I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 346 The prototype of the imperial examination

The method of planning examinations left by Liu Bian in Taixue finally came to fruition.

Regarding Liu Bian's opportunity to threaten the court by resigning grassroots officials from the five states, and demanding that grassroots officials be selected through examinations in counties and counties regardless of their origins, the courtiers generally had little opposition.

Occasionally, those who object are based on reasons such as morality.

In general, the courtiers were also afraid that if they resisted Liu Bian's demands, the emperor would suspect him of being associated with someone who had no king or father.

Those who resigned are far away, but they are all in Luoyang, and most of them have neat families. Liu Hong's Yin Jian is not far away, and they can't afford to gamble.

As for the dangers of states and counties using policies to test officials? Not to mention that the policy examination has not yet involved the county officials. Even if it does, what will happen?

Are you afraid that your children will fail the exam? nonexistent. Confucian classics have always been the foundation of a wealthy family.

Some people always place the credit for the imperial examination on Emperor Zhaogu, exaggerating the weakening effect of the imperial examination on the family members, and even think that Emperor Zhaogu suffered betrayal because he established the imperial examination system against the interests of the family members, completely ignoring It eliminated the restrictions on the qualifications to participate in the imperial examination during the reign of Emperor Zhaogu.

In fact, even in the late Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination was still a happy place for bureaucrats and aristocratic families.

Among the Jinshi in the Tang Dynasty, only 15.9% came from poor families. Although the background of the times was different, this figure is still much lower than the 24.4% of Xiaolian in the Han Dynasty.

The role of the imperial examination system in the Tang Dynasty in weakening aristocratic families was not so much reflected in the content of the examination, but rather in the location of the examination, especially in the Jinshi section. Because of the existence of "paper submission", it almost became a problem for candidates to rush from their hometowns in advance to Chang'an to stay for a long time. There is an unspoken rule that after passing the examination, Jinshi scholars cannot return to their hometown to serve as officials. This is the so-called "young people leave home and the elders return".

——Separating the most outstanding talents of aristocratic families geographically from their hometowns is the most important impact of the imperial examination system.

However, it would have to wait until the Song Dynasty for children from poor families to really shine in the imperial examinations.

Overall, Liu Bian's plan was carried out smoothly, and the Shangshutai quickly sorted out the execution plan.

However, Shangshutai still has some doubts about whether the selection of county and township officials requires state-level examinations.

For this reason, Shangshu Pushe Gaixun met with Liu Bian with some different opinions: "Your Majesty, in the past, the appointment of county officials and township officials was mostly under the authority of the county magistrate. You can take office. If you go to the county for assessment, some counties are far away, but the distance is limited. But if you include the state, the distance is long and the time is long, so you must be careful."

Liu Bian also knew that his own considerations would inevitably be rough, so he asked, "What are your plans?"

Gai Xun said: "In my humble opinion, there is nothing wrong with using two policy tests to select officials. After all, Tai students have already gone through one round of promotion before. However, the first policy test should be placed in the county, and the second one should be held in the county." It’s better to put it in the county.”

Liu Bian's initial thought was that he was worried about the county seeking personal gain. Adding an additional state examination planning process would mean an extra layer of insurance. Otherwise, if it is all decided by the county, wouldn't it mean that a lot of county and township power, which has been usurped by the county, will be further handed over to the county?
But Gai Xun's solution did not involve Liu Bian's concerns, so Liu Bian asked: "So, is the power of the county and state too great?"

Gai Xun discussed this issue with his ministers at the Chancellery at that time, and replied without hesitation: "His Majesty had previously intended to revitalize the learning of the prefectures, and he also specially sent former generals to inspect the prefectures, and the results were very good. The ministers and the ministers at the Secretariat After deliberation, I personally thought that it would be better to use county literature to participate in the second policy test to show its importance, and to supervise it with the county supervisor, and the state governor also has the right to inspect it. "

"As for the first round of examinations, it will be determined by the county and the number of places will be limited. As for the county, it will mainly detect whether there are falsifiers and will rarely depose people. In this way, the county will be prevented from overly intervening in the county's affairs, and there is no need to worry about the county and the country. Continue to occupy the power of the county.”

Liu Bian nodded, this is indeed a proper method. Even the later imperial examinations and county examinations were mostly presided over by the county magistrate, not to mention petty officials. The current method is equivalent to directly changing the planned examination into a preliminary examination and a re-examination, and directly limiting the quota in the preliminary examination.

Liu Bian thought that this method might have another benefit - it reduced the sunk costs of participating in the selection of township and county officials. In this way, the students who failed the first time did not pay much and would not have much resentment. As for the students who failed the second time and failed the re-examination, they should reflect on themselves even more.

The destructive power of failed students cannot be underestimated.

Liu Bian never thought about how perfect the imperial examination would be implemented right away. He still had a lot of time and could take his time.

After Gai Xun got the answer, he asked again: "Your Majesty, I wonder if this method is only applicable to the five states or will it be issued to the thirteen states in the world?"

"Let's try it out in the five states first! Let's see what the results are." Liu Bian said, not to mention other places, there are many imperial college students and rural officials in the Sili School and Wei Department, so this method is definitely not suitable for use in a short period of time.

Thinking of Taixue, Liu Bian asked again: "What opinions does the Chancellor have on the Imperial College examination?"

Gai Xun replied: "If Xunwen, the Minister of Finance, Youcheng, has something to say about this, I think it is good."

Liu Bian thought for a while and ordered: "If you come here quickly, let's get the imperial edict."

Not long after, Xun Yu arrived at the Yuntai Hall. He had long been accustomed to meeting the emperor. After greeting him smoothly, he spoke eloquently in front of Liu Bian and Gai Xun: "I don't think there is any need to ask the emperor. No matter how many changes are made to the Ce Examination, firstly, even if the Ce Examination method is implemented in counties and counties, the difficulty of the Ce Examination will definitely not be comparable to that of the Imperial College Ce Examination. Secondly, even if they are all township officials, Taixue Township officials are different from ordinary rural officials. They cannot be treated as equals.”

After Liu Bian listened, he immediately understood Xun Yu's intention.

The difference between college students and ordinary village officials is like the difference between management trainees and ordinary employees. The former are unlikely to stay at the grassroots level for a long time.

Liu Bian said: "According to what Wen Ruo said, it is no longer appropriate to call the county policy test. It is better to call it..."

He hesitated for a moment. He originally wanted to call it the imperial examination directly, but the imperial examination originally meant to divide the people who took the imperial examination. Even the Imperial Examination was not divided into subjects. The imperial examination was a bit unsatisfactory, so we should leave it to later.

"Call it a trial lift!"

Liu Bian added: "Whether they are in the past or in the future, all students from the Taipei who passed the policy examination and became officials must be marked on their resumes... Although there were differences between Taipei students and local officials in the past, they have not fallen into the open. Now, This is clearly stated in the imperial edict. As for how to evaluate the advantages of Tai students and rural officials when they are promoted, the Shangshutai will first make a rule."

Gai Xun and Xun Yu both responded.

Liu Bian is still very satisfied with the efficiency of the Shangshu Desk.

After the two left, Liu Bian called Zhang Rang and asked, "Mr. Zhang, did any of the courtiers have any different opinions on the resignation of local officials?"

(End of this chapter)