宋璟
In 730, Pei was made "Shizhong" (侍中), the head of the examination bureau and a post considered one for a chancellor. He was also soon given the additional post as the minister of civil service affairs (吏部尚書, "Libu Shangshu"), in charge of selecting officials. Prior to Pei's serving as minister of civil service affairs, Tang civil service selections were said to be focused on a person's abilities. Pei changed the system that seniority became the most important factor, such that unless someone was shown to have committed an offense, no one with less seniority could leap over him. It was said that the mediocre officials who had been stuck at low positions were happy about Pei's changes and called his proposal, "the holy proposal," but those with abilities were angry at the change. Despite strenuous objections by the senior advisor Song Jing, Emperor Xuanzong adopted Pei's proposal. Pei was also made an imperial scholar at Hongwen Pavilion (弘文館). He thereafter submitted two works "Yaoshan Wangze" (瑤山往則) and "Weicheng Qiangui" (維城前軌) as advice to Emperor Xuanzong. Emperor Xuanzong praised the works and awarded him with silk. However, when Pei proposed a more ambitious work—a series of biographies in the tradition of the "Zuo Zhuan", to be written by a team of scholars selected by him, including Li Rong (李融), Zhang Qi (張琪), and Sima Libin (司馬利賓), the project did not make progress and was eventually abandoned.