The first thousand four hundred and eighty-seventh section strengthens legalism
Looking at the thick transcript in front of him, Liu Che looked a little heavy.
"Alas..." He sighed longly, feeling a little depressed.
Since the examination was first started nine years ago, the Han Empire has been running the examination system for nine full years.
The method of selecting officials has long since evolved from the previous system of examination and appraisal as the mainstay, with examination and appraisal as a supplement.
Every year, the examination system contributes a large number of officials to the country.
It is very effective in revitalizing and strengthening the vitality of the country, and the work efficiency of the government has also been greatly improved.
But the problem is...
The examination system is not always beneficial.
At least in the eyes of Emperor Liu Che, the examination system still had a major drawback.
The disadvantage is that the examination system amplifies and strengthens the influence and momentum of Confucianism.
Since the second year of Yuande, Confucian scholars have crushed all other schools of thought in every examination.
This year it is even more exaggerated. The scholars from various schools of Confucianism combined actually accounted for 70% of the total number!
this is too scary!
If this continues, sooner or later Confucianism will be able to rely on its own strength to stop all schools of thought from only respecting Confucianism.
After thinking about it, Liu Che picked up the pen and wrote in the memorial: "All Confucian disciples will be reduced by one level and will be appointed as officials..."
In the past few years, Liu Che has been giving instructions on the arrangements for Confucian scholars in this way.
After all Confucian disciples pass the examination, their grades will be reduced by one level compared to those of other schools of thought.
In other words, the second round of scholars is used as the first round, and the third round is used as the second round.
The smell of suppression and restriction is quite obvious.
But Confucians dare not criticize even half a sentence!
Because even they themselves feel that they are too buggy, and they themselves are afraid of being attacked by the crowd.
The examination turmoil in the second year of Yuande is still deeply remembered by Confucians.
The Huang-Lao sect, the Legalists, the Mohists, and the princes and ministers joined forces to besiege them, which frightened them even more.
Therefore, Liu Che's decision is not only not to trick Confucianism, but on the contrary to protect and care for them.
Without Liu Che's arrangement, the Legalists and the Huang-Lao sect would have joined forces long ago to launch a purge of Confucian forces and schools.
How can the various schools of Confucianism dance so joyfully like today?
Over the years, Confucianism has continued to develop rapidly despite such pressure and discrimination.
In every exam, they are the final winners. There is power in numbers. Relying on the crushing number of people, Confucianism can easily gain an advantage!
A large number of Confucian disciples passed the examinations and entered official careers and political circles.
And with such a huge base, no matter how much Confucianism is suppressed, someone can still come forward.
They were like weeds, growing and multiplying rapidly within the Han Dynasty system.
In just a few years, various Confucian schools have taken advantage of the grassroots and middle and lower classes.
Only the upper levels, because of the actions of the Huang-Lao Sect and the Legalists, make it difficult for them to penetrate and control.
However, how long can the Huang-Lao School and the Legalists suppress Confucianism?
As Confucian disciples began to occupy and monopolize the grassroots in large numbers, Liu Che did not feel that they could break through the blockade of the Huang-Lao Sect and the Legalists.
They would first occupy the counties and then march towards the court.
The emergence of Confucian scholars at the level of Jiuqing is just around the corner!
Therefore, Liu Che knew that it would be difficult to maintain balance by relying on the old methods.
"Where is the list of Litian, Duozi, and martyrs reported by the county last year?" Liu Che turned around and asked a eunuch behind him.
Hearing this, the other party quickly said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I have kept it in Shiqu Pavilion... If Your Majesty wants it, I will go get it now..."
"No need..." Liu Che waved his hand and asked, "Do you remember the number of filial sons and righteous men in Litian reported by the county last year?"
"Your Majesty, there are about three hundred people..." the eunuch thought for a while and replied.
Liu Che pondered for a moment and then ordered: "Go and tell the young man, Taichang, that starting from this year, all the filial sons and righteous men reported by the county will be sent to various Legalist universities for training...The tuition fees and other expenses will be paid."
The account of the inner treasury..."
"No..." Upon hearing this, the other party immediately took the order and left.
Liu Che looked at the other party's back and began to make calculations in his mind.
The Han Dynasty has always had a tradition of cultivating filial sons, righteous men, and Li Tian as reserve officials.
However, this system was not perfect in the past.
Those who are recommended as officials are usually given an official position and left to fend for themselves.
Under such circumstances, it was naturally difficult for these recommended men, righteous men, and filial sons to stand out.
After Liu Che came to the throne, he improved this situation and launched a training system.
These Li Tian, righteous men and filial sons who were reported by the county and local governments were all sent to Taichang Yamen, and Taichang arranged for them to go to various universities to study and receive education.
Then they will be allocated based on their performance and ability.
This system has developed to this day and is already very complete.
It has become a good governance praised by people all over the world, and the value of good people must be rewarded has been established.
These students who were entrusted with training became Liu Che's loyal supporters.
Nowadays, Confucianism is extremely difficult to control. In order to prevent Confucianism from becoming dominant, Liu Che can only use policies to divert attention.
Or weaken, suppress, or support an opponent.
Now, the path of weakening and suppressing has almost come to an end, and Liu Che can only resort to methods of support and strengthening.
As for, you want to say that this is unfair and that it violates neutrality.
Then I can only say that you are too naive.
Only the common people pursue fairness and justice, while the emperor always only seeks balance.
This is the so-called emperor's mind.
The reason for choosing Legalism for targeted support is also very simple.
Today, only Legalism can assume the responsibility of suppressing and balancing Confucianism.
For example, the Mohist family, including apprentices, disciples, and officials who sympathize with and agree with the Mohist path, only has a total of only two or three thousand...
The number of people in any Confucian sect is several times that of the Mohist school!
As for the old school Huang...
That would be unbearable...
Except for Jixia Academy, there is no one who can fight!
Qinghe Academy and Luoyang Academy are all the scum of war!
Legalism is unique. In recent years, it has also begun to imitate and learn from Confucianism, opening its doors widely and recruiting a large number of disciples.
Especially in the northern counties, Legalist schools and private schools blossomed everywhere, effectively checking and suppressing the expansion of Confucian power.
However, they are only checks and balances and restrictions.
It is almost impossible to suppress or even control!
Apart from anything else, the Legalists had already lost in terms of numbers.
There was no other way, Liu Che could only strengthen Legalism's power through adjustments, policy inclinations and targeted support.
One of the methods was to send the powerful people, righteous men and filial sons of the county to the Legalist academy.
But this is still not enough.
How many powerful people, righteous men, and filial sons can there be in the county in a year? There are only a few hundred people, and there are not so many people every year.
Therefore, Liu Che had to continue to strengthen Legalism.
After thinking for a moment, Liu Che made a decision.
He put a pen on a piece of white paper, wrote down an order, and then handed it to a eunuch and told him: "Go, give it to the Prime Minister, and let the Prime Minister do as he is told!"
"No!" The eunuch took the edict and bowed.
"If this is the case, Legalism cannot compete with Confucianism, then it can really only be said that it is a helpless man!" Liu Che said in a low voice.
………………………………
An hour later, Prime Minister Zhou Yafu received this order.
He held it in his hand and looked at it for a long time, with a doubtful expression on his face.
Seeing this, Zhou Yafu's confidant, Prime Minister Shi Yangzhou, stepped forward and asked: "Prime Minister, what instructions did your Majesty give you?"
Zhou Yafu smiled bitterly, handed the order to the other party, and said with a smile: "Yang Changshi, you can see for yourself..."
Yang Zhou took it and looked at it, his face was extremely embarrassed, and he said: "Your Majesty is really..." He thought for a long time but could not find a suitable adjective. In the end, he could only lower his head and said: "What a wonderful idea..."
This is an order instructing the Prime Minister to organize the relevant officials in charge of personnel and official arrangements in the Prime Minister's Office, Tingwei, Taichang, and Shaofu to jointly draw up an order for local officials to recommend to the country and superiors competent officials and officials under their jurisdiction.
This order requires officials at all levels to discover talented officials under their jurisdiction who are under the age of thirty.
After discovering these talents, governments at all levels should send them to designated academies for short-term training.
The names of these designated academies made Zhou Yafu and Yang Zhou dumbfounded.
Instead, he made it clear and told Zhou Yafu and relevant officials: I feel that Legalism is not strong enough and we need to strengthen it...
And if this matter spreads outside, it will immediately cause an uproar.
The emperor's attitude is so obvious. Although the Legalists will be happy and excited, other schools of thought may feel cursed in their hearts.
The emperor labored and capital was showing naked favoritism and taking care of the Legalists.
I’m afraid that Legalism is not strong enough!
Think about it, these capable officials and officials under the government at all levels entered these Legalist schools, received commissioned training, returned to their places, and then climbed up the ladder step by step.
When they reach high positions, will they forget this teaching?
The answer is obvious.
"Prime Minister, how about..." Yang Zhou whispered: "Return this edict to Lantai?"
As the prime minister, Zhou Yafu certainly had the power to refuse and refute any unreasonable orders from the emperor.
From a legal and institutional perspective, any edict signed by a censor without the consent of the prime minister is illegal and arbitrary.
But this is not the case.
The Prime Minister's behavior of directly returning the Emperor's edict was quite rude and a slap in the face.
A good-tempered emperor like Taizong cannot be tolerated, let alone today?
Besides...Zhou Yafu didn't have the confidence to refute and refuse this order.
He, the prime minister, will step down next year.
At this time, if you grab the emperor's face and slap him, the emperor may not say anything for the time being.
But the emperor's closest ministers, I'm afraid they will all be thinking about this matter in their hearts.
The old Zhou family has suffered this kind of loss before!
Zhou Yafu once witnessed with his own eyes how his father got out of Tingwei Prison.
He is not that stupid!
He is just a soldier. After retirement, he goes to teach students in the martial arts garden and trains a few disciples. His life will be perfect.
There is no need to get into trouble with the emperor by getting involved in the quarrels between scholars and officials.
not to mention……
Zhou Yafu knew in his heart that if Chao Cuo, Zhao Yu and other Legalist ministers found out, he, the prime minister, would be in trouble when he retired.
These guys probably all have thoughts about him in their hearts.
If it were other matters related to the national economy and people's livelihood, Zhou Yafu might still be able to carry out his duties as prime minister despite the pressure of the emperor and the accusations of the Legalists.
But the problem is that in this matter, it is obvious that the emperor wants to go astray.
Issues between Confucianism, France, Mohism and the Huang-Lao School.
Even if he wants to wallow and act, it won't be his turn as the prime minister.
Of course, Zhou Yafu was not prepared to side with the Legalists.
"Yang Changshi, regarding this matter, I asked Chang Shi to coordinate with the ministers..." Zhou Yafu patted Yang Zhou on the shoulder and said, "I hope Chang Shi will not let down the trust of your majesty and the prime minister, and do this matter well."
…”
When Yang Zhou heard this, his face suddenly became very beautiful.
With a bitter look on his face, he bowed and said: "The Prime Minister is so kind to me, I really don't dare to accept it... It's just that for this matter, I really don't dare to take on the position of servant..."
Are you kidding...
In the future, once Prime Minister Zhou Yafu steps down, he, as a prime minister with a long history, will definitely have to move.
The newly appointed prime minister will definitely not leave him as a 'remnant of the previous dynasty'.
When the time comes, he might have to go stay in that corner.
It would be even worse if this new prime minister is still a die-hard member of the old Huang faction!
Maybe, if he was kicked to a remote place like Mongolia, where he would be surrounded by wind, sand, rain and snow, he would never be able to return to Chang'an in this life.
He Yang Zhou is still young, only less than fifty years old this year, and he doesn't want to disappear from everyone so soon.
But Zhou Yafu smiled and said to Yang Zhou: "The Prime Minister has already planned to go to the Emperor to beg for the body after the imperial meeting next year... As for the successor Prime Minister, the Prime Minister plans to recommend Chao Cuo, the imperial censor..."
For the past seven or eight years, Zhou Yafu and Chao Cuo have worked together as a team, and the cooperation cannot be said to be pleasant, but it can only be said to be a make-do.
After all, Chao Cuo’s mouth really stinks!
However, after working together for such a long time, even if Zhou Yafu didn't like Chao Cuo, he had to admit that Chao Cuo was indeed the most suitable candidate to succeed him as prime minister.
The reason is very simple. Although Chao Cuo had many shortcomings, his vision of looking at problems and his determination to do things were the strongest among the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty.
Considering the long-term peace and stability of the country and the world, Zhou Yafu felt that Chao Cuo was the most suitable candidate.
As for the conflicts and differences between Chao Cuo and him, they were not important in the face of such a big deal.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was said that Jiehu did not avoid relatives when he was promoted internally, and he did not avoid enemies when he was promoted externally.
Zhou Yafu also wanted to imitate the sages.
When Yang Zhou heard this, he was stunned. If Zhou Yafu recommended it, there would be no problem for Chao Cuo to succeed the imperial censor as prime minister.
However……
"But... the imperial censor is not a prince..." Yang Zhou asked: "Under the Han family system, non-lords are not allowed to worship the prime minister..."
"He will be made a marquis..." Zhou Yafu said with a smile: "In either August or September, Chao Cuo will be made a marquis..."
