I'm really not King Jing of Zhongshan

Chapter 425 Reforming the Censor
Sixty percent.

This is a very shocking ratio.

What do you mean?
——This is like half a year after the first public service ape exam in the new era of later generations, [-]% of those who passed were sent to jail.

This proportion, let alone in the new era of later generations, even in the current Han family where bribery is common, is equally astonishing.

[-]% in half a year, what about one year or two years?

I'm afraid it won't be long before all the officials selected by Liu Sheng through the examinations will go to accompany his brother on the sewing machine.

More importantly: these idiots who are in prison not only have the identity of "examination background", but also have the group identity of "the first batch of beneficiaries of the examination".

Regarding the emerging thing of examinations, Chang'an Chaotang's attitude has always been to wait and see.

Because the nobles don't know whether this new official selection system is cutting off the future of their own family, or opening the back door for the heroes including themselves.

Hundreds of officials and ministers also don't know about the exam—it doesn't need to be recommended by someone like the inspector, and it needs strict scrutiny, but it only needs to sign up to take part and pass the written test to enter high school. Is it a good exam? thing.

Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the first batch of officials who passed the examination and became an official were almost the natural spokespersons, or even the only spokespersons, of the examination system.

The status of this group can almost be directly linked to the future of the imperial examination system.

——How many national scholars were selected in the first examination, that's not to say, Liu Sheng will hold an imperial examination every year in the future, and no one will babble any more.

After all, the exam is effective, and several national scholars have been selected.

If the first batch of officials who were born in the examinations were mediocre, the court would most likely sell Liu Sheng's face, pretending to be innocent and pretending that there was no such thing as examinations.

In this way, when Liu Sheng mentions the imperial examination in the future, he will always have to weigh his own face, whether he is thick enough to recruit another batch of wine bags and rice bags to become officials, and then eat white rice and receive white salary in Yousi Yamen.

But the current situation is undoubtedly extremely bad.

In the first batch of officials with a background in examinations, more than half of them were imprisoned for crimes within just half a year of their entry into office.

Moreover, Liu Sheng is basically certain: nine out of ten of these people who are in prison are because of taking bribes.

As early as last year, after the examinations were over, when the candidates were assigned to Guanzhong counties and counties, and Chang'an Jiuqing had a subordinate office, Liu Sheng had actually made an account in secret: as long as it is not a principled mistake, these individuals will be punished. Lengtouqing should be more patient and tolerant.

Although there is no explicit statement that 'if these idiots make money, they should turn a blind eye and close their eyes', but in this era of rampant bribery, if the emperor ordered a certain group to be treated preferentially, it is basically equivalent to tacitly acquiescing that this group is using the public to seek personal gain. .

This was also the reason why Liu Shengsu had such a headache, and was even a little puzzled.

——Liu Sheng, you have already said hello!
In order to preserve his own political achievements, make a good start for the imperial examination system, and pass it on in a long and steady stream, Liu Sheng has lowered his principles and standards for officials to the first batch of officials who were admitted to office. .

In the end, it has been reduced to the point where its existence can be tolerated as long as it is not a criminal or too obvious a dead body.

Well, the problem is coming.

Liu Sheng said the greetings that should be said here, and tolerated this group of stunned youths inside and outside the court, but those who could still hold their breath, treated this group with tolerance and patience.

But even so, this group still lost more than [-]% of its 'troop strength' in just half a year.

what does this mean?
It means that Zhao Yu can't bear to see this group of people making money. Even if Liu Sheng said hello to give preferential treatment to this group of stunned youths, he still can't stand it. He can only take the risk of violating Liu Sheng's explanation and punishing them The degree of help stunned.

But Liu Sheng couldn't figure it out: why did he just become an official, and he hadn't even put on his black gauze hat yet, so he started making such big money regardless of his appearance?
Even if it takes three or two years, or even half a year?

"Ugh······"

"A group of unlucky things..."

Thinking of this, Liu Sheng let out a long lament full of sorrow, and immediately fell on the person who spoke: Uncle Tian.

Regarding the bribery of officials, Liu Sheng intends to do something, but it is difficult to achieve results in a short period of time.

But even so, Liu Sheng still has to learn to do something slowly from now on...

"Mr. Ziqing is the elder of the country."

"Is there any good strategy for this matter?"

Unceremoniously lowering his head, rubbing the soft beard below his lower lip with his index finger, Liu Sheng looked at Uncle Tian, ​​but his thoughts quietly flew to nowhere.

In fact, what Uncle Tian said and what Liu Sheng thought were basically the same thing.

It's just because of the incompatibility of identities and positions, and Liu Sheng's unique long-term vision that travels through the crowd, which made the two people's expressions and thinking methods a little surprised.

——In Uncle Tian's opinion, this matter is simply a fault of the exam!

It is the bad system of the examination, which only looks at the grades, but does not check the morality, and does not need the recommendation of people with sufficient status, which has led to the current situation.

It's like looking for a moral role model in a prison: it's not bad luck to find it, but really the wrong place to find it.

So in Uncle Tian's view, the solution to this problem is actually the further "improvement" of the imperial examination system.

For example, scholars who have passed the literary examination still need to meet a certain degree of "reputation" requirements, just like the imperial examinations, before they can be appointed as officials.

The requirements can be lowered, from the five surrounding counties to the local county, or even the surrounding counties, but there must be no rigid requirements in this regard.

Secondly, even the scholars who passed the examination still need to be guaranteed by officials just like the officials who came from the examination.

The requirements for this can also be lowered: more than a thousand stones is enough, but it is still the same sentence-the requirements can be lowered, but there cannot be no requirements.

Liu Sheng couldn't listen to any of these suggestions from Uncle Tian.

The "reputation" requirement for scholars in the imperial examination will obviously allow a skill that did not exist in this era to be mastered by the literati and bureaucrats hundreds of years in advance.

——Raising hope.

To put it bluntly, it is to deliberately maintain one's own reputation and image, and use it as the fundamental basis for promotion and fortune.

Perhaps in the eyes of future generations, this is not a bad thing.

Is it not a good thing for the common people that the literati create a "good gentleman" persona for the sake of being an official, and cherish their own feathers and reputation?
With the skill of raising hope, wouldn't the place be more stable? When the rich and powerful take advantage of the common people, they should always have a little scruples about the impact.

It's really not.

It is simply wishful thinking to expect this group of people to be "influenced by scruples".

Take a very simple example.

You are a son of a noble family who lived during the reign of Tian Zisheng. Although your father did not have a noble title or status, after decades of peace and prosperity under the Wenjing rule, your family has saved a lot of money.

Among the children in the family, you are the relatively outstanding one, so your father spent a lot of money to find a lot of books, and even traveled a long distance to hire a gentleman for you, wanting you to join the literati group and change your life. The status quo of the family nouveau riche.

At the beginning, you didn't take this matter too seriously - anyway, the family has plenty of money, even if you are just waiting to die, the money in the family is enough for three generations of your children and grandchildren to live comfortably.

Only slowly, your thoughts will begin to change.

Because you found that the poor boys in the village no longer revolve around you like in the past, but gather together all day long to shake their heads and read books;
What's even more irritating is that the poor boy from the neighbor's family was appointed as the head of the county government just because he took part in an exam for Lao Shizi. Although the position is only [-] shi, it is much better than your family who is a land rich man. .

You used to sneer at this family, but now you can only nod and bow and follow behind them, which made your father a little unhappy. So, after having a banquet with the master one day, he subconsciously muttered: If only my family could As an official, how can I make such a...
In the middle of the sentence, the old man realized that he had said something wrong, subconsciously cast a glance at you, and then forced a smile and said: It’s okay, I didn’t say that you didn’t read well, but I just wanted to have an official person in the family... ····

At this time, you finally have some insights: reading may not be to learn some great principles of life, but just to take the exam, and then become a family that can protect you—at least let the old man straighten his back, don’t need The official who nodded and bowed when he saw the official robe.

You have started to work hard, day and night, and your red sleeves add to the fragrance. Although it is not as hard as the children of poor families, compared to your extravagant teenage years, you have suffered a lot.

Finally, you took the exam. Although your grades were not very good, you barely passed the exam.

You only need to go through the next procedure, and you can become an official of [-] shi, and then use the family money to move around, and there is a high probability that you can be transferred to your hometown—at least to the county where your hometown is located.

But at this time, the court issued a new order: Even if the imperial examination is passed, it still needs reputation and high-ranking official recommendation just like the imperial examination.

You are dumbfounded.

You are a family of upstart merchants. It is not bad if you can not be poked in the back in the village. How can you have a good reputation?

Just the crime of being a "rich businessman" has permanently insulated you as a big family from the three words of good reputation.

As for the recommendation of officials, let's not mention it - people who are not from business, but have real talents and real learning. Some people can't think about it and recommend a merchant's son?
You understood this, and sadly returned to your hometown from Chang'an.

After more than ten or twenty years, the old man finally couldn't bear the huge pressure and collapsed.

Although you failed to pass the examination to become an official, you at least passed the literary examination, and you also went to Chang'an, where you exchanged one with countless young heroes, and established a certain degree of friendship.

With this knowledge, vision and contacts, you will make the family business better and better and richer;
But there is one thing that you can't change anyway.

——Even if the family property has been turned over dozens of times, you still have to be like your father, nodding and bowing behind a sesame official who is a hundred or two hundred shi.

This makes you very helpless and very unhappy.

Finally, after being ridiculed as a "merchant and lowly household" by a certain petty official, you, whose self-esteem was greatly impacted, decided to do something for the future of the family.

Imperial Examination?

Well, all the nephews in your family have to sit in front of the desk from the age of three to prepare for taking the imperial examination in the future.

reputation?

No problem - send some rice and cloth to the folks in the village for show during the holidays, and raise a group of thugs to be a gentle and gentle gentleman.

Someone speak ill of you?

beat!
Some people say that your home is not a thing?
kill!

Rather than serving good food and drink to those farmers who look down on people, you are more inclined to do it once and for all-you want them to be afraid of you, dare not say that you are not good, and dare not say that your family is not right at all.

As a result, your family's reputation has become better and better, and people from all over the world are praising you—if you don't count your thousands of servants who are like wolves and tigers, patrolling the countryside all the time.

With such a big commotion, it is of course impossible for you not to move around the official relationship - you let your eldest son marry the concubine of a certain Xiao Xiami in the county guard's mansion, and use this to get in touch with her.

What you are looking for is not this relationship, but through this relationship, you and the county government have a line.

After a simple test, you let the entire county government fall.

Tens of millions of "contributions" every year, the county guard gets [-]%, more than a thousand stones share [-]%, and less than a thousand stones share [-]%;

The remaining [-]%, from the county government to the local county government, everyone has a share, and it is impossible not to take it.

Since then, your family has become the most prestigious, most well-connected, richest and most promising wealthy family in the county.

The people fear you, but they also fear you;
Officials despise you, but also close to you.

It wasn't until you were in the prime of life that one of your nephews and nephews finally came out, passed a series of examination procedures, and became an official of two hundred shi.

After a series of operations by you, your Qilin'er has been promoted step by step, and has reached the level of more than a thousand stones, or even two thousand stones.

Then, you start waiting.

When there is a suitable opportunity, let this unicorn sit on the post of sheriff in your hometown, and the surname of this county will no longer be Liu...
"I do think that corruption among officials is not limited to officials with a background in examinations."

"Since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, bribery in the officialdom of the Han family has become a common practice, especially when the two generations of benevolent monarchs of the scriptures and the Jing Dynasty are in power, it has become more and more serious."

"To change this situation, it is not only necessary to make changes to the imperial examination."

"——Supervising all the officials is the responsibility of the imperial censor, but in the past few years, the responsibility of the imperial censor to supervise all the officials has almost been completely abandoned."

"Regarding this point, I want you to have a good discussion and come up with a charter."

"Doctor Yushi, you can continue to be the Prime Minister."

"But at least the censor Zhongcheng can no longer continue to be a 'collective censor' who is only in charge of official background investigations in name of a supervisor..."

(End of this chapter)