I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 34: Problems with Local Government Administration

Zhu Youxiao asked Liu Yishen and the others to sit down. Wang An also asked the cabinet clerk to bring candles and light them, which immediately made the dark room much brighter.

Zhu Youxiao took out the question book and handed it to Liu Yishen.

"Liu Aiqing, I have read your question book. If it is true as you said, it will be difficult for the test method to be effective even if it is implemented. Let Shen Aiqing and Han Aiqing take a look at this question book."

In fact, it is true in history. After the examination law was implemented again during the Tianqi period, the effect was not good. The local government did not implement it at all, and it became a mere formality.As a result, Li Qiyuan, the Minister of Household Affairs at the time, wrote many times to request that the law be tested strictly, but with little success.

Liu Yishen also saw this problem, otherwise he would not have submitted the letter. He stood up and bowed:
"Your Majesty, it is indeed the case. The vacancies in the official positions of the imperial court have made it difficult for the imperial government to effectively implement its policies in many places. However, the people at that time preferred this approach, thinking that the world would be peaceful and the country would be safe.

I often study in the area south of the Yangtze River, and I see that there are mountains of flowers and wealthy households.Fuzhou's green stocking bird talks about Jia, and his waist is worth more than a hundred dollars. '

The wealth of the rich in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Nanzhili is piled up like a mountain. The wealthy businessmen in Fuzhou, Fujian, go out to do business by boat with their thousands of gold, and flaunt through the market. The women by the river are talking and commenting, saying that the merchant ships are coming. This scene can be seen in the Jiangnan area. yes.

Although there is such wealth, the country's wages and taxes are in arrears every year and are not fully paid every year. Although it is beneficial to the people, it is not beneficial to the country.

If there's no war, that's fine, we'll be in peace.But now that there are frequent wars in Liaodong, the court's annual Liao salary of 520 million is no longer enough, and your Majesty still needs to allocate it from internal funds.

If more Liao salaries are allocated, it will increase the burden on the people. It is better to send more officials to rectify the administration of officials and collect arrears after the examination is made into law. "

This method was actually decided upon by Liu Yishen after discussion with Zou Yuanbiao and Han Xu.

After discussions in the morning and evening the day before yesterday, they decided to follow the emperor's idea and fight for it. However, now that the examination method has been proposed and implemented by the Zhejiang Qichu Party and others, it is difficult for them to intervene.

In this case, we should bypass the examination method and start with local officials.

During the Shenzong period, many people in Donglin were dismissed by the Zhejiang Party through Beijing inspection. Naturally, they had a deep understanding of the local government. The local officials were absent, and there was a shortage of officials. It was difficult to get approval for application for appointment (because the person responsible for the appointment was (also short of vacancies), resulting in the increasing power of some local officials who have been in office for a long time.

The lack of officials also makes the administrative efficiency of local government offices rely on inertia, and the efficiency is getting lower and lower.

They have seen all this but are unable to do anything about it. Now that they are in charge of the government, they naturally want to change this situation.So the matter of Liu Yishen's letter came up.

"Now that the country is in crisis, we must take this matter seriously. You are right, the Shenzong period was too lax, and now we must strictly manage it. So how do you think it should be solved?"

What Liu Yishen said was exactly what Zhu Youxiao was worried about. Wasn't the Ming Dynasty rich?They are very rich. So much silver flows into China every year. Capitalism has begun to sprout in this period.

It shows that the economy is not bad, but the Ming Dynasty government just has no money. Of course, it is also related to the Ming Dynasty’s financial system. It will definitely need to be changed in the future, but the first step must be to change people and achieve communication between the top and the bottom.

"In Wei Chen's view, it means opening up disciplines, selecting talented people, conducting strict examinations, conducting inspections, and strictly pursuing corrections."

Liu Yishen put forward the policies that he had already thought about.

Zhu Youxiao understood what it meant after listening.

The so-called Kaienke refers to the provincial examinations and general examinations held every three years in ancient times, which are called Zhengke.In the event of the emperor's accession to the throne and royal celebrations, a special examination will be held outside the main subjects, called enke.

"It's okay to open Enke. I have just ascended the throne this year, and it's worth celebrating. Let's do this. Those who failed in the Wanli 47th General Examination will be allowed to open Enke in the spring of next year. I will personally preside over the exam." "According to the decree. Your Majesty's grace and selection of talents will surely make the scholars appreciate the emperor's kindness."

Liu Yishen said with great joy.In ancient times, there were not many opportunities to take the imperial examination every three years.Now because of his advice, the emperor has entrusted Enke, which naturally makes the scholars feel grateful to him.

"As for the second selection of talented people you mentioned, this is also possible. Although the late emperor has already appointed a group of officials who have idle talents at home, he can now select another group at his discretion, but they must be of good conduct and have real talents. People who work hard will not be punished if they are involved in corruption or bribery."

Rather than appointing officials who were idle at home, he actually preferred to reuse young scholars who had just passed the imperial examination.

"Actually, I have another idea. The imperial examination was just held in the 47th year of Wanli last year. Have all the high school scholars been assigned official positions?"

"Your Majesty, after the imperial examination was completed last year, the cabinet discussed and arranged with the Ministry of Personnel." Liu Yishen didn't know why he asked this, so he could only reply.

When Zhu Youxiao heard this, he could only give up, but then he thought about it. These people were new to the officialdom. It can be said that they were less polluted by the habits of the officialdom. Now is the time to be high-spirited and can be their own.

"That's good. You will ask the Ministry of Rites to submit a copy of last year's Jinshi list and their positions to me later, so that I can understand it."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

“As for the measures you mentioned later, I quite agree with them.

But for example, if you want to make an inspection by the censors, I see that all the censors and procuratorates are not full now, so it may be difficult to conduct inspections rashly. As for recovering the arrears, this is certainly possible, but who will make up for it and how to make up for it, you have to be careful Discuss it and come up with a charter. "

Zhu Youxiao knew that the next thing couldn't be rushed, there had to be people first.

Before Liu Yishen could reply, Shen Guan stood up and interrupted:
"What your Majesty said is true. At present, the law of examination has begun to be implemented, but as Mr. Liu said, there are vacancies in local officials. I feel that there is no rush to make up for the replacement now. We should first select talents and appoint local officials. The vacancies cannot be too large. Long.

Nowadays, there are many vacancies for governors, government envoys and envoys in various places. The first urgent thing now is to select people to serve. Otherwise, there will be no one to coordinate the affairs of a province or even a state or county, fearing that the imperial plan will not be undermined. "

Zhu Youxiao nodded and agreed with Shen Guan's words. Indeed, whether it is to inspect, make up for replacement, or open an encore, the first priority now is to fill the vacant positions in the local area, so that we can communicate with each other.

He glanced at Shen Guan.

"Shen Aiqing is right. This is a first-class matter. You should hurry up and do it. But you must not only select but also promote officials who have been highly evaluated over the years and use them according to their talents."

He knew Shen Guan's intention. Such large-scale selection and promotion would cause wrangling within the court.

Dong Lin, Qi Chu and Zhe Dang and others will definitely compete for their own people to serve as these frontier officials.

But under the current circumstances, he could only allow this phenomenon to exist temporarily, as long as the final decision rested with him.

He must cultivate his confidants, he secretly made up his mind.

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(End of this chapter)