What effect did having a bureaucracy of scholar-officials have on the song dynasty in medieval China?

What effect did having a bureaucracy of scholar-officials have on the song dynasty in medieval China? It created a stable and efficient government. The position occupied by the scholar elite in Chinese society has led to social and political change in China. The virtues of the scholars were appreciated in times of cultural upheaval, when their role was to defend moral values. The imperial bureaucracy was the main road to success (academic). This bureaucracy was useful to the extent that placed the public good above the private. The art of the scholar was encouraged by the demands of Chinese society.

In the early Northern Song, the government bureaucracy was staffed entirely by scholar-officials (civil examination system). The counties, divided into provinces, were governed through an imperial bureaucracy of ranked degree-holding officials. Because the governmental superstructure was thinly spread, it was heavily invested in the binding social force and in the use of harsh punishment.