Chapter 503 The Provincial Examination of the Ming Dynasty
Immediately following the military deployment, came the civil affairs turmoil in Jiangsu Province.
Du Yinxi inspected various prefectures and counties and got a preliminary understanding of the food shortage health centers in various places.
After one trip, Du Yinxi returned to Yangzhou, appearing silent and calm.
Everyone in Jiangsu Province breathed a sigh of relief. Unexpectedly, half a month later, the Inspectorate sent the censor down and arrested dozens of people, ranging from subordinate officials to county magistrates, and even involved the Chief Secretary and those who were envoys.
The three prefectures in southern Jiangsu, Songjiang, Suzhou and Changzhou, were even more empty.
Although the Ministry of Personnel had informed them in advance, they were still in a hurry to arrange for officials to be on standby.
Subsequently, word spread throughout Jiangsu Province that Du Yinxi had impeached Baire through a memorial, and for a time they were as fearful of him as a tiger.
He was even given the nickname "Guan Tu".
If it were during the time of peace, or in the middle and late dynasty, such inappropriate behavior and behavior that deviated from one's own bureaucratic class would inevitably lead to isolation and even affect the future.
However, this move was personally approved by the emperor, who strictly ordered the Inspectorate to go and file the case. Therefore, everyone in the central court knew that Du Yinxi Jian was in the heart of the emperor, and the officials of the six departments were just waiting for it.
However, Du Yinxi's move had an immediate effect, and the three provinces of southern Jiangsu immediately measured, estimated, and recovered the land for the guards.
As the saying goes, a millennium of land has eight hundred owners. Most of the land has been changing household owners for hundreds of years, making the lawsuit difficult and extremely complicated.
Some land was annexed and became part of the gentry; some land only had farm bones and the skin was cultivated by others; some land changed hands many times, and even the landowners did not know that they were military fields.
In this case, although the evil gentry can be punished, it will also involve a large number of farmers and cause them to be displaced.
Du Yinxi didn't want to force people to rebel, so he compromised partially.
For ordinary people, a relaxed policy is adopted:
That is, the court admitted that they occupied the land, but they had to buy back the land they occupied at half the price, otherwise they would take it back directly.
For those big gentry, they must buy back the land at market price.
Under the high pressure of the imperial court, the coercion of Yangzhou soldiers and horses, and the ruthlessness of Du Yinxi, many gentry had to compromise and spend a lot of gold and silver to redeem them.
Since then, Jiangsu's treasury has been full, and a large amount of gold and silver can be used to settle the military households and renovate the guards.
Du Yinxi immediately opened up the situation in Jiangsu, and his prestige grew rapidly.
Along with the impeachment, the shortage of subordinate officials in various counties was also placed on the emperor's desk.
Subordinate officials are not only related to taxation, but also a key part of the court's local governance, connecting the past and the next.
In contrast, Du Yinxi wrote a letter and proposed coping strategies. One was to select from the documents and re-select candidates.
Secondly, the government officials were flooded with scholars.
The former is experienced and the latter is innocent and obedient.
Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Therefore, the management and selection of subordinate officials were directly discussed formally by the cabinet.
The officialdom is divided into officials and officials. Among them, officials are also called subordinate officials. They are similar to the elected officials of the country in later generations. They are indispensable, hold important power, and will not be involved with the transfer of the chief official.
At the same time, subordinate officials have a low position but heavy weight, and the selection method is basically hereditary. As a result, there are countless things to control the chief officials. In order not to be fooled, the chief officials can only hire masters to help.
"As the saying goes, running water never rots."
Zhang Shenyan had long looked down upon subordinate officials and said bluntly: "Although county magistrates are elected every three years, they are often transferred before the term of office. However, those subordinate officials have been inherited from generation to generation, marrying and colluding with each other, and they are a fish and meat village."
"Moreover, His Majesty has also canceled his lowly status, which is like letting subordinate officials take off their chains and become more powerful."
"In view of the weak ministers, subordinate officials must also have fixed terms of office, and even use them in different places."
"What Zhang Cifu said is true!" Yan Chongxin on the side rarely spoke:
"The subordinate officials are despicable, and most of them are corvees. They are all morally corrupt people. They do not read the Four Books and Five Classics, and do not understand the righteousness of the saints. Therefore, they forget their righteousness and are despicable and shameless..."
After denigrating the subordinates to his heart's content, Yan Chongxin expressed the common feelings of civil servants, and then changed his tone:
"Therefore, when the imperial court requisitions, it can use more failed scholars to calm the minds of scholars."
In the past, I looked down upon subordinate officials because they were really without rank and rank. However, after Huguang reformed the system and increased the number of staff, the clerks in the six rooms of the county government were directly promoted to rank nine.
In this way, although he can be regarded as a subordinate official, he has already entered the mainstream and has an official status. This is very tempting to those fallen scholars.
Therefore, Yan Chongxin's intention is very clear, which is to let scholars serve as the scribes of the six houses to appease their injured hearts.
This can also be regarded as the purpose of implementing the imperial examination - to allow elites to enter the imperial court.
"It's not right!"
At this time, Zhao Shu shook his head.
He accompanied Sun Chuanting from the local area and had a deep understanding of local affairs. He frowned and said:
"Although those county magistrates and magistrates are familiar with scriptures, they can't cope with the subordinate officials and have to hire masters."
"And once a scholar is appointed as a clerk in six rooms, it will not only cut off the promotion paths of ordinary subordinate clerks, but also put them on the rack."
"At that time, we will have no choice but to let the subordinates manipulate us and treat the symptoms rather than the root cause."
The emperor listened and thought deeply.
The idea of being a superior official is something that is engraved in the genes of the subordinates and cannot be changed easily.
After all, those officials who have been sitting in the court still have a year and a half to observe the government, so they can avoid being distracted. But those scholars at the bottom who directly take office may really become living targets.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yixi couldn't help but think of the public examinations in later generations, squinted his eyes and said:
"This situation still needs to be restructured."
As he spoke, the emperor said loudly: "Only when scholars cross the single-plank bridge with thousands of troops and horses can they become officials and become masters. Why can those subordinate officials be exempted from the commonplace?"
After that, under the astonished gazes of several people, the emperor said bluntly: "The imperial examination is called the official examination, but for the official examination, I can call it the provincial examination."
"Provincial exam?" Zhao Shu and others frowned, and their hearts trembled when they heard the word exam.
"That's right." The emperor said excitedly: "In the past, those subordinate officials were promoted by local officials and private offices, so collusion was inevitable."
"Now, I intend to let the provincial officials pass the provincial examination to select the provincial officials, so as to avoid any favoritism."
At this point, the emperor began to talk eloquently.
First, make statistics on the vacancies of scribes in a province, and then recruit them across the province.
Secondly, in the examination, the four local chariots, namely the governor, the chief envoy, the inspector, and the academic administrator, will invigilate the examination and set the questions.
The scope of the questions is not limited to the Four Books and Five Classics, but local practical matters, such as arithmetic, local customs, etc.
The registration threshold is extremely low, as long as you can read three thousand words, have neat handwriting, and have a clean background.
These people were gathered together, passed examinations, selected scribes, and then assigned to various yamen one after another.
After all, whether it is the three envoys, government offices, or county offices, they are all eager for scribes.