Great Han Empire

Chapter 1003 Chapter [-]
The purpose of this memorial appearing at this moment is obvious. The rich and powerful intend to ease the conflict with the imperial court and make compromises with the imperial court's restructuring policy.

The eldest princess urgently summoned Prime Minister Li Wei, Da Sima Xu Rong, Taiwei Zhang Yan, Shang Shu Ling Tian Chou, and Zhong Shu Supervisor Liu Fang to discuss matters.

The "Nine Grades of Zhongzheng System" is actually a kind of evaluation of Confucian scholars, that is, candidates for officials. Through the investigation of Confucian scholars' family background, talents, morals, etc., it is evaluated whether they are qualified to be an official. Qualifications for official admission.

The full-time official who appraises people is "Zhongzheng". After comprehensively examining the talents and morals of Confucian scholars, Zhongzheng divides Confucian scholars into nine grades.This nine-rank classification is directly derived from Master Ban Gu's "Hanshu·Ancient and Modern People's List", but with some slight changes.Zhongzheng only makes general comments on the morals and talents of the characters, which are called "shape".Zhongzheng's evaluation results were submitted to the Prime Minister's Office for review and approval, and then sent to the Ministry of Officials as the basis for selecting officials.

The grades assessed by Zhongzheng are also called "Xiangpin", which is closely related to the official career of the person being evaluated.Those with high rural ranks naturally have a high starting point to become an official and are promoted quickly, while those with low rural ranks often have a low starting point to become an official and are promoted very slowly.Zhongzheng's reviewers are adjusted once every three years, and Zhongzheng can also upgrade or downgrade the reviewers at any time

This selection system is similar to local evaluation and village discussion.The evaluation of local celebrities has a long history, and the most famous one in the past was the "Yuedan Review" hosted by brothers Xu Shao and Xu Jing.

The difference between the Jiupin Zhongzheng system and this kind of local appraisal is that the presiding judges are no longer local famous Confucian scholars, but officials of the imperial court. In this way, the original local appraisal and village clear discussion are included in the scope of imperial elections. The local evaluations and discussions controlled by famous Confucians were transferred to the direct control of the imperial court, and the local evaluations and village discussions controlled by private individuals immediately gained a legal status, and the contradictions between the famous Confucian scholars and the imperial court were eased.

=

After reading the full text of the memorial, Li Wei was stunned for a long time.

He didn't expect that the famous Confucian scholars would come to this trick and revise the selection system, which can be described as drastic.For more than ten years, the promotion and implementation of the New Deal of the imperial court has been entirely dependent on officials, their loyalty to the court and their support for the New Deal. If officials resist and treat the New Deal negatively, the difficulty of promoting the New Deal will suddenly increase, and even they will give up halfway or even fail. danger.

At the beginning, northern Xinjiang strongly promoted the study of ancient texts and classics. After King Qin succeeded in rebuilding his court, he took the new classics as his official study. Instead of the "examination system", a large number of Confucian scholars who study Jinwen and Confucian classics will become officials, and the contradictions between governance concepts and interests and power will become more intense, which will hinder the promotion and implementation of the new government policy to a certain extent.

"Has the drawback of the probation system become so serious that it must be reformed?" The eldest princess frowned and asked, "After the implementation of the New Deal, we have vigorously promoted township appraisal in addition to the probation system, which has made up for the lack of official selection. Why? Want to change it?"

Grand Sima Xu Rong and Taiwei Zhang Yan looked at each other and smiled wryly.

"Your Highness, the reason why we want to change is because of official studies." Tian Chou explained, "There are two criteria for the selection of prosecutors in this dynasty. One is that no one other than Confucianism is allowed to select scholars; It is necessary to examine the four aspects of virtue, learning, law, and strategy."

"Your Highness, this Confucianism does not refer to all schools of Confucian classics in general, but refers specifically to official studies. In the past, official studies were Jinwen Confucian studies, but now official studies are New Classics. Basic qualifications. In the past, when official studies were modern Confucian classics, many Confucian scholars who studied ancient Chinese classics had to learn both modern and ancient Chinese classics in order to become officials. important reason."

"The difference between the Jiupin Zhongzheng System and the Juju System is that it is based on talents. No matter what school of Confucianism you are studying Confucianism, whether you are an ordinary person who studies piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, or a commoner who studies medicine, only You are talented, regardless of your background, you are all eligible to be judged. In addition, it judges very little content, mainly family background, talent and morality, and the focus is on talent."

"As for the investigation of family background, it is actually for the purpose of selecting talents. After more than 20 years of wars in this dynasty, the high schools that survived the war have very rich economics, and their children are more likely to learn skills, so there is investigation of family background. This item. Of course, this kind of selection and inspection, after a long time, will inevitably reproduce the disadvantages of the probation system, that is, the disciples and former officials of the aristocratic families will spread all over the court, and the power struggle will intensify."

The princess understood.

Jinwen Confucianism has been an official school for more than 300 years. During such a long period of time, there have been too many aristocratic families and Confucian scholars who have studied Jinwen Confucianism. , it is a world of difference.

Confucian scholars forget to sleep and eat, study hard, for what?Isn't it for survival, for becoming an official, and for being able to honor your ancestors?Cutting off the livelihood of these Confucian scholars and excluding these Confucian scholars from the court is obviously out of date and wrong, and the selection system must be changed.

=

"The memorial said that the reason for revising the selection system is because the procuratorial system is corrupt and has too many drawbacks, which is not conducive to the rejuvenation of the great man." Xu Rong pointed to the memorial and said, "They also said that more than 20 years of wars have caused population Confucian scholars from all over the country have been living in other places, and the inspection system is no longer applicable. Therefore, considering the advantages and traditions of local evaluation and village discussion, considering the population reduction and Confucian scholars living abroad, it is recommended to implement the nine-rank Zhongzheng system , this will not only help to correct the flaws in the selection standards of the dynasty, restore fairness and justice, and select a large number of talents, but also help to correct the manipulation and control of the talent evaluation and official selection by the aristocratic families and great Confucian scholars, because it has produced a series of serious problems. Question." Xu Rong shook his head again and again, "What's the problem? Didn't they take away their jobs? I think this matter should be carefully considered, and a decision should not be rushed to avoid causing harm to future generations. There are many disadvantages, so wouldn't the Jiupin Zhongzheng system not have the same problems?"

"Prefectures and counties set up Zhongzheng, who is this Zhongzheng? According to this system, the state and county Zhongzheng can only be served by local people, and most of them are concurrently held by current court officials. The Zhongzheng himself is usually the second rank of the nine ranks Shangpin, in other words, is a great scholar of Confucianism, and he is also a famous scholar of Confucianism in each prefecture and county. In this way, the privately manipulated township evaluation has become the rank of the imperial court, and such a rank of the imperial court will obviously not endanger the aristocratic family self-interest. The imperial court seems to control the selection, but in fact it is the aristocratic family that controls the selection."

"Although the conflict between the imperial court and the aristocratic family on the issue of selection has been greatly eased, what is the result? Just look at the drawbacks of the probation system. The aristocratic family manipulates and controls the selection, which will definitely bend the law for personal gain and disrupt the administration of officials. The standard for selecting talents is obviously to emphasize family background and neglect talent and virtue, which blocks the way to appoint talented people. In my opinion, this system was started by the aristocratic families, which is of great benefit to them. In the future, this system will definitely strengthen the privileges of the aristocratic families , It is extremely detrimental to the long-term stability of the big man."

=

Everyone was silent, and the atmosphere was dignified.

"I think this system is feasible, especially now. It is very beneficial for the imperial court to select talents, it is beneficial for the imperial court to implement reforms, and it is also very beneficial for the imperial court to stabilize the country. For a long period of time, this system can not only sweep away the selection of the imperial court. The disadvantages of talents, and it can also greatly promote the great cause of Zhongxing." Li Wei suddenly stood up, waved and said, "This system is feasible."

The eldest princess, Xu Rong, Zhang Yan and others all looked at him with surprised expressions.

"Zhong Yuan, you have to think carefully, this is not a temporary compromise, but the long-term stability of the big man." Zhang Yan said solemnly.

"The selection criteria of this system is meritocracy, which is in line with the principles of the imperial court. This alone is superior to the examination system." Li Wei said, "Because the imperial court selects scholars based on ability and morality, regardless of family background, regardless of high or low Therefore, reading classics is not the only way to become an official, it will greatly promote the development of other schools of thought besides Confucianism, such as calligraphy, medicine, etc., which is very conducive to the improvement of national strength."

"The selection system does need to be changed. Due to the sharp decline in population and Confucian scholars living abroad, it is indeed very difficult to implement the review system. In recent years, we have mainly relied on the recommendation of the township evaluation and recruited students from the university directly. He became an official, but as more and more states and counties were recovered, there was a serious shortage of officials. After the Guanzhong War, the imperial court had to bow down to the Guanluo scholars because of the lack of officials. I believe everyone still remembers it. But we have always found There is no solution, and the emergence of the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System just solved the urgent need of the imperial court." Li Wei laughed and said, "It seems that the imperial court has gained a lot from this great debate on Confucian classics."

"The Jiupin Zhongzheng System is simply a township review, but one is the government's township review, and the other is the local private township review. Through this system, it is a pioneering work to transform the local private township review into the imperial court's township review. First of all, It eased the conflict between us and the famous local Confucian scholars. Secondly, the imperial court completely controlled the selection right, depriving the local township review of the threat to the imperial court’s selection right. Third, it hit the Qing Dynasty of the famous Confucian scholars, which is conducive to the stability of the country. Everyone also Remember Xu Shao and Xu Jing presided over the Yuedan Review in the early years. This Yuedan Review not only judged Confucian scholars, but also commented on current affairs and criticized the government. Its authority once had a great impact on the dignity of the emperor and the court. "

"The imperial court does not need Yuedan comments, and the imperial court does not want Confucian scholars from all over the world to gather together to discuss government affairs, influence the court's decision-making, and damage the prestige of the emperor and the imperial court. The best way is this Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System."

=

Li Wei's words reminded the eldest princess and Xu Rong and others.

At that time, because of the party's ban, township reviews became popular, which had a great impact on the stability of the country. The imperial court had to intervene, and even ordered to ban all township reviews in the world.Now in the early days of the Han Dynasty, the imperial court needs great Confucian scholars from all over the country to recommend talents, so township reviews have already become a common practice, and the hidden dangers contained in it are very serious.

"Your Highness, my lords..." Li Wei picked up the memorial on the table, and continued, "The function of the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System is to recommend talents and select talents for the imperial court. You just have the qualifications to become an official, it is just a part of the selection system, it only has a part of the selection power. A Confucian scholar who is an official) is considered to have formally entered the official career and become an official."

"Therefore, the Nine Ranks Zhongzheng System is just a system for inspecting talents. After Zhongzheng officials appraise Confucian scholars, their quality is the main basis for the imperial court to appoint officials. It does not directly appoint officials. The right to appoint belongs to the imperial court. After being appraised, you still need to go through various official careers before you can become an official. From the current point of view, this includes direct entry into officialdom, inspection and filial piety, prefecture, county and county officials who have accumulated meritorious service and promoted to official positions, Taixue students who have passed examinations to enter official positions, public officials, etc. It can be seen that Zhongzheng is not an official career because he was promoted to an official position in the government office and so on."

"If the imperial court implements the nine-rank Zhongzheng system, then every official position in the imperial court must stipulate the qualifications of the incumbent, which is the official rank. Anyone who wants to be an official must have qualifications, otherwise he will not be an official. qualifications, but judging from the current selection system of the imperial court, it is obviously not enough to obtain qualifications only by the Zhongzheng Appraisal of the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System, nor can it meet the imperial court's needs for talents."

"We can still continue to implement the procuratorial system, elevating talents, emphasizing filial piety, and educating virtuous and upright people. The judgment of these people and the awarding of their qualifications are not made by the Zhongzheng, but by the various levels of government that preside over the procuratorate. Decide."

"The system of test scriptures has been practiced for hundreds of years, and the effect is very good. It cannot be abandoned. All students from imperial schools and universities in various places can obtain the materials needed to become officials through the test scriptures."

"There is also the bestowed official. Since the official position itself has marked the official rank, then as long as the Confucian scholar is awarded the official, he will also obtain the qualifications required to hold the official position at the same time. This is also possible."

"The other thing is to confer and inherit a title. Like an official position, a title is also given a rank. Those who have a title have a quality. Now that they have a title, they can of course become an official."

=

Li Wei's words dispelled everyone's worries in the blink of an eye.

The great Confucian scholars wanted to continue to maintain the road of becoming an official through the nine-rank Zhongzheng system, but Li Wei saw the tricks and incorporated the nine-rank Zhongzheng system into the system of inspecting talents, using its advantages to suppress its disadvantages, and still firmly controlled the selection of officials .In this way, it not only meets the requirements of the great Confucian scholars, but also does not harm the rights and interests of those with vested interests, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

The mood of the eldest princess and everyone improved, but Li Wei's expression suddenly changed.

"Da Sima said a lot just now, and he said a lot. His worries are very reasonable. How can we maintain the fairness and justice of the selection system to the greatest extent?" Li Wei said, "The key lies in the supervision and checks and balances of the imperial court's selection power. Integrity in the selection of officials, that is to say, the supervision of Zhongzheng officials is very important."

"Zhongzheng's job lies in the rank of Confucian scholars. Zhongzheng's rank is the prerequisite for Confucian scholars to enter official positions. No matter how Confucian scholars enter official positions, they must pass Zhongzheng's evaluation to obtain their rank, otherwise they will not be eligible to enter As an official, how does the imperial court ensure the incorruptibility and impartiality of Zhongzheng officials?" Li Wei picked up the memorial on the case table, "Appreciate."

"Revising the selection system requires not only revising how to select talents, but also how to supervise serving officials." Li Wei said resolutely, "The imperial court not only judges and selects officials, but also evaluates all serving officials. Once every three years, If the assets are downgraded, the official products will also be downgraded."

"The Zhongzheng official judges the Confucian scholars, the emperor and the ministers judge the officials at all levels, and the first grade judges the first grade. If the qualifications are not enough, those who should be demoted will be demoted, and those who should be punished will be punished. Mutual supervision and restriction."

=

"Your Prime Minister, you mean that the selection system should be revised in an all-round way?" the Eldest Princess asked in surprise.

"Yes, a comprehensive revision." Li Wei said, "The new selection system should include two aspects, one is to judge the in-service officials, and the other is to judge the candidates for officials. The nine-rank Zhongzheng system only examines talents and cannot Replace the examination system. Considering that the revision of the selection system was jointly initiated by Lord Taifu, Chen Qun, Yuan Huan and other lords, I think this new selection system is called the Nine Rank Officials Law."

"Nine-rank official law."

Xu Rong and several ministers looked at each other, applauded and congratulated.

=

On April 21, the eldest princess convened a discussion with ministers of public affairs and military affairs. The ministers of civil and military affairs unanimously agreed to revise the selection system, and recommended more than a dozen ministers, including Chen Qun, Yuan Huan, and Tian Chou, to draft the "Nine Rank Official Personnel Law".

As a result, the conflict between the imperial court and the great Confucian scholars was eased, and the policy of system reform was reconsidered. But to everyone's surprise, the debate between the ancient Chinese classics and the new classics had once again set off a climax because of Master Zheng Xuan's illness.

Master Zheng Xuan was too old, and after a month-long debate, he finally couldn't hold on and collapsed.

The New Confucian School was furious, and launched a fierce counterattack against the Classical Confucian school.

=

The eldest princess visited Master Zheng Xuan every day, and asked the palace doctor to consult several times, trying her best to save Master Zheng Xuan's life.

Prime Minister Li Wei and Da Sima Xu Rong also visited Taixue several times in person, trying to resolve the conflict between the two sides, and dissolved the debate that was getting out of control, but they were driven out by the angry Confucian scholars, and Li Wei was even attacked Ink's "attack" fell into a sea of ​​people, and the city gate captain He Lin used two hundred guards to "snatch" him out.

On April 28, Master Zheng Xuan fell into a coma.

The Confucian scholars of the New Classic School lost control of their emotions. During the debate that day, the bamboo slips fell like raindrops on Taishi Ling Ma Feng and the other seven great Confucian scholars.Ma Feng was bleeding from the head, and the other seven people were also injured.Xi Ji wanted to dissuade the Confucian scholars, but suffered a disaster and was also injured.

Grand Sima Xu Rong urgently called Taiwei Zhang Yan, Right General Guang Luxun Zhao Yun, Rear General Wei Yang Feng, Left General Yan Liang, and Right General Wen Chou to discuss the defense of Kyoto.Master Zheng Xuan's time is running out. Once he passes away, the Confucian scholars will most likely lose control of their emotions and do some extreme things.

"For safety's sake, let's surround Taixue at night and forcibly disperse all Confucian scholars." Yang Feng sneered, "If the situation is allowed to continue, there will be a riot in Kyoto. Now tens of thousands of people have gathered in Taixue. Get up, you will surely die."

"Send the eldest princess away first." Yan Liang said worriedly, "The safety of the eldest princess is the most important thing."

"His Highness refused to leave." Zhao Yun smiled wryly, "We persuaded him several times, but His Highness refused to listen. She said that she would personally preside over Grandmaster's funeral."

Xu Rong discussed with everyone for a long time, but there was nothing to do, so he had to mobilize the Southern Army first to protect the palace and government offices.

=

On April [-]th, the Confucian scholars of the New Classic School shouted to avenge the master, and besieged the Confucian scholars of the Jinwen Classic School.

Wen Chou, the right general, and He Lin, the school captain of Chengmen, rushed into Taixue with five hundred guards to prevent the conflict.Grand Tutor Yang Biao and Grand Sima Xu Rong then rushed to Taixue to appease the students.Under the persuasion of Taifu Yang Biao, the great Confucians, famous scholars and Confucian scholars of Jinwen Confucianism School quit Taixue.

=

On the first day of May, the Confucian scholars of the Xinjing School began to attack the Confucian scholars of the Ancient Wenjing School again, and the conflict began to escalate.

Right General Wen Chou and Chengmen School Captain He Lin rushed to Taixue again with five hundred guards, but this time the Confucian scholars were bolder.Yesterday, the guards could not fight back when they beat them or cursed them back, which fueled the arrogance of the Confucian scholars. They first "attacked" the guards with ink on bamboo slips, and then they simply rushed forward to beat them.

Wen Chou was shocked and urgently ordered the guards to withdraw from Taixue, no one was allowed to fight back, and those who disobeyed the order would be killed without mercy.

In the afternoon, Wen Chou walked into Taixue alone, met with Master Zheng Xuan's disciples Zhao Shang, Wang Ji, and Gongsun Fang, and asked them to comfort the Confucian scholars and persuade them to leave Taixue and Chang'an as soon as possible.

"How is this possible?" Zhao Shang burst into tears, "The master is about to pass away, how could the disciples leave?"

"But now the master's disciples are full of anger, thinking that the master's critical illness is the responsibility of the modern and ancient Wenjing schools." Wen Chou persuaded earnestly, "This will cause accidents, and people will die."

The three of Zhao Shang were distraught and refused to leave.Indeed, at this time, none of the disciples would leave, and they all hoped that the master would get better.

Wen Chou went to persuade Xu Shao again.

After 200 years of struggle, the Confucian scholars of ancient Chinese classics made "marriage clothes" for the newly emerging new classics. May I ask, which disciple is not resentful?Which disciple is not filled with righteous indignation?
"Chang'an Taixue was rebuilt by the master alone. You have thousands of disciples. You should persuade them to leave as soon as possible." Wen Chou said with a sad face, "I am also a disciple of the master. I don't want them to have accidents. I don't want Grandmaster's painstaking efforts to be ruined, so please be sure..."

"I can leave Taixue, but are they willing?" Xu Shao said helplessly, "If my disciples don't leave, how can I leave?"

=

Wen Chou hurried to Da Sima's Mansion to report to Xu Rong that there was going to be an accident in Taixue and Chang'an, so hurry up and find a way, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

Xu Rong urgently summoned the Prime Minister and ministers to discuss, but everyone was helpless.

"My lord, you witnessed Dong Zhuo's murder of Confucian scholars in Luoyang back then. Could it be that you have nothing to do?"

Yang Biao smiled wryly, "What can I do? Unless Brother Kang Cheng (Zheng Xuan) recovers immediately, otherwise..."

Yang Feng once again asked to use the Southern Army to drive Confucian scholars out of Taixue and out of Chang'an, but was immediately rejected by the ministers unanimously.

=

On the second day of May, Master Zheng Xuan died of illness.

=

(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
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