Regarding the selection of talents, it is very complicated and difficult, no matter which era it is, the selection of talents is a major plan for the development and sustained prosperity of the whole country. Therefore, the selection system became the most important, in the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was the birth of "scholars", that is, the system of "township selection of scholars", that is to say, the selection and promotion of the township, and then entered the career.
From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to put forward the "meritocracy", that is, to select people who can serve to become leaders, to the Han Dynasty is the "inspection and lifting system", that is, local leaders randomly spot check, select talents and then promote upwards, through the internship period in the appointment, mainly filial piety.
In the Sui Dynasty, the Sui Emperor adopted the "Ten Disciplines to Take Scholars", forming an examination system with different levels and different requirements, which was the initial appearance of the later examination system.
In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination system was perfected, and Wu Zetian first created the temple examination, and from then on, the imperial examination system became the main selection mechanism. Until now, the primary, junior and college entrance examinations are also a mechanism for selecting talents, which allows the cold door to produce noble children.
The system of selecting talents changed with the changes of dynasties, but in the end, the examination system became the final orientation. With the reunification of the country, the change of dynasties, and the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, everything in the country is in urgent need of all kinds of talents to manage and restore.
At that time, the Central Plains were in ruins, so he also implemented the examination system, starting from the township examination, the purpose of which was to select a group of talents and make some contributions to the country.
However, during the Zhu Yuanzhang period, the imperial examination system did not continue to be used, and after four years, in 1373 AD, Zhu Yuanzhang officially abolished the imperial examination system, and only re-activated it after ten years.
The reasons behind the abolition of the imperial examination system
Zhu Yuanzhang was born badly, his family was very poor, and he was forced to hide in the temple to live a difficult life, received a letter from his childhood friend, and joined the Red Turban Army.
It can be said that Zhu Yuanzhang completely climbed from the bottom of the people to the position of emperor, with super high ability, stood out in the army, after the death of Guo Zixing, Zhu Yuanzhang took his place.
After many years of southern conquest and northern warfare, when leading the army, he realized that talent is a team and a necessary thing for a country, so when fighting, he also let them recommend talents many times, so he also had a lot of capable generals who were born into death. Liu Bowen, a division of the First Army, was recommended.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's demand for talents was greater and more urgent, so the system at the time of selection must also be considered, and the examination system became the first consideration policy.
In the past four years, many talents have been selected, but Zhu Yuanzhang has also seen the problems and drawbacks of the examination system. However, Zhu Yuanzhang found that the people selected by the examination system were not of high quality.
For the poetry of the dynasty and politics that have swept through the clouds, these talented people who have no roots and only know how to read are powerless.
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention was to hope that more talents could be used by himself and give full play to his value, seeing that the imperial examinations were all historical subsets, classic examinations, and no actual administrative ability.
They also do not have practical training, so these candidates can only be regarded as students, and they cannot select the talents that Zhu Yuanzhang wants, and they have been cold for ten years, and they do not have the ability to take on this heavy responsibility, Zhu Yuanzhang is very disappointed, so he abolished the imperial examination.
Zhu Yuanzhang's abolition of the imperial examination system this time is not that he has denied the positive significance of the imperial examination, nor can it be said that he is unwilling to continue to open the door and absorb talents for the imperial court.
However, at that time, the examination system was also a new national policy, and it was not very mature in many aspects. Therefore, the effect of its popularization and promotion is also difficult to fully imagine. However, it seemed very quickly that Zhu Yuanzhang corrected the chaos and constantly adjusted the policy of selecting talents for the imperial court.
A new method was born after the abolition of the imperial examination system
For a country, the system was abolished, and talents had to continue to be selected, and Zhu Yuanzhang adopted a more ancient election method to select talents needed by the country under the recommendation system.
At that time, the subjects were divided into eight subjects, and the people recommended by the landscape at that time did not have age requirements, but Dou shi was more prestigious, so it led to the aging of some departments, and such recommendations also had great drawbacks.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang changed the recommendation system here, from eight subjects to six subjects, and then the candidates were divided into three grades, and the inferior ones were not selected, which also greatly improved the recommendation system.
The imperial examination system is once again reborn
The recommendation system was used in a small range that year, and the drawbacks have not been shown, and during the Zhu Yuanzhang period, the state selected talents with a wide range, high requirements, and a large number, and the drawbacks of the recommendation system were infinitely magnified.
The quality of talents cannot be guaranteed, and the corresponding assessment of candidates is not, lacking some objective judgments, all relying on personal subjective feelings, and the quality of talents is one-sided.
Therefore, after ten years of testing, Zhu Yuanzhang resumed the selection system for the imperial examination, and held a scientific examination in the same year, selecting some very powerful people.
The famous Xia Yuanji and others were selected in this way, after the restoration of the examination system, Zhu Yuanzhang did not abolish the recommendation system, but the two went hand in hand, two-pronged, in fact, later, the recommendation system has already existed in name only, there is no big role.
This time, the examination system has the experience of the last time, and in the process of implementation, the previous shortcomings have been eliminated, and in just ten years, the examination system has been reborn again. Moreover, it is more widely applicable than before, and more high-quality talents have been selected for the imperial court.
epilogue:
Before the Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination system was implemented for more than 800 years, and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties were almost all in use. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, although there was a shortage of talents, after time, the examination system was still much better than the recommendation system. Therefore, practice is the best alchemy, so Zhu Yuanzhang can also be regarded as a practitioner of what he preaches