581 AD
Yang Yong was deposed: the framed prince
In 581, Yang Yong, the prince of the Sui Dynasty, was deposed.
As the eldest son of Emperor Wen of Sui and Empress Dugu and the successor of the Great Sui Dynasty, the story of Yang Yong's depose begins with his family affairs.
Not long ago, Yang Yong's crown princess Yuan Shi suddenly died of illness, and Yang Yong's favorite was Yun Zhaoxun, who was able to hold a special favor status. Yang Yong did not like the Crown Princess Yuanshi, but Yang Yong's mother, the Lonely Empress, did not agree. The Dugu Empress was a strong woman with a strong possessiveness, and she not only had to discipline The Sui Wen Emperor's concubines, but also had to decide on the issue of the concubines favored by her son Yang Yong.
Yang Yong's behavior of spoiling the concubine room and snubbing the main room had long made the LoneLy Empress complain. Now that Yuan Shi is unknowingly dead, she believes in her heart that Yang Yong conspired with Yun Zhaoxun to poison Yuan Shi. The terrible thing is that not only did the Lonely Empress think so, but the ministers of the DPRK knew that the crown prince aiyun Zhaoxun, and a rumor spread throughout the palace and beyond. Yang Yong heard something and his mood became very depressed.
The more the Dugu Empress thought about it, the more angry she became, she thought that Yang Yong's son was really not a weapon, he was so unruly before he became emperor, how could he bear the heavy responsibility of a country in the future? Empress Dugu said to Emperor Yang Jian of Sui that now that the crown princess had just passed away, according to etiquette, the crown prince should go to the prince's father to visit him, but Yang Yong had not yet said that you should remind him. Emperor Wen of Sui also felt that Yang Yong was acting inappropriately, and immediately sent someone to remind Yang Yong. At this time, Yang Yong was having a headache for the rumor that he had poisoned the crown princess in the city, and after he sent the emissaries away, he couldn't help but complain to the people around him, saying that it must be this Yuan's father who spread the word that I poisoned his daughter everywhere, I would not visit him, and when I had the opportunity in the future, I must kill him to solve the hatred in my heart!
Yang Yong thought that he had secretly vented two sentences at home, and no one would know, but all this had long been truthfully told to Emperor Wen of Sui by the eyeliner that the Dugu Empress had placed beside him. Emperor Wen of Sui was very angry when he learned of this, and if it was understandable to love the concubine, then Yang Yong's attitude towards Yuan's father at this time was simply a great rebellion. Yang Yong was so rude to his father-in-law today, it was difficult to guarantee that one day he would not be unfavorable to himself for the throne.
Emperor Wen of Sui ordered that all the young and strong guards of the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace be transferred to his side to reduce the prince's strength. As soon as this decree that obviously suppressed the prince came out, some people could not sit still, he was Gao Xi, the founding minister of the Sui Dynasty.
Gao Xi was a staunch supporter of Crown Prince Yang Yong, and the two had formed a family of sons and daughters through marriage. Gao Xi advised Emperor Wen of Sui that the crown prince should not be suppressed in this way, which was not conducive to the stability of the country. This was a normal advice, but Emperor Wen of Sui was suspicious, he thought that the prince had already gathered a lot of forces in the court, and Gao Xi was the main member of the princeling party, and he was about to be hollowed out.
The idea of abolishing Yang Yong began to form in the mind of Emperor Wen of Sui. The Dugu Empress was more inclined to depose Yang Yong than Emperor Wen of Sui, and every time she saw her second son Yang Guang and his wife Xiao Shi respecting each other, she felt that they were more like herself and Emperor Wen of Sui, and her dislike for Yang Yong gradually increased. The advice of the Dugu Empress could influence Emperor Wen of Sui's decision-making, not to mention that both of them were already very disappointed in Yang Yong at this time. Soon after, Emperor Wen of Sui tentatively revealed his intention to depose the crown prince with Gao Xi, who insisted that abolishing Chang Liyou was the way to take advantage of chaos, hoping that Emperor Wen of Sui would change his mind. Unfortunately, at this time, Emperor Wen of Sui had already made up his mind, and since Gao Xi was opposed, he would let him return to his hometown.
After Gao Xi was dismissed from office, the crown prince's staunchest supporters were gone. Yang Yong had no way to do anything to resist, not to mention that he had no intention of resisting at all, and he never thought that his father would abolish himself, just as he did not know that his words and deeds would be reported to Emperor Wen of Sui.
Soon after, Emperor Wen of Sui formally ordered that Yang Yong be deposed and demoted to a shuren and that Yang Guang, the Prince of Jin, be made crown prince.
Conclusion: Yang Yong was deposed and lost the right to inherit the imperial throne, and the Sui Dynasty meritorious clique led by Gao Ying, who supported Yang Yong, also suffered a political blow, and Yang Guang became the crown prince, laying hidden dangers for the chaotic government of the Sui Dynasty.
587 AD
Creation of the examination system: a selection system inherited for thousands of years
In 587, Emperor Yang Jian of Sui issued an edict ordering the states to recommend three talents to Chang'an every year to take the examination, and those who passed stayed in Chang'an as officials, which became the beginning of the imperial examination system.
Yang Jian's reason for creating the imperial examination was simple, because the previous method of selecting talents was not easy to use. Prior to this, the Sui Dynasty's method of selecting talents was to follow the nine-pin Zhongzheng system implemented since the Wei and Jin dynasties. The main thing is to select talents, who are born well, they can become officials, and those who are not born well will not be officials.
The Nine Pins Zhongzheng system is not a perfect method, first of all, people who are born well may not learn no skills, and many of the ministers in Yang Jian's court are mostly warriors from the nobility, and it is okay to fight wars, that is, there is no culture, and it is not good to govern the country. There is a man named Yuwen Shenbai Who was impatient with reading in his early years, so he told the people around him that reading is not to learn to write names, and if a person walks around the desk for a long time, then he will not become a pedantic Confucian! Not long after saying this, the people went to join the army. Emperor Yang of Sui insisted that he was emperor, and Yuwen Shen exerted a lot of efforts, and Yang Jian sent him to govern Liangzhou, because he was incompetent, and after more than a year of work, Yang Jian recalled him to the imperial court.
The second drawback of the Nine-Pin Zhongzheng system is that if all the officials are from famous families, the emperor is easily vacated. Yang Jian was from a large family, and his father Yang Zhong was once a great general of northern Zhou, and when Yang Jian became more and more powerful, he finally became an emperor. He can do this himself, but he can't change someone else.
At Yang Jian's order, the prefectures began to recommend talents to Chang'an in accordance with the regulations. Du Zhengxuan from Hebei was from a plain background, but very talented.
At that time, there were two subjects in the imperial examination: one was the Ming Classic, that is, the candidates interpreted the Confucian classics, mainly examining memory and erudition. The other is Du Zhengxuan's talent, who not only examines literary talent, but also allows candidates to put forward opinions on governing the country, which is much more difficult than the Ming Classic. Therefore, this year, people elected from all over the world came to Chang'an, and people found that only Du Zhengxuan applied for the show alone.
But Du Zhengxuan was a little unlucky. He met yang su, a heavy minister. Yang Su was born in the Hongnong Yang clan of the family clan, and was the core figure of Yang Jian's ruling clique, unlike Yuwen Shen, who could only fight wars, Yang Su was a capable person who was both literate and martial, so he did not look up to the shabby scribes from Hebei.
Yang Su happened to be in charge of the examination at that time, and the examiner showed Du Zhengxuan's paper to Yang Su, saying that this person was a talent, and Kao Xiu had passed the examination. Yang Su was angry when he heard it, saying that even if Zhou Gong and Confucius were resurrected, they could not pass the Xiucai examination, and the local official thought of what he wanted to recommend this person. After saying that, he threw Du Zhengxuan's examination paper to the ground and didn't even look at it.
However, not long after, the examiner found Yang Su early in the morning and said that the examination deadline was approaching, and everyone else had results, only Du Zhengxuan had no results. Yang Su deliberately embarrassed Du Zhengxuan, and told the examiner that you asked Du Zhengxuan to imitate the style of four literary artists such as Sima Xiangru and Ban Gu and write four articles, I did not have time to wait for him, I would finish writing before the afternoon. But before the afternoon, the examiner returned with the article and showed Yang Su the article written by Du Zhengxuan. Yang Su was shocked to see it, thinking that Du Zhengxuan had accomplished something impossible, and praised it as a good showman!
Yang Su came from a large family, and he deliberately embarrassed Du Zhengxuan, which was actually a political discrimination against the poor people by the High Gate of the Hao clan. It's just that Du Zhengxuan, with his superhuman talent, won back the fair treatment. This also shows the era and political resistance encountered in the practice and operation of the imperial examination at the beginning of the establishment of the imperial examination.
Of course, not everyone is as lucky as Du Zhengxuan. Most of the people who came to examine the Ming Sutra with Du Xuanzheng probably fell off the list. During the entire sui wen emperor's reign, there was only one person named Wei Yunqi who was admitted to the Ming Classic and recorded in the case. This person was also from the Jingzhao Wei family, the Wei family was powerful and unattainable, and it was described as "going to the heavens and feet five" in the proverb of the time.
There were 211 states in the early years of the Sui Dynasty, and according to the regulations of the imperial court, each state recommended 3 people, and there were more than 600 people in a year, but these people did not leave any traces in history. This also shows that the improvement of the new system will not be achieved overnight, and the eunuch route is still occupied by the family clan.
In 603, Yang Jian continued to issue an edict ordering all prefectures and counties to select talents, clearly proposing that local officials should visit Luyan Township, starting from the most basic places, and collect all the talents for governing the country.
After the Sui Dynasty Emperor succeeded to the throne, he set up the Jinshi Section, which mainly examined the opinions of talents on the governance of the country, and became the most important examination subject in the future examination system. During the years of Daye, a young man named Fang Xuanling rushed from Jinan to Chang'an to take the exam and passed the exam in one fell swoop. However, because of the inherent prejudice of the guanzhong rulers against the literati of Hebei in Shandong, Fang Xuanling was not reused, and he often told his father at home that I saw that the Great Sui was about to perish. A few years later, the world was in chaos, and Fang Xuanling wrote down his opinions on state affairs, stuffed them into a bamboo stick, and carried it to see Li Shimin.
Later, the examination system was gradually improved in the Tang Dynasty for nearly three hundred years and was used by later dynasties.
Conclusion: The establishment of the imperial examination system strengthened the central power and was used by successive generations after the Sui and Tang dynasties until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
