Diqin Designer

Chapter 93: Ying Zheng Wants to Set Up a Grand Examination in Xianyang (Additional Update for Nuan Yang Boss)
Ying Zheng always remembered one of the problems of the Qin Dynasty that Li Nian had told him - the lack of sufficient officials, so it was unable to fully control the world.

Since there is a gap, find a way to fill it!
It is definitely too late to train people ourselves now. That is a long-term plan. We can only recruit from outside to fill some of the gaps first.

We can't just ignore the problem, leave it there, and let go of certain areas, right?

Yesterday, the reason why Ying Zheng asked Li Nian about Pei Gong and the great Han talents that he could use was because he had figured out one thing:

The situation encountered by the Han Dynasty when it was first established should be similar to that of the Qin Dynasty. It may have been even worse because the war had just ended. But how did the Han Dynasty overcome this problem?

Even though the early Han Dynasty enfeoffed many kings to reduce the talent pressure on the central court, those kings still had to recruit people to govern their fiefdoms.

In other words, a considerable number of officials are still needed, and the number of officials needed to govern the world will not decrease simply by adopting the feudal system.

After figuring this out, Ying Zheng suddenly realized that there were many talented and wise people in the world, but they were not being used by the Qin Dynasty.

The reason he raised this question today was because he was wondering if he could dig out a few of these talented people from the wild. Even if he could only dig out one who could be used, it would solve a talent gap in the Qin Dynasty.

"You are welcome to raise any suggestions you may have!"

It turned out that the king felt that there were too few officials in the Qin Dynasty and it was impossible to govern the world well, so he wanted to seek talented people. The ministers immediately understood.

Although Ying Zheng blocked his speech about restoring Zhou rituals and enfeoffment, Chunyu Yue still wanted to speak. He said, "I think Your Majesty can follow the example of King Zhao of Yan who spent a thousand gold coins to buy horse bones. Let the people of the world know Your Majesty's desire to seek talents. Talents will surely come to you like a 'thousand-mile horse'."

Li Si shook his head and said, "This is not the time of King Zhao of Yan. Who knows whether the people he recruited are talented people or people with ulterior motives?"

It would be bad if someone who wanted to become a noble of the six kingdoms took advantage of this opportunity to sneak in. However, most of the wise and capable people in the world today are not from the common people but are related to the nobility.

Ying Zheng thought of what Li Nian said about "enlightening the people and starting education". It seemed that he really needed to use this method in Daqin. Although "enlightening the people" was risky, the current situation in Daqin was that there was a shortage of talents, and many of them were on the side of the nobles of the six countries.

He also understood why the Qin Dynasty perished in the second generation: there were not enough officials loyal to the Qin Dynasty, which would inevitably give the nobles of the six countries or those close to the nobles of the six countries an opportunity to infiltrate and control the local areas, rendering his imperial orders ineffective and the nobles of the six countries daring to show up in the local areas in broad daylight.

That was probably the reason why Xiang Yu and Xiang Liang dared to go to Kuaiji to see him. It is possible that the local Qin officials were familiar with this uncle and nephew.

This is similar to the aristocratic families encountered by later dynasties.

So what if you, the emperor, are the ruler of the world? If you don’t have enough talents to govern the world, you will have to use our people in the end, right?
If they hire our people, they will have to accept our constraints and accept that we are also participating in the game of the world and becoming the rule makers.

"We must cultivate talented people ourselves. We cannot let this situation continue!"

As a strong king, Ying Zheng felt like someone was choking him at this moment.

Li Si didn't know what Ying Zheng was thinking, so he continued, "I think we should use the recommendation method, and let officials from all places, including me, recommend talented people. If the recommended person is guilty, the recommender should be punished as well." As soon as he finished speaking, Li Si was refuted: "According to what the court official said, who would dare to recommend?"

Wei Liao was recommended by Li Si. If what Li Si said now is true, Wei Liao sneaked away in history, so he should be punished as a member of the group.

Wang Wan said: "Although the proposal of the Supreme Court to punish all the people involved is not feasible, it does make sense. How can we ensure that the talents recommended or recruited are truly talented and can be used by the Qin army?"

After listening to the ministers' speeches for a while, Ying Zheng said, "I do have a plan. Whether it's recommendation or offering a huge sum of money to recruit talents, I can agree to it. However, if the talents recruited want to be given official positions, they must be examined and verified."

"I am preparing to hold a grand examination in Xianyang. All talented people in the world are welcome to participate."

"I will set questions, and you will answer them. The best ones will be chosen as officials!"

The examination system has a long history in Chinese history, but the Xianyang examination proposed by Ying Zheng at this moment was inspired by the later imperial examinations mentioned by Li Nian.

Once one thought is understood, all thoughts are understood. Ying Zheng suddenly thought of a way to win over talents from the nobles of the six countries through a major examination: to grant honors to those who perform well in the examination, and spread their names throughout the world.

I heard from Li Nian that there was a saying in the Song Dynasty's imperial examination that "only those whose names are called out at Donghua Gate are good men", which shows that those who took the imperial examination also wanted fame.

At that time, as long as they accept the honor he grants, if these people want to help the nobles of the six countries resist the Qin Dynasty in the future, they will be pointed at by the world:
The Emperor of Qin gave you such great honor and spread your name throughout the world, but you helped the nobles of the six kingdoms to rebel?
Pooh!
If these people accepted his official positions, it would be even better. They would be bound by the reins of fame and honor and work honestly for the Qin Dynasty. If they dared not to do their best, they would be disloyal and unjust and would be ashamed by the people of the world.

As soon as Ying Zheng proposed his idea of ​​the Xianyang exam, Wang Wan said, "Your Majesty, this method can select people with real talents and knowledge, but it cannot select people who will be loyal to our Great Qin."

Ying Zheng smiled and said, "Don't worry, Prime Minister. I have a solution. I will award titles to those who excel in the exam. For example, the best person in the exam will receive a special title, the second best will receive another, and the third best will receive another..."

The ministers quickly reacted. Li Si's eyes lit up and he was impressed by this idea. He said, "Since ancient times, there has been no first in literature and no second in martial arts. Your Majesty will rank the best in the world through the examination, which will surely attract many talented people to gather in Xianyang. And these titles are granted by your Majesty. If they are not loyal to your Majesty, they will be cursed by the world. Your Majesty's plan, I, Li Si, am impressed!"

The ancients were simply not as knowledgeable as modern people, and sometimes they couldn’t find ideas, but once their ideas were opened up, the solutions they came up with were no worse than those of modern people.

Before Li Nian explained the imperial examination to the First Emperor in detail, the First Emperor had already figured out the usefulness of the examination and planned to rank those with excellent results in the Xianyang examination and confer titles on them.

In ancient times, when a dynasty fell, why did some ministers remain loyal and even sacrifice their lives for their country even though they knew the situation was hopeless?
Among them is this kind of grace of recognition, appreciation, and bestowing of titles.

In the Qin Dynasty, this kind of character is even more prevalent. People value their promises and pay little attention to life and death. A meal can be repaid with a thousand gold coins, let alone such a great favor as bestowing a title?
Can all the ministers imagine that after the news of the Xianyang examination is released, many people will rush to Xianyang to take part in this examination?
I am afraid that some people who hate the Qin Dynasty and come from noble families of the six kingdoms will not be able to help themselves and want to compete with all the talents in the world for the first place in the exam?
There will certainly be some people who will be dismissive, see through the calculations and will not participate, but more people will come.

Because names are so attractive!

The filth of the past is not worth boasting about, but today I am free and unfettered and have boundless thoughts;
The horse gallops in the spring breeze, and all the flowers in Xianyang can be seen in one day.

(End of this chapter)