Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 643 Boss Direct Hiring
The last exam was held in the Imperial Examination Hall, but for this "re-examination", the examination venue was set up in the courtyard of the Kaifeng government office because the number of candidates was greatly reduced.

Because it was a policy essay, Fang Chongyong set the rule of having an open-book exam.

Candidates can bring any reference books they want, and it is specifically stated that even cheat sheets are permitted.

However, after the baptism of the last college entrance examination, the candidates who have passed this time have learned their lesson. They all know that with the routines shown by the government in this examination, no matter what books or materials they bring, it will be useless.

If it wasn't an eyesore, they would have come in naked to take the exam to show their openness and generosity!
As expected, after receiving the test papers, the candidates broke out in cold sweats again.

There was only one topic for this college entrance examination: How to make the Tang Dynasty great again.

Yes, how can we make the Tang Dynasty great again? Now the Tang Dynasty is torn apart!

Fang Chongyong thought he couldn't do this.

So he particularly wanted to see what good ideas these wise candidates present could come up with.

After all, a stone from another mountain can be used to polish a jade.

Fang Chongyong walked around the examination room carelessly and slowly, stopping in front of a candidate from time to time to see how the other person wrote.

I have to say, there are indeed talented people.

He saw a middle-aged candidate named "Xiao Ying" who wrote a long and eloquent essay, seemingly "instructing" the Bianzhou court on how to use troops.

This man's strategy, in simple terms, was to rely on the Grand Canal to control the world's financial power. First, he would go south to Lianghuai, then cross the river to attack Jiangdong. Finally, he would split his troops into two groups, one to attack Hebei, and the other to attack Jingxiang.

After finishing these, we will attack Guanzhong from two directions. After Guanzhong is pacified, we will then take Shu.

As for the specific strategy, it is mainly to bribe and subdue the south, and to conquer the north. The order of south first and north later must not be messed up.

Do you think this strategy makes sense?

That makes a lot of sense, and is almost exactly the same as what Fang Chongyong had imagined.

But is it useful or not?

It's totally useless.

These are just paper talk. They are not much smarter than Zhao Kuo back then, maybe even worse.

Of course, this is just a test paper and we can't have too high expectations on it.

Having such a broad perspective already makes one a very capable person. However, it is probably too good to be true if one wants to save the Tang Dynasty with just this.

As he walked, Fang Zhongyong stopped in front of a candidate's desk. This person was Li Mian, whom he had personally examined before.

The examinee wrote in his paper:

The Tang Dynasty fell apart because it lost its so-called "morality".

This kind of morality does not refer to whether the throne is inherited normally, but whether the country is effectively governing the people.

The so-called effective governance means that evil people should be punished in a timely manner. Even if they are in a high position, they should not be let off. The government and the people should be able to provide timely assistance to the elderly, the disabled, and the suffering people who have left their homes.

Only when the imperial court treats the people with justice can it establish its prestige and gain the support of the people.

The reason why the Tang Dynasty has fallen into its current situation is because the wicked people are fearless, because those who should pay taxes do not pay taxes, and because those who should be in charge do not take charge!

Only by correcting these problems can the Tang Dynasty return to normal. Otherwise, even if the court unified the world in name, it would fall into trouble again in a very short time.

Seeing this, Fang Chongyong was amazed.

There were not many people in the Tang Dynasty who had such insight.

The pattern of ownership of means of production is the essence and foundation of the social system, but it is not the detail or the whole of the social system, and it cannot ensure the effectiveness of social governance.

The details of the social system lie in the specific governance methods and means, and the key to achieving these lies in the administration of officials.

In other words, the court must first manage the officials well, and then the officials can manage the people well. Otherwise, it is better to let it go and do nothing!
Although this truth is simple, it is not easy to dare to speak it out and expose the truth.

Sure enough, the more open-book the exam is, the more it can reveal the level of the candidates.

The real rote memorization is just to expand the scope of admission. In this era when aristocratic politics is still effective, the overall quality of the aristocrats is much better than that of people from poor families.

At the very least, the quality of education they receive since childhood is different.

This is also one of the main reasons why the so-called imperial examination system could not solve all the problems in the feudal era.

If a child from a poor family took part in this exam, he would probably be at a loss.

He didn't know how to save the Tang Dynasty. He had never learned it, and he had never even thought about it.

Four hundred people is not a lot, but it is not a small number either. After Fang Zhongyong looked around, he found that there were probably only a few dozen real talents. As for the others, they were just makeshift.

There were many prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of the Bianzhou court, and the court center was also being established. It was necessary to eliminate the dross and retain the essence, and to gradually assess and eliminate unqualified officials.

The number of talents that can be produced in one imperial examination is very limited. This is the talent accumulated over many years. If it is held again next year, perhaps there will not be as many talents as this time.

Only then did Fang Chongyong realize the difficulty of governing a country.

Although there are many people and many officials, there will never be too many useful people, only not enough.

There is still a long way to go in cultivating talents.

Fang Zhongyong sighed lightly and returned to the study.

After a while, the test papers were delivered to the study room one after another.

Yan Zhuang, Zhang Tongru, Liu Yan, Li Quan and others also arrived one after another and reviewed the papers with Fang Chongyong.

There are no names crossed out on this test paper, so you can see at a glance who wrote it.

Fang Chongyong was very democratic. Among the five people present, if anyone thought the paper was okay, he would draw a circle on it. If a paper had three or more circles, it would be kept and enter the next round of interviews.

Those who don’t have three circles will be eliminated.

"Hey, isn't this person Yuan Zai?"

Yan Zhuang picked up a paper and asked doubtfully.

"Yuan Zai?"

Fang Chongyong was stunned. Of course he knew who Yuan Zai was.

But what is strange is that Yuan Zai seemed to have become an official very early, was slightly older than Fang Chongyong, and had also passed the imperial examination.

Even if someone comes from a poor background, if they had been in the officialdom during Brother Ji's era, they should be able to make a name for themselves now, at least they have made a name for themselves in the past.

There is absolutely no need to take the imperial examination. For such "former" officials, the imperial court has special recruitment. What needs to be understood is the background, identity and position, and ability is secondary.

"Well, Yuan Zai was once Li Heng's confidant, helping him guard the Eastern Capital Luoyang and serving as the Eastern Capital's garrison judge. After Huangfu Weiming captured Luoyang, Yuan Zai disappeared and did not seem to have gone to Guanzhong. He must have been hiding.

I didn’t expect that he would come to Bianzhou to take the imperial examination.”

Yan Zhuang said with a confused look on his face. In fact, Yan Zhuang had already discovered that many people in this imperial examination were former officials. It was just that for various reasons, perhaps they had problems with their positions back then, or perhaps their political achievements were not very outstanding.

They all took advantage of this opportunity of the imperial examination to "cleanse" themselves and start over.

A similar thing happened in the imperial examination after Fang Chongyong's. In the session after that, two people who had passed the imperial examination and served as officials took the imperial examination again and passed.

In order to become an official, the scholar class really racked their brains and came up with all kinds of tricks.

"Show me the test paper."

Fang Chongyong stretched out his hand to Yan Zhuang and the latter handed him Yuan Zai's paper.

It wouldn’t matter if you didn’t look at it, but once you did, Fang Chongyong took a breath of cold air!

Yuan Zai wrote on the paper:

The reason why the Tang Dynasty fell apart was due to its financial collapse. This situation had actually been gradually exposed during the Kaiyuan period, but it had never been resolved.

If we want to restore the glory of the Tang Dynasty, we can only strengthen the finances. Without money, everything is empty. All measures must be carried out around making money.

On the one hand, the government should be able to collect more taxes; on the other hand, the people should be able to earn more money and more people should pay taxes.

The rent, labor service and tax system were completely abolished, and the two-tax system was implemented. Commercial tax, land tax, and salt and iron monopoly were elevated to the most important position in government affairs, especially for those dignitaries who did not pay taxes in the past.

Not only must we use our iron fists to force them to surrender, but we must also force them to surrender more!

In the paper, Yuan Zai described clearly the way to make money with a series of powerful punches.

How should I put it, this is a very qualified thug of imperial power.

Fang Chongyong sighed secretly in his heart.

Then he drew a circle on the paper. There were already four circles, but Liu Yan was the only one who didn't draw one.

"Minister Liu, financial management is your specialty. Could it be that you look down on Yuan Zai's financial management strategy?"

Fang Chongyong pointed at Yuan Zai's paper and teased Liu Yan.

"Sir, this man is eager for quick success and instant benefits. If he manages finances, he will squeeze the people's bones and marrow.

It's not that I can't do what he said, but I have to take people's livelihood into consideration. I can't make the people stagnant and all the merchants die out just to make money for the government.

Yuan Zai is a man of great talent, but it would be risky for the emperor to employ him, so I cannot agree to it."

Liu Yan saluted Fang Zhongyong with his hands crossed.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Fang Chongyong still put the paper on the "passed" side and did not kill Yuan Zai because of Liu Yan's words.

Democracy is about decentralization and decentralization. Since it has been agreed in advance that it is equivalent to "one person, one vote", then this "right of approval" cannot be ignored based on personal preference.

The literati and military officers under Fang Chongyong's command were all united and regarded him as their lord because he was fair, reasonable, well-founded and trustworthy in his daily work.

It’s like Liu Yan’s words made sense, but the other three agreed, so Fang Chongyong couldn’t depose Yuan Zai based on his personal preference.

This is a matter of principle.

Four hundred papers may seem like a lot, but everyone was very efficient in reading them. Those that were full of nonsense and clichés were passed without anyone circling them.

Fang Zhongyong originally thought that many papers would be left behind, but he didn't expect that only a dozen people would pass the three circles. From the college entrance examination with thousands of people to the joint examination with 400 people, only these ten or so people stood out.

Others are only talents of one state or one county. The so-called talents are also piled up by the population base.

"Counting backwards, two hundred people, all failed, and the rest became Jinshi.

A separate list will be posted for these dozen or so people selected.

Tomorrow, I will meet with them one by one in the study of this government office.

Talk to them in person.”

Fang Zhongyong yawned and said, preparing to get up and go to the bedroom.

He was exhausted these days. Jiang Wuyan had practiced martial arts and had amazing physical strength. His extremely flexible waist was something that not everyone could handle.

Fang Chongyong only had the upper hand in bed on the first night, but in the following days, he became more and more courageous.

He'll have to get some good sleep tonight.

……

Early the next morning, a notice was posted outside the Imperial Examination Hall, and more than a dozen candidates entered the "interview" stage. The list of successful candidates was also posted. These people would go to Kaifeng City in three days to report to the so-called "Six Ministries".

The specific situation can only be known after going there. According to the previous rules of the Tang Dynasty, the successful candidates had to wait for the selection of officials, and it would take at least one year before they could take up their posts. It was not uncommon to wait for more than three years.

However, the Bianzhou regime was just beginning, and it certainly needed capable officials to stabilize the basic base, so it was impossible to let these Jinshi candidates wait too long. After a "probationary period" of at most one year, they would probably take up their posts.

"How is this going?"

Li Mian saw that he had passed the imperial examination, and his name was also on another list of more than ten people.

It is said that I have to go for an interview, which will start at noon today.

The so-called "interview" may be a good thing, but it is also possible that the papers of these people angered the court.

The phenomenon of examination papers angering the imperial court and candidates being punished has existed since the beginning of the imperial examination.

Should I go or not?
Li Mian felt a little unsure.

He looked back at the people who lived in the same courtyard as him. Yang Wan, Chang Gun, Guan Bo, Xiao Fu, and Liu Congyi were all looking at the list. Among them, only Guan Bo was not on the interview list, while the others were.

"Are you all going?"

Li Mian asked softly.

Whether to go or not not only affects one's personal future, but may even involve one's life and property.

However, when Xiao Fu saw the name "Xiao Ying" on the list, he laughed and said, "Go, of course. Since the appointment is at noon, it doesn't matter if we go a little earlier now!"

Xiao Fu felt that with a troublemaker like Xiao Yingshi around, it would be safe for him to go to the government office to participate in the "face meeting".

If you want to kill, kill Xiao Yingshi first!
Guan Bo showed a look of regret and quietly returned to the courtyard where he lived. He knew that he would have no chance of marrying up with these new friends he had made.

Those people will become "higher-level" beings in the future.

When Li Mian and his party arrived at the government office gate, they saw that many people had arrived early. However, they did not see Xiao Yingshi.

As soon as noon arrived, the gate of the government office was opened, and a police officer led them into the government office compound. They were called one by one by their names and entered the government office study room individually for the "interview". No one knew what the others said to the examiner.

However, everyone who walked out of the study had a solemn and serious expression, and was unwilling to tell others what they had encountered.

(End of this chapter)