Summer is the purest season of the Old Summer Palace, the acacia flowers in the garden float in the air, the air is filled with the fragrance of lotus flowers, the summer heat has been taken away by the living water of the lake after the lake Fuhai, the lake in front of Kyushu Qingyan has a lot of lotus reeds, with many small insects, from the blue yarn into the emperor's bedroom, the emperor is fine, the little eunuch who waits for the emperor to sleep is bitten all over the face, the Tongzhi Emperor saw it, called people to go down to rest, and couldn't help laughing, saying that these starters must be napping at night, If you are awake at night, you will not be bitten by insects. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

This Old Summer Palace is still surrounded by wind and willows, a belt of red smoke, splendid piles up, people are just these people, everyone is in peace and has to live in the garden, drinking feasts, listening to plays, playing. Only Concubine Li occasionally sighed, and those Yuanmingyuan Sichun Niangniang, who fascinated Emperor Xianfeng back then, don't know where to go now.

On this day, the Queen Mother saw a few orders to enter the garden to ask for peace, and deliberately left Ronglu's mother to say some gossip, Ronglu's mother was extremely frightened, especially after Ronglu was removed from the position of Sichuan Governor, the Queen Mother couldn't help but say a few words of relief, agreed on one thing, and sent away Ronglu's mother, Deling came to report, "Gao Xinkui is waiting outside." ”

The Queen Mother nodded, went to the side hall, outside the screen screen, Gao Xinkui was already waiting, saluted, the Queen Mother didn't talk nonsense, and straightforwardly put the topic out, "Gao Xinkui, this palace thinks that the imperial examination will be reformed and the eight shares will be abolished, what do you think?" ”

Gao Xinkui was frightened and shocked, he didn't want to stay in Beijing for so many dozens of days, the Queen Mother never summoned herself, suddenly goodbye, and actually raised such an earth-shattering topic, Gao Xinkui's mind quickly flew around, and when she thought hard about half a cup of tea, the Queen Mother did not urge, and you had to wait, after a while, Gao Xinkui made up her mind, "Weichen thinks that although the imperial examination has drawbacks, it cannot be easily abolished." ”

"Oh, how so?" The Queen Mother asked.

"The matter of the imperial examination, which began in the Sui Dynasty, was set in the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty was complete, the Ming Dynasty carried forward, and the national dynasty flourished, and it was a good way for the dynasty to select talents, spit out the old and accept the new, which was much better than the official selection system before the Sui Dynasty," Gao Xinkui talked eloquently, Xia, Shang, and Zhou adopted the "sub-feudal system" and "Shiqing Shilu system", and the result was that "the dragon gave birth to the dragon, and the phoenix gave birth to the phoenix", and the common people "faced the loess with their backs to the sky", and had almost nothing to do with politics. The Han Dynasty replaced the hereditary system with the system of "inspection" and "conquest", in which the governors of prefectures and counties recommended talents to the imperial court, and after inspection by the imperial court, they were awarded official positions, or were selected by the emperor's special edict. This is naturally a historical progress, but because the bureaucrats who hold the power to elect officials pay attention to their families, protect each other, and engage in favoritism, the problem of employing people still cannot be well solved. Filial piety and honesty, the father does not live. Han Su is as innocent as mud, and Gao Diliang will be as timid as a chicken", and other serious problems, it is difficult for outstanding talents from the bottom to be selected. The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties implemented the "Nine Grades Zhongzheng System". At that time, this somewhat changed the situation in which the governors of prefectures and counties were arbitrarily swayed, took bribes for personal gain, and selected some more talented people to enter the official career. However, the Zhongzheng official was completely controlled by the big family later, and the family background and family background became the only criteria for evaluating officials. In fact, it has become a tool for big landlords and wealthy clans to control the election of officials. The result is inevitably that "there are no poor people in the upper grades, and there are no scholars in the lower grades", "the world is in a high position, and the heroes sink into the subordinates", the small and medium-sized landlords can only be petty officials, and the common people are all excluded from the officialdom.

From the Sui Dynasty to the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial examination system adhered to the principle of "free registration, unified examination, equal competition, merit-based admission, and open list", which broke the hereditary relationship of blood and the monopoly of the family on politics, and was a direct and powerful reform of the system of electing officials. It provided a platform for fair competition for the small and medium-sized landlord class and the common people to enter the ranks through the imperial examination, and enabled a large number of outstanding talents with low status and humble backgrounds to come to the fore. For example, Lu Mengzheng of the Northern Song Dynasty suffered misfortune since childhood, and was driven out of the house by his father and mother and son, and lived in a cave for a long time, living a hungry and cold life, but he studied hard, won the top prize in high school, and was very good at managing the political country, and became a famous minister in the early Song Dynasty. Another example is that Fan Zhongyan has been poor since he was a child, and he has made great achievements and enjoys the reputation of "Fan Jun has no worries in the imperial court, and there is Xiwen in Beijing" (Fan Zhongyan's word Xiwen). Wang Jie, the champion of Shaanxi during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, and Liu Chunlin, the last champion of the late Qing Dynasty, were also authentic peasant children, and their parents were both farmers. Wang Jie has been an official in the court for more than 40 years, as the Jiaqing Emperor, the official is in a high position, but he is upright and honest, spotless, upholds justice, hates evil the most, and is recognized by later generations as a famous minister in the Qian, Jia era. Wang Jie returned to his hometown in his later years, and Emperor Jiaqing praised him for "standing in the temple corridor on a straight road, and returning to the cold city with a breeze on his sleeves". "If there is no imperial examination system, I am afraid that these people will not be able to enter the court." (To be continued.) )