I'm really not King Jing of Zhongshan

Chapter 424 Checking for Leaks in the Examination

For Dou Ying, Liu Sheng did not express too much emotion.

The same is true even if this relative is the old general, the crown prince and the grand master, a relative of the Dou family, or even one of the best relatives of the Han family since the beginning of the Han Dynasty.

——The imperial edict, Liu Shengneng was roughly sure that it was left by the late emperor.

But alas: there is no backup.

Since there is no backup in Shiqu Pavilion and the Prime Minister's Mansion, it is undoubtedly a false edict.

Liu Sheng didn't know why his father Liu Qi did this.

I don't know that father Liu Qi wants to leave such a death edict for Dou Ying.

What Liu Sheng knows is: as long as he doesn't have that thought, Dou Ying's voice will never make a comeback...
·
"Your Majesty summoned his ministers to come, why?"

In the second year of the Emperor Shengxin Yuan, the first month of spring, Xuanshi Hall of Weiyang Palace.

It was an unremarkable day, but because of Liu Sheng's greeting, the ministers and ministers of the DPRK and China gathered here, adding a different atmosphere to this normal day.

--serious.

When so many high-ranking officials gather in such an informal occasion, the atmosphere will only develop in a more serious direction.

Because everyone knows: this gathering is likely to solve a very huge event, even big enough to change the progress of civilization...

"Examination."

Liu Sheng didn't go around much, but put the topic on the table as soon as everyone arrived.

And after Liu Sheng flung out this one body, the ministers and ministers who were present frowned and thought in the seats on both sides of the palace with various moods and expressions.

The prime minister, Tao Hou Liu She, was obviously not under any pressure. After thinking for a while, he roughly understood Liu Sheng's intentions.

——Last year's examination was held in the spring, after the Huns plundered and looted, and before the Battle of Mayi in the autumn.

Although nothing went wrong from the beginning to the end, it has to be mentioned that the limelight of this first exam in human history was undoubtedly robbed completely by the Battle of Mayi.

So much so that in Chang'an today, there are still people in the streets and alleys from time to time saying: Is there a fart for reading?

The wealth accumulated by several generations has gone through countless avenues and contacts, and finally a scholar was offered, who took part in the examination and passed through layers of screening, and finally came out as a small official with two hundred stones;

Look at the army again?
As long as you have the courage to cut off a few heads at will, it will be real money, grain and cloth, and you will be promoted to a noble.

And compared to "study and participate in high school examinations", it is obviously still "practice martial arts, join the army, cut generals and capture the flag". It is more face-saving to say that you will come, and it can bring you more social status.

And such a problem is undoubtedly unacceptable to Liu Sheng.

Liu She, the prime minister, had expressed doubts about this as early as when the examination was determined—the time for the first examination in Chinese history was determined to be in the interval between last spring and autumn.

Liu She told Liu Sheng: Arranging the examination at such a delicate time node, will the literati in the world feel that they are underestimated, and at the same time make the warriors feel that they have not received enough attention?
And Liu Sheng's answer is: those who restore the country, Wen Sheng will rule the officials cleanly, and Wu Qiang will ensure the people's livelihood and happiness, the two are indispensable;

If the military is strong but the culture is weak, it means that the military is aggressive, and if the culture is prosperous but the military is weak, it means that the people are strong and the country is weak.

To put it bluntly, even if the civil and military have two legs, Liu Sheng will not give up on that one, and he does not even want the Han family to be a poor regime with unbalanced civil and military.

Therefore, in the history of China, possibly even the first exam in human history, it was held in the first year of Liu Sheng's Xinyuan under Liu Sheng's insistence, and the result was finally obtained.

But now, the Battle of Mayi is over, and the Emperor Shengjiaguan is about to take office. Since the examination is brought up again, it is natural not to be idle and want to hear the opinions of the important ministers in the court on the last examination.

To be precise, Liu Sheng wanted everyone to learn lessons from the last exam, and use this as a basis to prepare for the next exam.

And the "next time" exam may mean that a few years later, it will become a common practice of the Han family...

"Prime Minister Tao Hou Chen Liu She, report to His Majesty."

"Examination is the great policy of the state to recruit talents, and it is the right way for the world's literati and officials to show their ambitions."

"The old minister believes that everything about the examination should be cautious, and try to be comprehensive so as not to cause complications."

"——Chen's father once told Chen that Emperor Taizu Gao had said this: The most troublesome things in the world are a woman who is pregnant with Liujia, and a brat who is still young, and the other is pretentious. Confucian scholars."

"Although the selection of scholars in the examination is not all selected among Confucian scholars, but in the eyes of the minister, there is not much difference..."

Hearing Liu She's half-serious, half-joking joke, Liu Sheng only nodded with a smile.

And the originally solemn and solemn atmosphere in the hall also relaxed with Liu She's well-timed joke.

There are many literary affairs?
maybe.

At least in this era—in this era when the six arts of a gentleman are ritual, music, archery, imperial, calligraphy, and mathematics, rather than piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and wine, the dividing line between literati and warriors is actually not so clear. obvious.

The vast majority of people in this era don't actually talk about their literati or warriors specifically.

The "literati" of this era often refer to those who have become officials with their literary talents, while the "warrior" refers to those who have become dignified because of their martial arts.

But no matter whether they are officials based on academic qualifications or meritorious service, most people will not leave behind the other side that they are not good at.

——After becoming a warrior, the first thing to do is to read characters, and then to enrich oneself by reading, lest one's own nobility is a flash in the pan, and future generations can only sit and eat on their own song credit books;
And after a literati becomes an official, he will also be obsessed with finding an opportunity to go to the army to practice, so as to complete the most important part of his resume: military experience, and at least some martial arts.

Mounting a horse can govern the army, dismounting can govern the people, and later generations are used to praise those great sages who are both civil and military, rare in a hundred years;

But in this era, it is indeed the norm for the vast majority of those in power, and the pursuit of every aspirant.

However, what Liu She said was not completely unreasonable.

Literati, at least those who still call themselves "literati" and want to pass the exam to enter the officialdom, most of them still don't have much life experience, only have a certain degree of literary literacy, and may not even have stable values ​​​​and world views young man, stupefied.

And if such a group wants such a group to contribute to the country, Liu Sheng, as the supreme ruler, naturally needs to take care of the emotions of this group as much as possible.

As the young people in the new era often say: I have studied hard for more than ten years. I may not make a lot of money, become a high-ranking official, or become a rich man, but at least I need the respect of the times.

"What the prime minister said is right."

"It's just the matter of examinations, not like the national policy, where you only need to give a general direction, and then you can hand over the rest to the county officials below."

"With regard to the examination, everything needs to be considered in a very specific and detailed way."

"Especially after one exam, it is even more necessary to check for omissions and fill in the gaps, so that the problems that occurred during the last exam will not happen again in the next exam."

With these words, Liu Sheng expressed his heart to everyone present: Examination is not Liu Sheng's whim, but a major policy that was launched after careful consideration.

Moreover, this great policy will inevitably become an important method for the Han family to recruit talents in the future visible to the naked eye-even if it is not the only method, it will definitely be the main method.

After Liu Sheng made such a statement, the other important ministers also began to describe their views on the examination to Liu Sheng based on their respective rights and responsibilities.

"In the past, our Han family's selection of scholars was still based on the examination and examination, supplemented by the examination and examination."

"It's just that the Chaju has too high requirements for the recommendees - the recommendees are required to be well-known in at least five surrounding counties, and to be recommended by officials of two thousand shi and above."

"Not to mention how difficult it is to do it, and how few people do it, just the recommendation of two thousand stones will make it even more difficult for the imperial court to recruit scholars..."

Compared with Liu She's overly macroscopic sentence "We must be cautious and take care of the emotions of scholars", Uncle Tian's question is undoubtedly more specific.

To put it bluntly, it is the recommendation system.

And it is different from the impressions of later generations: when a certain important minister went to chat with the emperor, he casually mentioned "someone is okay, I can train it", and the emperor appointed this person. The Han Dynasty is a very sound system.

As Uncle Tian said just now: The first step in the investigation is the reputation of the person recommended.

Theoretically, the "virtuous name is spread throughout the five surrounding counties", in fact, it is at least the county where the recommender's hometown is located, and most of the surrounding counties bordering on the county.

At this point, I don't know how many people will be wiped out.

——You must know that people in this era have not lit up the technology tree of "Yang Wang"!
If there is no chance and coincidence, let this person with great talent become famous all over the world, then he can only wait;

It wasn't until the accumulation of time that a certain old man with full hair became "renowned in the county and country", that he had completed the first step, or the prerequisite: fame.

Then, there is the crucial part of the investigation: the recommender.

According to the investigation system still implemented in the Han Dynasty, in addition to the requirement of "reputation in the county and country", the recommender must also meet the rigid requirement of "official position of two thousand shi and above".

In local counties and counties, two thousand stones is basically equivalent to waiting with the county guard.

But there is another problem here: when a local sheriff recommends a certain celebrity who is well-known in the county, what the celebrity does in the officialdom is directly related to the local sheriff who recommended this person .

And it's not a two-way correlation, it's a single negative correlation.

That is to say: all the good deeds and achievements of the recommendee have nothing to do with the recommender—if the reputation of "knowing people" is not counted.

But on the other hand, all the mistakes committed by the recommended person require the recommender to bear joint and several liabilities, even the main responsibility in some extreme cases!

At the same time, the label of "unidentified people" is not a trivial name, but a political stain related to the black hat.

In this way, the inspection system has been implemented for more than 60 years since the Han Dynasty, but it failed to bring [-] officials to the Han family, which is predictable.

——No need~
I have two thousand stones in a county and a country. If I have ambitions, I can work hard and be able to rise to a higher level. If I enter the court, I might be Jiuqing;
Even if I have no ambitions, I can still eat and wait to die in office. I just need to ensure the stability of the government, and then explain "governance by doing nothing", and I can retire with a position like Doctor Guanglu.

Why should I?

Why should I risk my entire political future, and even my entire family's future, for a meaningless reputation of "knowing people with eyes" for a "celebrity" I don't know?
Why should I bet that a so-called 'celebrity' whom I don't know anything but his name will bring me a meaningless reputation instead of a catastrophe of family ruin?

"The problem with the referral system is that it is very difficult for recommenders to meet the conditions, and most recommenders are afraid to recommend."

"But the advantages are also obvious: as long as they are recommended, they are at least capable of governing a county."

"—After all, recommending officials is a very risky thing for local magistrates and county magistrates, but there is no reward."

"If it is not with full certainty, the county will not easily recommend a person who may be deficient in any aspect."

···
"Compared to the examination system, the imperial examinations promoted by His Majesty are completely opposite."

"—Different from the "one-in-a-million" examination system, you have to rely on luck to get a recommendation: the examination system allows every literati who is interested in this and has a strategy in mind, to have the opportunity to become an official with literary talent .”

"But correspondingly, the officials selected through the examination are naturally not as good as those selected through the examination."

"The most important thing is virtue..."

While Liu Sheng was thinking about it, Uncle Tian finally poured out his true views on the exam.

After a while, the hall, which was originally relaxed and relaxed, was filled with a slightly noisy conversation.

——Last year's exam ended, less than half a year had passed.

The first batch of scholars from Dahan who came out of the examinations have already integrated into their own working environment and started to move towards their respective goals.

It's just that in this process, many problems have arisen, and there have been many discordant voices in public opinion...
"In the past six months, how many officials did Ting Wei take from the examinations?"

After letting everyone chat for a long time, Liu Sheng finally asked a question calmly, and threw the question to Ting Wei Zhao Yu.

And when Zhao Yu hesitated to speak and highlighted a number, the entire hall of Xuanshi could hear a quiet needle drop...

"Report to His Majesty."

"The specific number of people, I have not calculated in detail, I only dare to tell His Majesty a rough number."

"—Sixty percent."

"Last year's self-examination, appointed by His Majesty as officials of Guanzhong County and Chang'an Yousi, at least [-]% of them, their names appear in the case book in front of the minister..."

(End of this chapter)