The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

"Haha." Chen Huai'an laughed frankly, "Actually, at that time, I was already waiting to become an official, thinking that even if I had to wait two more years, it wouldn't matter."

"I was just looking for a teaching job in Chang'an, I never expected it to turn out like this."

"Therefore, if the imperial examination system is not reformed, then children from poor families will never have a chance to rise in society."

"Unless the opportunities are at their peak."

Chen Huai'an thought of someone.

Ma Zhou!

This guy's story is both funny and heartbreaking.

Like him, Ma Zhou came from a poor family, but he was much luckier, though he had a very high opinion of himself.

It wasn't until he arrived in Chang'an after many twists and turns that he became a retainer of Chang He, a meritorious official of the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

He helped Chang He write documents and plan affairs to make a living.

Until one day, Li Shimin saw a memorial written by Ma Zhou and was greatly amazed. He knew very well that a military general like Chang He, who couldn't even read all the characters, could not have written such a memorial.

Ma Zhou was summoned immediately.

This led to the later appointment of Prime Minister Ma Zhou!

"..."

"Having said so much, Huai'an, what is your solution?" Li Shimin's gaze was intense. "And what are the contents of the reforms?"

As soon as the question was posed, everyone sat up straight, not daring to be careless in the slightest, for fear of missing anything that followed.

Given Chen Huai'an's talent, experience, and hatred for the imperial examination system.

They were even willing to offer huge benefits in exchange for the powerful families, so the content of the reforms they wanted to implement was certainly not to be underestimated.

Feng Zhidai silently looked at his future brother-in-law and truly felt the other's status and power.

No wonder my father repeatedly told me before I came to Chang'an that Chen Huai'an was the best marriage partner.

Chen Huai'an didn't keep them in suspense, and said calmly, "First of all, we can't touch the foundations of the powerful families, or they'll do something desperate!"

"Their silence is essentially a tacit understanding reached between us based on mutual interests. If it goes too far, it will not benefit either side."

"This is the premise, and I hope everyone understands."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Chen Huai'an continued, "Now that we understand this, let's talk about the first difficulty I mentioned earlier."

"Shengtu, Xiang Gong!"

"We won't touch the quotas for students, nor will we care how they recommend them! What we want to increase are the quotas for those who have passed the provincial examinations!"

"According to the old system of the Wude era, commoners had to be jointly recommended by the village elders and the prefect to participate in the local tribute examination!"

"We want to abolish the recommendation system and replace it with a free application system!"

Free application system?

Li Shimin and the others were momentarily confused by this term.

"Mr. Chen, what is the free application system?" Wei Zheng asked directly.

"It's very simple," Chen Huai'an said seriously. "The so-called free examination system means that any commoner in a prefecture or county who has no serious criminal record and is literate can register with the prefectural or county government to participate in the prefectural examination, and the prefect cannot refuse to accept them."

"This neither infringes on the interests of aristocratic families nor hinders the advancement of children from humble backgrounds."

"Finally, based on the above, the power of local officials must be restricted. Prefects must not eliminate candidates from poor families without cause. Those who fail the exam can appeal to the Eastern Capital, and the case will be reviewed by the censors. This will prevent the deliberate suppression of commoners."

Wei Zheng suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."

"Mr. Chen's suggestion is to lower the threshold for poor students to take the exam, so that they can smoothly enter the path of the imperial examination."

"Instead of the old system where it depended on connections, the conscience of officials, and the available quotas."

"Yes!" Chen Huai'an said, "That's exactly it."

Li Shimin nodded repeatedly upon hearing this: "Excellent, Huai'an's method is brilliant. Zhang Anan, write it all down for me, without missing a single word!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Zhang Anan had been prepared all along and had been silently taking notes from behind.

Chen Huai'an's voice rang out again: "Next, let's discuss the difficulties we mentioned earlier."

"Adjust the weighting of subjects, do not abolish the Mingjing degree, elevate the Jinshi degree, and retain the Xiucai degree!"

"We cannot abolish the Mingjing (a system of classical studies) because it is a system of Confucian classics passed down through generations of aristocratic families. It has a great advantage, and forcibly changing it would anger the aristocratic families!"

"Increase the quota for the Imperial Examination (进士) from a dozen to forty to fifty students per subject, and place greater emphasis on policies related to current affairs and people's livelihood!"

"The 'Xiucai' degree will remain unchanged, serving as a selection channel for top talents!"

Changsun Wuji nodded repeatedly. These were the points they had roughly considered when Chen Huai'an raised the difficulties.

However, whether it's their own idea or Chen Huai'an's suggestion, it's definitely just a rough outline at the moment.

The specific details still need to be discussed carefully.

"That makes perfect sense." Li Shimin was in high spirits.

I'm reminded of Chen Huai'an's saying: "Dismantle monopolies, bind interests, change rules, and dilute slowly."

Isn't this just slow dilution?

Once the imperial examination system is reformed, children from humble backgrounds will have a chance to rise in society, and the power of aristocratic families will inevitably shrink, as will their control over the imperial court and local areas.

Now Li Shimin felt that Chen Huai'an's saying about boiling a frog in lukewarm water couldn't have been more apt.

"The third point," Chen Huai'an said, his expression turning serious, "is a very important point."

"As I said before, the examiners in the imperial examinations did not look at the content of the exam paper first, but at the candidate's name."

"Therefore, we must eliminate this!"

"My solution is to anonymize them!"

Anonymous?

When Chen Huai'an uttered those two words, everyone's eyes widened in surprise, as if the clouds had parted to reveal the green mountains!

Fang Xuanling laughed heartily: "Excellent, excellent, excellent! What a clever name to use for concealing one's identity!"

"If the examiners could simply cover up the candidates' names, they wouldn't be able to see them and would only be able to look at the exam papers, thus preventing them from showing favoritism towards the aristocratic students!"

"This plan is brilliant!"

Li Shimin also greatly praised it: "For all the provincial examination papers, the candidates' names, places of origin, and clans were all sealed with paper. The examiners could only read the text and could not see their background. How could they show favoritism?"

"Huai'an, your idea is truly brilliant!"

Chen Huai'an smiled faintly and said, "Your Majesty, I haven't finished speaking yet."

"Anonymizing names is just the first step!"

"At the same time, we also need to break down the power of the chief examiner."

"Split?" Li Shimin turned his head. "How to split it?"

Chen Huai'an replied, "Under the old system, the position of Assistant Minister of Personnel Examination was held by a single person, which had too many problems."

"Leaving aside the fact that this person is likely from a noble family, his evaluation of the exam papers is problematic in itself."

"After all, since ancient times, there has been no first place in literature, but there is no second place in martial arts."

He turned to the crowd and said with a smile, "I may think a strategy is good, but you may think it's bad. Everyone has their own opinion."

"A single examiner can easily determine the quality of an exam paper based solely on their own preferences!"

Do you think this is reasonable?

Li Shimin wholeheartedly agreed: "Indeed, civil and military affairs are different."

"If you can't win a fight, you can't win; but it's different with literature."

"It's clearly unreasonable for the examiner to make the evaluation alone!"

"..."