1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2613
The hottest topic in the streets and alleys of Hangzhou right now is the just-concluded provincial examination.This is the first imperial examination held by Haihan after it officially took over the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area. The public has paid a lot of attention to it. Fortunately, everything has gone well so far, and there have been no major problems during the examination.

And Tao Hongfang and the others were not immune, not to mention that there was Bai Letong among them, an invigilator who participated in the examination process, so the topic of discussion soon returned to the rural examination.

"Le Tong, you have been invigilating the exams for so many days, have you caught any candidates who cheated?" Tao Hongfang asked curiously.

Bai Letong replied blankly: "Someone has already predetermined the number of candidates before the exam. How much difference does it make if you don't catch cheating during the exam?"

Bai Letong's words were obviously still full of dissatisfaction with the local government, thinking that there was an unfair part in this rural examination.However, he immediately added: "A few people were caught, but I didn't ask too much about how to deal with it later. Presumably the lightest punishment would be dismissal of meritorious service and prohibition from taking part in the imperial examination in the future."

Bai Letong didn't care about the fate of these people in the future. In his opinion, since they wanted to make money through crooked ways, and they were unlucky enough to be caught, they should bear the corresponding punishment.

Ha Jianyi asked: "After the rural examination, when will the results be released? Do you have to wait until the results are released before leaving Hangzhou?"

Bai Letong said: "There are not many candidates for the rural examination this year, and the results are expected to be released before the end of the month. But if it takes too long and affects our travel arrangements, then I can leave Hangzhou without waiting for the results to be released."

The so-called "release list" means that the examiners determine the number of people admitted after marking the papers, and then announce the list of admissions to the public.In order to take care of the itinerary of students from all over the country to go to Hangzhou for the exam, the time arrangement of this rural exam basically follows the old system, including the release time.

Candidates from other places with ample budget can stay in Hangzhou for another half a month, and return to their hometown after the results are released.

Tao Hongfang asked again: "Then why don't you suggest that the township trial office increase the number of examiners, so that the review can be completed faster and the list will be released as soon as possible."

Bai Letong said: "It's no wonder that the township trial is run. The officials who are qualified and capable of reviewing the test papers basically stay in the Tribute Academy to participate in the follow-up work. Although the number of candidates is not too large, in order to ensure the results, the township trial has arranged crossovers. Marking the papers will take a lot of time. And before the final list is released, it will take a day or two to dismantle the papers, check the volume number and the list, have a special person transcribe the list, and submit it to the regional management committee for review and stamping. It will be announced to the outside world.”

Tao Hongfang said with a smile: "So, the rural examination is actually not as unfair as you think, at least it is partially fair."

Bai Letong said: "Actually, Uncle Shi also made it very clear that day that the number of special admissions is limited and will not affect regular admissions. It's just that every time I think about this section, I still feel unhappy in the end."

Tao Hongfang said: "Then, the number of places admitted in this year's provincial examination should be much more than that in the previous Ming Dynasty?"

Bai Letong nodded and said: "If you look at the number of candidates taking part in the rural examination, the admission rate will be three to four times that of the pre-Ming Dynasty. Uncle Shi has not determined the final number of admissions, and it may be higher than expected in the early stage. Some more."

For Haihan, which has been in a state of rapid development, the lack of employment in the bureaucratic system is one of the long-standing shortcomings. As a shortcut to fill the gap in employment, scholars with a cultural foundation are naturally the best targets.

In the past, Haihan absorbed talents from Ming Dynasty mainly to lure them for profit, and then arranged for the target to immigrate to Haihan to settle down.And now Haihan, who has taken over the ruling area of ​​the Ming Dynasty, has also inherited the talent selection system of the previous dynasty. With the opportunity to select talents on a large scale, it is natural to make full use of them, recruit as many talents as possible, and then train these people Become a qualified preparatory bureaucrat.

Even those candidates who are not admitted will probably enter Haihan's talent database and become candidates.These people not only have a certain cultural foundation, but also have expectations for the development prospects of the new dynasty, so they can be used.Even if they are not suitable to directly enter the bureaucracy, these people can be arranged to engage in cultural and educational work.Schools at all levels and various business organizations can provide them with a large number of employment opportunities.

However, for Tao Hongfang and others, they probably will not use these personnel selected through the rural examination for the time being.The people who run errands around them are almost all the generation who grew up in the environment of Sanya, and their way of thinking and cultural concepts tend to be more consistent. The sense of identity with the country of Haihan far exceeds the ethnicity and blood. There is no doubt that they are much more reliable than those selected by the former Ming Dynasty.

Those admitted through the rural examination will probably find their main employment in the Donghai region in the future, and they are expected to enjoy the development dividends brought about by the relocation of the capital in the future.

"In short, the township examination is over, and my task of coming to Hangzhou has been completed, and it's time for peace of mind and enjoyment!" Bai Letong raised his glass and said, "I hope everyone can complete the task as soon as possible with this glass of wine." , get rid of it as soon as possible!"

But does the end of the rural examination really mean relief?Not necessarily.

The next day, as soon as Bai Letong woke up from the hangover of the night before, someone came down to report that several groups of people had come to visit him, and they were all waiting outside at this time. Those who came early had already waited for almost two hours up.

Bai Letong was quite surprised when he heard the words, he kept a low profile during his stay in Hangzhou, few people knew his identity and where he lived, and even fewer people came to visit him specially.

"Does anyone have a famous post?" Bai Letong asked.

After reading the name cards handed over by his subordinates, Bai Letong was even more confused. These names were all unfamiliar, and he had no impression of having known each other before.After he questioned again, he realized that the people who came to visit him seemed to be scholars.

At this time, Bai Letong had vaguely guessed that the reason for these people's visit might be related to the just-concluded provincial examination, so he immediately packed up and asked his subordinates to invite the visitors in one by one.

Bai Letong's premonition really came true, and the visitor bowed deeply after meeting him, and called him "Master Bai", and he didn't say much after the ceremony, and immediately handed over a gift list.

Bai Letong glanced at the gift list, the contents were not ambiguous, they were all valuable handicrafts.

Although Bai Letong was young, he had been in the officialdom for a few years, and he had a clear understanding of his ways. This kind of behavior was obviously not about being courteous for nothing, but a special visit to burn incense.

(End of this chapter)