in2ebook Chapter 253
Chapter 253
After reading the above story, Qi Cheng suddenly thought of the art of raising hopes. He planned to search for some outrageous stories, such as lying on ice to catch carp.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, under the system of recommendation, if an ordinary person did not have any eye-catching skills, he would be forgotten and would have no chance of leaving an impression on the officials.
Of course, there were also such idioms in the Sui and Tang dynasties, for example, there was an idiom called "Zhongnan shortcut".
The simplest way to maintain one's ambition is actually to farm. You can say that you have retired to the countryside, or you can say that you continue to farm and study. But have you ever thought about it, with the productivity in ancient times, can one person farm?
Is that enough food for the family?
big man
Several hermits living in seclusion in the mountains snorted. People in later generations simply didn't understand that this was their current rule. If they didn't follow the rules, they might really have to farm for the rest of their lives.
"My hands are covered in calluses from weeding. If only we could have the imperial examinations nowadays, I'd definitely be able to pass with my knowledge."
"Those big families won't agree. Even if they're just trying to build up their hopes, we can't beat them. But fortunately, our goals are different. They're after the official position in Chang'an."
Tang Dynasty
The few literati who still wanted to live in seclusion in Zhongnan Mountain were heartbroken. Some of them really hated officialdom, while others were waiting here for the call from officialdom. But no matter which one, they had to leave.
Otherwise you will be laughed at.
……
Qi Cheng searched for a long time on the tablet and finally found a few examples. One of them was discovered by others, and the other was that the people in power did not believe it at all.
This type of observational technique was common during the Wei and Jin dynasties. For example, a man often had birds flying around his house while he was reading, and the number gradually increased.
Many people were surprised at the time. This man read so well that even birds were willing to listen to him.
Later, someone discovered that before reading, this person would sprinkle something like grain on the ground, and the birds were not listening to him at all.
【It’s all for that little bit of grain.】
Jin Dynasty
Several reclusive scholars looked at each other and decided that this method would no longer work. Without revealing the name on the screen, let everyone know who this person is.
I can't even use the technique of nurturing hope properly. How did the adults at home teach me?
Don’t use it if you don’t know how to use it.
Song Dynasty
Zhao Kuangyin laughed out loud. There weren't so many things happening in the Song Dynasty. He had to thank Comrade Huang Chao here. If he hadn't dug up the roots of the aristocratic family, there would probably be all kinds of performance art now.
[There's another one that happened during the Ming Dynasty, but this person was completely imitating others' behavior, or perhaps he'd been confused by the aristocratic family's methods of cultivating hope!]
Let's first look at the original version: During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a man named Guo Ju. After his father passed away, he gave all his property to his two younger brothers and took care of his mother at home.
After losing his family fortune, it became very difficult for him to support his mother. His mother also loved her grandson very much and often saved food from her own mouth for him.
If you were a normal person, what would you do? Of course, you would discuss it with your two younger brothers and redistribute the family property. Do you think your two younger brothers would dare to bear the reputation of being unfilial?
However, Guo Ju did not do so. Instead, he discussed with his wife and decided to bury his son and save the food for his elderly mother.
While digging, he unearthed several jars of gold, saying they were gifts from heaven to the filial son Guo Ju, and that officials could not take them away, and ordinary people could not take them.
东汉
Liu Xiu covered his face. This method of cultivating one's hopes was really crude. It was obvious that they were not a big family, and they could dig up gold by just digging a hole.
He doesn't believe it either.
"Prince, what do you think is the truth of this story?"
"Maybe Guo Ju's family already had this much gold, and he didn't want to share it with his brothers, so he came up with this idea. It's really crude."
Ming Dynasty
Zhu Youxiao was a little puzzled. The Ming Dynasty had been holding the imperial examination for many years, and this method might be a bit outdated. Moreover, why didn't he remember these things happening?
However, after later generations' comments, the story of the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars is indeed debatable.
The story of the Ming Dynasty is similar. A man was also poor and wanted to bury his son to support his mother. However, he did not dig up gold, but buried his son.
After the local authorities reported this, Zhu Yuanzhang refused to accept the offer and directly punished him with 800 strokes of the cane and exiled him 3,000 miles away.
汉朝
Liu Che had some admiration for this later emperor. This man definitely had a firm grip on power. He probably couldn't do that at this time if someone talked about filial piety or something.
No matter what, you have to accept it.
Perhaps the imperial examination system is also their trump card.
"How is the imperial examination going? Is anyone willing to participate? What are the ministers in the court saying?"
Zhufu Yan said in a low voice: "Several ministers have said nothing, but many lower-level officials have expressed many opinions and think that the recommendation system is better."
"What's your opinion?"
"For example, the journey is long, and we can't know the moral character of the candidates. If they have bad morals, they will harm the people if they become officials."
Liu Che snorted and said, "That's not a reason. Let's arrange the imperial examination right away. I've seen enough of the poor performances of the aristocratic families."
……
This kind of reputation-raising technique became less popular after the Song Dynasty, because most officials at that time were from the imperial examination system, and they looked down on officials who did not pass the imperial examination.
So whether you live in seclusion, do all sorts of weird things, or directly enter the government through imperial favor, as long as you don't pass the imperial examination, people will look down on you.
The most famous example is Zuo Zongtang, because before he fought against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he was just a tribute, that is, a juren.
[Later, although he became a high-ranking official, he was still looked down upon, so in anger he decided to take the imperial examination.]
[And he was already in his sixties at the time.]
How could Empress Dowager Cixi agree to this request? So she granted Zuo Zongtang the same rank as a Jinshi.
[Even so, he was often ridiculed by his colleagues.]
Everyone outside the sky was shocked. Zuo Zongtang had been introduced before. He was a famous minister in the Ming and Qing dynasties. How could he be looked down upon even though he was so powerful?
However, some emperors realized that it was no wonder that Tianmu always said that the civil officials were powerful. They were forming factions to fight against dissidents, no matter how much internal fighting they had.
They will definitely work together to deal with outsiders, including imperial power.
So we have to find a way to control this force and never let them do this.
"The power of the aristocratic families must be controlled, and the power of the civil servants who came from the imperial examination system must also be controlled. It would be best if the two sides could offset each other." Li Shimin shook his head, feeling that his thinking was a bit simple.