prosperous age

"Leaving aside the issue of replacing native chieftains with appointed officials, is it feasible to add a supplementary list to the provincial examination?"

Wei Guangde spoke, bringing the topic back to today's agenda.

The conversion of native chieftains to centrally appointed officials will naturally take place, but not now.

Perhaps a few years later, after Burma is pacified, Li Chengliang will lead his troops back to the capital, which seems to present an opportunity.

With the overwhelming military achievements of the government troops in suppressing Burma, would those local chieftains dare to act recklessly?
However, by then, Li Donglin's military merits would certainly be promoted another level.

Previously, Wei Guangde had promised Li Chengliang the title of Earl, but he feared that this wouldn't be enough to reward him, and that he would have to be promoted to Marquis.

Just then, Xu Xuemo and Yan Qing spoke up and expressed their opinions.

"Naturally."

"There is precedent, so the Ministry of Rites has no objection."

Hearing their words, Wei Guangde glanced at the cabinet members again.

Wang Jiaping calmly met his gaze and simply nodded slightly.

Although Xu Guo frowned slightly, he ultimately remained silent.

As for Yu Youding and Shen Shixing, they both nodded in agreement.

"In that case, how many places should be set for the supplementary list?"

Wei Guangde looked at Yan Qing. The Ministry of Rites was in charge of the imperial examinations, but the Ministry of Personnel had more say in setting the quotas for the imperial examinations.

“Yesterday I checked the list of official positions in the Southwest. There are still 37 vacancies. Considering that some of them will inevitably give up the opportunity to enter the civil service through the supplementary list, I suggest that the supplementary list should have 50 people.”

Yan Qing spoke up.

"The list of successful candidates for the imperial examination has been finalized earlier this year by the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, and three hundred candidates will be selected as usual."

Adding fifty additional candidates to the supplementary list is also feasible.

Xu Xuemo then spoke up.

The number of people admitted through the provincial examination was not fixed, but varied depending on the court's needs for the number of officials.

Specifically, there was no fixed quota for the number of students admitted through the provincial examination.

However, starting from the eleventh year of the Chenghua reign, the number of successful candidates was usually around three hundred, with adjustments made based on the opinions of the Ministry of Personnel.

"Then it's settled. After the Ministry of Rites returns, it should draft a memorial as soon as possible and publish the regulations for the new imperial examination, making sure that all candidates in the capital know about this matter."

Wei Guangde spoke up.

"Should we have someone spread the word to the candidates?"
After all, scholars were generally quite resistant to serving as officials in the southwest region.

Xu Xuemo added.

"No, no need."

Ultimately, this matter depends on their willingness.

Wei Guangde said calmly.

In earlier years, apart from those who passed the imperial examinations and became tribute students, most officials appointed by the Ministry of Personnel were unwilling to go to the southwest region.

However, the number of successful candidates was limited, and even among those who passed the imperial examinations in the southwest, many were unwilling to return.

Thus, the ranking system has lost its meaning beyond balancing.

Generally speaking, after the Ming Dynasty's imperial examinations were initially divided into the North and South lists, a middle list was added. The approximate quota was 55% for the South list, 35% for the North list, and the remaining 10% for the middle list.

The supplementary list obviously did not distinguish between North and South, but was directly ranked according to the scores, and then candidates could choose whether or not to participate in the palace examination.

"The Ministry of Personnel should also review the vacancies in the Southwest region as soon as possible in order to select officials to take up their posts in the second half of the year."

Once the rules were established, the Ministry of Personnel's involvement decreased, and they only began to participate after the palace examination.

"it is good."

Xu Xuemo and Yan Qing both nodded in agreement. Xu Xuemo then quickly resigned and left the cabinet.

The Ministry of Rites now bears the greatest responsibility; the draft memorial must be submitted, and the formalities must still be followed.

However, Yan Qing, the Minister of Personnel, remained calmly seated in his position, showing no intention of leaving immediately.

After Yu Youding, Xu Guo and others took their leave, only Wei Guangde remained in the room. Yan Qing then spoke up, saying, "Your Excellency, I stayed to say that I plan to submit my resignation to the palace after the New Year and request to return to my hometown."

"Oh, Lord Yan, what is this?"

Wei Guangde said with slight surprise, "Although Yan Qing had already revealed his intention to retire at the beginning, the fact that he brought it up again now clearly shows that he really has this plan."

"I'm getting old and can't keep up anymore. Back then, I rushed to the capital in my finest clothes and spirited horse, never expecting to actually succeed in becoming a dragon.

After that, he spent forty years in officialdom without being able to return to his hometown.

Lately, I've been frequently dreaming of people and things from my hometown. Perhaps my time is near; if I don't leave soon, I fear I'll never be able to go back.

Yan Qing said somewhat dejectedly.

His career can be described as smooth. Yan Qing was an official who was "public-spirited, honest and caring for the people", and he was praised for his integrity and competence. He performed very well when he served as the magistrate of Fushun County.

After three years of mourning, he returned to the court and served as a principal officer and secretary in the Ministry of Works, in charge of the construction of the outer city of Beijing and the imperial mausoleum. After the project was completed, he was promoted to prefect of Baoding, councilor of Shaanxi, provincial judge of Sichuan, provincial governor of Sichuan, and finally minister of the Court of Judicial Review in Nanjing and minister of the Ministry of Justice in Nanjing.

Finally, he was able to enter the capital and be promoted to the position of Minister of Personnel, which can be described as legendary.

It should be noted that his scores in the provincial and palace examinations were not actually very good.

Even so, he was still able to rise to the position of Heavenly Official; his luck is truly beyond words.

Yan Qing also wanted to go back to his hometown to visit, so he told Wei Guangde about this matter in advance, which naturally also meant to build a good relationship with him.

As the Minister of Personnel, a position of great power and influence, he believed that Wei Guangde would certainly consider the candidate carefully.

After all, Lao Kan went straight to the Ministry of Personnel after leaving the Censorate, clearly aiming for the position next to him.

However, Yan Qing had only been in the central government for a short time. Although he had risen to the high position of Minister of Personnel, he still did not fully grasp the influence of the position.

Sometimes, it's not as simple as Wei Guangde wanting to take something and daring to do so.

Lao Kan, or the person he arranged, could at most become a vice minister in the Ministry of Personnel, but he could never rise to the position of minister.

Otherwise, the distribution of power within the imperial court would become significantly unbalanced.

When that time comes, Wei Guangde will probably be retiring soon.

The Wanli Emperor would never allow him to completely control the court.

The Jiajing Emperor indulged Yan Song because he needed Yan Song to help him suppress the officials.

Now, the Wanli Emperor no longer needs Wei Guangde to do what Yan Song did back then.

"Indeed, this is something we need to think about carefully."

When Wei Guangde saw Yan Qing off, he even specially ordered a eunuch to help the old man out.

He was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 23rd year of the Jiajing reign, truly one of the most senior members of the court.

Those who passed the imperial examinations earlier have long since retired, and some may even be buried in the earth.

Yan Qing's most prominent characteristic is that he is "alone"; he doesn't curry favor with anyone.

Whether it was Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, or Wei Guangde, Yan Qing always maintained a clear distinction between them and was the emperor's most trusted minister.

With his departure, Wei Guangde was unsure how Emperor Wanli would choose to succeed him.

Wei Guangde weighed the positions of the Six Ministries repeatedly. There was another matter that Wei Guangde had to pay attention to: Zhang Xueyan's current position as Minister of Revenue and Jiang Zhi's current position as Minister of Works. Zhang Xueyan had been serving as Minister for five years and would soon have completed six years.

Jiang Zhi has been serving as Minister of Works for more than three years, almost four years. In fact, according to the rules, he should have been replaced by someone else.

It's not that they lacked ability, but rather that the six ministers were to be rotated, in short, to prevent anyone from staying in one position for too long.

Now that Yan Qing is leaving office, the position of Minister will be vacant, which is a good opportunity for adjustment.

Zhang Xueyan and Jiang Zhi can take advantage of this vacancy in the Ministry of Personnel to make some moves.

As for Chen Ziyi, he told me last year that he also intended to retire and return to his hometown this year.

With so many key positions suddenly vacant, Wei Guangde couldn't help but scratch his head, wondering how to arrange his subordinates.

Occupying too many high positions can easily arouse the concern of the person in the palace.

But if they don't occupy it, problems will inevitably arise in their governance later on.

Switching Jiang Zhi and Zhang Xueyan would allow both government offices to transition smoothly, but Zhang Xueyan might not be willing.

Then let him go to the Ministry of Personnel and serve as its Minister. But what about the Ministry of Works? Who should be given it?
A series of problems gave Wei Guangde a headache.

There's also Zeng Shengwu, the Minister of Justice. He doesn't want to be removed, but what if the palace doesn't agree?
Zeng Shengwu was not a good candidate to remain as Minister because of the heavy label that Zhang Juzheng carried on his name.

However, Wei Guangde and he had a long-standing friendship, and he could sometimes ask Wei Guangde for help, especially when it concerned his control over the court.

It seems unlikely that Zeng Shengwu would refuse his request.

These are all troublesome matters.

While the Ming Dynasty was waging war against Japan, fierce fighting was also breaking out in Cologne, thousands of miles away.

Cologne, which later became the fourth largest city in Germany, was at that time merely a large diocese of the Papacy.

In the tenth year of the Wanli reign, after Elector Gebhard of Cologne converted to Protestantism, he refused to resign from his position as archbishop and attempted to secularize the Duchy of Cologne.

In the eleventh year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, the Catholic camp sponsored Ernst von Bavaria as the new Elector, and a military conflict broke out between the two sides.

This war between Protestants and the Catholic Church became the spark that ignited the religious wars during the Holy Roman Empire.

At the outset of the war, major European powers intervened.

The neighboring Netherlands and England provided Protestants with comprehensive political, economic, and military support, while Spain and the Pope aided the Catholic Church.

Their intervention quickly escalated the conflict into a multinational religious confrontation.

At that time, Britain was not considered a strong nation in Europe.

However, Queen Elizabeth II of England greatly supplemented the treasury by issuing privateering warrants, giving the royal family sufficient financial resources to intervene in this war on the continent.

Meanwhile, at Greenwich Palace on the banks of the Thames in London, Queen Elizabeth II was discussing with her staff a new round of reinforcements for the Cologne region.

These reinforcements included not only weapons and soldiers, but also money.

However, war consumes a huge amount of wealth, so in addition to discussing the assistance that can be provided, how to increase income is also one of the topics of discussion.

"Your Highness, Spain has now strengthened its defenses in the Americas, making it much harder for our privateering to earn the substantial profits we once did."

I have carefully reviewed the national treasury's revenue and expenditure in recent years and found that our two acquisitions of supplies from the Ming Dynasty have not only greatly enriched the domestic market but also earned Your Highness a considerable sum of money.

I suggest that Your Highness appoint a new Foreign Minister to serve as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty.

First, we should submit the diplomatic treaty previously concluded between the Queen and the Emperor of Ming to establish diplomatic relations, and at the same time, we should earn considerable profits through this trade.

In fact, we might also ask the Ming Dynasty if they could provide us with assistance.

I've heard that the Ming Dynasty's military strength is also very formidable.

“Ming is too far away. Missions and fleets can be sent out. Establishing diplomatic relations and acquiring wealth are not contradictory.”

The Ming emperor would likely not agree to their involvement in European affairs.

"Yes, I also support contacting the Ming Dynasty, but let's forget about the Cologne matter."

After the finance minister proposed sending a delegation and fleet to trade with the Ming Dynasty again, it quickly gained widespread support in the cabinet.

After all, this is a lucrative trip, and nobody would turn down money.

Elizabeth sat on the throne and thought carefully before saying, "Actually, we should have sent a fleet to Ming last year, but Spain kept threatening to send troops to our homeland, so we kept shrinking our fleet."

If we send a fleet now, what about the fleet's safety, and will Spain take the opportunity to launch an attack on its homeland?

"They are currently bogged down in the Netherlands and Cologne, and should not be able to launch an offensive against us."

The Minister of the Navy quickly stepped forward to express his opinion.

The Dutch Wars of Independence had always been a sensitive issue for Spain.

After all, this region has industries such as textiles and shipbuilding, making it an important economic zone in Europe and a major source of tax revenue for Spain in Europe.

The tension between Britain and Spain led Britain to support the Dutch resistance against the Spanish, further exacerbating the conflict between the two sides.

As early as two years ago, in the ninth year of the Wanli reign, some people in Spain had already proposed to gather the main force of the navy to launch a heavy blow against Britain.

This concept was actually the original "Invincible Armada".

However, although the Spanish navy was powerful, it was scattered across the ocean, and it would take time to mobilize it.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands, an important shipbuilding base in Europe, was in turmoil and naturally did not immediately implement the plan.

However, whether the Spanish did it unintentionally or intentionally, the news got out and caused the British a great deal of anxiety.

After all, Spain at that time was undoubtedly the most powerful force in Europe, far surpassing even France.

Even without sending troops, the King of Spain could recruit a considerable mercenary army to fight for him in Europe if he was willing to spend money.

"However, the threat from Spain is also enormous and must be guarded against."

And how can the safety of the fleet be guaranteed?

The Chancellor of the Exchequer quickly mentioned it.

He supported maintaining long-term trade with the Ming Dynasty, but the safety of the fleet was also important.

His concern, of course, was the potential military action that British fleets might encounter as they passed the Spanish coast.

Those ships carry the best British industrial products, as well as gold and silver, to trade with the Ming Dynasty. If they were attacked, the losses would be enormous.

"The fleet is far from the mainland, and although there are some risks, they are still manageable."

In addition, John Davis, a navigator from Dartmouth, Devon, recently submitted a new voyage plan to Her Majesty the Queen through me.

He planned to sail north to explore the northern sea routes and find a sea route to the Ming Dynasty.

The Navy Minister added.

The Earth is round, and according to their calculations, the fleet could reach the Ming-controlled area if it sailed northeast.

"Impossible, the north is too cold, no one can get through."

Davis's plan was quickly opposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and many others shared this view.

"The Navy should select a fleet commander and choose ships as soon as possible. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Chris, you prepare everything needed for the trade."

"I will consider selecting a representative of the mission as soon as possible."

The Queen didn't want to argue; she just wanted to earn some money through trade with the Ming Dynasty as quickly as possible to cover her recent expenses. (End of Chapter)