Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 477 Moisturizing things silently

Xuancheng
Southern Anhui Governor's Office
After Duoduo withdrew his troops, Jin Sheng, who led the southern Anhui rebel army, was appointed as the governor of southern Anhui by the court. Although his rank was slightly lower than that of a regular governor, he had resigned from his post on the grounds of illness many years ago, so it could be considered a promotion above his level.

But then again, if they had not held Duoduo back in Xuancheng and Ningguo, it would have been unclear how the war would have developed. Therefore, no one in the central government had any objection to this cross-level appointment.

It is worth mentioning that Jin Sheng focused most of his energy on military affairs during this year, unlike other governors who only took care of local affairs.

This is not an exception made by the imperial court.

When Duoduo went south, several rebel armies emerged in southern Anhui. Except for Qiu Zude's army which was almost wiped out while defending Ningguo, the rest were basically intact.

Later, the imperial court reorganized the army, and no troops were spared, including the rebel army. A large number of old and weak people who were laid off naturally settled down in the imperial court to cultivate the land.

If things had come to this, Jin Sheng's task would naturally be limited to local government affairs. However, it did not take long before large families in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas had their properties confiscated for various reasons. The court then transferred a large number of men from southern Anhui to fill the gaps.

It is not an easy task to relocate the people. There is no need to explain how tedious and lengthy the migration process is. The preparation and follow-up work alone is a huge project.

By this time, although most of the people who were willing to go had left in batches, the aftermath work was far from over, so most of his energy was involved in this matter.

"Teacher! Teacher!"

Jin Sheng was still planning when the next batch of people should set off, but a loud shout interrupted his thoughts.

Then he raised his head and glanced outside. When he saw Jiang Tianyi running towards the inner hall with excitement on his face, his brows frowned slightly.

This issue of Tangbao arrived this morning, and it gives a detailed account of the Northern Expedition.

After a period of attack and digestion, all the prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou and Gaoyou have been recovered, and the army will next march directly to Huai'an.

On the surface, this seems to have nothing to do with him as the governor of southern Anhui, but as long as Huai'an is captured, the next step will inevitably be to seize Anhui, Hubei and other places along the Huai River.

There is no need to say anything else by then. The position of Governor of Anhui is a natural opportunity for him as the Governor of southern Anhui.

You know, although both positions are titled as governor, the difference between them can be described as a chasm. If you can successfully advance to this step, you will enter the ranks of senior officials of the court. After enduring for a few years, it is not impossible for you to enter the cabinet and become a prime minister.

It is said that when a person attains enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

Although Jiang Tianyi failed the exam this time, he will be able to embark on a successful official career if that day really comes.

From this he thought that this student, who had always been well-behaved and obedient, had lost his composure just because he had seen something. Jin Sheng, who had resigned from his official positions many times in his early years, was naturally a little dissatisfied.

"Self-control and return to courtesy."

Jin Sheng said this lightly and remained silent. Jiang Tianyi realized his mistake after hearing this and straightened his clothes before walking over slowly.

"Student thanks the teacher for the reminder."

"Well, although your failure in the exam was partly due to luck, you should work harder now that you know your shortcomings, and shouldn't rely on external forces."

"The student knows he is wrong."

Seeing the other party's behavior, Jin Sheng didn't say anything else. After he finished his ceremony, he pointed to the chair below. Then Jiang Tianyi sat down. The governor of southern Anhui couldn't help but feel soft-hearted.

He knew that Jiang Tiantian was not talented enough, and it would be almost impossible for him to succeed by taking the imperial examination. However, his student was excellent in both diligence and character, so Jin Sheng felt very sorry for him.

just
"Your Majesty should be confident about this Northern Expedition, but even if we take back the entire Jianghuai region, I won't necessarily be able to get the position of Anhui Governor without any success. You can't put all your hopes on this path."

Jin Sheng seemed to be lecturing, but his inner meaning was mostly to encourage Jiang Tianyi to work harder. But who would have thought that after he said this, the other party's eyes widened, obviously surprised by this sentence.

Seeing this, even though Jin Sheng was considered a strict teacher, he couldn't help but sigh because of his various emotions.

According to his original merits, Jiang Tianyi could be given an official position, but he regarded him as a son, so how could he watch him enter a path with a low ceiling?

Therefore, after careful discussion, the master and disciple decided to resign the official positions given by the court for their military achievements and concentrate on preparing for this imperial examination.

What was unexpected but reasonable was that the extremely hardworking Jiang Tianyi ultimately failed to pass the imperial examination.

At this point, he felt both regret and sorrow. Whenever he had free time, he would think about how his arrogance had delayed Jiang Tianyi's future.

Seeing that the other party also pinned all his hopes on his promotion, he couldn't help but feel mixed emotions.

"The teacher misunderstood."

Just when Jin Sheng was distracted by various thoughts, Jiang Tianyi's voice pulled him back. When he looked up, he saw that the other party had stood up, and then a burst of passionate words came over.

"You resigned in anger because the court refused to accept your honest advice. Later, Hongguang was summoned to be the Left Censor-in-Chief, but you refused because of the corrupt officials in power. Although I am a dull student, I have learned 30% to 40% of your character. I would rather spend my whole life in the mountains and forests than rely on others to enter the government!"

In just three or five breaths, the situation on the field was turned upside down.

Although Jin Sheng believed that what his student said was from the bottom of his heart, he couldn't help but feel puzzled by his earlier performance. Then a look of doubt appeared on his face, and Jiang Tianyi's explanation followed.

"Teacher, the reason why the student lost his composure was because of an article in the official newspaper."

"article?"

As Jiang Tianyi spoke, his face suddenly turned red, as if he was a little embarrassed. However, as soon as the words entered his ears, Jin Sheng had already turned over the table, unaware of his student's reaction.

After about three or two breaths, Jin Sheng flipped out the newspaper that was delivered yesterday, and at this time, Jiang Tianyi's voice came again. "The article was written by Xu Yu, the governor, and in my opinion, it was paving the way for increasing the number of places in the imperial examination."

As Jiang Tianyi's explanation entered his ears, Jin Sheng quickly found the article. After reading it carefully several times, he spread the report flat on the table and began to ponder it again.

This article first talked about the current situation of official positions in the imperial court, and then talked about the admission situation of this imperial examination.

There is no need to say much about the current situation of official positions. After several wars, there are few officials waiting to be released. There is no need to explain in detail this examination. It is generally the case that there are a lot of people taking the exam, but less than one or two out of ten can make the list.

At this point, the article changed the subject and talked about the current Northern Expedition.

According to the article, defeating the Tartars in Jianghuai was not a difficult task. The key lay in stabilizing the local area after the war.

Seeing this, Jin Sheng had roughly guessed the purpose of the article. When he continued reading, he saw words such as "liquidation of demoted officials" and "shortage of manpower".

The point of view of this article is very clear, that is, it believes that the surrendered officials from Jiangbei should no longer be employed, but the court does not have enough manpower. However, to Jin Sheng's surprise, Xu Yu only raised the problem in this article but did not provide a solution. This made Jin Sheng, who was used to writing eight-part essays, feel like a cat scratching in his heart.

Why are there no middle shares and back shares?
With this in mind, he read the article carefully again, and after thinking about it again, he finally had some clue.

This article seems to be an incomplete essay, but its actual purpose is just to raise questions and trigger thinking.
Increasing the number of places in the imperial examinations is indeed a good idea, but the students who have just entered the officialdom have no administrative ability at all, and expecting them to stabilize the city that has just been recaptured is almost like wishful thinking.

Of course, it is also possible to use newly recruited students to replace less important positions, and then transfer officials with political experience to Jiangbei, but this will inevitably cause a lot of trouble in the rear.

By then, there will be a war in front and fires in the back. It would be better to do nothing.

His thoughts kept turning, but Jin Sheng couldn't figure out the deeper meaning of this article. At this moment, Jiang Tianyi seemed to have something to say, so he turned his attention over.

"Teacher, from what I have seen, His Majesty always behaves in unexpected ways, so there is no need to think too hard about it. However, increasing the number of places for the imperial examination is a foregone conclusion, and it is also an opportunity for me."

When Jin Sheng heard the words, he suddenly felt relieved.

The so-called care is chaos.

He was a person who did not attach much importance to official positions. Otherwise, he would not have declined the court's appointment several times. This time, because he was too concerned about the future of his student, he took the trouble to guess the inner meaning of the article, but he did not expect that his student saw it more thoroughly than he did.

"Well, not being confused by the world is a strength. You should study hard and prepare for the next exam."

Having said this, the discussion between the master and the disciple about the court bulletin came to an end. Jin Sheng then asked Jiang Tianyi about his academic doubts, and ended the conversation after answering them one by one.

Compared with Master Jin Sheng and his apprentice, this article caused a sensation among the scholars.

Some hope that the court can increase the number of candidates for the imperial examination as soon as possible, while others are working hard to show their talents in the next imperial examination.

After all, after ten years of hard study, everyone hopes to make the leap to success. However, over the years, only one in a million can enter the officialdom as a Jinshi. For most people, just passing the Xiucai exam is considered a blessing from their ancestors.

However, for the important officials in the court who were familiar with Zhu Cilang's style of doing things, their opinions on this article were not limited to such a trivial matter as increasing the number of places. They also had a lot more speculations about the real purpose of their majesty.

Some people think that this is to compete with the Qing court for the hearts of the people by increasing the number of seats, some think that this is to balance the local forces, and some even think that Your Majesty wants to replace the Prime Minister, but no one knows where this conclusion comes from.

Zhu Cilang had certainly heard of these speculations.

However, he neither confirmed nor denied it, and did not even mention the matter in front of his ministers, as if the article was entirely Xu Yu's own idea.

This situation lasted for quite a while, until the scholars became somewhat discouraged, when another article written by Liu Zongzhou quietly spread among the scholars.

In that article, the Minister of Rites analyzed in detail the evolution of the method of selecting officials from the perspective of the imperial court, and explored the benefits of "great generals must rise from the ranks, and prime ministers must come from the prefectures and counties."

In the end, he believed that it was not only imperative to increase the number of candidates for the imperial examination, but he also suggested that new students could start as officials at the county level, or even at a lower level, in order to become familiar with the operation of grassroots government offices.

Although the waves caused by this article are much more fierce than the earlier one.

Some scholars believed that if they could enter officialdom, they would be outstanding figures, but if they did the work of clerks, it would be a disgrace to society.

As soon as the court report was published, these scholars launched a fierce attack on Liu Zongzhou, causing Liu Qingtian, who was once the leader of the literati, to dare not appear in any other occasion except the government office.

Faced with this situation, the court gazette fell silent again. For a long time afterwards, it only published some of the court's affairs of all sizes as before, and never said a word about increasing the number of candidates for the imperial examination.

According to what those scholars thought, they had persuaded the court to withdraw their insulting ideas. However, as expected and reasonable, although the Ming government did not take any action against their attack on important officials of the court, the majority of students who had remained silent from beginning to end suddenly began to ridicule and mock their classmates.

Of course, the apparent reason was not because it blocked their path to officialdom, but because these people only knew how to study hard and had no ability to put their ideas into practice.

The logic behind this is quite simple. If one does not have the ability to engage in politics, why would one worry about the government affairs?
Haven’t you heard that “a brave general must start from the ranks, and a prime minister must come from a prefecture or county”? Many virtuous officials in history started out as the most basic jobs in the government offices and eventually achieved achievements that went down in history.

Some middle and low-level officials also participated in the heated debate among the literati. However, the court bulletins were controlled by the imperial court. Even if they produced a large number of printed materials through certain channels, these arguments could only be circulated within a certain range and could not have much impact on the literati of the entire Ming Dynasty.

As time went by, opinions on the number of candidates for imperial examinations gradually converged. At this time, a court bulletin was issued, and the article on it was written by Qian Qianyi, the chief minister of the cabinet.

In this article, Academician Qian first affirmed the statement that "a brave general must start from the ranks, and a prime minister must come from the prefectures and counties", and then gave a positive response to the necessity of increasing the number of places for selecting scholars.

At the end, he said that His Majesty had ordered the Cabinet to come up with a feasible charter before the next examination, and the central departments were discussing it intensively.

At this point, the court made a statement that was in line with the interests of the vast majority of scholars, and the discussion among the literati gradually died down. However, when everyone was looking forward to the next imperial examination, Zhu Cilang's eyes had already fallen on the north of the Yangtze River.

Because the Northern Expedition Army was less than a hundred miles away from Huai'an.

(End of this chapter)