Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Then what do you think? Let me tell Grandpa Huang."
He picked up the tea on the table and took a sip. He still looked at Zhu Yunzhen very lovingly and was not angry at his rebuttal.
"If the emperor only wants the descendants of everyone in the Ming Dynasty, and it will never change, the descendants of farmers will always be farmers, the descendants of military households will always be military households, and the descendants of merchants will always be merchants, then why does the emperor want to take the imperial examination again? Where is the official?"
Zhu Yunxuan asked rhetorically: "They passed the imperial examination and farmers' sons became officials. Didn't it also change their destiny and give many people undesirable ambitions?"
"Good question!" Lao Zhu clapped his hands and said, "Then Grandpa Huang will tell you."
"Governing the people of the world is like herding cattle and sheep. To make the cattle and sheep obey, you must drive them away and give them a direction to move forward."
"When Yu the Great controlled the floods, it was better to remove them than to block them."
"Among the cattle and sheep, some animals are very obedient, while others are very stubborn and refuse to go away, leading them to retreat."
"If you are herding a large herd of cattle and sheep, one or two stubborn animals can spoil the whole herd. You need to find them, kill them, or train them."
"The same goes for governing the people of the world."
Lao Zhu said with a smile: "Do you think that the imperial examination is to select talents for the country?"
Zhu Yunzhen was stunned again.
Is not it?
"It's not wrong for you to think so, but it's not right either."
Lao Zhu said: "If the imperial examination is purely to select talents for the country, then why is it the classics and righteousness that are tested?"
"Do you really think that if you learn those things well, you will be a pillar of talent?"
A look of disdain and ridicule appeared on Lao Zhu's face.
"If you ask me, if you learn the classics well and write eight-part essays well, you will definitely not be stupid if you are stupid, and it is impossible for a stupid person to learn well."
"But to say how capable he is, he can be called a pillar of the country, but that may not be possible."
"However, for the imperial court, it is enough that you are not stupid."
"We have told you before that we should use middle-aged people, not capable people."
"That's how it is to get an official position through the imperial examination."
"The choice of assistants to help the emperor govern the world is not the most important. There are many ways to choose."
"Second, let them all go to school and train their thoughts. If there are any thorns in the side of disobedience, they can be singled out and killed."
"Third, through the imperial examination selection, you can set an example for the world. Learn martial arts and sell them to the emperor's family, so that they all rush to work for our family."
"The imperial examination gave them a little hope of changing their own destiny, but it was very slim. Only a very small number of people achieved it, and the impact on the stability of the world was minimal."
"In addition, there are a large number of scholars who participate in the imperial examination. If they can see the hope of becoming an official, they will support the imperial court."
"People who study are often wealthy local households, and they have greater power."
"With the support of these people, the imperial court will gain a firm foothold in various places, and the world will naturally be at peace."
"On the surface, it seems that anyone can take the imperial examination as long as they are not from a lowly family. If they pass the examination, they can rise to the top in one step."
“But in fact, most of the people who end up in high school are still local squires.”
"It is crucial to win over these people through the imperial examination."
Lao Zhu paused and said: "Selecting talents is for outsiders to hear. In the future, as a king, if you need to recruit talents, don't stick to the imperial examination."
"But it's what the emperor told you before. The world has been settled, and ordinary officials don't need much ability. You use people from the imperial examination to give thousands of scholars the hope of assisting the king. It provides a hundred benefits and no harm, so why bother using it?”
When Zhu Yunxuan heard this, a chill slowly rose up in his body, and he asked: "Grandpa Emperor, so, although the imperial examination is called a ceremony for recruiting talents, it actually has nothing to do with selecting talents for the imperial court?"
"Hahaha!" Lao Zhu laughed: "It's not just the imperial examination. When there was no imperial examination in the past, it was not the same as promoting filial piety and integrity and promoting talents?"
"Think about it carefully, when is the time when we need talents the most?"
Lao Zhu asked with a smile.
Without waiting for his answer, he continued:
"If you really need talents, that's the time to conquer the world. At that time, everyone hopes that they can grab capable talents and defeat their opponents."
"But if you read the history books, have you ever seen anyone who relied on imperial examinations to select talents when they were conquering the world? Or used filial piety and integrity to select people?"
"Just say that the people we use, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Tang He, Liu Ji, Li Shanchang, etc., aren't they all selected by us after careful inspection?"
"When conquering the world, you should employ people according to any standard, and true meritocracy should prevail."
"Why don't you do this when it's time to become king?"
"Because it is no longer needed. Compared with selecting elite talents, maintaining order is ten thousand times more important."
"If you don't stick to one pattern and use Dao Yan and Zheng He, of course you can. We also believe in your vision. The two of them must have extraordinary talents."
"However, the removal of talents must be done in moderation and cannot be used too much. It is still necessary to try to be based on seniority."
"It's not because people with qualifications are more capable, but to maintain order in employment."
"This is the way to achieve long-term peace and stability."
Zhu Yunzhen was stunned when he heard this, with a lot of thoughts.
Of course he knew that what Lao Zhu said was the truth.
This has been the case in the selection of officials in all dynasties.
When talent is really needed, people will be employed in an eclectic way.
For example, Jiang Taigong, who was fishing, immediately became the prime minister.
Han Xin was originally just a soldier, but was appointed as a general by Liu Bang.
Zhuge Liang, who had been working in Nanyang, had no experience. Liu Bei visited the thatched cottage three times and asked him to be his military advisor.
The same is true for Liu Bowen and others of this dynasty.
…
But once the dynasty was established, all these exceptional talents disappeared.
Is it really true?
Obviously not!
It's because for rulers, order is more important than talent.
Just like establishing a direct descendant rather than a concubine, and establishing an elder rather than a young one, it is also a kind of order.
Therefore, Lao Zhu made him the emperor's grandson, which caused such a big disturbance.
But on the other hand, Lao Zhu still stood up against all opinions and made him the king.
This shows that order still needs to be broken when necessary.
Moreover, in the eyes of Lao Zhu and most civil and military officials, the world belongs to the Ming Dynasty, and the rest are barbarians who cannot compete with the orthodox Central Plains.
But Zhu Yunzhen knew that although the territory of the Ming Dynasty was vast, it was only a small part of the entire Blue Star.
There are wider oceans, land, and countless forested countries outside.
The Age of Discovery is about to begin. If we remain stubborn at this time, we will inevitably lag behind the world.
It’s still time to conquer the world!
Because Ming Dynasty wants to compete with other countries in the world.
Once you fall behind, you will be beaten.
Class solidification is indeed beneficial to rule.
Therefore, throughout the past dynasties, and even in the scientific and technological civilized societies of later generations, the rulers of many countries have secretly promoted the solidification of classes.
Even though they are all beautiful words on the surface.
But in fact, they are trying every means to solidify the class, so that the chances of the bottom class standing up are getting smaller and smaller, until they are infinitely close to zero.
If the bottom layer cannot stand up, the upper layer will not fall.
These are all complementary to each other.
The poor will always be poor and the rich will always be rich. In fact, this is what the rulers most want to see.
As long as the poor are not forced into desperation and unable to survive, it will be fine.
Because this also means that the status of the ruler and the ruled will never be reversed.
The country is forever solid!
But the price paid for this is that the entire society will lose its vitality and development momentum.
As a result, the country's development has stalled.
In feudal society for thousands of years, there has been almost no progress in science, technology and systems. This is closely related to the fact that rulers of all dynasties have used the art of controlling the people, only seeking stability rather than development and progress.
He didn't want the Ming Dynasty under his rule to be like this.
"Grandpa Huang, my grandson has something to say that he wants to express to you."
(End of chapter)
