In the side hall of Wencheng Hall of Ziwei Palace, Emperor Yang Guang held a military and political discussion here. Military and national discussion was a discussion chaired by Emperor Yang Guang when the prime ministers had too many differences of opinions and could not compromise on major political decisions. ∈◆,

On both sides of the side hall were seated more than a dozen high-ranking officials from the Great Sui Dynasty, Su Wei, the subordinate minister, Yu Shiji, Xiao Yu, the Huangmen and the Minister of Personnel, Pei Ju, the Minister of War, Wei Xuan, the Minister of Rites, Fan Zigai, the Censor of the Censor, Pei Yun, the Imperial Priest, Lu Zhuo, the Imperial Priest, and the Great General Yuwen Shu, etc.

At this time, the emperor Yang Guang had not arrived yet, and everyone sat together and talked about it. The military and national discussion was held today mainly because the spring imperial examination was unexpected. The children of famous families in various places did not do very well. However, the children of poor families generally did well, which made the important officials of the court feel deeply embarrassed and their opinions began to diverge.

Some officials advocated adhering to principles and only talent is to promote their talents, but other officials believed that the children of famous families should be given priority. The two factions had no disputes, so in the end, the emperor Yang Guang could only make a judgment.

"Envoy Lu, what does the Lord say?" Su Wei leaned his head and asked Lu Zhuo, who was sitting at the bottom of the head.

Lu Zhuo quickly stood up and bowed, "Report to the prime minister, my subordinates reported to the emperor yesterday. The emperor meant that local governments were hit by chaos and bandits, and officials were severely reduced. We have expanded the number of admissions this time, mainly to supplement local governments."

"Did the Master say how many people are admitted to increase?" Pei Ju continued to ask.

"The Lord said that it can increase to two thousand people."

"Two thousand people!"

There was an uproar in the side hall. In previous years, the number of admissions was only more than a hundred, but this year it would actually increase to two thousand. It was simply incredible. There was a silence of discussion in the side hall. Su Wei asked Pei Ju in a low voice: "Mr. Pei, is the gap in the local government really so big?"

Pei Ju shook his head, "Su Prime Minister Su should know that the imperial court appointed only at the county level, and county officials and county officials were appointed by the local government themselves. No matter how short the local officials were short, it would not require two thousand people, and two hundred people were enough, unless the emperor wanted to take the appointment power of county officials to the court. Does Su Prime Minister think it is possible?"

"impossible!"

Su Wei flatly denied that even Emperor Wen could not do it now? Not to mention county magistrates, even if the county magistrate appointed the court, they could only manage it at the level of prefecture. Su Wei immediately realized that it was probably because the children of aristocratic families did not do it well this time, and the emperor relaxed the number of admissions to the point of taking the opportunity to win over the children of aristocratic families.

But Pei Ju didn't think so. He knew Yang Guang better than anyone else. Yang Guang was always stubborn and would never change his mind easily even if he died to the forefront. The crisis in the world was so serious that he still insisted on launching the Goguryeo War, which shows his stubbornness.

He smiled bitterly and said to Su Wei: "I'm afraid Su Xiangguo is thinking too well."

Su Wei was stunned, "Does Pei Gong think it's?"

Before he could continue, the guards came from the hall shouting: "The Lord is here!"

The side hall of Wencheng suddenly became quiet, and footsteps sounded, and dozens of guards, palace maids, eunuchs surrounded the emperor Yang Guang and the king of Yan Yang, and quickly walked into the side hall.

Yang Guang sat down on his seat, and everyone bowed to salute, "I will see Your Majesty, please see Your Majesty!"

Yang Guang waved his hand and smiled, "Dear everyone, please sit down!"

Everyone sat down one after another, and Yang Lei also sat on the throne of the crown prince under the steps. Although he had not officially become the crown prince, everyone knew that the emperor must have passed the throne to him, otherwise he would not have been so dedicated to cultivate.

The side hall was quiet. Yang Guang said to Lu Zhuo: "Lu Aiqing will tell you about the situation of the imperial examination this time! Let's repeat the situation you reported to me yesterday."

"I obey the order!"

Lu Zhuo stood up and bowed to everyone, and said slowly: "There were 145,000 people participating in the imperial examination this year. Since it was not held last year, the number of references this year is the highest in history. The preliminary review has ended. In general, the results have dropped slightly compared with the previous two years. Moreover, the children of famous families in various places generally did not do well in the exam. Only 30% of the top 100 medieval families have been judged by me. The situation is not optimistic. According to the initial admission plan, 120 scholars will be admitted this time, so there will be only more than 30 children of aristocratic families."

Yang Guang continued, "I think it's very strange. Logically, regardless of financial resources, teaching staff, and books are concentrated in the hands of major aristocratic families in the world. If the children of aristocratic families have the advantage in the exam, I'm not surprised, but this time the children of a poor family do well in the exam, I'll be puzzled. What's the problem? Have you considered it?"

There was silence in the side hall, and no one answered. Yang Guang glanced at everyone, and saw that everyone's expressions were unnatural, he couldn't help but snorted heavily, "I know very well in my heart, because the major families of famous families are dissatisfied with me and are unwilling to let outstanding children come to serve me. They are all from the last ones, and of course they did a bad exam. I believe you all know very well in my heart, is my world so unattractive?"

Everyone was speechless. In fact, the emperor talked about the root of the matter. Originally, under the Nine-rank Zhongzheng system, the imperial court and local governments were both aristocratic families. Emperor Wen began to implement the imperial examination system, but he still retained the measures to recommend scholars from the local government to Beijing and limited the quota. This ensured the recommendation rights of the children of the aristocratic families, which was also a compromise.

However, when Yang Guang was in power, the local recommendation rights were abolished. No matter whether the poor or ordinary people were in power, they could go to Beijing to refer to it. Of course, it seriously violated the interests of famous families. Therefore, famous families also resisted the imperial examinations very strongly, and their enthusiasm for participation was greatly reduced. In addition, the current situation is turbulent and the country is unstable, so most famous families have maintained a wait-and-see attitude, especially the Guanlong nobles collectively boycotted the imperial examinations this time.

Everyone knew these reality in their hearts, but they didn't dare to say it to Yang Guangming. Yang Guang became more and more dissatisfied and asked Su Wei: "Su Prime Minister, you are the leader of all officials. If you talk about this, why did this happen?"

Su Wei felt bitter in his heart, so he had to stand up and salute and said, "Your Majesty, I think it may be that there are too many scholars to refer to this year. In comparison, the number of children of aristocratic families is much smaller, which is normal.

Moreover, the road is not very safe, especially in Hebei and Shandong, bandits are rampant. Weichen heard that Lu Jijiu's son came to the capital to refer to it and was attacked by bandits. He went to Beijing to make trouble and entered the capital. For the sake of safety, the major families would not let their sons go on the road easily. Of course, this is just an example. Weichen means that everything has a cause, not that he is dissatisfied with His Majesty."

Su Wei's self-justification also found a little reason. Yang Guang felt a little more comfortable. He asked Lu Zhuo: "Lu Aiqing, has your son encountered bandits?"

Lo Zhuo quickly replied, "Report to Your Majesty, this is true. The Dogzi encountered Zhang Jinsheng's attack in Qinghe County on his way to Beijing last year. Thanks to Zhang Xuan, he escaped by chance. It was indeed unsafe on the way."

"Then has your son been admitted to the imperial examination this time?" Yang Guang asked again.

"Report to Your Majesty, Weichen is the chief examiner. Letting his son take the imperial examination is just to let him understand the imperial examination questions. No matter how good he does, Weichen will not admit him."

"You are doing well, and as the chief examiner, you should avoid suspicion. However, Lu Aiqing is in the Imperial College for one day and the son will not have a chance for one day. This is too unfair to him. I can give special approval. As long as he does well in the exam, he can also be admitted."

"I thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"

Yang Guang said to everyone again: "I believe that the rampant bandits in the world are largely due to the poor control of local governments. Considering that the imperial court has too weak control over local governments, the main reason is that there are too few local officials appointed by the imperial court. Therefore, I decided to admit two thousand scholars this time. The county chief clerks and above must be appointed by the imperial court, and the appointment of six county officials must also be handed over to the imperial court for filing. I believe that if it takes three to four years to rectify the local government, the court's criticism of weak local control over the local government will definitely be gradually reversed!"

Yang Guang's words made the side hall even quieter. Even Yu Shiji, who had always been greedy for power, dared not say anything, for fear of causing trouble. Su Wei secretly glanced at Pei Ju, and it seemed that he was unfortunately hit by Pei Ju.

The emperor admitted two thousand scholars not to compromise with the aristocratic families, but to be more radical. He wanted to forcibly promote the appointment of local officials and take back the control of the local government from the aristocratic families in various places.
Chapter completed!