Chapter 407: The emperor's power is a poor family, and we are all happy! Your Majesty can appoint him as the champion, but you can't force him to grow!
"Imperial examination system?"

Liu Bei suddenly raised his head and looked at Xiao Fang, with a strange look in his eyes.

Xiao Fang nodded slightly, motioning Lao Liu to continue reading.

Liu Bei then slowly opened the scroll with great curiosity.

"The imperial examination is to select scholars through imperial examinations, so it is called the imperial examination..."

In the following thousand-plus words, Xiao Fang described the general outline of the imperial examination system to Lao Liu.

In short, it is to evaluate the quality of talents based on the test scores and then select the best ones.

No matter whether you are taking the Mingjing, Mingsuan, or Celun exams, the test scores are the only basis for selecting officials.

The imperial examination system has two greatest advantages.

One is fairness.

No matter whether you are from a wealthy family, a poor family, or even a peddler, as long as you do well in the exam, you can be employed by the court, become an official of the Han Dynasty, and eat the emperor's food.

In this way, it will prevent the scholar families from using their family background to monopolize the power of officialdom, and in turn prevent those scholars from becoming officials easily by relying on their family background even though they have no talent.

At the same time, it also ensured that the upward channels for the common people were unobstructed, giving them hope to display their ambitions and talents, so that they would not boast of their great talents but have no way to serve the country, and thus feel resentful towards the court.

The second advantage of this imperial examination system was that, compared with the Nine-Rank System, it ensured that the emperor firmly grasped the power of selecting officials.

The power to select officials under the Nine-Rank System was controlled by the so-called Zhongzheng official, who was naturally monopolized by the scholar families.

Then the officials chosen would naturally only come from scholar families, and the people who were chosen would also regard the Zhongzheng official as their benefactor.

Over time, the power to select officials was monopolized by scholars and had nothing to do with the emperor.

The imperial examination system was different. No matter whether you were from a poor family or a scholar family, no one had the power to recommend anyone to be an official. Everything was based on the examination results.

The final round of the imperial examination also includes a palace examination, which is presided over by the emperor himself.

In the previous round of examinations, elites from various states gathered in the capital to compete.

Only those who stand out will have the opportunity to take part in the palace examination.

The emperor passed the palace examination and became the mentor of these top elites of the Han Dynasty.

The emperor is both a ruler, a teacher, and "impartial", a trinity. If you are not loyal to the emperor, who are you loyal to?

"Wonderful, wonderful!"

"The imperial examination system created by the Prime Minister is ten times better than the Nine-Rank Official System. It is truly a miracle system that will last forever!"

Liu Bei saw the advantages of the imperial examination system and was overjoyed and applauded.

Be it Zhuge Liang, Tian Feng or Fa Zheng, all the ministers were extremely surprised. They could not guess what kind of system of selecting officials Xiao Fang had proposed that could make the emperor so excited.

In the eyes of the emperor, this method of selecting officials is actually ten times better than the Nine-Rank Official System?
"Come, come, come, let's discuss the Prime Minister's method of selecting officials through the imperial examination."

Liu Bei simply spread the silk scroll on the dragon table and called all the ministers to come and watch.

A group of the smartest people in the Han Dynasty rolled up their sleeves, shoved and crowded around, staring with wide eyes.

After a while, the hall was boiling again with heated discussions.

"Use the imperial examination to determine the rank of officials and select talented people to serve the court?"

"Great! Prime Minister, this method is really ingenious. This way, we can recruit all the talented people regardless of their humble background."

“This is the true meritocracy!”

Zhuge Liang's cheers were the first to be heard in the hall.

"Well, Prime Minister, this method of imperial examination is perfect."

"This move not only helps select talented people for the imperial court, but also prevents those who are just mediocre from filling the positions. It is indeed a perfect system that has the best of both worlds."

"This imperial examination system, as Your Majesty said, is indeed ten times more stringent than the Nine-Rank Official System."

Tian Feng also stroked his half-white beard and nodded in agreement.

In his view, most of the world's talented people came from scholar families. Even if officials were selected through imperial examinations, those on the list would mostly be children of scholar families, so there was no need to worry about having their jobs taken away by the poor and common people.

As Tian Feng was upright and impartial, he naturally did not want the useless people in the scholars' families to come out and become officials, thus bringing disaster to the court.

At the same time, the power to select officials was firmly in the hands of the court and the emperor, which was also in line with Tian Feng's values ​​of loyalty to the emperor.

After weighing the pros and cons in this way, the imperial examination system naturally became a perfect system in Tian Feng's eyes.

"The Prime Minister is truly a genius who can come up with such a rare and extraordinary method."

"Today, I have finally experienced first-hand the Prime Minister's extraordinary qualities. I am convinced!"

Fa Zheng was also impressed and bowed to Xiao Fang.

Liu Bei slapped the table and laughed:

"Okay, okay, Prime Minister, you have solved another problem for me!"

"This imperial examination system is truly perfect. With the emergence of this system, the battle between me and Cao Cao for the hearts of the people has finally come to an end."

"Prime Minister, you should quickly work out the implementation details of this imperial examination system with the other ministers, so that I can issue an edict as soon as possible to implement this system in our great Han Dynasty!"

Old Liu also regarded the imperial examination system as perfect.

However, Xiao Fang understood that the imperial examination system was only superior to the Nine-Rank System.

Throughout history, has there ever been an absolutely perfect system?

It's just relatively better.

In the past history, after a thousand years of implementation, the imperial examination system was also plagued by drawbacks and became a burden that hindered the country's prosperity.

However, in the present, although the literati families have become the dominant force, they have not yet been able to dominate the world as they did in history. The poor and common people have also risen up in the cracks of the literati families and are growing stronger. In this special era, the imperial examination system is a relatively optimal solution.

For the imperial power, the scholars, and the poor, it is an optimal solution that everyone can accept and find a balance of interests.

Xiao Fangsui did not explain too much, but smiled and said:
"Your Majesty, thank you for your praise. My imperial examination system is not perfect, but I am confident that it is better than Chen Qun's nine-rank official system."

"Once this system is implemented in our great Han Dynasty, I believe that Your Majesty will win the battle for the hearts and minds of the people without any suspense."

"After winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the people, Your Majesty can then embark on an expedition to the west to defeat Qin and destroy Cao!"

Liu Bei laughed loudly, and his laughter was filled with iron-like confidence.

At that time, Xiao Fangbian and other ministers including Zhuge Liang discussed in detail the details and every link of the imperial examination system.

A month later, Liu Bei issued an imperial edict to all directions, officially announcing that the imperial examination system would be implemented in the Han Dynasty and that officials would be selected through imperial examinations.

Kyushu is boiling.

The talented scholars whose paths to officialdom were blocked due to the collapse of the imperial examination system were now cleared, and they were naturally delighted and applauded.

The common people from poor families were naturally surprised to see that the upward channels had been opened for them and that they had a relatively "fair" path to officialdom.

In the Han Dynasty, all those with real talent and scholarship wholeheartedly supported the implementation of the imperial examination system.

The gratitude and support of the scholars of Kyushu for Emperor Liu Bei also reached its peak.

In late summer, the first imperial examination was held in the Nine Provinces controlled by the Han Dynasty.

Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Qingzhou, Jizhou, Youzhou, and even the most remote Jiaozhou...

Young men of noble families in various counties and talented people from humble backgrounds rushed to the provincial capital to take part in the first imperial examination since Liu Bei ascended the throne.

Those who win the provincial examination will obtain the status of juren.

Two months later, it was late autumn.

The construction of the Luoyang Palace was officially completed, and Liu Bei led the civil and military officials back to the old capital.

A few days later, the imperial examination was held in Luoyang.

The best candidates from the provincial examinations in each state gathered in the imperial capital Luoyang from all over the country to compete for the limited number of tribute scholars.

Those who won the joint examination would be eligible to take part in the palace examination presided over by Emperor Liu Bei in Luoyang in order to win the status of Jinshi and obtain the qualification to serve as an official.

That day, the Imperial Palace, Chongde Hall.

Liu Bei was personally reviewing the essays of the candidates taking the palace examination.

In view of the fact that the Han Dynasty was about to attack the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bei took a practical approach in this palace examination and asked all the candidates to write a strategy paper on how to attack the Qin Dynasty and destroy Cao.

Liu Bei kept shaking his head as he read article after article. Apparently, none of them satisfied him.

Suddenly, his eyes fixed on one of the policy essays, and his eyes lit up.

"Prime Minister, look at Ma Su's strategy. It coincides with the strategy we agreed on to attack Qin."

Hearing the name Ma Su, Xiao Fang's heart moved slightly.

So he took the policy paper and read it carefully.

In this paper, Ma Su analyzed the enemy's and our own strength in detail from multiple aspects such as time, terrain, and people, and discussed various strategies for attacking Qin with meticulous and detailed thinking.

In the end, Ma Su believed that among all the strategies, the wisest option to destroy Qin was to first take Bingzhou, cut off the arm of the pseudo Qin, and then cross the river from Hedong to attack Guanzhong.

Although Ma Su's strategy did not propose the specific tactics of the two-pronged strategy of feinting to the east and attacking the west like Fa Zheng did, its general direction was roughly consistent with the strategy of destroying Qin that they had agreed upon in Yecheng that day.

"Well, it's not surprising that this policy paper was written by Ma Su."

Xiao Fang nodded slightly, seemingly not surprised.

After all, he was a leader among the younger generation of the Ji Han Dynasty. He was the one who proposed the strategy of conquering the hearts of the people first and the cities second when his brother-in-law Zhuge Liang conquered the southern barbarians.

In terms of strategic vision alone, Ma Su can be considered one of the best among the younger generation.

Of course, when it comes to tactical and combat capabilities, they are all in a mess.

"After hearing what the Prime Minister said, I seem to have some impression of this Ma Su."

Liu Bei took the policy paper again, stared at the name Ma Su and pondered over it, but he couldn't remember it for a moment.

Xiao Fang smiled and reminded: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten that Ma Su is a descendant of the Xiangyang Ma family and the younger brother of Ma Liang?"

Liu Bei suddenly realized and praised:
"So he's Ma Jichang's younger brother. No wonder."

"I remember when I was in Xiangyang, I heard the saying 'Among the five members of the Ma family, the one with white eyebrows is the best'."

"Ma Jichang is a wise man, so it's not surprising that his brother has such wisdom and talent."

Liu Bei then picked up the red pen and said with a smile:

"Among all the essays, Ma Su's is the best. I appoint him as the first number one scholar of the Han Dynasty."

"I will certainly use such a great talent and entrust him with important tasks!"

As he spoke, Liu Bei was about to write with his red ink.

"Your Majesty, wait!"

However, Xiao Fang took a step ahead and stretched out his hand to stop him.

"Ma Su is indeed a man of great talent. It is reasonable for Your Majesty to appoint him as the top scholar."

"But I think that if Your Majesty were to give him important positions now, it would only be a case of forcing him to grow too fast and end up ruining him."

Liu Bei was stunned.

(End of this chapter)