Hot flashes

Cigarette smoke drifted from inside the hall, lingering in the corridors and scattered by the evening breeze. In the distance, the evening bell tolled, its deep, resonant notes ringing out.

Shen Yu suddenly spoke.

"Lord Zhou," he said, "what do you think the world should be like?"

Zhou Heng was stunned for a moment.

Shen Yu didn't look at him. His gaze fell on the distant, layered palaces, on the glazed tiles dyed golden by the setting sun.

"I've served in the court for thirty years," he said, "and seen too much. Some things, when I think about them, keep me up at night."

Zhou Heng remained silent.

Shen Yu turned his head and looked at him.

"Do you know how those aristocratic families in Jiangnan came to be?"

Zhou Heng thought for a moment and said, "Some were granted by the previous dynasty, and some were established by the current dynasty."

Shen Yu shook his head.

"Neither," he said. "It was from fighting."

Zhou Heng was stunned.

Shen Yu's gaze returned to the distance.

"Three hundred years ago, the world was in chaos. There were no noble families then, only groups of people who gathered together to fight for land, food, and survival. Those who won would occupy a piece of land, establish rules, collect rent and taxes, and support their soldiers and people. This was passed down from generation to generation, and that's how noble families came to be."

He paused.

"What do you think allows aristocratic families to last for three hundred years? Is it because they are good at studying? Good at becoming officials? Good at currying favor with the emperor?"

He smiled, and there was a lot in that smile.

"Because the people need them to survive."

Zhou Heng remained silent.

Shen Yu continued speaking.

"Jiangnan is prone to flooding, and disasters occur every year. When the imperial court is overwhelmed, it is the powerful families who provide grain and money to repair dikes and provide disaster relief. When the common people are poor and cannot borrow money, it is the powerful families who open pawnshops to lend them money. When scholars want to enter officialdom but have no connections, it is the powerful families who recommend them to the court."

He turned around and looked at Zhou Heng.

"Lord Zhou, do you know the relationship between aristocratic families and commoners?"

Zhou Heng remained silent.

Shen Yu said on his behalf, "It's symbiosis."

Those two words fell heavily.

Zhou Heng remained silent for a long time.

Then he spoke.

"Prime Minister Shen," he said, "I know everything you just said. But have you considered that symbiosis also has different forms?"

Shen Yu looked at him.

Zhou Heng's gaze was flat.

"What interest rate did wealthy families charge when they opened pawnshops and lent money to the common people? Three percent? Five percent? Or did they compound interest, requiring the borrower to repay ten percent?"

Shen Yu remained silent.

Zhou Heng continued speaking.

"Where did the money and grain provided by the aristocratic families for disaster relief and dike repair come from? It came from the rent paid by the common people. The common people paid 70% to the aristocratic families, the aristocratic families used 10% for disaster relief, and who pocketed the remaining 60%?"

Shen Yu's expression changed slightly.

Zhou Heng looked at him.

"Prime Minister Shen, the word 'symbiosis' sounds nice, but you know perfectly well who is actually giving birth to whom."

The evening breeze blew through the corridor, carrying the scent of cigarettes and the faint sound of distant bells.

Shen Yu stood there, looking at Zhou Heng for a long time.

Then he spoke.

"Lord Zhou," he said, "have you ever considered what will happen to the common people if the powerful families fall?"

Zhou Heng did not answer.

Shen Yu took a step forward.

"Rely on the imperial court?" he said. "The imperial court is thousands of miles away, how can it manage everything? Rely on His Majesty? His Majesty has so many things to worry about, how can he take care of every single village?"

He paused.

"Rely on you?"

Those two words fell like stones.

Zhou Heng looked at him without saying a word.

Shen Yu shook his head.

"Lord Zhou, you are a good man. But a good man cannot save the world."

He turned and left.

Zhou Heng stood there, watching the figure disappear at the end of the corridor.

The cigarette smoke is still wafting, and the bells are still ringing.

On the last day of July, a major matter was discussed at the court meeting.

He was recommended for the position of Filial and Incorrupt Official.

This is an old system of our dynasty, held every three years. Local officials recommend virtuous and talented individuals from their respective regions, who are then sent to the capital for assessment and granted official positions. This rule, established during the reign of the previous emperor, has been carried out seven times to date.

This year, it's time to take action again.

The lists submitted from various regions have been sent to the Ministry of Personnel. Zhou Heng had flipped through that list a few days ago, reading it from beginning to end, and the more he looked, the more silent he became.

Of the 127 names, only a handful came from impoverished backgrounds.

The rest all shared the same surname—Xie, Wang, Zheng, and Shen from Jiangnan, and Cui, Lu, Li, and Zheng from Jiangbei. They were scions of prominent families, disciples of prominent families, distant relatives of prominent families, and in-laws of prominent families.

The recommended candidates were all filial and incorruptible, and the people sent to them were from prominent families.

Zhou Heng stood in the queue, listening to the Minister of Personnel read the list. One name after another was read, each followed by an impressive resume—descendant of a famous scholar from a certain place, recommended by a certain family, and known for his virtue.

The court was quiet; no one spoke.

After reading it aloud, the Minister of Personnel closed the folded document, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, the lists of recommended candidates from various regions are complete. Please review them."

Xiao Jue remained silent.

The hall was silent for a moment.

Zhou Heng stepped forward.

"Your subject has a memorial to present."

All eyes were on him.

Xiao Jue looked at him.

"explain."

Zhou Heng raised his head, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"I believe that the system of recommending filial and incorrupt officials should be abolished."

The court was silent for a moment, then erupted into chaos.

"presumptuous!"

"Zhou Heng, do you even know what you're saying?!"

"You think you can just make it useless like that?"

Zhou Heng stood there, motionless.

Xiao Jue remained silent.

After the noise subsided, Zhou Heng continued to speak.

"I know what I'm talking about," he said. "I've also reviewed the lists of those recommended for the civil service examination in previous dynasties. From the previous dynasty to now, there have been seven sessions in total. How many of those recommended were truly from humble backgrounds?"

No one answered.

Zhou Heng answered for them: "Twenty-seven. Seven sessions, one hundred and thirteen people, twenty-seven from humble backgrounds. The rest are all from aristocratic families."

His gaze swept across the faces of those people one by one.

"This is the practice of recommending people for official positions based on filial piety and integrity. Is it recommending people from virtuous and filial families, or is it recommending people from prominent families?"

The hall fell silent.

Some people wanted to refute, but opened their mouths and didn't know where to begin.

Zhou Heng continued, "The two words 'filial piety and integrity' mean that filial piety is about being dutiful to one's parents, and integrity is about being honest and upright. But how many of those who are recommended are truly famous for their filial piety and integrity?"

They relied on their family background, their social standing, and the reputation accumulated by their ancestors. Their filial piety was that of scions of prominent families. Their integrity was that of scions of prominent families. But who would recommend truly poor children, no matter how filial or incorruptible they might be?

The people in the court looked at each other in bewilderment.

Shen Yu stood there, motionless.

Zhou Heng looked at him.

"Prime Minister Shen," he said, "you come from a noble family, you should know best how the process of recommending officials for the civil service actually works at the local level."

Shen Yu remained silent.

Zhou Heng answered for him: "When local officials receive a document to recommend filial and incorruptible individuals, what do they do? They send people to the villages to investigate. But are those they find truly filial and incorruptible young men from humble backgrounds?"

He shook his head.

"No. What they found were scions of prominent families. Because the prominent families had already submitted their lists. Whose child should be recommended, whose student should be recommended, whose in-laws should be taken care of—these things were not something the local officials had to worry about. The prominent families took care of everything themselves."

He turned around and looked at Xiao Jue on the throne.

"Your Majesty," he said, "the three words 'recommendation of filial and incorruptible officials' have become a tool for aristocratic families. Whoever they recommend can enter the court as an official. Whoever they don't recommend will spend their life toiling in the mud. This is not selecting talent; this is—sharing the spoils."

As the last two words were spoken, the hall fell into a deathly silence.

Xiao Jue looked at him without saying a word.

Zhou Heng continued, "I believe that a new system should be established to select officials through the imperial examination. Family background should be disregarded, only talent and learning should be considered. Regardless of origin, everyone can take the exam. Those who pass will become officials of the court. Those who fail can return and take the exam again. Ten years of hard study will surely lead to success."

The imperial examination system.

These two words struck the imperial court like a thunderbolt.