Chapter 439: Seek the best and win
Zhang Yuan is the person who single-handedly changed the rules of the Song Dynasty's trials and eliminations.
In the past, only those who passed the final palace examination were considered to be on the gold list and could become an official.
However, Zhang Yuan failed many times and finally passed the joint examination, but failed in the palace examination and failed to become an official.
In anger, he directly switched to Xixia.
It would be fine if this person was incapable, but this person is very capable.
At that time, the country of Xixia had not yet been established. This man was highly valued by the founding emperor of Xixia. Not only did he contribute a lot to the founding of Xixia, he also defeated the Song army in the battle between Song and Xia, and finally became the national advisor of Xixia.
For this reason, the Song Dynasty was often ridiculed by Liao Xia, saying that the Song Dynasty did not know people well.
From then on, in the Song Dynasty, as long as they passed the joint examination, they would be officials, and the results of the palace examination would not result in elimination.
This official mentioned Zhang Yuan, meaning that according to Zhao Xingding's rules, some people who could have been appointed but failed to pass the exam might switch to Liaoxia in anger.
"If an official governs an area without knowing these things and relies solely on the assistance of the master and junior officials, then I might as well just let the master and junior officials be the officials."
Zhao Xing sneered and said: "If someone is so angry that they defect to Liaoxia, then let them defect to Liaoxia."
The Song Dynasty never explicitly stipulated that civil service should be valued over military affairs, and military generals were not prohibited from holding the post of Privy Councilor.
Even martial arts was added to the Imperial College, where military tactics, strategy, and riding and archery were taught.
This has never happened in the dynasties that emphasized military force in history.
In any dynasty, after the world is at peace, it is certain that the power of civil servants will be greater than that of generals.
After all, without war, the value and role of generals would not be reflected.
And it is inevitable for civil servants to suppress military generals.
Of course, the Song Dynasty formed a civilized and powerful society, and the emperors of all dynasties tacitly approved of it, but they did not have no responsibility at all.
However, although the emperor's acquiescence was related to the fear of military generals to support their troops, it was not unrelated to the power of civil servants.
In Zhao Xing's view, Zhang Yuan's defection to Xixia certainly showed that there were some shortcomings in the imperial examination.
But nothing in the world can be absolutely fair.
Reality is filled with many injustices.
Even if Zhang Yuan was not dismissed at that time, given his background, it would be difficult for him to be directly awarded a real job.
Judging from Zhang Yuan's performance, if he cannot be granted a real job, or if he suffers some injustice as an official, he is still very likely to become angry and defect to Xixia.
There are many injustices in the world. Zhang Yuan's surrender to Xixia itself shows that there is something wrong with his character.
It does not mean that when you suffer injustice, you have to accept it and cannot resist.
But this is two different things from treason.
Because Zhang Yuan would not be eliminated from the palace examination from now on, in Zhao Xing's view, it would not prevent this kind of thing from happening again, but it would be another compromise for the literati.
If Zhao Xing adds an exam before being awarded an official, some people will be dissatisfied and choose to treason, which in Zhao Xing's opinion is a good thing.
Can such a person be expected to be loyal to the court?
If one day the Liao Kingdom and Xixia came to fight, this kind of people might simply surrender.
Han Zhang came out and said: "Your Majesty, I think it is very inappropriate to cut some departments and streamline officials. Once you do this, there will be a large number of officials who cannot be accommodated, and it will inevitably cause chaos!"
"I second the proposal!"
Not many officials had questioned it before, but on this matter, all the officials present came forward to second their opinions.
Many of the relatives present are in the officialdom. If some departments are cut off according to the regulations formulated by Zhao Xing, who knows whether the departments where their relatives work will be cut off, or even whether they themselves will be streamlined?
"Since you all feel that this is inappropriate, let's put it aside for the time being and discuss other matters first," Zhao Xing said. In fact, streamlining officials and abolishing some departments is what he wants to do most.
The bureaucracy of the Song Dynasty was too bloated, which was not only a burden, but also made its operation efficiency poor.
But Zhao Xing also knows the resistance to this matter, and it is not feasible for the time being.
The reason why he mentioned it anyway was to seek success.
Zhao Xing formulated many policies to rectify the administration of officials, and some of them were bound to encounter strong resistance.
But these officials also knew that it was impossible to stop them all, otherwise they would only anger Zhao Xing.
Therefore, they could only choose to object to some of them. Therefore, when officials objected before, many people did not speak up in order to oppose those items that had the greatest impact on them.
Zhao Xing also knew this, so he specially formulated a few items that would cause great resistance to the opposition, which were reserved for officials to oppose.
Things really developed as Zhao Xing thought. What he deliberately threw out met with great opposition and had to 'compromise'.
And because of his compromise, there was not much resistance from these officials on other 'minor' matters.
He formulated more than a dozen policies, but only four failed to pass in the end.
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However, what Zhao Xing has formulated is only a general framework. How to implement it requires careful discussion and detailed system regulations.
The small court meeting lasted all morning. At noon, Zhao Xing held a banquet directly in Chui Gong Hall. After dinner, everyone was allowed to go back, but Zeng Gongliang was left alone.
"I plan to go and watch this year's martial arts competition in person, and the rewards for those who are selected will also be increased. In addition, local governments will conduct preliminary elections. The government will provide travel expenses for those who are selected. After arriving in Bianjing, the imperial court will be responsible for their food and accommodation during the martial arts competition. !" Zhao Xing said.
"Your Majesty, if we do this, the cost will be too high." Zeng Gongliang frowned.
The martial arts examination is different from the imperial examination. There is no layer-by-level selection in the martial arts examination. Instead, the participants come directly to Bianjing to participate in the preliminary selection and screen out some who are trying their luck and joining in the fun.
The remaining ones will go through final selection, and then be awarded military positions and enlisted in the army.
Many people understand that the poor are educated and the rich are practicing martial arts, but this is actually a bit one-sided.
Reading is not just for the poor. On the contrary, before paper and printing became popular, the cost of reading was very high.
Even though books and paper are cheap nowadays, it still costs a lot of money to provide for children to study.
After all, if one person studies, it means that the family has one less labor force and one more free earner.
At the same time, money is needed for repairs and pens, inks, paper and inkstones.
The real meaning of being poor in literature and rich in martial arts is that one can read poorly in literature, but cannot practice martial arts in a poor way.
If your stomach is not full, let alone your martial arts skills, your body will become useless.
However, there are many generals among the people whose family fortunes have fallen into decline.
He has martial arts passed down from his family, and he can practice it by hunting, so he has good martial arts skills.
In addition, the martial arts examination not only tests martial arts, but also tests military tactics and strategies.
These people are relatively poor. Even if the imperial court holds martial arts competitions, they will not come to participate because of the travel distance.
After all, the military examination is not like the imperial examination, where the government provides travel expenses.
Once they go there and fail to get a place, they cannot afford the round trip expenses, food and accommodation.
Zhao Xing watched in person to show his attention, and increased the reward to tempt.
The government provides travel expenses for selections in various places to solve the worries of these people.
(End of chapter)