A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 399: How to be accurate in selecting virtuous people? It is too early to talk eloquently
After listening to Mi Zhu's words, Liu Bei first affirmed Mi Zhu's statement that most of the scholars and talents came from aristocratic families, and then pointed out that in the countryside and mountains, there were still pearls gathering dust.

Now I sit on the land of two states, and Qingzhou has been the hometown of Confucius and Mencius since ancient times, a place of literary talent. It is a deep regret to sit on such a large golden mountain, but cannot extract it, and let them talk about how to collect it to solve the problem of today's government. The problem of staff shortage in the government office.

At this time, Chen Qun, Zhuge Dan and other officials from aristocratic families in the hall were keenly aware that this was their opportunity and they must seize it.

Chen Qun was born into the Chen family in Xuzhou, and Zhuge Dan was born into the Zhuge family in Langya. In the past, some official positions in the country were controlled by relatives, eunuch relatives and friends, and powerful family members such as the Yuan family. He and others could only serve in places like Xuzhou, which was extremely difficult. Very few people are able to serve in the central government.

Now that Liu Bei occupies the land of the two states, he is second only to Yuan Shao and a great prince on the same level as Cao Cao. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that he is expected to compete for the world.

If they can help Liu Bei become a dragon, he and others may not be able to become a rare family like the Yuan family in the world.

So Chen Qun came out at this time and said: "Throughout the ages, emperors have been thinking about how to get more talents. Therefore, in the pre-Qin period, most of the talents came from the nobility, so they valued blood.

Emperors and princes have always recruited talented people based on their ancestors' sages or titles. By the time Emperor Gaozu established the cauldron, wise men were not only limited to nobles, but many wise men were lost in the wild throughout the world.

Therefore, Emperor Wu changed the previous practice of only selecting wise men from meritorious nobles to enter the Langzhong Mansion, serve as Langzhong, and then decentralize the local governors to serve as governors. Instead, he required each county to recommend a filial and honest man every year, who would in turn be regarded as the local governor's political achievements.

After Emperor Guangwu, most of the officials in the court came from Confucian scholars, and other schools had to be reduced to the fringes. Poems and books were used as the standard for whether they were worthy. Starting from the White Tiger Temple Meeting of Emperor Zhang, these things were recorded in "White Tiger Tongde Lun" middle.

Therefore, in the subsequent court, most of the Gonggun princes were people who practiced the Six Classics and Six Rites. Most of them were officials from Taixue, mixed with Confucian scholars from Baixue and Baiyuan.

The local governors and governors have the right to recruit relatives on their own, and most of the people recruited by these people are students who have returned to their hometowns after graduating from Taixue, Baixue, and Baiyuan.

This proves that virtuous people have once again been decentralized, and using blood and title as criteria for measuring virtuous people is no longer applicable.

Since Emperor Huan, the two bans of imprisonment have prevented scholars and talents born from aristocratic families from serving the country, causing incompetent eunuchs, relatives, friends, and relatives to control power. This has led to the current troubled world.

If the general wants to gather talents and no longer have the headache of lack of talents, he should treat scholars from aristocratic families with respect. They are all passed down by poems and books and have basic virtues.

Scholars who have been influenced by books and bamboo slips since childhood are always more reliable than those who rely on family connections to seize high positions.

And often if the family background is prominent and the ancestors hold high official positions, the children in the family will have the ability and talent. Therefore, if you only rely on the local governor and state pastor, and personal preferences to judge whether a person is virtuous, it will always be less reliable than objective family background.

On the other hand, if a member of an aristocratic family is elected as an official and does something detrimental to the country, it will bring shame to his family. This is another aspect of this person. Supervision and restraint. "

Liu Bei listened to Chen Qun's long speech and somewhat agreed with what he said, but he always felt that something was wrong.

"General, I have something to say, and I won't express it quickly." People like Lu Bu and Cheng Lian, who were born as warriors in border counties, felt uncomfortable with Chen Qun's comments about his family background and talent, so Lu Bu wanted to say what he was thinking.

"General Lu, please speak. This is a matter of public opinion, not a crime of speech."

“General, just now Chen Zhengyan’s descendants are from a prominent family, they are talented and virtuous, but I think there are also some criminals among those descendants of the clan.

People with no family background are not necessarily people without talent and virtue. Just like me, Lu Bu, although my family background is as humble as dust, I can become a powerful general with my own efforts. It’s just that there is no one to give me. This is just an opportunity.

If everyone has a chance, how can those people at the bottom not become talented, and how can they not become the next Wei Qing.

If one were to judge based entirely on family background, whether one is talented or not, I, Lu Bu, would be the first to refuse to accept it. "

"Yes, General, I won't accept it either."

Most of the generals who fit the mold of Lu Bu were warriors. Most of them came from the border counties and relied on their own swords and guns to fight one after another.

Why do those people with prominent backgrounds have a higher status than these people who fought hard to get here?

Liu Bei comforted Lu Bu and others. Chen Qun didn't know what to say, so he looked at Bai Jin and said, "Bai Jin, you and I both rose from humble beginnings. Do you have any different opinions?"

Now the people who followed him from Zhuoxian County, Guan Yu is not here, Zhang Fei has never been wise, Jian Yong is not good at strategy, and although Bai Jin is good at business, he also has his own way of knowing people.

Although Bai Jin seems to belong to an aristocratic family, the Bai family of Bai Kingdom is not without its lower class members. From Bai Jin's father's generation, Bai Jin has not enjoyed any of the Bai family's benefits except receiving a public school education from Bai Kingdom. Discounted.

Because Bai Jin's father, Bai Shi, is already the third generation of his branch. According to the iron law of killing three generations of the Bai Kingdom and the Bai family, Bai Jin and his crown queen can only find their own way out. This is why Bai Shi wants to Bai Jin entrusted it to Liu Bei, but gave him a reason to find something to do in Bai Kingdom.

When Bai Jin saw that he was mentioned, he spoke from the perspective of Liu Bei's interests, because now Bai Jin's wealth in his life depends on Liu Bei:
"My lord, whether it is Chen Zheng or Lu Wenhou, in the end, it is actually about how to select talented people and discard those without virtue and talent.

Whether it is based on family background, blood relationship, or title, it is a way to seek talents. You only need to see whether he has talent and virtue.

What Chen Zhenggong said just now has some truth to it. If you look at the world-famous talents today, it is true that more of them come from aristocratic families, but there are also many humble people such as generals and governors.

Therefore, I believe that seeking talents based on family background can only be used as one of the means and cannot be used completely. School examinations, reviews, and supervision should also be included to prevent the occurrence of nepotism. And civil servants are different from military generals. Civil servants take poetry and calligraphy as their main criterion, while military commanders mainly rely on the articles they have in their hands and take martial arts as their criterion.

Therefore, there is a saying that the prime minister must be from the state department, and the strong generals must be from the army. If the lord wants to accurately recruit talented generals, he should not only use one system, but multiple systems to prevent problems. "

Liu Bei agreed very much with Bai Jin's analysis. As a monarch, he could not completely appoint talents based on family background as Chen Qun said. Otherwise, if his subordinates were all members of these aristocratic families, how could he maintain the power in his hands?

At this time, Liu Bei looked at Bai Lu who was sitting quietly beside him and asked: "Young master is from the Bai family. It is said that the Bai family loves to cultivate and collect books. The Bai family's collection of books is like the vast sea of ​​stars and the sand in the desert north.

Therefore, those who know astronomy from above and geography from below, who know the ancients before and those who will come later, are famous wise men in the Han Dynasty. They must have some different opinions on this. "

Bai Lu knew that this was a critical moment. The system of selecting talents since ancient times has been Bai's top priority. Being able to use this system is Bai's long-lasting magic weapon.

Moreover, every time the selection system was changed, Bai would intervene overtly or covertly in order to further spread the knowledge.

"General, you are exaggerating. Bai's collection of books is to preserve the cultural heritage of Zhuxia. As long as the cultural heritage of Zhuxia exists, just like the existence of Mars, Zhuxia will not disappear.

It should not be called a wise man. Perhaps only the head of the Bai family, King Bai, can be called a wise man.

Regarding the general's question, I can only offer some superficial suggestions. Now that His Majesty is sitting in two states, it may be a little premature to talk about these major matters related to the country.

However, it is very good for the general to have this emerging idea. Since the general raised this topic today, let me share some family opinions for the general's reference.

Throughout history, knowledge is constantly sinking. From ancient times, knowledge only existed in the hands of sacrificial wizards, kings, and a few wise men.

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, knowledge came into the hands of the nobles, and nobles all over the world formed the people who led the Xia to advance.

When the great ancestor founded the Han Dynasty, knowledge came into the hands of the meritorious families. The talents of a country in the past can now be seen in the countryside.

What can be seen is that the number of people with knowledge is gradually increasing. This is the general trend, the way of heaven, and an unstoppable process.

Therefore, from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the monarch could only govern a hundred miles of land at most, but now the emperor has the power to control thousands of miles of land.

Rebellions on the border can be put down by the imperial court in a few months, and local lawlessness can be dealt with by local governors. Unlike the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the number of years was counted in recruiting the Rong and Yi and suppressing rebellions.

In this way, we can see that there is some truth in what Chen Cheng said. Knowledge is indeed in the hands of most aristocratic families, but this does not mean that everything is in the hands of aristocratic families.

According to the general trend, sooner or later, knowledge will be in everyone's hands. By then, will this system of selecting and appointing officials based on the family system still exist?

Therefore, my advice to the general is to use the aristocratic family as the standard, but leave opportunities for the future. "

Chen Qun also understood what Bai Lu said. Now they support the aristocratic family to control the power of the court, but this does not mean that the aristocratic family will always control the power of the court. One day, the aristocratic family will disappear like the nobles.

Perhaps the aristocratic family will stay, but like the nobles, it will change its inner attributes, just like the current Liu clan.

However, Chen Qun and others don't care, because they only care about the present. Being able to win the favor of the world and the darling of the times for the family, even if it is only for a moment, is better than being left behind forever. It should be said that Bai is standing with them now.

And Liu Bei basically understood. Bai Lu meant to tell him that you don't have to be afraid that the aristocratic family will seize your power. The rise of the aristocratic family is a general trend and you can't stop it. It's better to make good use of them.

But you have to be on guard and don't let them lead you. Using them now is your best choice.

At first, Liu Bei just wanted to ask them how to find some talents. Who knew it would turn into a meeting like today to discuss the lifeline of national civilization.

Now that I have some conclusions in my mind, no matter what I do, I will not be blinded by the remarks of those aristocratic families.

"Okay." Liu Bei silenced the people in the hall who were whispering because of Bai Lu's words: "Master Bai Lu is right. Everything we are discussing now is too big in scope. After all, we are only a land of two states. .

However, it's not useless at all. At least I know that if I want to calm down the world's troubled times, I have to rely on the aristocratic families. As for how to deal with them in the end, I think Chen Qun's suggestion is good.

However, there will be no results if we continue to discuss it. When one day we really determine the world is in chaos and have a position to decide the world's affairs, it will not be too late for us to talk about it. Now we still have a good talk about how to recruit some talented people to help I just came here for real. "

Although Liu Bei did not come to a conclusion in the end, in terms of attitude, he agreed with Chen Qun's criteria for evaluating talents based on family background. This point has made Chen Qun and other officials from wealthy families very excited.

This is Liu Bei's intention. Who can't draw cakes? Although he used to sell straw sandals, it's not like he has never seen others draw cakes. After all, he has eaten a lot of cakes and practiced it himself. most.

(End of this chapter)