It was getting late, and Li Zhang was walking in a carriage at the end of Tokyo at night. If it were at this time in the past, the curfew in Tokyo would have already begun. However, the court recently discussed the matter of completely lifting the curfew in Beijing. Although it has not been completely settled, it agreed to move the curfew to the second day of the day. If feasible, the curfew will be completely lifted. So when Li Zhang opened the car window, he also saw a very lively night market scene.

I saw various small vendors everywhere on the streets of Tokyo. These vendors used to have to set up stalls during the day and had to close the stalls before the curfew. But now they can set up a few more hours. People who have been busy all day have time to take to the streets at this time, and many people even come to buy things specifically. After all, they are too busy during the day and really have no time.

The shops on both sides of the street are also bright lanterns. The servants shouted loudly to solicit business, and even occasionally saw women walking through the streets. Although the scene in front of them is not as lively as during the Chinese New Year, it is much better than the usual daytime.

Looking at the lively scene on the streets of Tokyo, Li Zhang also smiled faintly. It was estimated that the capital would completely lift the curfew in the future. Then he slowly fell into deep thought. Regarding the issue of the imperial examination, Fan Zhongyan and others could only come up with a solution to the symptoms but not the root cause, and reducing the number of admissions may offend the entire scholar class, so Zhao Zhen also reserved his opinion on the proposals of Fan Zhongyan and others.

Li Zhang gave his own idea, but this idea shocked Zhao Zhen, because Li Zhang pointed out that the number of scholars will increase in the future, and even with the development of the economy, it is not completely impossible for the whole nation to study. By then, the number of people participating in the imperial examination every year will be a huge number.

Li Zhang's words were not alarmist, but an inference based on the existing basis. With the promotion of potatoes, the Song Dynasty had basically solved the food shortage. Of course, there must be many poor people. After all, inconsistency between the rich and the poor is a big problem in any era. However, with Zhao Zhen's reform of the Song Dynasty, as long as nothing unexpected happens, the Song Dynasty will definitely promote the popularization of education in the future. In addition, movable type printing has also appeared, so more and more people can afford to read.

With such a strong educational foundation, if one or two hundred people are admitted every few years, this number of people is too few compared to the huge scholar class, so changes must be made, otherwise, the rise channel will definitely cause dissatisfaction among some people in the future because it is too small, and it may even cause chaos.

In this case, Li Zhang's advice to Zhao Zhen was to merge officials. In short, it was to include officials in the court's official system, because in this era, the boundaries between officials were clear, officials had official bodies, and they were enrolled in official status, but the status of officials was still ordinary people, and the class did not increase, but they could exercise part of the power of the government.

It is also worth mentioning that the recruitment of officials is also very chaotic. Some are recruited by officials at all levels, some are brought by officials, and some are local big-name residents. Their local forces are mixed, and even officials have to rely on these related officials to rule the area.

It can be said that the center of the court gave up the personnel power of officials and delegated them to governments and officials at all levels. Moreover, officials have no official status, nor have term of office. This is a bad thing and a good thing for officials, because they do not have to worry about being transferred as soon as their term of office arrives, and they can operate for a long time in a place, which also makes it more convenient for officials to control the power of the place, and some officials will even be slapped by officials.

Li Zhang proposed that officials merge, just to include officials in the official system, you should know that the number of officials is countless times higher than that of officials. For example, in a county, there are usually only magistrates, and the three county magistrates are formal officials, and the rest are all officials. If officials are also included in the official system, the scholars who passed the imperial examination can be assigned to officials to do things.

Simply put, it is actually to let scholars who pass the imperial examination start from the grassroots level. If they perform well, they will naturally get the opportunity to be promoted. After all, there is no boundary between officials and officials, and it can also prevent officials from undermining officials and bringing the power of personnel appointment and removal to the court. It can be said that they can win multiple goals in one fell swoop.

However, although the suggestion of the merger of officials is good, it is extremely difficult to implement. Firstly, most scholars look down on officials. After all, generally speaking, only scholars who fail the imperial examination may choose to become minor officials. Secondly, the status of officials is low. Some officials recruit officials, but in fact they treat them as servants. With the arrogance of scholars, if they pass the imperial examination and become minor officials, they will definitely be greatly resisted.

In addition, the class of officials is too large, and many of them are beneficiaries of the current system. If more scholars are allowed to participate, their interests will definitely be affected. This is also a great resistance. Finally, there are officials. In the past, part of the appointment and removal power of minor officials was in their hands, but now the court wants to take away this power, which naturally affects their interests.

It can be said that although the confluence of officials seems good, it will touch the interests of too many people when it is implemented. It is simply thankless. At least at this stage, it is really not a wise choice to touch the interests of so many people while rectifying the officialdom.

Therefore, after listening to Li Zhang's proposal, Zhao Zhen did not agree immediately, but said that he wanted to consider it. Li Zhang also knew that this matter was too difficult, so he advised Zhao Zhen to be cautious. If it really doesn't work, he could wait until the officialdom was rectified before considering it. At the imperial examination, he could temporarily maintain the status quo. After all, such a big thing is not something that can be decided in one or two days.

Thinking of the above, Li Zhang couldn't help but sigh inwardly. In fact, his method of joining officials was mainly inspired by the civil service system in later generations. However, the social situation in the Song Dynasty was very different from that in later generations, so it was extremely difficult to implement such a similar system.

Although Li Zhang knew when he proposed, he knew that it was very difficult to get Zhao Zhen to agree to this matter, and even he himself did not agree to implement it at this time, to be honest, he was still a little disappointed, but this was impossible. After all, no matter how good the system was, it must be in line with the national conditions at that time, otherwise it would only cause social turmoil.

Just as Li Zhang was thinking, the carriage was about to return to Li Zhang's home. However, at this moment, a black shadow suddenly rushed out from the corner of the street next to him and rushed towards Li Zhang's carriage!
Chapter completed!