Chapter 407 Four ounces can make a huge difference
"Examination?"
"What's the test?"
"Who's taking the test?"
"Can you really become an official if you pass the exam?"
If there were hot searches in this era, today’s headlines would definitely be this series of explosive news about the imperial examination.
Even without so-called hot searches or headlines, public opinion still quickly spread with Chang'an as the center through word of mouth, causing a huge sensation.
You can become an official just by relying on knowledge!
For later generations, this is a very normal and easy to understand concept;
Even in this era, it is still a valid proposition that one can become an official if he has knowledge.
But the key point is: unlike later generations, the government could easily organize an examination to decide the recruitment of officials - the scholars of this era had almost no chance to prove their knowledge, which was sufficient to support themselves to become officials.
If intellectuals in later generations wanted to take the civil service exam, they only had to pay a registration fee of a hundred yuan, plus a written test, an interview, and a political review where they just had to wait for the results.
Although it is like a huge crowd crossing a single-plank bridge, and the competitive pressure and difficulty of success are extremely high, at least everyone who is ambitious and has a clean family background is qualified to step onto the bridge and then squeeze and push with other competitors.
But in this era, the most difficult thing for intellectuals to join the bureaucratic class is not competition or crossing a single-plank bridge to the other side;
Instead, find out where the single-plank bridge is and how to step onto it.
In later generations, what are the channels for people to enter the system?
Competition for exams;
Talent recruitment;
Major contributors, that is, care for their direct descendants, etc.
Even if the other channels are irrelevant to the vast majority of people, at least the first one: the exam, is for the general public.
What about the Han Dynasty now?
Selecting filial and honest people, selecting hard-working farmers, selecting virtuous and upright people - it seems to be diverse, but in the final analysis, it is nothing more than the two words "cha ju".
Corresponding to this is naturally the relatively advanced imperial examination system in China's feudal era, as well as the civil service examination in the new era of later generations.
So what is the difference between the imperial examination and the imperial examination?
It seems like there is only a difference of one word, but in fact, there is a world of difference.
According to historical records recorded by later generations, the imperial examination system in China's feudal era can be roughly summarized as: a three-level or higher screening mechanism from township, province, to country, to select outstanding intellectuals with a strong cultural level, and then after a certain period of training, they will be appointed as officials.
Those who could pass the first level, that is, the provincial examination, could become grassroots officials.
After passing the second stage, that is, the provincial examination and becoming a Jinshi, he was already qualified to become a grassroots official.
As for the tribute students who have passed the palace examination, after spending a few years in the Hanlin Academy, they may even start as Beijing officials!
Even though it still had drawbacks to varying degrees compared to the sound and complete imperial examination system of later generations, it was already considered very detailed in the feudal era.
Especially compared with the current Han Dynasty, this seemingly backward imperial examination system appears to be extremely advanced.
In the present Han Dynasty, and even for the next few hundred years, the means by which the unified regime of Chinese civilization will select intellectuals to expand the ranks of the bureaucracy are only through the two channels of recommendation and appointment.
Among them, the former generally involves using a person of noble status or a high-ranking official as a guarantor to recommend someone for a certain position, and promising that "there will definitely be no problems" and being willing to bear joint and several liability.
That is, when an official recommended by a high-ranking official such as a county governor, one of the nine ministers of the current dynasty, or a nobleman such as a marquis or even a clan prince has problems, no matter whether he is punished or not, he will inevitably be branded as "not being able to judge people well".
In this age where morality and reputation are more important than anything else, failing to judge people is basically equivalent to a mild degree of moral corruption.
This resulted in the fact that the vast majority of high-ranking officials and nobles who were qualified and had the power to recommend officials were not very willing to do so.
Even if there are occasional recommendations, they are all really hard to refuse - either it is a beloved relative or a brother who comes to ask for help, or it is a younger generation who kowtows and cries to ask for help;
As for a certain noble who was reluctant to recommend someone, but was impressed by a potential stock who could be seen as "someone special" at first glance, it was a beautiful fairy tale that could only appear in novels and storybooks.
Or maybe it was just a dying fantasy of a poor scholar who was starving to death and whose talent was not appreciated...
Let me give you a very simple example.
——Jia Yi!
——Jia Changsha!
Famous enough, isn't it?
When he was still a teenager, his talent and knowledge had spread throughout half of Guandong. Anyone with a little knowledge said that the Han family had produced a great talent for governing the country!
By the time he was almost twenty years old, his reputation as a virtuous man had spread throughout most of the world, and even inside and outside the court, rumors and gossip about him began to circulate.
Logically speaking, for such an epic potential stock that is so promising at first sight and will bring endless benefits as long as you bet on it, there should be plenty of people willing to guarantee and recommend it, right?
The fact is: even Jia Yi's mentor, the pre-Qin censor, the founding hero of the Han Dynasty, the then Prime Minister and later the Han Prime Minister, Zhang Cang, Marquis of Beiping, did not guarantee or recommend his favorite student!
In the end, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen was still in the palace, and his ears were so tired of hearing the name "Jia Yi" that he could not wait for an important official to recommend him.
As a last resort, Emperor Taizong had to use the only remaining channel for recruiting officials besides the recommendation system: conscription.
The so-called conscription, as the name suggests, means that the emperor uses his imperial power to bring people to the capital by means of almost forced conscription.
But after all, they were treating intellectuals, so even if they were forcibly "recruited", they were still full of humanistic care and gave the recruits enough dignity.
To use the more common saying of this era: To be conscripted, only a famous scholar can accept it, and only the emperor can do it;
When he was about to go to war, he would go to meet him with a carriage and four horses, and his daily life along the way was like that of other princes...
To put it bluntly, it means to use the most gentle and respectful attitude, and invite him to Chang'an in a nice manner to meet the emperor.
In this process, the only point related to "compulsion" is that those who are recruited cannot refuse in principle - whether they finally decide to become officials or decline to return home, they must apply for the call and go to Chang'an.
Just from the specifications - the frequent use of words like "famous scholar", "personally summoned by the emperor", "welcome with a comfortable carriage and four horses", it is not difficult to see that the system of conscription is more like inviting national treasures to come out of retirement than looking for people to be officials.
If you give him enough face, he will not offend you - he will get in the carriage and horses you send and come to Chang'an to meet you, the emperor.
Then you two can talk about the political affairs of the country, the philosophy of Confucius and Mencius, and other philosophical issues;
Finally, whether others are willing to help you govern the country depends on their mood - whether they look down on you and the dynasty that belongs to your family.
If you are willing, then even if you are not grateful, you should at least treat him with the standard of being a duke or a prime minister;
If they don't want to, you have to send them back the same way you took them here, with a carriage and horses, and the proper etiquette of generals and ministers. Back then, Emperor Taizu Gao had tried to invite four pre-Qin elders, four of the seventy doctors of the former Qin, to come out of retirement to assist him in governing the Han Dynasty.
As a result, they looked down upon Pei Gong at all, and even more so upon the so-called "Han Dynasty" which was still in the reconstruction stage and had not even started at that time, and was more like a makeshift team than a country.
Therefore, the invitation, which in principle could not be refused, was declined by the four elderly people on the grounds of "too old and weak" and "inconvenient to travel far".
If you say you won't come, then don't come;
At least it was an excuse that could barely get away with it.
If you never come to Chang'an again, Emperor Gaozu of Han will not be completely embarrassed.
But later, when the other person's son, Crown Prince Liu Ying, called you, the four of you who were "unable to travel far away" came to Chang'an again.
Not only did he come to Chang'an, but he also stayed by the side of Crown Prince Liu Ying all the time;
Not only did he always accompany the prince, he also openly accompanied the prince to meet Emperor Liu Bang, the very emperor you rejected!
I can only say that there is no such loud slap in the face...
Of course;
Later, these four old guys did not suffer any harsh treatment because of their rudeness.
The performance was over, Liu Ying's position as heir was secure, and Emperor Liu Bang asked as usual, "Are you really not going to help me govern the world?", and then he kindly invited the four old guys back to Shangshan.
At this point, it is not difficult to find out what fatal drawbacks the only two official selection systems in the Han Dynasty at that time: the recommendation system and the recruitment system.
——The system of recommendation can theoretically provide the Han family with qualified reserve cadres;
However, due to the joint responsibility inherent in the system of recommendation, the actual efficiency of the system was shockingly low.
According to the accurate data Liu Rong currently has, since the founding of the Han Dynasty, which lasted nearly sixty years, the Han Dynasty has obtained less than a thousand officials through the channel of "Cao Ju".
Among them, more than half were selected as "filial and honest", that is, they were set as models because of their filial piety to their elders.
Most of these people and their descendants lived in Xiaoli, adjacent to the East and West Markets, in the northwest corner of Chang'an City.
As for their positions, most of them started as local county officials with a salary of around 400 dan, but were dismissed for various reasons soon after and returned home. They lived in the houses allocated by the court in Yuxiaoli and made a living by farming.
The remaining number was less than half, about 400 people, and more than 360 of them were those who worked in the fields.
The so-called Litian, as the name suggests: someone who is very good at farming.
Just like selecting filial and honest people, selecting people who work hard in the fields was also a model specially set up by local government for the sake of public opinion.
However, unlike the Xiaolian family who moved to Chang'an with their families and returned to the peasant class after a short bureaucratic career, most of the Litian people became agricultural officials under the former Neishi Yamen, now the Da Nong Yamen, after being recommended.
Even after being organized into organizations, they still played the role of "working in the fields", guiding and helping the people to farm better, and thereby promoting the agricultural development of the Han Dynasty.
The remaining very small part, no more than thirty or forty people in total, are the real core of the recommendation system: recommending virtuous and upright people.
What does it mean to be virtuous and upright?
Literally, it means that he is established as a typical positive character because of his virtuous character and upright morals.
But in fact, looking at the representative figures who came out of this group, it is not difficult to find that virtue and integrity are the key channels through which the recommendation system can truly provide officials for the Han Dynasty.
——In the third year of the reign of Qin II (207 BC), Guangye Lord Li Shiqi promoted his brother Li Shang as a general.
This Li Shang was the later founding hero of the Han Dynasty, the first Marquis of Quzhou, and the father of the contemporary Marquis of Quzhou Li Ji.
——In the first year of the Han Dynasty, the Prime Minister Xiao He, Marquis of Ying, appointed Han Xin, a former doctor of Chu, as a general;
This Han Xin was the Marquis of Huaiyin and the Military Genius who later helped the Han Dynasty conquer the Chu State and became famous in history.
In the first year of Emperor Taizong's reign, the great scholar Fu Sheng of Jinan recommended Chao Cuo, the chief minister of the Ministry of Rites, as the Doctor of the Book of Shangshu.
A few years later, General Yuan Ang appointed Zhang Shizhi, a cavalry officer, as his messenger...
The final official status of all the people recommended above is "selected virtuous and upright people".
From the popularity of these representative figures and their later life experiences, it is not difficult to see that those who are recommended as virtuous and upright are of excellent quality.
Even if he was not a talented person, he was at least a capable official who was qualified to leave a few records about himself in history books.
But unfortunately, just like the national treasures "recruited" or invited by the system of conscription, the virtuous and upright people contributed by the system of recommendation were almost all super-scarce resources of the same level.
Even these people were able to be successfully recommended because they were extremely lucky or had some special relationships.
——Li Shiqi recommended his younger brother Li Shang, that was the relationship between brothers!
Regardless of whether they were recommended or not, the two brothers were in the same boat and didn't care whether they would drag each other down.
Xiao He recommended Han Xin only after he was confident that his judgment would not be wrong, Han Xin would not have any problems, and even if there were problems, he would not be implicated too badly.
It was even more obvious with Chao Cuo and Zhang Shizhi who came later.
Chao Cuo was recommended by Fu Sheng, and that was a deal made with Chao Cuo on the condition that the "Shang Shu" could be passed on.
Yuan Ang's recommendation of Zhang Shizhi showed that Yuan Ang's social butterfly nature was overflowing. He wanted to help everyone he met and make friends with everyone...
From the above - the fact that the recommendation system has only contributed less than forty officials in nearly sixty years, and the conscription system has only contributed a single digit, it is not difficult to see that the effectiveness of the official selection system of the Han Dynasty is actually quite frighteningly low.
To the extent that for a period of time, Emperor Taizong even issued "Cao Ju" targets to local county officials!
Similar to: if you have a certain amount of shi or more, you must recommend a certain number of officials every year. Otherwise, the local audit score will be downgraded - from "Best" to "Best", from "Best" to "Dian", and "Dian" will be directly imprisoned...
This is obviously not possible.
Liu Rong is very clear: a country's bureaucratic group must ensure an annual fresh blood infusion rate of more than 4% - that is, a new batch of people every 25 years, in order to barely maintain liquidity.
This happened in later generations.
In the feudal era, even though the difficulty was greater and talent was more scarce, it was at least necessary to absorb more than 2% of fresh blood every year.
Two percent per year means it will take fifty years to complete an iteration, which is already very low.
If it is lower, it will be like the current Han Dynasty - as long as you don't rebel, you will either be promoted or die in office...
(End of this chapter)
"Examination?"
"What's the test?"
"Who's taking the test?"
"Can you really become an official if you pass the exam?"
If there were hot searches in this era, today’s headlines would definitely be this series of explosive news about the imperial examination.
Even without so-called hot searches or headlines, public opinion still quickly spread with Chang'an as the center through word of mouth, causing a huge sensation.
You can become an official just by relying on knowledge!
For later generations, this is a very normal and easy to understand concept;
Even in this era, it is still a valid proposition that one can become an official if he has knowledge.
But the key point is: unlike later generations, the government could easily organize an examination to decide the recruitment of officials - the scholars of this era had almost no chance to prove their knowledge, which was sufficient to support themselves to become officials.
If intellectuals in later generations wanted to take the civil service exam, they only had to pay a registration fee of a hundred yuan, plus a written test, an interview, and a political review where they just had to wait for the results.
Although it is like a huge crowd crossing a single-plank bridge, and the competitive pressure and difficulty of success are extremely high, at least everyone who is ambitious and has a clean family background is qualified to step onto the bridge and then squeeze and push with other competitors.
But in this era, the most difficult thing for intellectuals to join the bureaucratic class is not competition or crossing a single-plank bridge to the other side;
Instead, find out where the single-plank bridge is and how to step onto it.
In later generations, what are the channels for people to enter the system?
Competition for exams;
Talent recruitment;
Major contributors, that is, care for their direct descendants, etc.
Even if the other channels are irrelevant to the vast majority of people, at least the first one: the exam, is for the general public.
What about the Han Dynasty now?
Selecting filial and honest people, selecting hard-working farmers, selecting virtuous and upright people - it seems to be diverse, but in the final analysis, it is nothing more than the two words "cha ju".
Corresponding to this is naturally the relatively advanced imperial examination system in China's feudal era, as well as the civil service examination in the new era of later generations.
So what is the difference between the imperial examination and the imperial examination?
It seems like there is only a difference of one word, but in fact, there is a world of difference.
According to historical records recorded by later generations, the imperial examination system in China's feudal era can be roughly summarized as: a three-level or higher screening mechanism from township, province, to country, to select outstanding intellectuals with a strong cultural level, and then after a certain period of training, they will be appointed as officials.
Those who could pass the first level, that is, the provincial examination, could become grassroots officials.
After passing the second stage, that is, the provincial examination and becoming a Jinshi, he was already qualified to become a grassroots official.
As for the tribute students who have passed the palace examination, after spending a few years in the Hanlin Academy, they may even start as Beijing officials!
Even though it still had drawbacks to varying degrees compared to the sound and complete imperial examination system of later generations, it was already considered very detailed in the feudal era.
Especially compared with the current Han Dynasty, this seemingly backward imperial examination system appears to be extremely advanced.
In the present Han Dynasty, and even for the next few hundred years, the means by which the unified regime of Chinese civilization will select intellectuals to expand the ranks of the bureaucracy are only through the two channels of recommendation and appointment.
Among them, the former generally involves using a person of noble status or a high-ranking official as a guarantor to recommend someone for a certain position, and promising that "there will definitely be no problems" and being willing to bear joint and several liability.
That is, when an official recommended by a high-ranking official such as a county governor, one of the nine ministers of the current dynasty, or a nobleman such as a marquis or even a clan prince has problems, no matter whether he is punished or not, he will inevitably be branded as "not being able to judge people well".
In this age where morality and reputation are more important than anything else, failing to judge people is basically equivalent to a mild degree of moral corruption.
This resulted in the fact that the vast majority of high-ranking officials and nobles who were qualified and had the power to recommend officials were not very willing to do so.
Even if there are occasional recommendations, they are all really hard to refuse - either it is a beloved relative or a brother who comes to ask for help, or it is a younger generation who kowtows and cries to ask for help;
As for a certain noble who was reluctant to recommend someone, but was impressed by a potential stock who could be seen as "someone special" at first glance, it was a beautiful fairy tale that could only appear in novels and storybooks.
Or maybe it was just a dying fantasy of a poor scholar who was starving to death and whose talent was not appreciated...
Let me give you a very simple example.
——Jia Yi!
——Jia Changsha!
Famous enough, isn't it?
When he was still a teenager, his talent and knowledge had spread throughout half of Guandong. Anyone with a little knowledge said that the Han family had produced a great talent for governing the country!
By the time he was almost twenty years old, his reputation as a virtuous man had spread throughout most of the world, and even inside and outside the court, rumors and gossip about him began to circulate.
Logically speaking, for such an epic potential stock that is so promising at first sight and will bring endless benefits as long as you bet on it, there should be plenty of people willing to guarantee and recommend it, right?
The fact is: even Jia Yi's mentor, the pre-Qin censor, the founding hero of the Han Dynasty, the then Prime Minister and later the Han Prime Minister, Zhang Cang, Marquis of Beiping, did not guarantee or recommend his favorite student!
In the end, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen was still in the palace, and his ears were so tired of hearing the name "Jia Yi" that he could not wait for an important official to recommend him.
As a last resort, Emperor Taizong had to use the only remaining channel for recruiting officials besides the recommendation system: conscription.
The so-called conscription, as the name suggests, means that the emperor uses his imperial power to bring people to the capital by means of almost forced conscription.
But after all, they were treating intellectuals, so even if they were forcibly "recruited", they were still full of humanistic care and gave the recruits enough dignity.
To use the more common saying of this era: To be conscripted, only a famous scholar can accept it, and only the emperor can do it;
When he was about to go to war, he would go to meet him with a carriage and four horses, and his daily life along the way was like that of other princes...
To put it bluntly, it means to use the most gentle and respectful attitude, and invite him to Chang'an in a nice manner to meet the emperor.
In this process, the only point related to "compulsion" is that those who are recruited cannot refuse in principle - whether they finally decide to become officials or decline to return home, they must apply for the call and go to Chang'an.
Just from the specifications - the frequent use of words like "famous scholar", "personally summoned by the emperor", "welcome with a comfortable carriage and four horses", it is not difficult to see that the system of conscription is more like inviting national treasures to come out of retirement than looking for people to be officials.
If you give him enough face, he will not offend you - he will get in the carriage and horses you send and come to Chang'an to meet you, the emperor.
Then you two can talk about the political affairs of the country, the philosophy of Confucius and Mencius, and other philosophical issues;
Finally, whether others are willing to help you govern the country depends on their mood - whether they look down on you and the dynasty that belongs to your family.
If you are willing, then even if you are not grateful, you should at least treat him with the standard of being a duke or a prime minister;
If they don't want to, you have to send them back the same way you took them here, with a carriage and horses, and the proper etiquette of generals and ministers. Back then, Emperor Taizu Gao had tried to invite four pre-Qin elders, four of the seventy doctors of the former Qin, to come out of retirement to assist him in governing the Han Dynasty.
As a result, they looked down upon Pei Gong at all, and even more so upon the so-called "Han Dynasty" which was still in the reconstruction stage and had not even started at that time, and was more like a makeshift team than a country.
Therefore, the invitation, which in principle could not be refused, was declined by the four elderly people on the grounds of "too old and weak" and "inconvenient to travel far".
If you say you won't come, then don't come;
At least it was an excuse that could barely get away with it.
If you never come to Chang'an again, Emperor Gaozu of Han will not be completely embarrassed.
But later, when the other person's son, Crown Prince Liu Ying, called you, the four of you who were "unable to travel far away" came to Chang'an again.
Not only did he come to Chang'an, but he also stayed by the side of Crown Prince Liu Ying all the time;
Not only did he always accompany the prince, he also openly accompanied the prince to meet Emperor Liu Bang, the very emperor you rejected!
I can only say that there is no such loud slap in the face...
Of course;
Later, these four old guys did not suffer any harsh treatment because of their rudeness.
The performance was over, Liu Ying's position as heir was secure, and Emperor Liu Bang asked as usual, "Are you really not going to help me govern the world?", and then he kindly invited the four old guys back to Shangshan.
At this point, it is not difficult to find out what fatal drawbacks the only two official selection systems in the Han Dynasty at that time: the recommendation system and the recruitment system.
——The system of recommendation can theoretically provide the Han family with qualified reserve cadres;
However, due to the joint responsibility inherent in the system of recommendation, the actual efficiency of the system was shockingly low.
According to the accurate data Liu Rong currently has, since the founding of the Han Dynasty, which lasted nearly sixty years, the Han Dynasty has obtained less than a thousand officials through the channel of "Cao Ju".
Among them, more than half were selected as "filial and honest", that is, they were set as models because of their filial piety to their elders.
Most of these people and their descendants lived in Xiaoli, adjacent to the East and West Markets, in the northwest corner of Chang'an City.
As for their positions, most of them started as local county officials with a salary of around 400 dan, but were dismissed for various reasons soon after and returned home. They lived in the houses allocated by the court in Yuxiaoli and made a living by farming.
The remaining number was less than half, about 400 people, and more than 360 of them were those who worked in the fields.
The so-called Litian, as the name suggests: someone who is very good at farming.
Just like selecting filial and honest people, selecting people who work hard in the fields was also a model specially set up by local government for the sake of public opinion.
However, unlike the Xiaolian family who moved to Chang'an with their families and returned to the peasant class after a short bureaucratic career, most of the Litian people became agricultural officials under the former Neishi Yamen, now the Da Nong Yamen, after being recommended.
Even after being organized into organizations, they still played the role of "working in the fields", guiding and helping the people to farm better, and thereby promoting the agricultural development of the Han Dynasty.
The remaining very small part, no more than thirty or forty people in total, are the real core of the recommendation system: recommending virtuous and upright people.
What does it mean to be virtuous and upright?
Literally, it means that he is established as a typical positive character because of his virtuous character and upright morals.
But in fact, looking at the representative figures who came out of this group, it is not difficult to find that virtue and integrity are the key channels through which the recommendation system can truly provide officials for the Han Dynasty.
——In the third year of the reign of Qin II (207 BC), Guangye Lord Li Shiqi promoted his brother Li Shang as a general.
This Li Shang was the later founding hero of the Han Dynasty, the first Marquis of Quzhou, and the father of the contemporary Marquis of Quzhou Li Ji.
——In the first year of the Han Dynasty, the Prime Minister Xiao He, Marquis of Ying, appointed Han Xin, a former doctor of Chu, as a general;
This Han Xin was the Marquis of Huaiyin and the Military Genius who later helped the Han Dynasty conquer the Chu State and became famous in history.
In the first year of Emperor Taizong's reign, the great scholar Fu Sheng of Jinan recommended Chao Cuo, the chief minister of the Ministry of Rites, as the Doctor of the Book of Shangshu.
A few years later, General Yuan Ang appointed Zhang Shizhi, a cavalry officer, as his messenger...
The final official status of all the people recommended above is "selected virtuous and upright people".
From the popularity of these representative figures and their later life experiences, it is not difficult to see that those who are recommended as virtuous and upright are of excellent quality.
Even if he was not a talented person, he was at least a capable official who was qualified to leave a few records about himself in history books.
But unfortunately, just like the national treasures "recruited" or invited by the system of conscription, the virtuous and upright people contributed by the system of recommendation were almost all super-scarce resources of the same level.
Even these people were able to be successfully recommended because they were extremely lucky or had some special relationships.
——Li Shiqi recommended his younger brother Li Shang, that was the relationship between brothers!
Regardless of whether they were recommended or not, the two brothers were in the same boat and didn't care whether they would drag each other down.
Xiao He recommended Han Xin only after he was confident that his judgment would not be wrong, Han Xin would not have any problems, and even if there were problems, he would not be implicated too badly.
It was even more obvious with Chao Cuo and Zhang Shizhi who came later.
Chao Cuo was recommended by Fu Sheng, and that was a deal made with Chao Cuo on the condition that the "Shang Shu" could be passed on.
Yuan Ang's recommendation of Zhang Shizhi showed that Yuan Ang's social butterfly nature was overflowing. He wanted to help everyone he met and make friends with everyone...
From the above - the fact that the recommendation system has only contributed less than forty officials in nearly sixty years, and the conscription system has only contributed a single digit, it is not difficult to see that the effectiveness of the official selection system of the Han Dynasty is actually quite frighteningly low.
To the extent that for a period of time, Emperor Taizong even issued "Cao Ju" targets to local county officials!
Similar to: if you have a certain amount of shi or more, you must recommend a certain number of officials every year. Otherwise, the local audit score will be downgraded - from "Best" to "Best", from "Best" to "Dian", and "Dian" will be directly imprisoned...
This is obviously not possible.
Liu Rong is very clear: a country's bureaucratic group must ensure an annual fresh blood infusion rate of more than 4% - that is, a new batch of people every 25 years, in order to barely maintain liquidity.
This happened in later generations.
In the feudal era, even though the difficulty was greater and talent was more scarce, it was at least necessary to absorb more than 2% of fresh blood every year.
Two percent per year means it will take fifty years to complete an iteration, which is already very low.
If it is lower, it will be like the current Han Dynasty - as long as you don't rebel, you will either be promoted or die in office...
(End of this chapter)
