Dahan first prince

Chapter 353
"Examination?"

The next morning, Changle Palace, the main hall of Changxin Hall.

Hearing that Liu Ying said this word that had never appeared in China, Prime Minister Cao Shen, the Imperial Tomb of Internal History, and even the faces of the Empress Dowager Lu Pheasant all showed a look of bewilderment.

After Wang Ling asked in surprise, and looked at Cao Shen next to him for a moment, Wang Ling stood up first and bowed to Liu Ying.

"Dare to ask Your Majesty to speak carefully."

"——How can I pass this exam, and who recommends it?"

"What should be entrusted to the people who have been promoted?"

Asking these questions with a serious expression, Wang Ling looked at Liu Ying with a carefree look!
For future generations, examinations and imperial examinations may not be considered unfamiliar topics, and their superiority is also very significant;

But for today's Han Dynasty, a new way of selecting talents is related to the stability of the entire court, and even the entire world, and the ancestral temple!

Hearing the caution in Wang Ling's tone, Liu Ying was not in a hurry. She stood up and cupped her hands to her mother Lu Zhi, who was beside her, then turned around and looked at Cao Shen and Wang Ling who were under the imperial steps.

"In the past, the imperial edicts were only forced by the Queen Mother and the Son of Heaven, so that the local counties could raise their fields, be filial, honest, upright, and honor the local counties and counties, so that they could be used by the court."

"However, looking at the books collected in Shiqu Pavilion, I know that from the first year of Emperor Taizu Gao to the present, for every 14-year-old, the strength, filial piety, virtuous and square that my Han family has promoted cannot be more than a hundred people."

"What's more, there are more than seventy people in Litian alone, more than ten people who are filial and honest, and have a good reputation in the world. They are respected by local counties and counties as virtuous and upright. No one can be promoted as a scholar..."

Putting this string of data on the table in a gentle tone, Liu Ying sighed a little, looked at Wang Ling with a bitter expression, and there was a hint of self-deprecating and joking in her tone.

"Emperor Taizu Gao was a soldier and horse all his life. His literary and martial arts are the best in history. He has been in the ninth and fifth ranks for twelve years, and he has only a few dozen in strength and a few dozen in filial piety."

"If you don't find another way to elevate scholars, I'm afraid it will be another [-] years, and the princes in the court will still be admonishing them every year, begging me to transfer capable officials and officials to serve the court."

Having said that, Liu Ying slightly raised her hands, smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"Guochao, the shortage of bitter men..."

Hearing Liu Ying's words, even though the number of officials hired by the Chang'an court through various channels in the past ten years is not direct, Cao Can and Wang Ling can't help but nodded slowly, which is considered to agree with Liu Ying's statement.

——In the past ten years, no one may care about how many talents the Han family has obtained through the "inspection system";
But as long as this matter is talked about, I am afraid that everyone will shake their heads, sigh and bow their heads, and give a conclusion of "nearly nothing".

It must be mentioned that, as a unified regime in the early stage of feudal civilization, the talent selection system of the Han Dynasty was not as rich or as large as later generations.

Just as Liu Ying said just now, the current system of selecting talents in the Han Dynasty is actually only two kinds of inspections and officials.

To pay for an official is actually to legally spend money to buy an official, and by paying money, you can get a chance to be a servant in the palace;

Although this method can obtain a large enough talent supplement, the quality of talents is uneven, and few people can grow into the pillars of the court.

In history, Liu Hanshe Jifan has been in existence for more than 150 years, and the system of beneficiary officials has been implemented for more than [-] years. Those who can go from "Langguan" to Jiuqing or above are Yuan An and Zhang Buyi in the Wen Dynasty, and the Jing Dynasty. There is no doubt about the three of them.

And the investigation is what Liu Ying called "Li Tian, ​​Xiao Lian, Virtuous Founder";
That is: those who are set as role models by the county because of their good farming, those who are praised by the surrounding counties because of their filial piety, and the three types of people who are knowledgeable enough to enter the center and become ministers of various countries.

Of these three, Litian and Xiaolian are a little simpler;

——Those who are promoted to Litian will have a high probability of being included in the Shaofu, starting as a "farm officer" with a rank of four hundred stones, and then sent to the local counties of Guanzhong to guide the local people to farm as officials;

Filial piety is even simpler. Just relying on the reputation of "filial piety spreading throughout the surrounding counties and counties", you can be included in the Shaofu. After simple training, you can directly become a deputy in a county-level unit, or even a The top leaders of some small counties, that is, county magistrates.

As for the simplicity of the two, it does not mean that it is easy to become such a person, but that the court center does not need to make too complicated a screening for such a person.

After all, no matter what, in this era where short-distance communication relies on shouting and long-distance communication relies on letters, it is impossible for Chinese people who have not even pointed out the skill of "raising hope" to deliberately create someone who is "very filial" or "very filial". 'Very good at farming' reputation.

In this era, anyone who is regarded as a "power field" must be a capable person who can grow the output of the upper field in the lower field and the output of the upper field in the upper field, and can always influence and teach people around him.

As for Xiaolian, his character must be perfect and impeccable. Just mentioning his name is enough to make people from thousands of miles around give a thumbs up and praise him as 'this person can get along, he is a filial son'.

After understanding this point, and looking at the past ten years, it is not surprising that there were only more than 70 Litians and a dozen Xiaolians in the entire Han Dynasty.

And when the requirements of Litian and Xiaolian are so strict, the group of "virtuous and upright" is even more rare to meet, and even if they meet, they may not be willing to be an official.

The so-called virtuous founder, as the name suggests, refers to the two talents of "virtuous" and "Founder".

The "virtuous" refers to those who have the qualities of a "sage" and have good abilities;
As for 'Fangzheng', it is a person with a good character and excellent virtues who are famous all over the world.

According to the records of "Historical Records Xiaowen Ji", the requirements of the court of the Han Dynasty for the virtuous and upright are "those who are outspoken and extremely admonishing, so as to correct my incompetence".

Just these two requirements of bluntly saying "extremely" admonishment and "kuang" the emperor's incompetence almost pointed out the essence of the group of "virtuous and upright".

——Guo Shi!
——A talent for governing the country who can see the shortcomings of the national system at a glance and speak out the solution!
Such a person, as long as he can be included in the court system, he must be the deputy of the real power Jiuqing Yamen such as Neishi and Tingwei, and he must be trained according to the direction of the quasi-sangong!
And the officials appointed through this channel, if anyone is picked out at random, must be a prehistoric giant who is well-known in history and will make the future generations like thunder.

——In the first year of Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty, Jia Yi, the virtuous founder, was hired as a doctor and moved to Taizhong doctor!
——In the fourth year of Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty, Fang Zhengchao Cuo, a virtuous and good man, was appointed as the Taichang anecdote, and he was also the prince sheren and the family doctor!

——In the first year of Jianyuan, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, Sun Hong, the virtuous founder, was hired as a doctor!

As a representative figure of the "virtuous and upright" group, Jia Yijia Changsha's name is naturally famous in history;

Chao Cuo, a doctor in "Shangshu", as a teacher of Emperor Jing, ranked among the three princes from the official of Emperor Jing to the doctor of the royal family, and promoted the "Strategy of Cutting Fans" by himself, piercing the cancer of "clan princes" in one fell swoop , directly triggered the only major political event in Emperor Jing's dynasty: the rebellion of the seven kingdoms of Wu and Chu.

As for the swineherd Prime Minister Gongsun Hong, he started studying at the age of 40 and was recruited as a scholar at the age of 60. He became the only Han Prime Minister who held real power in the reign of Emperor Wu Liu Che!

From these people who enjoy a very high reputation even if you look at the history, it is not difficult to see what the group of "virtuous and upright" means to the feudal regime.

——It is the same as in the Three Kingdoms period in later generations, "Crouching dragon and phoenix chicks, one can secure the world": in the Han Dynasty, as long as one person who can be recruited as a virtuous and upright person appears, he can keep the world safe for 30 years; One is enough to promote an unprecedented peace and prosperity!

And this is also the reason why in the past ten years, since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, there has never been a single person who has been enlisted by the Han Dynasty as a "virtuous and righteous founder".

The selection criteria for the virtuous and upright are really too harsh...
It is so harsh that as long as you are selected, you can basically be trained as a 'quasi-sangong' or even a 'quasi-prime minister'!

Give a very specific and straightforward example.

——Four years ago, Liu Ying, who was not yet a prince, was shaken;

In order to protect Liu Ying's position, Empress Dowager Lu Zhi asked Liuhou Zhang Liang to go there in person, and invited four old men from Shangshan, who are often called "Shangshan Sihao".

And these four old men were recruited by the former emperor Liu Bang as "virtuous founders", who could be appointed as doctors at the level of two thousand stones by nodding, and were defaulted as candidates for Jiuqing, but in the end they politely refused to be recruited.

In the past few decades, after experiencing the melee at the end of Qin Dynasty, those who are qualified to be "virtuous and upright" either became the mainstay of the Han Dynasty long ago, or died in the war at the end of Qin Dynasty.

Even the talented people who survived by luck and were not included in the Han Dynasty system mostly hid in the deep mountains and old forests and lived a leisurely life of "reclusive life".

Even taking a step back, even those who did not die in the flames of war, were not incorporated into the Han Dynasty system, and did not hide in deep mountains and old forests as "hermits", they may not necessarily agree to the Han Dynasty's conquest.

The king chooses the minister, and the minister also chooses the king~
For the "virtuous and upright" group, the Central Committee of the Han Dynasty not only has to arrange a chariot and four horses to invite them, and prepares for official positions of more than two thousand shi, but also be ready to be rejected at any time, and after being rejected, still respectfully send them back. Prepare.

Throughout history, there are countless people like this.

——In the reign of Taizu Liu Bang, it was Shangshan Sihao;
The Liu Ying dynasty in history was Xunzi's disciple Fu Qiubo and his disciple Lu Shengong;

In the reign of Emperor Wen, it was Fusheng in Jinan.

Combining all these, it is not difficult to understand why the Han Dynasty is facing such a serious "talent shortage".

If you describe it in detail, the reason is extremely complicated, but if you summarize it, it will be just three sentences.

——The number of talents available to officials is sufficient, but the quality levels are uneven, and the overall quality is not high;

Litian and Xiaolian, one is too professional and lacks comprehensive ability, the other is only about reputation, regardless of ability;
As for the last "virtuous founder", it is like the legendary red card in the management games of later generations.
In addition, there is another point, which is a major limitation of the Han Dynasty's investigation system.

——Inspecting and prosecuting requires someone to 'inspect' and someone to 'raise'~
Litian and Xiaolian are better. As long as the candidate is famous enough, he can be recommended by a county magistrate with more than six hundred stones, or an official with a thousand stones or more in a county-level unit;

However, talents at the level of "Xianliang Fangzheng" at the national scholar level must at least be recommended by the county magistrate where the candidate is located, and officials of the Jiuqing level sent by the court will be reviewed. One person, as well as the Prime Minister himself, these three people jointly recommended!
And after the recommendation, whether it is Li Tian, ​​Xiao Lian, or the virtuous Founder, as long as there is any problem with the official, or even just an unavoidable mistake in the specific process of governing, every recommender will be implicated , including recommending virtuous and upright local sheriffs, court officials, and the prime minister himself.

This has also led to the "recommendation" model, local counties, especially senior officials in the court, will always follow the principle of "preferring to do nothing, and not making mistakes", and would rather be punished for "disobeying orders" , and never recommend;
——There is no reward for recommending talents, and you will be punished if you have problems with talents, and you will even be labeled as "unknown".

In this context, the word "examination" from Liu Ying's mouth naturally made Cao Can and Wang Ling see some scenes they had never seen before.

Of course, after all, the ruling school of the Han Dynasty is still the Huang Lao school of "seeking stability in everything";

For the new thing of "examination", whether it is Cao Shen or Wang Ling, they immediately put on instinctive guard and scrutiny.

But the emperor Liu Ying didn't seem to care about the worries in the hearts of the two of them...

"This matter was made by the order of the Shaofu Shanglinyuan, and it was played by 'Shanglinyuan's irreplaceable official', so I thought about it."

"And now the Shaofu has no officials to adjust, and the court has been suffering from the lack of capable officials for a long time. In desperation, I have come up with this terrible strategy..."

Without any hesitation, Liu Ying classified the examination as a 'bad policy' first, then sat up a little more straight, and calmly looked at Wang Ling who asked the question.

"Examinations, as the name suggests, are based on the talent of writing and ink, and the ability to do math, and they are tested to test their ability;"

"And those who are to be promoted should be able to read and break characters, have a basic understanding of arithmetic, and have a good conduct and a stalwart appearance;"

"Anyone who meets the above requirements does not need to be recommended by officials, but will be appointed as a young official with two hundred stones in Shanglin."

After briefly summarizing the "examination" system, Liu Ying suddenly stopped talking, and immediately looked at Cao Can and Wang Ling expectantly.

Behind Liu Ying, the Empress Dowager Lu Zhi, who had never spoken, had a look of deep thought on her brows when she heard the words.

"Literate and hyphenated, beginners in arithmetic, well-behaved, and majestic in appearance..."

"No need to recommend, just use it as a young official of two hundred stones..."

Whispering full of doubts, Cao Can and Wang Ling looked at each other again. In the end, it was still Wang Ling who was born in Wang Lingzhan, and bowed to Liu Ying full of hesitation.

"That's it, sir, I'll ask Your Majesty again."

"——This exam is for Nashi to be used by Shanglin. How much is Nashi?"

"Moreover: it's the examination, where should the candidates be, and for whom?"

"What is qualified? What is unqualified?"

(End of this chapter)