Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 74, Reform of the Scientific Examination System

Huaizhou.

The Pinghuai Campaign that had just taken place had no impact on this land.

The so-called war was just an exercise.

The number of 450,000 people in the military newspaper actually had two extra zeros instead of the number of 180,000 people.

Altogether, only 219 people were injured and 18 died in the entire battle.

Fang Yong trained the new soldiers, Wang Ziteng took the credit, and officials at all levels accepted bribes. Everyone was winning, except Emperor Longqing.

The growth of rice in September is already very gratifying.

In about a month, the late rice will be harvested.

Some wealthy households looked at their two fields. On one side was the field that was registered under Fang Yong's name, where the rice was unusually tall and strong, and the ears were full. On the other side was the field that was not registered under his name, and the rice was half as short.

Although this was considered a good growth in previous years, it was far inferior to the one next to it.

Even if you stand far away and look, it seems as if the crops on both sides are not the same variety.

This time, the people's rumor that Fang Yong was the true dragon emperor was completely confirmed.

Double the output, there is no need to explain what this means.

The people don’t care about anything else, they only recognize two words: food!

When Fang Yong could ensure that everyone had food to eat, his reputation among the people reached its peak.

Some people even worshipped Fang Yong as a god.

After all, offering sacrifices to gods does not necessarily lead to a good harvest, but offering sacrifices to Fang Yong will really double the production!

This extreme personality cult has both advantages and disadvantages, but at least for now, the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages.

A large number of wealthy families vied to register their family land under Fang Yong's name, and even those scholars who had always been uncooperative came forward to join him.

After all, the more knowledgeable people are, the better they will understand what doubling the grain output means.

For a time, Fang Yong almost gained the support of all classes of people in Huaizhou area.

A large number of talents came here.

One day, Jia Yucun and Wu Yuan came together.

As the most educated person under Fang Yong, Jia Yucun has always been highly valued.

From handling local affairs and misleading the people to participating in military and political affairs, discussing combat plans, and even going to the capital to bribe high-ranking officials of Daxi, Jia Yucun has always appeared.

At the beginning, Jia Yucun was reluctant to join Fang Yong's rebel team.

But as Fang Yong's power grew, Jia Yucun also became more and more attractive to him.

Today, Jia Yucun is wearing a long robe, walking steadily, and his every move exudes the bearing of a high-ranking official.

He came with Wu Yuan and had something to discuss with Fang Yong.

"General," Jia Yucun bowed and said, "recently many people have come to serve us, including scholars, descendants of nobles, former officials of Daxi, merchants and wanderers. There are so many people that I dare not employ them as easily as before."

"The assessment and appointment of such talents all require the general to establish regulations to control them. I hope the general will carefully examine this matter and formulate regulations for assessment and appointment."

Wu Yuan also said:

"General, my purpose for this trip is similar to Shi Fei's. The area you are in charge of now is hundreds of miles wide, and it will surely increase in the future. Under this situation, the military control system you just implemented is quite simple and it is difficult to effectively govern such a vast area. Therefore, a mature system is needed to control and manage it."

Fang Yong thought about it after hearing this.

What the two meant was to establish a small court for themselves, use the imperial examination system to assess talents, and manage these talented people who came to them.

He has indeed reached this stage now.

The key to governing a country is to rely on talents.

There is no need to say much about the importance of talent.

Take Emperor Longqing as an example. He was rich and had vast territories, and had so many talented people under him.
It is because of the inability to manage these talents that the current situation has occurred. If talents are not properly managed, they will become a disaster.

After thinking for a while, Fang Yong said:
"In terms of management, Yuan Hao, you are responsible for drawing up a system. Relying on the official system of the Ming and Xi generations, and referring to the actual situation in my jurisdiction, we should focus on stability and not make major changes easily."

Wu Yuanying said, "Yes."

"As for the assessment and appointment of talents..." Fang Yong said: "We need to call Xue Ao back to discuss this matter in detail before deciding."

Jia Yucun nodded when he heard this.

Xue Ao is the real name of Xue Dacui.

Of the Yu generation, uncle of Xue Pan and Xue Ke.

In Fang Yong's rebel group, Xue Dacuizi joined the group very early and was responsible for providing a series of support including logistics, food, fodder, and trade. Although he was a businessman in name, he had a high status among Fang Yong's subordinates.

When faced with the appointment and assessment involving a large number of people, Fang Yong did not dare to be arrogant. The implementation of a policy will involve a large number of people, and it is absolutely not advisable to make a decision on a whim.

Although Fang Yong had some ideas in mind, such as he planned to take this opportunity to lower the threshold for scientific examinations and focus on practical development, he still had to fully discuss the specific situation with his subordinates before making a decision.

Now Xue Daquezi was planning the price of Daxi private salt this year with the seven major salt merchants in Yangzhou, so Fang Yong arranged for someone to call Xue Daquezi back.

Seeing this, Jia Yucun left first.

After Jia Yucun left, Wu Yuan did not leave.

Fang Yong asked doubtfully: "Is there anything else Yuan Hao wants?"

Wu Yuan smiled, took out a letter and said:

"To be honest, I have already drawn up the system in advance. It is based on the systems of the Ming and Xi generations. It is mainly based on stability, which is exactly what the general wants. Please review it."

Fang Yong glanced at Wu Yuan imperceptibly after hearing this, then took the letter with a smile and said, "Yuan Hao and I have a tacit understanding, which can save us a lot of effort."

As he spoke, Fang Yong started to look.

The system proposed by Wu Yuan referred to the official system of the Ming and Xi dynasties, and did not make major changes overall. However, this system only involved the civil service system and did not interfere with the military in any way.

So smart!

Totally guessed what I was thinking.

Fang Yong read it several times and found no problem, so he said:

"Yes, we will pilot it in Huaizhou City first, and then promote it to other areas after confirming that there are no problems."

Wu Yuan nodded in agreement.

Fang Yong said again:

"In addition, the townships and villages will continue to be under military control. No changes will be made!"

Wu Yuan was shocked.

Something suddenly came to my mind.

"General, the policy of military control over villages and towns consumes a lot of military strength, and the common people have been under military control for a long time, and they are gradually complaining. If the general wants to continue like this, he needs to reform the control policy!"

Fang Yong said softly:
"Don't worry, Yuan Hao, this is just a temporary solution. I will adjust it once the situation stabilizes."

After Fang Yong said this, Wu Yuan didn't dare to say anything more and went down to prepare.

A few days later, Xue Dacui was called back by Fang Yong.

Fang Yong called Xue Dacuizi, Ma Laohei, Jia Yucun, Wu Yuan and others together to discuss the selection and appointment of personnel.

The keynote for selecting talents is naturally "selecting through imperial examinations and selecting talents fairly."

No one objected to this.

But immediately afterwards, the question raised by Fang Yong was instantly met with fierce debate among several people.

(End of this chapter)