Chapter 31 Talent?

"General Zhao, what does the unknown general think of the confrontation between the lord and the thief of Cao?" Chen Qun did not directly say his intention, but asked Zhao Feng this question first. As a literati, there are always some people who like to be mysterious.

Although Zhao Feng is not used to it, he still said honestly: "At present, the Lord and Cao Qian are facing each other across the Yellow River. Whether it is population or military strength, it is not far apart. However, the Lord knows people and uses people with unique vision, but Cao Wei is a little suspicious, which is better than the Lord. As long as the lord can make good use of the world's talents, Cao Shen will undoubtedly be defeated!" Zhao Feng was not particularly sure. What Chen Qun wanted to say was according to what he had guessed.

"What the general said is true!" Chen Qun nodded, and then stood up and said, "But now Cao has taken the emperor to order the princes. The emperor is in his hands, and the righteousness is in his hands. In this way, the lord recruited talents and lost a move at the beginning. For this reason, the group is exhausted, and this is the only way to think of a method, which may work and attract more talents for the public! I'm here today to discuss with the general to see if there are any omissions. After saying that, Chen Qun took out a roll of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Zhao Feng.

"Changwen is bothering!" While politely, Zhao Feng took the paper roll handed over by Chen Qun, but his heart was already bright. After a look, everything was as expected.

"I knew it, you can't be famous!" Zhao Feng muttered in his heart that, as he expected, Chen Qun did not come up with any unexpected tricks, but still grandly pushed out his nine-grade system.

Historically, during the establishment of the Three Kingdoms, in order to obtain the support of the northern families, Cao Pi successfully usurped the self-reliance of the Han Dynasty. After he ascended the throne, he adopted the nine-grade Zhongzheng system proposed by Chen Qun, which opened the door for the children of the scholar to enter and exit the official career. Let the big families, which have already gained great benefits, become more active. Sitting on thousands of fertile fields, thousands of domestic servants, maidservants and even private soldiers, do not need to pay taxes, which is almost the same as slave owners.

Later, the Western Jin Dynasty also followed this talent selection system, so that later, those decadent families controlled almost all the resources and interests of the whole country. As a result, a Wangba Rebellion completely damaged the vitality of the whole Western Jin Dynasty and even the whole Han people, which led to the chaos of China, and the Chinese civilization experienced the darkest period.

In view of this, Zhao Feng really has no good impression on this nine-grade system. However, Zhao Feng also knows that the energy of the family is really great now. If Liu Bei wants to win a comprehensive victory, he can't do without the support of these people, but he can't condone them too much, otherwise he will inevitably follow the old path of the Western Jin Dynasty and Cao Wei.

Although Zhao Feng used to restrict the families by opening colleges, improving papermaking and other methods, and not letting them sit too big. Originally, I wanted to wait until everything settled down and then propose a more scientific way to Lao Liu. In order to limit the excessiveness of the family, Wang Mang and Liu Xiu in history have made attempts, but they all failed. Especially for the former, his series of reform measures with strong idealism have completely touched the interests of the family and aroused their resistance. In the end, he died and fell into the name of a Han thief.

As a traveler, Zhao Feng is not omnipotent. However, he has a living textbook with thousands of years of history, so it is still possible to make the development of history less detours. After carefully reading Chen Qun's nine-grade regular system, Zhao Feng also said with a sigh of relief, "Changwen, your nine-grade regular system is also excellent, but in my opinion, it is not enough to rely on this method alone."

"What does the general say?" After listening to Zhao Feng's words, Chen Qun also asked strangely.

"Long article, in fact, no matter how to do it, the most important thing is to be the only one to let people do their best, so that it can be effective, right?" Zhao Feng did not explain directly, but asked.

"That's natural!" Chen Qun nodded of course. With his insight, it is easy to understand this truth.

"That's right. Your nine-grade is medium-sized, and the nine-grade is not bad, but the word "medium-sized" is a little narrow. You see, you want those middle-aged officials in important positions to select talents, but at the time of selection, you value the origin of the door valve. In this way, isn't it even more difficult for a poor scholar to get ahead? Zhao Feng explained in detail.

"Why is this?" Chen Qun couldn't help laughing when he heard the words, and then smiled and said, "That being said, the official is the pillar of the country. Naturally, he will not abolish the public for private reasons."

Chen Qunyi is the framer of the system. Some things are not good and too clearly. Second, it is really difficult for him to imagine what kind of consequences this nine-grade positive system will produce once the politics is dark. Zhao Feng smiled when he heard the words, but said, "Changwen, if at the time of Huan Ling, let Shi Changshi and He Jin serve as the official, how many talents can be selected for the country in this nine-grade system?"

"This?" Chen Qun is really speechless this time. The character of these brothers is well known all over the world. It is really difficult to expect them to select real materials.

"What do you think of General Zhao?" Chen Qun saw Zhao Feng smiling and speechless, and he looked confident. Knowing that he would definitely have a follow-up, he hurriedly asked.

"In fact, Feng has nothing else to say. I just want to give Changwen's nine-pin regular system, just a number of supplements!" Zhao Feng smiled and then brought up the general framework of the imperial examination system that he plagiarized.

Although in the end, the imperial examination system was scolded for being worthless by the pioneers of the new cultural movement. But in fact, it is more because in order to fool the people, the rulers deliberately turned the imperial examination system, which was rich in content and selected all kinds of talents, into a rigid system that only talked about eight articles, which made the country lose its vitality and vitality, and quickly decayed under internal and external troubles.

And Emperor Sui Wen's first imperial examination system was aimed at selecting all kinds of talents. It's like if the article is done well, you will be a civil servant; if you are strong, you will become a soldier; if you are good at counting, you will be a civil servant. All of these are not enough. Such a talent selection system is already very scientific in this era.

"General, this method is wonderful!" Chen Qun's eyes lit up when he heard the words. Although Chen Qun himself came from an official eunuch's family, his grandfather and uncle were mostly county magistrates. Although his father Chen Ji has been Hong Yuqing, most of the children of the Chen family are still such county-level officials, which is still worse than the Yuan family of the fourth generation and three princes. In the current words, the Chen family is basically civil servants at the county and city level, but national civil servants are rare. Because of this, Chen Qun basically came to this point in his official career by his own ability. He did not reject the imperial examination system.

Compared with the nine-pin regular system, the imperial examination system is undoubtedly more advanced. As for its effect of restricting the family, except for Zhao Feng, a time traveler, there are few people in the world who can see this. In the next few days, Zhao Feng and Chen Qun discussed some details of the imperial examination system in detail, and finally drew up a complete plan. At the same time, they made some improvements to Chen Qun's nine-grade system, and then handed it over to Liu Bei.

After Liu Bei finished reading these two talent selection plans, he also sighed for a long time. It can be said that these two systems basically achieve the effective selection of talents from all walks of life as much as possible. Liu Bei sighed that after convening everyone to discuss, he also decided to implement these two plans at the same time under his own rule. The subject is opened every three years, mainly in the imperial examination, supplemented by the nine-grade system, completely replacing the previous recommendation system, and selecting talents in the prefectures under their own rule. The children of the rich family, such as Zhang Zhao and Mi Zhu, the poor scholars such as Xu Shu and Li Yan, and the small landlords, such as Lu Su, are basically supportive. Only Pang Tong and a few others have some objections, but it is obviously irrelevant. Seeing that most people support this system, Liu Bei immediately decided to implement the imperial examination system from next year.

What Zhao Feng didn't know was that he rashly proposed the imperial examination system this time, and it could be successfully implemented. In fact, it was a little fluke. In the heyday of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population was about 50 million. Divided by the dividing line of the Qinling River and the Huaihe River, the population ratio between the north and the south is about 1:9. That is, Jiaozhou, Yangzhou, Jingnan and Yizhou add up to about 5 million, while the northern and Central Plains add up to more than 40 million, especially the land of Guanzhong and Hebei, such as Jizhou, Yongzhou and Sizhou. At the most prosperous time, a single state has a population of more than 6 million. Both Yuzhou and Yanzhou also have a population of more than 500.

And since the beginning of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the situation has changed a little. The conservative natural disasters in the north and the Central Plains [***], coupled with the "efforts" of Dong Zhuo and others, the population has plummeted. On the contrary, Xuzhou, Jiangdong, Jingzhou and Yizhou, which were not particularly prosperous, at least the population decline was not so serious because of the relatively little unrest. In addition, Liu Biao and the Sun family and even the Shi Xie of Jiaozhou can more or less appease the people's livelihood. Therefore, Liu Bei can have enough capital to fight with Cao after occupying the territory south of the Yellow River.

Specifically, when it comes to the family, although under the rule of Liu Bei, there are also four major families in Xuzhou, and there are also some famous families in Jiangdong, Jingzhou and even Yizhou. But in terms of scale, those who can reach the level of the former Cai and the Kyu clan are already extreme in the south. Compared with the Sima family and the Yuan family in the north, this weight is not enough. As for Yanzhou, Yuzhou and Hanzhong, the families with a little weight there either went to Hebei with Cao, or they had disappeared in the turmoil. Therefore, the implementation of the nine-grade imperial examination system together has received little resistance, and there is almost no weight for people to oppose it. If it had been in the north, it would have been a boycott now.

Putting down the theory in his hand for the time being, Liu Bei smiled and said, "B Tao, Changwen. The day after tomorrow, I will be crowned as a king. Why don't you also participate in the Zen ceremony in Xuchang together!" The two hurriedly agreed not to mention it.

However, Zhao Feng had not yet waited for Lao Liu's Zen ceremony. On this day, he was resting in Xu Chang's post, but he heard the report from Guan Cheng, saying that Lu Hao had come to visit in advance.

"General, it's done!" As soon as he entered the door, Lu Hao was extremely excited to dance. Before Zhao Feng could react, Lu Hao had carefully taken out a cowhide cover from his sleeve and gently handed it to Zhao Feng trembling.

"Does it really work?" Zhao Feng's surname has calmed down a lot now, but at this time, he was still so excited that his voice trembled. Open the cover, in fact, there is nothing particularly precious in it, just a few pieces of ordinary papyrus in later generations. But Zhao Feng held these pieces of paper and felt that it seemed to be very important.

In this era, no one knows the important surname of paper better than Zhao Feng. Compared with bulky bamboo slips and expensive silk, paper is cheaper and lighter to carry, which is undoubtedly the best carrier of knowledge. To this end, Zhao Feng made Lu Hao devote himself to the improvement of papermaking as early as a few years ago. In addition, he remembered the papermaking in "Tiangong Kaiwu", which gave him some theoretical guidance. However, the specific manufacturing process still needs to be gradually explored in the actual process. After several years of bowing, Lu Hao finally found that after using reeds and bamboo as raw materials and going through a series of processes such as soaking, mashing and steaming, the white paper made is not only cheap, but also smooth and white and easy to write. This time, Lu Hao specially brought a few pieces with a good feel and came to Zhao Feng for determination.

"Lu Hao, you have made great contributions this time!" Zhao Feng patted Lu Hao on the shoulder and said with a smile. The latter said that he did not dare. Not to mention him, even a wise man like Zhuge Liang, who has a keen vision in the world, will not understand the significance of paper for the development of historical civilization.

Next time, Zhao Feng took these sheets of white paper to see Liu Bei, and the latter also lit up after seeing it. However, his eyes were still calm. Chen Qun and others rubbed the smooth paper and almost drooled.

"Good things, good things, General Zhao, can you give me one and let me write a word to read?" After a long time, Sun Qian was the first to react. After swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he asked eagerly. That expression made Zhao Feng think of Crayon Xiaoxin, and he couldn't help but feel a chill.

"Gongyou, please do it!" Zhao Feng smiled and then said to Liu Bei, "Master, this paper is cheap and made of bamboo and wood. A roll of bamboo slips can make at least ten rolls of paper. If the official paper can be opened, wouldn't the treasury add a large source?

"That's right!" Liu Bei nodded repeatedly and then handed over the matter to Chen Qun. Of course, the specific establishment of workshops and the selection of craftsmen also require Lu Hao's guidance. This manufacturing method should also be kept secret for the time being. As soon as this kind of lightweight paper was put on the market, it aroused the crazy popularity of the taxis. The old and bulky bamboo slips are left only for the fate of burning firewood.

"Good things, good things!" In the late night of Xu Chang Taishou's house, Liu Bei rubbed several pieces of white paper and sighed. At the point of prosperity, he picked up a brush and splashed a few words. Unfortunately, his calligraphy was really unsightly, and he smiled at himself after writing.

"Husband, why are you so happy?" Mrs. Mi, who had just coaxed her son to sleep, also asked strangely when she saw that Liu Bei had been unable to close her mouth. Liu Bei was in a good mood and gave her the bamboo paper. Mrs. Mi is also a lady of all, and she knows a lot about poetry and books. I'm afraid the collection of papers is better than Liu Bei. After watching this bamboo paper, I was also amazed.

"Husband, I don't know where this paper came from?" Mrs. Mi was so happy that she also wrote a few words. After writing, she felt that the pen was extremely smooth, which was better than bamboo slips and silk.

"It was made by Bo Tao and Lu Hao." Liu Bei said with a smile.

"With such a whimsy, General Zhao can really be a strange person in the world!" Mrs. Mi also praised it. Liu Bei was slightly stunned when he heard the words, and then sighed, "Yes, he is indeed a talent, indeed!" The tone seems to be a little strange.

(to be continued)