At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 50
Zhou Qi looked at Cao Cao and sighed: "I heard that Brother Meng De was promoted as a filial and honest man just after he was crowned. When he entered Luoyang in the capital, he was worshiped as a man. Is this possible?"

Cao Cao said somewhat impressively: "In fact, when a certain person was promoted to be filial and honest, he was twenty years old and had not yet reached the crown."

Zhou Qi continued to ask: "Brother Meng De was recommended as filial and incorruptible, but the officials of the Pei Kingdom?"

Cao Cao nodded.

Zhou Qi asked again: "Why did they elect Brother Meng De as Xiaolian?"

Cao Cao was silent.

The reason why the officials of Pei State recommended Cao Cao as filial and honest was not because of his moral character or talent, but because of his family background.

Cao Cao himself is naturally talented, even if he is not recognized by everyone now, it cannot conceal the fact that he has real talents.

When he was a child, he was a dissolute man, he did not manage his career, and his moral character was not up to standard.

Without the influence of the family behind him, Cao Cao would never have been promoted to Xiaolian so easily, and then entered Luoyang as an official.

Cao Cao understood this, so he didn't say much.

Zhou Qi smiled, and said with a slight self-deprecation: "Father studied the family's Confucianism hard. Although he is not a great Confucian in the world, he is also knowledgeable and well-known, but he will only be relegated to the position of a villager until his death."

"My father was talented at a young age and determined to become an official in the imperial court in order to serve the imperial court and bring glory to his family. When I was young, I went out to study, hoping to become a disciple of a famous teacher so that I could be promoted."

"I never thought that my father died on the way and died young."

Speaking of this, Zhou Qi's tone became extremely low, and said: "Brother Meng De is full of talent, so it's no problem to be filial. However, in the entire Han Dynasty, how many people who are promoted to be filial have the talents to match them?"

"The reason why he can be promoted as filial and honest depends on someone from his clan serving in the court."

"The nobles and officials were friends of each other and flattered each other, so they could easily enter the court and become officials. The common people and the heads of Guizhou could not get any promotion even if they risked their lives."

"The powerful families marry each other, recommend each other, and almost completely control the selection of local officials."

"Over time, the stronger the aristocratic family, the weaker the imperial power, and the road to the rise of Qianshou was cut off."

"This is also why the first emperor launched the disaster of party imprisonment; this is also why His Majesty continues to expand the scale of party imprisonment."

Zhou Qi's words were like a slap in the face to Cao Cao.

He clenched his fists, his face turned pale, and there was a huge wave in his heart, but he didn't know how to refute it.

As vested interests, they feel that this should be the case, and that aristocratic families should enjoy this kind of treatment.

Cao Cao and the vast majority of scholars enjoyed the dividends brought about by the continuous growth of the gentry as a matter of course, and the division of imperial power and the interests of ordinary people also became the norm with the passage of time.

The world is not without smart people, but no one dares to touch this issue.

With the strength of the aristocratic family, whoever touches this problem will die.

The imperial court naturally discovered this problem, but they couldn't use the scholars to check and balance the scholars, so they could only start to imprison the party members while reusing the eunuchs.

With Cao Cao's intelligence, after being pointed out by Zhou Qi, he quickly figured out the key point.

He took a deep breath, swept away the decline just now, stared at Zhou Qi with scorching eyes, and asked: "What do you think, Ziyi, how can we get rid of these ills?"

Cao Cao is not a pedantic person, nor will he be conservative.

In fact, the historical Cao Cao also understood this, so he issued recruitment orders three times during his reign.

According to the way the big man employs people today, character and reputation are obviously more important than talent. If there is no talent or virtue, it is impossible to enter the court as an official.

However, regardless of character or reputation, it is not enough to have it yourself, but also to be recognized by others.

Including Xiaoyi's reputation, which can be obtained through packaging, putting on a show, and publicity, and reputation can also be slowly accumulated through the mutual admiration of celebrities.

Those who have the ability to package and promote themselves are often born in aristocratic families.

The real head of Guizhou and the common people can't eat three meals a day, so how can they have the spare energy to package and publicize it?
The first recruitment order promulgated by Cao Cao used the example of Guan Zhong who lived a luxurious life and was not clean. This is an important employment measure.

In the second recruiting order, Cao Cao mentioned Chen Ping again, and added Su Qin, who was dishonest, and continued to reiterate that people should be employed for their talents, not for their virtues.

When the recruitment order was promulgated for the third time, Cao Cao was already an extremely talented minister, and he did not lack talents to serve him, but he still listed eight famous ministers with dirty morals in history.He even said bluntly: Even those who are unkind and unfilial, as long as they have the skills of governing the country and using soldiers, they should be reused.

Cao Cao issued the recruitment orders three times at different times and in different moods, but the theme is actually the same, that is, to break the inherent inspection system of the Han Dynasty and the monopoly of the aristocratic family on official positions.As long as there are talented people, regardless of their background or character, they can be entrusted with important tasks.

Looking at his life, those who can really be fully trusted and reused by Cao Cao must either come from a bad background or have a lack of personal morality.Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, and Jia Xu are all like this.

On the other hand, Xun You and Xun Yu, perhaps because of their family background, or because of their good moral character and high reputation, they ended up miserable.

What makes people find it funny is that throughout his life, Cao Cao wanted to suppress the aristocratic family and reuse the poor.

However, his son Cao Pi, for the temporary stability of the court, instead implemented the nine-rank Zhongzheng system, which once again pushed the aristocratic family to the top.

In the end, Cao Wei could only suffer the consequences and fell in front of the noble family.

"How to get rid of the ills?"

Zhou Qi looked at Cao Cao, who looked expectantly, and couldn't help but murmur to himself.

Thinking of the historical development trend in the future, Zhou Qi sighed: "The country has accumulated evils for a long time, and it is not easy to get rid of the evils?"

He looked at Cao Cao, who was gradually showing unwillingness on his face, but he couldn't bear it after all, and said, "If you can do three things, you might as well try to change the status quo."

Cao Cao hurriedly said: "Please ask Ziyi to teach me!"

"First of all, you must have extremely high power. Only when you are in a high position and have the ability and courage to make changes can you have the possibility of success."

"Secondly, it can greatly reduce the cost of books, allowing people all over the world to purchase various books at their own expense without relying on wealthy families."

"Third, abolish the examination system and implement the imperial examination system."

Hearing the first two items, Cao Cao didn't have much objection.

Just like Shang Yang's reform, if he hadn't held a high position and had no support from Qin Xiaogong, how could Qin's reform have succeeded?

As for the second article, although it is very difficult, it is also very easy to understand. Its purpose is to break the family's monopoly on knowledge.

Compared with the Xiping Stone Classics and Hongdu Menxue, which treat the symptoms but not the root cause, this one is a drastic measure, but in today's era, it is still relatively difficult to achieve this.

On the contrary, after hearing the third article, Cao Cao asked with some doubts: "What is the imperial examination system?"

Zhou Qi spat out eight words: "The candidates are divided into imperial examinations, and the examinations are used."

The birth of the imperial examination system was inevitable.

China has gone through the late Han, Three Kingdoms, and Jin Dynasties, and the rulers deeply realized the danger of the existence of aristocratic families.

In order to break the monopoly of knowledge by aristocratic families, the traditional system of selecting officials must be changed, and the imperial examination system came into being.

The improvement of papermaking and the birth of printing can make books cheap and popular, so that most people have the opportunity to read.

Coupled with the implementation of the imperial examination system, it completely broke the status quo of "the upper rank has no poor families, and the lower rank has no noble families", allowing countless children from poor families to have the opportunity to become officials.

"Divided into imperial examination candidates, the examination will be used."

Cao Cao murmured these eight words, but his eyes became brighter and brighter.

He looked at Zhou Qi eagerly, and said, "Can Ziyi tell you in detail?"

Zhou Qi didn't hide his secrets, and talked eloquently: "The so-called division of imperial examination candidates is to refine those relatively important subjects according to the employment requirements of different positions, and then use these subjects to select talents corresponding to each official position."

"After all, people's energy is limited, and it is impossible for them to be all-rounders."

"Officials who need to be proficient in arithmetic can be specially assessed and selected for such talents; warriors who need to charge first can be selected through the competition of bow and horse martial arts; and generals who need to command troops can be preliminarily selected through the assessment of military tactics..."

"By analogy, each official position selects talents with corresponding professional abilities. There is no need to care too much about their abilities beyond their own duties."

"In this way, we can ensure the best use of talents, and it will not bury those people who are extremely professional but mediocre in other aspects."

"The so-called promotion of examinations is to abandon the previous system of selecting officials based on reputation, morality, filial piety, etc., and use a more fair and just method to allow everyone to take a unified examination and then select the best."

"Open selection, regardless of age, birth, or fame, the best will win, the inferior will be eliminated, and only talents will be selected!"

Hearing this, Cao Cao suddenly felt his blood boil, and couldn't help clapping his hands and sighed: "It's good that the superior one wins, and the inferior one gets eliminated!"

"What a meritocracy!"

"Ziyi's words made me suddenly enlightened. If the imperial court can reuse such talents as Ziyi, the world can be settled, and the Han Dynasty can be prosperous!"

Cao Cao's words already spoke highly of Zhou Qi, and his words revealed deep admiration and admiration.

It's not that Zhou Qi can far surpass Cao Cao, it can only be said that he stands on the shoulders of giants, and naturally sees many things more thoroughly and farther than Cao Cao.

In particular, the half of the song "Duan Ge Xing" and Zhou Qi's argument of meritocracy today directly hit the depths of Cao Cao's heart, which made Cao Cao introduce Zhou Qi as a confidant.

Zhou Qi said modestly, "Brother Meng De is absurd."

"I can only talk on paper, and my talents are far inferior to that of my brother. The one who can stabilize the country must be Brother Mengde."

Cao Cao laughed a lot when he heard the words, but he was not humble. Instead, he laughed and said: "If that day comes, I will try my best to implement the imperial examination system. At that time, I hope Ziyi can help me."

Zhou Qi's eyes moved slightly, and he said with a smile: "If that day really comes, I will try my best to help you!"

Cao Cao stretched out his right hand, his face full of excitement: "I will high-five you. I hope you will live up to your words today."

"Snapped!"

Zhou Qi patted it with his right hand, his face full of solemnity: "I will live up to today's words!"

(End of this chapter)