"General Zhao, what does the unknown general think of the confrontation between the lord and the Cao thief?" Chen Qun did not directly say his intention, but asked Zhao Feng this question first. Literati, there are always some people who like to play tricks.

Although Zhao Feng is not very accustomed to it, he still said honestly: "At present, the lord and Cao Ying are facing each other across the Yellow River, whether it is the population or the strength of the army, the difference is not very far. However, the lord knows how to use people and has a unique vision, but Cao Ying is a little suspicious, but the lord is better than that. As long as the lord can make good use of the world's talents, Cao Ying will definitely be defeated! Zhao Feng was not particularly sure, what Chen Qun wanted to say, so he said according to his own guess.

"What the general said is true!" Chen Qun nodded, then stood up and said: "But now Cao Ying is coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes, the Son of Heaven is in his hands, and the righteousness is in his hands." In this way, the lord recruited talents, and this time he lost a trick at the beginning. For this reason, the group worked hard to think about it, and only then did they come up with a method, which may work and recruit more talents for the Lord! I'm here today to discuss with the general and see if there's anything missing. After speaking, Chen Qun took out a roll of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Zhao Feng.

"Changwen bothered!" Zhao Feng was polite, and at the same time took the paper roll handed over by Chen Qun, but his heart was already bright. Unfolded it, and sure enough, everything was as he expected.

"I knew that you kid wasn't famous!" Zhao Feng muttered in his heart, as he expected, Chen Qun did not come up with any unexpected tricks, but still launched his nine-grade Zhongzheng system.

Historically, during the period of the Three Kingdoms, in order to gain the support of the northern families, Cao Pi successfully usurped the Han Dynasty and became independent. Let the family that has already gained huge benefits further expand. Sitting on tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, thousands of domestic servants, slaves and even private soldiers, the patriarch of the family does not need to pay taxes, which is no different from the slave owner.

Later, the Western Jin Dynasty also used this talent selection system, so that later, those corrupt families mastered almost all the resources and interests of the entire country. As a result, a rebellion of the Eight Kings completely damaged the vitality of the entire Western Jin Dynasty and even the entire Han nationality, which caused the Wuhu Chaos and the Chinese civilization to experience the darkest period.

In view of this, Zhao Feng really didn't have a good impression of this nine-grade Zhongzheng system. However, Zhao Feng also knew that the energy of the family was indeed very great now. If Liu Bei wants to achieve a comprehensive victory, he can't do without the support of these people, but he can't indulge them too much, otherwise he will inevitably follow the old path of the Western Jin Dynasty and Cao Wei.

Although Zhao Feng had previously restricted the family by opening an academy and improving papermaking techniques, so as not to let them sit too big. Originally, I wanted to wait for everything to settle down, and then propose a more scientific method to Lao Liu. In order to limit the family from being too big, Wang Mang and Liu Xiu and others in history have made attempts, but they all ended in failure. Especially the former, his series of reform measures with strong idealistic ideas completely touched the interests of the family, caused them to resist, and finally died himself, and he was infamous as a thief.

As a traverser, Zhao Feng is not omnipotent. However, he has thousands of years of history of living teaching materials, so it is still possible to make the development of history less detours. After carefully reading Chen Qun's nine-rank zhongzheng system, Zhao Feng also sighed lightly and said: "Changwen, your nine-grade zhongzheng system is also excellent, but in my opinion, relying on this method alone is a bit insufficient." ”

"What did the general say about this?" After listening to Zhao Feng's non-committal words, Chen Qun also asked a little strangely.

"Long article, in fact, no matter what method you use, the most important thing is to make the best use of your talents, so that it can be effective, right?" Zhao Feng didn't explain directly, but asked.

"That's nature!" Chen Qun nodded as a matter of course. With his knowledge, it was easy to understand this truth.

"That's right, your nine-grade Zhongzheng system, the nine-product is okay, but the word Zhongzheng is a bit narrow. You see, you want those central officials in important positions to select talents, but when they are selected, they value the background of the gatekeeper. In this way, wouldn't it be even more difficult for a poor scholar to get ahead? Zhao Feng explained carefully.

"Why is that?" Chen Qun couldn't help but laugh when he heard this, and then smiled: "Having said that, the Zhongzheng official is the pillar of the country, so naturally he will not abolish the public for personal reasons." ”

Chen Qunyi is the maker of the system, and some things are not easy to say too clearly, and secondly, it is really difficult for him to imagine what kind of evil consequences will be produced by this nine-product Zhongzheng system once the politics is dark. Zhao Feng smiled slightly when he heard this, but he said: "Changwen, if it is when Huan Ling is in power, let the ten permanent servants and He Jin's generation serve as the central officials, then how many talents can be selected for the country in this nine-grade Zhongzheng system?" ”

"This?" Chen Qun was really speechless this time, the character of these old brothers is known to the world, and it is really difficult to expect them to select real materials.

"I don't know what General Zhao thinks?" Seeing that Zhao Feng was smiling and silent, and he looked confident, Chen Qun knew that he definitely had the following, so he hurriedly asked.

"Actually, Feng doesn't have anything else to say, he just wants to give Changwen's nine-grade Zhongzheng system and multiple supplements!" Zhao Feng said with a smile, and then brought out the general framework of the imperial examination system that he plagiarized.

Although in the end, the imperial examination system was scolded as worthless by the pioneers of the New Culture Movement. But in fact, it was more because the rulers, in order to fool the people, deliberately changed the imperial examination system, which was originally rich in content and selected all kinds of talents, into a rigid system that only talked about the eight strands of literature, which made the country lose its vitality and vitality and quickly decay under internal and external troubles.

However, Emperor Wen of Sui pioneered the imperial examination system, but it was aimed at selecting various talents. It's like if the article is done well, go to be a civil official; If he has great strength, he will go to the army; If the count is good, go and settle the account. And so on and so forth. Such a talent selection system is already very scientific in this era.

"General, this method is wonderful!" Chen Qun's eyes lit up when he heard this. Although Chen Qun himself was born in a family of eunuchs, his grandfather and uncle were mostly county officials. Although his father Chen Ji was a Hongluqing, most of the children of the Chen family are still such county-level petty officials, which are still worse than the Yuan family of the fourth and third dukes. In today's terms, the Chen family is basically a civil servant at the county and city level, but a national civil servant is rare. Because of this, Chen Qun basically relied on his own ability to get to this point in his career, and he did not reject the imperial examination system that emphasized meritocracy.

Compared with the Jiupin Zhongzheng system, the imperial examination system is undoubtedly more advanced. As for its effect on restricting the family clan, except for Zhao Feng, a traverser, there are few people in this world who can see this. In the next few days, Zhao Feng and Chen Qun carefully discussed some details of the imperial examination system, and finally drew up a complete set of plans, and at the same time, made some improvements to Chen Qun's nine-rank Zhongzheng system, and then handed it over to Liu Bei together.

After Liu Bei finished reading these two sets of talent selection plans, he also sighed for a long time. It can be said that these two systems have basically achieved the effective selection of talents from all walks of life as much as possible. Liu Bei sighed, and after convening everyone to discuss, he also decided to implement these two sets of plans at the same time under his own rule. The department is opened every three years, mainly in the imperial examination, supplemented by the nine-grade Zhongzheng system, which completely replaces the previous recommendation system and selects talents in the states under their own rule. The children of the Hao family, such as Zhang Zhao and Mi Zhu, the children of the Han family such as Xu Shu and Li Yan, and the small landlords such as Lu Su, are basically supportive. Only a few people such as Pang Tong had some objections, but it obviously didn't matter, Liu Bei saw that most people supported this system, and immediately decided to implement the imperial examination system from next year.

What Zhao Feng didn't know was that he rashly proposed the imperial examination system this time, and it was actually a bit of a fluke that he could successfully implement it smoothly. At the height of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population was about 50 million. Divided by the dividing line of the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River, the population ratio between the north and south is about 1:9. That is, Jiaozhou, Yangzhou, Jingnan and Yizhou together are almost 5 million, while the northern and Central Plains states together have more than 40 million, especially in Guanzhong and Hebei, such as Jizhou, Yongzhou and Sizhou, when the three prefectures are at their most prosperous, a single state has a population of more than 6 million. Yuzhou and Yanzhou also have populations of more than 500 people.

And since the beginning of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the situation has changed somewhat. The northern and Central Plains states were conservative with natural disasters [***], coupled with the "efforts" of Dong Zhuo and others, and the population plummeted. On the contrary, Xuzhou, Jiangdong, Jingzhou and Yizhou, which were not particularly prosperous, have at least less severe population declines because of relatively little unrest. In addition, Liu Biao, Sun's family, and even Shixie in Jiaozhou were more or less appeased to the people's livelihood, so Liu Bei was able to have enough capital to fight with Cao Ying after occupying the territory south of the Yellow River.

Specific to the big families, although under the rule of Liu Bei, there are also four major families in Xuzhou, and there are also some famous families in Jiangdong, Jingzhou and even Yizhou. But in terms of scale, it can reach the level of the Cai family and the Kuai family in the past, and it is already the extreme in the south. Compared with the Sima family and the Yuan family in the north, this weight is not enough. As for Yanzhou and Yuzhou, as well as Hanzhong, the big families there with a little weight either went to Hebei with Cao Ying, or they had already been wiped out in the turmoil. Therefore, the implementation of the Nine Grades Zhongzheng System of the Imperial Examination System together received very little resistance, and there was almost no opposition from those who had any weight. If it had been in the north, there would have been a boycott by now.

Putting down the strategy in his hand for the time being, Liu Bei smiled and said, "Bo Tao, long text." The day after tomorrow, I will ascend to the altar and be crowned king. You might as well also participate in the Zen Ceremony in Xuchang! The two hurriedly agreed not to mention it.

However, Zhao Feng did not wait for Lao Liu's Zen ceremony, he was resting in the pavilion in Xuchang on this day, but he heard a report from the pavilion, saying that Lu Hao had something to visit.

"General, it's done!" As soon as he entered the door, Lu Hao was extremely excited. Before Zhao Feng could react, Lu Hao had already carefully taken out a cowhide envelope from his sleeve and gently handed it to Zhao Feng with a trembling voice.

"Really?" Rao is Zhao Feng's surname has calmed down a lot now, but at this time he was still so excited that his voice trembled. When I opened the envelope, there was nothing particularly precious inside, just a few pieces of straw paper that would be ordinary in later generations. But Zhao Feng held these pieces of paper, but he felt that it seemed to have a thousand weights.

No one in this era knows the important surname of paper better than Zhao Feng. Compared with bulky bamboo slips and expensive silk silk, paper is cheaper and lighter to carry, and is undoubtedly the best carrier for knowledge dissemination. For this reason, Zhao Feng asked Lu Hao to devote himself to the improvement of papermaking as early as a few years ago, and the papermaking technology in "Tiangong Kaiwu" that he still remembered gave him some theoretical guidance. However, the specific manufacturing process still needs to be gradually explored in the actual operation process. After several years of bowing, Lu Hao finally found that after using reeds and bamboo as raw materials, after a series of processes such as soaking, mashing, and steaming, the white paper made was not only cheap, but also smooth and white and easy to write. This time, Lu Hao deliberately brought a few cards that felt good and came to Zhao Feng to decide.

"Lu Hao, you have made a great contribution this time!" Zhao Feng patted Lu Hao's shoulder and said with a smile, the latter didn't even dare to say it. Not to mention him, even Zhuge Liang, a wise man with the most keen vision in the world, will not understand the significance of paper for the development of historical civilization.

The next time, Zhao Feng went to see Liu Bei with these blank papers, and the latter's eyes lit up after seeing it. However, his eyes lit up and he was still calm, and Chen Qun and the others were almost salivating as they rubbed the smooth paper.

"Good thing, good thing, General Zhao, can you give me one, let me write a picture and see?" After a while, Sun Qian was the first to react, and after swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he asked a little eagerly. That expression made Zhao Feng think of Crayon Xiaoxin, and he couldn't help but feel a chill.

"Gongyou, please!" Zhao Feng grinned, and then said to Liu Bei: "Lord, this paper is cheap to cost, and it is made of bamboo and wood. One roll of bamboo slips can make at least ten rolls of paper. If we can open a government-run paper, wouldn't it add a lot of money to the treasury? ”

"That's right, that's right!" Liu Bei nodded again and again, and then handed over the matter to Chen Qun to be responsible. Of course, the specific establishment of the workshop and the selection of craftsmen also require Lu Hao to come to guide. This method of manufacture is to be kept secret for the time being. As soon as this lightweight paper was put on the market, it aroused the crazy enthusiasm of scholars. The original old and bulky bamboo slips are only left with the fate of firewood.

"Good stuff, good stuff!" In the Xuchang Taishou Mansion late at night, Liu Bei Mo held a few blank papers, and he also sighed. In a hurry, he picked up a brush and splashed a few words. Unfortunately, his calligraphy was really unsightly, and he smiled self-deprecatingly after writing.

"Husband, why are you so happy?" Mrs. Mi, who had just coaxed her son to sleep, saw that Liu Bei couldn't close her mouth all the time, and asked a little strangely. Liu Bei was in a good mood, and he also handed her the bamboo paper to see. Mrs. Mi is also a beautiful girl, quite familiar with poetry and books, and her essay collection is only stronger than Liu Bei. After reading this bamboo paper, I was also amazed.

"Husband, but I don't know where this paper came from?" Mrs. Mi was so happy that she also wrote a few words, and after writing, she felt that the pen was extremely smooth, and she was stronger than bamboo slips and silk.

"It was Bo Tao and Lu Hao who made it." Liu Bei said with a smile.

"With such wonderful ideas, General Zhao can really be a strange person in the world!" Mrs. Mi also praised. Liu Bei was slightly stunned when he heard this, and then sighed: "Yes, he is indeed a talent, indeed!" The tone seemed a little strange.

(To be continued)