"As a person, you should be cautious and careful when you are alone. As an official, you should also be cautious and think carefully. You should not be rash or hasty."
"I think everyone is curious about why the palace examination would test these things. It's not just about selecting the top ten Jinshi, but also about selecting local officials."
"There are urgent vacancies for county magistrates, county magistrates, clerks, and other basic officials in various places. If you have talent, even if you are not a Jinshi, we will consider whether you can be appointed to a local official position based on your answers."
"As for how many people will be appointed as officials, it depends on your own efforts."
A single stone caused a thousand ripples. Those who had not answered the questions looked at Qin Wan in surprise, and those who were answering the questions also stopped writing.
The students still didn't believe this talkative princess. Even though she was the princess, she was still a woman after all!
How can you participate in politics? How can your words count?
The students all looked at the emperor.
The brave ones asked:
"Your Majesty, is what the Crown Princess said true?"
The emperor raised his eyelids and glanced at the students. The sight made his scalp tingle, and he could not help but lower his head. He said slowly: "I have been ill for a long time, and the management of the government has long been handed over to the Crown Prince. The Crown Princess Changping is extremely talented and has made great contributions to the cultivation of fine crops. She has increased the grain production of our Great Zhou by more than two stone!"
"Furthermore, Changping has also developed cheap paper and has made the formula public, allowing students in the Great Zhou Dynasty to have books to read and paper to use. This kind of magnanimity will surely be remembered for generations to come."
"It's a pity to have such a talent imprisoned in the harem. Therefore, I asked her to come and see this palace examination, to see the efforts our Great Zhou has made in cultivating talents, and to see how our Great Zhou selects talents."
"This proposal for selecting officials was put forward by Changping. Ten people are only enough to fill the vacancies in the court, but far from enough for local officials. If you have the ability, you can still become an official even if you don't pass the imperial examination. If you don't have the ability, you should go back and learn how to be a good official."
The emperor has said so, what else can the students say?
I can only bow and say: "Your Majesty is wise!"
The emperor leaned back on the dragon throne with his eyes closed, and the officials in the hall were silent.
For a moment, the only sounds were the sounds of grinding ink and writing.
After an hour and a half, the students put down their pens.
The young eunuch stepped forward and led the students to a side hall to rest and drink tea. Eunuch Zhang and Lord Yu collected the papers one by one and presented them to the emperor.
The emperor was a little tired, so he just raised his hand and said, "Look, I'll be the last to see."
Eunuch Zhang handed the papers to Qin Wanwan and Xie Qing. They picked up a few papers at random. Lord Yu and others divided them among themselves, cross-examined them, and finally discussed them. The best papers were handed over to the emperor for review.
The emperor was also careful. He not only looked at the top ten candidates, but also quickly flipped through everyone's papers.
Put aside those long speeches full of Zhihu nonsense and moral talk for now, and only read those that have substance.
Sun Quanxue's ranking was neither too high nor too low, just in the top 20. If the ranking was based on the top three in the palace examination, he would also be in the top two.
The emperor was very satisfied with Sun Quanxue's achievements. He nodded and picked up a pen to circle a few names outside the ten. "Since this student Sun has already found a place to go, there's no need to make any other arrangements. Send these people to Guangling and hand them over to the Guangling prefect. He always complains to me about not having enough manpower, so this time I'll give him five and let him lead them. Whether he can use them is entirely up to him."
After the emperor finished speaking, he closed his eyes slightly. At first glance, he seemed to be in deep thought. Only Eunuch Zhang knew that he was tired.
Eunuch Zhang quietly picked up the medicinal tea and handed it over: "Your Majesty, have a cup of tea."
The emperor straightened up, took the tea and drank a few sips, then he regained his spirit. He couldn't die. Now everyone knew that his illness was not serious, and only the prince could control those old foxes in the court. If he died suddenly, the prince would not be able to control them, and it would be easy for disaster to happen.
Once the court's struggles spread to the people, it would be a disaster.
The emperor was so tired that he wanted to drink some medicinal tea to refresh himself, but his face didn't show any fatigue at all. He picked up the pen and circled a few people, then said to Qin Wan, "Changping, you come."
Qin Wan had never expected that when she arrived at the official's place, he would still have matters of her own to attend to. She quickly stepped forward to greet him, "Father, please give me your instructions."
The emperor showed her the circled names. "Shenyang is your fiefdom. Remember, Shenyang punished many officials due to the drought. They're short of manpower, right? What do you think of these people?"
Qin Wan subconsciously wanted to see, but she also knew that she couldn't be too proactive. The people who were the prefects of Guangling were all appointed by the emperor. How could she choose one?
She simply lowered her head and refused: "Father, this is against etiquette."
The emperor said nonchalantly, "I told you to look, so look."
Qin Wan stepped forward and took a look at the circled names. She remembered these people and they were considered to have performed very well. The emperor was clearly biased.
You have to know that Shenyang is now her fiefdom, even if it is her private property, all the taxes in Shenyang are given to her. She nodded and smiled, "These people are very good. Most of the county magistrates and county magistrates around Shenyang have been laid off, and they haven't been replaced yet. Either the county magistrates are temporarily taking over, or they are seconded from other places."
The emperor looked at Qin Wan and asked, "They have been managing Shenyang for almost a year now, right? After running it for so long, will they give up their position?"
It’s okay for a county magistrate who is on secondment, he can still be reinstated, but the county magistrate is just acting temporarily. After being the boss for so long, how could he be willing to be the second in command?
Qin Wan, however, was confident: "These two were parachuted in. If they can suppress these county magistrates, they can be used. If they can't suppress them and return in disgrace, then they can go back to study for a few more years. As for the lack of people? That's not difficult. We can just promote the county magistrates directly."
The emperor looked at Qin Wan with a smile in his eyes and said, "Very good, very good."
He pointed at Qin Wan and said to several ministers, "Changping's method is good. You can also refer to it."
The Minister of Personnel smiled and said, "It's indeed a good idea. Firstly, it can test these new officials who are about to take office. Secondly, it also gives those who have been acting for many years a chance."
In the Great Zhou, this kind of situation of subordinates taking over other people's jobs is not uncommon.
However, it is difficult for new officials to replace their subordinates when they take over the position. After all, they have been here for a long time and are considered local tyrants. Even a strong dragon passing through cannot suppress the local tyrants, right?
"If this method is feasible, many positions in our Great Zhou would no longer be vacant. However, there is a drawback to this approach," the Minister of Personnel said thoughtfully, "Take the clerks in one county as an example. The county magistrate, chief clerk, and county lieutenant are all selected by local officials themselves through assessment."
"Generally speaking, it's difficult for officials like this to be promoted. But if a clerk can be promoted to county magistrate, then all he needs to do is get acquainted with the local officials, or even have the officials assign their trusted confidants to be clerks, and wait for the right opportunity for promotion."
"But such behavior is unfair to the students who have studied hard for ten years."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
