Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 524 Official Selection
Although Zhang Yu adopted Jia Xu's strategy, he did not speak frankly to Xun You, Zhong Yao, and others in order to ensure that everyone would warmly welcome Sun Quan's envoy, Zhang Su.

During his nearly half-month stay in Chang'an, Zhang Su was treated to grand banquets almost daily. During this time, Zhang Su was summoned privately by Zhang Yu twice. The first time, Zhang Su received the imperial edict appointing Sun Quan as the Governor of Yi Province; the second time, Zhang Yu deliberately revealed to Zhang Su the news of the southern campaign against Wu and Chu, hoping that Sun Quan would send troops to assist him.

Not only that, Zhang Su was overjoyed to be granted the title of Marquis of Guannei before his departure, and thus set off to report back in high spirits.

After Zhang Su left the capital, Zhang Yu summoned key civil and military officials such as Zhong Yao, Du Ji, Xun You, and Xu Huang to discuss military matters for the following year.

Inside the Zichen Palace, Zhang Yu sat high on a couch, with civil and military officials standing on either side.

Looking at everyone, Zhang Yu coughed and said, "A few days ago, you all advised me to conquer Wu and Chu first. However, after careful consideration, I believe that compared with conquering Shu, conquering Wu and Chu first may lead to defeat. For a more prudent approach, I intend to take advantage of the current poverty in Ba and Shu to subdue them, subjugate the southwestern prefectures, and acquire the Yizhou navy."

"The Yizhou navy consists of Sun Jian's former troops, and is an elite and skilled force. Yizhou is located upstream of Wu and Chu. If the Yizhou navy sails south and the Jingzhou navy crosses the river, Southern Chu can be captured first. After Southern Chu is defeated, the navy can be captured. The three armies can then advance together and sail down the Yangtze River; the Central Plains army can then sail south to attack the enemy in Huainan. How can Jiangdong possibly stop them?"

"This~"

The strategists who had previously advised Zhang Yu to first conquer Wu and Chu looked at each other in bewilderment. If their memory served them right, His Majesty had decided to launch a southern campaign first, but unexpectedly, he changed his mind in just a few days.

"Your Majesty~"

Xun You tried to persuade Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "The matter of conquering Bashu has been decided, and you need not say more. Previously, I summoned Zhang Su and appointed Sun Quan as governor, which was to make the Sun family complacent and unprepared."

Seeing that Zhang Yu had made up his mind, the civil and military officials did not try to persuade him further. After all, compared to Wu and Chu, conquering Ba and Shu was indeed not as difficult.

Zhong Yao pondered for a moment, then asked, "When will Your Majesty send out troops?"

Zhang Yu said, "The Sun family wants to form a marriage alliance with me, so I want to use the pretext of welcoming the bride to see if I can take advantage of the opportunity to seize the mountain pass. If the gates of Bashu are wide open and a large army pours into Shu, we will surely take Bashu within half a year."

"Now that Your Majesty has proclaimed yourself emperor, who will command the army in this campaign?" Li Song asked, eager to try his hand.

Zhang Yu's gaze moved between Man Chong and Li Song, and he said, "Bo Ning used to serve in Wudu and is familiar with the geography and water conditions of Hanchuan. Therefore, Bo Ning will be appointed as the general and governor of Yizhou, in charge of military affairs in Yong and Yi."

"promise!"

Man Chong eagerly accepted the order: "I will certainly live up to Your Majesty's command and recover the southwestern prefectures for the country."

"good!"

Tian Feng said, "If Your Majesty were to conquer Ba and Shu, I fear that Cao Cao and Liu Bei would launch a northern expedition in order to aid Sun Quan. Therefore, Your Majesty should be on guard."

"As Yuan Hao said, order all the armies in Jing and Yu provinces to be on high alert!" Zhang Yu instructed.

"promise!"

After discussing military affairs, Zhang Yu then turned to inquire about political matters.

"The new dynasty has just been established, and everything needs to be rebuilt. I wonder if any of you gentlemen have any suggestions on the system for selecting officials?" The tax system and the system for selecting officials are the two major systems that Zhang Yu is currently most concerned about.

Needless to say, the tax system has undergone several revisions and is currently still in draft form. If there are no major problems, it will be submitted soon. As for the selection system for officials, it is being discussed by the ministers of the Secretariat, but no conclusion has been reached yet.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhong Yao said, "I believe that since the country has just been established, it is not advisable to make too many changes. Therefore, I think it is possible to continue the recommendation system of the Han Dynasty and implement the system of subject-based examinations."

"The flaws of the recommendation system are hard to change and are criticized by the world. Those recommended as scholars are illiterate; those recommended as filial and incorruptible have fathers who live separately. Now we continue with the old system without changing it, so how can there be talk of a new dynasty and a new system?" said Yang Jun, Minister of Personnel.

Du Ji nodded and said, "The people recommended by the recommendation system are mostly sons of powerful local families. Prefects bestow favors and form kinship ties, which is called 'protégés and former officials.' The Later Han Dynasty suffered greatly from this. If we do not change the old system now, it will lead to the resurgence of these malpractices, which is not a wise move. Therefore, as Your Majesty has said, we should take away the power of the ministers to recommend officials, allowing scholars to advance based on their talents and learning. The court can then select the best officials, which may be able to prevent the incompetent from entering the government."

It has been said that the rudimentary form of the examination system appeared in the mid-to-late Eastern Han Dynasty. In order to change the bad situation of "those recommended as 'outstanding scholars' being illiterate, and those recommended as 'filial and incorruptible' having fathers living separately," the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Zuo Xiong, implemented subject-based examinations, and only those who passed the examinations could be appointed to official positions. Unfortunately, due to the political corruption at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, after Zuo Xiong's death, the examination system existed in name only.

Of course, the examination system is one thing, but it still differs from the so-called imperial examination system. The recommendation system involved local officials recommending talent, with the power of recommendation held by bureaucrats and nobles below the emperor, forcing the court to select only the best from the worst; while the imperial examination system allowed talent to recommend themselves, enabling the court to select the best from the best.

“During the Han Dynasty, talented people were controlled by the prefectures and counties. Now we should change this problem and control the talent in the capital region.”

Zhang Yu said, “I believe that we should allow virtuous scholars from all over the country to submit their talents to the prefectures and counties, and then the prefectures and counties should conduct separate examinations for them. First, the prefectures and counties should conduct examinations, and then the prefectures should conduct examinations. Those who excel in family discipline, writing memorials and reports, and those who rank highly should be selected as filial and incorruptible officials. If they can pass the prefecture examination, they can go to the Duanmen Gate of the Ministry of Personnel for further examination. Only those who pass the Duanmen Gate examination can be selected as officials.”

"If Your Majesty's words are true, wouldn't all the scholars in the land take the imperial examinations every year? I fear there won't be enough official positions!" Du Ji said worriedly.

Zhang Yu said, "Since all the virtuous men in the world can take the imperial examinations every year, then the prefectural and county officials should not be allowed to recruit them privately. The assistant officials appointed by the government should be appointed by officials sent by the court, so as to weaken the power of the prefectures and counties. By strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches, we may be able to cut off the practice of former students and officials."

The emergence of the tiered imperial examination system meant that the central government could absorb more talent. However, not all of these talented individuals could become county magistrates. In order to secure official positions and weaken the personnel power of prefectures and counties, it was only natural to target the recruitment power of prefectural and county officials.

Zhong Yao stroked his beard and recited, "Your Majesty desires to win the loyalty of virtuous men, as your ministers and I know. However, selecting outstanding individuals through the civil service examinations risks valuing talent over virtue. And to appoint talented but immoral people to govern the people would be tantamount to allowing officials to oppress the people."

Virtue and talent were the core points of contention in selecting officials during the Han Dynasty. The reason why the Han Dynasty implemented the recommendation system was essentially to obtain people with both virtue and talent. However, as time went on, not only was virtue lacking, but even talent was gone; it could be said that most of them were people without virtue or talent.

Zhang Yu said, “When selecting a person of virtue and talent, talent should be chosen first, followed by character. Now we go to the county examination, and then to the prefectural examination for those who are filial and incorruptible. The prefecture has the responsibility to examine the students’ knowledge. If the students are outstanding in their studies, they can go to the state examination. Those who pass the state examination will have their character and conduct examined by the state. If the students are of good character, they can go to the Duanmen examination to apply for an official position.”

"Your Majesty's plan is feasible in my opinion!"

Zhong Yao advised, “However, the new system differs greatly from the old one. The prefects of the prefectures have no responsibility to select talented people, which may cause resentment among the prefects of the country and is not conducive to governing the people and ensuring their well-being. Therefore, I believe that if Your Majesty wants to win the hearts of the people, you should allow scholars and commoners to take the civil service examinations and also allow the prefects to recommend virtuous people to take the provincial examinations.”

"allow!"

Zhong Yao retained the prefect's power to recommend talented individuals simply to balance the interests of those from humble backgrounds and powerful local families!

P.S.: No need to wait for the third update, it will be dawn soon.

(End of this chapter)