Chapter 884: The Imperial Examination (Damn it, I’m really exhausted, I need some passion)
In the Tai Chi Hall, light is scattered and it is very bright.
Li Shimin sat in the middle, and the other prime ministers sat on both sides according to their ranks. Luo Xuanchen sat in the third position on the right, because he was the Minister of Personnel, a third-rank official, the same level as the Minister of the Central Secretariat and the Minister of the Palace, but because he was not the head of the three ministries, he was ranked fifth in the Council of State Councilors according to his official rank.
The order of the prime ministers was Shangshu Zuo Pushe, Shangshu You Pushe, Zhongshu Ling, and Shizhong. The lowest-ranking official in the Council of State Affairs was Wei Zheng, who was the Zhongshu Sheren, which was only an official position above the fifth rank.
Luo Xuanye held the official title of Censor-in-Chief of the Ministry of Left, so even though he was a military commander and did not participate in the affairs of the Council of State, he was present when the Council of State collectively questioned the emperor, and he sat in the first seat.
Among the three brothers Luo Xuanchen, Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanling, if we simply talk about the power in their hands, Luo Xuanchen, as the Minister of Personnel, is now the biggest, even surpassing Luo Xuanye.
This is the Prime Minister in peacetime!
As for Luo Xuanyun, who once followed Dou Jiande, he is still unemployed at home and is a commoner. Luo Xuanye is waiting for an opportunity for the Tang Dynasty to go to foreign war, and then recommend him to Li Shimin to take up an official position, and then rise to prominence with his military exploits.
Today, the emperor and his ministers are discussing with each other. Li Shimin is a king who knows how to delegate power. Not only does he not hold all the power in his own hands, he even believes that it is wrong for a monarch to hold all the power in his own hands and exhaust himself.
When he governed the country, what he often did was to go to Lingtian Pavilion to discuss with Luo Su, and then summon all the prime ministers to discuss major state affairs. After making a decision, he would go ahead and do it.
He asked Prime Minister Feng Deyi to recommend talents, but the result made Li Shimin very dissatisfied. Feng Deyi was very perfunctory about this matter and said in a somewhat funny way that there were no talents.
Li Shimin immediately scolded: "There are no talented people in the world? Then where did you get promoted from?"
Seeing that Li Shimin was really angry, Feng Deyi quickly explained: "Your Majesty, there are really few perfect talents in the world today. The people recommended by the prefectures and counties are really unbearable to look at. Naturally, I cannot present them to Your Majesty."
Li Shimin's anger eased slightly after hearing this, but he was still very angry and said, "As a prime minister, you don't even understand the principle of selecting the best materials.
There is no one in this world who is perfect.
You, Feng Deyi, have never once defended yourself in court since you started the rebellion in Jinyang. Isn't this your shortcoming?
If I don't use you because of your shortcomings, is that right?
It is precisely because there is no perfect person in this world that I let you all serve as prime ministers together, so that you can give full play to each other's strengths. Those who are good at strategy can make plans, and those who are good at decision-making can make decisions. Wei Zheng can always see the problems of the time, so he is allowed to be a loyal minister. The Minister of Personnel has dignity and is good at judging people, so he is allowed to evaluate the officials.
Such a simple truth, why do I need to explain it to you?
It seems that the Right Sergeant needs to take a break and think carefully about how to do things in the future."
Feng Deyi never thought that he would be dismissed from his position as prime minister because of such an incident. He was about to speak, but when he saw Li Shimin's majestic eyes looking at him, he paused and returned to the table, "I will remember your majesty's words."
The atmosphere in the Taiji Hall suddenly became solemn. This was the first prime minister to be dismissed during the Zhenguan period, which fully demonstrated the emperor's majesty.
After Li Shimin dismissed Feng Deyi, he asked everyone in a deep voice: "Tell me, how can we recruit all the great talents in the world to the court? Without talents, the Tang Dynasty cannot prosper.
Xuanchen, you are in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, please tell us about it."
Since ancient times, there have been only a few ways to select officials: recommendation, recommendation, and more recommendation. Whether it was the system of recommendation or the system of nine ranks, they were all recommendation systems. The only difference was that the scope of recommended candidates was expanded from nobles to commoners.
The Tang Dynasty is now an era of aristocratic families. It is not simply because the system does not allow commoners to become officials, but because these aristocratic families are indeed at their peak. They have both the money to train and batches of talents to emerge.
Because of his family background, Li Shimin not only valued people from Guanlong, but also people from Shandong. Therefore, there were many people in the court who were not from aristocratic families, such as Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong.
Li Shimin actually employed people based on recommendations. Basically, it was the important officials around him who recommended someone as having talent. He would summon them in for questioning, and if they were indeed talented, he would grant them an official position.
Luo Xuanchen left his seat and walked to the center of the hall. After a moment's hesitation, he said in a loud voice, "Your Majesty, both the former Han and the former Sui dynasties had systems for selecting scholars by subject. The Han dynasty had the selection of filial and honest officials, the selection of scholars, the selection of scholars who were knowledgeable in classics, and the selection of scholars who were policy writers. I think we can modify this and use it as our dynasty's system for selecting talents."
As soon as Luo Xuanchen said it, everyone knew what it was.
This was a rather unremarkable system in the Sui Dynasty. Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others knew that this system of the pre-Sui Dynasty was no different from the systems of the Han Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It required high-ranking officials to recommend candidates to take the exam, and only a dozen Jinshi were produced in total.
In fact, when the recommendation system was in place, recommended officials had to be evaluated, and they could not be directly employed based on their recommendations.
"Minister Luo, isn't this recommendation system worse than the Nine-Rank System? At least the Zhongzheng officials in the Nine-Rank System are appointed by the imperial court."
"Yes, please explain it more clearly, Minister Luo. This recommendation system is a bit backward nowadays."
Under the imperial examination system, the power of recommendation was in the hands of officials under the monarch, while under the nine-rank system, the power of selecting officials was in the hands of the imperial court. This was a clear improvement.
Luo Xuanchen took in everyone's gaze and said, "Your Majesty just said that we should take the essence and discard the dross. Since I became the Minister of Personnel, I have been thinking about how to help the country win over the world's scholars.
I have studied all the systems since ancient times, and finally found a fatal problem! "
Luo Xuanchen's voice became louder, and his emotions were a little excited. Everyone in the hall could clearly feel it. Li Shimin was very interested. He couldn't help but hold the handrail, lean forward, and asked curiously: "Xuanchen, what's the problem? Tell me quickly."
Luo Xuanchen said loudly: "All previous systems for selecting talents were recruited or recommended by the imperial court, and it was done from top to bottom by the imperial court. No one ever allowed people from all over the world to volunteer to participate in the assessment!
if.
I mean if!
There are more than a hundred states and thousands of counties in the world now. If the imperial court sets up an official similar to Jijiu in every county.
Every one, three, or five years, we will gather all the scholars and talented people in the county, and the Ministry of Personnel will prepare some examinations on classics and other subjects. We will let them sign up themselves so that there will be no omissions.
The best among them will then be allowed to take exams in their respective states.
After the state examination is over, one can either take the provincial examination or go directly to Chang'an to take the examination of the Ministry of Personnel.
Finally, we will select talents from these people to serve as officials. Isn't this much better than the previous selection method?"
After Luo Xuanchen finished speaking, the hall fell into silence.
In fact, Luo Xuanchen's subsequent words are easy to understand, but the key is that allowing civilians to sign up for the exam by themselves directly skips the requirement of recommendation. It's not that recommendation is bad, but many talented people can only be frustrated because they can't find a channel for recommendation.
This is a system that will subvert all current models!
Fang Xuanling reacted and almost immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty, what Minister Luo said makes sense, but it is not appropriate to implement it directly!"
Everyone came back to their senses and recovered from the extreme shock. Li Shimin threw his body back onto the cushion of the seat and said, "Xuanling, tell me why you object."
Everyone looked at Fang Xuanling, but Fang Xuanling looked at Du Ruhui and the others, hesitating and unable to speak.
Li Shimin pointed at Fang Xuanling and said, "You said that this is related to the great affairs of the country. I think what the Minister of Personnel said makes sense. You have always been resourceful. If you oppose it now, there must be a reason. If you don't tell me, you will be suspended from your post and go back to your mansion to think about the past."
Fang Xuanling sighed and said, "What Minister Luo said is certainly quite reasonable.
But if this method is really implemented, the so-called assessment is nothing more than Confucian and Taoist classics, laws and regulations, mathematics, and policy essays on current affairs. The only people in the world who can afford to read these books and understand these are those from powerful and wealthy families.
I am not born into a commoner family, as my father was an official in the former Sui Dynasty. However, it was already quite difficult for him to provide me with funds for my studies. If I were asked to write the Confucian classics now, I would be far inferior to the officials in the government hall.
Once this law was introduced, the high-ranking families in Shandong and the Jiangnan families, although they had no other abilities, had generally read a few books. There were no great talents in the families, but those who could read and understand the scriptures, and those who were pedantic scholars, were like carp crossing the river.
This kind of exam will certainly be controlled by these wealthy and powerful families. Those common people who have strategies in their hearts but are restricted by these basic restrictions such as classics, arithmetic, and laws will really have no chance to succeed. "
After Fang Xuanling finished speaking, he lay down in the hall, quietly waiting for Li Shimin's reaction.
Now everyone knew why Fang Xuanling didn't want to say anything just now. In this hall, Luo Xuanye, Luo Xuanchen, Du Ruhui, Xiao Yu, Feng Deyi, Zhangsun Wuji and others were all from aristocratic families. There were too many people from aristocratic families under Li Shimin's command. Only Wei Zheng was of a low birth. It would be really offensive to say this.
After Fang Xuanling finished speaking, Li Shimin seemed to be thinking about something, and finally said: "Today's meeting in the Political Affairs Hall ends here. I am a little tired, and you gentlemen may leave first."
Everyone knew that the emperor needed to think about it and would most likely ask the imperial teacher for advice, so they all left.
After everyone left, Fang Xuanling walked over to Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanchen and said with a wry smile, "Prince, Minister Luo, what happened today was not my original intention."
Luo Xuanchen didn't care, instead he smiled and said: "What's wrong with Prime Minister Fang being loyal to the country?
But it was indeed the Prime Minister's fault. The establishment of the system was forward-looking, and the common people in this world are not as bad as the Prime Minister thought. The situation that the Prime Minister expected will not always occur. "
Fang Xuanling sighed and said, "I hope so. Your Majesty should go to see the Imperial Master. I wonder what the Imperial Master will say."
Luo Xuanchen smiled slightly when he heard that. Fang Xuanling reacted immediately, feeling a little bit unbelievable and dumbfounded. Just as he was about to ask, Luo Xuanchen turned and left.
Luo Xuanye also left the palace.
…
After leaving Taiji Hall, Li Shimin didn't even eat, and rushed straight to Lingtian Pavilion to find Luo Su.
The matter between Luo Xuanchen and Fang Xuanling left him with no other thoughts. He had a hunch that this would be one of the major events that would have a profound impact on the Tang Dynasty.
After entering Lingtian Pavilion, Li Shimin saw Luo Su playing chess with himself leisurely.
"Son of Heaven."
"Duke Wen."
Li Shimin sat down opposite Luo Su, who poured him a cup of tea and pushed it over to him. Then, while playing chess, he asked, "What is the matter with the emperor coming here?"
Li Shimin didn't waste any words and immediately told Luo Su what had just happened in the Taiji Hall. Luo Su smiled and asked, "What do you think, Emperor?"
Li Shimin frowned and said, "Although Fang Xuanling's words are quite serious, I think Luo Xuanchen's words make more sense. My intuition tells me that this is a good thing."
Luo Su chuckled and said, "It was originally a good thing. Fang Xuanling's words were a bit serious, and Luo Xuanchen's words were a bit idealistic, so the dispute arose.
More than a thousand years ago, books were made of bamboo slips. At that time, this method was definitely not possible to select officials. Now with paper, it becomes possible.
In particular, the price of paper is much lower than before. If the cost of books can be further reduced and books become abundant, then the imperial examination system, let's call it the imperial examination, will be able to develop greatly.
So you see, some systems are inherently flawed, but some systems are due to the lack of certain things. The key to the imperial examination system lies not in the aristocratic families and the common people, but in books.
Whether common people can read books or not, even if common people have less time to study than the aristocratic families and their number of books is not as good as others, the difference of thousands of times in number is enough to make up for these differences.
Of course, the problem that Fang Xuanling mentioned definitely exists. In the early stage, there were probably more aristocratic families, but as time goes by, there will definitely be more commoners, and eventually they will crush the aristocratic families in terms of numbers.
Just like the crushing of the scholars over the nobles, just like the crushing of the Confucian scholars over the old aristocracy, when the numbers increase, many things are doomed. "
Luo Su's explanation was clear and concise, which made Li Shimin suddenly realize. He asked, "Then how can we reduce the cost of books?"
Luo Su pressed down a black piece and said with a smile, "What a coincidence, there really is one.
Now the cost of paper has gradually decreased. If the emperor wants to make it, he can mobilize the power of the court and build some large workshops.
As for workers, women can be asked to do these time-consuming but relatively low-physical jobs. Half of the world's population are women, and we need to fully mobilize these talents.
The cost of books is high, mainly because the cost of copying books is very high. Now there is a kind of woodblock printing technology that can print books in large quantities. I asked Luo to improve several versions. Now the effect is much better than hand-copied books. Every word is clear and it saves the effort of handwriting.
Commonly used books, such as classics, can be printed in hundreds or thousands, and the cost of books has been reduced to an extreme level. "
God willing!
Li Shimin felt that this must be the favor of the Emperor Su, because he obtained the imperial examination system and printing technology at the same time. If this was not the favor of heaven, what was it?
After listening to Luo Su's words, Li Shimin stood up, walked to the door of Lingtian Pavilion, and looked at the sunlight shining outside. He felt warm, just like the hot blood bursting out of his excited heart.
"Master, I seem to be about to accomplish something that will have an impact on future generations."
Li Shimin stood in front of the door, the light shining on his face, and he spoke in a low voice.
Luo Su sighed, “Yes, at this crossroads of hundreds of years of chaos, everything you do will affect future generations.
Whether it is good or bad, whether you will become a model for all future kings, or a negative example like Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, it all depends on you.
This is your fate.
This is your luck.
This is also your pressure.
In this land of Zhuxia, at every critical moment, there will always be a Saint King who appears, and now it is you."
Almost every time Luo Su and Li Shimin met, he would hear the word "Saint King", and he always used these two words to demand himself.
“Once you, the emperor, have spoken about the matter of books, there will be no more voices of opposition in the government hall.
However, the imperial examination system is not that simple. If the emperor wants to hold another meeting in the Council of State to discuss this matter, he might as well ask them some questions.
These are the questions I have thought of for the time being.”
Li Shimin left. Luo Su sat quietly in front of the chessboard, staring at the black and white pieces on it. "It's another big event. It will bring some foundation to the family.
However, this imperial examination system has some serious problems and is in conflict with my major policies.
The next big thing should be the Fubing system. It is not very suitable for conquering the four barbarians, but it is still very useful for attacking the Turks and guarding the Central Plains. "
…
Luo Xuanchen was called into Lingtian Pavilion by Luo Su.
He guessed that it was about the imperial examination system, so he quietly waited for the ancestor to speak. Luo Su looked at Luo Xuanchen and said, "Famous prime ministers in history all have their own outstanding achievements. You proposed a reformed imperial examination system, which will make you famous in history.
With your talent, it is indeed not easy to get to this point. Tell us what you think."
Luo Xuanchen knew that this policy would definitely be recognized by Luo Su, and he said excitedly: "Ancestor, when I was studying, I was always thinking about one thing, that is, from ancient times to the present, power has been moving downward little by little, but most of the power transfers are passive.
So I began to think about whether it was possible for the imperial court to take the lead in decentralizing power. After reading countless books and examining the flaws of various systems, I finally found a system that could ensure that power was devolved to the grassroots level.
I not only have the current system, I also have an advanced version, and the final version of the imperial examination system, but this first step is already a creation, so the subsequent ones do not need to be implemented, it is not appropriate. "
Luo Su looked at him with admiration and a little pity. This look made Luo Xuanchen feel a little puzzled. He couldn't help but ask, "Grandfather, why are you looking at me like this? Is there something you can't tell me?"
Hearing this, Luo Su touched his head and said with emotion: “Your policy is groundbreaking.
Logically speaking, the world may gradually move from aristocratic politics to civilian politics. This process may last a hundred or two hundred years, but the future is foreseeable.
But unfortunately, what I am about to do will deal a heavy blow to your efforts."
ah?
Luo Xuanchen asked in surprise: "Grandfather, is there any conflict between what I did and your plan?"
Luo Su touched his head and said gently, "You did nothing wrong, you did the right thing, I was going against the tide of history, but this was what had to be done, you just happened to run into it.
It is still unknown how far the Tang Dynasty can go. The Dong Turks will be a good test subject to test the Tang Dynasty’s army.”
Luo Xuanchen didn't understand, and Luo Su had never explained it to him clearly, because everything was just an idea. Luo Su would never speak nonsense when the time was not right. He always went with the flow. Just like when woodblock printing was invented and could solve the problem of books, he would tell Li Shimin clearly that the imperial examination system was feasible.
…
It was still the Taiji Hall, and it was still Li Shimin and a group of ministers, but the atmosphere today was a little different. Everyone knew why the emperor summoned them here.
As expected, Li Shimin's first sentence set the tone for the meeting, "After my consideration, the suggestion of the Minister of Personnel is correct. With this imperial examination system covering the whole world, I can get talents from all over the world.
As for the Zhongshu Ling's concerns, I believe that only by recruiting talents without any restrictions can it be beneficial to the country. As long as they are talented, I can use them regardless of whether they are from aristocratic families or ordinary people.
Moreover, I do not select officials only from those who have passed the imperial examinations. If I find talents among the people, I will still promote them. If you, the ministers, recommend talents to me, I will also make use of them.
The Zhongshu Ling's worries are somewhat unfounded."
The emperor has already said so, and even if the matter is completely settled, it actually does not have a particularly big impact on them. Just as Li Shimin said, they do not need this method to enter the officialdom.
They all took the path of Ren Zi. The so-called Ren Zi, for example, Luo Xuanye's son, now has a fourth-rank official position because of Luo Xuanye. This represents their close relationship with the royal family and the size of their merits.
"I wish your Majesty will be wise and powerful!"
Everyone said in unison.
After everyone finished speaking, Li Shimin said, "However, I have some questions about this matter, and I need you to discuss it together and come up with some solutions.
The first and most crucial one is how to ensure the fairness of the exam. If officials can manipulate it and let their own people win, then the exam will become a joke.
I remember that there is no law in this regard. You gentlemen, please add it to the Zhenguan Law as soon as possible. I think this matter concerns the national affairs. If there are cheaters, they should be sentenced to death. But how to sentence them specifically is up to you to discuss. "
If Li Shimin had not said it, no one would have thought that if officials could manipulate this, it would be too terrible. The Ministry of Personnel was under the emperor's nose, and perhaps the emperor could still control it, but what about the prefectures and counties?
The people present here are all smart people. Everyone knows that the imperial court knows nothing about most of the things happening in those states and counties.
We can only send inspectors to various regions to inspect in rounds. The state level may be able to manage it a little, but it is very difficult to control it at the county level.
Seeing that no one was speaking, it would not be possible to come up with a complete set of rules in a short period of time. After all, this was a major event that concerned the whole world.
Li Shimin asked again: "There is another very crucial question, what is the test, the imperial examination, how to divide the subjects, according to the Sui Dynasty's name, Mingjing and Jinshi, or according to the Han Dynasty's Xiucai and Xiaolian."
Luo Xuanye pondered for a moment after hearing this and said, "Your Majesty, why not change the name?
People in this world always value pioneering. Some people merely give a name but take all the credit for a great achievement.
If we use these existing names, I am afraid they cannot reflect the new policies of our Tang Dynasty.
Some uneducated people in later generations would think that the imperial examination system has existed since ancient times and was not created by the Tang Dynasty.
Especially the names Jinshi and Mingjing, which were used in the Sui Dynasty. If the Tang Dynasty used them again, some people might think that this was the achievement of the Sui Dynasty.
I think this is unfair to Your Majesty."
Li Shimin smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. I am 28 years old this year. I still have a lot of time to create achievements. Why not share some with them?
Don't pay attention to the idle talk of those idle people. It's true. The Sui Dynasty and our Tang Dynasty will have their own opinions on who is superior. As for those stupid people, who would care? "
Li Shimin had a very good mentality.
Luo Xuanchen had certainly thought about this question, and he immediately said, "Your Majesty, I think we should offer more subjects. Since the ultimate goal is to screen officials and bring those great talents into the officialdom, then we naturally have to test these contents of being an official.
Take the six ministries of the Secretariat as an example. The Ministry of Revenue requires arithmetic, the Ministry of Works requires astronomy and geography, the Ministry of Punishments requires laws and decrees, the Ministry of Rites requires classics, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel are not included, plus literary talent, policy essays, etc. The most difficult Jinshi exam can test all of them, or it can be like the Mingjing exam, which only tests classics, as well as the Mingsuan exam, the Minglu exam, etc.
This is the proposal I prepared earlier, please take a look at it, Your Majesty."
Li Shimin took it and saw a lot of words densely written on it. He only read it roughly and knew that Luo Xuanchen had put a lot of thought into it.
Li Shimin smiled slightly and said, "It seems that you are well prepared. I think this is great. I will follow your instructions.
This is the great gift that I and the other ministers have prepared for the scholars of the world in the first year of Zhenguan. It must be promulgated before next month."
"I will obey your orders!"
————
By the grace of the Supreme Emperor Su Wang, the one blessed by Heaven, the Son of Heaven over all the peoples of China, the Emperor of the Tang Empire, I hereby declare:
Selecting virtuous and capable people for appointment to positions of power is the key to a country; selecting talented people from across the sea is the foundation of the country.
I have observed that the whole country is full of talented people, and they urgently need canals to be dug to bring water to the imperial court. Therefore, I have made reforms to enlighten the court, establish the rules and regulations for the imperial examination, and promote culture and education in the world.
On the day when the imperial edict is issued, in the territory of the Great Tang, anyone, whether noble or humble, Chinese or foreign, who has talent, virtue, and profound knowledge, can apply for a position in the county government or write in the state government, so as to make his talent known, so that the pearl will not be left in the dust, the wise will be left in the wilderness, the good horses will gallop, the culture and virtue will educate the people, so that all heroes can gather together, show their abilities, and jointly contribute to the great cause of the Great Dynasty and forever consolidate the country.
The imperial edict was sent to all prefectures and counties, and all the people were informed.
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