Xianyang City, which had been in chaos for several days, finally calmed down. In the streets and alleys, the discussion about Ma Lingshu was cooling down, and the discussion about Chun Yuyue's pursuit of Li Xin also gradually disappeared.

What the people care most about is firewood, rice, oil and salt.

On this day, it was time for the court meeting again, and all the important ministers entered the palace one after another. Everyone understood that some things should be settled.

While waiting outside the palace, Li Xin suddenly asked Li Shui: "Brother Huai, where did you use the fifty elite soldiers I found for you?"

Li Shui said: "Just outside Xianyang City, in a big house."

Li Xin asked curiously: "Can these fifty people really catch the assassin?"

Li Shui chuckled and said, "Of course. Brother Li, if you are interested, you can go and have a look after the court."

Li Xin readily agreed.

At this time, the door of the Yizheng Palace opened and hundreds of officials filed in.

The first thing that came up during the court meeting was indeed the matter of Ma Lingshu. In fact, the courtiers all heard the news about Ma Lingshu's assassination, so the reaction was not too intense.

However, in addition to killing Wang Ba and Zhao Jiu, Ying Zheng also removed Zhao Cheng from his post, which is very intriguing.

After Ma Lingshu's matter came to an end, Ying Zheng rewarded Zhao Teng, the internal historian.

The courtiers had no objections to this point. This time in tracing the murderer, Zhao Teng almost turned Xianyang upside down, thoroughly demonstrating his ability and skill. Obviously, His Majesty was extremely satisfied with this. From then on, the authority of the internal history , I'm afraid it will be heavier.

In addition, Wu Yue, who wrote a letter to impeach Zhao Teng, also received a commendation. The emperor believed that Wu Yue spoke uprightly and was commendable for his loyalty and bravery. For a time, this man who had never had any sense of existence became the focus of everyone. And Wu Yue was also regarded as Completely fell in love with Huaiguzi.

Those courtiers who had been forced to make friends with Li Shui but were still hesitant were somewhat envious of Wu Yue.

Li Shui secretly saw this in his eyes.

He sighed in his heart: "Sure enough, the power of role models is infinite. Today there is a Wu Yue, and I am afraid there will be more Wu Yues in the future. Taking these people for your own use will be Fu Yao's help in fighting for the crown prince in the future. "

Li Shui was thinking wildly when he suddenly heard Ying Zheng say: "I have decided to take back the right to recommend courtiers from today on. Instead, we will conduct imperial examinations. Scholars who want to be officials need to pass the assessment and be selected on the basis of merit. As for the award of military merit, thank you Those who enter the dynasty will be the same as in the past."

As soon as this statement came out, the officials were in an uproar.

Ying Zheng's words were an understatement, but all the courtiers realized that this would be a big shock.

Changing the way officials are selected affects the futures of countless people and even countless families.

What's more, many of the courtiers present have the right to recommend. Once the recommendation is successful, those people will become their disciples and former officials, and will form alliances in the court to increase their strength.

Now that the emperor has taken back the power of recommendation, the interests of these courtiers will definitely be harmed.

Even Wang Wan, who had always been taciturn, stood up and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the selection of officials is really important and should not be changed easily. Now that our Qin Dynasty is prosperous and the country is peaceful and the people are safe, there is no need to change it."

Chunyu Yue also stood up and said: "The officials recommended by the court officials are all capable people. If the virtuous are promoted by the virtuous, the court will always be clean. Moreover, if the recommended person commits a crime, the recommender will also be punished. This is the case. Now, who dares to make random recommendations?"

"And this assessment is inevitably biased. Who are the candidates? We don't know. What is the character of the candidates? We can't guarantee it. If there are some scheming villains, during the assessment,

Hiding your true intentions and sneaking into the court. Wouldn't that bring chaos?"

As soon as this statement came out, many courtiers nodded. They felt that Chun Yuyue's worries were very reasonable.

Ying Zheng looked at Li Si: "What do Tingwei think?"

Li Si said: "Shang Jun said that if the sage does not follow the past and does not cultivate the present, if he follows the ancient, he will be behind the times, and if he practices the present, he will be blocked by the world. It can be seen that these laws and regulations are to comply with the way of heaven and changes in world affairs."

"The method of selecting officials is not an easy method. It is normal to make some changes. However, does this imperial examination really comply with the laws of heaven and the world? I don't think so."

"According to my opinion, the recommendation method has been beneficial and harmless to our country until now, and it is far from being abolished. As for the assessment method, the pros and cons are unknown. From this point of view, why give up the beneficial recommendation method?

How about taking the risk and choosing an unpredictable assessment method?"

The courtiers all nodded, thinking that Li Si's analysis was clear and logical.

Ying Zheng looked at Zhao Gao again.

Zhao Gao smiled bitterly and said, "I hereby obey the emperor's edict."

The courtiers all secretly sighed: Master Zhao Gao, you are so cautious.

In fact, Zhao Gao couldn't tell the truth. He didn't agree with the assessment, but he was reprimanded by Ying Zheng not long ago, and now he didn't dare to offend the emperor.

Ying Zheng was a little unhappy. He had expected that the imperial examination would be opposed by the court officials, but he did not expect that the civil and military officials of the entire court would unanimously disapprove.

Ying Zheng couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "What is loyalty to the emperor, what is serving the country, what is the world? How can these courtiers care about the future of Qin for the sake of the power in their hands?"

Ying Zheng looked at Li Shui and thought to himself: "The person who proposed this suggestion is Huai Guzi. He is very good. He only serves the imperial court and has no selfish motives."

If Li Shui knew what Ying Zheng was thinking at this time, he would probably be happy to say: "Selfish? I really have no selfish motives. Even if I have the right to recommend, who should I recommend? I don't know any wise men in Da Qin."

"

Ying Zheng suddenly looked at Li Xin, who had been silent all this time, and said, "Li Xin, what do you think we should do?"

In Ying Zheng's opinion, Li Xin should have different opinions from those of the courtiers, right?

Li Xin was stunned for a moment, a little embarrassed.

To be honest, he came to listen to almost every court meeting. In the past, when the Six Kingdoms were still alive, he could still intervene in how to arrange troops and how to attack cities and territories. But now that the world is unified, the discussion begins

When specific political matters come up, he doesn't dare to make random remarks.

Every other line is like a mountain.

Now that your Majesty asked, he had to answer. Li Xin suddenly had an idea and said, "Your Majesty, I have the same opinion as Huaiguzi."

The courtiers all began to snicker: Huai Guzi hasn't spoken yet, and you already have the same opinion?

Ying Zheng was also a little helpless. He ignored Li Xin and asked Li Shui: "What do you think?"

Li Shui stood up slowly and said: "I have been thinking about a question. Lord Wang Wan just said that the Qin Dynasty is prosperous and the country is peaceful and the people are safe. There is no need to change the method of selecting officials. Lord Li Si also said that when changing a rule, we must follow

With worldly affairs, the time has not yet come.”

"It can be seen that the two adults are in favor of the change, but they do not want to change it now. They want to wait until the Qin Dynasty is in turmoil and is in danger, the government is in chaos, and the people are in dire straits before making the change."

Li Si was a little speechless, thinking: "Is this what I meant?"

Li Shui sighed and said: "In this case, I am a little confused. Why not prepare for a rainy day? What if that day comes and Da Qin is seriously ill and there is no way to save it? Is it possible to see Da Qin heading towards the end of the world?"

Li Si said a little unconvinced: "But how do you know that the imperial examination will definitely be beneficial? What if the imperial examination causes turmoil in my country, the Qin Dynasty?"

Li Shui said calmly: "The disadvantages of the imperial examination are probably as Dr. Chunyu said. Those who pass the examination may have evil intentions and may disrupt the imperial court. I also have some ideas about this."

"Dr. Chunyu, how can you guarantee that the person recommended is not a scheming villain who has been pretending to be a gentleman?"

Chunyu Yue was stunned and said: "I have seen people's hearts over time, and those who are recommended will naturally know their roots."

Li Shui chuckled and said, "Then what happened to Ma Lingshu, Wang Ba and others?"

Chunyu Yue was speechless.

Li Shui said calmly: "When recommending talents, we have always emphasized the need to avoid relatives when recommending talents. The reason why we emphasize this point is obviously because when recommending talents, we should not avoid relatives."

"Everyone has selfish motives. Those who have a good relationship with me, are related to me, and listen to me will be recommended. Those who do not listen to me will not be recommended, no matter how talented they are. Anyway, the world has a large population, and there are

It is normal for a few wise men not to be recommended."

"Secondly, how do you know whether a person is virtuous or not? Does being filial to your parents at home lead to a strategy for governing the country? Does being willing to help others mean you can conquer the world? This is simply a joke. Does personal morality and ability have anything to do with each other?"

"Therefore, the method of recommendation is either to recommend a group of private parties or to recommend a group of idiots. There is only one person in ten thousand, but there is some strategy for governing the country. But our country, Da Qin, has to rely on one out of ten thousand officials to achieve things that will never be easy.

?"

The courtiers were all speechless.

After a long time, Chunyu Yue said with some disbelief: "However, Mr. Huai, how can you guarantee that those selected in the imperial examination are all capable ministers?"

Li Shui said calmly: "It's very simple. Make a fuss about the topic. Formulate the strategy of governing the country into a question and let the candidates answer it. It will be clear at a glance who has the most insight."

"As for what Dr. Chunyu is worried about, it is difficult to guarantee moral character when selecting officials through the imperial examination. This is actually very simple. Let him start from a small official. By the time he is promoted to the point where he can influence the court, it will be more than ten years later. His personal ethics

, and everyone knows it in detail."

The courtiers were all a little discouraged, but even though they couldn't find a reason, they still had to refute.

Their artillery fire focused on morality. They believed that in the end this kind of selection would only select a group of snobs who wanted to be officials.

Li Shui didn't bother to argue with them because they were just acting rogue.

Finally, Ying Zheng said coldly: "I have made my decision. The selection of officials will be changed from recommendation to imperial examination. My courtiers, there is no need to say anything more."

"What you want to discuss now is not whether to conduct assessments, but how to conduct assessments."
Chapter completed!