Will ancient officials be impersonated on their way to office? Speaking of this question, I think of the story in the film and television work Let the Bullets Fly directed by Jiang Wen. Master Tang, played by Ge You, was hijacked by bandits on his way to the county magistrate. Finally, the bandits pretended to be the county magistrate and took office in Goose City. Finally, this is a good combination. According to Master Tang, he still has many letters of appointment, all of which were made by him without being discovered. But in fact, did this really happen in ancient times? There may be exceptions, but this kind of impersonation will never last long. Basically, it will be exposed soon. And the fate of the impostor will be extremely tragic.

First of all, let's take a look at the ancient official selection system. Before the Ming dynasty, there were very few literati who were officials and made their mark. The vast majority of officials are well-off people with prominent family backgrounds. And these people are basically in the same circle. Everyone knows or is related. Or small groups or money transactions. Especially in the Han, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, most officials at that time were promoted by other officials. Either one's own family arranges his own family to be superior, or one's own people take refuge in the superior to be an official. To put it bluntly, all officials know each other. Even if you don't know each other, you can know each other through other people's relationships. To put it bluntly, it is a person in a circle. Outsiders want to replace others into the officialdom circle, which is simply daydreaming.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, although officials have been promoted and made rich less, scholars from poor families have been promoted and made rich through the imperial examination. But basically everyone who is an official is either a classmate or the same year. Or a talent selected by the same teacher. Everyone knows each other. Moreover, officials who came out of the Imperial Examination will enter imperial academy at the beginning. This will naturally make everyone more familiar. Even if you don't know each other, you will look familiar. Even if he is not from the imperial examination, he is a Guo Jian Zi or an official donor. The relationship between them is still complicated. How can cronies not know each other?

In addition to being escorted by entourage, ancient officials also took the official road. What is the official road? As the name implies, it is the road built by the government. For government officials to walk and transport money and materials, the main reason for building official roads is to facilitate the smooth travel of foreign officials, which is relatively safer. Generally speaking, bandits and robbers dare not kill or rob people on the official road unless they are in troubled times. Not to mention a murdered official. Ordinary people die, maybe the government turns a blind eye. But if an official is killed, the government will definitely investigate it to the end. So bandits and thieves dare not murder officials.

Finally, the appointment procedure of ancient officials is very complicated. You need not only a book, but also all kinds of customs clearance documents, official seals, official uniforms and a lot of credentials. How else can you prove your identity? The most important thing is that anyone who can become a Shangguan can't be poor in academic qualifications. Everyone was exposed when chatting with each other. A learned man can't be a robber. Wouldn't it smell good to be famous? But if an illiterate impersonates an official, he will be caught immediately. Therefore, it is basically impossible for an ancient impostor to take office.