Traditionally, when selecting officials in China, some people advocate selecting talented people, while others advocate appointing capable officials. For example, in the Han Dynasty, in the second year of Emperor Gaozu, Liu Bang issued an order to seek talents, which included the following: "Together with the world's great men and wise men, we will determine the world and organize it together." The order to seek talents clearly stated that it was to select talents. Later, it developed into the inspection and examination system of the Han Dynasty. The imperial examination system was corrupted and became a de facto system of co-governance by aristocratic families. In the Sui Dynasty, it was changed to the imperial examination system. After the transformation, the imperial examination system was basically perfected in the Song Dynasty and became the main method of selecting officials.
Wen Yanbo once said that the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats rule the world together. This sentence is not surprising. In fact, it has meant this since Liu Bang. Later generations used this sentence to mock the officials of the Song Dynasty, which actually missed the point and was somewhat inexplicable.
After the Song Dynasty, Mongolia took over the Central Plains, bringing with it a large number of nomadic habits. Politically, the checks and balances between the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats, or between imperial power and imperial power, disappeared. After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he abolished the prime minister and the imperial power was unprecedentedly strengthened. In the Qing Dynasty, the imperial power was once again strengthened, and ministers even became slaves.
It is often said in history that since the establishment of a unified regime by Qin Shihuang, China has had conflicts between imperial power and prime ministerial power. The general trend is that the imperial power is getting stronger and the prime minister's power is getting weaker. Some people even say that the Song Dynasty was a group system, which was a manifestation of the increase in imperial power.
Objectively speaking, the power of the prime minister in the Song Dynasty was not weak, but the power of a single prime minister was weak in the Northern Song Dynasty. But as the overall leader of the political affairs hall, his power is very large, far from being comparable to that of the later Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the Southern Song Dynasty, many powerful ministers appeared, which were somewhat abnormal.
When people of later generations study Chinese history, they often talk about the general trends. For more than two thousand years since the Han Dynasty, one sentence has often been used to summarize the historical trend, and then various dynasties were integrated into this trend. If there is anything that cannot be applied, it is said to be a historical exception or even a historical reaction. For example, as history progresses, centralized power becomes stronger and stronger, and imperial power becomes stronger and stronger. For example, with the development of history, private commerce became more and more developed. At this time, the sprouts of capitalism appeared, and at that time, the sprouts of capitalism also appeared. For example, with the development of history, taxes have become more and more monetized, and monetization is the direction of historical development, etc.
Why is this a trend? Most of what is said is incomprehensible. Or it’s the theories of foreign scholars, or it’s ideology, or it’s just a few big scholars who think so. What is the historical trend? Can't really believe it.
Wang Xiaolie remembered that he once had a degree defense meeting in his previous life. A student went up to do research on the popularization of agricultural machinery. Let’s talk about how difficult it was after the founding of the People’s Republic of China and how rapid development has been since the reform and opening up. The professors below were dumbfounded. Someone couldn't help it and told him that before the reform and opening up, China's agricultural machinery industry had actually made great achievements. In the twenty years after the reform and opening up, it either stood still or retreated on a large scale. It was not until two thousand years later that it developed again. This is the truth.
Research in history is often like this. For example, the monetization of taxes is a major trend and represents the advancement of society. In fact, most of the time, it is very difficult for farmers to obtain currency. Not to mention in ancient times, even in modern times, the collection of industry taxes and various other miscellaneous taxes in the 1990s have caused great difficulties to farmers and triggered a large number of social conflicts. To a large extent, farmers do not participate in commercial activities. What they harvest is food and physical goods. Monetizing taxes increases exploitation.
Many historical perspectives bear this trace. Regarding the Song Dynasty, the most famous view is that the emphasis on literature over military force, the use of culture to control military force, or the worship of culture and suppression of military force resulted in a weak military. Wang Xiaolie remembered watching a British movie, in which the person commanding the war was an engineer battalion officer. According to what these people said, it can be regarded as using civility to control military force, and an old non-commissioned officer should be used as the commander. I don’t know when this statement originated, and it has even become a final conclusion in the historical circles. When talking about the military decline of the Song Dynasty, people often make condescending remarks.
Is history really like this? Just because the status of warriors is low, their enthusiasm is not high, so they don't work hard to fight, so they are not good militarily? Why did it change to another European and American country?
Fundamentally speaking, the study of history does not insist on seeking truth from facts. On a deeper level, there is an attitude problem.
When New China was founded, a teacher once said that we are good at breaking up an old world and building a new world. But later history showed that it was more difficult to build a new world than to break the old one.
The biggest difference between New China and Old China is the establishment of the status of the people. The legitimacy of the regime is no longer based on the illusory mandate of destiny, but on the support of the people. Just from an ideological point of view, it is not easy to truly understand this difference and truly stand from the standpoint of the people. Especially for many scholars and politicians, it is too difficult for them to think about issues and learn from the people's perspective.
Build a new world. What kind of new world will it be?
Wang Xiaolie couldn't answer this question. Then don't answer it yet. The question of who should be chosen as officials and who should be put in power should be put aside for now. The so-called official, all the power and honors are placed on the official uniform, which can also be said to be placed on the official seal. Whoever puts on official uniform is an official. Whoever holds the seal is the official. It's not appropriate. Take off your official uniform and continue to be a common man.
For the appointment of officials, the most important thing is selection. Choose those who can do it, that is, Ren Neng. The most important thing in the evaluation of officials is supervision. To be promoted, not only must you do well, but you must also be recognized by the people. That is to say, selection of talents.
This official uniform hangs here, and someone with the ability can do it. The path to promotion is there, and virtuous people get promoted. This is the method Wang Xiaolie chose, which is different from previous lives and different from future generations.
After listening to Wang Xiaolie's detailed explanation, all the officials couldn't help but be stunned.
After a long time, Chen Qiudao said: "How can officials be appointed according to their abilities? The imperial court relies on the imperial examination, so what do we rely on?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "I have thought about it for a long time, and I still found that the imperial examination is a good way. The problem is that the people who passed the imperial examination were not trained enough by the court. Once they passed the imperial examination, they were released as officials. After that, the training was simple and few After a few months, I went out to do practical work. How come people who study hard suddenly know how to be an official? This is obviously not enough. I think that in the future, we should combine the imperial examination with training schools, so that those who pass the examination will not only They must be well-versed in literary works, be familiar with classics, history, songs, and poems, and must have practical skills as an official. They will be placed in appropriate positions based on their academic performance."
Chen Qiudao asked: "What kind of school?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "Our army is based on military schools as the core, training officers at all levels. The same goes for officials. Not only do they need to take the imperial examination, but they also need to study in specialized training schools. After learning the skills, they are sent to actual posts. Inside Don’t worry too much about the actual situation of what to teach. We have actual officials and political records. Just teach first. If you don’t teach well at first, you will slowly improve and things will get better. In short, future officials must first wear official uniforms. Only when you have the ability can you really become an official. After putting on the official uniform, if you don’t do things well, there will be rewards and punishments.”
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie said to Chen Yuyi: "Senior Councilor should understand now why I said that I would build a big government office for you? Because in the future, at least in our place, the supervisory committee for officials will be very important. As long as you become an official , we have to face supervision. This kind of supervision is no longer as simple as before, but covers all aspects. Nowadays, officials should have high incomes and high status, and supervision will be stricter!"
Officials are selected personnel, in the words of later generations, the elite of society. Since they are elites, they should naturally have the income of elites, and they cannot be treated badly. In addition to this, they have a high social status. To achieve such a social status, one must face surveillance.
