Records of the King of Xin'an County

Listening to everyone expressing their opinions, the sage felt that what they said didn't hit the point, and his brows furrowed slightly: "Everything you say makes sense, but you have to think about it: I'm afraid it won't take long to continue to investigate the doubts." It's short, and it's not easy to find the mastermind behind the scenes; second, you might as well tell me that the provincial examination is imminent, how can the impact of the tribute case and the rumor case be calmed?"

The officials were silent for a moment, and continued to discuss.Most of them felt that publishing the truth about the two cases would be enough to quell rumors.As for the provincial examination, it should be held as usual, as long as the Ministry of Officials quickly promotes another examiner, Wailang, to preside over the matter.It is of course the responsibility of the third division to investigate the case of treason.If it feels that there are not enough people available, the Jinwu Guard can help from the side, and Jingzhao Prefecture, Chang'an County, and Wannian County can also hire police to assist in the investigation.

After hearing this, the sage finally relaxed his brows.He looked around at the ministers, and was about to adopt their suggestions when his eyes suddenly fell on Li Hui who moved slightly.Holding the white jade wat in both hands, the young king of Xin'an County bowed his head in salute and said, "Your Majesty, I feel that judging by the current trend of rumors in Chang'an City, it may not be enough to just announce the truth of the two cases. Besides, Gong It is a major event in the Tang Dynasty to select people with outstanding talents and learning to be officials, and it would be too contemptuous for a member of the Ministry of Officials to preside over it."

"Wai Lang, a member of the Ministry of Officials, is only an official of the sixth grade. Is his talent and reputation enough to be able to preside over the tribute examination? Can he stick to his heart and not be instigated by others? Can he not accept bribes, favoritism and fraud?" He said His voice was clear and clear, his expression calm and unhurried, as if the people sitting around were just ordinary scribes, not all the powerful old foxes in the Tang court, "I have also thought carefully these days, why those two The supervisory censor can impeach the fraudulent tribute without any evidence? Why can Zhang Yuanwailang slander Yu Chen and Jing Xing when he can open his mouth?"

"There is no other reason. It's just that there are too many human relationships involved in today's tribute examination. Can a mere civil servant, Wailang, be fair when facing the prince, the county king, the state duke, and the prime ministers?" Everyone knows that he can't. But if everyone here has some selfishness, he can't guarantee that the results of the provincial examination are completely fair. Because of this, after the candidates sent by the states come to Chang'an, the most important thing is to Deliver documents everywhere, hoping to win the favor of dignitaries."

"It's the same every year, and there is no difference. However, I would like to ask——I recruited scholars from the Tang Dynasty in order to let them learn? Is it not because of their talents? But because of their knowledge. How many nobles?" At this point, Li Hui glanced at the ministers: "Of course, some people may say that there are too many thousand-mile horses, but there are too few Bole. Without Bole's recommendation, how can these thousand-mile horses stand out?"

"But I still want to ask—isn't the purpose of provincial examinations to select the most talented people for our Tang Dynasty? If they are truly talented, how can they be buried among the crowd? If someone with real talent appears The absurd thing of failing in practical studies is a violation of the original intention of selecting scholars! It is contrary to His Majesty's will! It is almost certain that either there must be problems with the questions in the provincial examination, or there must be problems with the examiners who graded the papers! !"

"What's more, do you really have the time to find that thousand-mile horse from the crowd? Every year at this time, the mansion of your lord must be the same as Prince Pu's mansion. Every day, you can receive a small mountain of posting documents. And you are busy with official duties, how much time do you spend reading these documents carefully? It is nothing more than family members taking a look and choosing one or two to recommend. Is it Maxima?"

Facing the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, this young boy did not show any nervousness at all, on the contrary he was extremely calm and calm.Everything he said was true. Not only did he have unique insights, but he was also well-founded when he questioned him. For a while, people couldn't find any loopholes.What he said did not look like a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy at all.

All the ministers were silent for a moment, all of them guessed in their hearts who it was who borrowed the mouth of Xin'an County King to say these words.And how they should respond to these remarks is the most appropriate.After all, although the tribute examination is a means of selecting officials, not all officials come from the tribute examination—menyin and chaju are also important sources of officials.Moreover, the Jinshi Department only recruits more than 20 or [-] scholars every year, which is much smaller than the Ming Jing Ke and Ming Fa Ke.Is it a bit of a big deal to change the official who presided over the tribute examination because of the rumors of the Jinshi Kegong Examination?

Just when someone couldn't help objecting, the sage suddenly smiled and said, "Xuan Qi, what you said really hit on the flaws in the tribute examination. Although there was no cheating in the provincial examination for Jinshi, but There have been similar injustices in the past, and it will be difficult to put an end to them in the future. If the scribes are outraged and feel that the provincial examination is unfair, the court will certainly not be able to win the trust of the people."

"Your Majesty's words are very true." Li Hui immediately answered, not giving others a chance to object, with a serious face, "Since we know that there are loopholes in the tribute examination, we must put an end to such loopholes, so that the tribute examination can be successful in the future." Select the talents that Datang and His Majesty need. Otherwise, it will be too late to make up for it when something goes wrong! What's more, some people are trying to make trouble with the tribute, if it doesn't work this time, what is the majesty of the court?"

"I think what the king of Xin'an County said is very reasonable." Guozijian Liu Jijiu also said, "The purpose of the tribute to select scholars is to take all the talented people within the territory of the Tang Dynasty for His Majesty's use. But now However, due to the prevailing trend of recommendation, the behavior of these candidates sent by the state government is extremely impetuous! After arriving in Chang'an, the first thing is to post posts everywhere, and the second thing is to participate in the essay meeting and talk about it-only know how to ask for help. Seeking fame and fortune, but don't know how to study and practice, completely put the cart before the horse!"

He was usually silent, but this time he was extremely impassioned: "Even if such a person becomes a Jinshi, he will definitely not be content with practice!! Reading and learning are far less important than fame and wealth in their eyes! However, Think about it carefully, are all people born chasing fame and fortune?! Absolutely not! It’s just that other people tell them that if they don’t do this, they are very likely to fail! They have to do it!”

"Therefore, these shortcomings are not actually the problems of the candidates, but the problems with the method we use to select scholars! Since there are problems, of course we must correct them! Otherwise, wait until more problems arise before correcting them, and it will be too late to regret Hey!" Speaking of the excitement, he glanced at the Minister of the Ministry of Officials who was about to refute, "Don't say that this is the law of the ancestors!! Can't be changed!! Tens of years ago, there was no tribute! The established tribute method was inherited by the imperial court! Since they can set a precedent, why don’t we even dare to continue to change it?!”

The official minister was speechless, and everyone looked sideways at him—how did they not know that this Liu Jijiu, who usually only sits and naps in his seat, has such a high combat effectiveness?However, Dali Siqing, Yushi Zhongcheng and Xingbu Shangshu just smiled and said nothing: they have seen it before, and they don't find it strange.

"If it is not suitable, the method of tribute selection should naturally be changed." The saint asked, "Can Xuan Qi and Liu Aiqing have a solution?"

Liu Jijiu glanced at Li Hui and motioned him to speak first.Li Hui thanked him with a slight nod of his head, and replied loudly: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe that there are three strategies to solve these problems--first, you must order the high-ranking Zi officials to preside over the tribute examination, and no longer allow high-ranking officials and nobles to recommend you. The second is , four or five high-ranking officials must be ordered to mark the papers together, discuss the points of superiority and inferiority of the test papers, and finally submit them to His Majesty for review, so that it will appear fair and just. Again, the person who makes a decision on the test questions should be His Majesty or a highly respected person designated by His Majesty Once the test questions are leaked, the relevant people will be held accountable, and we must not tolerate it."

The saint smiled and stroked his short mustache: "Okay! Very good! What you said is very reasonable! But why do you want me to come up with a question?"

"The purpose of tribute to all the subjects is to select the best talents from all over the world to serve as an official." Li Hui replied without hesitation, "What kind of talents your Majesty needs, naturally, what kind of topics should be set. The topic of policy discussion is the most important. It is easy to distinguish the level of knowledge of scholars, so only the policy topics approved by His Majesty can be picked out, and the scholars who can understand His Majesty can truly solve problems for His Majesty in the future!"

"Haha! What kind of person I need, what kind of questions should I ask!" The saint laughed happily, and looked at the courtiers with different expressions, "What do you love?"

He has always been worried that no one can use him, and he looks forward to being able to recognize the bead and discover all kinds of talents every day, but now he is suddenly enlightened!Since there are tribute examinations every year, why can't he directly select the talents he likes from them, so as to cultivate and promote them?Not to mention the ten or twenty people in the Jinshi Department, who understand the scriptures, understand the law, and understand calculations-are these not all human beings? !As long as you hold the tribute in your hand, why not worry about all the heroes in the world? !

Thinking of this, he smiled more blissfully, and looked at Li Hui more lovingly and softly: This child is indeed a smart and lucky boy.Even though he didn't know what his uncle was most worried about at the moment, he knew very well what he was doing for.As long as everyone can be like him and focus on solving the emperor's problems, the emperor's difficulties will naturally be solved, so why should he worry all day long?

"The old minister seconded the proposal!" Liu Jijiu hurriedly raised his jade wat in response.

"Senior!" Li Jing, who looked adoring, immediately responded.

"The old minister seconded the proposal." The right servant shot Jian Guogong Xu Ye also said, "However, the three strategies mentioned by the king of Xin'an County must be further improved. The provincial examination is about to start, and it is necessary to determine who will be in charge of the tribute examination as soon as possible. And who will judge the papers. As for the topic of the policy this time, the veteran also thinks that it should be decided by His Majesty! After all, this is the first provincial examination after the reform of the method of tribute, so naturally His Majesty should be the first!"

Seeing that the saint Long Xin was very happy, and the capital of the group of ministers had already seconded the proposal, the rest of the courtiers did not dare to mention it even if they had objections, so they expressed their second proposal one after another.Some people suggested that the Minister of the Ministry of Officials should preside over the tribute examination, and some people thought that the prime ministers should be allowed to mark the papers, and the discussion became lively again.

The saint is very satisfied with this result: "Who will preside over the tribute and who will mark the papers are all details. After that, I will call several loves to discuss together. Loves, do you have other matters?" Play?"

Suddenly, Yang Shijing (the Lord of Hongnong County), Minister of the Ministry of Rites, held up the jade wat and said, "Return to Your Majesty, the old minister still has some doubts about this provincial examination...Just now the King of Xin'an County also mentioned that rumors are spreading widely in Chang'an City. In addition, the provincial examination system will change again, will it make the rumors even more unbelievable? The veteran thinks that perhaps the rumors should be quelled first, so that the new method of tribute examination can be implemented smoothly."

The saint raised his eyebrows and asked almost casually, "Xuan Qi, what do you think?"

Li Hui thought for a while and replied: "I feel that the best way to quell the rumors spread by such dark people is to be upright."

"Oh? How bright and aboveboard?" The sage laughed, "If what you said is reasonable, you will assist Liu Aiqing to preside over this provincial examination. After all, Liu Aiqing is the Imperial Academy's sacrificial wine. The gentleman of all the students of the official school."

Liu Jijiu was stunned, shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, you can't do it. The old minister and those Guozijian students have to take provincial exams, so it stands to reason that the old minister should avoid suspicion."

"A virtuous person does not avoid relatives, let alone a student?" The saint laughed, "And, if Xuan Qi has an upright policy, everyone will naturally be convinced."

All the ministers said yes, and Yang Shijing, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, looked at the young man who was talking eloquently across the way, his eyes deepened.