I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 390: As an emperor, what do you collect?

As the morning light fell, Chen Luo followed the eunuch and slowly stepped into the palace city.

There was no morning court today, so there were few carriages and horses passing by outside the palace, and it was as quiet as at night.

When he entered the palace, Chen Luo only saw a few colleagues who were going to work in the front hall. When they came over to say hello in a hurry, they saw the eunuch leading the way and could guess the general situation. When they reached the fork in the road, , looking back at Chen Luo's back with envy.

Arriving in front of Weiyang Palace, the eunuch who led the way turned around and said, "Mr. Chen, I will go to the palace to report to His Majesty. Please wait outside the palace for a while."

"Okay." Chen Luo nodded in agreement and stood patiently outside the hall while organizing his next words.

Unexpectedly, the eunuch walked out before there was even time for a cup of tea.

He raised his hands and said respectfully: "Mr. Chen, Your Majesty calls you to come in."

Chen Luo walked quickly up the steps, and a dedicated eunuch opened the door for him.

As soon as he entered the palace, he heard Liu Che's voice coming from the top, "Boyu, you have been working hard all the way. I also want to see you, otherwise I should let you rest for a few more days."

"I have met Your Majesty." Chen Luo bowed first and then said with a smile, "Although the journey was bumpy along the way, I have completed the disaster relief work and my heart is at ease. Not to mention that I can see Your Majesty after returning to Chang'an, which makes me feel like I'm home. "

When Liu Che heard that Chen Luo was not in a hurry to express his merits, but instead talked about "returning to his heart like an arrow," the corners of his mouth slightly raised upwards, and his eyes were full of appreciation, as if looking at a piece of jade.

Neither arrogant nor impetuous, his family background, ability, and bearing are all top-notch, not to mention that the Marquis of Huaiyin specially certified his military abilities.

Boyu simply has the template of a famous minister.

"I have seen how well Boyu has accomplished this disaster relief, especially the method of 'work relief', which is a good method that can be promoted to all parts of the Han Dynasty. If it were replaced by any other minister in the court, go No one can do this better than you." Liu Che did not hesitate to praise him.

Judging from Chen Luo's performance this time, it is not too much to say that he is perfect.

"I heard Doctor Zhao say yesterday that after I left, many people in the court wanted to replace me, but His Majesty chose to insist on believing in me." Chen Luo said in a deep voice, "So this disaster relief was successful. In fact, This is due to His Majesty’s ability to know people well and assign them well.”

After receiving praise, Chen Luo did not take all the credit, but first gave the first credit to Liu Che's "knowing people and being good at their duties."

So Liu Che raised the corners of his mouth a little more, feeling that Chen Luo in the hall was so pleasing to his eyes, and couldn't help but remind himself again and again.

Liu Che, Liu Che, your goal is to become a wise king, but don't be blinded by some good words.

No, Chen Xun is not a traitor.

He definitely didn't mean to deceive others, and what he just said was definitely true.

Well, Boyu, please increase your efforts!

Feeling happy, Liu Che asked with concern as usual: "Did Boyu encounter any difficulties when he was providing disaster relief?"

"Well... there is no difficulty." Chen Luo agreed, but there was a bit more hesitation on his face.

Liu Che noticed it and asked: "Boyu is here with me. To put it bluntly, if you have any difficulties, I will solve them for you."

So Chen Luo pretended to be hesitant, gritted his teeth, and decisively told everything about the Lujiang Prefect.

Originally, he planned to ask Zhao Wan to impeach him later, and write a letter to expose the behavior of the Lujiang prefect who tried to take advantage of him.

But Liu Che suddenly became concerned about the disaster relief process, so how could he let go of this opportunity.

So Chen Luo decisively started to put on a show, and then directly exposed the affairs of the Lujiang Prefect.

If I had not decisively invited Chen Qian from Yangxia, the disaster relief work in Lujiang would not have been carried out at all. If things went wrong, the prefect of Lujiang would be blamed a few words at most, but he would get tangible benefits, and his own The future is basically cut off.

After Liu Che heard this, the corners of his mouth that had been raised suddenly flattened, and his brows wrinkled slightly.

"Is this the case?"

"It is true." Chen Luo nodded seriously, "In the beginning, Lujiang was under the charge of Pingyang Marquis. The Lujiang prefect openly held a banquet and tried to use bribery to withhold relief supplies. Wei Qing scolded him. Until I rushed to Lujiang, they still To block disaster relief through inaction.”

He did not tell the Yangxia Chen family.

After all, the Chen family has not had anyone else become an official for a long time. If Chen Qian could intimidate the two-thousand-ton prefect just by his reputation alone, it would actually make Liu Che wary.

"I know, and I will deal with him when the time comes." Liu Che breathed out, his expression returned to calm, and he changed the topic, "As for Wei Qing, after he returned to Chang'an, I also summoned him and took the exam. He was indeed quite good. He is very talented, but he was just a riding slave in Pingyang Marquis' Mansion before, so he was really buried, but fortunately you discovered him, Boyu."

Seeing that Liu Che no longer mentioned the matter of the Lujiang Prefect, Chen Luo knew that he had already thought of a rough solution in his mind, but the other party was an official with two thousand stones, and operations at this level were not suitable for him to talk to now.

However, Liu Che started to praise Wei Qing, which suited him.

Rubbing his chin, Chen Luoxiao said: "Wei Qing has helped me and Pingyang Hou a lot in this disaster relief, and his contribution can even be ranked third.

However, his ability and character are as bright as gold. Even if he is thrown on the side of the road at night, he will still be discovered by passers-by.

Therefore, I discovered Wei Qing's abilities, but I just happened to be the one passing by recently, so I can't claim any credit. "

What he is saying now is just an "introduction".

As long as Liu Che catches this topic, he can continue to deepen the development and completely control the rhythm of today's conversation.

"Even though there is gold everywhere in the world, how many people only care about the two or three copper coins in their hands and don't look sideways at the gold on the roadside." Liu Che sighed lightly, feeling a little emotional, "You must know that Wei Qing has always been a servant. I have also been to Pingyang Houfu, but I have never paid attention to such a capable young man in the house. I am thirsty for talents, and this is still the case, let alone other people?"

Bite the hook!

Chen Luo suddenly felt happy, but his expression did not change at all.

He said softly: "The gold on the roadside is dazzling. There are so many people traveling in the world. There will always be people who see them. Maybe it's just that there is no way to present them."

When Liu Che heard this, he immediately became interested, "Tell me, Boyu, how can I gather all the talents in the world in the court to contribute to the great Han Dynasty?"

As a collecting enthusiast, he has his own unique concept.

Ordinary people collect gold, silver and copper coins.

A brave hunter who collects the heads of ferocious beasts.

Rich merchants collect treasures and beauties.

A man of letters and calligraphy, he collected paintings, calligraphy and antiques.

And I am an emperor, an emperor who aspires to be famous throughout the ages, so naturally what I want to collect are famous generals and virtuous ministers, the land from all directions, the coming of all nations to the dynasty, and the magnificent chapters of Xia!

Compared with these things, no matter how precious jewelry is, it seems cheap.

However, Liu Che feels that his current collection progress bar is empty.

Among them, Sima Xiangru could have written all the beautiful chapters, but he did not yet have achievements that he could be proud of to match his splendid writing style.

This can be considered as 20%. Liu Che felt that Chen Luo in front of him had the prototype of a famous general and a wise minister, but he had not yet grown up.

Then it can only be counted as half percent at most.

As for the land in the four directions that could not be developed and included in the territory; most of the surrounding countries were enemies of the Han Dynasty, and South Vietnam, which had apparently surrendered, also had ulterior motives.

The progress of these two collections is basically zero.

Therefore, all in all, my current collection progress is only 25%.

So how could Liu Che not be interested after hearing what Chen Luo said?

After a pause, Chen Luo said slowly: "There are countless talented people in the world today, but most of them live in the countryside. Unless they meet noble people and appreciate them, they can rarely stand in the court.

Since Emperor Gaozu, among those who became prime ministers at a young age, only Prime Minister Jia has an ear. And because Prime Minister Zhang valued his articles, he had the opportunity to become an official in the court.

And if the article is slightly inferior, or if it is not put into the eyes of the wise, then Prime Minister Jia may also be buried.

Just like Sima Changqing's article, which he wrote several times before but failed to be appreciated, is it because his words are not gorgeous enough and his structure is not neat enough?

Therefore, in my opinion, it is a pity that the court lacks capable ministers and officials. "

There was no one else in the hall, so he spoke more directly.

If he was secretive, it would make Liu Che think that he had something up his sleeve.

That would not be conducive to making suggestions later.

Having been in charge for more than a year, he already understood the basic situation of the court and some of its existing problems.

"Tell me, Boyu, what are the shortcomings of the current Han officialdom?" Liu Che raised his head with strong interest in his eyes.

Hearing this, Chen Luo looked solemn.

However, he understood that his plan had reached the final stage and he could pull the strings and seize the net!

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he spoke slowly; "The officialdom of the Han Dynasty is really too comfortable at the moment.

In the past, the country had been governed by the Huang-Lao method, so officials did not have many opportunities for promotion, or even many ways to become officials.

Today, Han officials are mostly selected from nobles and nobles. The only way for civilians to be promoted is military merit, and merchants are prohibited from joining the officialdom.

Under such circumstances, ambitious young people who want to display their talents have to join the army.

But the Han Dynasty rarely went to war, and it was not easy to obtain military honors.

Therefore, the channels for young people to become officials are quite narrow, and the selection of officials is also among a small number of people.

Under such circumstances, it is quite difficult to select outstanding officials to govern the country.

That's why Your Majesty is worried that there are not qualified officials in the court. "

What he is saying now is indeed the current situation in the officialdom of the Han Dynasty. Most officials do not want to make progress and only seek to have no faults and not to achieve merit.

When implementing the rule of inaction, appointing a group of relatively mediocre officials will not cause any big problems. However, if you want to do big things and work hard to govern, not only must you have a motivated emperor, but also the grassroots officials must be smart and capable.

Therefore, the problem Liu Che faced was the contradiction between his own aspirations and ambitions and the incompatibility of his ministers in the court.

Now I have pointed out this issue directly.

Liu Che nodded in approval.

What Chen Luo said now was completely consistent with his long-term worries.

Therefore, he recognized Chen Luo's statement immediately.

"Indeed, when I came to the throne three years ago, I tried to implement a few simple changes, but the results did not meet expectations. My eldest mother said before that the content of my changes was too radical, which led to the failure of the changes. I accepted this But now it seems that the failure of the reform was not my fault, but the implementation was not in place." Liu Che nodded and sighed inaudibly, his tone a little heavy.

The goals you set for the future require a solid foundation, including but not limited to finance, military strength, government, and prestige.

If we forcefully launch successive wars, we may still be able to achieve results and eliminate foreign aggression, but the big man himself will also be dragged into the quagmire and his vitality will be damaged.

Therefore, "building up the Yuan and consolidating the foundation" gave the Han Dynasty the confidence to support military expenditures and arrange and provide pensions for the casualties.

Ultimately, this requires a good bureaucracy to back it up.

If corruption is rampant and fifty taels of silver are spent on a blond pension, and after layers of deductions, only three to five taels of silver are left in the hands of the family, then who will be willing to join the army and charge the enemy without fear of death?

"It seems that this reform is indeed bound to be implemented." Liu Che rubbed his brows and his tone gradually became firmer. "Boyu made a speech today. It seems that he has thought about a solution?"

Chen Luo nodded firmly and said loudly: "In my opinion, the reason why today's officials are gradually corrupting lies in the limitations and opacity of the official selection system. Moreover, the elected officials have been separated from the foundation for too long and have forgotten People's livelihood is suffering.

That's why I encountered the situation before in Lujiang. If those officials had any respect for the people, they would not embezzle food for disaster relief.

Therefore, change must begin with the official selection system! "

Throw out the questions step by step, and finally bring all the problems together and directly attack their core.

The current official disease of the Han Dynasty lies in the official selection system!

Hearing this, Liu Che was also surprised.

This is really... too bold to say.

Ninety-nine percent of the Han officials in the court today were promoted according to the current official selection system.

Even Chen Boyu himself is a beneficiary of this official selection system.

The interests involved are probably quite terrifying.

However, Liu Che thought carefully and found that Chen Luo was right.

The many shortcomings hidden under the glory of the Han Dynasty are indeed inseparable from the official selection system.

After pondering for a few seconds, Liu Che made up his mind and said, "In that case, tell me, if you want to reform this official selection system, where should we start?"

"The disadvantage of today's official selection system is that it is narrow in scope. Therefore, to expand the channels for selecting officials, Your Majesty can make the inspection and evaluation a fixed system." Chen Luo took the words and put forward his own suggestions.

(End of this chapter)