My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 815 The first number one scholar in the world turned out to be him

Zhuge Jin roughly recalled the test questions set by Wang Lang and the difficult points in the test questions.
Then he opened the papers sent by his subordinates, wanting to see what kind of brilliant essays would make the examiners feel it necessary to let Situ take a look.

The paper was still covered with paper, so Zhuge Jin didn't know who wrote the article. He just saw that the handwriting was neat, but a little impatient and brisk, as if the person who wrote it was not very calm and did not seek stability when writing.

But Zhuge Jin would not have any prejudice against the author because he would only consider whether the content of the article was reliable.

In this era, there was no so-called eight-part essay format, and argumentative articles could not be written as four-character sentences. The content was also very unrestrained, and a hundred flowers bloomed and you could write whatever you wanted.

If one pursues parallelism, the limit is to write something like Chen Lin's "On Behalf of Yuan Shao to Yuzhou". But how many Chen Lins are there in the world? So literary talent is definitely not very important, and it cannot be very good.

It mainly depends on the viewpoints and arguments.

This article begins with a cliché, starting with "the world is determined by one", and elaborating that determination is the goal, and that oneness itself is not the goal - most of the candidates mentioned this point this time, so it is not surprising.

But later, it changed the subject and began to talk about historical comparisons.

Because the discussion was about Mencius and the issue of great unification, the candidate went back to the Warring States Period and reviewed the changes between the Warring States Period and the Qin and Han Dynasties.

The article mentions that during the Warring States Period, knights and scholars traveled around the countries, and those with talent each tried to seek recognition from their monarchs. Even if a monarch was foolish and unable to appoint people based on merit, he would be destroyed by a neighboring country that appointed people based on merit and made the country rich and powerful.

Therefore, it is not only the ruler who chooses his ministers, but the ministers also choose their ruler. A good bird chooses a tree to roost in, and a good minister chooses a master to serve.

In the later unified world, many wise men lamented that there were many good horses but few good horse trainers. However, in troubled times, they would rush around seeking fame and fortune among the princes.

It can be seen that the great unification of the world deprived people of the opportunity to "choose a ruler". There was only one ruler left without competition, so it was difficult to select a ruler who appointed people based on their merits, and it was also difficult to select truly talented and wise ministers. This is why the Han Dynasty's system of selecting officials gradually became lax.

Because there is only one ruler left in the world, whether he uses people well or not does not pose a life-and-death crisis like in the Warring States period.

And this is true not only for civil and military talents, but also for ordinary people.

The article goes on to quote Mencius’ words from here, which are from “Mencius: King Hui of Liang”.

"I have devoted my heart to my country. If there is a disaster in Henei, I will move its people to Hedong and its grain to Henei. If there is a disaster in Hedong, the same will happen... The people of neighboring countries have not decreased, and my people have not increased. Why is that?"

From this we can see that during the Warring States Period, the kings had to "show as much kindness as possible to win over the common people, so as to prevent them from fleeing to neighboring countries, without causing the country to perish due to low taxes and corvee labor."

Why did King Hui of Liang treat the people of Hedong and Henei well?
When readers of later generations read Confucian classics, they only saw that Mencius said that he was "laughing at someone who took fifty steps while he took a hundred steps" and that King Hui of Liang's so-called small "burden reduction" was actually still exploitation, so the people of neighboring countries would not flee to the State of Wei.

However, this article points out a point: at least the kings of the Warring States Period had to think of ways to please the people and attract population. This shows that the people at that time had the opportunity to flee to other countries because of heavy taxes and labor service in a vassal state.

Then the article changes the subject and mentions the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing in the early years of the dynasty. It says, "During the reign of Emperor Wen, the tax rate was initially set at 15%, and thereafter no tax was levied for several years. However, the state finances were sufficient, and the government gradually increased the number of people to collect grain.

Everyone says that Emperor Wen was benevolent and virtuous, which was rare in history. However, during Emperor Wen's time, the Liu family kings were in power, and the seven states of Wu and Chu that later rebelled were also in existence. The chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty had just been settled, and the total population of the country was only tens of millions, so there were few people and many fields.

In the early Han Dynasty, the system of prefectures and counties and the system of feudal fiefdoms still existed side by side. It was not until the reign of Emperor Jing that the feudal lords were reduced, and it was not until the reign of Emperor Wu that the favor was extended. Therefore, Emperor Wen was like the Zhou emperor or the wise king of a great country during the Warring States Period. He wanted to compete with other kings for the people, so he naturally needed to reduce taxes and levies, just like King Hui of Liang hoped to increase the number of people under his direct jurisdiction..."

The specific wording of this article is certainly not as straightforward and explicit as the previous summary. After all, for the Han people, this already involves their own dynasty, and the motives of Emperor Wen of Han must be speculated more obscurely.

But the content is shocking. From scholars and warriors to ordinary people, the first half of the article is all about arguing that unification itself will result in only one monarch, and the ruler will not have to compete with "whoever treats the people and talents better will attract more people and talents to join."

Therefore, unification itself has both advantages and disadvantages. As long as there is unification, the rulers will no longer have to fight against each other, and the people will still have to fight against each other. But the advantage of unification is that there will be no more civil wars, and the people will have to serve less in the military, do less corvee labor, and pay less money. Therefore, whether the change of dynasties is "virtuous" depends on whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, or the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.

Which is greater, the reduced corvee labor, military service and military expenses due to unification, or the extra money and manpower spent because the rulers became complacent and began to indulge in extravagance and debauchery after unification?

The extra money spent due to laziness and arrogance among the rulers must be less than the military expenditure saved after unification, so that the dynasty can continue to exist.

The article even hypothesizes a math problem in the middle, saying that, for example, there were originally two countries, A and B. Before they were unified, the people had to pay 30% of their income and labor as military expenses and military service, and another 10% for the rulers to indulge in luxury and debauchery.

If after unification, military expenditure can be reduced to 10% of the country's total income, and the money spent on the rulers' extravagance and debauchery, although increased to 20%, but added up to only 30% of the country's total income, which is 10% less than the original military expenditure plus the total of 40% before unification, then this country will barely be worth existing and will be virtuous.

However, if after unification military spending drops to 10% of the country's total income, but the ruler has no competitors to compete with him, resulting in him spending money recklessly to the point of accounting for 30% or even 40% of the country's total income, and the country's total fiscal expenditure is higher than before unification, then this country is immoral and deserves to perish.

This article repeatedly gives examples to prove its point, from the situation in the Warring States Period when there was no emperor, to the situation in the early Han Dynasty when there was an emperor but the emperor had to compete with other kings to see who was good to the people and attract population, to the situation later when the emperor did not need to compete with others for people.

Finally, I came to my own conclusion in a very solid way. I hope to have a mathematical model that can calculate whether the people's total expenditure has increased or decreased after the change of dynasties.

Zhuge Jin was stunned and felt quite shocked.

Although the wording in the article was as obscure as possible, Zhuge Jin still saw through the idea at a glance.

The other party is simply saying, "Before the great unification, people can go to whichever vassal state has the lightest overall tax burden."

However, at the end of this paragraph, in order to make his article not seem too rebellious, this person still wrote, "In today's world, before Your Majesty became emperor, the population under your rule has been growing year by year, while the population under the rule of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others has been constantly declining. This is a manifestation of Your Majesty's benevolent governance and the patriotism of the Han Dynasty." This is considered to make himself more politically correct.

After writing this paragraph, this person has proved the existence of virtue and the lack of virtue itself, and then began to discuss the issue of Mencius's saying that light taxes and levies are "the way of the barbarians". He wrote: Mencius advocated that the people are more important than the king, and he always thought about benefiting the people. With his benevolence, Mencius believed that a tax of 20% is the way of the barbarians. Since the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, our great Han Dynasty has been implementing a tax of 30%. In the eyes of the world, isn't this even more of a way of the barbarians?

But in fact, it is not so. During the Warring States Period, the tax rate was 20% because the world had not yet been unified, the princes were constantly at war, and there was no obvious geographical barrier separating the countries in the Kanto region. The fertile Central Plains were flat, but they were divided into many countries. The benefit of unification was greater than the benefit of each going its own way. Once unified, only one royal family would need to be supported, but if they were divided into many countries, multiple royal families would need to be supported.

Therefore, each country would inevitably conquer until it was unified. At that time, the tax rate was only 1 in 20, and the military expenditure would inevitably be insufficient, which would eventually lead to the destruction of the country. The country's defense would have to rely on others, or like the barbarians, they would induce the people to join the war with the benefits of looting after the war, instead of calling on the people to fight to protect their homes and defend their country. In this way, isn't it the way of the barbarians?
At the beginning of the founding of the Han Dynasty, although the Xiongnu were a scourge, they were far away after all. At that time, the national strength of the Han Dynasty could not chase them far into the grasslands and deserts and eradicate them. Emperor Wen’s light taxation was sufficient when there was no civil war, so it was not considered the Bei Road.

Therefore, how much money and grain are collected, how much corvee labor is used, and whether it is considered a Beidao depends on the country's environment and whether it has reached the optimal state of rule over its natural geographical boundaries.

If the country is located on a plain, the surrounding countries have no strategic locations to defend and can expand at a moment's notice. At this time, it is natural to enrich the country and strengthen the military, impose heavy taxes to provide more security for the people, and gradually annex neighboring countries, so that the people of the entire Central Plains can eventually live a life with a smaller average military expenditure burden.

But if the enemy on the border is already very remote, and the cost of the long expedition far exceeds the benefits of the conquest, and at this time you still have to use troops recklessly for plundering, you will not be able to hold on for long, and you will not be able to maintain long-term stability and let the newly occupied land become self-reliant, then it is the Beidao.

However, whether to expand is not set in stone. It also depends on the natural geographical conditions and the "infrastructure construction" provided by the court.

The article mentioned that before King Fuchai of Wu built the Hang Canal, if the rulers of the Central Plains wanted to invade Wuyue, they would be considered to be warlike and wasteful of money, food and manpower, because transportation from the Central Plains to the south was too expensive at that time, and even if they occupied Wuyue, the output of Wuyue would not be enough to cover the "cost of ruling" of Wuyue.

However, after Fuchai completed the construction of the Hang Canal, he levied more soldiers and increased military expenses in order to unify the Wu and Yue regions. This was no longer the Mo Dao or the Unrighteous Dao.

Similarly, events such as the construction of the Chidao by Qin Shihuang and the opening of the Shu Road by the "Five Dings" during the Warring States Period would also change the extent of the territory that the rulers of the Central Plains should unify before and after.

Mencius believed that whether to spend more money and grain or less money and grain, and whether to suffer temporarily for the sake of greater unity and stability, all depended on environmental conditions.

It's a pity that this person couldn't come up with any later economic terms like "transportation infrastructure" or "diminishing marginal returns of governance costs", and could only give various examples, which was a bit messy.

Moreover, it is too idealized and theoretical, and is simply a mechanical, metaphysical, air-to-air model discussion.

But Zhuge Jin could see that this man was indeed capable of sophistry and deduction, but if he were to actually serve as an official, he might become a bit rigid and dull, unrealistic, and prone to talking big but doing nothing.

Especially when it talks about "ministers in the Warring States Period also chose their masters" at the beginning of the article, there are several sentences that make Zhuge Jin feel like he is reading a reverse version of Han Yu's "On Horses".

In the later imperial examination era, profits came from one source, so Han Yu lamented that "Bo Le is rare". However, in the era mentioned in this article, monarchs also competed with each other, so shouldn't Bo Le be common?

Just based on this point, Zhuge Jin also felt a little sympathy for this person.

After reading this article, Zhuge Jin looked at the others and found them not so amazing or shocking. Many of those articles were better written than this one, or their views were more mature and steady.

After reading all of them, Zhuge Jin asked someone to send the papers back. Because they had not been graded yet, the names on the papers could not be opened.

After a while, Deng Zhi came again to ask for instructions, hoping that Situ could also give some suggestions on scoring.

Zhuge Jin thought for a moment and said, "I can give you a score, but I won't interfere with your true thoughts. Let's give it to Kong Ming to have a look. Then he can write a score, fold it up and seal it in an envelope. I'll also write a score and seal it. After all the examiners have given their scores, we can open them together and take a look."

Zhuge Jin himself actually had a preference in his heart. He felt that such a person could be admitted, but he should not be allowed to be a prime minister in the future. If he was only allowed to do some purely theoretical political philosophy research and do some paper work, then that was fine. But if he was allowed to handle actual government affairs, it would be too mechanical and rigid, and it would be easy to cause problems.

But this cannot be said immediately, as saying it will definitely affect other people's ratings.

In the first imperial examination, there was no rule that "the final results must be approved by the emperor", which was also not in line with the established practice of the Han Dynasty - during the previous recommendation system, or when the Yangjia system was reformed, the examination was not judged by the emperor.

Historically, the emperor held the imperial examination in person and personally decided on the candidates for admission until the sixth year of Kaibao in the Song Dynasty (there were examinations in the Tang Dynasty in front of the emperor, but the emperor did not personally review the papers and decide the results).

Therefore, Zhuge Jin could not set a bad example of centralizing power, otherwise he would be despised by scholars all over the world. Liu Bei did not understand writing, and would not want to review the papers for the time being. Whether the emperor would need to review the papers in person in the future was a matter of the future. Liu Bei's authority was sufficient now, and he did not need to rely on the trick of "the emperor's disciple" to show favor to the scholars.

At worst, after Zhuge Jin and the examiners have reached their respective opinions, Zhuge Jin can go to the emperor to inform him and make a report, which will take care of both sides.

Deng Zhi got the order and went to check it out. Soon the Zhuge brothers' scoring opinions were received. The examiners also discussed a score on their own and wrote it on paper. Then they opened it to see Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang's opinions.

In the end, it was discovered that Brother Zhuge's score for that strange essay was still slightly higher than that of the other examiners, but that was normal. The other papers also had their own highs and lows, but the opinions of everyone were not very different.

After getting the scores, the examiners began to remove the names in accordance with the regulations and calculate the scores of the other two "objective questions".

In the end, it was discovered that the author of that strange article also had a very high score in the objective test. After Deng Zhi summarized the results, he reported it back to Zhuge Jin.

"Min Tu, we have counted the results. The author of this strange essay should be the one with the highest comprehensive score this year. Although his policy essays and classics are not the best, his mathematics is also good. This person is Ma Su, from Xiangyang, 24 years old. His brother Ma Liang is already an official in the court."

When Zhuge Jin heard this name, he couldn't help but feel relieved.

It turned out to be Ma Su. He was really good at theoretical debates. No wonder he could have a very successful conversation with Zhuge Liang on the art of war in history.

Unfortunately, the article is a bit shocking after all, and it dares to cite all kinds of examples.

Before deciding to hire this person, you should report to Liu Bei.

(End of this chapter)