"You two, please sit down quickly. I wonder if Uncle Wu and Uncle Chen have tasted this kind of black tea.
This is a fully fermented tea drink specially made by my nephew when he was in the south of the Yangtze River in order to make the Tibetan merchants willing to buy tea drinks. "
"If it is sealed, it will not deteriorate after three to five years. The important thing is that it is mild in nature. Not only does it not hurt the spleen and stomach, it can also nourish the stomach."
Gao Zhang warmly welcomed Wu Zhizhong and Chen Shilang to sit in the room, and personally served tea to them.
"The Number One Scholar is so talented that he even knows how to make tea. Speaking of which, this black tea is more suitable for my taste than that green tea."
Chen Shilang took a sip of tea, feeling the fragrant and sweet tea soup, and let out a sigh of satisfaction.
"Even doctors who are familiar with me have told me that this black tea is better to drink in winter. It warms the stomach and does not harm the body."
After the three of them drank fragrant tea and bragged and spanked for a long time, the topic naturally turned to Gao Zhang.
Talking about Gao Zhang's many affairs in the south of the Yangtze River, Wu Zhizhong asked in great detail. He was even interested in the conflict between the Fusang Kingdom and the Japanese Kingdom.
When I heard that the Japanese country took the initiative to invade the Fusang Kingdom, and the Fusang Kingdom received the support of the Song Dynasty.
Now he has turned defeat into victory, and has begun to actively attack the Japanese state, and has also captured several royal capitals of the Japanese state in one fell swoop.
Heian Kyo, Namba Kyo, Nara, and the female head of the Japanese country has moved her capital again, but this time she moved too far.
He left the Kinki area directly and retreated directly to the Tokaido area of the former Japanese Kingdom, in an attempt to continue to accumulate strength there to confront Fuso Kingdom.
"...This Japanese country has been arrogant since the Sui Dynasty, thinking that there is no way to rule it in the world."
"Now that I have been severely defeated by the Fuso Kingdom, I am afraid I may have begun to regret my past actions..."
Chen Shilang stroked his long beard and was quite happy. After all, the ministers of the Song Dynasty had a bad impression of the Japanese country, which was so arrogant and domineering that they wanted to ride on the emperor of the Song Dynasty and shit on him ever since they saw the content of the credential of the Japanese country. .
The ruler of the Song Dynasty is called the Son of Heaven, and you are called the Emperor. If this horse-riding man doesn't kill you, how can he say such a bad thing?
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Besides, our Song Dynasty was very cautious and did not personally end the war. We only supported some of our vassal states with weapons and armor, and the Japanese state could not withstand it.
This made the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty feel more and more comfortable. After all, the little brother who was respectful to him had repaired the Japanese country like this. Doesn't it mean that the Song Dynasty was more awesome?
Seeing these two singing and drinking here praising him, Gao Zhang finally couldn't hold it in anymore after waiting for a long time and asked directly.
"The two elders came to look for my nephew. It's best to tell them what they are doing."
"Well, my nephew must also know that there will be another imperial examination this spring. The number of people to be admitted for this imperial examination will be about the same as in previous years..."
Wu Zhizhong raised his hand, thought for a moment, and then stretched out a finger to gesture towards Gao Zhang.
"..." Seeing Wu Zhizhong's gesture, Gao Zhang smacked his mouth, really not knowing what to say.
This number, in Wu Zhizhong's opinion, was too numerous to count.
Chen Shilang on the side saw that Gao Zhang's expression had not changed much, and he beat the drum with regret.
"I guess my nephew didn't know that during the more than two hundred and sixty years of the Tang Dynasty, the most prosperous period was the Tianbao period.
I remember that the twelfth year of Tianbao was the year when the former Tang Dynasty admitted the most Jinshi, only fifty-six people. "
"Nowadays, the number of Jinshi admitted in every imperial examination in the Song Dynasty is ten times that number."
"Although our literary fortune in the Song Dynasty was prosperous and far superior to that of the previous Tang Dynasty, how could the imperial court confer so many official positions on it?"
As soon as these words came out, Gao Zhang reacted immediately. It looked like these two old drivers were really in trouble.
Gao Zhang nodded and took a sip of black tea. After drinking this at night, he would not worry about falling asleep. It is very friendly to children who like tea drinks.
"My nephew would like to ask the two elders. According to the two elders, is it good or bad for the Song Dynasty to recruit ten times more scholars than the previous Tang Dynasty?"
"Ah, this..." Chen Shilang was a little stuck for a moment, and he didn't know how to answer.
"This matter, in my opinion, is naturally good. Not to leave talents in the countryside, this is the original intention of selecting scholars through the imperial examination."
"It's just that the contradictions of overstaffed people and bloated institutions in the current dynasty have become more and more acute, which has become a serious problem in the Song Dynasty."
"So I came to visit my nephew today. Firstly, I want to congratulate my nephew on his promotion to an official position. Secondly, I just want to ask my nephew if there is any good way to solve the problem of redundant officials in the Song Dynasty. "
Through the rather bright light of the whale oil, I could see the expectant expressions on the faces of the two elders.
Gao Zhang fell into deep thought. Yes, for the Tang Dynasty, there were too many officials in the Song Dynasty.
Moreover, there are so many people in the world, the organization is bloated, and there are many talented people who have passed the Jinshi examination, they can only sit helplessly on the stools of the official department and wait.
They look forward to the day when they can be elected officials. Otherwise, even if they are Jinshi, they can only receive their salary and be awarded casual officials, wandering around in Bianliang, Tokyo all day long.
If there are two rich people in the family, they might go to the Goulan Pavilion to sing about the wind and the moon, recite poems and write poems, chat with young ladies about their unmet talents, and criticize the injustice of the court with like-minded people.
When they became officials of the imperial court one day, they began to think about how they could use their positions to make a fortune for themselves.
Of course, there are not many talented people who do not forget their original aspirations, serve the country, and ask for orders for the people.
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"First of all, my nephew would like to ask Uncle Wu, do you think the Song Dynasty can cancel the imperial examination to recruit scholars, or reduce the scale of recruiting scholars?"
After thinking for a long time, Gao Zhang looked up at Wu Zhizhong in front of him and asked a crucial question.
"Of course not." Before Wu Zhizhong could speak, Chen Shilang beside him had already given the answer very decisively.
"After all, the literary fortune of the Song Dynasty was prosperous, and the number of talented people who won the imperial examination is proof of this."
"What's more, if we don't include talents, there will definitely be many unwilling talents who will go north to Liao and west to Xixia to serve our enemies of the Song Dynasty."
Wu Zhizhong also nodded with a bitter smile.
"This is exactly the reason. What's more, the population of the Song Dynasty is tens of millions, which is far more than that of the former Tang Dynasty. In addition, the trend of reading is extremely strong, and talents are as talented as ants. Naturally, we cannot select scholars through the imperial examination like the former Tang Dynasty..."
"Of course, although the imperial examinations in the former Tang Dynasty selected fewer and better scholars, the officials in the former Tang Dynasty still had to consider family status, family background, and origin..."
Speaking of this, Wu Zhizhong's tone was full of pride. At least the Song Dynasty did not have the disadvantages of aristocratic families. The large-scale imperial examination was one of the reasons.
Today I still feel pain all over my body, it must be Yang, so I will try to calm down for the next few days. I will update the third update first, and then I will continue to the fifth update when I feel better.
(End of chapter)
