June 25th.
The ten-day Han Dynasty Games have ended, but Luoyang remains bustling with activity, and large numbers of people are still lingering there.
Some people traveled around to visit, observe, and learn, while others lingered in the shops, workshops, and factories of Luoyang.
Of course, everyone is waiting.
Waiting for this year's Imperial Guard recruitment, waiting for this year's assessment to begin.
However, after waiting for a long time, no imperial edict was issued from Deyang Palace.
Some officials from impoverished backgrounds were also puzzled and submitted memorials to inquire about the reason.
Deyang Palace.
Looking at the memorials on the table, Liu Hong simply smiled and ordered them to be put away, without replying or rejecting them.
Subsequently, Liu Hong issued an edict to the Ministry of Personnel, stating that the number of officials in the court and local governments was now full, and the performance evaluation for this year would be temporarily cancelled.
As for the recruitment of new students for the Imperial Guard, because there were too many students to teach, the recruitment was changed to once every two years.
The news caused an uproar.
Many people are also puzzled by this. They don't understand why something that has lasted for two years would change so suddenly for such a flimsy reason.
The students were also discussing it animatedly.
Some students believe that the assessment system should be continued to provide a fair and just opportunity for students across the country to compete.
Some students, however, believed that with so many students of varying quality, it was inevitable that some would be greedy, lustful, or morally corrupt. They argued that the recommendation system should be reinstated to select those with both excellent character and scholarship to serve as officials, which would be the proper way.
Both sides had their own reasons and were unwilling to give in or back down.
For a time, the students involved were divided into two factions, the old and the new, and engaged in heated arguments and debates in various venues.
During the argument and debate, both sides tried their best to restrain themselves and did not engage in a fight like last year.
Although most Confucian scholars of this era were the type to resort to violence if words failed, they dared not act when faced with the menacing bailiffs and the eunuchs of the Sili government, and remembering the experiences of those students in prison the previous year.
Arguments and debates take place daily, and more and more people are joining both the old and new factions.
Besides those students from impoverished backgrounds, members of the imperial family, relatives of the emperor, merchants, powerful families, and even illegitimate sons from prominent clans also joined the new faction.
Faced with a large number of new-style Confucian scholars, the old-style students who were only from prominent families were somewhat unable to resist.
The commotion caused by the Confucian scholars outside inevitably spread from the bottom up, affecting the imperial court.
The court assemblies were as noisy as a marketplace, with officials divided into old and new factions arguing endlessly.
As the biggest beneficiaries of the previous recommendation system, Chen Fan, Li Ying, Hu Guang, Yuan Feng, Xun Shuang and others all chose to remain neutral.
Because nowadays, they will benefit from any method of selecting officials, so there is no need for them to get involved.
On the contrary, Cao Song stood firmly on the side of the new faction. His agricultural research required the participation of a large number of people, and only assessment could meet his needs.
Therefore, Cao Song, as the leader of the new faction, always took the lead in every argument and debate. With just one sentence, he said that more people needed to participate in the research on grain, which left the old ministers of the old faction speechless.
Liu Hong was also extremely annoyed by the quarrels among the officials.
Finally, Liu Hong issued an edict to organize a braiding society competition in the square outside the Southern Palace. The winner would be the one to follow the rules.
The first braiding school of the Great Han Dynasty officially began outside the Southern Palace.
The students who came to participate were positioned on the east and west sides of the arena.
The group gathered on the west side consisted of more than 10,000 students of the new school, while the group of students of the old school on the east side numbered only about 3,000.
Before the debate even began, the old-school students had already lost by a significant margin.
Liu Hong also led his civil and military officials to watch the debate and make a ruling.
"Let the debate begin!!"
With Zhang Rang's shout, students from both the old and new factions stepped onto the stage to begin their debate.
In addition to upholding fairness and justice, the new-style Confucian scholars also used the development of the Han Dynasty as an example to emphasize the importance of various professional talents.
If the Han Dynasty wants to develop, it needs top talents from all walks of life to participate, and the only way to do that is through assessment.
The tense and heated debate lasted for two hours.
Faced with the reasoned arguments of the new-style students, the old-style Confucian scholars could only cite some old rituals and quote classical texts, and could not point out any advantages of the recommendation system.
The outcome seemed to be decided, and all eyes were on Liu Hong, awaiting the emperor's final decision.
Although the new-style students won the debate, they were not particularly happy at the moment; instead, they were somewhat nervous.
Because if the emperor acknowledges their victory, then he will certainly need to retract the previous edict and issue a new edict to begin the assessment.
Changing orders frequently is a major taboo for a monarch.
To put it mildly, it's being fickle; to put it more seriously, it's damaging to one's authority, and the consequences of that are very serious.
Although the emperor was wise and powerful, no one thought he would do something that would damage the emperor's authority.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Liu Hong slowly rose to his feet and, escorted by a squad of elite guards, walked onto the arena.
Liu Hong glanced at the students on the west side with a smile and said loudly:
"I have been listening for a long time, and I agree with what you have said. If the Han Dynasty is to develop, it needs talent, and all kinds of talent!"
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