Returning to the beginning of the North and South rankings again, Chu Ge fell into deep thought.
He had long known that such treatment would have serious consequences, but it was obvious that he still underestimated the consequences.
I originally thought that the impact of this incident on the Dasheng Dynasty and Guo Zuo would only last thirty to fifty years.
But he didn't expect that even a relatively moderate and peaceful way of dealing with it would actually cause Guo Zuo of the Dasheng Dynasty to be cut in half!
Obviously, this is by no means a simple imperial examination.
If it's just a simple imperial examination, so what if no one is admitted? It's just a year of official reserve service. Even if it's not used at all, it won't have much impact.
Taizu Sheng killed tens of thousands of officials, but the imperial court still did not turn around.
Therefore, this North-South ranking obviously involves not only these scholars, but also officials in the DPRK, and even something deeper.
"I remember that during the Qi Dynasty, there was a scholar who passed the palace examination all the way. But he was deposed, and he was dissatisfied, so he went to join the army again, but he was 'suspicious but not useful'.
“The reason is also very simple. It’s because he is too ugly and doesn’t have a good relationship, so no one wants to see him.
"So, he defected to the enemy country and killed more than 10,000 Qi soldiers in one battle. He was worshiped as prime minister by the enemy country and even wrote poems to ridicule him.
"From then on, the Qi Dynasty reformed the imperial examination. As long as you enter the palace examination, you can no longer be deposed, lest people will defect to the enemy because of this.
“Therefore, the imperial examination has never been just about selecting a few inconsequential officials. It is the only promotion channel for talents at the bottom, and it is also the most critical link for the entire country to win over talents and win over the people.
“If there is a problem in this link, it will indeed shake the foundation of the country.
"A deposed talent can turn the Qi Dynasty into such a state. If Sheng Taizu's imperial examination this year really offended all the northern talents, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"You know, the Northern Barbarians have just retreated outside the Great Wall a few years ago. There are many people in the north who are even looking forward to the Northern Barbarians coming back. After all, before the establishment of the Dasheng Dynasty, the separation of various parts of China was unimaginable.
“North and South have been separated for more than 200 years, Yanyun has been separated for more than 400 years, and Hexi and other places have been separated for more than 500 years… The differences between these places are so huge that it is unimaginable.
“Some places have become turbulent after only being separated for decades, and after being separated for hundreds of years, there may not be much left of their identity as the same nation.
"And Taizu Sheng spent his whole life trying hard to bridge this gap again.
“At this time, I saw that there was actually a group of bureaucrats working together to push the entire north towards the Northern Barbarians, and of course I was furious.
“So, from a national point of view, it is very necessary to establish the North and South lists to select scholars separately.
"It's just that the establishment of the North and South List requires at least more than ten years of planning and regulation. Taizu Sheng is already seventy years old at this time and doesn't have that much energy.
"He can only be punished severely. After all, these officials have dared to bite his nose while he is still alive. There may not be any trouble after he dies..."
Chu Ge understood more clearly why the North and South Rankings were so important.
But he still didn't understand why the punishment must be strict and severe. Why must several major officials be exiled or even torn apart?
Why can't I be fined or demoted?
Chu Ge frowned and continued his analysis.
"As I analyzed before, Sheng Taizu could not live long at this time. Historically, he died in less than two years.
"Moreover, it is impossible for Taizu Sheng to predict his own death date. There are so many emperors in history who died at the age of forty or fifty. He is already over seventy years old. It can be said that every day, he is waiting for the king of hell to come and take his people. . Being able to live one more day is a gift from God.
“So, why do these officials dare to slap their noses in their faces?
"First, the examiner Zheng Sansheng found out the established fact that all the northern scholars had failed; then Sheng Taizu asked Liu Xin and others to set up an investigation team to investigate, and also hinted that they should admit additional northern scholars, but the results of their investigation remained the same. He did not change at all, and even deliberately showed the poor answer sheets of some northern scholars to Sheng Taizu...
"Don't they know that Taizu Sheng was an emperor who was very capable of killing people?
"Risk your life to rebel against the emperor, why?
"For the sake of fairness and justice in the imperial examination? That is obviously impossible.
"There are only two possibilities. First, they have huge interests behind this move and are willing to take risks for the sake of interests; second, they have a sense of luck and feel that they may not die after trying it out.
"I just didn't expect that the seventy-year-old Sheng Taizu could still use the knife. He was not used to it at all and would die if he tried.
"So, the key question at this time is: What are the huge benefits they seek? Why are simple demotions and fines unable to punish their ambitions and continue the great prosperity of the country?
"Why do we have to kill so many people to stop this trend?"
The answer was not difficult, so Chu Ge thought of it almost instantly.
"that power.
“They wanted to wrest power from the emperor.
"The ultimate goal of every civil servant is to overshadow the emperor and become an uncrowned king. In fact, the entire bureaucracy is always trying to hide from the emperor and seek benefits for itself.
"The way Sheng Taizu handles this matter will give a specific message to these bureaucrats and gentry.
"Taizu Sheng is already very old and is not far from his death. His physical strength, energy and even judgment are no longer what they used to be.
"So, if Taizu Sheng didn't say anything and let this matter pass by, it means that Taizu Sheng no longer has any energy to deal with these matters.
"If you can't even deal with such an important matter, what about other things? Don't you have no energy to deal with it at all?
“Officials will then be free to act boldly.
"Even after the new king ascends the throne, we can naturally make this matter an 'ancestral system'.
"They would say that back then, when Emperor Taizu was emperor, he only recruited scholars from the south, which shows that Taizu had tacit approval. So after the new emperor succeeded to the throne, what if these civil servants continued to only recruit scholars from the south? There seems to be nothing wrong with it.
"When the time comes, I'm afraid they will only get worse. As there are more and more scholars in the south, all political parties in the DPRK and China are controlled by specific groups of people. It is hard to say whether future emperors will be able to suppress them.
"What if Taizu Sheng was just demoted and fined?
"Actually, the result is not much different. Officials will still think that Taizu can no longer carry out the sword. Such a serious matter is just a demotion and a salary fine. Then if we do some relatively minor things in the future, wouldn't it be casual?
"After all, the emperor has become comatose in his old age, so he may not be able to discover it; even if he is discovered, it will be nothing more than a demotion and a salary penalty, and the punishment is completely disproportionate to the benefits.
"If Sheng Taizu could live for thirty more years, he would be given a lighter punishment. Anyway, there is still enough time to change the entire system and fix the admission ratio of the North and South lists.
“But he’s running out of time, he could die at any time, and once he dies, the way this is handled becomes a clear signal.
"So, the only option is to kill!
“Because only by carrying out mass killings can these officials be frightened and leave a clear signal to future emperors, that is, the imperial examinations must be obtained from both the north and the south.
"Officials try to control the imperial examinations and continue to cultivate their own party members. This is inevitable, and it will always be difficult to reverse in the middle and late stages. But Sheng Taizu's approach, at least in the early days of the dynasty, stopped this unhealthy trend as much as possible. Possibly prolonging the reign of the Great Sheng Dynasty."
Thinking of this, Chu Ge couldn't help but sigh.
Sure enough, there are deep reasons behind the actions of the heroes in history.
Many people say that Sheng Taizu used the North and South to kill several great scholars, which seems to be so heinous. But in fact, what these people did and the actual consequences they had, just beheading them was considered light.
He took the memorial and wrote a word on it.
kill!
Indeed, there is no other way but to kill.
After going around in a circle, we returned to the standard answer given by Sheng Taizu.
Of course, this does not mean that his analysis is meaningless.
Because this is only the first problem he encountered as Emperor Sheng Taizu, and there will be more problems waiting for him later. Analyzing this topic will be very helpful for subsequent problem solving.
Chu Ge calmed down a little and continued to analyze the next events.
