Chapter 229: Policy Discussion, Debate on Talent and Virtue
Zhu Lan raised his eyebrows. This question might also be of concern to Emperor Liang.
However, the King of Zhenbei was in a high position and had great power. His current strength was not enough to compete with him, and it was even more impossible for him to directly talk about the strategy of reducing the power of the princes in his answers to the imperial examination.
Finally, Zhu Lan decided to start with the management of the army. Earlier in the Northern Frontier Camp, Murong Jing had discussed with him and Zhu Qingyan some thorny issues in managing the army.
For example, after a victory in a war, a large number of soldiers would flock to the brothels and brothels in nearby towns to spend their days drinking, eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. Such behavior would inevitably damage the image of the army, but it was never banned and gradually became the norm.
This is because after the soldiers win, they will get silver and land, and many of them will lose their fighting spirit and want to retire to the fields and go home to their wives and children. Only by letting them squander and spend most of the silver while they are in high spirits will they continue to fight with peace of mind.
Zhu Lan thought about it and decided to answer the question by rectifying the chaos in the military.
When writing about actual examples, Zhu Lan vaguely mentioned the names of several generals in the previous dynasty who were more powerful than their masters and who harbored enemies for their own benefit. This allowed the officials who were reviewing the papers to understand his meaning without being too explicit.
By the time Zhu Lan had finished drafting the answers to all the questions in the second test, it was already late at night. In the honeycomb-like cells of the Imperial Examination Hall, people had already extinguished their candles and prepared to rest.
The deadline for submitting the papers is tomorrow morning. Some candidates like to finish transcribing the papers in one go before taking a rest, so they decide to stay up all night. However, Zhu Lan is on the other side. The nights in early spring are quite cold, and he is a little tired after answering questions all day. If he forces himself to transcribing the answers in the dark, he will easily make mistakes. It is better to have a good rest at night and get up early tomorrow morning to transcribe.
She glanced at the copper candlestick she had brought on the table. It was round on top and square on the bottom, very stable, and the candle on it was only half burned out. Zhu Lan blew out the candle and noticed that the cells on both sides had also gone dark, and it seemed that they had the same idea as her.
The next morning, before dawn, a gong was struck to remind the candidates to get up early and continue answering the questions.
Zhu Lan stretched out in his duvet, barely moving his body, then sat back down at the desk, lit a candle, and began to copy carefully.
When the sky became completely bright, Zhu Lan had finished copying the test paper. She carefully blew dry the ink and put the paper away.
At this moment, a panicked cry suddenly came from the next room, followed by the rustling sound of papers flipping, as if the people next door were extremely panicked, followed by loud wailing, which sounded very tragic in the silent examination hall.
The bugler in charge of this area heard the noise and immediately came over to check.
From the crying sound next door, Zhu Lan realized that the person accidentally dropped wax on the paper when moving the candle, leaving wax stains.
Although Daliang's joint examination had a special transcriber to transcribe the red papers, even so, the marks on the papers would still be suspected of collusion with the transcriber to cheat. In order to ensure the greatest degree of fairness, the papers with conspicuous marks would be directly discarded during the initial inspection.
But there was only half an hour left before the paper was due, and there was no time to re-copy it.
The crying sound from next door was desperate and collapsed, and soon the man was taken out for disturbing the discipline of the Imperial Examination Hall - it would be more accurate to say that he was supported by two people rather than being taken away.
When passing by Zhu Lan's cell, Zhu Lan watched the candidate spit out a mouthful of blood, then fell down with his eyes wide open, and it was unknown whether he was alive or dead.
Peace returned to the Imperial Examination Hall. Apart from the pool of blood on the ground, it was so quiet that it seemed as if nothing had happened.
Zhu Lan withdrew his gaze and sighed inwardly, feeling somewhat sad. The other students in the dormitories also showed sympathy for their fellow students.
…
The examination finally came to the last and most important part, the policy essay. The topic of the policy essay was nearly a thousand words long, and it would take some time just to read it all.
After reading the previous material, Zhu Lan's eyes fell on the last sentence of the title -
"…What should a scholar put first? Talent? Virtue? Let me explain the relationship between talent and virtue, and discuss the key to a scholar's self-cultivation."
Zhu Lan pursed his lips slightly. This question was very interesting.
According to Confucianism, virtue is the foundation of talent, and talent is the supplement of virtue. Confucianism pursues the gentleman to have both virtue and talent, but if it is impossible to have both, it is often more inclined to cultivate virtue.
After all, if one has virtue but no talent, he is at most a fool. If one has talent but no virtue, he becomes a villain.
Zhu Lan, however, privately believed that if the imperial court always placed morality before talent in selecting talents, it would inevitably produce some people who could only sit and talk and do nothing.
In a peaceful and prosperous era, one or two more incompetent officials would not be a big deal. But in a chaotic era, when the axe is hanging over the neck, it is too idealistic to expect to influence the enemy with virtue.
Just as Confucianism was the only doctrine respected during the Han Dynasty, officials were appointed through the system of recommendation, which placed too much emphasis on morality. Those who were recommended were mostly those who were highly praised by public opinion and whose words and deeds were in line with Confucian norms.
The talents selected in this way were good at maintaining the status quo, but lacked the ability to make changes. As a result, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, although the Han Dynasty had loyal ministers and their strong character were admirable, they were ultimately unable to turn the tide.
The "Order to Seek Talents" issued by Cao Cao completely overturned the Confucian system. Even if a person had a bad reputation and was unkind and unfilial, as long as he had talent and knowledge, he could be of great use.
As a result, eight out of ten talented people in the world later served in the court of the Wei Dynasty.
So, is it more important to value virtue or talent, or to find the right time to score?
It's not that villains cannot be used. This is a double-edged sword. Whether it hurts others or oneself depends on whether the emperor can control it.
Zhu Lan sorted out his thoughts, picked up his pen, dipped it in ink, and finished it in one go.
When I looked up again, I suddenly realized that it was the afterglow of sunset.
…
Early morning of March 16th.
The examination was over, and the sound of the bronze bell rang out, echoing within the high walls of the Imperial Examination Hall. Upon hearing the sound, the scholars stopped writing, put down their wolf-hair brushes, and carefully sorted out the test papers in front of them.
The papers were solemnly handed over to the examiners, who counted them one by one to ensure that they were correct. Then the sealing officers sealed the papers and numbered them. They were then sent to the examiners' disciplinary room for review and preliminary selection.
(I have been harassed recently and it has affected my state. Girls should never reveal their gender when shopping online, especially if they are in the same city. Otherwise, they may end up like me, orz)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
