Lu Xiaoyun also glanced at the scholar-official. You didn't make a scene, but you didn't accomplish anything either. The court is just supporting a bunch of useless people. The Great Zhou has been established for over forty years and is still so poor.
Zhu Dan looked at Lu Xiaoyun: "What does Prince An have to say about the hereditary official system?"
Everyone then turned their attention to Lu Xiaoyun.
Lu Xiaoyun said, "The system of hereditary officials has a long history, and it cannot be abolished with a single word. It has existed for thousands of years, and there is a reason for its existence."
The members of the noble families all nodded in agreement. It must be said that Prince An was the most insightful. Things that have been preserved for over a thousand years and passed down from our ancestors cannot be discarded so easily.
They raised their chins and arrogantly glanced at Gu Weizhi, Guo Shaoning, and the other people who opposed the hereditary official system. Look, they're dumbfounded now.
This is what you call vision. You guys should learn from this, instead of being lazy.
result……
"However, precisely because it has existed for so long, its development has led to more disadvantages than advantages."
Now it was Gu Weizhi and Guo Shaoning's turn to puff out their chests and raise their chins at the powerful families. Look, they were too happy too soon.
Zhu Dan nodded: "What Prince An said is absolutely right, please continue."
Lu Xiaoyun nodded to him: "Among the nephews and nieces of various noble families today, there are many who are lazy, ignorant, incompetent, have no political achievements, or even obstruct others. If our Great Zhou allows these people to hold important positions for a long time, how can Great Zhou continue to exist, and how can it develop the iron cavalry to resist Northern Qi and Southern Liang, and the weapons of Chen State!"
Several families with spoiled sons and nephews lowered their heads in shame. If it weren't for their fathers in the court, their sons and grandsons would have difficulty even supporting themselves, let alone becoming officials and achieving anything.
"Therefore, Your Majesty, in my opinion, every official who is not from the Hanlin Academy should be assessed every two years along with the Hanlin Academy officials. Those who fail should be demoted. If they are demoted and fail the second exam, they should not be allowed to be employed again. If they still want to become officials, they can only participate in the imperial examinations along with ordinary people, or join the army to earn military merits and enter officialdom."
This statement caused another great uproar at the morning court session.
"What should we do? My son only knows a few characters and has never taken any exams since he was a child. Now we want him to study the Four Books and Five Classics and write essays in the eight-legged style. Isn't this going to kill him?"
“That’s right, my grandson is the same. If you ask him which building has the prettiest girls, he’ll definitely know. But if you ask him to recite a passage, he can’t come up with a single word for ages.”
"Yes, what Prince An said was nice enough to advocate for us aristocratic families, but in reality, he was still on the side of Gu Weizhi and others."
Some people even cursed him in their hearts as treacherous and cunning, and he truly deserved the title of the number one demon king of Shengjing!
Zhu Dan kept staring at Lu Xiaoyun. He knew that Yun'er would always understand him the most. Yesterday, he had only mentioned it to her briefly, and she immediately knew how to deal with these powerful families.
But he also knew that Yun'er's words were a gesture of both kindness and power, giving him, the emperor, room to maneuver. She had paved the way for him, so how could he betray her sincere heart?
Zhu Dan glanced at the faces of the ministers and said, "I think what Prince An said is quite right. However, the method could be a little more lenient. How about this, the sons of noble families do not need to take the exam with the Hanlin officials. Instead, we will give them a separate exam paper, which will be a little simpler, and the type of essay will not be limited to the eight-legged essay."
The people in the council hall fell silent.
"The assessment is conducted every two years. Those who fail the first time can retake the exam after six months. If they fail the retake, they will be demoted. If they fail after being demoted three times, then I have no choice but to grant them the same treatment as Prince An. If he still wants to enter officialdom, he should go back and work hard to pass the imperial examinations step by step, or join the army to earn military merit. I will allow that."
Not everyone in aristocratic families is ignorant and incompetent. For example, Lu Yucheng of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and Qi Shaocheng of the Marquis of Yongbo's mansion are both extremely talented.
This also filters out a large number of good-for-nothing playboys who not only fail to achieve anything but also hold others back.
If powerful families wanted their descendants to serve as officials in the imperial court, they had no choice but to force them to either study hard or join the army.
The emperor gave them ample time; if they continued to be aggressive, they would be ungrateful.
Thus, the abolition of the hereditary official system, which had been stalled for several months, was finalized in this way.
After that, a series of policies were gradually implemented, such as allowing women to participate in the imperial examinations, enabling outstanding women to serve as officials in the government just like men, and popularizing basic education throughout the country.
On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Empress Dowager issued an imperial edict abolishing the absurd edict issued by the late Emperor that forbade members of the Zhu imperial family from marrying within three years.
On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, all the young ladies from prominent families and unmarried girls received invitations from the Third Princess. On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Third Princess would hold a plum blossom appreciation and poetry gathering, and invited all the young ladies from prominent families to participate.
Everyone who received the invitation knew that the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager were using the Third Princess's name to select potential consorts for the Emperor.
It is said that a concubine will be selected for His Highness Prince An.
Perhaps the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager will also participate, or secretly observe them.
Upon hearing this, the young ladies were energized, each putting in their best effort.
For a time, jewelry shops, clothing shops, and fabric shops were booming, and even the embroiderers in Shengjing City were too busy to keep up with the demand.
Half of these shops belonged to the Prince An's Mansion, so Lu Xiaoyun made another small profit.
What's puzzling is that all three young ladies from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion received invitations.
It was understandable that the second young lady, Lu Jinmi, and the third young lady, Lu Jinpei, received them, since they were the legitimate daughters of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. However, it was somewhat puzzling that the eldest young lady, Lu Xiaoyun, who was granted the title of Princess Zhenguo, also received them.
She was a divorced woman abandoned by Prince An. In the Great Zhou Dynasty, whether divorced or abandoned by her husband's family, remarriage was almost impossible.
Why did she also receive an invitation?!
Is it because she knows how to fight and kill? Is it because she was bestowed the title of Second-Rank Princess by the Emperor?
Ah, the most important thing for a woman in her life is to marry a good man, be a good wife and mother, what kind of behavior is this, fighting and killing!
Many people secretly despised her; who would want to stay with an abandoned woman?
"Miss, the Second Miss has gone out again." Zhu Yu was currently dealing with a large pile of account books for the Prince's estate that Lu Xiaoyun had sent over.
Hearing this, without even looking up, he said, "Tell Qiyu to keep a close eye on her. I need to know everything about who she meets and what she says."
"Yes." Li Feng rushed off to Prince An's residence to find Qi Yu.
Zhu Yu's lips curled into a mocking smile. Tomorrow was the Third Princess's plum blossom poetry gathering, and she had already prepared all the jewelry and clothes needed.
What good can come of going out now?
Two hours later, Qi Yu came to report that Lu Jinmi had gone to see the eldest princess.
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