Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 503 The Provincial Examination of Ming Dynasty

Immediately following the military deployment was the disturbance in the administration of officials in Jiangsu Province.

Du Yinxi inspected various prefectures and counties, and had a preliminary understanding of the food shortage guards in various places.

After walking for a while, Du Yinxi returned to Yangzhou, looking silent and calm.

Everyone in Jiangsu Province breathed a sigh of relief, but half a month later, the Inspectorate sent the censor down, and directly locked up dozens of people, ranging from subordinate officials to county magistrates, and even involved the chief secretary and inspectors.

The three prefectures in southern Jiangsu, Songjiang, Suzhou, and Changzhou, were even more empty.

Although the Ministry of Officials said hello in advance, it was still in a hurry to arrange officials to be alternates.

Afterwards, Du Yinxi's great achievements in impeachment and impeachment were circulated throughout Jiangsu Province, and he was terrified of him for a while.

He even gave him the nickname "Guan Tu".

If it is in a time of peace, or in the middle and late stages of the dynasty, such untimely behavior and behavior that deviates from one's own bureaucratic class will inevitably be isolated and even affect the future.

But this move was personally approved by the emperor, and the inspectorate was strictly ordered to file the case, so everyone in the court center knew that the Duyinxi slip was in the emperor's heart, and the six officials were just waiting.

However, Du Yinxi's move had an immediate effect, and the three provinces in southern Jiangsu immediately measured, estimated, and took back the land of the guard.

As the so-called millennium land, eight hundred owners, most of the land has been changing household owners for hundreds of years, which makes it difficult to settle the lawsuit and is extremely complicated.

Some land was annexed and became part of the gentry; some land had only field bones, and the skin was cultivated by others; some land changed hands many times, and even the landlord did not know that he was military land.

In this case, although the evil gentry can be punished, it will also involve a large number of peasants and cause them to be displaced.

Du Yinxi didn't want to force rebellion, so he compromised part of it.

For those ordinary people, a moderate policy is adopted:
That is, the imperial court admitted that they had occupied the land, but they had to buy back the land they occupied at half the price, or they would take it back directly.

As for those big gentry, they must buy back the land at the market price.

Under the high pressure of the imperial court, the coercion of Yangzhou soldiers and horses, and Du Yinxi's cruelty, many gentry had to compromise and spent a lot of gold and silver to buy it.

Since then, the treasury of Jiangsu has been full, and a large amount of gold and silver can be used to house those military households and renovate the guards.

Du Yinxi immediately opened up the situation in Jiangsu, and his prestige grew rapidly.

With the impeachment, the scarcity of subordinate officials in various counties was also placed on the emperor's table.

Subordinate officials are not only related to taxation, but also a key part of the court's governance of the local area, linking the past and the future.

In contrast, Du Yinxi wrote a letter and put forward coping strategies. One is to select from the documents and re-select candidates.

Secondly, Jian Ba ​​scholars flooded the yamen.

The former is experienced, while the latter is innocent and obedient.

Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

As a result, the management and selection of subordinate staff 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 officials who elect the country in later generations. They are indispensable and hold important powers, and they will not be involved with the transfer of chief officials.

At the same time, the position of the subordinate staff is low and powerful, and the selection method is basically hereditary, so there are countless things to manipulate the chief officials. In order not to be fooled, the chief officials can only hire the help of the master.

"As the saying goes, flowing water does not rot."

Zhang Shenyan had long disliked subordinate officials, and said bluntly: "Although county magistrates are appointed every three years, they are often transferred before the term of office is reached, and those subordinate officials are inherited from generation to generation, marrying and colluding with each other, and they are in the fish and meat village."

"Besides, His Majesty has also revoked the humble status, which is like letting the subordinates lose their chains and become more powerful."

"In the opinion of humble ministers, subordinate officials have to set terms of office, and even use them in different places."

"What Zhang Cifu said is true!" Yan Chongxin who was on the side said rarely:
"The subordinates are humble, and most of them are corvee workers. They are all people with corrupt morals. They are different from the Four Books and Five Classics, and they don't know the righteousness of the saints. Therefore, they forget righteousness when they see profit, and are despicable and shameless..."

After belittling the subordinate officials to his heart's content, Yan Chongxin expressed the general feelings of civil servants, and then changed his voice:
"Therefore, when the imperial court requisitions, it can use more scholars who have failed in the ranks, and use the heart of the scholars."

I used to look down on subordinate officials because they had no rank or rank, but Huguang reformed the system and increased the establishment, and the clerks of the sixth house of the county government directly entered the ranks, which became the ninth rank.

In this way, although he can be regarded as a subordinate official, he has already entered the ranks and has an official status, which is extremely tempting for those scholars who have fallen out of rank.

So Yan Chongxin's meaning is very clear, that is, let the scholars act as the clerks who are the head of the sixth house.Soothe their broken hearts.

This can also be regarded as the purpose of implementing the imperial examination-letting elites enter the court.

"It's not right!"

At this time, Zhao Shu shook his head.

He came out from the local area with Sun Chuanting, and he has a deep understanding of local affairs. At this time, he frowned and said:
"Although those magistrates and magistrates are familiar with the scriptures, they can't deal with those subordinates, so they have to hire masters."

"And once scholars are used as the six-room scribes, it will not only cut off the promotion channels of ordinary subordinates, but also set them up and roast them."

"At that time, it will only be at the mercy of the subordinate staff, treating the symptoms but not the root cause."

The emperor listened and took it for granted.

Overhead Shangguan is something engraved in the genes of the subordinate staff, and it cannot be easily changed.

Those officials who sit in the hall have to watch politics for a year or so at least, and they can't avoid being ostracized, and those low-level scholars who take office directly, I'm afraid they really become living targets.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yixi couldn't help thinking of the public exams for later generations, squinting his eyes and saying:
"In this situation, we still have to restructure it."

As he said that, the emperor said in a loud voice: "Thousands of scholars cross the single-plank bridge before they can become officials and masters. Why are those subordinate officials exempt from vulgarity?"

After all, under the astonished eyes 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 the others frowned, and their hearts trembled when they heard the word exam.

"That's right." The emperor cheered up and said, "In the past, those subordinate officials were all promoted by the local government's private office, so it was inevitable that they would collude."

"Now, I intend to pass the provincial examination and select the provincial officials, so as to avoid acts of favoritism."

Speaking of this, the emperor talked endlessly.

First, count the vacancies of clerks in a province, and then face the recruitment of the whole province.

Secondly, in the examination, the local quartet, that is, the governor, the chief envoy, the procurator, and the Xuezheng, together invigilate the examination and formulate the questions.

The scope of the questions is not the Four Books and Five Classics, but local practice, such as arithmetic, local customs and so on.

The entry threshold is extremely low, as long as you can read [-] characters, have neat handwriting, and have a clean background.

Gather these people together, pass the exam, select scribes, and then distribute them to various yamen one after another.

After all, no matter whether it is the Sanshi yamen, the government yamen or the county yamen, they are very eager for scribes.

(End of this chapter)