After the two of them finished eating, Cha Ji came in and served them freshly made tea. Zhou Kuan took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "I feel like His Highness has something to say to me?"
Chen Qing nodded, "Today one of my soldiers came back and told me some things about his hometown, which is Fengxiang Prefecture."
Zhou Kuan chuckled and said: "I know that their county magistrate is called Li Zhe. I promoted him back then. He was just a small superintendent in the past. I found him very capable. I asked him questions that the county magistrate couldn't answer. He
His answers were fluent and he knew the situation in Xi County very well, so I made an exception and promoted him to the position of chief secretary. That was eight years ago, and now he has been promoted to the county magistrate."
"But what I want to talk about today is the county workers of Xi County!"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "Of course, this county engineer Tian Kuang was also recommended by the county magistrate Li Zhe. He used to be Li Zhe's staff. He has been very prosperous in the past few months, building bridges and roads, and even more recently.
He organized more than 10,000 people to build water conservancy projects. The key to his ability to do so well was the strong support from the county magistrate."
Zhou Kuan understood what Chen Qing meant and said with a wry smile: "Your Highness, this is just a special case!"
"No! This is not a special case."
Chen Qing did not agree with Zhou Kuan’s definition, “I think this is the success of decentralization. We have previously defined the functions of county workers as assistants to the county magistrate. It is more convenient for the county magistrate to recommend county workers.
Cooperation makes it easier to get things done, and Xi County is the best example of realizing my intention!"
"Your Highness, there are also deep disadvantages here!"
Chen Qing waved his hand and asked the tea girl next to him to step back, and asked: "Tell me, what are the disadvantages of this?"
"There are three disadvantages. First, the relationship with the state government. We all know that county officials, except for the county magistrate, are generally recommended by the state government to the Ministry of Personnel, and then the Ministry of Personnel determines them through evaluation. But the county officials
The power of recommendation is given to the county magistrate, which undoubtedly deprives the state government of its power and will cause dissatisfaction with the state government."
"Then what?" Chen Qing asked quietly.
"The second thing is that if you meet a good county magistrate, you can recommend talents, but if you meet a fatuous or even corrupt magistrate, you will collude, especially when the county magistrate is responsible for spending money. If the two of them collude, I'm afraid
At least half of the one hundred guan will be embezzled by them; thirdly, people from the Mingjing Department can also be county workers. Doesn’t this go against His Highness’s original intention of running the Imperial College and establishing the Industrial and Mathematical Department?”
Chen Qing nodded and said with a smile: "I have considered these three questions you mentioned. Let's talk about your third question first! Haven't you noticed? There are not many enrollments in Taixue this year, only a hundred people. After all these years,
In practice, I found that Taixue is more suitable for training researchers. The students there are not suitable to be local officials. Taixue students are generally shy and introverted. How can they organize civilians to do things with such a personality?
In fact, it was you who reminded me before that the county job does not depend on whether he understands technology or not. The key is that he can employ people. This is a change that I made after careful consideration. As for the engineering and calculation department, I don’t understand the situation this year. I applied for the scholarship.
Basically, they are all Taipei students, and all those who passed the exam are Taipei students, so I plan to cancel the engineering and calculations subject in the next imperial examination."
Zhou Kuan and other political officials knew that His Highness had made up his mind to establish the official position of county worker and would not change it, so they settled for the next best thing. They hoped that the county worker, like other county officials, would be best appointed through the imperial examination.
Wang did change, but he lowered the standard to Ming Jing Ke and paid more attention to practical ability. Everyone agreed on this. After all, county workers are practical officers who deal with the people. However, His Highness gave the power of recommendation to the county magistrate.
Everyone had some criticisms.
"Your Highness, this arrangement is more reasonable. One of the big reasons why everyone opposed it before is that county workers are substantive officers and must have strong ability to deal with the people. This requires many years of experience to accumulate. It is by no means as superficial as a university student.
The young man in charge is capable of doing the job, but isn’t it inappropriate for the county magistrate to recommend him?”
Chen Qing said calmly: "The rules are set by people. In fact, there is no difference between the county magistrate's recommendation and the governor's recommendation. The key is the decision of the officials. Just like the collusion you just mentioned, if the county magistrate's reputation is not high and his evaluation is average, then he
The Ministry of Civil Affairs will not accept the recommended officials and will definitely send another official. The key to Tian Kuang's successful recommendation is that Li Zhe's own evaluation is good. Furthermore, the county magistrate, county captain and chief registrar all have the right to recommend.
There is nothing wrong with the governor delegating the power of recommending a county worker to the county magistrate."
"Has Your Highness considered that the increased status of the custodian will vacate the county magistrate, so on the other hand, he will supplement the county magistrate's real power?"
Chen Qing nodded, "I have some considerations in this regard, but the more important reason is to hope that the county can do things smoothly. After all, the county magistrate also wants political achievements, and a capable helper is conducive to achieving political achievements."
"I understand His Highness's consideration. You can ask Suzhengtai to send out observers to inspect various places to understand the situation in the county."
The Suzhengtai is the Yushitai. It is relatively independent of the Internal Affairs Hall and is not controlled by the Zhengshitang. It reports directly to the monarch. This is also a means used by monarchs in the past dynasties to control the court. Once impeached by the Yushi, unless it is pardoned by the king
, otherwise you will definitely be dismissed from office. After all, everyone makes mistakes and there are reasons for it. It just depends on whether the king cares.
"Okay, I'll tell Zhang Shun and let him make an annual plan."
Returning to the official room, Pei Wenjin, who joined the army, reported at the door: "Your Highness, just now Lu Shen has something urgent to do about politics!"
Chen Qing nodded, "Invite him over and say I'm free now."
Pei Wenjin is this year's imperial examination champion, a native of Jiangzhou, Hedong Road. The Pei family is a local wealthy family and is in the same line as the Wenxi Pei family of the Tang Dynasty.
Wei Bo, who came second in this year's imperial examination, and Li Jinyao, who came third in the imperial examination, both, like Pei Wenjin, chose to join the army for King Yong, which made other officials complain.
Not long after, Lu Qingshan hurried over and said to Chen Qing: "I received news from the Yanshan Road Intelligence Agency this morning. Yang Qin, the Secretary of the Ministry of War of the Jin Kingdom, wants to join our Yong Kingdom and begs for our help."
Chen Qing knew about Yang Qin, a former Han minister of the Liao Kingdom who later surrendered to the Jin Kingdom. It was said that he had some secret dealings with the Song Dynasty, and he didn't know why he wanted to seek refuge with him again.
"What happened?"
Lu Qingshan said: "The Intelligence Department doesn't know much about the situation. It just roughly infers that it is related to the internal fighting in the Jin Kingdom. It is said that the fight broke out between Wanyan Wushu and Wanyanchang. Yang Qin is Wanyanchang's man, and he is leaving.
, Wan Yanchang must be in trouble."
Chen Qing thought for a long time and said: "You can help him!"
"Your Highness, do you want to use this person?"
"How can it be!"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "I just want to understand the internal situation of the Jin Kingdom through him. He is a Han official of the Liao Kingdom. How can I use him to let them live in Yanshan Mansion and save their lives?"
"I understand, I will arrange for the Intelligence Agency to help them evacuate!"
Chen Qing shook his head and said: "The Intelligence Agency alone may not be enough. I will ask the internal security guards to participate and help them evacuate by water. You can ask people from the Intelligence Agency to contact this person, but be careful not to expose them."