Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 439: Seeking the Best
Zhang Yuan was the person who single-handedly changed the rules of the imperial examination and elimination in the Song Dynasty.

In the past, only those who passed the final palace examination were considered to have passed the imperial examination and could become an official.

However, Zhang Yuan failed in many examinations. Finally, he passed the provincial examination once, but failed in the palace examination and was unable to become an official.

In a fit of anger, he defected directly to Western Xia.

It would be fine if this person had no ability, but he happens to be very capable.

At that time, Western Xia had not yet been established. This man was highly regarded by the founding emperor of Western Xia. Not only did he make many contributions to the establishment of Western Xia, but he also defeated the Song army in the Song-Xia War and finally became the national teacher of Western Xia.

For this reason, the Song Dynasty was often ridiculed by Liao and Xia, who said that the Song Dynasty did not know how to judge people.

From then on, in the Song Dynasty, as long as one passed the joint examination, one could become an official, and the results of the palace examination would not result in elimination.

The official recommended Zhang Yuan, intending to follow the rules set by Zhao Xing. Some people who could have been appointed to positions might defect to Liaoxia in anger because they failed the exam.

"If an official cannot even do these things when governing a place and relies entirely on the assistance of a teacher and a clerk, then I might as well let the teacher and the clerk take on the job."

Zhao Xing sneered and said, "If someone becomes angry and wants to join Liaoxia, then let them join."

The Song Dynasty never explicitly stipulated that civil officials should be valued over military officials, and the position of Privy Councilor did not prohibit military officers from holding the position.

Even martial arts were added to the Imperial College to teach military tactics and horse riding and archery.

This has never happened in any of the dynasties in history that emphasized military power.

In any dynasty, after peace has been restored, it is certain that civil officials will have more power than military generals.

After all, without war, the value and role of military generals cannot be reflected.

It is inevitable that civil officials suppress military generals.

Of course, the fact that the civil officials were valued more than the military officials in the Song Dynasty was something that successive emperors condoned, and they were not entirely without responsibility.

Although the emperor's acquiescence was related to his fear of military generals' self-reliance, it was also related to the power of civil officials.

In Zhao Xing's view, Zhang Yuan's defection to Western Xia certainly shows that there are some drawbacks in the imperial examination system.

But nothing in the world can be absolutely fair.

Reality is full of injustice.

Even if Zhang Yuan had not been eliminated at that time, it would have been difficult for him to be directly granted a real job given his background.

Judging from Zhang Yuan’s performance, if he was not granted a real position, or if he suffered some injustice as an official, he would most likely defect to Western Xia out of anger.

There are many people who have suffered injustice in the world. The fact that Zhang Yuan defected to Western Xia itself shows that he has character problems.

It doesn't mean that if you suffer injustice, you should accept it and not resist.

But this is different from treason.

Since Zhang Yuan would no longer be eliminated from the palace examination, Zhao Xing believed that this would not prevent such incidents from happening again, but would instead be another compromise with the literati.

If Zhao Xing added an examination before granting official positions, some people would be dissatisfied and choose to betray the country, which Zhao Xing thought would be a good thing.

Can we expect such a person to be loyal to the court?

If the Liao Kingdom and Western Xia attacked one day, people like this might just surrender directly.

Han Zhang stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I think it is inappropriate to cut some departments and reduce the number of officials. Once this is done, a large number of officials will be unable to be placed, which will inevitably cause chaos!"

"I second the proposal!"

Not many officials had raised questions before, but in this matter, all the officials present stepped forward to second the motion.

Many of the people present have relatives in government positions. If some departments are cut according to the rules formulated by Zhao Xing, who knows whether the departments where their relatives work will be cut, or even whether they themselves will be laid off?
"Since all of you think this is inappropriate, let's put it aside for now and discuss something else first." Zhao Xing said. In fact, streamlining the number of officials and abolishing some departments was what he wanted to do most.

The bureaucratic system of the Song Dynasty was too bloated, which was not only a burden but also reduced operational efficiency.

However, Zhao Xing also knew the resistance to this matter and it would not work for the time being.

The reason why he mentioned it was to achieve the best.

Zhao Xing formulated many policies to rectify the administration of officials, some of which were bound to encounter strong resistance.

However, these officials also knew that it was impossible to stop everything, otherwise it would only anger Zhao Xing.

Therefore, they can only choose to oppose part of it. Therefore, when officials opposed it before, many people did not speak up, in order to oppose the items that would have the greatest impact on them.

Zhao Xing was also aware of this, so he deliberately included several clauses that might pose great resistance, leaving it for officials to oppose.

Things really developed as Zhao Xing had expected. What he deliberately put forward was met with great opposition, and he had to "compromise".

And because of his compromise, these officials did not face much resistance on other "small" matters.

He formulated more than a dozen policies, but only four of them were ultimately not passed.

However, what Zhao Xing formulated was only a rough framework. How to implement it specifically still needed careful discussion and the formulation of detailed institutional regulations.

The small court meeting lasted for the whole morning. At noon, Zhao Xing held a banquet in the Chuigong Hall. After the meal, he let everyone go back, but left Zeng Gongliang alone.

"I plan to personally watch the military examination this year, and I will also increase the rewards for those who are selected. In addition, I will let local government agencies conduct the preliminary selection, and the travel expenses of those who are selected will be provided by the government. After arriving in Bianliang, the court will be responsible for their food and lodging during the military examination!" said Zhao Xing.

"Your Majesty, if we do this, the cost will be too high." Zeng Gongliang frowned.

The military examination was different from the imperial examination in that there was no layered selection process. Instead, participants came directly to Bian Jing to participate in the preliminary selection, thus screening out those who were trying their luck or just joining in the fun.

The rest will go through a final selection and then be granted military posts and join the army.

Many people understand that the poor study while the rich practice martial arts, but this is actually a bit one-sided.

Reading is not just for the poor. On the contrary, before paper and printing became popular, the cost of reading was very high.

Even though books and paper are cheaper nowadays, it still costs a lot to provide children with books.

After all, if one person studies, it means one less laborer in the family and one more person who eats for free.

At the same time, both tuition and writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone require money.

The real meaning of "poor in literature but rich in martial arts" is that you can study literature to your heart's content, but you cannot practice martial arts to your heart's content.

If you don’t have enough food to eat, not only will your martial arts skills improve, but your body will also be ruined.

However, there are many generals whose families have fallen into poverty among the people.

He has martial arts inherited from his family, and he can practice them through hunting, so he has quite good martial arts skills.

In addition, the military examination does not only test martial arts, but also military tactics.

These people are relatively poor, and even if the imperial court holds a military examination, they will not come to participate because of the distance.

After all, the military examination is not like the imperial examination, where the government provides travel expenses.

Once they go, if they fail to get a ranking, the round-trip fare, food and accommodation will be beyond their ability to afford.

Zhao Xing watched it personally to show his importance, and increased the reward as an inducement.

The government provides travel expenses for selections in various places in order to solve these people's worries.

(End of this chapter)