Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5038: Ministry of Personnel Selection
There are several tall ginkgo trees in the courtyard of the Ministry of Personnel. It is said that they were transplanted from the deep mountains of Qinling Mountains when Yuwen Kai built Daxing City. The trees are already a hundred years old, and after decades of growth, they are now lush and flourishing. It is early summer now, and their shadows fill the courtyard.

As a result, the main hall of the Ministry of Personnel, located north of the ancient tree, was completely covered in shadows, and the light in the hall was dim...

The furnishings in the hall are antique and the floor is mirror-clear.

As the clerk placed cups of brewed tea on the table, officials came in one after another, all kneeling behind the table, discussing official business or chatting and laughing with each other, and the atmosphere was very relaxed.

When they saw Liu Xiangdao, who came with Li Xiaogong, the hall suddenly became quiet and silent. Almost all the officials stared at Liu Xiangdao with wide eyes.

Who doesn’t know the Grand Censor?

Since he took office as the Censorate, he was not afraid of the powerful and did not show any mercy. Countless people in the court and outside the court were impeached by him. As a result, no less than twenty people lost their jobs or were demoted. People were terrified to mention him.

Li Xiaogong sat in the middle and pointed at Liu Xiang who was one step away from him and said, "I believe you all know the Imperial Censor, so I won't introduce him. His Majesty attaches great importance to this selection of officials, so he sent the Imperial Censor to the Ministry of Personnel to personally guide you. You should be vigilant. If you are found to have made a mistake, please go to the Imperial Censorate for tea. Don't blame me for not saving you."

Du Zhengyi, the left assistant minister, stroked his beard and said with a smile, "That's great! This is the first time that the Ministry of Personnel has selected officials on a large scale. We have no experience to draw on, and there are no precedents to follow. Everyone is trembling with fear, fearing that a mistake will taint this imperial examination. Now that the Imperial Censor is helping us, we are calm and can breathe a sigh of relief."

All the officials in the hall nodded in agreement.

Liu Xiangdao's expression remained unchanged. He had expected the officials of the Ministry of Personnel to resist, and said calmly: "I came here to assist the prince by order, not to interfere in the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel, otherwise I would not have come here alone. If you have other plans, you may as well write to His Majesty to change your mind. I will be happy to relax."

He was so polite not because he was afraid of Du Zhengyi. He had impeached several ministers of the six ministries, not to mention a mere minister of the Ministry of Personnel. However, Du Zhengyi's elder brother Du Zhenglun was now the Minister of the Imperial Palace and a scholar of the Chongxian Hall. Although he usually lived in seclusion in his mansion and rarely showed up, he was a real confidant of the emperor.

He served two dynasties and worshipped four emperors. Nowadays, there are very few people who can match him in the court. He has always been on good terms with great Confucian scholars such as Yan Shigu and Kong Yingda. Who would dare to offend him easily?

Facing Liu Xiangdao's rebuttal, Du Zhengyi smiled and said nothing. It was his duty as the Left Vice Minister to express the Ministry of Personnel's dissatisfaction, but if he continued to offend Liu Xiangdao completely, how could he want that?
Li Xiaogong drooped his eyelids, neither stopping nor supporting the bickering. When he saw the atmosphere calm down, he said, "You Shao, let's get started."

The newly appointed Right Vice Minister Shangguan Yi was handsome and elegant. He knew that he was to preside over the meeting, so he quickly responded, "Yes!"

Then he straightened his back behind the desk and said loudly, "The central government and the people are all paying great attention to this selection. The Ministry of Personnel is now under the spotlight. We are all upholding justice and following the rules. Your Majesty's will comes first. We cannot make private offers or retaliate. What do you think?"

The officials all nodded.

"You Shilang's words are fair, and that's how it should be."

"With the Imperial Censor present, who dares to act recklessly?"

It is inevitable that some people are still dissatisfied with Liu Xiangdao's "visit and guidance".

Liu Xiangdao pretended not to hear anything...

Shangguan Yi said: "Since the birth of the imperial examination, there has never been such a formal and large-scale selection of officials. There is no law to correct it, and there is no precedent to follow. Therefore, the suggestions made by this official on behalf of the Ministry of Personnel are free for you to make comments. There is no need to be shy. After all, this is the action of the Ministry of Personnel. If there is any mistake, we will all bear the responsibility."

"Right Minister, rest assured. This is exactly what should be done."

"There are more than a hundred new scholars. Who can know them all and make proper arrangements? We should pool our wisdom and try our best to avoid mistakes."

Shangguan Yi looked around and waited for the discussion to subside. Then he looked at the list in front of him and said, "Before that, Li Siliang, the secretary of the Central Secretariat, was executed for treason. Your Majesty is short of people around him. The top scorers of the two lists are proposed to be directly appointed as the secretary of the Central Secretariat. Do you have any opinions?"

It is impossible to discuss such a large-scale selection of officials one by one in the court, otherwise the entire Ministry of Personnel will not be able to do anything else. In advance, the Minister of Personnel and the left and right assistant ministers will discuss a list and then bring it to the court. If someone thinks that some of the officials are not suitable for the position, they can raise it in court and then discuss it again.

Xie Wansui, the examiner, hesitated for a moment, and seeing that the others were silent, he said, "The Zhongshu Sheren is not only of the rank of the fifth rank, but also a close minister to your majesty, in charge of Zhongshu Zhigao. If he is granted the title of Jinshi, will it lead to a hindrance to government orders?"

The position of Zhongshu Sheren has always been extremely prominent, and can almost be called the "reserve for provincial governors and heads of the six ministries", and has always been regarded as the link between "imperial power" and "prime ministerial power". The new Jinshi is indeed a rare talent, but he has no experience in politics. How can he do a good job of coordinating between Your Majesty and Zhongshu Ling?
Li Xiaogong took a sip of tea and said calmly: "There are more than two Zhongshu Sheren. We can add a few more people besides the top two scholars."

Xie Wansui understood and nodded, saying, "I am a stupid person. Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty."

Granting the position of Zhongshu Sheren to the top scorers in the two lists was not to hope that they would perform their jobs excellently, but rather to serve as a symbol and an attitude so that scholars all over the world could feel the importance that Your Majesty and the central government attached to the imperial examination.

As for whether the two champions can do a good job as Zhongshu Sheren, it doesn't matter. There are others to do the job. They just need to get to that position and show it to the world...

Li Xiaogong said: "You can raise any opinions, be frank and open, and don't hesitate. Continue."

"Here!"

Shangguan Yi looked at the list and said, "Cen Changqian from Jiyang, Dengzhou, is ranked second on the northern list and is to be appointed as the deputy governor of Zezhou."

The officials began to discuss in a low voice again.

The administrative divisions of the Tang Dynasty were divided into four levels: Dao, Fu, Zhou, and County. Dao was actually a supervisory agency rather than an administrative agency. The real administrative agencies were Fu, Zhou, and County. The status of Fu was similar to that of Zhou, but it was slightly higher than that of Zhou. Below the county was the township. There was no central agency, and each region was autonomous.

The states differ greatly from each other due to factors such as geography, politics, economy, population, area, etc. Although there is no difference at the core, they are subtly divided into three levels: upper, middle and lower.

Zezhou belonged to Hedong Road and was surrounded by Taihang Mountain, Taiyue Mountain and other mountain ranges. It had scarce land, barren fields and a sparse population. It was called a "lower state". The official rank of Xiazhou Beijia was of the fifth rank, three levels lower than that of the two top scorers in the imperial examinations.

It seems that there is not much difference, but in fact, one works in the central government and is close to the emperor, which is the best starting point for his career. If he has enough ability, he can rise quickly. The other is in a remote area, not only far away from the central government but also extremely difficult to make political achievements. It is difficult to be evaluated well during the performance appraisal. How can he be promoted?
There is only one rank, "from the fifth rank up", which is actually very unfriendly...

An old official frowned and hesitated, "Cen Changqian is not only second on the Northern Ranking, but also had outstanding merits in protecting the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace. Is it too harsh to grant him Zezhou?"

In fact, there is another thing in his mind: Cen Changqian has not only made great contributions in protecting the prince, but he is also the leader of more than a thousand students in Zhenguan Academy. Fang Jun loves him like a brother and has high hopes for him. The Ministry of Personnel threw his student to the barren and impoverished place of Zezhou. Who knows if that guy will get angry?
Shangguan Yi did not answer, but looked at Li Xiaogong.

Li Xiaogong sighed and said slowly: "It is precisely because of Cen Changqian's previous contributions that His Majesty paid great attention to his appointment and personally instructed me to hone such an outstanding talent, to make him work hard, to exhaust his body, and to improve his abilities..."

Since His Majesty was personally concerned, naturally no one said anything more. The hall fell silent for a while, and everyone could not help but remember the various rumors during the royal family rebellion. It was said that the reason why His Majesty was able to wipe out the royal family rebellion was because the crown prince had tied down Li Anyan's main force in the East Palace, which allowed him to calmly annihilate the traitors.

But doing so would mean leaving the Crown Prince in the East Palace to face the rebels' violent attack, with his life or death at risk...

There are also rumors in the palace that His Majesty dislikes the Crown Prince, and now the meritorious official who has contributed greatly to protecting the Crown Prince is even "sent into exile". Could it be that His Majesty is angry with Cen Changqian because of his contribution to protecting the Crown Prince?
Liu Xiangdao sensed the strange atmosphere and quickly spoke up: "Since your majesty is concerned, there is no need to discuss Cen Changqian's official position. Please continue, Minister Shangguan."

As the head of the Censorate, who supervises all officials and monitors public opinion, how could he not know the rumors circulating in the streets?

But no matter whether this matter is true or false, once it reaches your majesty's ears, it means that it must be dealt with, otherwise it is equivalent to tacit consent...

When the emperor is angry, blood will flow everywhere. If things are handled properly, many people will be implicated. Liu Xiangdao is unwilling to stain his own ladder of progress with the heads and blood of innocent people.

Shangguan Yi hurried on.

Generally speaking, the higher the ranking, the more attention one receives. The top scorers of the North and South lists, Yan Kangcheng and Shen Wenjian, as well as the second and third on their respective lists, had been settled. The rest of the people had almost no objections, and the meeting proceeded very quickly.

……

"No. 36 on the Northern List, Zhang Zizhou from Fanyang... The Ministry of Works sent someone to contact the Ministry of Personnel and submitted a letter requesting that Zhang Zizhou be granted the position of Director of the Ministry of Works."

As Shangguan Yi read out Zhang Zizhou's name and stated that he had been recruited by the Ministry of Works, the officials in the hall immediately perked up, and dozens of eyes almost simultaneously turned to the "supervisor" Liu Xiangdao.

Your Majesty has repeatedly stressed that this selection of officials must be open, fair and just, and that any private transactions and abuse of power for personal gain must be severely punished. Therefore, no matter what background the new scholars have, they must honestly participate in the selection and dare not make any unusual moves.

Zhang Zizhou was the first one to contact the government office in advance and even have his position arranged.

This falls within the scope of the authority of the Censorate...