Li Hong sat on the dragon chair and listened to the ministers discussing politics below.
For a person like Li Hong who is weak and sick, it is very hard for him to stand upright all day long and sit upright in front of the ministers without losing his manners.
So after Li Yan's suggestion, the large imperial awnings where the two saints sat were removed and replaced by large seats, which were exquisite and elegant, resembling the dragon chairs of the Song Dynasty.
Li Hong sat and suddenly felt much more comfortable.
This kind of small details of life are very important. Ancient emperors had many bad habits in life, and their good health could be ruined.
For example, Song Renzong didn't like to wear socks since he was a child and always went barefoot. During that time, there were too many natural disasters. He often prayed barefoot, and his body became more and more weak. In the first year of Jiayou's reign, he stood barefoot in the snow and prayed.
The sky fell into a coma.
Li Hong had lived a very hard life since he was a child and was very afraid of the cold. He did not have such bad habits. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the times, although high tables and armchairs had appeared, until the late Tang Dynasty and even the Song Dynasty, the kneeling method was still the upper class
The mainstream of society, which shows the lines of the legs, is unacceptable to many people.
Therefore, the saint sat like this, and the imperial censor asked him to change it back to the imperial position.
Li Hong has a good temper, so he naturally ignored this matter.
The saint's life is also his life. This is not a big court meeting. To put more burden on his body just to save some face is really disgusting.
At this time, Li Hong sat comfortably on the dragon chair and subconsciously looked towards the leader of the inner guard who was the most harmonious between the king and his ministers.
A quiet and handsome man appeared in sight.
Sitting in the first row were five prime ministers and auxiliary ministers, discussing matters about going to the Eastern Capital.
The person in the second row was headed by Li Yan. His face was calm and not lost in thought, but he hardly spoke as he listened to the discussions of the ministers.
He has a strong sense of presence, and when communicating with others, his eyes will glance at him from time to time.
Just when the saint couldn't help but glance at him, Miao Shenke, who was sitting in the back row, stood up and saluted: "I'd like to invite you to play!"
As soon as he came forward, Yuan Wanqing and five other people also came out, all wearing scarlet robes.
The six-person group of North Gate bachelors have now all taken Fei and been promoted to fifth rank.
In the past, they used the official positions of the sixth and seventh grades to divide the power of the prime minister. They seemed to have unlimited glory, but in fact, it was all the extension of the power of Empress Wu and Li Zhi's checks and balances on the prime minister.
I held my nose and endured it.
Now they have truly become the fifth rank. Although they are still far away from the prime minister, the real power they have in their hands makes the six of them excited and they have become the loyal confidants of the saint.
When they came forward, other ministers looked at them and became slightly wary. Then they heard Li Hong's energetic voice say: "Miao Miao, please tell me."
Miao Shenke is now a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, in charge of the five subjects of tribute examination, namely Jinshi, Mingjing, Mingfa, Shu, and arithmetic. What he played was exactly related to the imperial examination: "I asked you to report, today the tribute examination
, adopting a name-blinding system.”
As soon as these words came out, many officials in the palace suddenly changed their expressions, and Miao Shenke's next words were even more unkind: "Since the implementation of the imperial examination system, its fairness has been questioned."
"The grading examiners of the Ministry of Rites can directly see the candidates' names and know their family backgrounds. If they are students of the Second Hall, as long as their grammar is in compliance and their writing is slightly better, they can basically pass the exam."
"On the other hand, the reputation of the tribute candidates from other states is not prominent, and few of them can pass the high school. In recent years, there has been a bad habit of getting into the powerful family, writing papers and asking for help, and trying to gain reputation before the official examination."
"The difference is certainly due to the flourishing academic style in Kyoto, but the uneven scoring of the imperial examinations is obvious!"
Many ministers in the palace had their expressions darkened.
How dare you say that!
Miao Shenke continued: "All the scholars' names are unknown in the examination papers, and the officials who review the papers do not know their background details. The results of this selection will be more fair."
“This can not only avoid favoritism and malpractice, but also stop the trend of asking for entrustment of documents!”
"Of course, even if the name is hidden, it cannot be completely fair. Familiar handwriting and style can still be detected by the examiner, and other methods of fraud may be born. However, I believe that we should not give up eating for fear of choking, and the reform of the imperial examination system cannot be delayed without delay!"
After he finished speaking, he presented the memorial and the hall fell silent.
Just as the opposing ministers, including the Yushitai, were thinking about how to refute this statement with a sneer on their lips, another voice sounded: "I agree with what Mr. Miao said."
The ministers were startled at first, because the voice was strange here, and then they suddenly realized who it was, and they all looked sideways.
Li Yan stood up and walked out of the queue unhurriedly.
The ministers looked at Miao Shenke again and immediately understood. No wonder this man was so courageous. It turned out that Li Yuanfang was behind him.
After Li Yan opened his mouth, he remained silent. He just glanced at several people inadvertently.
Anyone who was stared at by him felt a chill in his heart.
Although the inner guards are not plum blossom inner guards, they will not focus on the personal ethics of officials, but they are afraid of the worst. They carefully thought about the bad things they had done in the past, some of which were countless, and they immediately shut up...
It was proposed by the Beimen bachelor, which basically means the saint's approval. It is not worth it to disobey the saint's wishes and offend Li Yuanfang for such a trivial matter.
It is indeed a trivial matter, because the imperial examination in the early Tang Dynasty was not the only way to select officials, and even occupied a smaller share. After the imperial examination was successful, you only obtained the qualification to select people. If you want to truly hold an official position, you still need to wait for the selection of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
.
As for other methods of selecting candidates, in addition to having a good father and becoming an official, the groomsmen mentioned by Luoyang Gong Siguang before served as an atmosphere group when the royal family held funerals. After the relevant ceremonies were over, they could also be selected automatically.
qualifications.
This is almost the shortest way to become an official, so the number of groomsmen in the two Jin Dynasties was only sixty at most and only twenty at the lowest. Some emperors, out of frugal considerations, specifically issued an edict to stop selecting groomsmen.
.
But in the Tang Dynasty, there was a tendency to overrun the situation. There were more than two hundred groomsmen at the most, and aristocratic families competed for them. Because there were too many monks and too little rice, many interesting things happened.
He Zhizhang was demoted because of the assignment of his eunuchs. The unofficial history also added details, saying that in order to appease the nobles who were not selected as eunuchs, He Zhizhang even told them that another prince was dying and that your chance would come again soon.
He came again and was demoted.
The details recorded in unofficial history are not very reliable, but this kind of thing also reflects the popularity of the husbandman. Many ancient epitaphs unearthed in later generations record their experience of entering officialdom by serving as the husbandman.
Think about the scene when these people and those who came from the imperial examination participated in the civil service selection together:
"I studied hard for decades, first passed the first-level college entrance examination, and then successfully won the first place in the college entrance examination all over the country, and then I am sitting here. What about you?"
"I cried a funeral."
Because of this, the difficulty of reforming the imperial examination system is actually relatively small. After all, not to mention that there are other ways to identify people after anonymity, and there is still the selection of civil servants. It is not that easy to be an official. Miao Shenke is the only one.
It was proposed at this time with the approval of the saint and the support of Li Yan.
At this time, Li Yan focused on the most powerful opposition groups, and there were still scattered ones. Even Miao Shenke and others couldn't argue with them. After arguing for half an hour, they all died down.
Li Hong nodded with great satisfaction: "Draft the detailed rules and announce it to the world. Starting from today's tribute examination, the name-blinding system will be adopted."
The voices of the ministers were louder or lower: "Your Majesty is wise!"
Li Yan knelt down and sat back down, returning to standby mode, but the officials secretly glanced at him more often.
After the important meeting in Zichen Hall was over, Li Hong's voice came: "Leader Li, Mr. Miao, Mr. Yuan... stay here!"
The ministers whose names were called stayed behind. Li Hong stood up from the throne, walked down the steps, and came to him with some excitement: "The reform of the imperial examination system went smoothly, thanks to all of you!"
The North Gate bachelor hurriedly saluted: "Never dare! Never dare!"
Li Yan said: "Your Majesty is a minister who loves the people. Scholars all over the world will remember your Majesty's kindness."
Li Hong couldn't help but laugh.
Miao Shenke added: "Anonymity is only the first step. Try a few subjects first. After the unfair situation is slightly improved, you can then try the imperial examination that Li Geling mentioned."
Li Hong was also very excited. When he heard the idea of the emperor's disciples at first, he thought it was unnecessary. However, after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it could really improve the loyalty of the officials to the saints. Naturally, he was willing to train those imperial examination scholars who had more real talents and practical knowledge.
A trusted and capable minister.
Li Yanze added: "You also need to pay close attention to regular subjects and system subjects. You must not let this method become a special case. It must become a routine. Over time, if selfish people still want to interfere with it, the scholars in the world will not let it go.
Get past those people.”
Wu Zetian followed the academic route, that is, she specially set exam questions and asked students to answer them. The papers were full of personal information. What she wanted was people who were die-hardly loyal to her, and then entrusted them with important responsibilities.
Therefore, all the changes she made that seemed to promote talents from poor families disappeared when she stepped down. Just because there was no real system, it was just the occasional need of the emperor. Of course, the emperor would not follow this rule when he succeeded to the throne the next time.
A temporary approach, but a return to the annual routine.
Li Hong initially wanted to start with Zhike. After all, Zhike was easier to change. It was Li Yan who persuaded him.
In a sense, the new dynasty followed Wu Zhou's footsteps, learned from the mistakes Wu Zetian made, and then further developed them.
At this time, Miao Shenke promised: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. We will keep an eye on the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel to prevent them from making mistakes."
Yuan Wanqing's eyes flashed slightly, and then he suggested: "I believe that this time when selecting officials for the imperial examination, we can give priority to the poor families in Guan Nei. If we let the poor families in Guan Nei benefit and divide their power, the resistance to His Majesty's next trip to the Eastern Capital will also be
Get smaller."
As soon as Li Yan heard this, he knew that Beimen bachelor's old profession of fighting for power and profit could not be restrained again.
When the Beimen bachelor first sought refuge with the prince, he proposed the "Eight Suggestions", which included the intention to assist the prince in dealing with officials from aristocratic families who came from the Gaomen gentry clan. Later, he suppressed it and devoted himself to relieving the disaster and maintaining stability. Now that the disaster has passed, the new
The emperor ascended the throne and the reform of the imperial examination system began to see light, but he wanted to take the opportunity to sow discord.
However, after Li Hong thought about it for a while, he came to a decision: "This is the first imperial examination under the anonymous system. It must be fair and just, and set an example for the world's scholars. The examination is only based on talent and learning. Other matters do not need to be done."
consider."
Li Yan smiled, and the North Gate bachelor looked at the saint, also surrendering, and said in unison: