Thief Emperor

Chapter 489: Winning People’s Hearts

Today, the only thing Jiangdong needs to do to become a country is to change its name.

However, the political system of this "country" has not yet been established, or it can even be said to be almost non-existent.

Due to the shortage of manpower in Jiangdong today, Li Yun only sent out a limited number of provincial governors, most of whom were the civil servants who had followed him before, or relatives of his wife's family.

However, there are twenty states in the East Road of Jiangnan, and Li Yun in Huainan Road also controls six states. Counting the states that have been taken in the West Road of Jiangnan, Li Yun now actually has about thirty states and counties under his command, but he directly controls less than ten of them.

The remaining twenty states still used officials from the Great Zhou.

Moreover, even in the states and counties under his direct control, a system for promoting officials had not yet been established. This was not because he was inefficient, but because he had only been in power for too short a time, and most officials had not yet reached the promotion cycle.

But these are all potential problems.

Therefore, Li Yun needs a group of new people who have grown up completely from the "Jiangdong system" to replace the ministers of the Great Zhou court bit by bit.

This does not mean that the original officials of the Great Zhou are completely useless. If these people can cut off their ties with the Great Zhou, or at least show this attitude in front of Li Yun, then they can still be used.

But no matter what, Li Yun’s own people must be supported as soon as possible.

There are a total of thirty states and counties, and under each state and county there are counties, which means that Li Yun is now short of people, and is very short of people.

These three hundred Jiangnan scholars who were initially screened out were very good resources for Li Yun.

You have to know that this was an era similar to the Tang Dynasty, and the imperial examination system was still quite crude. If these scholars from Jiangdong wanted to make a name for themselves and become officials, they only had two options.

The first way is to take the county examination, become a township candidate, get a certificate of exemption, and then go to the capital to take the examinations of the Imperial College, the Ministry of Chancellery and other central government offices.

Finally, one can take the imperial examination and gain a chance to advance in one’s career.

The second way is much simpler.

Relying on recommendations from officials in the court.

This path generally involves submitting a letter of recommendation to aristocratic families, high-ranking officials in the court, or nobles in the court who are qualified to recommend officials. After gaining their appreciation, one may be recommended for an official position.

Most people who achieve class transition take the second path and enter the court through recommendations from high-ranking officials. This is why those aristocratic families have been able to survive for thousands of years.

To a certain extent, they control the channels for upward mobility.

Most of these scholars in Jiangdong are unable to take either path.

Li Yun now gave them another new path. As long as they completed Li Yun's examination, they could obtain an official position in Jiangdong.

Among these people, no matter who they are, as long as they complete the class transition through Li Yun's channels and become officials, they can only be Li Yun's people, ministers of Jiangdong, and have nothing to do with the Great Zhou court.

The seven departments that Li Yun established were also thought out early on. The first six departments were naturally to select some scholars to stay in Jinling to work and form a small court in Jinling that was small but complete.

In this way, various political affairs will go much more smoothly and Du Qian will not have to be too busy.

The "big subject" mentioned by Li Yun, which is the practical one, is more about selecting some "local officials" to be assigned to work in the states and counties.

When Tao Wenyuan heard the seven subjects he mentioned, he was stunned. He first looked at Li Yun, then suddenly looked at Du Qian beside him. Seeing Du Qian's calm expression, he seemed to understand something and turned to look at Li Yun again.

"Mr. Li, you...you..."

Li Yun put his hands in his sleeves and laughed softly, "Since Mr. Wenyuan has come to Jiangdong for refuge, he should know that the court no longer has the final say in Jiangdong. Why are you making such a fuss?"

Tao Wenyuan was silent for a long time after hearing this. Finally, he smiled bitterly and said, "I originally thought that Jiangdong was at most a separatist vassal state, but no matter what, it was still a vassal state of the Great Zhou and still recognized the Great Zhou court. But just these few words from the Lord of the Palace."

He smiled bitterly at Li Yun and said, "It is clear that the Lord is setting up another court!"

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said with a smile: "Sir, don't talk nonsense. To put it bluntly, this matter is just for selecting materials for Jiangnan."

"With the court in such a mess, the national talent selection ceremony will definitely not be held. If local officials remain unchanged for several years, there will definitely be problems."

"Now, the capital is in turmoil, and the court is unable to govern the affairs of Jiangnan. As the governor of Jiangnan, your majesty has appointed me to shoulder the responsibility of selecting talents for Jiangnan, even if it means taking on some responsibility."

Tao Wenyuan shook his head and sighed, "Now that things have come to this, I can no longer stay out of it. Why does the Lord of the Mansion need to continue to say these polite words?"

Li Yun and Du Qian exchanged a glance, then smiled and said, "Well, I will tell Mr. Wenyuan the truth."

"I think the Great Zhou is rotten from top to bottom and is beyond redemption."

"So, we are going to start a new business in Jiangnan. Mr. Wenyuan's arrival is very timely. Brother Du and I have worked hard for several years. Now we have finally built this stove. The firewood in the stove is also ready."

"All we need is these flames, sir, to light the firewood, and then this little stove can be erected."

Tao Wenyuan turned his head and looked at Du Qian. Du Qian bowed his head slightly and said, "Sir, you have seen everything the court has done in the past few years. You should be able to understand the situation."

"The court has been a bit too unreasonable in recent years, but if we change..."

Having said that, he sighed and didn't continue.

In the eyes of some scholars of this era, if there were problems in the court, they could be solved by simply replacing people. For small problems, the person involved would be replaced, and for bigger problems, the prime minister would be replaced. If the problem was extremely serious, a wise emperor would be appointed and all problems would be solved.

As for the current situation of the Great Zhou, it would be of no use to replace anyone.

Tao Wenyuan did not continue to be stubborn, but looked at Li Yun and said: "Mr. Li, I was instructed by Brother Guan Zheng to come to Jiangdong. I also brought those students from Lizheng Academy. Since I am here, it is not a problem for me to serve under you, Mr. Li. However, those students from Lizheng Academy."

"Whether they will follow the Lord depends on themselves." Tao Wenyuan whispered, "All those students have studied since they were young, and what they still think about is loyalty to the emperor and the country."

"I hope you won't make things difficult for them."

"This is natural."

Li Yun had no intention of making things difficult for the students, so he said straightforwardly, "Lizheng Academy is already under construction. If Mr. Wenyuan's students want to continue studying in the academy, they can go ahead and study."

"If you want to be an official in Jiangdong, I will open a back door for you."

Mr. Li smiled and said, "Students of Lizheng Academy do not need to take exams. If you want to be an official, you can come to me directly. As long as I think it is suitable, you can serve as an official in Jiangdong."

This means that the written test is waived and only the "interview" is retained.

Tao Wenyuan bowed his head and thanked Li Yun.

Li Yun returned the greeting with a fist and said with a smile: "Sir, you may not know yet, but of the three hundred people you selected, about half of them may serve in Jiangdong. As long as you stay in Jiangdong, these people will have to call you teacher when they see you in the future."

Tao Wenyuan's expression became complicated after hearing this. He shook his head and sighed, but he didn't say anything more.

The three of them chatted for a long time before Tao Wenyuan stood up to say goodbye. Li Yun instructed Zhou Bi to send Mr. Tao back to his residence, while Li Yun took Du Qian to his study and took out some questions he had prepared earlier and showed them to Du Qian.

Du Qian took the paper and saw that it was filled with arithmetic problems. He frowned and asked, "Master, what is this?"

"This is a question for the Ministry of Revenue... ahem, the Ministry of Revenue."

Li Yun handed over a new piece of paper and said, "This is a question from the Great Zhou Code. It's about the criminal law."

"The topic of the military book is from the military category."

"The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, nothing special, just roasting poems and articles."

"For the engineering subject, I haven't thought of the topic yet, but I plan to ask questions from civil engineering."

Li Yun smiled and said, "If there are any outstanding people in these six departments, let them stay in Jinling, and we can start to set up the six ministries in Jiangdong."

"If none of them are good enough, just throw them all away and let them take the practical exam."

Du Qian was looking through the questions Li Yun had drafted one by one. After looking at them for a while, he suddenly asked, "Practical, how is the mansion going to test you?"

"I'll give you three difficult questions from the county."

Li Yun said calmly: "Those who answered all three questions correctly and hit the nail on the head will be appointed as county magistrates."

"The one who gets two questions right will be the county magistrate."

"Those who make some sense will be assigned to be the chief accountant."

"Take this as an example."

Du Qian frowned at first, then relaxed his brows and sighed silently: "Then let's do as the Lord wants. However, the scale of the Jinling Literary Conference is really small this time, so we may not be able to select many talents."

"It's normal. We are short of manpower right now, so we can't ask for too much. This class is the lucky one for Jiangdong."

"later…"

Li said, with his hands behind his back, “It will get harder and harder.”

It is easier to join any team when it is first started. As time goes by, as the team grows larger, the requirements for new employees will naturally become higher.

For example, in another world, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, if you had the title of Juren, you would have a high probability of becoming an official. But in the middle period, if you were not a Jinshi, it would be difficult to assign an official position. Even if you could be assigned, you could only be a county magistrate at most and it would be difficult to be promoted.

Right now, the 300 people in Jiangdong who have been initially screened are undoubtedly the lucky ones who are at the forefront of the trend.

Du Qian nodded silently, looking at the arithmetic problem that Li Yun had personally given him, and couldn't help but be a little absent-minded.

If these are the exams for becoming an official in the future, then the schools...

Will you teach these as well?
Thinking of this, he turned his head to look at Li Yun, a big question arose in his mind.

With such a leader, the future of Jiangdong and the future of the world...

What will it become?

Li Yun, who was standing by, did not have such complicated thoughts. He stroked his chin and thought for a while before saying, "We need to give a generous reward to the winner of this literary gathering."

"Only then can we show the spirit of seeking talents and recruiting them."

"By then, if someone scores well in all seven subjects."

Li Yun tapped the table lightly: "I will appoint him as the governor of Hezhou."

Du Qian couldn't help but murmur when he heard this.

"If this can become a precedent, no matter now or in the future, scholars all over the world will probably remember the kindness of the Lord!"

(End of this chapter)