Chapter 103: Ministers: Oh my god, another Shang Jun?!
Wei Shengxue is visiting the newly expanded academy.
It still bears the name of Xianyang Academy, but in her opinion, it is more like a school from the industrial age of the mother planet.
With reference to the training class she had temporarily built, the windows of the classroom were made of large panes of glass. When the windows were opened, large swathes of sunlight poured in, making it the most suitable place for classes.
Tables and chairs were placed in rows, and a classroom could seat about forty people. In the interstellar era, such a classroom could only be considered a small class, but in the Qin Dynasty, which was accustomed to word-of-mouth teaching and the master-disciple model, it was already considered a super large class.
Considering the receptive capacity and teaching level of our teachers, we don't have many classes scheduled each day. Furthermore, as the first group of teachers, these people aren't permanent members of the school, but rather students who were scrambled in to grab a share.
In this way, although the teaching resources are abundant, the actual effect cannot be compared with the inheritance between master and disciples.
"Why don't you just stick with the old method? That quick fix is pretty good."
Although they only trained basic talents, it was they who filled the large number of official vacancies in the Qin State.
The person accompanying the tour this time was Prince Jianglu. He could only smile wryly at this question and shook his head, saying, "The rapid training of those individuals is due to the Qin State's years of personnel reserves. However, minor officials are easy to find, but talented individuals are hard to come by. For positions like the Accounting Commandery, where someone with overall leadership is needed, we can only draw from the imperial court."
But the problem is that everyone is overworked now, and everyone in the court has dark circles and red bloodshot eyes. Even these young men who could have just gotten by are being dragged out to work.
In order to print the textbooks needed by the academy as quickly as possible, his older sisters went to the printing factory to supervise the work.
The shortage of staff is more serious than Weishengxue imagined. Don’t they have a talent selection mechanism?
"Talent selection?" Young Master Jianglu asked, "You're talking about the system of conferring nobility based on military merit, right?"
Shang Yang's reforms abolished the hereditary aristocracy system and replaced it with military merit, opening up a bottom-up promotion channel and giving hope to the lower classes. As a result, the Qin army became extremely brave and was called a tiger and wolf army by the six kingdoms.
Wei Shengxue nodded, then shook her head. "The system of conferring nobility based on military merit is one aspect, but it can only select those suitable for military service. And to be fair, those uneducated civilians probably can't even reach the level of a county magistrate."
This is nature.
How can someone who can’t even write his own name be an official and govern an area?
Wei Shengxue said, "The system of conferring nobility based on military merit is for the military, what about the civil service?"
"If a country has only culture but no military power, it is like a child carrying gold bricks through the market, anyone can come and grab them. If a country has only military power but no culture, it will usher in a short-lived peak and then a rapid decline."
She turned and smiled at Master Jianglu. Her expression was kind, but her words were like a prophecy, making him break out in a cold sweat in the cool autumn breeze. "A country like this will only last a hundred years at most."
"This country will transform into a war machine, with all its institutions, talents, and development geared towards foreign war. By achieving victory, it will gain sufficient war profits to ease acute domestic conflicts and maintain the national system. When this country stops fighting, insufficient profits will intensify internal conflicts."
Every time she spoke, Gongzi Jianglu broke out in a cold sweat.
He couldn't help but match every sentence with Daqin, and then found in despair that it seemed that every point could be matched with Daqin.
He even understood why his father refused to give up his desire for territory even though Qin had unified the world.
Without enough land and wealth to stabilize the army and distribute benefits, the entire system and all the new nobles who grew up based on the system of military merit will be prone to contradictions and conflicts.
"Now that father has stopped fighting, won't it affect the Qin Dynasty?" Prince Jianglu asked worriedly.
Wei Shengxue said, "Now is the time to make the pie bigger. The difference in each person's share remains the same, but as the pie gets bigger, everyone gets more. As long as we ensure our own interests, the main contradiction will become a secondary contradiction."
Young Master Jianglu listened to these unfamiliar terms, with confusion in his eyes.
It was rare for the immortal to give him special treatment, but he didn't understand.
Is there anyone who can come and explain it to you?
Wei Shengxue smiled and didn't explain any further. She just said, "Well, you just need to know that as long as Daqin keeps getting better, then these problems won't be a problem."
Gongzi Jianglu nodded. He understood and remembered this sentence.
"Oh, we've strayed off topic." Wei Shengxue slapped her forehead, "Let's continue talking about talent selection."
"There's a system of conferring nobility based on military merit in the military, and there should also be a corresponding system of promotion for civil servants, such as..."
Beep beep!
Just as she was about to get to the point, the sound transmission stone hanging around her waist began to beep.
Wei Shengxue glanced down and said: Huh? It's Liu Ji.
At the current marching speed, he should be almost at Accounting County.
Requesting a call at this time, is it because you have encountered some unsolvable problem?
Wei Shengxue raised her hand, signaling a pause in the conversation, and released her spiritual power to communicate with the sound transmission stone. Immediately, Liu Ji's wailing voice could be heard from within:
"My Immortal, I, Liu Ji, will die in this government office today!"
…
Kuaiji County.
Due to the hasty handling of the affairs left by the previous county governor, and the loss of a large number of minor officials due to the attack on the clan by the common people, the already scarce manpower was even less available.
The construction of a pearl breeding base made the already poor family even worse off.
With so many people recruited, someone is needed to assign tasks, manage and command them. A base with hundreds of people requires at least a dozen managers at all levels, but in reality, only a few can be spared, and the rest of the work falls on the rest of the people.
If Liu Ji hadn't been generous with his wages and bonuses, these people would have complained and refused to obey his management long ago.
This kind of work intensity was a normal daily routine for the officials of the Qin Dynasty, but in the eyes of the old officials of the Six Kingdoms who were used to an easy life, they were being exploited by the Qin people.
When being an official, everyone is at ease and plundering the people's wealth. But once they fall into the hands of the Qin people, they become donkeys pulling a millstone, working from the moment they open their eyes to the moment they close them, and even working in their dreams at night.
Is this the life that humans should live?
Everyone in Daqin: Huh?
Isn't that what all officials do? They work themselves to death as long as they're not killed.
The people of Daqin, who are already accustomed to internal circulation, say they don’t understand the laziness of you people.
People from the six states: The Qin people treat us like donkeys every day. We can’t live like this!
People of Daqin: The people of the six countries are so lazy, they must be longing for their homeland and dissatisfied with Daqin!
Both sides do not understand each other and think that the other side has problems.
After working hard for more than two hours, he finally dealt with most of the backlog of things. However, when he looked up, he saw a clerk walking towards him with documents at least a foot thick. Liu Ji lowered his head and slammed his forehead on the bedside table, wailing in despair.
When will this day end?!
In short, considering the ability of these people to bear and his own happy life, Liu Ji decisively asked for help from the immortal.
When he was in Xianyang, he knew that there was a shortage of manpower and that he could not train enough talents quickly, so he could only squeeze the existing ones to death.
but……
but!
That's an immortal!
The immortal is omnipotent and omniscient, there must be a way to solve it!
With such a firm belief, Liu Ji took a rare bath and burned incense, then took out a piece of crystal clear jade from the treasure box.
As for why not using the teleportation array...
This question, of course, is to avoid His Majesty!
If he raised this issue with His Majesty, not only would he leave the impression of being incompetent on the boss's part, he would probably not get any useful response. After all, Ying Zheng himself was still in dire need of manpower and was working late into the night every day.
Liu Ji reverently placed the jade gifted by the immortal on the small brocade-covered table, bowed respectfully, and spoke in the familiar rogue tone:
"Immortal! I, Liu Ji, will die in this government office today!"
…
"We're short of manpower..."
Wei Shengxue sighed softly, "There is indeed a way. We were just talking about this topic."
"But distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. It will take at least a year for this to work. I'm afraid I can't help you."
One year!
Liu Ji's eyes suddenly lit up.
This is the first time there is an exact time!
One year is nothing. He has to stay here for at least five or six years. This is much better than the earnest words of the court to "send people as soon as possible" and "transfer as many people as possible", but in fact it may not be possible to transfer people even after three to five years.
After receiving the good news, Liu Ji spoke very pleasantly, piling up all kinds of exaggerated praises, which made Wei Shengxue's mouth twitch.
Everyone likes to hear good words, but overly exaggerated good words will only make people feel uneasy.
…
After noon, when all the ministers were busy, His Majesty actually wanted to hold another court meeting.
The ministers were surprised and began to inquire about the news.
At this time, information control was not as strict, and after careful investigation, they soon learned that the immortal had lunched with His Majesty. They even learned that before that, she had been accompanied by Prince Jianglu on an inspection tour of the Xianyang Academy.
Could it be that there was some major loophole in the Xianyang Academy?
And he just happened to run into the Immortal Master, leading him to complain to His Majesty?
The officials cursed inwardly: Which fool did this? Don't let them be implicated.
No matter what they thought in their hearts, under the order of His Majesty, they could immediately put on their official uniforms, put down what they were doing, set out from their respective yamen, form a long black river, and enter the Xianyang Palace.
Some particularly clever people even put the documents they were working on into their sleeves, so that they could report to the emperor in time in case he suddenly asked about them.
"The prefect of Accounting County, Liu Ji, has sent a message requesting additional manpower. Do you have any solutions?" Ying Zheng did not bring up what Wei Shengxue said at the beginning, but raised this question like a cliché.
The ministers below were all a little puzzled. This issue has existed since the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms, and it cannot be changed overnight. Your Majesty brought it up now. Does that mean there is already a solution?
"I am coordinating with all parties and will dispatch personnel to support Kuaiji County as soon as possible." As the head of the civil servants, Li Si was naturally the first to express his position.
"The students in the academy will graduate in two months and will be assigned to Kuaiji County upon graduation." The doctor in charge of the Xianyang Academy immediately followed up.
Ying Zheng glanced around and everyone lowered their heads.
Just like a student who hasn't finished his homework, he doesn't dare to look the teacher in the eye.
Ying Zheng sighed secretly, but he also knew that they had done their best in this matter.
Solving the problem is neither difficult nor easy, just one word: delay.
Until the Qin Dynasty existed for a long time, until the world had become accustomed to Qin's notifications, until the Qin Dynasty found a new way to recommend talents.
If we want to solve the problem in advance, we can only rely on external forces to break the deadlock.
Ying Zheng stood up and bowed to Wei Shengxue beside him: "Zheng asks for your guidance to help the Qin Dynasty out of its crisis."
The ministers in the hall suddenly looked up, and when they saw the emperor's movements, they quickly lowered their heads and followed him in bowing deeply: "Please, Master, have mercy on us and help the Qin Dynasty."
Wei Shengxue stood up, used her spiritual power to pull Ying Zheng up, and with a wave of her sleeve, she straightened up the ministers who were bending over.
"No need for such a grand ceremony."
She looked at Ying Zheng and gestured frantically: You didn't say it was such a big deal when we discussed it!
Ying Zheng turned his eyes to the right, avoiding her gaze. He wanted to salute again, but he was suppressed by spiritual power and couldn't even lift his hands. He could only move his lips helplessly: "On behalf of the entire Qin Dynasty, I thank you for your help, fellow Daoist."
The ministers in the hall screamed madly in their hearts: Ahhhh, the immortal's magic! The immortal's magic has fallen on me! Ahhhh, I won't wash this dress! I want to keep it as a family heirloom!
He thanked her respectfully again, "Thank you for your guidance, Master."
Weisheng waved her snow-white sleeves and sat down again. As she moved, everyone found that the pressure on them was gone, so they immediately seized the opportunity to bow before returning to their original seats.
She held up two fingers. "There are two ways."
"One is the college entrance examination system, and the other is the imperial examination system."
The college entrance examination sounds similar to the examinations in the academy.
The word "imperial examination"...
"Ju" means to recommend, and it is now the main way to recruit talents.
division……
A group of learned people pondered in Zhangtai Palace, what exactly is this "science"?
"Ke, Ke," a Confucian doctor muttered the word in a low voice. "It sounds familiar. Where on earth have I seen it before?" He pounded his head with his fist. "Why can't I remember it?"
division?
division!
"Your Majesty!" Chunyu Yue stepped out, his eyes gleaming like a hundred-watt lightbulb. "As the Analects of Confucius says: 'If you don't shoot with your main force, your strength will be different from your own. 'Ke' means equal."
"This imperial examination should be a strategy to recommend different talents based on their different abilities." After saying this, he frowned and fell into deep thought.
If this is just a variation of the recommendation policy, how is it different from the current one? It cannot solve the current situation of the court's lack of talented people.
Li *Faru Jianxue*Big Brother* Si had a flash of inspiration and realized that immortals seemed to particularly like to use examinations to test students' abilities.
So is there any connection between the two?
He quickly answered, "The imperial examination system should be used to select talents of different abilities, and then use this as a basis for allocating talents to different levels."
Wei Shengxue had almost guessed the essence of the imperial examination after listening to their few words, and couldn't help but become interested in their classics.
"That's right. The imperial examination system is a system for selecting talented officials through examinations."
Tender waves rippled in her eyes, as if she was happy to see a corner of a brilliant civilization. "Just based on a few words, you can find the answer in history. You are indeed a vast and ancient civilization."
Hearing these words, the Qin emperor and his ministers looked at each other and a drop of cold sweat slid down their cheeks.
Oh no, I have gained too many benefits recently and was too excited to even forget about the new state establishment of Daqin.
Fortunately, it was not exposed.
"Yes, yes, thanks to our ancestors for leaving us numerous classics and notes, so that we, the descendants, can still get a glimpse of the former glory through the ink and books." He started to talk nonsense about his ancestors again when he remembered.
"The past is the past. Decline after the great changes in the world is inevitable. The important thing is to grasp the present and create a glorious civilization that is no less than that of our ancestors." This is laying the groundwork in advance to prepare for future exposure.
"Alas, now we can only look back on the lives of our ancestors from the few remaining words. We can't even tell the truth from these words. Perhaps they are just the imagination of later generations, not the reality of our ancestors." Others shook their heads and smiled bitterly, patching up the lies of their past.
Wei Shengxue enthusiastically joined the discussion. "It's rumored that there are powerful beings who can distort the strings of time, traveling upstream in the long river of time and glimpsing scenes of past events. What's more, some can even jump directly into the long river of time and change history at its source, dividing a world into different branches."
The people below who were about to speak shut up. How could this be?! We can't even imagine what the immortals can imagine!
Even with all my imagination, I could only imagine being able to summon wind and rain, ride on clouds and mist. Could an immortal actually change history?!
They lost.
Ying Zheng coughed lightly to relieve his choking beloved and brought the topic back to the main topic.
"This 'imperial examination' shouldn't be a simple exam like the one in the Imperial Academy."
Wei Shengxue nodded, "It is indeed an exam, but it is not a simple exam like this. It is a nationwide talent selection system for all scholars."
"There used to be a saying in our place: Learn the arts of literature and martial arts, and sell them to the emperor."
Ying Zheng felt warmed in his heart by these words.
Learn literary and martial arts, and sell them to the imperial family.
Hidden behind this short sentence is the emperor's absolute authority over ideological doctrines, which is what Ying Zheng, who is still troubled by the struggle among hundreds of schools of thought, expects.
Compared with him, the mood of the ministers below was not so good.
But they kept quiet tacitly and listened to the immortal explain in detail the rules behind this "imperial examination".
"Based on the subordinate local institutions at all levels, there were county-level academy examinations, provincial-level or county-level provincial examinations, joint examinations conducted by the central Ministry of Rites, and finally the palace examinations presided over by the emperor. Each examination selected the best candidates and awarded them different levels of titles and corresponding preferential treatment. The winners of all the examinations were called disciples of the emperor, which was the highest honor for all scholars in the world."
"There was once a poem that goes: In the morning I was a farmer, and in the evening I ascended the throne."
"This is about how scholars from poor backgrounds relied on the imperial examinations to change their fate."
It is not only about changing the fate of scholars, but also about controlling the thoughts of scholars by the emperor.
When gaining the emperor's approval is considered the highest honor for all scholars, doesn't that mean whatever the emperor says is the truth?!
What about their various schools of thought?!
Do we have to throw away our own thoughts just to flatter the imperial power?
What’s the difference between this and a running dog!
This made the ministers of the Qin Dynasty who dared to challenge the emperor on the spot feel uncomfortable all over. The swelling emotions made them want to blurt out rebuttals, but in the end, they were drowned in the clear eyes of the immortal.
When you meet an immortal, you must not be rude or offend him.
However, the content of the imperial examination can be discussed with Your Majesty.
"The imperial examination also has the meaning of selecting scholars by subject. According to different focuses, it is divided into various subjects such as Mingjing, Mingfa, Mingsuan, etc. This can be flexibly adjusted according to the talents needed."
Wei Shengxue took a sip of water to moisten his throat and continued, "The imperial examination system can break down class barriers and open up channels for advancement from the bottom. It has similarities to the Qin Dynasty's system of conferring nobility based on military merit. Perhaps your system of conferring nobility based on military merit is a remnant of the ancient talent selection system."
The ministers frowned and secretly retorted in their hearts: This is Shang Yang's law.
However, after hearing from the immortal that it was similar to the system of awarding titles for military merit, they relaxed their vigilance which had been raised to the highest point.
They thought it was another Shang Jun and were scared to death.
When Shang Yang introduced the system of conferring nobility based on military merit and abolished the hereditary nobility system, he offended all the nobles in Qin State. When Duke Xiao died, he was in trouble. But the old nobles were also gone.
The system of conferring nobility through military merit has been in place for hundreds of years, but not a single civilian has actually climbed to the top of the decision-making hierarchy through it. Everyone present here is well-known, and even those of humble origins have had a good teacher to transform their status. Well, this refers specifically to a certain Mr. Li, who holds the top position among the civil servants.
The exams require literacy and reading, which give them advantages over ordinary people.
Even some generals began to think about it. Now that the world is peaceful and there will be fewer wars in the future, their families also need to consider the issue of family continuity. The family martial arts cannot be lost, but those who do not have the right of inheritance can be sent out to test the waters.
If it succeeds, it will be another way to advance; if it fails, it will also be a way to show support to the immortal and gain more respect.
"Excuse me, Immortal Master, what is the meaning of the college entrance examination?"
——Everyone, don’t get obsessed, there is still a way to go!
"The college entrance examination."
Wei Shengxue frowned slightly, she didn't know where to start.
The college entrance examination relies on universal education and is a secondary diversion for the vast number of students. It also has a certain role in selecting talents, but it is not as strong as the imperial examination.
"The Gaokao (Gaokao) stands for the College Entrance Examination System. Like the Imperial Examination, it's an exam for all educated people, but it's primarily for teenagers aged eighteen or nineteen. It's essentially a selection process for colleges to recruit students, not a selection process for government officials."
Wei Shengxue spoke faster, "Primary school is six years, junior high school is three years, and after the junior high school entrance exam, students are divided into different streams. Those who do well go on to high school, while those who don't go to technical schools to learn a skill. After three years of high school, they take the college entrance exam. After the college entrance exam, they go to university, which is divided into thousands of different majors, and then they continue their studies."
Compared with the imperial examination just now, the explanation of this "college entrance examination" seems both specific and vague, which also seems to subtly reveal the choice of the immortals.
Doctor Ji Ran from the School of Studies quickly calculated the number of students who would need to support so many diversions. He took a breath while calculating, successfully attracting the attention of the people around him.
The doctor standing next to him saw that his fingers were almost cramping from calculating, and looked at him nervously, "Did you figure it out?"
Ji Ranxue, a student who always prided himself on his calculation ability, shook his head, his eyes still filled with horror. "A lot." He looked at the people around him and emphasized again, "Very, very much."
Moreover, in order to gather enough students to be selected through multiple rounds of selection, how many students should be admitted at the beginning?
How many of them want to read and write?
Was the extremely simple literacy pinyin that the immortal had taken out before just for the purpose of enlightening these people?
He didn't know, and didn't dare to think about it any further. He put his hands in his pockets and returned to his usual inconspicuous and silent attitude.
Ying Zheng's voice came from afar, "Fellow Daoist seems to be pessimistic about this 'Gaokao' system."
The immortal was as blunt as ever, "You even have trouble training 2,000 people a year, so where will you get the teachers to support the college entrance examination system?"
"What's more, it takes sixteen years from elementary school to university graduation. From the age of seven to twenty-one, you study. Can you accept so many people not engaging in production and business activities for such a long time?"
impossible.
This answer popped up in everyone's mind.
The Qin Dynasty had to perform military service and corvee labor, so it was impossible for so many people to stay in school all the time.
They didn't speak, but the immortal seemed to hear the answer in their hearts.
"So," her ethereal and distant voice drifted down from above, "you can't just cultivate it yourself, you can't just pick up a ready-made fragrance."
There are so many people in the six countries, why don’t you go and grab the bargains!
The immortal's tone remained the same, but when heard by everyone, it sounded a bit more condescending, thorough, and cold.
“When the people of the six kingdoms restored their states, were they restoring their homelands, or their former superiority?”
When another opportunity to be superior to others is presented to them, what choice will they make?
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