Returning to the beginning of the North and South Bang case, Chu Ge fell into deep thought.
He had long known that such treatment would have serious consequences, but it was obvious that his estimate of the consequences was still insufficient.
I originally thought that the impact of this case on Guo Zuo of the Dasheng Dynasty would only last thirty to fifty years.
But I didn't expect that even a relatively moderate and peaceful way of dealing with it would actually cause Guo Zuo of the Dasheng Dynasty to be cut in half! Obviously, this was by no means a simple imperial examination.
If it's just a simple imperial examination, what if none of them are admitted? It's just one year of official reserve service. Even if none of them are used, it won't have much impact.
Taizu Sheng killed tens of thousands of officials, but the imperial court still did not turn around.
Therefore, this North-South Ranking case obviously involves not only these scholars, but also officials in the DPRK, and even something deeper.
"I remember that during the Qi Dynasty, there was a scholar who passed the palace examination all the way. But he was deposed, and he felt dissatisfied, so he went to join the army again, but he was "suspicious but not willing".
"The reason is also very simple. It's because he's too ugly and doesn't have a good relationship, so I don't want to see him.
"So, he defected to the enemy country and killed more than 10,000 Qi soldiers in one battle. He was worshiped as prime minister by the enemy country and even wrote poems to ridicule him.
"From then on, the Qi Dynasty reformed the imperial examination. As long as those who entered the palace examination could no longer be deposed, lest they would defect to the enemy.
"Therefore, the imperial examination is never just about selecting a few insignificant officials. It is the only promotion channel for talents at the bottom, and it is also the most critical link for the entire country to win over talents and win over the people.
"If there is a problem in this link, it will indeed shake the foundation of the country.
"A deposed talent can turn the Qi Dynasty into such a state. If Sheng Taizu's imperial examination this year really offended all the northern talents, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"You know, the Northern Barbarians have just retreated outside the Great Wall a few years ago. There are many people in the north who are even looking forward to the Northern Barbarians coming back. After all, before the establishment of the Great Sheng Dynasty, the separation of various parts of China was unimaginable.
"North and South have been separated for more than 200 years, Yanyun has been separated for more than 400 years, and Hexi and other places have been separated for more than 500 years. The differences between these places are so great that it is unimaginable.
“Some places have become turbulent after only being separated for decades, and after being separated for hundreds of years, there may not be much left of their identity as the same nation.
"Throughout his life, Taizu Sheng worked hard to bridge this gap again.
"At this time, I saw that there was a group of bureaucrats working together to push the entire north towards the northern barbarians, and of course I was furious. "So, from a national point of view, it is very necessary to establish separate lists to select scholars from the north and the south.
"It's just that the establishment of the North and South List requires at least more than ten years of planning and regulation. Taizu Sheng is already seventy years old at this time and doesn't have that much energy.
"He can only be punished severely. After all, these officials have dared to bite his nose while he is still alive. There may not be any trouble after he dies.
Chu Ge understood more clearly why the North and South Bang case was so important.
But he still didn't understand. Why must the punishment be strict and severe? Why must several major officials be exiled or even have their cars broken?
Why can't I be fined or demoted?
Chu Ge frowned and continued to analyze.
"As I analyzed before, Taizu Sheng could not live long at this time. Historically, he died in less than two years.
"Furthermore, it is impossible for Taizu Sheng to predict his own death date. There are so many emperors in history who died at the age of forty or fifty. He is already over seventy years old. It can be said that every day, he is waiting for the king of hell to come and take him away.
"Anyone who can live one more day is a gift from God." So, why do these officials dare to slap their noses on their faces?
"First, the examiner Zheng Sansheng found out the established fact that all the northern scholars had failed; then Sheng Taizu asked Liu Xin and others to set up an investigation team to investigate, and also hinted that they should admit additional northern scholars, but the results of their investigation remained the same.
He did not change anything, and even deliberately showed the poor answer sheets of some northern scholars to Sheng Taizu.
"Don't they know that Sheng Taizu was an emperor who was very capable of killing people?
"Risk your life to rebel against the emperor, why?
"For the sake of fairness and justice in the imperial examination? That is obviously impossible.
"There are only two possibilities. First, they have huge interests behind this move and are willing to take risks for the benefit. Second, they have a sense of luck and feel that they may not die after trying it out.
"I just didn't expect that Taizu Sheng, who was seventy years old, could still use the knife. He was not used to it at all. He would die if he tried.
"So, the key question at this time is: What are the huge benefits they seek? Why are simple demotions and fines unable to punish their ambitions and continue the great prosperity of the country?
"Why do we have to kill so many people to stop this trend?"
The answer was not difficult, so Chu Ge thought of it almost instantly.
"that power.
"They want to wrest power from the emperor.
"The ultimate goal of every civil servant is to eclipse the emperor and become an uncrowned king. But the entire bureaucracy is actually trying to hide from the emperor all the time and seek benefits for itself.
"The way Sheng Taizu handled this matter will give a specific message to these bureaucrats and gentry.
"Taizu Sheng is already very old and is not far from his death. His physical strength, energy and even judgment are no longer as good as before.
"So, if Taizu Sheng didn't say anything and let this matter pass by, it means that Taizu Sheng no longer has any energy to deal with these matters.
"If you can't even deal with such an important matter, what about other matters? Don't you have no energy to deal with it at all?" At that time, officials can let go and act boldly.
"Even after the new king ascends the throne, it can be logical to make this matter an 'ancestral system'.
"They will say that back then, when Emperor Taizu was emperor, he only recruited scholars from the south, which shows that Taizu had tacit approval. So what if after the new emperor succeeded to the throne, these civil servants continued to only recruit scholars from the south? There seems to be nothing wrong with it.
"When the time comes, I'm afraid they will only get worse. As there are more and more scholars in the south, all political parties in the DPRK and China are controlled by specific groups of people. It is hard to say whether future emperors can suppress them.
"What if Taizu Sheng is only demoted and fined?
"Actually, the result is not much different. Officials will still think that Taizu has no power to raise the knife. Such a serious matter is just a demotion and a salary fine. So if we do some relatively minor things in the future, wouldn't it be casual?
"After all, the emperor is already in his old age and has become comatose, so he may not be able to discover it; even if he is discovered, it will be nothing more than a demotion and a salary penalty, and the punishment is completely out of proportion to the benefits.
"If Taizu Sheng could live thirty more years, he would be given a lighter punishment. Anyway, there is still enough time to reform the entire system and fix the admission ratio of the North and South lists.
"But he's running out of time, he could die at any time, and once he dies, the way this is handled will be a clear signal.
"So, the only choice is to kill!
"Because only by killing people on a large scale can these officials be frightened and leave a clear signal to future emperors, that is, the imperial examinations must be obtained from both the north and the south.
"Officials try to control the imperial examinations and continue to cultivate their own party members. This is inevitable and will always be irreversible in the middle and later stages. But Sheng Taizu's approach, at least in the early days of the dynasty, stopped this unhealthy trend as much as possible. Possibly prolonging the reign of the Great Sheng Dynasty."
Thinking of this, Chu Ge couldn't help but sigh.
Sure enough, there are deep reasons behind the actions of the heroes in history.
Many people say that Sheng Taizu used the Nanbeibang case to kill several great scholars, which seems to be such a heinous crime. But in fact, the actual consequences of what these people did were only beheading.
He took the memorial and wrote a word on it.
kill!
Indeed, there is no other way but to kill.
After going around in a circle, we returned to the standard answer given by Sheng Taizu.
Of course, this does not mean that his analysis is meaningless.
Because this is only the first problem he encountered as Emperor Sheng Taizu, and there will be more problems waiting for him. Analysis of this problem will be very helpful for subsequent problem solving.
Chu Ge calmed down a little and continued to analyze the next case.
