairs to register. Because long separation from the Central Plains had left many exiled scholar-officials in the southeast without patrons and stalled in rank, attendants were told to search them out and report. In the third year Sima Guang's ten nomination categories were restored; five envoys were sent through the circuits to seek officials of clean integrity fit to model conduct for magistrates and people. Their nominees were recorded to await end of term, then summoned for audience and promotion, to reward capable magistrates. The old succession rule returned: within three days of taking office an attendant must nominate a successor; the Secretariat and Chancellery kept a register and advanced the most strongly backed name when posts fell vacant. Military officials, like civil ones, were to nominate one capable successor each.

五年，命自監察御史至侍從官，舉曾經治縣聲績顯著者為監司、郡守，不限員數，遇闕選除；才堪大縣者，通舉二十人，不限資序。十年，以南渡後人材萃於兩浙，而屬吏薦員甚狹，增部使者薦舉改官之額，歲五員。十四年，命守臣終更入見，各舉所部縣令一人。

In the fifth year investigating censors through attendants were told to nominate men with distinguished county records for circuit supervisor and prefect posts, without quota, to fill vacancies as they arose; Up to twenty nominees fit for large counties, seniority notwithstanding. In the tenth year, with talent concentrated in the two Zhe circuits after the crossing but subordinate nomination quotas tight, circuit envoys were granted five rank-change nominations per year. In the fourteenth year prefects completing their terms were required each to nominate one county magistrate from their circuit.

二十二年，右諫議大夫林大鼐言：「國初，常參官皆得舉人，不限內外，亦無員數。南渡之初，恩或非泛，人得僥幸，有從軍而改秩者。有捕盜而改秩者，有以登對而改秩者。今朝廷無事，謹惜名器，惟薦舉一路，貪躁者速化，廉靜者陸沉。今欲取考第、員數增減以便之，增一任者減一員，十考者用四，十二考者用三，十五考者用二。如減舉法，須實曆縣令，不得仍請嶽祠。其或負犯殿選，自如常坐。士有應此格者，行無玷缺，年亦蹉跎，無非孤寒老練安義分之士。望付有司條上，以弭奔競。」二十五年，命侍從舉知州、通判治跡顯著者，以補監司之闕；仍保任終身，犯贓及不職，與同罪。

In the twenty-second year Right Remonstrance Grandee Lin Dacheng recalled that early in the dynasty every attending official could nominate freely, without jurisdictional limits or quotas. After the crossing, special favors had let some advance by army service, others by capturing bandits, others by imperial audience. Now that peace had returned and offices were guarded jealously, only the nomination track rewarded the greedy and restless while quiet merit languished. He proposed scaling quotas to length of service: one fewer nomination per extra term served, four sponsors after ten evaluations, three after twelve, two after fifteen. Reduced quotas would require actual county service, not sinecure shrine posts. Offenses that deferred selection would still incur the usual penalties. Men meeting this standard would be blameless veterans—poor, seasoned scholars content with modest advancement. He asked that agencies draft regulations to curb the scramble for office. In the twenty-fifth year attendants were ordered to nominate distinguished prefects and deputy prefects for circuit supervisor vacancies; sponsors would vouch for nominees for life and share punishment if they proved corrupt or incompetent.

二十九年，聞人滋又請：「凡在官曆任及十考以上，無公私罪，雖舉削不及格，許降等升改。或疑其太濫，則取吏部累年改官酌中之數，立為限隔，舉狀、年勞，參酌並用。」於是下其議，中書舍人洪遵、給事中王晞亮等上議曰：「本朝立薦舉之法，必使曆任六考，所以遲其歲月而責其赴功，必使之舉官五員，所以多其保任而必其可用。今如議臣所請，則有力者惟圖見次，無材者苟冀終更，出官十餘年，可以坐待京秩。此不可一也。今欲減改官分數以待無舉削者，則當被舉之人，必有失職淹滯之歎。此不可二也。京官易得，馴至郎位，任子之恩，愈不可減，非所以救入流之弊。此不可三也。夫祖宗之法非有大害，未易輕議；今一旦取二百年成法而易之。此不可四也。臣以為如故便。」滋議遂寢。

In the twenty-ninth year Wen Renzi proposed that officials with ten or more evaluations and clean records might advance a grade even without enough nomination dossiers. If that seemed too loose, he suggested caps based on the Ministry's yearly promotion averages, weighing nominations and seniority together. The proposal was referred to Hong Zun, Wang Xiliang, and others, who objected: "Our nomination law demands six evaluations to delay advancement until merit is proved, and five sponsors to multiply accountability. Wen Renzi's plan, they warned, would let the connected grab the next vacancy and the mediocre coast to capital rank after a decade in office. That was their first objection. Easing quotas for men without dossiers would slight those who earned nominations through merit. That was their second objection. Easier capital rank would cascade to bureau posts and widen hereditary privilege—hardly a cure for the glut of officials. That was their third objection. Ancestral laws without grave harm should not be lightly revised; yet this would overturn two centuries of settled practice overnight. That was their fourth objection. They recommended leaving the law unchanged." Wen Renzi's proposal was dropped.

三十年，以武臣被薦者眾，命內外大臣所舉統製、統領官各遷一秩，將官以下，所舉者今兩府籍記。右正言何溥言：「比命侍從薦舉縣令，如聞選人不可授大邑，止籍記姓名。夫論人才不拘資格，豈堪為縣令而有小大之別乎？今所舉者才也，非官也。願無拘劇易，早與選除，歲一行之，十年之後，天下多賢令矣。」乃詔：「薦舉守令，遇見闕依次除授；如已授差遣者，任滿取旨。」帝謂輔臣曰：「朕有一人材簿，臣下有所薦揚，退則記其姓名。遇有選用，搜而得之，無不適當。」

In the thirtieth year, amid heavy military nominations, unified commanders recommended by chief ministers gained one rank; recommendations for officers below commander rank were registered by the two administrations. Right Correcting Remonstrator He Pu complained that though attendants nominally recommended county magistrates, able candidates were barred from large counties and merely listed by name. Talent should not be bound by rank—why distinguish large and small counties for able magistrates? Nominations were for ability, not title. Appoint nominees regardless of county difficulty, review annually, and within ten years the realm would abound in worthy magistrates. An edict ordered that nominated prefects and magistrates fill vacancies in order as they arose; Those already assigned would await imperial instruction at term's end. The emperor told his ministers: "I keep a book of talent; when any of you recommend someone, I note the name afterward. When I need to appoint someone, I look him up—and every choice proves apt."

孝宗嘗命內外選在任閑居待次官舉可任監司、郡守之人，以資序分二等，一見今可任，一將來可任，注籍於三省，仍作圖進呈，以憑除擢。又以武選之眾，拔擢未廣，立「謀略沉雄可任大計」、「寬猛適宜可使禦眾」、「臨陣驍勇可鼓士氣」、「威信有聞可守邊郡」、「思智精巧可治器械」凡五等科目，令曾曆軍功觀察使以上各舉三人。其「通習典章可掌朝儀」、「練達民事可任郡寄」、「諳曉財計可裕民力」、「持身廉潔可律貪鄙」、「詞辨不屈可備奉使」五等，令非軍功觀察使以上舉之。並隨類指陳實跡，毋得別撰褒詞。

Xiaozong ordered officials at court and in the provinces to nominate men fit for circuit and prefectural posts from among serving, idle, and waiting appointees. Nominees were ranked by seniority into two lists—ready now and ready later—registered at the Three Departments, and charted for promotion decisions. Because military talent was still underused, five nomination categories were created—grand strategist, balanced commander, battlefield champion, trusted frontier defender, and weapons specialist—and every observation commissioner or higher who had earned military merit was to put forward three names in each. Five civil categories—ritual expert, seasoned administrator, fiscal manager, model of integrity, and diplomatic spokesman—were assigned to observation commissioners and higher without military-merit backgrounds. Sponsors had to cite concrete achievements by category and were forbidden to invent encomiums.

隆興二年，廷臣上言，謂：「國朝視文武為一體，故有武臣以文學換授文資，文臣以材略智謀換右職當邊寄者。蓋文武兩途，情本參商。若文臣總幹戎事，不換武階，則終以氣習相忌，有不樂從者矣。今兵塵未息，方厲恢復之圖，願博采中外有材智權略可以臨邊、可以製閫者，仿舊制改授。」從之。乾道以後，又選大將之家能世其武勇者，武舉及第武藝絕倫可為將佐者。會廷臣言曰：「方今國家之兵，東至淮海，西至川蜀，殆百餘萬。其間可為將帥者，不在其上，則在其下，而朝廷未知振其氣、表其才也。今文臣有三人舉主，則為之循資再任，五人則為之改秩，而武臣無有焉。古語曰：『三辰不軌，擢士為相；蠻夷不恭，拔卒為將。』宜令都統製視監司者歲舉武臣二人，視郡守者歲舉一人。以智勇俱全為上，善撫士卒、專有膽勇者次之。不拘將校士卒，優以獎擢。被舉人有臨戰不用命者，與文臣犯入己贓者同，並坐舉主。」帝可其奏，仍著為法。

In Longxing 2 a court official argued that the dynasty treated civil and military service as one career path: martial men with literary skill could transfer to civil rank, and civil men with strategic talent could take military-right posts on the frontier. Civil and military careers were temperamentally opposed. A civil officer commanding troops without taking a military commission would find his habits clash with theirs and meet men who refused to obey. With war still unsettled and recovery urgent, he urged a broad search for men of talent and strategic skill fit to command borders and armies, reinstating the old exchange appointments. The court agreed. After Qiandao the court also sought sons of great commanders who inherited martial prowess, military-examination graduates, and men of unmatched fighting skill for staff and field commands. A court official then said: "The empire fields nearly a million troops from the Huai coast to Sichuan. Able commanders sit not among the senior ranks but among the junior ones, and the court neither stirs their ambition nor showcases their ability. Civil officials with three sponsors won seniority promotion and reappointment; with five they changed rank—yet military men had no equivalent. An old saying held: 'When heaven's signs go awry, raise a scholar to chancellor; when barbarians rebel, pluck a soldier to be general.' Army commanders equivalent to circuit commissioners should each year nominate two military men, and those equivalent to prefects one. Men combining wisdom and courage ranked first; those who comforted troops well or showed courage alone ranked next. Rank would not matter—from general to private—and the worthy would be generously promoted. If a nominee failed in battle, his sponsor would share the penalty, as with a civil official convicted of embezzlement. The emperor approved and codified the proposal.

三年，禮部尚書趙雄請令侍從、台諫、兩省，於知縣資序以上歲薦堪充郡守，通判資序以上歲薦監司，仍用漢朝雜舉之制，三省詳加考察。詔如所請，仍不以內外，雜舉歲各五人，保舉官及五員以上，列銜共奏。帝曰：「薦舉本欲得人，又恐幹請，反長奔競。」龔茂良言：「三代良法，亦不免於弊。今欲精選監司、郡守，非薦舉何由知之。」帝曰：「若今雜舉，則須眾論僉允，又經中書考察而後除授，亦博采遴選之道也。」

In the third year Zhao Xiong, Minister of Rites, asked attendants, remonstrators, and the Two Departments to nominate prefects from magistrate rank upward and circuit commissioners from deputy-prefect rank upward, reviving Han-style open recommendation subject to Three Department review. The throne agreed: five mixed nominations yearly at court and in the provinces, with five or more guarantors signing jointly. The emperor said: "Nomination should find talent, yet I fear it also feeds lobbying and the scramble for office. Gong Maoliang replied: "Even the Three Dynasties' best institutions had flaws. If we want worthy circuit commissioners and prefects, how else can we learn of them without nomination? The emperor answered: "Under mixed nomination, consensus and Secretariat review precede appointment—that is still broad search and careful choice."

吏部請：「武舉軍班武藝特奏名出身，並任巡檢、駐泊、監押、知砦，比附《文臣關升條令》，並實曆六考，有舉主四人，內監司一人，聽關升親民。正副將，兩任、有舉主二人，內一人監司，亦與關升。凡升副將，視文臣初任通判資序；再關升正將，視文臣次任通判資序；關升路分副都監，視文臣初任知州資序；小郡州鈐轄，視文臣次任知州資序。」孝宗以歲舉京官數濫，於是內外薦舉改官員數，六部、寺、監長貳，戶部右曹郎官等，三分減一；禮部、國子監長貳，如上條外又減半；前宰執，歲各減二員；諸道轉運、提刑、提舉常平茶鹽學事司，總領茶馬、鑄錢司，安撫、製置司，及諸路州軍，並四分減一。通籍之數彌省矣。

Personnel proposed that military-examination and specially nominated martial appointees serving as patrol, garrison, custodial, and fort officers, after six evaluations and four sponsors including one circuit commissioner, might advance under the civil promotion rules to posts governing the people. Primary and secondary commanders with two terms and two sponsors, one a circuit commissioner, would likewise advance. Promotion to secondary commander equaled a civil officer's first deputy-prefect appointment; a second step to primary commander equaled a second deputy-prefect term; advancement to route deputy commander equaled a first prefect appointment; and small-prefecture military controller equaled a second prefect term. Xiaozong, finding capital nominations excessive, cut recommendation quotas by one third for ministry heads and deputies, Right Section revenue clerks, and similar posts; Rites and Education heads and deputies were halved again beyond that; former chief ministers lost two slots each year; and transport, judicial, fiscal, tea-and-horse, coinage, pacification, and readiness commissioners plus every route's prefectures and armies by one fourth. The rolls of registered officials grew leaner.

光宗時，言者謂：「被薦者眾，朝廷疑其私而不信，病其泛而難從，縱有賢才，不免與僥幸者並棄，請條約之。」乃命帥守、監司毋獨員薦士。時薦舉固多得人，然有或乏廉聲而舉充廉吏，或素昧平生而舉充所知，或不能文而舉可備著述。遂命臣僚自今有人則薦，無人則闕，其尤繆妄者覺察之。

Under Guangzong critics said nominations had grown so numerous that the court distrusted them, good men were lost among opportunists, and rules were needed. Military governors and circuit commissioners were forbidden to nominate alone. Nomination often found talent, yet men without clean reputations were praised as incorrupt, strangers as intimates, and illiterates as writers. Officials were told to nominate when worthy men existed and leave quotas blank otherwise; egregious false nominations would be investigated.

嘉泰二年，令內外舉薦並具實跡以聞，自是濫舉之弊稍革。嘉定十二年，命監司、守臣舉十科政績所知自代，露章列薦，並籍記審察。任滿，則取其舉數多、有政績行誼者，升擢之。

Jiatai 2 required documented achievements in every nomination, curbing reckless sponsorship somewhat. Jiading 12 ordered circuit commissioners and prefects to nominate successors known through ten categories of governing merit, filing open memorials for registry and review. At term's end, men with many nominations and proven records were promoted.

宋初，內外小職任，長吏得自奏辟。熙寧間，悉罷歸選部。然要處職任，如沿邊兵官、防河捕盜、重課額務場之類，尋又立專法聽舉，於是辟置不能全廢也。既出常格，則憸人往往因之以行其私。元祐以來，屢行屢止。蓋處心公明，則得以用其所知，固為良法；苟徇私昧理，則才不為用，請屬賄賂，無所不有矣。又孰若付之銓曹而概以公法者哉？

Early in the dynasty local chiefs could directly commission subordinates for minor posts. The Xining reforms ended the practice and returned appointments to the Selection Board. Important posts—frontier officers, river anti-bandit duty, heavy-tax stations—soon regained special nomination laws, so direct commissioning never fully disappeared. Outside normal rules, schemers often abused the privilege for private gain. From Yuanyou onward the system was toggled on and off repeatedly. With an impartial mind, appointing known men could be an excellent method; but favoritism brought patronage, bribery, and wasted talent. Was it not better to leave all to the Selection Board under uniform public law?

建炎初，詔河北招撫、河東經制及安撫等使，皆得辟置將佐官屬；行在五軍並御營司將領，亦辟大小使臣。諸道郡縣殘破之餘，官吏解散，諸司誘人填闕，皆先領職而後奏給付身。於是州郡守將，皆假軍興之名，換易官屬，有罪籍未敘復、守選未參部者。朝論患之，乃令厘正，使歸部依格注擬。惟陝西五路、兩河、兩淮、京東等路經略安撫司屬官聽舉辟，餘路並罷。四年，初置諸鎮撫使，管內州縣官並許辟置。言者謂遠方之民，理宜綏撫。如峽州四縣，多用軍功或胥吏補知縣，欄吏補監稅，民被其害。遂命取峽州、江陵府、荊門軍、公安軍州縣官闕，委安撫司奏辟。命御史臺仍舊辟舉承務郎已上官充主簿、檢法官，不限資序。

Early in Jianyan, Hebei pacification, Hedong readiness, and pacification commissioners were empowered to commission staff and aides; the mobile court's Five Armies and imperial-camp commanders did likewise. With prefectures shattered and officials scattered, agencies filled vacancies by letting men take office first and receive credentials later. Prefects and commanders then swapped staff under war exigency, even appointing unrehabilitated convicts and selectees who had never reported to Personnel. Alarmed, the court ordered a cleanup: men must return to the board for regular assignment. Only Shaanxi's five routes and the Two He, Two Huai, and Jingdong readiness and pacification staffs kept commissioning rights; other routes lost them. In the fourth year regional pacification commissioners were created with authority to commission county and prefectural officials in their jurisdictions. Critics said distant peoples deserved proper governance and care. In Xia Prefecture's four counties, magistrates drawn from soldiers or clerks and tax supervisors from gate attendants had harmed the people. Vacancies in Xia, Jiangling, Jingmen, and Gong'an were therefore referred to the pacification commission for nomination. The Censorate was again allowed to appoint registrars and above as recorders and reviewing judges regardless of seniority.

紹興二年，臣僚又以「比年帥守、監司辟官，攙奪部注，朝廷不能奪，銓曹不能違，又多畀以添差不厘務之闕。上自監司、倅貳，下至掾屬、給使，一郡之中，兵官八九員，一務之中，監當六七員，數倍於前日。存無事之官，食至重之祿，所以重困生民。請裁省其闕，否則以宮廟之祿畀之。」遂命自今已就辟差理資任者，毋得據舊闕以妨下次。六年，詔諸道宣撫司，僚屬許本司奏辟，內京官以二年為任，願留再任者，取旨。自兵興，所辟官有經十年不退者，故條約焉。二十六年，詔已注知縣、縣令，不許奏辟。

Shaoxing 2 brought complaints that governors and commissioners commissioned staff who seized board assignments the court could not revoke, often as supernumeraries without duties. From commissioners to clerks, a prefecture might hold eight or nine military officers and a revenue station six or seven custodians—several times former levels. Idle posts on heavy salaries burdened the people. Cut the posts, they urged, or pay them from temple stipends instead. Henceforth commissioned men with processed credentials could not block the next assignment by clinging to old posts. In the sixth year pacification staffs could commission their own aides; capital officials served two-year terms, with extensions requiring imperial approval. Some wartime commissions had lasted ten years; the rule addressed that abuse. In the twenty-sixth year assigned magistrates and chiefs could no longer commission subordinates.

孝宗初，詔內外有專法，辟闕並仍舊。乾道九年，命監司、帥臣，非有著令，不得創行奏辟；所辟毋得攙已差之闕，違者御史臺察之。淳熙三年，命自今極邊知縣、縣令闕官，專委本州守臣奏辟，毋得仍舊權攝；其見攝官留意民事百姓愛服者，許不以有無拘礙，特行奏辟。七年，詔未中銓、未曆任、初改秩人毋得差辟，著為令。

At Xiaozong's accession, special-law commissioning continued where statutes allowed. Qiandao 9 barred circuit commissioners and military governors from creating new commissions without statute; commissions could not seize filled posts, on pain of censorial investigation. Chunxi 3 required extreme-frontier magistrate and chief vacancies to be filled by the home prefect's nomination, not provisional acting appointments; capable acting officials beloved by the people could be specially commissioned regardless of formal barriers. Chunxi 7 barred commissioning for men who had not passed the board, served a term, or completed initial rank change—codified as law.

理宗寶慶二年，以廣南東、西路通判、幕職、教授等官，法未嘗許辟者，須於各官將滿之前具闕。如未有代者，即聽申部出闕，滿三月無人注擬，申省下本路。通判以下京官闕，從諸司奏辟。選人闕，從漕司定差。作邑未滿三年、作倅未滿二考，不許預期奏辟他闕。諸司屬官不許輒自辟置，或久闕正官，許令次官暫攝，待朝命方許奏辟。淳祐十一年，以御史臺申嚴銓法，禁監司、郡守辟親戚為屬吏。又選人無考第、舉主不及三員，及納粟人雖有考第、舉主，並不聽辟為令。寶祐三年，戒諸路監司、帥閫，不應辟而輒辟者，辟主及受辟之官，並與鐫秩。

Lizong's Baqing 2 required Guangnan East and West deputy prefects, staff, and instructors—never commissionable by law—to have vacancies listed before incumbents' terms ended. Without a successor, Personnel would post the vacancy; after three months unfilled, the route would be notified. Capital-rank posts below deputy prefect were filled by agency nomination. Selectee posts followed transport-commission assignment. Magistrates with less than three years and deputies with less than two evaluations could not seek early commissioning elsewhere. Agency staff could not commission independently; if a chief post stayed empty, a deputy might act temporarily but needed court approval to commission. Chunyou 11, enforcing selection law strictly, forbade commissioners and prefects from commissioning relatives. Selectees lacking evaluations or three sponsors, and grain-purchase appointees even with evaluations and sponsors, could not be commissioned as magistrates. Baoyou 3 warned that illegal commissioning by circuit commissioners and commanders would demote both sponsor and appointee.

考課。宋初循舊制，文武常參官各以曹務閑劇為月限，考滿即遷。太祖謂非循名責實之道，罷歲月敘遷之制。置審官院，考課中外職事。受代京朝官引對磨勘，非有勞績不進秩。其後立法，文臣五年、武臣七年，無贓私罪始得遷秩。曾犯贓罪，則文臣七年、武臣十年，中書、樞密院取旨。其七階選人，則考第資曆，無過犯或有勞績者遞遷，謂之「循資」。凡考第之法，內外選人，周一歲為一考，欠日不得成考。三考未替，更周一歲，書為第四考，已書之績，不得重計。初著令，州縣戶口準見戶十分增一，刺史、縣令進考，若耗一分，降考一等。建隆三年，又以科賦有欠逾十之一，及公事曠違嘗有制受罰者，皆如耗戶口降考。吏部南曹又舉周制，請州縣官益戶增稅，受代日並書於籍，凡千戶以下能增百戶減一選，減及三選以上，令賜章服，主簿升秩進階。能歸復逋亡之民者，亦如之。

Performance Evaluation. Early Song followed the old rule: civil and military attendants advanced when monthly duty evaluations were complete. Taizu called time-served promotion false measure and abolished it. He created the Court of Evaluating Officials to assess performance at court and in the provinces. Capital officials faced imperial merit review at term's end; without achievement they did not rise. Later statutes required five years for civil officials and seven for military men, free of embezzlement, before promotion. After embezzlement, civil officials waited seven years and military ten, pending Secretariat and Privy Council approval. Seven-rank selectees advanced by evaluation and seniority when blameless or meritorious—called seniority promotion. Evaluation counted one year per mark for internal and external selectees; incomplete years did not count. Before completing three evaluations and rotation, a fourth year counted as a fourth mark; prior marks could not be reused. The first rule rewarded prefects and magistrates with superior marks for a ten-percent household increase and demoted them one grade for a ten-percent decline. Jianlong 3 added that tax shortfalls over ten percent or statutory neglect in office lowered evaluations like population loss. Personnel's Southern Section, citing Zhou precedent, proposed recording household and tax gains at handover: below one thousand households, every hundred gained shortened promotion by one cycle; three cycles or more earned the magistrate ceremonial robes and the recorder a rank step. Officials who brought back runaway or displaced households received the same rewards.

是年，縣始置尉，頒《捕盜條》，給以三限，限各二十日，三限內獲者，令、尉等第議賞；三限外不獲，尉罰一月奉，令半之。尉三罰、令四罰，皆殿一選，三殿停官。令、尉與賊鬥而能盡獲者，賜緋升擢。乾德四年，詔諸縣令、佐有能招攜勸課，以致蕃庶民籍，租額出其元數，減一選，仍進一階。

That year counties first appointed police captains and issued bandit-capture regulations with three twenty-day deadlines. Captures within those limits earned graded rewards for magistrate and captain alike. Failure after all three deadlines cost the captain one month's pay and the magistrate half as much. Three demerits for a captain or four for a magistrate each meant one inferior performance mark; three such marks suspended an official from duty. Magistrates and captains who fought bandits and took every fugitive were awarded crimson robes and promotion. In Qiande 4, an edict promised one shortened promotion cycle and a rank step to magistrates and assistants who rallied the people, spurred farming, and raised registered households and tax yields above prior quotas.

太宗勵精圖治，遣官分行郡縣，廉察官吏。河南府法曹參軍高丕等，皆以不勝任免官。復詔諸道察舉部內官，第其優劣為三等：「政績尤異」為上，「職務粗治」為中，「臨事弛慢所蒞無狀」者為下。歲終以聞。先是，諸州掾曹及縣令、簿、尉，皆戶部南曹給印紙、曆子，俾州郡長吏書其績用愆過，秩滿，送有司差其殿最。詔有司申明，其諸州別給公據者罷之。判吏部南曹董淳言：「有司批書印曆，多所闕略，令漏書一事殿一選，三事降一資。」自是職事官依州縣給南曹曆子，天下知州、通判、京朝官厘務於外者，給以御前印紙，令書課績。時蔣元振知白州，為政清簡，民甚便之；秩滿，眾輒詣部使乞留，凡十有八年，未受代。姚益恭清白有才幹，知鄆州須城縣，鞭相不施，境內大治。淳化初，采訪使各言其狀，下詔褒嘉，賜元振絹三十匹、粟五十石，賜益恭對衣、銀帶、絹五十匹。

Taizong threw himself into reform, sending inspectors through every prefecture and county to audit local officials. Gao Pi, legal aide in the Henan prefectural office, and others were dismissed for failing their duties. Another edict required circuit envoys to inspect local officials and rank them in three grades: outstanding governance at the top, adequate performance in the middle, and slack or worthless administration at the bottom. Findings were reported at the end of each year. Earlier, prefectural staff and county magistrates, registrars, and captains all received sealed performance forms from the Ministry of Revenue's southern bureau. Prefectural and county chiefs recorded merit and misconduct, and at term's end the files went to the authorities for superior-or-inferior ratings. An edict directed the responsible agencies to clarify the rules and end the separate credentials some prefectures had issued independently. Dong Chun, chief of the Ministry of Personnel's southern section, reported: "Offices often leave gaps when annotating performance records. One omitted entry costs a magistrate one inferior mark; three omissions cost a rank step." Thereafter functional officials received southern-section booklets like county officers, while prefects, deputy prefects, and capital officials serving in the provinces received imperial seal papers on which to record performance. Jiang Yuanzhen was then prefect of Baizhou, where his plain, honest rule made life noticeably easier for the people. When his term ended, locals repeatedly petitioned the provincial envoys to keep him; eighteen years passed before he was finally replaced. Yao Yigong, an honest and capable man, governed Xucheng in Yan Prefecture without resorting to the lash, and the county prospered under him. Early in Chunhua, investigation envoys reported both cases to the throne. Imperial commendations followed: Jiang Yuanzhen received thirty bolts of silk and fifty shi of grain; Yao Yigong received matching robes, a silver belt, and fifty bolts of silk.

四年，始分置磨勘之司。審官院掌京朝官，考課院掌幕職、州縣官，廢差遣院，令審官總之。乃詔：「郡縣有治行尤異、吏民畏服、居官廉恪、蒞事明敏、鬥訟衰息、倉廩盈羨、寇盜翦滅、部內清肅者，本道轉運司各以名聞，當驛置赴闕，親問其狀加旌賞焉。其貪冒無狀、淹延鬥訟、逾越憲度、盜賊競起、部內不治者，亦條其狀以聞，當行貶斥。」

In the fourth year, separate merit-review offices were established for the first time. The Bureau for Examination of Officials took capital officials; the Performance Assessment Institute took staff and local officials; the Assignment Bureau was abolished and folded into the examination bureau. An edict declared that when a county or prefecture showed exceptional governance—officials and people in awe, honest administration, sharp handling of affairs, falling lawsuits, full granaries, suppressed banditry, and a clean jurisdiction—the circuit transport commissioner should report the names by express relay so the official could come to court, answer in person, and receive honors. Greedy or worthless officials who let lawsuits drag on, violated regulations, or presided over rising crime and disorder were likewise to be reported and punished with demotion or dismissal."

以翰林學士錢若水、樞密直學士劉昌言同知審官院，考覆功過，以定升降；又以判流內銓翰林學士蘇易簡、知制誥王旦等知考課院，重其職也。凡流內銓，主常調選人；考課院，主奏舉及曆任有殿最者。明年，帝親選京朝官三十餘人，自書戒諭之言於印紙曰：「勤政愛民，奉法除奸，方可書為勞績。」且謂錢若水曰：「奉法除奸之言，恐諸臣未喻，因而生事，可語之曰：『除奸之要，在乎奉法。』」至道初，罷考課院，並流內銓。二年，遣使廉察諸道長吏，得八人蒞事公正、惠愛及民，皆降璽書獎諭。

Hanlin academician Qian Ruoshui and privy council direct academician Liu Changyan were made co-directors of the Bureau for Examination of Officials to weigh merit and fault and determine promotions and demotions. Su Yijian, Hanlin academician and chief of the Flow Within Selection Board, and drafting specialist Wang Dan and others were also put in charge of the Performance Assessment Institute, underscoring the post's importance. The Flow Within Selection Board handled routine candidate appointments. The Performance Assessment Institute handled memorial nominees and officials with markedly superior or inferior records. The next year the emperor personally chose more than thirty capital officials and wrote admonitions on their seal papers: "Merit may be recorded only by diligent governance, care for the people, upholding the law, and rooting out wrongdoing." He also told Qian Ruoshui, "Officials may misunderstand the phrase 'uphold law and eliminate wrongdoers' and cause trouble. Tell them: 'The key to eliminating wrongdoing is upholding the law.' At the start of Zhidao, the Performance Assessment Institute was abolished and merged into the Flow Within Selection Board." In the second year, inspection envoys reviewed circuit chiefs. Eight were found fair in office and genuinely benevolent toward the people, and each received an imperial letter of praise.

真宗即位，命審官院考京朝官殿最，引對遷秩。京朝官引對磨勘，自此始。先是，每恩慶，百僚多得序進。帝始罷之，惟郊祀恩許加勳、階、爵邑。帝察群臣有聞望者，得刑部郎中邊肅等二十有四人，令閣門再引對，觀其辭氣文藝，並得優升。景德初，令諸道辨察所部官吏能否，為三等：公勤廉幹惠及民者為上，幹事而無廉譽、清白而無治聲者為次，畏懦貪猥為下。

When Zhenzong ascended the throne, he ordered the Bureau for Examination of Officials to rate capital officials and promote them through imperial audience and merit review. Imperial audience and merit review for capital officials began at this point. Previously, grace celebrations often brought automatic sequential promotion to the whole bureaucracy. The emperor ended that practice, allowing merit honors, rank steps, titles, and fiefs only through the suburban sacrifice grace. Noting which officials enjoyed public renown, the emperor selected twenty-four men, including Bian Su of the Ministry of Justice, for a second audience to judge speech, bearing, and literary skill; all were promoted preferentially. Early in Jingde, each circuit was ordered to classify its officials in three grades: top for the public-spirited, diligent, honest, capable, and genuinely helpful to the people; middle for the competent but not notably honest, or honest but not notably effective; bottom for the timid, greedy, and base.

仁宗尤矜憐下吏，以銓法選人有私罪，皆未聽磨勘，諭近臣：「凡『門謝弗至』與『對揚失儀』，其毋以為罪。」又曰：「州縣秩卑，而長吏多鉤摭細故，文致之法，使不得自進，朕甚閔焉。」宰相王曾曰：「引對時，陛下酌其輕重而稍擢之，則下無滯才矣。」其後選人，有束鹿縣尉王得說，曆官寡過，書考最多而無保任者。帝察其孤貧，特擢為大理寺丞。天聖時，詔：「文武臣僚，非有勳德善狀，不得非時進秩；非次罷免者，毋以轉官帶職為例。兩省以上，舊法四年一遷官，今具履曆聽旨。京朝官磨勘年限，有私罪及曆任嘗有罪，先以情重輕及勤績與舉者數奏聽旨；若無私犯而著最課及有舉者，皆第遷之。自請厘物務於京師，五年一磨勘，因舉及選差勿拘。凡有善政異績，準事大小遷升，選人視此。」又定監物務入親民，次升通判，通判升知州，皆用舉者。舉數不足，毋輒關升。

Renzong was especially sympathetic to lower officials. Because candidates with private offenses had not yet passed merit review, he told close advisers: "Do not treat missed gate ceremonies or impropriety at imperial audience as punishable offenses." He also said, "Prefectural and county posts rank low, yet superiors often seize on petty matters and stretch the law to block advancement; this grieves me deeply." Chief councilor Wang Zeng replied, "If Your Majesty weighs each case at audience and promotes deserving men even modestly, no capable official need remain stuck in the ranks." Later among the candidates was Wang Deshuo, captain of Shulu County. He had few faults, the strongest written evaluations, and no sponsors at all. Seeing that he was orphaned and poor, the emperor specially promoted him to aide in the Court of the Grand Judicatory. During Tiansheng, an edict declared that civil and military officials could not advance out of cycle without merit, virtue, or a record of good conduct; those dismissed abruptly could not use rank transfer with attached titles as precedent. For officials of the two departments and above, the old rule of promotion every four years was replaced by submission of full records for imperial decision. Capital officials due for merit review who had private offenses or past misconduct were to be reported with the severity of the case, their record of achievement, and the number of sponsors, then await imperial decision; those without private offenses who had top evaluations and sponsors were promoted in regular order. Officials who volunteered to manage material affairs in the capital were reviewed every five years, without restriction by nomination or selection rules. Good governance and exceptional achievement brought promotion scaled to the deed; candidates followed the same rule. It was also decreed that warehouse supervisors moving into posts dealing directly with the people advanced next to deputy prefect, and deputy prefects to prefect, only with sponsors. Without enough sponsors, no one could be promoted across grades.

慶曆三年，從輔臣范仲淹等奏定磨勘保任之法：自朝官至郎中、少卿，須清望官五人保任，始得遷。其後，知諫院劉元瑜以為適長奔競，非所以養廉恥，乃罷之。

In Qingli 3, on the memorial of chief minister Fan Zhongyan and others, merit review required five sponsors of clear reputation before any official from court rank up to director or vice minister could be promoted. Later Liu Yuanyu, head of the Remonstrance Institute, argued that the rule only fed scrambling for office and did nothing for integrity; it was abolished.

八年，詔近臣論時政。翰林學士張方平言：「祖宗之時，文武官不立磨勘年歲，不為升遷次序。有才實者，從下位立見超擢，無才實者，守一官十餘年不轉。其任監當或知縣、通判、知州，至數任不遷。當時人皆自勉，非有勞效，知不得進。祥符之後，朝廷益循寬大，自監當入知縣，知縣入通判，通判入知州，皆以兩任為限；守官及三年，例得磨勘。先朝始行，未見有弊。及今年深，習以為常，皆謂分所宜得，無賢不肖，莫知所勸。願陛下稍革此制，其應磨勘敘遷，必有勞績；或特敕擇官保任者，即與轉遷；如無勞績又不因保任者，更增展年。其保任之法，須選擇清望有才識之人，命之舉官。如此，則是執政之臣舉清望官，委清望官舉親民官。凡官有闕，惟隨員數舉之，庶見急才愛民之意。」

In the eighth year, close ministers were ordered to discuss current affairs. Hanlin academician Zhang Fangping said, "Under the founding emperors, civil and military officials had no fixed merit-review years and no fixed promotion sequence. Men of real ability rose quickly from low posts; men without it might hold one office for more than ten years without moving. Warehouse supervisors, magistrates, deputy prefects, and prefects alike might serve several terms without promotion. Everyone pushed himself then; without real achievement, no one expected advancement. After Xiangfu the court grew lenient: warehouse supervisor to magistrate, magistrate to deputy prefect, deputy prefect to prefect—each after two terms; three years in office routinely earned merit review. When the previous reign first instituted this, no harm was yet visible. Over time it became routine; everyone treated promotion as an entitlement, worthy or not, and no one knew what to strive for. I ask Your Majesty to reform the system so that merit review and promotion require real achievement; or, when an imperial selection names guarantors, grant promotion at once; if there is no achievement and no guarantors, extend the interval further. Guarantors must be men of clear reputation and real judgment, charged with recommending officials. Then ministers would recommend men of clear reputation, and those men would recommend officials who govern the people. Fill each vacancy only with as many nominees as posts require, and the court will show that it urgently seeks talent and cares for the people."

嘉祐六年，下詔曰：「朕觀古者治世，牧民之吏，多稱其官，而百姓安其業。今求材之路非不廣，責善之法非不詳，而吏多失職，非稱所以為民之意。豈人材獨少而世變殊哉？殆不得久於其官故也。蓋智能才力之士，雖有興利除害、禁奸勸善之意，非假以歲月，則亦偷不為用，欲終厥功，其路無由。自今諸州縣守令，有清白不擾、政跡尤異而實惠及民者，本路若州連書同罪保舉，將政跡實狀以聞，中書門下察訪得實，許令再任。」

In Jiayou 6 an edict declared, "In well-governed ages of old, local officials often lived up to their titles and the people were secure in their work. Today the paths to talent are broad and the standards detailed, yet officials often fail in duty and fall short of what governing the people requires. Is talent truly so scarce, or has the age changed so much? Surely it is because men cannot long remain in office. Capable men may wish to benefit the people, remove harm, suppress wrong, and encourage good, but without time they do nothing; and with no time, they cannot finish what they begin. Henceforth, magistrates and prefects who governed cleanly, achieved outstanding results, and genuinely benefited the people could serve a second term when the circuit or prefecture jointly guaranteed them, reported their record, and the Secretariat and Chancellery verified the facts."

英宗治平三年，考課院言：「知磁州李田，再考在劣等。」降監淄州鹽酒稅務。坐考劣降等，自田始。考績，舊，審定殿最格法，自發運使率而下至於知州，皆歸考課院，專以監司所第等級為據；至考監司，則總其甄別部吏能否，副以采訪才行，合二事為課，悉書「中等」，無高下。

In Zhiping 3, under Yingzong, the Performance Assessment Institute reported that Li Tian, prefect of Cizhou, had received two consecutive inferior evaluations. He was demoted to supervisor of the Zibo salt and wine tax office. Demotion for inferior evaluations began with Li Tian. Performance records: formerly, in setting superior-and-inferior rating rules, transport commissioners down to prefects all fell under the Performance Assessment Institute, which relied solely on grades assigned by circuit supervisors; when circuit supervisors themselves were assessed, their judgment of subordinates' ability was combined with investigation of conduct and talent into one evaluation—and all were marked middle, with no high or low distinction.

神宗即位，凡職皆有課，凡課皆責實。監司所上守臣課不占等者，展年降資；而治狀優異者，增秩賜金帛，以璽書獎勵之。若監司以上，則命御史中丞、侍御史考校。凡縣令之課，以斷獄平允、賦入不擾、均役屏盜、勸課農桑、振恤饑窮、導修水利、戶籍增衍、整治簿書為最，而德義清謹、公平勒恪為善，參考治行，分定上、中、下等。至其能否尤殊絕者，別立優劣二等，歲上其狀，以詔賞罰。其入優劣者，賞罰尤峻。繼又令：一路長吏，無甚臧否，不須別為優劣二等，止因上、中、下三等區別以聞。是時，內外官職，各從所隸司以考核，而中書皆置之籍。每歲竟，或有除授，則稽差殿最，取其尤甚者而進退之。

When Shenzong ascended the throne, every post had an evaluation, and every evaluation had to rest on fact. Circuit supervisors who submitted magistrate evaluations without assigning grades faced extended years and reduced rank steps; those with outstanding records received rank increases, gold and silk, and imperial letters of praise. For circuit supervisors and above, the vice censor-in-chief and attendant censors conducted the review. A magistrate's top marks came from fair adjudication, undisturbed tax collection, equitable corvée and suppressed banditry, encouragement of farming and sericulture, relief for the hungry and poor, waterworks repair, growth in household registers, and orderly account books; pure, careful, fair, and diligent conduct counted as good; and conduct in office fixed upper, middle, and lower grades. Officials of especially exceptional ability or failure were placed in separate superior and inferior grades; each year their cases went up for reward or punishment by edict. Those in the separate superior or inferior grades faced especially sharp rewards or punishments. Soon afterward, circuit chiefs without markedly good or bad records no longer needed separate superior or inferior grades; only upper, middle, and lower distinctions were reported. At that time every civil and military office, inside and outside the capital, was assessed through its supervising agency, and the Secretariat kept registers of all results. At year's end, when appointments or dismissals were made, the registers were checked and the most extreme cases chosen for promotion or removal.

熙寧五年，遂罷考課院。間遣使察訪，所至州縣，條其吏課。凡知州、通判上中書，縣令上司農，各注籍以相參考。惟侍從出守郡，聽不以考法，朝廷察其治焉。元豐元年，詔因勞效得酬賞，皆分五等，有司受其等而差進之。初一等，京朝官、大小使臣皆轉一官，選人資曆深者改京朝官，資淺者循兩資。次二等，隨其官高下升資，或減磨勘年。惟軍功、捕盜皆得改次等。京朝官自三等以下，賞以差減。若一人而該兩賞，許累計其等以遷。三年，詔：「御史臺六察按官，以所糾劾官司稽違失職事多寡為殿最，中書置簿以時書之，任滿，取旨升黜。」

In Xining 5 the Performance Assessment Institute was abolished. Inspectors were sent out from time to time to report official evaluations in the prefectures and counties they reached. Prefects and deputy prefects reported to the Secretariat; magistrates to the Ministry of Revenue; each entry was registered for cross-checking. Only court attendants sent out to govern prefectures were exempt from the evaluation law; the court judged their governance directly. In the first year of Yuanfeng, an edict divided rewards for meritorious achievement into five grades, and responsible offices advanced recipients according to grade. First grade: capital officials and palace commissioners of all ranks advanced one full rank; deep-seniority candidates became capital officials, shallow-seniority ones advanced two rank steps. Second grade: rank steps increased or merit-review years reduced according to office. Only military achievement and bandit capture could move a reward to the next grade. For capital officials from the third grade down, rewards diminished by degree. If one man earned two rewards, the grades could be combined for promotion. In the third year, an edict declared that Censorate inspectors in the six sections would be rated superior or inferior by how many offices they impeached for delay, violation, and dereliction; the Secretariat would keep a register updated in timely fashion, and at term's end imperial decision would govern promotion or dismissal.

元祐初，御史中丞劉摯言：「近者，朝廷主察名實，行綜核之政，下乃承之以刻；主行教化，擴寬洪之澤，而下乃為苟簡。先此追罪監司數人，為其掊斂害民耳；而昧者矯枉過正，乃欲以緩縱委靡為安靜。請申立監司考績之政，以常賦登耗、郡縣勤惰、刑獄當否、民俗休戚為之殿最，歲終用此以誅賞之。」文彥博又奏：「《唐六典》所載，以德行、才用、勞效三類察在選之士，參辨能否。今之選格特多，舉主、有軍功，斯為上矣。然舉主可求，軍功或妄，何可盡據？請委吏依仿三類，第其才德功效，送中書門下覆驗，取其應選者，引對而去留之。」詔令近臣議，議者請用《元豐考課令》，第為高下，以行升黜，歲毋過五人。後改立縣令課，有「四善」、「五最」之目，及增損監司、轉運課格，守令為五等減磨勘法。初，元祐嘗立吏、戶、刑三部郎官課。崇寧間，言者乞仿周制，歲終委省、寺、監、六曹之長，各考其屬，稽其官成，而三年遂校其勤惰，行賞罰焉。

Early in Yuanyou, Vice Censor-in-Chief Liu Zhe said, "Lately the court has stressed matching names to reality and pursued comprehensive verification; below, officials have answered with harshness; When the court emphasized moral instruction and broad magnanimity, subordinates answered with careless slackness. Several circuit commissioners had recently been prosecuted for nothing more than extortion that harmed the people; but the obtuse overcorrected and sought to treat lax indulgence as genuine calm. He asked that circuit performance review be formally instituted, ranking officials by regular tax receipts gained or lost, the diligence of prefectures and counties, the correctness of criminal adjudication, and the people's welfare, then using those rankings at year's end for promotion and punishment. Wen Yanbo also submitted a memorial: "The Tang Six Codes prescribe examining candidates awaiting appointment under three headings—virtue, capability, and meritorious service—to distinguish the able from the unable. Today's selection rules are many, but a recommender or military merit still rank highest. Yet recommenders can be bought and martial credit can be fabricated—how can such credentials alone be trusted? He proposed that officials rank candidates under the three headings, send the results to the Secretariat and Chancellery for review, summon those who qualified for audience with the emperor, and decide who stayed or went. The throne ordered senior courtiers to debate the matter; they recommended applying the Yuanfeng assessment statutes to rank officials for promotion and removal, capped at five per year. Later the dynasty established county magistrate assessments with the categories "Four Virtues" and "Five Supreme Achievements," revised circuit and transport assessment standards, and applied a five-tier system for reducing years of seniority review to prefects and magistrates. Early in Yuanyou, performance reviews had been instituted for bureau directors in the Ministries of Personnel, Revenue, and Justice. During Chongning, petitioners asked to imitate Zhou practice by having heads of ministries, directorates, commissions, and the Six Bureaus assess their staffs at year's end, verify their accomplishments, and after three years compare diligence and impose rewards or penalties.

大觀元年詔：「國家休養生民，垂百五十年。生齒日繁，而戶部民籍曾不加益，州縣於進丁、入老，收落失實，以故課役不均，皆守令弛職，可申嚴《考課法》。」然其考法，因時所尚，以示誘抑。若勸學、墾田、植桑棗、振貸、葬枯、興發坑冶、奉詔無違、誘進道徒、賦稅趣辦、能按贓吏，皆因事而增品目，舊法固不易也。但奉行不皆良吏，以請謁移實者亦多。

In the first year of Daguang, an edict declared: "The state has nourished its people for nearly a century and a half. The population kept growing, yet household registers at the Ministry of Revenue never rose; prefectures and counties falsified records of coming-of-age and retirement, making taxes and labor duties uneven—all neglect by prefects and magistrates. The Performance Assessment Law should be enforced strictly. Yet assessment standards shifted with changing priorities, serving to guide and restrain officials. Items such as promoting education, reclaiming land, planting mulberries and jujubes, relief lending, burying the unclaimed dead, developing mines, obeying edicts, sponsoring Daoist clergy, collecting taxes promptly, and prosecuting corrupt officials were added as circumstances required; the underlying statute was never easy to keep fixed. Not every official who applied the rules was conscientious, and many falsified records through bribery and favor.

紹興二年，初詔監司、守臣舉行考課之法。時郡縣數罹兵燹，又命以「戶口增否」別立守令課，分上、中、下三等，每等分三甲置籍。守倅考縣令，監司考知州，考功會其已成，較其優劣而賞罰之。五年，立縣令四課：曰糾正稅籍，團結民兵，勸課農桑，勸勉孝悌。三歲，就緒者加旌賞，無善狀者汰之。

In the second year of Shaoxing, the court first ordered circuit commissioners and prefects to carry out performance assessment. Since prefectures and counties had suffered repeated warfare, the court also created separate prefect and magistrate assessments keyed to whether populations rose, divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers of three ranks each and entered in registers. Prefectural deputies reviewed county magistrates, circuit commissioners reviewed prefects, and the Merit Review Bureau compiled finished reports, compared results, and imposed rewards or penalties. In the fifth year, four assessment categories were established for county magistrates: correcting tax registers, organizing militia, promoting farming and silk production, and encouraging filial piety. After three years, those who met their targets were commended and rewarded; those without positive records were dismissed.

臣僚上言：「守令之治，其略有七：一曰宣詔令，二曰厚風俗，三曰勸農桑，四曰平獄訟，五曰理財賦，六曰興學校，七曰實戶口。得人，則七者皆舉。今之監司，實古刺史。比年守令奸貪，監司未嘗按發，玩弛之弊日甚。」而戶部侍郎張致遠亦言之。乃下詔戒飭監司，考察守令而舉按焉。頃之，有請令江、淮官久任，而課其功過者。帝曰：「朕昔為元帥時，見州縣官以三年為任，猶且一年立威信，二年守規矩，三年則務收人情，以為去計。今止以二年為任，雖有葺治之心，蓋亦無暇矣，可如所奏。」是時，歲以十五事考校監司，四善、四最考校縣令，違限不實者有罪。又詔監司，一歲再具所部知縣有無「善政顯著」、「繆懦不職」上之省。

A court official submitted: "Effective prefect and magistrate government rests on seven duties: proclaiming edicts, improving local customs, promoting agriculture, settling lawsuits, managing finances, establishing schools, and keeping household registers accurate. Appoint the right man, and all seven will be achieved. Today's circuit commissioners are essentially the regional inspectors of old. Prefects and magistrates had grown corrupt in recent years, yet circuit commissioners rarely investigated them, and lax oversight worsened by the day. Vice Minister of Revenue Zhang Zhiyuan made the same argument. The throne then issued an edict warning circuit commissioners to scrutinize prefects and magistrates and bring formal charges when warranted. Shortly afterward, officials proposed longer terms for Jiang and Huai appointees with assessment of their performance. The emperor said: "When I served as supreme commander, I observed that even with three-year terms, county and prefectural officials spent the first year building authority, the second maintaining discipline, and the third currying favor in anticipation of departure. With terms now cut to two years, officials may wish to govern well but scarcely have time to do so. The proposal may be adopted. At that point circuit commissioners were evaluated yearly on fifteen criteria and county magistrates on the Four Virtues and Four Supreme Achievements; missing deadlines or falsifying records was penalized. Circuit commissioners were also required twice yearly to report to the provincial administration which county magistrates under them showed outstanding governance or were incompetent and negligent.

十三年，詔淮東、京西路州縣，逐考批書，若增添戶口、勸課農桑、增修水利，歲終委監司覆實比較。守臣之條有九，通判之條十有四，令佐而下有差。二十五年，以州縣貪吏為虐，監司、郡守不訶察，遂命監司按郡守之縱容，台諫劾監司之失察，而每歲校其所按之多寡，以為殿最之課。二十七年，校書郎陳俊卿言：「古人各守一官終身，使易地而居，未必盡其能也。今監司、帥守，小州換大州，東路易西路；朝廷百執事，亦往往計日待遷，視所居之官，有如傳舍。望令有政術優異者，或增秩賜金，或待終秩而後遷。使久於其職，察其勤惰而升黜之。庶幾人安其分，而萬事舉矣。」詔三省行之。

In the thirteenth year, prefectures and counties on the Huaidong and Jingxi circuits were ordered to record each term's work on population growth, agricultural promotion, and water projects, with circuit commissioners verifying results at year's end. Prefects faced nine assessment criteria, vice-prefects fourteen, and magistrates and assistants progressively fewer. In the twenty-fifth year, because greedy local officials preyed on the people while circuit commissioners and prefects failed to investigate, circuit commissioners were directed to prosecute indulgent prefects, remonstrance officials to impeach negligent circuit commissioners, and yearly tallies of prosecutions became part of performance ranking. In the twenty-seventh year, Proofreader Chen Junqing argued: "In antiquity men often held one post for life; transferred elsewhere, they might never fully deploy their talents. Today circuit commissioners and military prefects trade smaller posts for larger ones and easier eastern circuits for harder western ones; Court officials likewise count the days until promotion, treating each post like a roadside inn. He asked that officials of proven ability receive rank increases or gold grants, or remain in post until their term ended before transfer. Let them serve long enough for diligence to be judged, then promote or remove them accordingly. Then men could settle into their roles and every task might be properly done. The throne ordered the Three Departments to carry out the proposal.

隆興元年，命湖南、北路應守令增辟田疇，自一千頃以下轉磨勘有差，虧者展磨勘、降名次。二年，詔淮南、川峽、京西邊郡守令，能安輯流亡、勸課農桑首就緒者，本道監司以聞。乾道二年，廷臣上言：「國朝盛時，有京朝官考課，有幕職、州縣官考課，其後為審官院，為考課院，皆命中書或兩製臣僚校其能否，以施賞罰。望遵故事，應監司郡守朝辭日，別給御前曆子。如薦賢才為幾人，若為治錢穀，若為理獄訟，興某利，除某害，各為條目，使之黽勉從事。每考，令當職官吏從實批書，代還，使藉手陛見，然後詔執事精加考核。其風績有聞者，優與增秩；所蒞無狀者，罰之無赦。則賢者效職，而中下之才，亦皆強於為善矣。」帝乃命經筵官參照累朝考課之法，講而行之。

In the first year of Longxing, prefects and magistrates in Hunan and the Northern Route were graded on reclaimed land: up to one thousand mu brought varying reductions in years of seniority review, shortfalls brought extended review or demotion in rank. In the second year, border prefects and magistrates in Huainan, the Sichuan gorges, and Jingxi who best resettled refugees and restored agriculture were to be reported by their circuit commissioners. In the second year of Qiandao, a court official recalled: "At the dynasty's zenith there were separate assessments for capital officials and for staff and local appointees, later handled by the Appointment Review Bureau and Assessment Bureau, with the Secretariat or drafting academicians judging competence and imposing rewards or penalties. He asked that the old practice be restored whereby circuit commissioners and prefects, on taking formal leave at court, each receive a personal imperial ledger. They would list items such as how many talents they recommended, how they handled grain and funds, settled lawsuits, created benefits, or removed harms, giving each official concrete duties to pursue diligently. Each term incumbents would record accomplishments truthfully; on completing their tour they would present the ledger at audience, after which responsible officials would conduct a rigorous review. Officials of recognized merit would receive generous promotions; Those who performed poorly would be punished without mercy. Worthy men would serve diligently, and even middling officials would strive harder to do well. The emperor ordered lecturing officials to study assessment methods from prior reigns, debate them, and put them into practice.

淳熙二年，因臣僚言，沿邊七路，每路以文臣一人充安撫使以治民，武臣一人充都總管以治兵。分舉其職，各奏其功，任必加久，歲考優劣。一年視其規畫，二年視其成效，三年視其大成，重議誅賞。臧否分為三等：治效顯著者為臧，貪刻庸繆者為否，無功無過者為平。時天子留意黜陟，諸道莫敢不奉承。於是得實者皆增秩升擢，而監司、牧伯舉按稽緩者輒降黜。行之十餘年，不免有弊，帝因諭輔臣曰：「臧否亦有喜怒之私，如諸司以為臧，一司以為否，必從眾為公，亦在精擇監司，而以台諫考察之，庶乎其可也。」光宗初，詔罷其令。

In the second year of Chunxi, responding to a court memorial, each of the seven frontier circuits received one civil pacification commissioner to govern civilians and one military overall commander to manage troops. They divided responsibilities, reported separate achievements, served longer terms, and underwent yearly performance reviews. The first year judged planning, the second results, the third overall accomplishment, with serious deliberation over rewards and penalties. Performance fell into three grades: outstanding governance rated good, greed or incompetence bad, and neither merit nor fault middling. The emperor closely watched promotions and demotions, and no circuit dared defy the system. Deserving officials were promoted, while circuit commissioners and regional governors slow to investigate were promptly demoted. After more than ten years flaws appeared; the emperor told his chief ministers: "Good and bad ratings reflect personal bias too. When most offices rate someone good and one rates bad, the majority should prevail—but choosing circuit commissioners carefully and having remonstrance and censorial officials oversee them would help. Early in Guangzong's reign the order was revoked.

寧宗以郡國按刺，多徇私情，遂仿舊制，於御史臺別立考課一司，歲終各以能否之實聞於上，以詔升黜。其貪墨、昏懦致台諫奏劾者，坐監司、郡守以容庇之罪。

Ningzong found provincial inspections too often governed by personal ties, so following older practice he established a separate assessment office in the Censorate that reported each official's actual performance at year's end for promotion or removal. When corrupt or inept officials were impeached by censorial and remonstrance officials, circuit commissioners and prefects who had sheltered them were punished as well.

度宗咸淳三年，命參酌舊制，凡文武官一是以公勤、廉恪為主，而又職事修舉，斯為上等，公勤、廉恪各有一長為中等，既無廉聲又多繆政者考下等。其要則以御史臺總帥閫、監司，監司總守、倅，守、倅總州縣屬官。餘如戎司及屯軍大壘，則總之制司；或無製司，則並各郡總管、鈐轄並總於帥司。以逐路所部州郡多寡之數，分隸轉運、提舉、提刑三司。守倅月一考州縣屬官，監司會所隸守倅，製司會戎司、軍壘，遵照舊制互用文移，會其兵甲、獄訟、金穀之數，及各司屬官書擬公事、拘榷錢物、招軍備器之數，次月置冊，各申御史臺上之課籍。俟至半年，類考較前三年定為三等，中者無所賞罰，上者或轉官、或減磨勘，下者降官、展磨勘，各有等差。

In the third year of Xianchun under Duzong, the court drew on older rules: civil and military officials were judged first on public diligence and integrity; those who also performed their duties well ranked highest, those strong in only one virtue ranked middle, and those lacking reputation for integrity and guilty of poor governance ranked lowest. In essence the Censorate oversaw military commanders and circuit commissioners, circuit commissioners oversaw prefects and their deputies, and prefects and deputies oversaw county staff. Military commissions and major garrison camps fell under commandery-control offices; Where no commandery-control office existed, prefectural commanders and military controllers were overseen by the circuit commandery office. Prefectures on each circuit were apportioned among transport, intendant, and judicial intendant offices according to how many each circuit contained. Prefects and deputies assessed county staff monthly; circuit commissioners convened their prefects and deputies, commandery-control offices convened military offices and garrisons; following older practice they exchanged reports tallying arms, lawsuits, grain funds, official drafts, monopoly revenues, recruitment, and equipment, compiled registers the following month, and submitted them to the Censorate. After six months, results were compared with the prior three years and ranked in three grades: middling officials received no reward or penalty, superior ones might gain promotion or shortened seniority review, inferior ones demotion or extended review, each with its own gradations.

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