Chapter 200: The Imperial Examination

Soon, more than half a month had passed since the six great legions set out.

Since the six great legions set out seven or eight days ago,

victory reports had come from those closer to the capital.

And in these past few days, the six great legions had sent victory reports one after another.

Especially Guan Yu's Qinglong Army, because the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army, under the leadership of Sage Maiden Zhang Ning,

had all surrendered, thus Guan Yu was also the first among the six great legions

to pacify a province.

These days, Xun Yu and the others had racked their brains for officials in various places.

Now, the Ministry of Personnel was still continuously selecting officials from the populace.

The previous officials were simply not enough to use now.

If it weren't for the lack of civil officials, Guan Yu would have already returned to the capital by now.

Today was the day Liu Bian summoned the ministers to hold a Grand Court Assembly.

Early in the morning, the ministers gathered outside the court hall.

Everyone's faces were filled with joy.

The victory reports from various places were presumably known to the whole world now.

"His Majesty has a decree, ministers enter the court!"

Just as the crowd was discussing, the Eunuch Chief Steward Li Liangcheng arrived outside the court hall.

He shouted loudly to the crowd.

After everyone entered the hall and the procedures were completed, Li Liangcheng shouted loudly:

"If there is anything to report, do so; if not, the court is dismissed!"

After Li Liangcheng's voice fell, the Minister of Personnel, Xun Yu, immediately stepped out and said loudly to Liu Bian:

"Your Majesty, I, Minister of Personnel Xun Yu, have a memorial to report!"

"Report!"

Liu Bian, sitting high on the dragon throne, scanned Xun Yu and said majestically.

"Your Majesty, as we conquer more and more territory, the low-level officials in various places are now seriously insufficient."

"I and the other ministers have already used all the talent we could think of."

"Now, we are still lacking talent!"

"I ask Your Majesty to come up with a perfect strategy for this matter!"

Xun Yu said to Liu Bian in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bian also revealed a look of understanding.

So it turned out that Xun Yu was worried about this matter.

Immediately, Liu Bian also asked the ministers:

"All ministers, regarding what Minister Xun Yu said, do you have any countermeasures?"

The ministers looked at each other upon hearing this.

Subsequently, Yang Biao, as an Inner Cabinet minister, stepped out, bowed, and cupped his hands to Liu Bian:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, our imperial court's method of selecting officials is the Xiaolian system."

"The officials selected are mostly children of aristocratic families."

"Now, ever since Your Majesty took back the surplus land of the aristocratic families, those who resisted have all been eradicated."

"Nowadays, the children of those aristocratic families who complied with the imperial court's policies have basically all been used."

"Now, I have also discussed with the other ministers, and the best method is to win over the scholars under those lords and have them serve as local officials!"

Yang Biao told Liu Bian and the ministers his method.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bian did not express his stance immediately, but tapped his fingers on the dragon throne and fell into deep thought.

The ministers looked at Liu Bian's actions and fell silent; everyone did not dare to breathe, fearing to disturb Liu Bian.

A while later, Liu Bian raised his head and asked the ministers:

"Do any of you have any other ways to solve this?"

After hearing Liu Bian's words, the ministers looked at each other and shook their heads.

Subsequently, they bowed and cupped their hands in unison:

"We ministers are incompetent; please forgive us, Your Majesty!"

This result was not beyond Liu Bian's expectations.

"Since you have no solutions, then I will say it directly!"

"Since there is no suitable talent among the aristocratic families, the entire Great Han Empire,"

"with a population of nearly fifty million, I do not believe we cannot find some officials!"

Immediately after, Liu Bian said loudly to the ministers of the Six Ministries and the Inner Cabinet:

"Ministers of the Six Ministries and the Inner Cabinet, starting today, the official selection system of our Great Han Empire"

"shall be changed from the previous Xiaolian system to the Imperial Examination system!"

As soon as Liu Bian said this, the ministers looked puzzled.

"Your Majesty, I do not know what the Imperial Examination system is?"

At this time, before Liu Bian could explain, the Minister of Personnel, Xun Yu, asked with a puzzled face.

Upon hearing this, the ministers also quieted down.

Everyone pricked up their ears and listened carefully.

Liu Bian scanned the officials and said majestically:

"The Imperial Examination system is to select talented people from the populace to be used by our Great Han Empire."

"All subjects of our Great Han Empire can participate in the Imperial Examination selection."

Xun Yu, the Inner Cabinet ministers, and the ministers of the Six Ministries looked at Liu Bian with awe upon hearing this.

They shouted in unison:

"Your Majesty is wise; we ministers submit!"

"The Imperial Examination is divided into the Civil Examination and the Military Examination."

"Participants can start from the Provincial Examination, and after passing the Provincial Examination, they can participate in the subsequent County Examination, Prefectural Examination, and finally the Palace Examination!"

"The Provincial Examination, as the name suggests, is a competition held by a township; those who pass can obtain the Tongsheng literary rank."

"However, since there is also a Tongsheng realm in the Literary Dao cultivation, to distinguish them, we will distinguish them by literary rank."

"Those who pass the County Examination can obtain the Scholar literary rank, and Scholar can serve in some civil positions below the Ninth Rank."

"Those who pass the Prefectural Examination can obtain the Juwen literary rank and can serve in official positions below the Eighth Rank."

"As for the final Palace Examination, it is to come to the Imperial Palace, where I will personally set the questions. The top three who pass"

"will be the third-place Tanhua, second-place Bangyan, and first-place Zhuangyuan!"

"For the top three, the Zhuangyuan can serve in a Sixth Rank official position, and the other two can serve in official positions below the Sixth Rank and above the Eighth Rank!"

"The Provincial Examination is held once a year."

"The County Examination is held once every two years."

"The Prefectural Examination is held once every three years."

"The Palace Examination is held once every four years."

"Since this is the first time the Great Han Empire is holding an Imperial Examination, this examination will be held sequentially from the Provincial Examination to the Palace Examination."

"This matter will be hosted by the Ministry of Rites, with the Ministry of Personnel assisting from the side."

"The members of the Inner Cabinet are responsible for supervision to prevent cheating and favoritism."

After Liu Bian finished introducing the Imperial Examination system to the ministers in one breath,

he did not forget to instruct the Inner Cabinet ministers.

Upon hearing this, the few responded respectfully:

"We ministers obey the decree!"

At this time, the ministers looked at Liu Bian with shock.

However, if this matter were to spread, presumably the entire Great Han Empire would boil over.

For those children who were not from aristocratic families, this was truly an opportunity to rise to the top in one step.

If they could reach the Palace Examination, they would be able to show their faces in front of Liu Bian.

And as long as they could show their faces in front of Liu Bian and leave a good impression, they would definitely flourish in the future.

"For this Imperial Examination, all commoners who pass the County Examination will be subsidized two taels of silver, and those who pass the Prefectural Examination will be subsidized ten taels of silver."

"As for those who participate in the Palace Examination, each will be subsidized twenty taels of silver!" ===== CHAPTER 201 =====