In 657, he was made assistant to the head of the examination bureau (門下省, Menxia Sheng), but continued to be responsible for civil service affairs.
As he saw faults in the civil service selection process, he submitted a petition to Emperor Gaozong to request changes, and in the excerpts quoted by the Old Book of Tang,[2] he raised six points—that the civil selection process was selecting too many people who were not virtuous; that the people chosen were simply too numerous; that there was insufficient attention paid to selecting diligent students of Confucianism; that awards should be given to people who recommended new talent; that the officials should be given longer office terms so that they would have time to carry out their plans; and that as it currently student, the prominent clans' members were declining important secretarial posts, which they viewed to be below their social station, when such posts were actually quite important in efficient imperial government.
Later that year, on account of Liu's participation in revising the regulations on imperial ceremonies, his title was upgraded to Marquess of Yangcheng.
It was said that whenever he dealt with serious cases, he carefully deliberated with a heavy heart, and whenever he submitted recommendations of execution to the emperor, he would fast on that day.
Liu rebutted their recommendations, pointing out the absurdity of adopting Han regulations that were written for a different structure of government.