The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

Chapter 176 Civil Service System

Not long after Wu Zetian ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, she learned that she had finally left the stage in a lonely way, which made her feel very unhappy.

She wants to prove to men all over the world that a woman can also be an emperor.

In the end, she did achieve this, but in the end, she could only leave sadly because of her identity as a woman.

At this moment, she understood her decision before her death, why she wanted to be buried with Emperor Gaozong as a queen, and why she wanted to erect a monument without words.

Her life was full of controversies, and her merits and demerits are left for future generations to comment on.

Wu Zetian: Anchor, I want to know how future generations view my life?

Su Chen understood Wu Zetian's feelings at this time very well, otherwise he would not have left a controversial wordless monument.

"As for how to evaluate, the anchor thinks that not only Her Majesty the Queen, but other people will also want to know!"

"To evaluate a person, you have to look at what that person has done. When it comes to Her Majesty the Queen, you have to look at the policies that the Queen has implemented during her reign."

"The anchor will give you a brief introduction to the Queen's governance measures. I believe everyone can have a deeper understanding of the Queen's merits and demerits."

"The Queen's governance measures have both positive and negative aspects. The anchor will introduce them one by one."

"The anchor will start with the positive side. In politics, Wu Zetian has achieved the two points of reusing talents and opening up channels of expression."

Di Renjie: Your Majesty really has nothing to say in terms of re-employing talents. The reason why I have reached this point is entirely dependent on His Majesty's promotion and re-appointment.

His Majesty vigorously developed the imperial examination to select talents, and it was through the imperial examination that he was placed in his position.

Therefore, strictly speaking, His Majesty was as kind to him as a mountain and had the kindness to rebuild him.

Zhang Jianzhi: Although I care deeply about the Tang Dynasty and do not agree with His Majesty's usurpation of the country, I have to admit that it is precisely because Your Majesty valued talents that I was able to rise to the position of prime minister.

Although he later launched the Shenlong Coup, which seemed like he was sorry for His Majesty's cultivation, he did so just to repay His Majesty's great kindness.

"Wu Zetian is famous for reusing talents. She is eclectic, knows people well and is good at assigning tasks. No matter what the background of the person is, as long as they have real talents and learning, they will be reused by her."

"We also selected talents through the establishment of an official self-recommendation system and the development of imperial examinations. Many famous officials were promoted through the imperial examinations, such as Di Renjie, Yao Chong, Song Ta, Zhang Jianzhi, etc."

"Wu Zetian's employment strategy was not only reflected in her own court, but later ministers also recognized her employment strategy."

"Wu Zetian was good at discovering and cultivating talents, and she cherished and appreciated capable ministers and talented people."

"Wu Zetian attaches great importance to the selection of talents and believes that the strength of a country does not only depend on the strength of one person, but requires the joint efforts of talented people."

"Furthermore, Wu Zetian also created the palace examination system to reform the shortcomings of the ordinary examination system."

"In 702, Wu Zetian established a military examination to select people with military talents, which was also of great significance to stabilizing national defense."

"So during the years when Wu Zetian was in power, there were always a group of capable ministers and generals who were as literary as Di Renjie and as powerful as Lou Shide. These talents effectively maintained the stability of Wu Zetian's regime."

"Wu Zetian used various channels to support the common people's landlords and bureaucrats, recruit more talents from the common people's landlords, and expand the basis of her rule."

"In addition, when Wu Zetian was in power, he also issued an edict to revise the "Record of Surnames", which more clearly stipulated that all those who achieved the fifth rank in the dynasty would be promoted to the scholar stream, which further attacked the old gentry and improved the status of the common people bureaucrats."

Zhao Kuangyin: Not to mention other things, it is worthy of recognition that Wu Zetian severely damaged the arrogance of the family during her administration.

Zhu Di: The palace examination system and the martial arts examination system pioneered by Wu Zetian had a profound impact on subsequent dynasties. Even my Ming Dynasty still used them. From this aspect, Wu Zetian still has merits.

Liu Che: Not to mention, although Wu Zetian was a female figure, I have to say that she was still very successful in talent selection. I can learn from it.

Wu Zetian implemented the self-recommendation system, and his great men also used the self-recommendation system to select talents.

But Wu Zetian's imperial examination system made his eyes shine.

He remembered that the imperial examination system was vaguely mentioned in the video played on the screen before, but it was only mentioned in passing, and there was no detailed explanation of how the imperial examination system selected talents.

Now the anchor mentioned that Wu Zetian selected a large number of famous officials through the imperial examination system, which made him particularly interested and eager to know what the imperial examination system was like.

His big man is in urgent need of talents, the more the better, the more the better.

But at present, the most important talent selection system in their Han Dynasty is the inspection and examination system. As the name suggests, officials in various regions of the Han Dynasty select local talents to recommend to the court.

The imperial examination system was far from meeting the court's demand for talents, and it also had major flaws.

That is, officials from various places have great control over the recommendation of talents, and all kinds of chaos will occur here.

Since the number of talents recommended by officials from various places is limited, the quotas are basically occupied by nobles from various places, and ordinary people cannot get recommended quotas at all.

If things go on like this, basically all the officials in the imperial court will come from the gentry, causing the gentry group to grow bigger and bigger, seriously affecting the court's decision-making.

Another aspect is that the recommended talents will only be grateful to officials from various places, and will think that officials from various places have given them the opportunity to prosper, but will not be grateful to the imperial court for its important use of talents.

The long-term consequence of the inspection and examination system is that it blocks the way for ordinary people, causing officials from various places to collude with local wealthy families, thereby endangering the rule of the imperial court.

As the emperor of the Han Dynasty, he was naturally aware of the shortcomings of the inspection system.

But there is no other way. Apart from the inspection and promotion system, there is no other good talent system.

But things are different now. Wu Zetian selected many famous officials through the imperial examination, which allowed him to see a good way to select talents.

If they, the Han Dynasty, could also implement the imperial examination system, they would surely be able to train a large number of talents for the imperial court.

Liu Che: @武泽天, my great man also needs the imperial examination system. Can the Queen tell me the details of the imperial examination system so that I can refer to it.

Wu Zetian: @LiuChe, the imperial examination system has a lot of content, and I can’t explain it clearly in a sentence or two. Emperor Wu should ask the anchor. He can ask the anchor to introduce the imperial examination system in detail. I can also take a look at what the imperial examination system was like in the following dynasties. Maybe we can learn something from it.

The conversation between Liu Che and Wu Zetian aroused strong interest in the emperors of other dynasties, and they also wanted to know about the imperial examination system.

After all, if a dynasty wants to be prosperous and stable, the importance of talents is self-evident.

As the rulers of the empire, they naturally hope that the more talents in the court, the better. Ying Zheng: Anchor, I am also very interested in the imperial examination system. I wonder if the anchor can tell you in detail?
  Liu Xun, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty: I often lament that there are too few talents available in the imperial court. I hope the anchor can talk about the mystery of the imperial examination system.

Zhao Xu: Although my Song Dynasty also had an imperial examination system, I also want to know the differences between the imperial examination systems in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and I hope I can learn from them.

Zhu Yuanzhang: The imperial examination system has been very perfect since the Ming Dynasty. We would also like to know how future generations of officials select talents. If we can get some inspiration from it, that would be the best.

Yongzheng: I am more interested in the selection of officials in later generations. I wonder if the anchor can explain it in detail.

Seeing that the emperors of various dynasties were so active, Su Chen couldn't help but dampen everyone's interest.

The imperial examination system originated in the Sui Dynasty, and was gradually developed and improved in subsequent dynasties. Finally, the imperial examination system reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty.

Later, with the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the imperial examination system also came to an end, ushering in a new scientific talent training system, until the current government civil service system.

"Since everyone has enthusiastically asked for it, the anchor will collect relevant videos about the imperial examination system and civil service system after the broadcast, and play it for everyone to watch tomorrow morning. If you need it, you can take a careful look."

The emperors of various dynasties felt relieved when they heard what the anchor said. This is the best thing.

Dynasties that have not yet implemented the imperial examination system, such as the Qin, Han, and Three Kingdoms, are very interested in the imperial examination system.

I also want to know about the civil service system of later generations. Maybe I can get inspiration from it and formulate a talent system for my own dynasty.

As for the dynasties that already had the imperial examination system, such as the Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, etc., in addition to wanting to know about a more complete imperial examination system, they were also interested in the civil service system of later generations.

Seeing that everyone had no problem, Su Chen continued to talk about Wu Zetian's policy measures.

"Wu Zetian's political measures, in addition to re-employing talents, are also very important, and that is to open up channels of expression."

"Wu Zetian attaches great importance to the importance of opening up the voice and asking for advice and accepting advice. She believes that if the monarch's faults are not corrected by advice in time, it will endanger the security of the country and the country."

"Although Wu Zetian had strict decrees and severe punishments, she respected her subjects who spoke out and dared to give advice and tried her best to adopt their suggestions."

“Even if the words are offensive, they can be tolerated and avoided.”

"During Wu Zetian's reign, few people were convicted of direct remonstrances."

"Therefore, speaking out and daring to remonstrate has become a common practice in the government, which allows people to express their opinions to the top, which plays a great role in reforming bad governance and promoting political clarity."

"Wu Zetian took a series of measures to open up channels of expression so that people could freely express their opinions and grievances. The opening of the Dengwen Drum in the court was one of the measures to open up channels of expression."

"Anyone who has remonstrances or grievances can go to the court to play drums without restriction. The court will accept them and report them to the court to ensure that the people below can reach the highest level and understand more of the remonstrances."

"In addition, Wu Zetian also ordered the casting of a suggestion box, divided into four sides, to collect people's opinions on the government's praise, criticism, grievances, and military secrets."

Li Shimin: Apart from other things, Wu Zetian did the right thing in opening up the world, and it was quite my style. To be a king is to be tolerant and dare to face the advice of his ministers.

The emperor is also a human being, and as long as he is a human being, he will make mistakes. At this time, the importance of admonishing his ministers becomes apparent.

If the emperor makes a mistake and no ministers speak out and dare to admonish him, it will be a disaster for the country and the people.

If it is serious, it may be like Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, who caused chaos in the world and made the people miserable.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Wei Zheng who was sitting in front of the desk.

It is precisely because Wei Zheng always reminds him of his words and deeds that he can always stay alert.

Although Wei Zheng was often annoyed and he wanted to stop Wei Zheng's mouth, he had to say that it was precisely because of Wei Zheng's mirror that he could correct his mistakes in time.

Broadening the voice has a great positive effect on the political clarity of the court, and he can do this.

But he also knew that many emperors could not do this. Most emperors in the past dynasties could not listen to the advice of their ministers.

It is precisely because of this that it is particularly valuable for Wu Zetian to be able to do this.

"In addition to political measures, Wu Zetian also made considerable achievements in economics."

"Wu Zetian attached great importance to agricultural production, reduced the burden of taxes on farmers, implemented the policy of equalization of land, and took measures to restrain powerful men from occupying too much land and destroying equalization of land."

"At the same time, Wu Zetian encouraged the fugitive households to return to their hometowns to cultivate and settle down, and at the same time ordered several times to liberate the slaves and return them to the land."

"A strict system of rewards and punishments for officials has also been established, with the development of agricultural production as an important criterion and the basis for assessing the performance and promotion of local officials."

"In order to promote advanced agricultural production experience and production technology, Wu Zetian organized agricultural experts to compile the "Zhaoren's Business Record" and distributed it to prefectures and counties as a reference for prefecture and county officials to persuade farmers."

"During Wu Zetian's reign, society was relatively stable. Stimulated by the policy of rewarding mulberry farming, water conservancy developed rapidly, farmland irrigation area expanded, and handicrafts and commerce developed greatly."

"The number of registered households increased from 380 million during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty to 615 million during the reign of Wu Zetian."

The people of the Tang Dynasty during Wu Zetian's period still supported the queen very much. As long as she could make their people's lives better, she was a good emperor.

They people don't care who becomes the emperor, let alone whether a man or a woman becomes the emperor.

The only thing they care about is whether the current emperor is good to the people and whether he allows them to live a good life.

As the anchor said, under the rule of the Queen, people's livelihood in the Tang Dynasty is getting better and better, and the people's lives are better, then the people will support the Queen.

Li Zhi felt very uncomfortable. The household registration had nearly doubled, which was a blow to him.

Under his rule, the number of registered households in the Tang Dynasty was only 380 million.

But during the reign of Mei Niang, the household registration of ordinary people increased to 615 million.

The significant increase in the number of ordinary people showed that Mei Niang's ability to govern was much stronger than his, which somewhat made him lose face.

But when he thought that Mei Niang was buried with him as a queen in the end, and that what Mei Niang was doing now was helping him manage the Tang Dynasty, he felt relieved.

(End of this chapter)