Shu Han Confucian General of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 247 Talent?

"General Zhao, what does the unknown general think about the confrontation between the lord and the bandit Cao?" Chen Qun didn't directly state his reason for coming, but asked Zhao Feng this question first.Literati, there are always some people who like to play tricks.

Although Zhao Feng is not used to it, he still said honestly: "My lord and Cao Cao are facing each other across the Yellow River. The difference in population and military strength is not too far. However, my lord knows how to employ people and has a unique vision, while Cao Cao is a little suspicious. In this regard, the lord is superior. As long as the lord can make good use of the world's talents, Cao Cao will definitely lose!" Zhao Feng was not particularly sure, what Chen Qun wanted to say, he said according to his own guess.

"What the general said is true!" Chen Qun nodded, then stood up and said, "But now Cao Cao coerces the emperor to order the princes, the emperor is in his hands, and righteousness is in his hands. In this way, the master recruits talents, this is the beginning He lost a move. For this reason, Qun worked hard, and then he came up with a method, which may be effective and attract more talents for the Lord! I came here today to discuss with the general to see if there are any omissions. After finishing speaking, Chen Qun took out a roll of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Zhao Feng.

"Changwen is too much trouble!" Zhao Feng said politely, while accepting the scroll handed over by Chen Qun, but his heart was clear.After unfolding it, it turned out that everything was as he expected.

"I knew it, you kid can't make a name for yourself!" Zhao Feng murmured in his heart. As he expected, Chen Qun did not find any unexpected tricks, and he still promoted his Ninth Grade Zhongzheng System. Out.

Historically, during the period of the Three Kingdoms, in order to gain the support of the northern aristocratic families, Cao Pi successfully usurped the Han and established himself. After he ascended the throne, he adopted the nine-rank Zhongzheng system proposed by Chen Qun, which opened the door for the children of the gentry to enter and exit official careers.Let the aristocratic family, which has already gained huge benefits, become even bigger.Sitting on tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land, the patriarch of a family with thousands of servants and even private soldiers does not need to pay taxes, just like a slave owner.

Later, the Western Jin Dynasty also continued to use this talent selection system, so that later, those decadent aristocratic families mastered almost all the resources and interests of the entire country.As a result, a bastard chaos caused the entire Western Jin Dynasty, and even the entire Han nationality, to be completely devastated. This caused chaos in China, and the Chinese civilization experienced the darkest period.

In view of this, Zhao Feng really doesn't have a good opinion of this Ninth Grade Zhongzheng System.But Zhao Feng also knew that the power of the aristocratic family is indeed great.If Liu Bei wants to achieve a comprehensive victory, he cannot do without the support of these people, but he cannot indulge them too much, otherwise he will inevitably follow the old path of the Western Jin Dynasty and Cao Wei.

Although Zhao Feng used methods such as setting up colleges and improving papermaking techniques to restrict the aristocratic families and prevent them from being too big.Originally, I wanted to wait for everything to settle down before proposing a more scientific solution to Lao Liu.In order to limit the aristocratic family from being too big, Wang Mang, Liu Xiu and others in history have tried, but they all ended in failure.Especially for the former, his series of reform measures with strong idealism thoroughly touched the interests of the aristocratic family and aroused their resistance. In the end, he died without mentioning it, and he was stigmatized as a traitor.

As a time traveler, Zhao Feng is not omnipotent.However, he has a living teaching material with a history of thousands of years, so it is still possible to make the development of history less detours.After carefully reading Chen Qun's Ninth-Rank Zhongzheng System, Zhao Feng also let out a sigh of relief: "Changwen, your Ninth-Rank Zhongzheng System is also very good, but in my opinion, relying on this method alone is not enough. .”

"What does the general say?" Chen Qun also asked a little strangely after hearing Zhao Feng's noncommittal words.

"Changwen, in fact, no matter what method is used, the most important thing is to use talents to the best of their ability, so that it can be effective, right?" Zhao Feng asked instead of directly explaining.

"That's natural!" Chen Qun nodded as a matter of course.With his knowledge, it is easy to understand this truth.

"That's right, you have a nine-rank Zhongzheng system, and the nine-rank system is fine, but the word Zhongzheng is a bit narrow. You see, you want those Zhongzheng officials in important positions to select talents. But they also value the family background. In this way, wouldn't it be even more difficult for a poor family scholar to get ahead?" Zhao Feng explained in detail.

"Why is this?" Chen Qun couldn't help smiling when he heard the words, and then said with a smile: "Although this is the case, Zhongzheng officials are the pillars of the country, so naturally they will not abolish the government for personal reasons."

Firstly, Chen Qun himself is the maker of the system, so there are some things that cannot be explained too clearly, and secondly, it is really hard for him to imagine, once the politics are dark, what kind of evil consequences will this Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System have.Zhao Feng smiled slightly when he heard the words, but he said: "Changwen, if Shi Changshi and He Jin were appointed as Zhongzheng officials during Huan Ling's time, how many talents can be selected for the country by this Nine Rank Zhongzheng System?" ?”

"This?" Chen Qun was really speechless this time. The character of these elder brothers is well known in the world. It is really difficult to expect them to select real materials.

"I don't know what advice General Zhao has?" Seeing Zhao Feng smiling and not saying a word, Chen Qun asked quickly, knowing that he definitely had something to say.

"Actually, Feng doesn't have anything else to say, he just wants to add a few supplements to Changwen's nine-rank Zhongzheng system!" Zhao Feng laughed, and then brought up the general framework of the imperial examination system he had plagiarized.

Although in the end, the imperial examination system was scolded as worthless by the pioneers of the New Culture Movement.But in fact, in order to fool the people, the ruler deliberately changed the imperial examination system, which was originally rich in content and selected various talents, into a rigid system that only talked about stereotyped essays, which made the country lose its vigor and vitality. Rapidly decayed under internal and external troubles.

However, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty initiated the imperial examination system, but it aimed to select various talents.It's like if you do a good job in writing, you will be a civil servant; if you are strong, you will be a soldier;All these kinds, and so on.Such a talent selection system is considered very scientific in this era.

"The general's method is wonderful!" Chen Qun's eyes lit up when he heard this.Although Chen Qun himself was born in a family of officials, most of his grandfathers and uncles were county magistrates.Although his father, Chen Ji, was a minister of Honglu, most of the descendants of the Chen family were small officials at the county level.In today's terms, the Chen family are basically civil servants at the county and city level, but there are very few national civil servants.It is also because of this that Chen Qun basically relied on his own ability to get to this point in his official career, and he did not reject the imperial examination system that emphasized meritocracy.

Compared with the Jiupin Zhongzheng system, the imperial examination system is undoubtedly more advanced.As for its effect of restricting aristocratic families, apart from Zhao Feng, a traveler, there are probably not many people in this world who can see this.In the next few days, Zhao Feng and Chen Qun carefully discussed some details of the imperial examination system, and finally drew up a complete plan, and at the same time made some improvements to Chen Qun's Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System, and then handed it over to Liu Bei .

After Liu Bei read these two sets of talent selection plans, he also sighed for a long time.It can be said that these two systems have basically achieved the effective selection of talents from all walks of life as much as possible.Liu Bei sighed, and after convening everyone to discuss, he also decided to implement the two sets of plans at the same time under his own rule.There is an examination every three years, mainly based on the imperial examination, supplemented by the nine-rank Zhongzheng system, which completely replaces the previous recommendation system, and selects talents from the states under his own rule.Children from rich families such as Zhang Zhao and Mi Zhu, scholars from poor families such as Xu Shu and Li Yan, and small landlords such as Lu Su, all basically supported it.Only a few people such as Pang Tong had some objections, but it was obviously irrelevant. Seeing that most people supported this system, Liu Bei immediately made a decision to implement the imperial examination system from next year.

What Zhao Feng didn't know was that it was a bit of luck that he rashly proposed the imperial examination system this time and was able to implement it with great success.During the heyday of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population was about 5000 million.Divided by the dividing line of the Qinling-Huaihe River, the population ratio between the north and the south is about 1:9.That is to say, Jiaozhou, Yangzhou, Jingnan, and Yizhou add up to almost 500 million people, while the northern and Central Plains states add up to more than 4000 million people, especially Guanzhong and Hebei, such as Jizhou, Yongzhou, and Sizhou. When it was prosperous, a single state had a population of more than 600 million.Both Yuzhou and Yanzhou also have a population of more than 500 people.

Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the situation has changed somewhat.Due to natural disasters and man-made disasters in the northern and central plains, coupled with the "efforts" of Dong Zhuo and others, the population dropped sharply.On the contrary, Xuzhou, Jiangdong, Jingzhou, and Yizhou, which were not particularly prosperous, had at least not had a sharp population drop because of relatively few turmoil.In addition, Liu Biao, the Sun family, and even Shi Xie in Jiaozhou were able to appease the people's livelihood to some extent. Therefore, Liu Bei was able to have enough capital to fight Cao Cao after occupying the territory south of the Yellow River.

Specific to the aristocratic families, although under Liu Bei's rule, Xuzhou also has four major families, Jiangdong, Jingzhou and even Yizhou also have some famous families.But in terms of scale, those who can reach the level of Cai and Kuai in the past are already at the extreme in the south.Compared with the Sima family and the Yuan family in the north, this is not enough weight.As for Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Hanzhong, the aristocratic families with a little weight there either went to Hebei with Cao Cao, or were wiped out in the turmoil.Therefore, the implementation of the nine-rank Zhongzheng system of the imperial examination system encountered very little resistance, and almost no influential people opposed it.If it had been changed to the north, there would have been a lot of resistance by now.

Putting down the policy theory in his hands for the time being, Liu Bei smiled and said, "Bo Tao, Chang Wen. The day after tomorrow, I will be enshrined on the altar and become a prince. Why don't you come to Xuchang and participate in the ceremony of enshrining Zen together!" The two Hastily promised not to mention.

However, Zhao Feng hadn't waited for Lao Liu's Zen ceremony, he was resting in the posthouse in Xuchang that day, but he heard the report from the posthouse, saying that Lu Hao came to visit on business.

"General, it's done!" Lu Hao said after entering the door, dancing and dancing with excitement.Before Zhao Feng could react, Lu Hao had already carefully pulled out a cowhide envelope from his sleeve, and handed it to Zhao Feng gently trembling.

"It really happened?" Although Zhao Feng's temper had calmed down a lot now, he was still so excited that his voice trembled.Opening the envelope, in fact, there is nothing particularly precious inside, just a few pieces of straw paper that will not be more common in later generations.But Zhao Feng held these pieces of paper, but he felt that they seemed to be extremely heavy.

No one in this era is more aware of the importance of paper than Zhao Feng.Compared with cumbersome bamboo slips and expensive silk, paper is cheaper to make and lighter to carry. It is undoubtedly the best carrier of knowledge.For this reason, Zhao Feng asked Lu Hao to devote himself to the improvement of papermaking techniques a few years ago, and he also remembered the papermaking techniques in "Tiangong Kaiwu", which gave him some theoretical guidance.However, the specific manufacturing process still needs to be gradually explored in the actual operation process.After several years of hard work, Lu Hao finally discovered that after using reeds and bamboo as raw materials and undergoing a series of processes such as soaking, smashing, and steaming, the white paper produced is not only cheap, but also smooth and white for easy writing.This time Lu Hao specially brought some good-looking ones, and gave them to Zhao Feng to make a decision.

"Lu Hao, you have made a great contribution this time!" Zhao Feng patted Lu Hao's shoulder and said with a smile, but the latter dared not even say so.Not to mention him, even Zhuge Liang, a wise man with extremely keen eyesight, would not understand the significance of paper to the development of historical civilization.

The next day, Zhao Feng took these blank papers to see Liu Bei, and the latter's eyes lit up after seeing it.However, he was able to hold his breath when his eyes lit up. Chen Qun and the others rubbed the smooth paper, almost salivating.

"Good thing, good thing, General Zhao, can you give me a piece of paper and let me write a picture?" After a long while, Sun Qian was the first to realize, and after swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he asked eagerly.That expression reminded Zhao Feng of Crayon Shin-chan, and he felt a chill.

"Gongyou, please!" Zhao Feng smiled, and then said to Liu Bei: "Master, this paper is cheap and made of bamboo and wood. One roll of bamboo slips can make at least ten rolls of paper. If we can open an official camp Paper, wouldn’t the treasury add a lot of resources?”

"That's right, that's right!" Liu Bei nodded again and again, and then handed over the matter to Chen Qun.Of course, the establishment of workshops and the selection of craftsmen also required Lu Hao's guidance.This method of manufacture must also be kept secret for the time being.And once this light and light paper came into the market, it aroused the frantic enthusiasm of the scholars.The original old and cumbersome bamboo slips are only destined to be used as firewood.

"Good thing, good thing!" In the late night in the Xuchang prefect's mansion, Liu Bei rubbed a few pieces of white paper, and he also sighed authentically.Out of excitement, I picked up a brush and splashed ink to write a few words.It's a pity that his calligraphy is really unsightly, and he laughed at himself after finishing writing.

"Husband, why are you so happy?" Mrs. Mi, who had just put her son to sleep, asked a little strangely when she saw that Liu Bei had been closing her mouth from ear to ear.Liu Bei was in a good mood, so he also gave the bamboo paper to her for a look.Mrs. Mi is also a lady of the family, she is quite familiar with poetry and books, and her essay writing is probably better than Liu Bei's.After reading this bamboo paper, I am also amazed.

"Husband, but I don't know where this paper came from?" Mrs. Mi was so excited that she wrote a few words for fun. After finishing writing, she felt that the brushwork was extremely smooth, which was better than bamboo slips and silk.

"It was made by Bo Tao and Lu Hao." Liu Bei laughed.

"To have such fantastic ideas, General Zhao is really a strange person in the world!" Madam Mi also praised.Liu Bei was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, and then sighed: "Yes, he is indeed a talent, indeed!" His tone seemed a little weird.

(End of this chapter)