"Local officials recommend officials to the imperial court?"
In short, the recommendation system mentioned by the empress is the rural election, in which local governance officials recommend talented and virtuous people in their jurisdiction to their superiors and the emperor.
This bottom-up recommendation system was an innovative move that was unheard of at this time. No wonder the officials in the hall were in an uproar, and even Xiao He opened his eyes in shock.
Lu Pheasant had already expected their reaction.
The Ying family that founded the Qin Dynasty still belonged to the aristocratic royal family, but Liu Ji, a country man who wielded a three-foot sword, became the emperor. Most of the civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty came from the market, and became generals and prime ministers in civilian clothes.
From this point of view, the establishment of the Han Dynasty was already full of changes and a completely new look.
In this case, we might as well take a bigger step, change the method of selecting officials, and give the world's talented people a chance to make a complete turnaround.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou royal family adhered to the official selection system of Shiqing Shilu, that is, hereditary titles and official positions were based on blood. Ordinary people had no chance to enter the ranks of the bureaucracy.
Later, the Zhou Dynasty declined, and during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, wars broke out frequently. For the sake of hegemony, various kingdoms began to compete for talents, which enabled many capable and intelligent civilians to enter the bureaucracy.
The most effective one was the reform carried out by Shang Yang in the Qin State during the reign of Qin Xiaogong, which abolished the Shiqing Shilu system and introduced a new title system, using military merit as the new standard for granting titles.
From then on, in the Qin people's concept, those who have meritorious service are honored, while those who have no meritorious service are rich but have no glory. As long as they work hard to earn military merit, their blood status can be changed and their social status can be improved.
The early Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, which respected military merit and used the military merit group with five ranks of nobility per capita as the ballast stone to stabilize the foundation of the Han Dynasty and the permanent foundation of Jin'ou's rule.
However, in Lu Fei's view, it is not enough to keep the talent selection of the imperial court vigorous for hundreds of years by pointing to these three million soldiers and their families.
The Han Empire was in dire straits and was facing many internal and external troubles. It was in desperate need of more talents. Regardless of their origin or family status, people should be appointed on their own merits.
She remembered the famous sayings of Tang Taizong in the previous life, and she also wanted to make all the heroes in the world fall into her lap.
***
The historical inspection and examination system sprouted in the period of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, was carried forward by Emperors Wen and Jing, and was finally finalized in the late period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, lasting for more than 800 years.
It was not until the Sui Dynasty that the imperial examination system was slowly replaced by the imperial examination system in its embryonic stage.
In the previous life, in the second year of Chang'an, Wu Zetian personally created the military examination system of "evaluating scholars by force" and improved the imperial examination system. Therefore, she was often thinking about a question -
Why did the examination system before the imperial examination decline and become a hotbed for wealthy families to control government affairs and cultivate party members?
Is there any way to keep an official selection system with good intentions alive?
Thank God, in this life, she actually got the opportunity to put her thoughts into practice.
After the surprised voices of the ministers subsided, Lu Pheasant continued,
"Take this river control as an example. Looking at the whole country, are there any flood control talents like the Suanzao County Magistrate and the Dongjun County Sheriff?
There must be some, but where are these talents? "
She spoke warmly and softly, as if she was seeking the opinions of everyone in the hall, but Xiao He felt as if a huge burden suddenly fell on his shoulders.
"As you know, Chen Ping showed his talent as an assistant to the government when he distributed the sacrificial meat in the countryside.
Nowadays, those talented people like Chen Ping may only have a small reputation, they may only be famous officials, or even ordinary people who are neither high officials nor rich.
Then, how to discover and reuse them so that they can be put to their fullest use is the responsibility of local officials and the central court. "
"What the Queen said is absolutely true.
The minister should be a role model for all officials, but in this section, he failed to put himself in the court's shoes, which was really a waste of time. "
Xiao He stood up and couldn't help but reflect.
However, Lu Pheasant treated him with dignity in front of all the officials.
"Xiao Qing, you are the pillar of the country, the emperor is in charge of the government, and you are the one responsible for handling many important matters both internally and externally. You are not to blame for this."
Hearing this, Xiao He felt a little grateful, and then said slowly after careful consideration,
"With regard to the promotion of officials mentioned by Empress Shicai, I was thinking about whether to use the incident in Suanzao County as an introduction to order all counties and counties across the country to recommend a group of special talents with the ability to manage rivers.
In this way, we can first explore the recommendation path and see what needs to be adjusted. "
"Well, Xiangguo's method is good."
Lu Fei lamented that Xiao He was indeed a mature person who wanted to seek the country. This method would not only refute her face, but also take the opportunity to test the attitude of the following counties and select a group of immediately available water management talents for the imperial court. It could be said that killing three birds with one stone bird.
"Recommendations alone are not enough. Talents from all over the country must be uniformly assessed before entering the imperial court.
If there is an impostor or someone who speaks more than is true, both the person being promoted and the county magistrate will be punished.
Since it is related to water control, it is up to Du Shui Changcheng to think of any investigation methods. "
"Yes, I think that for this group of talented people, we can first take a literary test to examine the strategies for water control.
Then, several members will work together to repair the canal on site and conduct on-site inspections. "
Seeing that both the Queen and the Prime Minister had spoken, Du Shui Changcheng also cheered up and answered seriously.
"Okay, let's do it.
Please keep quiet about the assessment of outstanding talents.
Let's see which counties are honest and which are deceitful. "
Lu Pheasant had a smile on his face and was in high spirits.
"Let's stop the discussion today."
***
After everyone dispersed, Lu Pheasant sent the palace servants to send the prince back first, and saw that Xiao He was still where he was, lingering on.
"Xiangguo, what else can I do?"
"Well, this matter is actually not a big deal, but I still want to hear the Queen's opinion."
Xiao He smiled and bowed.
Originally it was a trivial matter that could be discussed or not, but after being frightened by Lu Pheasant's recent momentum in managing politics, he had a vague feeling that there was probably nothing that could be hidden from the clever queen.
"Well, tell me slowly."
They all came along the way, and everyone was acquainted in private. Lu Zhi casually sat behind a table and motioned for Xiao He to sit next to him.
Xiao Heqian paused for a moment, then sat down, drank the tea newly put on by the palace attendant, and said tentatively,
"There was new news from Wang Wuchen of Changsha yesterday.
Everything else is fine, but right now, there is something new in South Vietnam.
Wu Chen, after all, is young and cannot decide whether this matter is important or not, nor what our attitude is.
But in line with his usual temperament, he reported everything to me without hesitation or detail. "
"Well, Wu Chen is a thoughtful person. Can the Prime Minister eat the oranges he sent last time?
I never thought he was nosy, but I was afraid that he would be troublesome on the southern border because he was stubborn and smart.
This time, what kind of trivial matter is it? "
Lu Pheasant also laughed. The tangerines sent by Changsha Kingdom were still piled in the palace before they were finished, and another letter came. This Wu family is really patient and not afraid of trivial matters.
"It's very good, very sweet, not sour at all.
This year Changsha has another good harvest, which is a great blessing for the Han family. "
Xiao He paused and then said,
"Wu Chen said that there has been a rat plague in South Vietnam since last month."
