In the Taiji Hall, the light is sprinkled and it is very bright.

Li Shimin sat in the middle, the rest of the prime ministers sat on both sides according to their ranks, and Luo Xuanchen sat in the third position on his right hand, because he was the secretary of the ministry, the third grade, and the same level as the Zhongshu Ling and the subordinate servants, but because he was not a three-level official, he ranked fifth in the political hall according to his official position.

The prime minister's ranking is Shangshu's left servant, Shangshu's right servant, Zhongshuling, and Shizhong, and the lowest official position in the political hall is Wei Zheng, who is the governor of Zhongshusheren, which is only an official position on the fifth grade.

Luo Xuanye has the official position of the left servant of the school Shangshu, so although he is a military general and does not participate in the affairs of the political hall, when the political hall collectively asks the Son of Heaven, he is also there, and he is still sitting in the first position.

Among the three brothers Luo Xuanchen, Luo Xuanye, and Luo Xuanling, if you simply talk about the power in your hands, as the secretary of the ministry, Luo Xuanchen is now the biggest, and he is better than Luo Xuanye.

This is the Prime Minister in peacetime!

As for Luo Xuanyun, who used to follow Dou Jiande, is still idle at home, he is a white body, Luo Xuanye is waiting for an opportunity for the Tang Dynasty's foreign war, and then recommends Li Shimin to let him become a leader, and then jump up with his military exploits.

Today, the monarch and the minister are playing right, Li Shimin is a king who knows how to delegate power, not only does he not hold power alone, he even thinks that it is wrong for the monarch to hold all the power in his hands and exhaust himself half to death.

When he governed the country, the most common thing he did was to go to Lingtian Pavilion to consult with Luo Su, and then convene the prime ministers to discuss the country's major policies, and then let it go after deciding.

He asked Prime Minister Feng Deyi to recommend talents, but the result made Li Shimin very dissatisfied, Feng Deyi was very perfunctory about this matter, and said that there were no talents.

Li Shimin immediately reprimanded angrily: "There are no talented people in the world? So where did you come from? ”

Feng Deyi saw that Li Shimin was really a little angry, and hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, if you can do it today, you have never seen a great talent, and those people recommended by the state and county are really unsightly, and the minister naturally can't present them to Your Majesty." ”

Li Shimin's gloom decreased slightly when he heard this, but he was still very angry and said: "As the prime minister, I don't even understand the truth of taking materials from his strengths.

Where in the world can anyone be perfect.

You Feng Deyi, from the beginning of the army in Jinyang to the present, you have never defended once in the court, isn't this your shortcoming?

If I don't need you because of your shortcomings, right?

It is precisely because there are no perfect people in this world, so I let you serve as prime ministers together, give full play to each other's strengths, be good at strategic advice, and be good at making decisive decisions, Wei Zheng can always cut to the heart of the times, so let him be a minister, the official department is dignified, and he is good at looking at people, so let him evaluate the officials.

Why do you need to talk about such a simple truth?

It seems that the right servant needs to take a break and think about how to do things in the future. ”

Feng Deyi never expected that he would be dismissed because of such a thing, he was about to speak, but when he saw Li Shimin's majestic eyes looking over, he paused and returned to the banquet, "Remember Your Majesty's words." ”

The atmosphere in the Taiji Hall suddenly became solemn, this was the first prime minister of the Zhenguan Dynasty to be deposed, fully showing the majesty of the Son of Heaven.

After Li Shimin dismissed Feng Deyi, he asked everyone in a deep voice: "Let's talk about it, how can we recruit all the great talents in the world to the imperial court, and without talents, the Tang Dynasty cannot prosper."

Xuanchen, you are in charge of the ministry, you can talk about it. ”

Since ancient times, the election of officials is nothing more than those roads, recommendation, recommendation, or recommendation, whether it is the probation system or the nine-grade system, it is a recommendation system, which is nothing more than the scope of recommended candidates, expanding from nobles to commoners.

Datang is now an era of aristocratic gate valves, not simply because the system does not allow commoners to be officials, but these gate valves are indeed prosperous, both rich and can be cultivated, and there are really batches of talents.

Because of Li Shimin's background, he not only reused the Longren people, but also the Shandong people, so now there are many people in the court who are not from the gate valve, such as Qin Qiong and Wei Chigong.

Li Shimin was actually based on a recommendation, basically the important ministers around him recommended that someone was talented, he summoned him to ask, and sure enough, he was talented, and then he was awarded an official position.

Luo Xuanchen left his seat, came to the middle of the hall and groaned slightly, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the former Han Dynasty and the former Sui Dynasty had a system of electing scholars by sub-disciplines. ”

As soon as Luo Xuanchen said it, everyone knew what it was.

In the Sui Dynasty, this is a rather unremarkable system, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others all know that this system in the former Sui Dynasty is no different from the system since the Han Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

In fact, when the probation system was introduced, the officials who were recommended were to be evaluated, not directly used for recommendation.

"Luo Shangshu, is this inspection system not as good as the nine-grade system, at least the central officials of the nine-grade system are appointed by the imperial court."

"Yes, please also ask Luo Shangshu to explain a little clearly, this inspection system, in terms of Fang Jin, is a bit backward."

The power to recommend officials under the probationary system is in the hands of the monarch, and the power to select officials under the nine-grade system is in the hands of the imperial court, which is a clear progress.

Luo Xuanchen took everyone's eyes into his eyes and said: "Your Majesty said that you should take the essence and discard the dross, since the minister served as the secretary of the ministry, he has been thinking about how to make the country take the world's corporals.

The minister studied all the systems since ancient times, and finally found a fatal problem! ”

Luo Xuanchen's voice was raised, his emotions were filled with a hint of excitement, everyone in the hall obviously felt it, Li Shimin was very interested, he couldn't help but hold on to the handrail, leaned forward, and asked curiously: "Xuanchen, what's the problem?" Speak up. ”

Luo Xuanchen said loudly: "All the previous systems for selecting talents were recruited or recommended by the imperial court, and they were from the top down of the imperial court, and no one has ever allowed people from all over the world to volunteer to participate in the assessment!"

If.

The minister is saying if!

Now there are more than 100 states and thousands of counties in the world, and if the imperial court sets up an official in each county similar to sacrificial wine.

Every other year, three years, and five years, all the scholars and talented people in the county are gathered, and the officials prepare some examinations such as scripture and righteousness, and we let them register by themselves, so that there will be no omission.

The best of them are then asked to take the exam in their state.

After the state examination is over, he will either take the examination of the Tao, or he will come directly to Chang'an to participate in the assessment of the Ministry of Officials.

In the end, isn't it better to select talents from these people to become officials? ”

After Luo Xuanchen's words were finished, there was silence in the hall.

In fact, Luo Xuanchen's later words are very easy to understand, but the key is that so that civilians can sign up for the exam by themselves, which directly skips the need for recommendation, not that the recommendation is not good, but many talented people can only be depressed because they can't find a channel for recommendation.

It's a system that's going to turn everything on its head!

Fang Xuanling reacted, and almost immediately bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, what Luo Shangshu said is reasonable, but it is not appropriate to implement it directly!" ”

Everyone came back to their senses, recovered from the extreme shock, and Li Shimin directly smashed his forward body directly back into the cushion of the seat, "Xuan Ling, tell me why you object." ”

Everyone looked at Fang Xuanling, but Fang Xuanling looked at Du Ruhui and the others, and some were speechless.

Seeing this, Li Shimin directly pointed at Fang Xuanling and said: "I said, this is related to the major affairs of the country, I think what the official department said is very reasonable, you have always been resourceful, and now you oppose it, there must be a reason, if you don't say it, you will be suspended and return to the house to think about the past behind closed doors." ”

Fang Xuanling sighed and said, "What Luo Shangshu said is naturally quite reasonable.

But if this method is really passed, the so-called assessment is nothing more than Confucianism, Taoism, arithmetic, and current affairs.

The minister is not a commoner, his father is a former Sui official, but it is not easy to provide the minister with a study, if you want the minister to write those Confucian scriptures now, the minister is far inferior to the princes in the political hall.

As soon as this law is opened, the big lords of the Shandong high gates, the Jiangnan lords, have no other skills, but they have generally read a few books, there is no great talent in the clan, and the people who are literate and break the scriptures and righteousness, and the people who are corrupt and Confucian scholars, are like carp crossing the river.

This kind of examination will definitely be controlled by these noble families, and those commoners who have strategies in their hearts, but are subject to these basic restrictions such as scriptures, arithmetic, and laws, will really have no future. ”

Fang Xuanling lay in the hall after saying that, quietly waiting for Li Shimin's reaction.

Now everyone knows why Fang Xuanling didn't want to say it just now, in this hall, Luo Xuanye, Luo Xuanchen, Du Ruhui, Xiao Yu, Feng Deyi, and Changsun Wuji are all from the gate valve aristocracy, and there are too many people under Li Shimin's door valve background, and Wei Zheng is from a low background, which is really offensive.

Fang Xuanling said, Li Shimin was thoughtful, stopped talking, and finally said: "Today's meeting in the political hall is here first, I am a little tired, please retreat first." ”

Everyone knew that the Son of Heaven was going to think about it, and it was likely that he would ask the national teacher for his opinion, so they retired one after another.

After everyone dispersed, Fang Xuanling walked to Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanchen, and said with a wry smile: "King of the county, Luo Shangshu, today's incident is really not out of my original intention. ”

Luo Xuanchen didn't care, but said with a smile: "Fang Xiang is loyal to the country, what's wrong?"

However, this matter is indeed the fault of the Fang Xiang, the establishment of the system is forward-looking, and the civilians in the world are not as unbearable as the Fang Xiang thinks, and the situation expected by the Fang Xiang will not always appear. ”

Fang Xuanling sighed and said: "I hope so, Your Majesty should go to find the national teacher, I don't know what the national teacher will say." ”

Luo Xuanchen smiled slightly when he heard this, Fang Xuanling immediately reacted, a little incredulous, dumbfounded, and was about to ask, but Luo Xuanchen turned around and left.

Luo Xuanye also left the palace.

……

After leaving the Taiji Palace, Li Shimin didn't even eat, so he rushed directly to Lingtian Pavilion to find Luo Su.

The matter of Luo Xuanchen and Fang Xuanling made him have no other thoughts at all, and he had a hunch that this would be one of the most far-reaching events affecting Datang.

After entering the Lingtian Pavilion, Li Shimin saw Luo Su leisurely playing chess with himself.

"Son of Heaven."

"Gong Wen."

Li Shimin sat opposite Luo Su, Luo Su poured a cup of tea and pushed him over, and then asked while playing chess: "The Son of Heaven is here, but what's the matter?" ”

Li Shimin didn't talk nonsense at all, and immediately informed Luo Su of what happened in the Taiji Hall just now, and Luo Su asked with a soft smile: "What do you think about that day?" ”

Li Shimin frowned and said: "Although what Fang Xuanling said is more serious, I think what Luo Xuanchen said has more truth, and my intuition tells me that this is a good thing." ”

Luo Su chuckled: "It's a good thing, what Fang Xuanling said is a bit serious, and what Luo Xuanchen said is a bit idealistic, so there will be disputes."

More than 1,000 years ago, bamboo slips were used to make books, and at that time it was certainly not possible to use this method to select officials, but now with paper, it is possible.

In particular, the price of paper is much lower than before, if the cost of books can be reduced and books can be proliferated, then the imperial examination system can be greatly developed.

So you see, some systems are inherently flawed, but some systems are because they lack something, and the key to the imperial examination system is not in the gate lords and commoners, but in the books.

Whether civilians can read books or not, even if civilians are not good because they have less time to study than the gate valve, but the thousand-fold gap in numbers is enough to erase these gaps.

Of course, the problem that Fang Xuanling said must exist, in the early stage, there were probably more gate valves, but with the passage of time, there will definitely be more civilians, and eventually the number of gate valves will be crushed.

Just like the crushing of the scholars by the scholars, just like the crushing of the old nobles by the scholars, many things are doomed. ”

Luo Su's explanation was clear and unambiguous, which made Li Shimin suddenly realize, and he asked: "Then how can the cost of books be reduced?" ”

Luo Su pressed a sunspot and smiled: "Coincidentally, there really is."

Now that the cost of paper has gradually decreased, if the Son of Heaven wants to do it, you can mobilize the power of the imperial court to build some large workshops.

As for the workers, women can be allowed to do these time-consuming but relatively low physical work, and half of the women in the world must be fully mobilized to mobilize these talents.

The cost of books is high, mainly because the cost of copying books is very high, and now there is a kind of engraving printing, which can print books in large quantities, I asked Rock's to improve a few editions, and now the effect is much better than the hand-copied books, the words are clear, and the handwriting work is saved.

Those commonly used books, such as those classics, can be printed in hundreds or thousands, and the cost of books is reduced to the extreme. ”

Providence!

Li Shimin felt that this must be favored by King Su, because he obtained the imperial examination system and printing technology at the same time, this is not the favor of God, what is this?

Li Shimin listened to Luo Su's words, stood up, walked to the door of Lingtian Pavilion, and looked at the sunlight outside, he felt warm, just like the blood that burst out of his stirring heart now.

"National teacher, it seems that I am going to do a major event that will affect future generations."

Li Shimin stood in front of the door, the light shining on his face, and he whispered.

Luo Su sighed with emotion: "Yes, at the crossroads of this centuries-old chaotic era, everything you do will affect future generations.

Whether it is good or bad, whether it will become a model for all future kings, or whether it will become a negative teaching material like Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of Sui, is up to you.

This is your chance.

You're in luck.

It's also your stress.

In the land of Zhuxia, whenever there is such a critical moment, there will always be a holy king, and now this era is you. ”

Almost every time Luo Su and Li Shimin meet, they will hear the word Saint King, and he demands himself with these two words all the time.

"When the Son of Heaven talks about books, there will be no more opposition in the political hall.

However, this imperial examination system is not so simple, if the Son of Heaven wants to hold another meeting of the political hall to discuss this matter, he may wish to ask them some questions.

These are all questions that come to my mind for the time being. ”

Li Shimin left, Luo Su sat quietly in front of the chessboard, staring at the black and white on it, "It's another big event, it will bring some heritage to the family."

However, this imperial examination system is a bit of a big problem, and it has some conflicts with my big policies.

The next big thing should be the government soldier system, the conquest of the four yi, the government soldier system, is not very suitable, but it is still very useful to attack the Turks and defend the Central Plains. ”

……

Luo Xuanchen was called into the Spirit Heaven Pavilion by Luo Su.

He guessed that it was because of the imperial examination system, so he quietly waited for the old ancestor to speak, Luo Su looked at Luo Xuanchen, "The famous prime ministers in history have their own political achievements, and you propose an improved imperial examination system, which will make you famous in history."

With your talent, it is indeed quite difficult to get to this point, so tell us what you think. ”

Luo Xuanchen knew that this policy would definitely be recognized by Luo Su, and he said with some excitement: "Ancestor, when I was studying, I was always thinking about one thing, that is, from ancient times to the present, power has moved downward little by little, but most of the power transfers have been carried out passively.

So I was thinking about whether the imperial court could take the lead in transferring power, so after I looked through countless classics and looked at the defects of various systems, I finally found this system that could ensure that power was transferred to the lowest level.

Not only do I have the current system, but I also have an advanced version and the final version of the imperial examination system, but this first step is already a pioneering, so there is no need to implement the later ones, which is not appropriate. ”

Luo Su looked at him appreciatively, and looked at him with a little pity, Luo Xuanchen looked at him a little inexplicably, and he couldn't help asking: "Ancestor, you look at me like this, but what's the matter, it's not good to tell me?" ”

Luo Su touched his head when he heard this, and said with emotion: "Your policy is groundbreaking.

It stands to reason that the world may gradually move from the politics of the aristocracy to the politics of the commoners, and this process may last for a hundred or two hundred years, but the future is predictable.

But alas, what I'm going to do will take a big hit to your efforts. ”

Yes?

Luo Xuanchen asked with some surprise: "Ancestor, is there a conflict between what I did and your plan?" ”

Luo Su touched his head and said softly: "You didn't do anything wrong, you did it right, I was moving against the tide of history, but this must be done, you just happened to bump into it."

It is not yet known how far Datang can go, and the Winter Turks will be a good test object to test Datang's army. ”

Luo Xuanchen didn't understand, and Luo Su didn't make it clear to him, because everything was just an idea, Luo Su would never talk nonsense when the time was not ripe, he always followed the trend, just like the engraving printing technology, which can solve the problem of books, he will make it clear to Li Shimin that the imperial examination system is feasible.

……

It's still the Taiji Palace, it's still Li Shimin and the people, but today's atmosphere is a little different, and everyone knows why the Son of Heaven summoned his people.

Sure enough, Li Shimin's first sentence was to set the tone for the meeting, "After my thinking, the suggestion of the official department is very correct, and with this imperial examination system that covers the whole world, I can get talents from all over the world."

As for Zhongshuling's concerns, I believe that only by reducing talents in an eclectic manner is beneficial to the country, as long as there are talents, whether it is a wealthy family or an ordinary person, I can use it.

Moreover, I do not just choose officials from among the officials who came from this imperial examination, if I find that there are talents in the people, I will still promote them, and if there are talents recommended to me by the princes, I will also reuse them.

Zhongshuling's worries are a bit groundless. ”

The Son of Heaven has already said this, even if this matter is completely decided, in fact, this matter does not have a particularly big impact on them, as Li Shimin said, they don't need this method to enter the office.

They are all following the path of Renzi, the so-called Renzi, such as Luo Xuanye's son, because of Luo Xuanye, there are now scattered officials of the fourth grade, which represents their closeness to the royal family, as well as the size of the credit.

"Your Majesty Fu Wei is wise and powerful!"

Everyone said in unison.

After everyone was done, Li Shimin said again: "However, I have some questions about this matter, and I need to discuss it together and come up with some solutions."

The first and most crucial one is how to ensure the fairness of the examination, if the officials can play in it and let others win, then the examination will become a joke.

I remember that there is a division, there is no law on this aspect, Zhu Qing, to add it to the Zhenguan law as soon as possible, I think that this matter is related to the country's plan, if there is a cheater, should be sentenced to death, but the specific how to sentence, but the specific way to judge, but Zhu Qing to discuss. ”

Li Shimin didn't say it, everyone really couldn't imagine that if the officials could do it in this, it would be terrible, the officials were under the emperor's nose, maybe the emperor could still manage it, but what about the state and county?

These people here are all human spirits, who doesn't know, most of the things in those states and counties, the imperial court doesn't know at all.

It can only send various inspectors to inspect in turn, but the state level may be able to manage a little, but it is too difficult for the county to control it.

Seeing that everyone didn't speak, it was not possible to come up with a complete charter in a while, after all, this is a major event involving the world.

Li Shimin asked again: "There is another very critical question, what to test, the imperial examination, how to divide the subjects, according to the name of the Sui Dynasty, the Ming Jing and Jinshi, or according to the Han Dynasty's Xiucai and filial piety." ”

Luo Xuanye groaned when he heard this, and said, "Your Majesty, it's better to change your name."

People in this world always value creation, and some people, just by name, will be a great achievement, monopolize its credit.

If you use these already known names, I'm afraid it won't reflect my Datang New Deal.

Let some people who don't know how to learn and know how to do it in later generations think that this imperial examination system has existed since ancient times, and it is not my original creation.

Especially Jinshi and Mingjing, these are the names used by the Sui Dynasty, if the Tang Dynasty uses them again, some people may think that this is the credit of the Sui Dynasty.

The minister thinks it is unfair to His Majesty. ”

Li Shimin smiled when he heard this: "It doesn't matter, I have eight out of twenty this year, and I still have countless time to create merits, so why not give them some?"

Don't care about the gossip of those idlers, it really can't be fake, Tyrant Sui and I Datang, who is high and who is low, has its own public opinion, as for those stupid people, who cares? ”

Li Shimin's mentality is very good.

Of course, Luo Xuanchen had thought about this question, and he immediately said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that more subjects should be opened, since the ultimate goal is to screen officials and introduce those great talents into the officialdom, then it is natural to test the content of these officials."

Take the six departments of Shangshu Province as an example, the household department needs arithmetic, the Ministry of Industry needs astronomy and geography, the criminal department needs the law, the Ministry of Rites needs the classics, the military department does not talk about it, and the officials do not talk about it.

This is a statement that the minister has done before, please take a look at it. ”

Li Shimin took it, there were a lot of words densely written on it, he only read it roughly, and he knew that Luo Xuanchen had put a lot of thought into it.

Li Shimin smiled slightly, "It seems that Aiqing really came prepared, I think it is very good, so I will implement it according to Aiqing's method."

This is the first year of Zhenguan, I and Zhuqing, the great gift prepared for the scholars of the world, before next month, promulgated. ”

"Obey the command!"

————

The grace of the Emperor Mengsu, the blessed one of the apocalypse, the son of heaven of all the people of Xia, and the emperor of the Tang Empire said:

The cardinal of the country; Hanhai takes scholars, the rock of the community.

I look at the world's talents, and it is urgent to open a canal to divert water to run the temple, so I hereby innovate, inspire the dynasty, establish the rules of the imperial examination, and promote literature and education in the world.

The edict will be issued to the next day, in the Tang Dynasty, the noble and lowly belongings, the people of Xia Yi, but there are talented and virtuous people, and those who are knowledgeable can be named in the county government, throw the pen in the state, and show their talents, not to the pearl dust, the virtuous wilderness, the good and the galloping, the literature and the way to educate the people, so that the heroes gather, each show their great ability, participate in the great cause of the dynasty, and forever consolidate the country and the country.

The edict moved to the prefecture and county, and the salty envoy heard it. —— "Tell the People of the World to Open the Imperial Examination"

(End of chapter)