Wang Linjiang, the new Minister of Education, looked at his memorial in a daze.
He was weighing the pros and cons of this memorial regarding the reform of the imperial examination and whether to submit it to the imperial court.
Wang Linjiang is a very aggressive person and does not have the support of the governor of Fujian.
Mawei Shipyard wants to transform from a civilian shipyard into a military shipyard and develop an Emperor-class ironclad battleship. This is simply impossible.
The reason why Wang Linjiang did this was to bet on the success of Mawei Shipyard.
The Fujian area is too mountainous to develop agriculture.
There are not many local industrial sites, and they cannot compete with those in neighboring Guangdong and Zhejiang.
Fujian must have its own outstanding industries, so Wang Linjiang's political achievements are outstanding and stand out from many governors.
Positions in the officialdom are limited, so you can stand out a year earlier and be promoted to a higher position earlier.
This is the difference between whether you can enter the cabinet or not.
Wang Linjiang saw that many of his predecessors and peers had no choice but to earn qualifications in local places due to lack of opportunities. They were exhausted and lacked the energy to move forward.
His choice at the time was extremely correct. The success of Mawei Shipyard directly led to the take-off of Fujian's shipbuilding industry chain.
He, the governor of Fujian, was also promoted to Minister of Education for his merit.
The prospects for ministers like them who have been governors are completely different from those who have been working in the central government.
Emperor Su He set several rules for the officialdom at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. As time went by, some rules have ceased to exist in name only.
However, the two red lines of civil and military separation and grassroots experience have never wavered.
Officials who want to join the cabinet must have served as a local governor.
Ministers who have not served as governors cannot join the cabinet even if there is a vacancy in the cabinet.
If these officials want to join the cabinet, they must go to local places to gain experience.
Some officials are not suitable to work in the local area, no matter how rich their background is, they will become disgraced in the local area.
Officials who sink like this often appear.
Of the ten officials who were decentralized, not one of them might be able to come out.
For an official like Wang Linjiang who had served as governor, he was only one step away from joining the cabinet when the opportunity arose.
These officials should express themselves in front of Emperor Su He.
While leaving a deep impression on Emperor Su He, he must also have sufficient achievements in the officialdom.
Only in this way can you be nominated, get the emperor's permission, and become a member of the cabinet ministers.
Wang Linjiang was very anxious. Some of the cabinet ministers in this term have been in office for a long time.
Officials have a ten-year term, which is also one of the red lines of the empire.
There are many ways to circumvent this requirement in various ministries and localities, such as transferring to a different position.
However, there is no position to be transferred in the cabinet, and you must quit the cabinet after serving for ten years.
Wang Linjiang believes that Emperor Su He introduced this regulation mainly to limit the power of the prime minister.
Even if he is a powerful minister, he can only be a powerful minister for ten years.
The ten-year term of the cabinet prime minister is enough for them to implement some policies, but it is certainly not enough to seek government and usurp the throne.
Wang Linjiang must have enough achievements now so that he can compete for a cabinet position in the future.
If the Minister of Education wants to achieve the impressive feats of Emperor Su He, he can only reform the imperial examination.
The imperial examinations in the empire have been held for so many years, and there must be some outdated things that must be improved.
However, the imperial examination is the cornerstone of the stability of the empire's rule. Once public resentment boils over the reform, he, the Ministry of Education, will be the first to bear the brunt and can only step down to apologize.
Wang Linjiang is hesitating. He is following his predecessor's approach and letting the imperial examination be completed step by step. He will not bear any responsibility.
It's better to take a gamble and submit this memorial to the emperor. As long as it gets the approval of Emperor Su He, even if it means taking some responsibility, it will be worthwhile.
Wang Linjiang lit a cigarette and kept thinking about the pros and cons of this matter in his mind.
He finally threw the cigarette on the ground and crushed the cigarette butt with his shoe.
"Fight."
As soon as Wang Linjiang walked out of the room, he heard officials from the Ministry of Education discussing that the imperial court had decided to increase the number of Jinshi scholars admitted this year, adding a full thirty Enke Jinshi quotas.
He was a little surprised. This should be a decision made by the Imperial Council.
However, the Imperial Council's discussion of the imperial examinations was inseparable from him, the Minister of Education.
Under normal circumstances, there were no issues related to the imperial examination in today's imperial meeting.
In this situation, it is no surprise that the imperial meeting went off topic.
Wang Linjiang understood the specific situation clearly, and he immediately headed to the palace with the memorial under his arm.
The trouble he had expected before turned into a very simple matter after Emperor Su He decided to increase the number of additional Jinshi places.
The essence of the reform of the imperial examination that Wang Linjiang wants to carry out is to adjust the quota of Jinshi in each province, which will inevitably face strong opposition from those who take the examination.
Now that the biggest conflict has been resolved, even if the scholars have some complaints, at least there will be no bloody conflict.
Wang Linjiang has already weighed the benefits of this imperial examination reform in his mind.
He is just making up for some problems in the current imperial examination. If it really causes bloody conflicts, it will be more than worth the gain.
Wang Linjiang stood waiting outside the Qianqing Palace. The memorial he wrote had been delivered to the emperor through the eunuch.
He was in a nervous mood, waiting for the emperor Su He's summons in the pavilion of Qianqing Palace.
Wang Linjiang looked at the time on his watch repeatedly. He waited for half an hour and nothing happened.
He is now very anxious and wonders about Emperor Su He's views on the reform of the imperial examination system.
If Emperor Su He is satisfied with the current situation of the imperial examination.
Wang Linjiang chose Shangshu to propose the reform of the imperial examination system, which was a very unwise approach.
He will definitely be laughed at for decades, and he will not be able to serve as Minister of Education for long.
The best outcome is to waste decades in the same place.
While Wang Linjiang was thinking wildly, the little eunuch had already arrived at the pavilion.
He politely invited: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty is waiting for you at Qianqing Palace.
You follow me into Qianqing Palace."
Wang Linjiang politely raised his hands and thanked him: "Thank you, father-in-law, for leading the way."
With an anxious mood, he followed the young eunuch to the Qianqing Palace.
Wang Linjiang saw Emperor Su He sitting at the table drinking tea out of the corner of his eye.
Prince Su Shu was reading through the memorials he had written.
This chapter is not over yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading! Wang Linjiang immediately bowed and saluted: "I, Wang Linjiang, Minister of Education, pay my respects to Your Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince."
Emperor Su He ordered: "Give Wang Aiqing a seat."
The young eunuchs immediately brought a chair and placed it next to Wang Linjiang.
After Wang Linjiang thanked him again, he sat on the chair tremblingly.
Emperor Su He asked: "I have read the memorial written by Wang Aiqing.
Wang Aiqing believes that the current imperial examination has many drawbacks and needs to be reformed, so let's talk about it.
As long as it is beneficial to the empire and the people, I am still willing to accept it with an open mind."
When Wang Linjiang heard what Emperor Su He said, the idea that he had been worried about the impossibility of implementing the imperial examination reform disappeared from his mind.
Emperor Su He had a very clear idea. As long as it was beneficial to the empire and the royal family, the imperial examination reform would be supported by Emperor Su He.
Wang Linjiang wanted to gain merit, but he was not a fool. The reform of the imperial examination must cater to the interests of the empire and the royal family.
Now was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He organized his language and began to tell Emperor Su He and Prince Su Shu about his planned imperial examination reform.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness the Crown Prince, the reforms in the imperial examinations made by me are only based on the examination results over the years.
Organized data and conducted analysis.
My conclusion may not be comprehensive, so please forgive me for your Majesty and His Royal Highness."
Prince Su Shu closed the memorial and said with surprise: "Wang Shangshu wrote this memorial very comprehensively.
After watching it, I was very touched.
Wang Shangshu, please speak boldly about your thoughts. I feel that there are many unfinished meanings in this memorial."
Wang Linjiang was encouraged by Prince Su Shu, who pointed out the areas where the imperial examination needed to be reformed.
"Your Majesty, the imperial examination is no longer a fair examination, but depends on the relationship between the scholars."
When Prince Su Shu heard this, he was still very angry.
The most important thing about the imperial examination is fairness, impartiality and openness.
Even a child from a poor family can get into a suitable school based on his own abilities.
The imperial examination was the most suitable way for the empire to recruit talents.
In the empire, whether there are peaceful talents or restless talents, they will enter the officialdom through the imperial examination.
When they contribute to the country, they also tie these smart people to officialdom.
The people most capable of overthrowing the royal rule are this group of smart people.
Once they become bandits, it will be a great threat to the empire.
Since the emergence of the imperial examination system, peasant uprisings have mostly caused destruction and rarely succeeded.
The main reason is that the smartest people have passed the imperial examination and entered the officialdom.
Unless the leaders of the peasant uprising are talented, the peasant uprising will inevitably fail.
Prince Su Shu knew that the openness, justice and fairness of the imperial examination must be maintained even in public.
He asked with some confusion: "Wang Shangshu, I think the imperial examinations in the empire are okay. At least there are very few cases of fraud in the imperial examinations."
Wang Linjiang heard Prince Su Shu ask a very simple question.
He happily answered: "There are fewer cheaters in the imperial examination now. Those are the questions in the imperial examination, and only a few of them have fixed answers.
Most of the test content does not have fixed answers, such as policy analysis.
Candidates can never write exactly the same policy, then even a fool can tell that the exam is cheating."
Wang Linjiang saw that Prince Su Shu was silent, and he continued what he had just said.
“There are two main aspects that undermine the fairness of the imperial examination.
Both aspects are related to the imperial court's regulations on the number of Jinshi scholars in each province.
The imperial examinations in the Jiangnan area were very easy and the quality of the candidates was also very high.
The Jiangnan region was also one of the richer regions of the empire.
Some candidates’ elders believe that if they stay in Jiangnan, they will never pass the exam.
They choose to immigrate to provinces such as Nanyang, Northern and Western regions where education is underdeveloped.
They took advantage of the quotas in these provinces to pass the Jinshi examination.
This happened in Yili Province, where the local Jinshi could not even speak a word of the local dialect.
They all speak Wu Nong's soft language, and they are all immigrants who took the imperial examination, not legitimate immigrants.
Another thing that affects fairness is still the quota of Jinshi.
The imperial court stipulated that if local taxes reached a certain amount, the number of local Jinshi could be increased.
Jiangnan, Nanyang and other places all have extremely developed economies.
The number of Jinshi in these areas increases every year.
On the contrary, in poor areas, they only have a small number of Jinshi.
This gap is getting bigger and bigger, and the voices of wealthy areas are very loud in the court.
In a poor and borderland place, few officials could speak for him.
As a result, the court's resources will inevitably be tilted toward wealthy areas, while the costs will be borne by poor areas.
This will inevitably lead to alienation between the border areas and the imperial court.
It will be very harmful to the future rule of the empire."
When Emperor Su He heard this statement from Wang Linjiang, Minister of Education, he fell into deep thought.
The Ming Dynasty was kidnapped by the Donglin Party, and all the policies issued by the court were basically beneficial to Jiangnan.
On the contrary, the poor northwest continues to face various assessments and taxes.
The local people could not bear it, and coupled with natural and man-made disasters, a peasant uprising broke out.
It was under this situation that Su He took advantage of the situation.
He has learned the lesson of the Ming Dynasty's demise.
I didn't expect that the imperial examination had such big loopholes. The previous imperial examination policy was indeed unfair.
Emperor Su He asked with satisfaction: "Wang Aiqing, the loopholes in the imperial examination should indeed be filled as soon as possible.
But I think your approach is a bit radical.
It’s not a good idea to withdraw your words at will just as you made them at the beginning.”
Wang Linjiang heard that Emperor Su He's tone was not so firm.
He patiently advised: "Your Majesty, the unfairness of the imperial examination has already occurred before the candidates entered the examination room.
The empire is now trying to remedy the situation to avoid greater consequences.
The essence of the unfairness of the imperial examination lies in the distribution of Jinshi quotas.
As long as the imperial court cancels the relevant policy of allocating Jinshi quotas to each province, no one will try to take advantage of the loopholes.
Of course, in order to ensure complete relaxation, after speaking according to the results.
Due to insufficient educational resources in border areas, there is not even a single Jinshi.
The imperial court could stipulate that each province should have at least one Jinshi, and the rest would be awarded based on the results of the scientific examination.
Merchants paid taxes as a matter of course, and the court had rewarded them with titles.
Local economic development is what the governor should do.
The governor who fails to do this will definitely be dismissed.
For the sake of fairness, the imperial examination should not determine the number of Jinshi according to the tax ranking of each province.
Because it is a quota obtained through taxation, the governor's office in some places is afraid that the local large taxpayers will run away.
They even used the Jinshi quota to make deals to retain large taxpayers.
Doing this would greatly dampen the enthusiasm of some scholars for the imperial examination."
After Wang Linjiang finished speaking, he looked at the performance of Emperor Su He and Prince Su Shu.
Emperor Su He's performance was very calm. He was thinking about the problem with his eyes closed.
Prince Su Shu's eyes widened. He didn't expect that the imperial examination, which he thought was very clean, had so many twists and turns.
Emperor Su He thought for a long time and thought about the problems and solutions raised by Wang Linjiang.
There are certain merits, but the reason for reforming the imperial examination just for this reason is still too far-fetched.
Emperor Su He listened to Wang Linjiang's unfinished tone.
He asked with a serious expression: "Wang Aiqing, I feel that there is an unspoken reason in your words."
Wang Linjiang knew that he had said so much and there was no turning back.
He wiped the sweat from his head with his hand, took two deep breaths, and then said: "Your Majesty, I am an official who came up from the grassroots level.
Immigration through the imperial examination is really the immigration of wealthy businessmen, and the problem is relatively easy to solve.
Many officials used transfer orders to enable children to succeed in their studies in Jiangnan and go to areas where competition is not fierce to take the provincial examination.
After obtaining the title of Juren, he went to Beijing to take the exam.
If this situation does not change, it is likely that aristocratic families will emerge in the empire."
When Emperor Su He heard this, he snorted coldly.
He has a very thorough understanding of the dangers of aristocratic families.