Chinese New Year

Chapter 1386 Divination of Officials
After inspecting the market, Shao Xun spent the entire month of April resting and recuperating in the palace. Apart from practicing martial arts, he occasionally dealt with a few unresolved matters sent by the Council of State Affairs.

The newly established Council of State Affairs is still in the process of adjustment.

Among the three chief ministers, Liu Runzhong was jokingly called "the nodding chief minister" because it was a sarcastic reference to his lack of background, ability, and prestige, and his constant echoing of Fan Yi and Yang Man.

When facing Yang Man, Fan Yi also seemed somewhat vulnerable, but unlike Liu Runzhong, he lacked confidence.

Overall, Yang Man had a slight advantage among the three, but she was also constrained by Fan Yi. Many things had to be discussed and decided together, and she could no longer act arbitrarily as she had during Wang Yan's era.

Shao Xun adopted a wait-and-see attitude, remaining in a relatively detached arbitrator's position.

By the end of April, my father had become increasingly confused, to the point that he no longer recognized himself.

Given this situation, Shao Xun began to make some preparations in advance.

On the last day of April, he summoned Ji Yu, the Imperial Censor, and Sima Wenyi, the Chief of the Finance Department of Bianliang, to Lichun Terrace.

"Is Ji Qing still studying?" Shao Xun asked.

"I read it in my spare time," Ji Yu replied.

"After becoming a Censor, you won't have as much free time, will you?"

"After returning home from my official duties, I never put down my book."

Shao Xun was both impressed and speechless.

This system, which arose during the Cao Wei period, is not the same as the imperial examination system because it allowed for in-service examinations and had a relatively low starting point. Initially, you didn't need to have a complete grasp of the Four Books and Five Classics; you only needed to be proficient in two of them to become an official, albeit a low-ranking ninth-grade official.

You might say it wasn't the imperial examination system, but it was somewhat similar, because students at the Imperial Academy and the National Academy took an exam every two years, and those who passed might be appointed to official positions.

Actually, none of that is the problem. The problem is that Ji Yu is too fierce!

Born in Liangzhou, Ji Yu was known as a child prodigy from a young age and was betrothed to Zhang Jun as his son-in-law in advance. After returning to the country from Liangzhou, Ji Yu entered the Imperial Academy at the age of eleven and became a disciple of the Imperial Academy by the age of thirteen, having mastered one classic text—at that time, he had probably already mastered more than one classic text.

At the age of fifteen, he passed the examination of two classics and became a Doctor of Gaodu County. At the age of seventeen, he passed the examination of three classics and became the Assistant Minister of the Left. Last year, at the age of nineteen, he passed the examination of four classics. At that time, Shao Xun was on his eastern tour and personally selected him as a sixth-rank Imperial Censor.

If I pass the Five Classics exam next year, won't I be given a fifth-rank official position? That's a passing grade.

When this system was first designed, it didn't actually take geniuses into consideration. Even though it was during the reign of Emperor Wen of Wei and the country was relatively stable, the scholars' grasp of the classics was not as good as that of later dynasties.

For someone who studied diligently for years during the Ming and Qing dynasties to come here to take the exam is almost like a game-changer.

Shao Xun had a lot of contact with scholars and knew that they were definitely well-read and had a considerable grasp of the classics, but they couldn't possibly devote all their time to books like scholars in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

They needed to socialize, debate, farm, hunt, travel, and be familiar with estate management. They were often distracted by miscellaneous studies—discussing poetry, music, calligraphy, painting, yin and yang, astronomy, geography, and even medicine, commerce, and military affairs were important aspects of the scholars' social interactions.

Where is there so much time to read the classics of sages? That's why there are so many mistakes when taking exams.

But this Ji Yu is really too fierce. He doesn't travel around much, nor does he have a manor to manage, but he has actually learned a lot of miscellaneous knowledge. He once debated with someone about ancient musical pieces, speaking eloquently and leaving the person speechless.

When the students of the Imperial Academy went hunting in the Western Garden of Luoyang, riding horses and shooting arrows, this fellow was present at every single one of them.

While serving as a doctor in Gaodu County and mentoring students, he would occasionally have the best students lead the readings, and he would go hunting in the mountains with the Hu people he had met there.

Despite "wasting" his studies like this, he still managed to get such good grades!
What can I say? People are different?

Fortunately, the trial of mastering the Five Classics was the end of the process; otherwise, it would have been a real headache. This system still has a lot of room for improvement, and the benefits have all been taken by the earlier batches.

"Will you take the imperial examination next year?" Shao Xun asked.

“Of course, one must be able to pass the Five Classics test,” Ji Yu replied.

Sima Wenyi, the Bianliang Revenue Commandant standing to the side, couldn't help but glance at him, his face full of admiration.

He entered the Imperial Academy in Bianliang, albeit halfway through his studies. He has now passed the three classics examination and is eligible to be appointed as a civil or military official of the eighth rank.

This enrollment spot was obtained by his father after he quelled a rebellion in Qin Prefecture and made military achievements. Wen Yi is the illegitimate son of Wen Qiao, nineteen years old this year, and his mother is from the Bi family of Henan.

For him, passing three classics was already a remarkable achievement. He had no confidence in passing four classics next year, because he was so busy with troop transport affairs that he was constantly on the go. After his shifts or on holidays, he had various entertainment and social activities, so he simply didn't have time to prepare.

He believed Ji Yu was just as busy, but this person could still squeeze out time to review the classics and was even confident of passing the Five Classics—truly a beast.

But it doesn't matter, he and Ji Yu are not on the same path.

"Will you take the imperial examination next year, Wen Qing?" Shao Xun stopped asking Ji Yu and turned to look at Wen Yi.

"Your Majesty, I will take the imperial examination." Whether I pass or not is one thing, but I still have to take the exam. The most important thing is not to let His Majesty look down on me.

"Excellent," Shao Xun said. "I await good news."

Wen Yi's heart tightened; it was all over.

His Majesty's words might mean he'll have to look at his exam paper later. If there are too many mistakes, it'll look terrible. Oh well, I'd better review my lessons properly.

"The Imperial Academy and the National Academy hold examinations every two years to select talented individuals for the country. The number ranges from twenty to thirty, and sometimes as many as sixty or seventy, which is not to be underestimated," Shao Xun said. "You can gather together regularly to share your experiences. Those who pass the exam in the same year will naturally form a bond; you can interact more and become like-minded individuals. Do you understand?"

"Yes," the two replied in unison.

Now I finally understand the purpose of summoning them today. It turns out they want them to win over officials from the Imperial Academy and the National Academy, to build close relationships with each other. Once this becomes a regular practice, perhaps in the future, when they talk about officials, they will no longer judge them solely by their region or family background, because they will have another label attached to them: Imperial Academy and National Academy.

Ji Yu was quite clever. Following this line of thought, he quickly grasped the emperor's methods. He wanted to gradually change the channels for selecting officials, namely, increasing the number of officials from military merit, martial arts academies, the Imperial Academy, and the National Academy. Martial arts students who wanted to leave the Imperial Guard system and enter the court or serve as officials in local areas also had to take the imperial examinations at the National Academy, so it was essentially part of the same system.

As more officials were appointed, fewer officials were appointed by the sons of aristocratic families.

The emperor didn't care at all whether aristocratic sons entered the Imperial Academy or the National Academy, or joined the army and made meritorious contributions; he even welcomed scholars to do so. He only cared about establishing rules and stable regulations for the future.

Ji Yu left quickly, but Wen Yi was left behind.

Shao Xun stood beside him, looked him up and down for a while, and finally snorted coldly.

Wen Yi was so frightened that his legs almost went weak, but he gritted his teeth and held on.

"He has a pretty boy face, even more handsome than Wen Taizhen back in the day," Shao Xun said with mixed feelings. "How do you know my daughter?"

"When Your Majesty went on your eastern tour, I was in Fangtou transporting supplies. I followed the Baigou River eastward to Pingyuan, where I had a brief encounter with the princess," Wen Yi said.

“That’s not the truth. I must have seen it before,” Shao Xun said, shaking his head.

Wen Yi could only tell the truth: "My father sent some dried mushrooms back from Qinzhou and Hezhou, and I delivered them to the princess's residence."

Shao Xun remained silent.

Is this how advanced things are these days? You can still pursue women like this?
It seems his daughters were quite bored. Living in the princess's mansion, they either read books, did needlework, or went out to play, giving Huang Mao an opportunity to take advantage of them.

Fine, as long as my daughter is happy and their family backgrounds are suitable, it's not a big problem. Anyway, whoever marries his daughter will never be able to get away with this for the rest of his life. He'd better be a good husband and a good father, and if he has to pretend, he'll pretend to the very end.

"Go back and prepare well," Shao Xun waved his hand and said.

"Your subject obeys." Wen Yi bowed and took his leave.

Shao Xun sighed and sat down behind the imperial desk.

Fungus Girl (Liu Xiaohe, mother of Princess Shao Shu of Yidu) is nineteen years old this year, which is indeed the age for marriage. However, Princess Shao Ni of Mayi (mother of Wang Jingfeng) and Duke Shao Ke of Ba (mother of Wang Huifeng) were born before her. All three were born in the third year of the Jin Dynasty (319), only a few months apart.

Shao Ni and Shao Ke's wedding was postponed for a year, with Shao Shu getting married first. What happens after that would depend on the situation, as their father Shao Xiu's health was a concern, and the national mourning period could occur at any time.

After sighing deeply, Shao Xun began to peruse the memorials sent by the State Affairs Hall.

The imperial court's abolition of the Dai Kingdom caused quite a stir in the region.

There are hundreds of people, all kinds of people.

Some people, like Pubu, praised it highly.

Some people accepted it calmly, such as the Hedouling and Qiudun tribes.

Some openly opposed it, mainly the Yilou and Chekun tribes who had previously rebelled.

Some people kept quiet and led their tribes away, some even heading towards the Yuwen clan, but most went to the northern desert.

By the way, apart from one or two tribes, all the tribes in the northern desert broke away from the Tuoba clan alliance after this incident—perhaps they had wanted to do this for a long time, and had unified their internal thinking in the past few years, just waiting for the Tuoba Dai state to be destroyed, and then formally break away.

The Council of State Affairs had differing opinions on how to proceed.

Yangman believed that the disobedient tribes should be appeased to appease them.

Fan Yi suggested conquering these tribes, or at the very least expelling them, arguing that few of them openly rebelled, making them easy targets.

Liu Runzhong agreed with Fan Yi's opinion, believing that troops should be sent to conquer the enemy and that the submissive tribes should be brought in to fight together, thus encircling them from all sides.

Shao Xun consulted the Crown Prince yesterday, and he believed that they should fight while simultaneously winning him over, and then control the Yinshan Mountains, using them as the boundary.

Outside of Yinshan, avoid warfare if possible, but send envoys to various tribes to actively win them over until that effort fails. By then, the Yinshan defense line will be complete, and the problem will be largely solved.

Shao Xun thought the boy was quite pragmatic, or rather conservative, and acted within his means.

Perhaps it's not such a bad thing.

His father, Shao, relied on the existence of elite troops from the founding of the nation and the relatively strong tolerance of the people to wage war everywhere. In the next generation, he needed someone who was not so militaristic, since the people at that time were living in a peaceful era and were not so tolerant or able to endure hardship.

Shao Xun carefully read the memorial twice, and finally, with a flourish of his pen, ordered the three protectorates of Shanyu, Anbei, and Beiyi to send documents to all the Tuoba Xianbei tribes, requesting them to mobilize able-bodied men, among whom—

The Shanyu Prefecture and Anbei Prefecture advanced from the southern foothills of Yinshan Mountain and the north bank of the Yellow River;
The Protectorate General of Beiyi crossed the river and advanced eastward;
The Di and Qiang people of the four commanderies of Xinqin, Shang, Diaoyin, and Fengyi moved north along the west bank of the Yellow River;

Zhuge Hui mobilized his troops, crossed Hengshan Mountain, and marched from south to north.

In short, we should surround them from all sides and first eliminate the Yilou and Chekun tribes on the Hetao grassland, setting an example to deter others.

Yi Cong, Luo Yan, and the Youzhou cavalry commanders marched north to Kelan as reinforcements.

After the edict was written, it was ordered to be issued immediately.

He couldn't be bothered with the rest; such trivial matters weren't worth his time.

However, perhaps we could let the sons experience the atmosphere, participate a little, and gain some experience.

Thinking of this, he drafted another edict and ordered it to be issued.

(End of this chapter)