Chapter 225 Imperial Examination
Several months have passed since the issue of redundant officials was dealt with. Although it is a good thing for the overall situation, it is a real pain for the bureaucratic group, and it cannot be compensated by the emperor's compensation in salary.

The emperor's reputation also suffered a certain blow as he targeted all clan officials. Of course, officials such as Fang Xuanling who presided over the matter faced even greater criticism.

Someone had to bear the resentment of the dismissed officials, but Li Jiancheng still promoted Fang Xuanling and others and did a good job. Not only did he offend Guanlong, but he also did not let go of his own relatives and old friends.

How can we not reward such a loyal minister?

Li Jiancheng could accept factions among officials in the court, but he also had to have loyal ministers who were loyal to him, and they had to account for a considerable proportion.

But now there are almost no officials in the court who are not influenced by their background, so he can only purify them himself. Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Liu Wenjing, Wang Long, Wei Zheng and others are among those he chose.

But these people alone are certainly not enough, and it is time to start the imperial examination to recruit officials. When fighting for an empire, only those who win the hearts of the people can win the world, and when sitting on the throne, only those who have talents can pacify the world.

When it comes to winning the hearts of the people, Li Jiancheng is undoubtedly a typical example. When he was fighting for power, the troops he actually controlled were not enough to unify the world so quickly, but relying on his reputation among the aristocratic families and scholars, he was able to conquer most of the counties and prefectures in the world with a single order.

When it comes to talent, it's not that the civil and military officials in the court are not good enough, but their background. Too prominent background and too large a family will affect their decisions at certain times.

Guanzhong, Shandong, Beidai and Jiangnan, the court is filled with wealthy and prominent families from various places. Li Jiancheng now hopes to have some children from humble families to balance the court.

Although children from poor families can eventually become prominent and wealthy, it still takes several generations, and no one can predict the ups and downs. Moreover, once the imperial examination is opened, as long as the method is appropriate, there will be an endless supply of children from poor families.

As for the children of common people and gentry, it is still too early for them to make a name for themselves, as the knowledge of classics is monopolized by the aristocratic families. Even those from poor families can still inherit some of their wealth and support one or two scholars.

However, before the imperial examination was launched, there was still some work to be done, and the aristocratic families had to be given some time to recover. They always had to strike at the foundation of their existence. Even if they could not turn the tables, they could still do bad things if they gave it their all.

Li Jiancheng himself came from a noble family, so of course he knew what they were thinking. His attitude recently was indeed somewhat directed against them, that is, he would start with the royal family first, so that they would have nothing to say.

So in the following period of time, Li Jiancheng increased the salaries of officials of all ranks. Compared with the salaries saved from cutting officials, the amount was not much, but the meaning was there.

Then he promoted some representatives of aristocratic families and rewarded them with some treasures that came as tribute. More importantly, he ordered them to recommend some young scholars, which finally eased their emotions a little, but it was still not enough.

One day after the court meeting, Li Jiancheng did not return to the harem to rest, but went straight to the Hongwenguan and summoned many famous scholars.

"Your Majesty, we welcome you."

"Well, please excuse me, gentlemen."

There are more than 100,000 volumes of books in the Hongwenguan. It is spacious and bright, and the scent of books and ink is everywhere. Li Jiancheng walked in wearing his usual clothes and wearing the Lu Lu sword and two white jade pendants.

After the greetings, he ordered the scholars to return to their posts and only left a few bachelors to accompany him. He would occasionally ask about matters concerning the literati, such as the book compilation project of Wen Zhonggong Wang Tong.

This will also be an important part of the imperial examination. To take the exam, you have to study, and after studying, you have to accept the ideas that he wants to preach to the world. Under subtle influence, it will become the law of nature.

After all the scholars had arrived, Li Jiancheng turned the topic to the imperial examination. Although the imperial examination was established in the Sui Dynasty, it was only held four or five times, and only a dozen people were selected in total. And the most important thing is that in the Sui Dynasty, only candidates could participate in the imperial examination with the special recommendation of ministers or prefecture and county officials.

Therefore, the officials of the Hongwen Academy were not excited when they heard about the imperial examination. Some even advised, "The court has just laid off many officials. Now it is not a good idea to hold an imperial examination again."

Li Jiancheng said: "I intend to let all the dismissed officials participate in this imperial examination. If anyone can stand out, I will send an envoy to welcome him back to the court on my behalf.

The Duke of Wei has just sent me a victory report. The four counties have been recaptured. The Tuyuhun leader Murong Fuyun has also been captured by the Western Turkic Khan and is being escorted to Chang'an as a gift from the Khan to me.

The officials of these four counties were all selected through this imperial examination."

These words caused a lot of discussion among the scholars. Although Fang and Du had tried their best to be fair and just in dismissing officials, there were still many people with outstanding abilities who were unable to stay in their posts for various reasons.

If he could pass the imperial examination and return to the court, it would be a good story.

So they began to seriously discuss the drawbacks of the imperial examinations of previous dynasties. Many people in the Hongwenguan had participated in them personally, and Fang Xuanling, for example, was a graduate of the imperial examination system of the previous dynasty.

Once everyone talked about it, they found that there were many problems. At that time, after the candidates came to the capital through connections, they had to open up various connections inside and outside the examination hall.

In addition to routine tasks such as submitting letters and petitions to the office for registration, there are also such things as "xingjuan" and "wenjuan".

The so-called "submission of papers" means that candidates write down their historical talent, poetic writing and argumentative skills in a written paper and submit it to the chief examiner. The most important thing is to tell the chief examiner about one's family background.

After a few days, a copy of the paper will be sent back again, called the Wen Juan. If anyone among them can meet the chief examiner and present gold and silk, then...

Under the guidance of Li Jiancheng, scholar Chu Liang proposed: "We should abolish the practice of warming up the papers and implement the system of covering the names. After the candidates write their names on the papers, the Imperial Academy will send someone to cover their names with paper and seal them. After the scores are determined, the chief examiner and the Imperial Censorate and the Dali Temple will send people to supervise the opening of the papers and then announce the results."

Everyone praised it, and then began to discuss the biggest problem, which was that it was difficult to reach a consensus on the answer.

Scholar Yao Silian said: "Let's put aside the personal opinion of the examiner. Since the First Emperor burned books and buried scholars, the classics of the past have been incomplete and lost.

Although it was repaired by the Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty, it is still riddled with holes. Since then, wars have continued, and errors in the texts of the classics have accumulated. Take the Five Classics as an example. There are more than dozens of versions circulating in the world now. "

Du Ruhui nodded and said, "Your Majesty can appoint a person of high moral character and prestige as the chief examiner, and officials such as the Secretariat and the Supreme Court can assist to ensure fairness. However, the texts in the classics are erroneous, and it will take more than a few days to correct them."

Scholar Yan Gushi said: "In the previous generations, due to the confrontation between the north and the south, each had its own teacher, and they followed the old sayings. When the master passed on the teachings, it was inevitable that there were errors. In the Sui Dynasty, Liu Zhuo and Liu Xuan pioneered the unification of Confucian classics, but unfortunately the Sui Dynasty was short-lived and could not be completed.

Now that the world is gradually becoming peaceful and Your Majesty is a wise ruler, it is time to unify the classics."

...............

(End of this chapter)