The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 171 Extraordinary Measures
After the grand court session on the first day of the year ended, Liu Bei did not return to the inner court, but instead went straight to Zhuge Liang's residence.

The emperor and his minister had known and accompanied each other for many years, and in private they had long since stopped being bound by formalities.

As soon as Liu Bei arrived, he lay down on one of Zhuge Liang's soft couches.

Pointing to the mountain of bamboo slips piled on the table, he said:
“The day before yesterday, I toured the Ministry of Personnel and found that it was exactly the same as this place.”

"Why not move the Ministry of Personnel to your residence? That way, I can have more palace rooms to house my meritorious officials."

If it were any other minister, upon hearing such savage words, they would likely worry that the emperor suspected them of wielding too much power.

But Zhuge Liang simply smiled faintly:
"If the palace and the government were to be integrated, it would be convenient for me. However, it would be a hardship for the ministers and vice ministers, who would have fewer opportunities to experience His Majesty's benevolence, but would be nagged by me every day without a moment's rest."

Liu Bei said:
"Then you should talk less and rest more, how about that?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Liang bowed and said:

"I will heed Your Majesty's instructions!"

Liu Bei chuckled and shook his head.

I knew it would be pointless for me to say anything.

Having known each other for over twenty years, how could we not know each other's personalities?
Suddenly, I remembered Miwei.

That cunning fellow may have the makings of a ruler, and his future looks promising.

But deep down, he is actually a bit lazy and needs to constantly push himself to grow quickly.

If only his temperament could be reconciled with that of Kongming, how wonderful that would be?

With this in mind, Liu Bei said to Zhuge Liang:
What are some recent policy proposals regarding the selection and appointment of virtuous and capable individuals?

Zhuge Liang had already prepared a plan in mind, and blurted out:
There are two main arguments.

"One proposal is to restore the old system of selecting officials through recommendation, but it is necessary to strictly supervise and prevent the emergence of unqualified officials among the staff."

“If necessary, we may follow the example of Yang Jia’s system and add tests on classics and grammar.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei shook his head slightly and said:
“In the past, King Xuan of Qi had no more than three hundred musicians who played the yu (a type of reed pipe instrument). Therefore, after King Xuan died, King Min only needed to listen to each one to force out the charlatan, Nan Guo, who was just pretending to play the yu.”

"But the officials in the whole country, even if we only count one prefecture, number far more than three hundred. How can we possibly listen to each and every one of them?"

"As for the Yangjia system, it is worth considering and discussing it further."

Zhuge Liang agreed.

Continued:
"The second argument is to emulate the Cao family's nine-rank system for officials. It just so happens that Minister Situ has a habit of criticizing famous scholars. If he is appointed as the Zhongzheng official, I believe no one will object."

"Brother Wenxiu's 'Monthly Appraisal' back then was highly admired by the scholars of Yingru, and he is indeed a good candidate." Liu Bei nodded slightly.

"I'm afraid he won't make it through this winter."

Upon recalling Xu Jing's illness, both the emperor and his ministers sighed and fell silent.

After entering Shu, for a considerable period of time, Xu Jing served as Liu Bei's go-to figurehead for recruiting scholars from all over the land.

Once Xu Jing is gone, there will be no one else to replace him.

"What did Mi Shishan say?"

Liu Bei recalled the original intention behind his question.

Zhuge Liang did not answer immediately upon hearing this, but instead thought for a moment before saying:
There are two strategies, one long and one short. The short strategy is further divided into three parts.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei laughed strangely:
"It's rare to see someone so diligent!"

Zhuge Liang smiled slightly, then said solemnly:

"Let's start with three short-term strategies."

"According to the old system of recommendation, although there were many subjects, only the filial and incorruptible and the outstanding talents were selected once a year, while the rest were special subjects and not regular subjects."

"In this way, all those who wish to enter officialdom will emulate filial sons and honest officials, rather than studying laws, literature, military strategy, and classics."

“If this continues, the imperial court and prefectures will be filled with filial sons and honest officials, but few capable officials and generals.”

"Therefore, the court should establish subjects such as classics, law, literature, arithmetic, and military strategy as regular subjects, in addition to the filial piety and incorruptibility system."

"Sometimes it's held once a year, sometimes once every three years."

Zhuge Liang specifically emphasized the phrase "filial sons and honest officials".

This is to emphasize that a filial son is not a true filial son.

An honest official is not necessarily a truly honest official.

Liu Bei's life experiences were incredibly rich, as can be seen from his words.

He sat up from the couch and said seriously, "Continue."

Zhuge Liang:
"The second discussion is that the selection of officials in the Former Han Dynasty only involved recommendation and examination, while in the Later Han Dynasty, after recommendation and examination, officials still had to be tested in prefectures and counties to assess their abilities before being promoted to higher positions."

Mi Zhaohan believed that the system of the Later Han Dynasty was better, but the performance evaluation of officials was mostly linked to the annual report. In order to evaluate performance, some people inevitably cheated. It was just another form of "recommending talented people who do not know how to read; investigating filial and incorrupt officials whose fathers live separately".

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei clicked his tongue in amazement:

"To recommend a talented scholar who is illiterate, to investigate a filial and incorrupt official whose father lives separately... This saying hits the nail on the head regarding the current problems, but I wonder what classical allusion it comes from?"

Zhuge Liang: "I also think this is a very good saying, but Mi Zhaohan is known for his surprising remarks, which may not be based on classical texts."

Liu Bei thought about it and agreed, then stopped worrying about it and asked, "Then how do we solve this?"

Zhuge Liang:
"It can be supplemented by local opinion." "After a clerk completes his one-year probationary period, the local opinion of his original post remains linked to his official rank."

"If the local opinion is not good, one can still be demoted even if promoted."

Liu Bei had already realized what was going on when he heard this.

Mi Wei's "short strategy" was actually a combination of the recommendation system of the Han Dynasty and the evaluation system of the Cao Wei Dynasty.

The recommendation system was the primary method, with evaluation as a secondary method.

The latter mainly serves a supervisory role.

As expected, Zhuge Liang continued:
"Thirdly, the Book of Poetry says, 'Nothing is without a beginning, but few things have an end.' An honest official ten years ago may not be honest ten years later."

"Therefore, if the court is to eventually establish the position of Zhongzheng official, it should be for a period of three to five years. Each period should be used for evaluation."

"Never make a lifelong judgment based on a single evaluation."

"Even the officials in charge of the Central Committee should be rotated every three to five years to prevent favoritism."

"In this way, the power of the court to select and appoint virtuous and capable officials can be largely kept in the hands of the court and will not be easily swallowed up by local powerful clans."

Mi Wei's last sentence was quite blunt.

As a ruler, Liu Bei was naturally happy to hear this.

However, it is also known that this move is essentially depriving local powerful clans of their interests.

I am afraid of comparison in everything.

Cao Pi was lenient towards the gentry, but Liu Bei set up many rules and regulations to guard against them.

Isn't this forcing people to side with the Cao family?

Moreover, the ability to firmly control personnel matters depends heavily on the competence of the reigning emperor.

Liu Bei himself was an emperor who rose to power on horseback, and his prestige in the Shu Han dynasty was unparalleled. He could probably easily control his subordinates.

But what will happen to them after they die is uncertain.

Ultimately, how can we govern the world without relying on learned scholars? Can we rely on a bunch of illiterate peasants?
Thinking of this, Liu Bei, who had originally been looking forward to Mi Wei's various novel viewpoints, couldn't help but feel somewhat disheartened.

But it's not Miwei's fault.

This is the reality.

What else can be done besides making minor adjustments to the existing system?

You can't just smash the chair at your feet and shout, "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?"
The key point is that shouting it out is useless.

Illiterate people are not suited to govern the world.

At this moment, Zhuge Liang noticed Liu Bei's disappointment and couldn't help but remind him:

"Your Majesty, these three arguments are merely short-term solutions, not long-term plans!"

Liu Bei then realized what was happening and asked anxiously, "What did Chang Ce say?"

Zhuge Liang's expression was strange:

"The long-term plan can be summarized in one sentence: improve papermaking techniques and replace bamboo slips with paper books."

what?
Liu Bei thought he had misheard.

The short policy is well-reasoned and cites many classical texts.

What did Changce end up with but only one sentence?

Return the paper books?
Fortunately, Zhuge Liang was exceptionally insightful and glanced at the mountain of bamboo slips piled up beside him.

solemnly said:
"I believe that the three short-term strategies may be worth considering. However, this long-term strategy, regardless of the outcome, should be given a try!"

……

"I have been favored by His Majesty for many years. If I can share the burden of the court, I will do my best."

"But why specifically improve papermaking?"

Are bamboo and wooden slips really that bad?

The following day, Mi Zhu heard about Liu Bei's new assignment and was puzzled.

Miwei, the instigator, never expected that the task would ultimately fall to his father.

Or does Lao Liu think that his father's business acumen is suited for this job?
It couldn't be that they just couldn't stand that this Minister Sikong was too idle all the time.

After a moment of random thought, he said:

"It's not that bamboo slips are unusable."

"Instead, the Cao Wei dynasty had dominated the Central Plains for two generations, and the hearts of the people were with them."

"If our dynasty wishes to compete with them for talent, we must take extraordinary measures in extraordinary times."

"However, extraordinary measures will inevitably lead to future troubles."

"Replacing bamboo slips with paper books is the key to preventing future troubles and even achieving unexpected victories in the future!"

(End of this chapter)