The imperial examination in this era is equivalent to the college entrance examination before Xu Mochen traveled through time, and is the key to leaping over the dragon's gate.
Daqian was originally a small country, but it finally unified the world, and its compatibility with talents is still very high.
In the past, there were many courtiers from hostile countries, and some of them were retained to some extent if they were capable.
The current ministers inside and outside the imperial court basically originate from this structure.
Therefore, they cannot be counted as talents selected by the emperor.
In addition, the important ministers in the court were all immortal cultivators, so Xu Mochen urgently needed to pass the imperial examination and personally promote a group of officials.
This is different from building national hospitals and research institutes. What is needed to govern the country is political talent.
For technical talents, age and birth can be ignored, but for political talents, the selection is much stricter.
Family origin, whether the person is well-established, political and ideological line, education received, etc., will affect the path this person takes in the future.
Xu Mochen doesn't want the person he selects to eventually become his opponent, otherwise the gain will outweigh the loss.
"So, next year's imperial examination is also a crucial step for me?" Xu Mochen asked.
"Your Majesty, your Majesty," Tang Derun took out a piece of information, "This is the list of high-ranking officials that Weichen obtained from the Ministry of Personnel. From the prime minister to the county magistrate, there are records.
Your Majesty can discover that our ministers, strictly speaking, have very few direct descendants, and they are all left over from the previous dynasty.
It cannot be said that they are not loyal or capable, but they must be wary of others.
Once the confrontation between us and the immortal cultivators is exposed in the future, these people..."
Xu Mochen's eyes flashed, these people might become mere weeds, or even fall directly into the arms of immortal cultivators.
Just like King Ning, if a cultivator throws a bone, he will happily bite it off, even if he ends up being imprisoned for life.
I selected it myself, so I can’t say there’s absolutely no problem, but it’s much more controllable.
"In addition, many courtiers are old and healthy." Tang Derun opened the information and there were dots on it. "There are also many who have retired in the past two years."
Xu Mochen understands that the connection of talents is urgent.
"I'm thinking more than just that," Xu Mochen sighed slightly, "In fact, most of the current officials in Daqian are from noble families. It's really difficult for a true disciple of a poor family to fly to the sky."
He stood up and walked around the imperial study room with his hands behind his back: "A noble family has the advantages of being a noble family, but the disadvantage is that when the family gets bigger, the things they think about become more complicated, and they may not necessarily think about the country, but me."
These were very heart-wrenching words, and Tang Derun felt sweat dripping from his forehead.
The emperor needs the support of the nobles, who can protect the interests of the nobles in exchange for mutual stability.
However, the object of loyalty of the gentry, whether it is Daqian or the emperor, is actually more about the interests of the clan.
If the latter is established, they will not care about the change of dynasty or who will be the emperor.
In other words, in the eyes of the gentry, the emperor was just a formal existence.
This kind of foundation made Xu Mochen feel stabbed in the back while dealing with the immortal cultivators.
In addition, members of the gentry are basically opposed to reforms.
Because it is easy to touch their interests.
Tang Derun thought about it, the position of emperor is really not something that ordinary people can sit in.
Xu Mochen didn't know what he was thinking, but he still muttered to himself: "The selection of talents cannot avoid gentry groups, because in this era, educational resources are concentrated in the hands of wealthy families."
The helpless fact is that if the poor have no food to eat, who will go to school?
Knowledge resources, books, etc. all require money.
Most of the common people are illiterate, a small number have some basic literacy, and those at the top are all children of the gentry.
"Your Majesty," Tang Derun glanced at his face, "the situation here is actually more complicated.
Those who are superior to the nobles are the immortal cultivators."
"Immortal cultivator," Xu Mochen stopped and turned his head
Frowning, "Why are there immortal cultivators here?"
Aren’t those who take part in the imperial examination all mortals?
"Your Majesty," Tang Derun swallowed hard and stated in a calm tone, "to become an official in the court, you still need to go through some procedures, that is, take the imperial examination.
For example, the current Prime Minister was once the number one scholar in the late emperor's term.
There are also six departments and nine ministers, most of them came here this way."
Xu Mochen realized the problem and walked up to Tang Derun: "So what Ai Qing means is that immortal cultivators will also take the imperial examination?"
Tang Derun nodded.
"In this case, wouldn't it mean that most of the admission officials will be immortal cultivators?" Xu Mochen was shocked.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty," Tang Derun also said with helplessness, "If a cultivator uses magical powers to learn, he will naturally be very fast.
In addition, the classic books and so on circulated in the Middle Earth are actually the works of the immortal cultivators of the past, retaining the seals and binding to the human race."
"That's unreasonable!" Xu Mochen slapped his hand on the table, "Ai Qing, what do you mean, this book knowledge has become a means for immortal cultivators to control mortals?"
In other words, it is a blockade in the cultural field.
The ancient books of saints are all chosen by cultivators, who have brainwashed their consciousness since childhood.
"Yes," Tang Derun replied bravely, "so in fact, all the students in the world, who are said to be disciples of the emperor, are actually the disciples of immortal cultivators.
However, some students, after entering the court, knew that immortal cultivators existed, and some of them approached His Majesty."
For example, the recently appointed human officials from several departments including the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
But those who don’t know the truth are still close to the immortal cultivators and officials and are controlled by them.
Xu Mochen always thought that if the human race didn't resist, one of them didn't know the existence of immortal cultivators, and the other was that they couldn't defeat them.
But now he realizes that there is also the bonus of spiritual dominance.
"What is their main ideological core?" After a long silence, Xu Mochen asked again.
"Master of Heaven and Earth!"
Hearing the answer, Xu Mo closed his eyes.
The Lord of Heaven and Earth is his personal teacher, so the cultivators of Heaven and Earth naturally have the upper hand. The Lord is the emperor, and the emperor is the puppet. It is they who have the final say.
I am a member of the gentry family, but who knows if there are also immortal cultivators controlling the gentry behind them.
Finally, there is the teacher, the cultivator who controls the mind directly from the source.
In other words, in the cultural and spiritual realm, they control the human race.
"In the imperial examination, most of the people who come out on top are immortal cultivators," Xu Mochen said word by word. "A small number of humans have also been brainwashed.
The worst kids from poor families are just showing off.
When I was chosen to join the court, more than 90% of the time I was chosen to make a wedding dress for the cultivators of immortality. Isn’t that right?”
Tang Derun did not dare to answer.
What he said is true, even if some of them eventually turned to the emperor, it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the total number of officials in the Great Qian dynasty.
Xu Mochen suddenly laughed: "So one day, when an open conflict between the immortal cultivators and me really breaks out, I don't need to mobilize the human race. The human race officials will be the first to oppose me?"
"Your Majesty," Tang Derun comforted, "This is a problem faced by all dynasties in ancient times.
Speaking of beheading, the several human ministers selected by His Majesty also have their own ideas."
They want power, and Xu Mochen can give it to them.
Perhaps in their hearts, they also work hard for the emperor and the human race.
Xu Mochen smiled. No wonder he had destroyed so many departments and only had the support of a few human ministers.
The rest are either unaware or secretly opposed in their hearts, and they are not our own people.
In this case, what else can we say about seeking dialogue with immortal cultivators?
He actually has no way to solve the internal problems of the human race.
The project I started did not involve many officials, so it went smoothly.
At this point, Xu Mochen understood and had an epiphany.
"Looking at it this way," he laughed with a bit of self-mockery, "people say that I am obsessed with the harem and have not been in court for a long time, so I am a foolish king.
All the courtiers are loyal and virtuous, and I appear to be extremely ignorant.
In fact, they are right, I am really a fool."
If he is the leader, then the officials are the limbs and organs of the whole body. Now, most of these organs do not belong to him.
Reform and improvement cannot be fully carried out.
The imperial examination is entirely a system that serves those who seek immortality.
"My dear," Xu Mochen sat down slowly and said in a very calm tone, "If I am not wrong, the memorials given by the courtiers must have come for the imperial examination. After all, this is the first time after the unification of the Qian Dynasty.
They all want to cut off the flow at the source and not leave any bit to me."