Chapter 499: The Selection Method

One month later, Li Chengqian returned to Chang'an from Cuiwei Palace.

As soon as he returned to Chang'an, Pei Xingjian, the Minister of Personnel, came to ask to see Li Chengqian impatiently, so Li Chengqian asked Wang Quan to ask Pei Xingjian to come to the Purple Palace to see him.

"Minister Pei, His Majesty is calling you in, please follow me." Wang Quan said to Pei Xingjian, and turned to walk into the Purple Palace.

Pei Xingjian hurriedly followed, walking side by side with Wang Quan and said, "Eunuch Supervisor, how is His Majesty's complexion recently? I heard that His Majesty has been unable to sleep and eat recently because of the natural disasters. I am a little worried about His Majesty's health."

"Don't worry, Minister Pei, His Majesty is in good shape now! Although the natural disasters make Your Majesty worried, isn't there Di Qincha to share the worries for Your Majesty! Your Majesty is not as depressed as before." Wang Quan said.

While the two were talking, they had already walked into the Purple Palace and came to Li Chengqian. At this time, Li Chengqian was sitting upright and tasting the newly brought tea.

"I am Pei Xingjian, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and I pay my respects to Your Majesty!" Pei Xingjian saluted Li Chengqian with his hands crossed, and Wang Quan walked back to stand beside Li Chengqian.

"No need to bow, stand up! Please take a seat! Someone serve tea to Minister Pei." Li Chengqian said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Pei Xingjian thanked him. The eunuch immediately brought a chair and a table to Pei Xingjian and put them aside. The palace maid brought the tea and placed it on the table next to Pei Xingjian.

"Xingjian, this is the tea made from the newly arrived tribute tea leaves. Try it. The taste of this tea is good!" Li Chengqian said.

"Your Majesty! I am just a rough man and don't know anything about tea ceremony. It's a bit of a waste to let me taste such good tea." Pei Xingjian said.

He was in a hurry to see Li Chengqian not for tea, but because he had important things to report to the emperor.

"You are in such a hurry to see me. I wonder what has happened that has troubled you to come to see me in such a hurry. I just returned to Chang'an and I have not had time to rest before I summoned you." Li Chengqian said.

"I am guilty of a thousand deaths for disturbing your Majesty's rest, but this matter is indeed of great importance and cannot be delayed for a moment. That's why I am in a hurry to see your Majesty! Please forgive me, your Majesty." Pei Xingjian hurriedly stood up and saluted.

"I don't blame you. The court needs a loyal minister like you. How could I blame you for this? Tell me, what brought you here?" Li Chengqian said.

"Your Majesty! Now that peace has been enjoyed for a long time, the number of candidates for the Ministry of Personnel with various qualifications has increased dramatically, and there are good and bad people among them."

"It will have a bad effect over time. If they are sent to the local areas, if they are incompetent, they will not be able to govern the local areas at all, and will instead cause many unjust, false and wrong cases." Pei Xingjian said.

Li Chengqian carefully savored what Pei Xingjian said. After all, the quality of officials is related to the future of the entire Tang Dynasty. These officials are the cornerstone of the Tang Dynasty.

If incompetent and greedy official candidates are sent to the local areas, it is very likely to cause public resentment.

Li Chengqian naturally would not allow something that would directly shake the foundation of the Tang Dynasty to happen.

"Xingjian, what you said makes sense, but how should this problem be handled?" Li Chengqian asked.

These candidates who have passed various qualifications cannot be eliminated casually.

After all, many of them are descendants of meritorious officials. If their qualifications are stripped without proper reasons, who will work hard for the Tang Dynasty in the future?

Why do people work so hard to climb up? It's to protect their descendants, hoping that their descendants can get good jobs through their efforts.

"I have made a list of candidates and a method of selection and appointment, and recorded these candidates on it, and used it as a method for selecting and registering officials. The selection of civil servants requires selection through examinations."

"All those who pass the examination will be selected and assigned to local positions. As for those who fail, they will be advised to withdraw and go back to school." Pei Xingjian said.

"Your method is feasible, but how should it be done specifically? Do you have any idea?" Li Chengqian asked.

In this way, it can prevent some dandy boys from cheating and filling in the numbers, and capable candidates will not fail for some reason.

"Before I came to see Your Majesty, I had already thought about it. I will conduct selection through examinations, which will be divided into four aspects, namely body, speech, calligraphy, and judgment."

"Body will be judged by their majestic appearance, speech will be judged by their rhetoric and dialectics, calligraphy will be judged by their beautiful handwriting, and the authenticity of the handwriting will be checked, and judgment will be judged by their excellence in literature and reason, mainly examining the candidates' familiarity with laws and their ability to handle affairs."

"Start by focusing on selecting candidates and testing their calligraphy and judgment. This is the most critical aspect. For those who have passed the examinations and are selected, we will examine the candidates' body and speech."

"For those who have passed all the examinations, it will be noted who will be retained or released and where they will be granted official positions. Then they will be announced to the public. This is the long list of names, and the method of selection and appointment." Pei Xingjian said.

"Good! With this method, we can select qualified officials for the court. I don't have to worry about whether there will be people who are just filling the numbers." Li Chengqian said. "

Your Majesty! Not only the court should do this, but also all prefectures and cities should use this method to select officials." Pei Xingjian said.

"Good! How do you plan to implement this method in every prefecture and county in the Tang Dynasty?" Li Chengqian asked.

"First, the proposed officials will be organized into a list of A and sent to the Shangshu Province for review. After the review is completed, they will be sent to the Ministry of Personnel for re-examination, and finally reported to Your Majesty. The person in charge will receive the order and carry it out. Each person will be given a token, and then a certificate of appointment will be issued."

"I will also divide Dingzhou County into eight levels, and the three capitals, five prefectures, the Protectorate, and the Governor's Office will also have corresponding levels. According to the seniority of the selected officials, the corresponding officials will be granted. In this way, the phenomenon of filling the numbers can be eliminated." Pei Xingjian said.

"You will be in charge of this matter. I will let Li Jingxuan, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, and Zhang Renzhen, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, assist you in handling this matter." Li Chengqian said.

Pei Xingjian couldn't handle such a big thing by himself, so Li Chengqian asked Li Jingxuan and Zhang Renzhen to help Pei Xingjian deal with it.

Li Jingxuan and Pei Xingjian were both officials in the Eastern Palace when Li Chengqian was still the crown prince.

The most important thing was that they had no personal relationship, and Li Jingxuan was also suitable for this job.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! I will definitely live up to your expectations." Pei Xingjian said.

After Pei Xingjian and Li Chengqian chatted for a while, Pei Xingjian stood up and said goodbye.

Not long after Pei Xingjian left, Li Chengqian issued an edict to let Li Jingxuan and Pei Xingjian take charge of the selection together.

He also appointed Zhang Renzhen, a deputy minister of the Ministry of Personnel, to create a surname calendar and revise the status and selection procedures. As a result, the selection method was perfected and later became the standard for selecting officials in the Tang Dynasty.