Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 140 Further Reforms

can only say……

Zhao Xin knows how to comfort people.

After his father gave him a beating, he instantly felt much better.

It's all for the best future, so what if I offend some officials?
of course!

The ministers on this side will surely not sit idly by and wait for death.

At this moment, they are probably uniting with those who can be united.

Zhao Xin also repeatedly emphasized to Ouyang Xiu and others, "Shut up!"
Ouyang Xiu and others also understood.

The dismissal of officials is most likely related to His Royal Highness the Prince of Yu.

But does His Royal Highness Prince Yu distrust them so much?
Wait until October of this year.

Everything was almost settled, and Zhao Xin called Ouyang Xiu and others back from Xuchang and Nanyang.

And his father also took the initiative to take charge of the matter and spoke to the officials who had objections.

This was all his idea. Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi were just doing it according to his wishes.

This time...

All the ministers shut up.

After all, do you want to organize yourself and criticize the government?
At most, we can just talk about it behind their backs.

of course!

Such temporary layoffs of officials are only treating the symptoms rather than the root cause.

If we really want to achieve the goal of reforming the civil service, we still have to reform the system of assessment for official promotions.

and……

There are only so many official positions in the court, but there are so many people taking the imperial examinations every year.

There are simply not enough official positions to go around.

to this end……

Next, I feel it is time to control the frequency of the imperial examinations.

Previously, it was held once a year or once every two years. Now, Zhao Xin felt it was necessary to make it once every three years.

Zhao Xin gave his father another bad idea.

Ah!
At least in his father's opinion, this was a bad idea.

Zhao Zhen said, "I think you are really not afraid of another Huang Chao. Huang Chao is too far away, so I won't talk about him. But you must know about Zhang Yuan who fled to Xixia and became the prime minister of Xixia in recent years!"

Zhao Xin said, "Dad, what are you afraid of? I don't raise three thousand elite soldiers for nothing. Whoever tries to be Huang Chao, I will kill him first."

Zhao Zhen then asked, "What if they escaped to Xixia or Liao?"

Zhao Xin replied, "Dad, it takes many years for a Huang Chao or Zhang Yuan to appear. If we make it every three years, it will give candidates from all over the country more time to prepare for the exam in Beijing. It won't be too rushed, and it will further select people with better abilities to become officials, thus improving the overall governance level of officials. Also, I think the content of the next exam should be changed."

"It's not to say that we won't test poetry, but at least we have to add one or two policy essays to the test questions, and give them a higher weight."

"Things like disaster relief and water conservancy projects can all be tested."

"Otherwise...if we keep admitting people who are only good at writing poetry and songs but bring no benefit to the country, and the whole country is immersed in writing poetry and songs, drinking, and visiting prostitutes, what future does this country have?"

"In addition, I propose that a different promotion assessment policy be implemented for newly recruited Jinshi and others."

"The old system of examination and approval can no longer be used for new officials."

"Otherwise, everyone will just eat and wait for death, and after three years, they can get promoted directly without doing anything. This is absolutely unreasonable."

Zhao Zhen then asked, "Then how do you want to assess us?"

Zhao Xin said, "Let them write their own performance reports first, and then send someone to conduct a secret investigation." Zhao Zhen: "Wouldn't that be too much trouble? Besides, would the officials do something wrong for the sake of their own political achievements?"

Zhao Xin said, "Now that our Song Dynasty has signed peace treaties with the Liao Kingdom and Xixia, there is no external threat. If we don't seize the time and reform internally, think about it, Dad. If we wait another ten or eight years, and the war breaks out again, will you still have time to reform? Let me do this!"

Zhao Zhen looked at Zhao Xin and seriously suspected that Zui Xinglai wanted to control the Ministry of Personnel.

I feel like the spanking was too light!
But who can blame him for having only this one son!
I had no choice but to say, "Then write down all the rules."

Zhao Xin also said: "I want to look at the imperial examination papers from previous years first."

Zhao Zhen said, "Daddy will have someone get it for you."

Next…

Zhao Xin then began to discuss with Ouyang Xiu and others how to change the exam and how to make the imperial examination held every three years.

But to be honest, many people have never been officials, they have just studied.

At first glance, it doesn't seem reasonable to demand the same things from others as an official.

This is like asking others to have work experience when they have just graduated from school.

This is obviously unreasonable!
and so……

Zhao Xin is also considering whether to set up an internship position.

Let them start from the lowest position and serve as assistants to other senior bureaucrats. Then, let these senior bureaucrats make a judgment on their daily actions.

However, the problem arises again.

What if the other person is indeed not suitable to be an official?
Are you just going to fire him just like that?
People have studied hard for more than ten years, but in the end, you tell them that they are not suitable to be an official.

You might as well just eliminate the other party during the exam.

These are all problems that Zhao Xin must solve together with Ouyang Xiu and others.

then……

You can see it in the Lecture Hall.

Zhao Xin often looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, with his hands behind his back, and discussed these matters with Ouyang Xiu and others.

It was Qianlong or Kangxi on TV who said that the imperial examination was only meant to trap talented people, with the goal of making those scholars spend their whole lives studying classics.

You have to give them hope, but only very few people are ultimately admitted.

You can't tell them the results in advance.

If they were to waste their entire lives on this, then naturally, this group of scholars would be obsessed with exams and would no longer cause trouble.

perhaps……

Sometimes, the imperial examination system is unreasonable.

But it still has certain benefits for stabilizing the country.

After two months of discussions with Ouyang Xiu and others.

After thinking about it, Zhao Xin felt that he could only make some minor changes to the exam content, such as arranging an internship for them. It would be better not to do such a thing for the time being.

And the test results are not divided into top, middle or bottom.

Directly change to percentage system.

When you finally take the exam, you get whatever score you get.

The examination content is divided into calligraphy, calligraphy and poetry, as well as policy essays.

The previous calligraphy works, essays and poems account for a total of 60%, and policy essays account for 40%.

(End of this chapter)