Under the imperial examination system, the most orthodox way for scholars to advance to the next level is to promote filial piety, integrity, and talent.
Maocai is a part of the imperial examination system. It was originally called Xiucai. In order to avoid the taboo of Liu Xiu's name, it was changed to Maocai. To put it simply, it is an advanced version of Xiaolian.
Unlike filial piety and integrity, which are almost all promoted by the prefects and prime ministers of counties, Maocai is mostly promoted by princes, generals, Guanglu, Sili, and governors of various states. This means that Maocai has a higher political level.
Once selected as Maocai, his political starting point and political future will be better than Xiaolian's, and it will be easier to break the political ceiling. In the future, he will be much more likely to become a high-ranking official than Xiaolian.
In comparison, Maocai is comparable to the pitifully few Shujishi in the imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty in later generations. The unwritten rule of the Ming Dynasty is that only Shujishi can serve as ministers in the cabinet, so Shujishi are also called Storage phase.
Moreover, it is more difficult to recommend Maocai than Xiaolian. There are many people who have been recommended, but the number of successful recommenders is less than one-tenth of Xiaolian. Of course, things are rare and valuable.
This is really difficult.
Regarding the matter of recruiting Maocai, Lu Zhi simply said that he was not sure, and did not give Liu Bei any ambiguous explanation to make him have illusions.
"It's not impossible to ask acquaintances from the Luoyang court for help. I know a lot of people in the central government who are qualified to recommend Maocai, but the number of people who can recommend Maocai is too limited, and the political connections behind each person are also limited. complex.
Everyone has children who want to become officials through higher-level maocai, and they all want to be high-ranking officials. However, there are only so many maocai places, and almost all of them are controlled by the clan. Very few can be diverted to outsiders. . "
Lu Zhi said that he was not sure, which meant that he could not do it. This shows how deep the water in Maocai is. Even a famous boss like Lu Zhi cannot grasp it.
Therefore, Lu Zhi suggested that Liu Bei should take the path of filial piety and honesty.
Compared with Maocai, who has little operability, Xiaolian is much more operable. The so-called "Exercise Xiaolian and his father to live apart" shows that the system of selecting talents for the country has been replaced in this era. How bad has it been?
To take this path, we have to rely on the help of Han Rong, the governor of Zhuo County. Only he has the qualifications to recommend people in this county to be Xiaolian.
The rule for promoting Xiaolian is that every 200,000 people in a county can recommend one Xiaolian to the central government every year. Zhuo County has a larger population of about 700,000, so it can recommend three Xiaolian to the central government every year.
There are only three people in this precious quota every year, and all the powerful families in Zhuo County are competing for it. In order to take into account the forces of all parties and his own situation, Han Rong will make a decision after weighing it again and again.
And there are too many operable parts.
There are very few people from Youzhou who have great fame and interpersonal relationships in the central area. As a border area, people from Youzhou have never been taken seriously by people in Hebei and the Central Plains. Lu Zhi has resisted regional discrimination all the way to his current status. , it’s really not easy.
Therefore, the Lu family is quite prestigious in Youzhou, let alone Zhuojun and Zhuoxian.
At that time, Lu Zhi made it clear that he could still contribute a little bit in this matter. With the Lu family's local influence, the prefect himself still wanted to give the Lu family a little face.
Of course, it mainly depends on whether Liu Bei can seize the opportunity.
A little bit of force?
Liu Bei smiled bitterly.
"The teacher has always been an upright person, but the disciple is incompetent, but he asks the teacher to do such a thing for the disciple. The disciple really feels guilty..."
Lu Zhi just shook his head and smiled.
"You are a talented person. You can see your talents in governing the country, marching and fighting, and being a teacher. In time, you will be the pillar of the country. Rather than letting those unfaithful and unfilial people perish in high positions because of their filial piety, it is better to let the pillars of the country take their place." , so why not?”
The pillar of the country?
When Liu Bei said these words to Lu Zhi, he had some doubts in his heart.
He didn't know how he was defined as a pillar of the country.
It is true that in his heart he must hope that this magnificent man and the entire nation can prosper and avoid all kinds of suffering and degradation in the future, but can he really do these things with his innocent body with nothing?
Liu Bei didn't know.
But what he knows is that for civilians, there is a huge difference between being an official and not being an official.
The process of meeting Han Rong was indeed very easy and smooth.
Han Rong's own background in the Ancient Literature School, the Lu family's heritage in the county, and Lu Zhi's own assistance, combined a three-pronged approach. Without much hesitation, Han Rong decided to give Liu Bei three filial piety quotas when he came of age. Give one of them to Liu Bei.
But what was more surprising was that Han Rong made another request.
marriage.
Han Rong said that his daughter was beautiful, well-educated, and twenty-eight years old. It was the time to choose a good husband. Liu Bei happened to be single and had no marriage. In this case, wouldn't it be a perfect match?
The subtext couldn't be more obvious.
If you ask me to help you provide the most valuable political resources at hand, you can't just promise some benefits verbally, right?
I can't call you to be an official, and I can't delay your future, but there's nothing wrong with taking a ride, right?
I betroth my daughter to you as a prefect with two thousand stones. Is it not an insult to your status as a disciple of Confucianism?
Han Rong looked at Liu Bei eagerly and proposed a transaction.
In this regard, Liu Bei, who was seventeen years old at the time, thought about it briefly, nodded in agreement, and immediately stood up and called his father-in-law, which made Prefect Han laugh and felt that Liu Bei had a bright future.
This marriage was decided by two qualified businessmen.
Before leaving home, Liu Bei was just a local tycoon and street fighter who was underestimated by others. He had some small skills and could barely speak a few words in the local area. In the eyes of ordinary people, he was a big shot.
After returning home, he was already a disciple of Confucianism, the son-in-law of the prefect, and the future filial piety and incorruptible person. He was like a rising star in the eyes of the upper class.
The huge difference in status made Liu Bei realize that he had really changed his destiny.
The speed at which he made a fortune after changing his fate was also completely different from the speed at which he made his fortune before.
At that time, it happened that Gongsun Zan was also arranged by his father-in-law to be the magistrate of Zhuo County because of some merits, which was a great thing for Liu Bei.
Liu Bei relied on Gongsun Zan's status as county magistrate, Han Rong's status as prefect, and the Lu family's trust in him. It was only natural that his family business and power would continue to expand. Su Shuang's eager eyes were also natural.
His fortunes indeed changed dramatically from that moment on.
Once you become Xiaolian and pass the Luoyang central government's public re-examination, which is now in vain, you can successfully embark on an official career, become an official, and embark on a completely different life.
After being promoted as filial and honest, those with a hard-core approach would follow the central route, first becoming a Langguan, and then moving to the positions of Shangshu, Shiyushi, Shizhong, Zhonglangjiang, etc., and step by step they would reach the positions of the Three Gongs and the Nine Ministers.
If the road is not hard enough, you will have to go to the local area to practice and wait for opportunities. Generally, you will become the magistrate, chief, or prime minister of the local counties, and then move to the post of prefect or governor, and gradually become a local official.
Lu Zhi was very popular with the current emperor Liu Hong, and he has always been placed in the Shangshu Desk, the de facto authority of the central government, as a minister to handle actual government affairs for Liu Hong.
The level of this position does not seem high, but the actual power is very great. Relying on Lu Zhi's reputation and power, Liu Bei felt that it should not be difficult for him to stay in the central government to gain fame and qualifications.
However, considering that this year is already the third year of Guanghe, and there are only four years left before the famous Yellow Turban Rebellion, so whether to run your own power in the central government or go to the local government, because you carry the identity of a Han clan clan member , so Liu Bei is still considering it.
But in the final analysis, in this era when there are so many clans in the Han Dynasty, these fringe clansmen who are many generations away from the current royal family will never become prosperous because of their clan status. Only after they become prosperous will anyone mention the Han Dynasty. The identity of the family clan.
The causal relationship between the two is reversed.
So in the final analysis, strength is the most important, which is also an important reason why Liu Bei runs his family business and takes in refugees.
Therefore, Liu Bei made two preparations. He must maintain his local family business, and he must not give up the future of the central government.
Although today, the emperor of Luoyang is becoming more and more like the governor of Luoyang, the Han Dynasty still has more than 400 years of power.
In fact, everyone no longer respected Emperor Luoyang, but no one dared to throw away the flag of the Han Dynasty for a while.
That's why Gongsun Zan, a guy who was promoted as filial and honest but failed to take the central route, expressed deep envy and jealousy towards Liu Bei's ability to go to Luoyang as an official, and had a more complicated attitude towards Liu Bei.
But the fact is here. Gongsun Zan can't change the fact no matter what. He can only look at Liu Bei with envy, feeling extremely longing for Liu Bei's upcoming life in Luoyang.
After drinking wine and eating meat, Gongsun Zan took Liu Bei's hand and sent him away from the mansion. After a while of drinking, Gongsun Zan spoke out what was in his heart.
"If Xuande will be a prominent figure in Luoyang in the future, don't forget the bloody battles we fought side by side with him in the past."
Liu Bei looked slightly drunk and hugged Gongsun Zan fiercely.
"Never forget each other!"
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