There was a chorus of appreciative and admiring sounds from those around him.
Zhang Xiong was originally an illiterate man, but he had a very strong-willed mother.
No matter how strong-willed someone is, it's true that they can't afford to go to school. If they can't even afford to eat, how can they go to school?
Who knew that the arrival of the leader would change everything? Everyone could go to school and learn to read, while those who couldn't read couldn't find work in the county or township.
Zhang Xiong's mother not only learned to read herself, but also forced Zhang Xiong and his father, who didn't like studying, to learn to read. Even her three-year-old granddaughter started learning to read.
Every time the leader issued a document, Zhang Xiong's mother would make Zhang Xiong read it all and memorize it perfectly.
Believe it or not, the documents contained information on farming, handicrafts, and other skills, and Zhang Xiong actually developed a liking for handicrafts.
Despite his tall and strong appearance, he is very skillful. Whenever he sees a document introducing various handicrafts, he follows the steps and makes them one by one, as long as he has the means.
Someone else asked, "Beitian, you're sure you'll pass the exam, right?"
Gu Beitian smiled. He felt he could pass the exam. After all, he had studied for many years, and although he hadn't even passed the lowest level of the imperial examination, he had read every single page of the documents issued by the leader.
He deeply admired this leader. He had been on the verge of packing up and fleeing with his people, but the leader's arrival gave them hope for survival again.
He knew very well what he would encounter on the road of fleeing famine; the accounts of famine years written in the books were not false.
His family was poor, so he didn't take the imperial examination to become a scholar. Originally, he wanted to recommend himself to the town mayor and try his luck to find a job, which would be good.
I heard that the town mayor was newly appointed and said that if anyone thought they were capable, they could come directly to him to recommend themselves.
But now he doesn't need to. The system of recruiting grassroots civil servants for leaders gives him more freedom of choice.
Gu Beitian was full of confidence.
"Fan Zheng, over here, come over here, it's easier to see from here."
Mu Fan was craning his neck to look inside when he saw his fellow villager Zou Guang calling him from the crowd.
Mu Fan shouted loudly, "I won't go over there. If you see it first, let me know."
There are so many people, it's so chaotic, it's too uncomfortable to squeeze in.
Mu Fanzheng enjoys practicing martial arts and is only sixteen years old this year. He is already an outstanding member of the militia.
This time he came for the yamen runners.
Even yamen runners have to pass the first test. They have a lot of contact with ordinary people, and if they don't understand the lives of ordinary people or the laws and regulations, it is easy to cause conflicts between ordinary people and officials.
Once you pass the first stage, you'll enter the identity verification stage. Only those who pass the identity verification will proceed to the second stage.
The second challenge for the yamen runners was a martial arts competition.
It was a public competition, and the constables were also responsible for catching thieves and handling cases. If one's skills were not up to par, one would naturally be rejected.
Only the winner of the competition will have the opportunity to apply for the job.
Don't think that you can become a yamen runner just by passing the first and second rounds. There is a third round, which is the job application.
If you don't have real skills, you'll still be eliminated in the third stage, the job interview.
The interviews are jointly supervised by officials and the public. The interviews and applications are conducted openly and transparently.
The minimum age for grassroots civil servants in Shenxi is sixteen, and the maximum is fifty.
Mu Fan was overjoyed. He was exactly sixteen years old and could apply for a position as a yamen runner.
Zou Guang, who was with him, was going to take the exam for a clerical position. Zou Guang said that being a yamen runner was hard and tiring, and he couldn't do the job.
Mu Fanzheng pouted: "If my mother hadn't said she absolutely forbade me to join the army, I would have joined the regular army."
Although militia members are soldiers, they are vastly different from regular troops.
The militia mainly engage in production and farming, and have limited time for training each day.
The money given by the militia was pitifully small, barely enough for food.
Furthermore, there is no upward mobility for militia members; once they are militia members, they remain militia members and it is impossible for them to be promoted to military officers.
There are currently two paths to becoming a military officer: one is to pass the entrance exam for a military academy, study for several years, and then take the military exam; the other is to directly join the army, where meritorious service can lead to promotion.
Neither militiamen nor yamen runners could become military officers.
Even for positions like militia platoon leader and company commander, the newly issued documents state that only those who pass the military officer examination can hold these positions.
Mu Fan was a dutiful son; his mother only had him as her son and absolutely refused to let him join the army.
He had to plead for a long time before they agreed to let him work as a yamen runner.
After all, being a yamen runner was a respectable job, paid well, and was much safer than being in the army.
When the people posting the notices appeared, everyone craned their necks and crowded forward to see.
A clerk with a megaphone shouted, "Don't push! We'll read them out one by one before we put them up. We'll make sure you can all hear us."
Upon hearing this, the crowd lessened their pushing and shoving.
One clerk unfolded the documents, while another clerk, holding a megaphone, began to call out the names one by one.
"Let's start with the qualified clerical staff, Lin Hui..."
I had just called out a name when someone in the front row shouted, "Haha, I passed! Haha!"
He laughed several times, showing his excitement. The people around him congratulated him, saying, "Lin Hui, congratulations on passing the first hurdle! Now that you've passed the first hurdle, you're a prospective civil servant!"
Lin Hui was overjoyed and danced with excitement. He was just an ordinary person, and he never dared to dream of taking the imperial examinations to obtain a government position.
Although this was supposed to be a recruitment process, it still gave him a chance, didn't it?
The clerk shouted, "Quiet! We still need to call out names. Whoever's name is called, please answer."
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