When Liu Bei said this, Guo Jia was stunned, and then remembered the past when Liu Bei came to Luoyang when he was also very young, studied under Lu Zhi, and caused huge waves in Luoyang.
Indeed, this overly powerful emperor was also a top academic figure back then.
Although there were no imperial examinations in those days, there were various debates on scriptures. The debates back then were equivalent to the exams today, and Liu Bei was the king of scripture debates. The god came down to earth and beat nine with a beating, and there was no opponent in Luoyang.
If it must be said, Liu Bei was the number one debater in the past. He relied on his ability to debate scriptures to make a name for himself in the ancient literature school, reversed his destiny, broke through the ceiling of his destiny, and successfully climbed the social pyramid. of the top layer.
Because of this, Liu Bei likes scholar-type officials who have strong learning ability and strong knowledge reserves, especially the leaders of scholar-type officials - academic officials, who are Liu Bei's favorite.
For example, Guo Jia himself was admired by Liu Bei for his excellent mind and rich knowledge, and was able to follow the army to Yangzhou, serve in Yangzhou, and accumulate experience.
Over the past few years, Guo Jia has made outstanding contributions to Guan Yu's work in building a water network in the south of the Yangtze River. He was transferred back to Luoyang and entered the military department two years ago, serving as the left minister of the military department. He has been promoted to a second-rank official.
At this time, Guo Jia had just turned thirty.
When Liu Bei announced this transfer order through the Ministry of Personnel several years ago, there was a slight shock in the whole court.
Based on his own experience, Guo Jia obviously saw Liu Bei's optimism and appreciation for Zhuge Liang.
But there’s nothing to say about this. The main thing is that this guy is really strong. Whether it’s the state exam or the selective exam, Guo Jia has read those test papers. He also tried to take the time to do some of them. He has a good understanding of the difficulty, so he On the exam, he may not be able to get full marks, but this Zhuge Liang got full marks.
I have to say, this guy really has two skills.
Guo Jia looked at Zhuge Liang, who was directly opposite him in the subordinate position, with mixed emotions. He didn't know where this person would be in the future, but he turned his head and looked at the sparkle in Liu Bei's eyes, and he could probably guess something.
Because Liu Bei looked at himself with the same eyes at the beginning.
A new generation replaces the old...
For some reason, seeing Liu Bei's eyes full of brilliance, Guo Jia felt a little sour in his heart...
Zhuge Liang didn't know what Liu Bei and Guo Jia were thinking. He just felt that he was under a lot of pressure. He was facing the emperor and a group of high-ranking officials and dignitaries. It was definitely not an easy task to complete the exam under their gaze.
Immediately afterwards, there was the distribution of test papers and some disciplinary requirements for this exam by the inspection examiner. After the announcement, the third round of the imperial examination - the Jun's examination officially began.
The candidates immediately began to answer the exciting questions. At first, Zhuge Liang did not care about the emperor and high-ranking officials opposite him, and just focused on reading the papers and reviewing the questions.
Sure enough, my hunch was right.
There are only two test papers in this exam, one is an advanced version of the standard answer-style test questions that is quite difficult, and the other is three policy questions.
First, let’s discuss the significance of the Han Dynasty to the development of the Western Regions.
Second, let’s discuss the significance of the Han Dynasty to the development of Liaozhou.
Third, let’s discuss the significance of the Han Dynasty to the development of Jiaozhou.
They are all development-related questions, open-ended questions and answers, and there are no answering minefields that can be seen on the surface. However, it is obvious that the simpler the question, the more minefields and traps there are. If you are not careful, you can easily fall into the trap and lose the possibility of getting high scores, which is very fatal.
Zhuge Liang took a deep breath, put the policy paper aside, and first began to answer the test questions with standard answers. After completing all the content that he was good at, he went back to solve the policy questions.
The examination room fell into silence. At Liu Bei's request, the accompanying guards collectively fell silent. The accompanying officials were also asked to go to the examination room to hang out with the examiners to see how the candidates were answering questions. See if there's any cheating or anything like that.
That's true, but no one thinks that anyone dares to cheat here. If someone dares to cheat under the emperor's nose, it will be like black smoke rising from the ancestral grave, and eighteen generations of ancestors will have to "thank" him.
Guo Jia also didn't think anyone would dare to cheat here, so he didn't go on patrol, but stayed by Liu Bei's side to talk to Liu Bei.
"These students have only learned basic knowledge in state schools, and their understanding of Jiade Tongyi should be limited to the surface. Can they understand the imperial court's grand strategy?
Fortunately for Jiaozhou, for the Western Regions, they probably only know about the events of the Han Dynasty and feel that this is the glory of their ancestors. For Liaozhou, they are even less likely to know much about it. What do you think? "
Liu Bei said with a smile: "This is normal. The major political policies of the imperial court and the information that high-ranking officials can grasp are by no means something that a simple student can understand. Even if they do understand, most of them are the children of officials and are close to the water. , only those who know better.”
"That……"
"That's why there is no relevant content in the state exam, and there is only one question related to it in the optional exam."
Liu Bei said slowly: "Fengxiao, you should also know that whether it is the state examination or the elective examination, most of the people who get high scores and good rankings are either the officials or the children of scholars, powerful families, or the children of powerful families. , the scores of candidates from good family backgrounds are generally better than those of candidates from poor family backgrounds, and the comparison between the two is actually unfair.
But despite this, the greatest fairness that can be maintained in the imperial examination is to conduct the most basic assessment on them using what they can learn from books as much as possible, and select a group of people with the best brains, so as to eliminate the background of the candidates to the greatest extent The impact of birth should be as fair as possible.
As long as they are smart and have strong learning ability, they can naturally start learning from the ninth-grade position and grow up slowly on how to become officials. They don't need to master the principles of governing the country before taking the exam. This is not an ordinary school. Those who can be taught, after the exam, the court will naturally have channels and methods to train them. "
Guo Jia was suddenly curious.
"Then what's going on with those policies?"
"It's very simple. This is an imperial examination after all, not an ordinary examination. I want to select officials who agree with me, not officials who oppose me."
Liu Bei put away his smile and said slowly: "I don't need them to give me any long lectures telling me what to do. No one knows better than me what to do. What are the major policies of the country? Is it just learned in a state school?" Will the students know better than us old guys who have been in power for many years?
It doesn't matter what strategy they come up with. What's important is their attitude. I need them to agree with my strategy from the bottom of their hearts, instead of being complacent, holding on to old ideas, and unwilling to take new steps. . "
Guo Jia suddenly understood what Liu Bei meant.
"I see……"
"The real purpose of the imperial examination is to make family background no longer the only criterion for becoming an official, and it should not even be the criterion."
Liu Bei sighed: "In order to achieve this goal, our ancestors have been groping for more than a thousand years? Now, we finally have a good way. Therefore, the content of the imperial examination needs to be limited to a certain range. Within this range Select as many outstanding talents as possible and train them.
Officials trained by the state are better than those trained by the family. I think it is also very important for officials to become officials of the state rather than officials of the family. As for other things, as long as the attitude is right, everything can be discussed. , you can take your time, we have a lot of time. "
Guo Jia was silent for a while after hearing this.
Then he also sighed.
"You really think about it a lot."
"I have completely experienced the entire process of investigation, and I also know clearly how a person from a humble background twenty years ago could step by step get to where he is today. I don't want something like that to happen again. "
Liu Bei shook his head and said: "How many people have to die as a price for the emergence of me? These people could have lived and didn't have to die. I thought about what to do for a long time. Fortunately, I figured it out. Now it seems that the effect is quite good. Yes, it just needs a little more time.”
Guo Jia nodded.
"That being the case, it really doesn't matter what the specific strategy is."
"But how they view it is important."
Liu Bei said slowly: "So, the state examination can focus on individual intelligence and hard work. The selection examination will further select smart and hard-working people, and at the same time eliminate those who do not agree with the policy strategy. When it comes to the Jun examination, we will do it one last time." screening and selection.
Those who agree with Dahan's strategy from the bottom of their hearts can focus on tracking and cultivating them. Dahan has a complete set of talent training processes. If they go through it step by step and persist to the end, they will naturally become the pillars of the country. "
"What if it goes against your considerations?"
Guo Jia asked: "The selection test is just an essay, I'm afraid there will be omissions, right?"
"That doesn't matter, at least he is a smart person who is willing to work hard."
Liu Bei turned his head and looked at Guo Jia: "A person who is smart and willing to work hard is not a person who accepts death. In the process of growing up, he will have some insights. People who are unrepentant will not be able to advance in our promotion system. Walk to the upper level, so it doesn't hurt.
The only thing that makes me a little regretful is that we still didn’t have enough preparation time and we were too hasty. Among the 3,000 people selected for this election, there were only more than 500 children from farm families, and the one with the best score was ranked 34th. Eleventh place, I am not very satisfied with this ranking.
In the entire Han Dynasty, more than 90% of the people are farmers. However, in the scientific examination, only 20% of the 3,000 people who can be selected as officials are farmers. This is not suitable for them. For the Han Dynasty, it was extremely dangerous.
I have to admit that they are still weak and they still need time to grow, but I am not too worried. This is the first time. Next time, in three years, they will definitely become better and more competitive. Each time, they will grow.
When we choose officials, we must choose from among them. If we only regard them as tools instead of living people, then sooner or later, the big man will collapse in their anger. "
Guo Jia completely understood Liu Bei's thinking and said nothing more.
He knew that Liu Bei wanted to make the existence of high-ranking noble families a thing of the past, and to make the family-style talent training mechanism of high-ranking noble families a thing of the past, and to transform it into a way for the country to openly train talents.
Guo Jia didn't have any objection to this method. He didn't really care about his family anyway.
Although Guo Jia has some opinions about this method of cultivating talents through quizzes and feels that it is too mechanical and rigid, he has to admit that this is indeed the fairest method relatively speaking.
If unified book content is used as the basis for examinations, and the test scores obtained in this way are used as the basis for selection, then personal origin will be suppressed to a very insignificant position in this system. People with superior backgrounds also need to be included in this system. Fight for the same opportunities as those who are inferior to you.
Generally speaking, hard work and talent for learning will become the most influential factors in this system. The past ideological concepts are outdated and cannot be applied.
The most important thing is that this system uses a unified standard to be downward compatible with all people in the entire empire, including all people in the entire empire into this system, giving them the same platform and starting line.
As for other things, Guo Jia believes that Liu Bei cannot completely cut off the influence of family background.
Just like this time, children from peasant families accounted for only 20% of the admitted students. The first 300 people were all children of noble families or powerful people in the past. Their scores and rankings were obviously a whole order of magnitude higher than those from peasant families.
But is there a better way?
It can forcibly erase the differences caused by birth at the national level, forcibly bring everyone together, forcibly create a new competitive platform, and force those who do not have to participate in the competition to participate in the competition.
fair.
These two words occupy an unprecedented weight in Guo Jia's heart.
This is an unprecedented feat.
Guo Jia knew that the talented and brilliant emperor he was loyal to had used his unparalleled personal ability to turn things around and did things that all the emperors in the past could not do or were unwilling to do.
So Guo Jia slowly walked down the platform and walked among the students to watch their exam process.
While walking, Guo Jia suddenly remembered a famous saying that everyone knew, but no one took it seriously.
The conduct of the Great Dao means that the world is for the common good, selecting the worthy and capable, adhering to trust and cultivating harmony, so that relatives are not alone in kissing relatives, and children are not alone in children, so that the old will have their end, the strong will be useful, the young will have their own achievements, and those who are modest, widowed, and lonely will Those who are alone, disabled or disabled are all provided with support, men have their share, women have their own home...
Facing a person who is trying his best to sprint towards the sage, Guo Jia cannot do anything to betray him based on his own selfishness. If he does, the dank guilt will make Guo Jia completely lose his ability to stand in the sun. courage.
Therefore, Guo Jia will never abandon the saint who keeps sprinting for everyone's ultimate ideal.
Even though he seems to have new promising young people now.
I'm not sour at all!
Guo Jia imagined this.
(End of chapter)
