I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 810 My Way of Training and Selecting Officials
Seeing Pan Yinglong's expectant expression, Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "It's very simple, just delegate power to the villages."

“Decentralize power to the countryside?”

Pan Yinglong didn't quite understand.

"Aren't villages very exclusive? If a village chief is sent down, they will most likely be very unhappy. In that case, I will give them the power and let them choose their own village chief."

Pan Yinglong seemed to understand, but still didn't fully understand.

"Your Majesty, is the village chief elected from the villagers an official?"

“He is a village official, recognized by the government, but not listed in the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Personnel, only registered in the county government’s Personnel Bureau.

There is no official rank and no salary. A partial allowance will be given later depending on the situation.”

"Your Majesty, what is the main responsibility of this elected village chief?"

"He is the head of the village, assisting in collecting taxes, publicizing laws and policies, mediating disputes, helping villagers, managing village public affairs, reporting villagers' demands and opinions to the township office and county government, and assisting in completing other administrative affairs."

So many things?

Pan Yinglong was stunned.

They have more work to do and greater responsibilities than the previous grain chiefs, village heads, and local security guards. They have no salary, only partial allowances. According to the emperor's temperament, he will definitely not allow the village chief to abuse his power and become a powerful tyrant.

Pure dedication!

Then who wants to be the village chief?

Pan Yinglong carefully asked his doubts: "Your Majesty, the village chief has heavy responsibilities and many tasks. I'm afraid it's not easy to be a village chief!"

"That's right.

Under the new system of the Ming Dynasty, village heads have a lot of work to do and great responsibilities, but their remuneration is not much, so we must subsidize them in other ways.

For example, the children of village heads have priority in compulsory education; their children get extra points when they are admitted to schools; their children are given priority when recruiting soldiers; and they are eligible for medical and retirement benefits after serving for a certain number of years."

When Pan Yinglong heard this, he thought it was a good idea.

There is no salary on the surface, but these various subsidies are tempting enough.

Priority is given to compulsory education.

At present, compulsory education is only implemented in provincial capitals and wealthy county seats. It is only partially implemented in county towns. The children of village heads can enjoy priority, and this treatment is the same as that of other officials.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has entered the industrial revolution, productivity has exploded, and there is an urgent need for people with cultural knowledge and technology. After receiving six to nine years of compulsory education, you can find a job anywhere and have no worries about food and clothing.

When recruiting soldiers, children of different parents are given priority.

Now, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty’s army, navy, and guards not only have generous salaries and allowances, but also have many opportunities and a bright future.

Work hard to become a non-commissioned officer, or apply to a military academy to become an officer.

Although fighting in wars is very dangerous, the pensions are sufficient. The court will take care of the children of martyrs, and those without children will be given the opportunity to be exempted from punishment by their younger brothers.
If one's ancestors' graves are filled with smoke and one has made military achievements, one can be granted a hereditary military position and thus achieve class leap.

Being awarded a title or honor is a rare God-given opportunity that most people only dare to dream about.

Even ordinary soldiers will have a place to go after they retire from the three-year service.

Those who have made meritorious contributions will be given priority to enter the police department, railway public security or factory and mine station security department.

The rest were assigned to factories, mines, merchant ships, and farms; or returned to the village to serve as militia captains or village security guards.
The Ming Dynasty currently has three years of compulsory military service. According to regulations, all young and strong men are required to serve after they turn 18. It is no longer the previous practice of annual conscription and labor service, where they have to serve two years of military service at one time.

There are so many benefits to being a soldier, and after more than ten years of publicity, the people have become aware of them.

The men of the Ming Dynasty broke the tradition of good men not joining the army. They signed up enthusiastically and tried every means to become soldiers.

The best young and strong people are selected from those who register to join the army, and they are sent to local garrison regiments and coastal defense regiments. After three months of training, they are promoted from privates to regular soldiers.

The drills were carried out over the next three months, with the Guards, Army, Navy and fleet sending personnel to observe.

The top performers who performed well in the drills were first recruited by the field forces and fleets of the army and navy, the next best ones were picked up by the guards, and about half of them remained to continue serving in local garrison regiments and coastal defense regiments.

The army, navy and guard forces must serve for three years.

Garrison and coastal defense soldiers only need to serve for two years before they can be discharged, and they are guaranteed to have a job, but the places they are assigned to are definitely worse than those of the army, navy, and guards.

There are other subsidies.
Pan Yinglong nodded and said, "Your Majesty, the court treats the village chief so well, so this village chief really needs to be carefully selected. But I don't quite understand, how to choose the village chief?"

"Every man over 18 years old and every married woman in the village gets one vote, and whoever gets the most votes will be elected."

Pan Yinglong was very surprised, "Your Majesty, do you mean to recommend the election, not to select the election?"

"Yes, it is an election. Let the villagers elect them."

"I am stupid and I heard that a village chief should be selected from the villagers. Your Majesty, is this appropriate?"

"It has become a custom in our dynasty that ministers must be elected by the court. Why is it inappropriate to elect a small village chief?"

Pan Yinglong didn't ask any further questions.

The village chief is a small person with heavy responsibilities. He is not a formal official, but just the leader of a group of villagers.

Many villages in the Ming Dynasty were far away from the county seat, and officials and clerks rarely went to the countryside. These villages were basically "self-governing" and managed themselves.

Villagers often elect a respected elder as the village elder or clan elder to be their leader, so that when there are disputes between neighbors, there is a mediator. When there are weddings or funerals, there is someone to preside over them.

The emperor's move was to respect the customs of the villagers. But Pan Yinglong knew that it was definitely not that simple.

"Your Majesty, with what status are the officials we send down to each village?"

"There must be rules for the election of village heads by villagers in rural areas. First of all, the candidate for village head must be from the village, have land in the village or be born here."

Only those who were born and raised here would be willing to contribute to the village.

Pan Yinglong nodded in agreement.

"Secondly, I just mentioned so many responsibilities. Being a village chief is very strenuous. An elderly person would definitely not be able to handle it. He would collapse from exhaustion after just a few days. Who would be responsible for that?

There must be an age limit, between 20 and 40 years old, and those who are healthy can be relaxed to 50 years old."

Seventy years old was a rarity in ancient times, but nowadays, people of the Ming Dynasty considered living to be long-lived if they reached sixty. Especially in the countryside, where conditions were more difficult, the average life expectancy of the people was even shorter.

Being a village chief is stressful and there does need to be an age limit. Don't hold a funeral for a person who has just taken office for a few days before the inauguration ceremony.

"Then the selection process must be fair and just. First, candidates voluntarily sign up, then candidates express their ambition and determination to serve the villagers. Then one person one votes for the selection. There must be no illegal or unfair behavior such as bribery, coercion, and forming cliques during the process."

Zhu Yijun pointed at Pan Yinglong with his right finger and said, "In order to ensure that the election of village heads in each village is fair, just, compliant and legal, the county government has specially assigned counselors to each village to assist and guide the villagers to conduct a fair and just election of village heads in accordance with the law.

The counselor will first review the qualifications of the candidates for village head."

Pan Yinglong's eyes lit up. Yes, not just anyone can sign up to be the village chief.

First, he must meet age and other requirements. Second, he cannot have committed a crime, been dealt with by the police, or been sentenced by the magistrate's court.

The emperor is right. Candidates must first undergo background checks and political review, and this matter will be led by the counselors.

“Then we supervise the whole election process, guide the villagers to select a leader they trust, and then report the elected village head to the township office for approval. Then the counselor will represent the township office and formally appoint the elected person as village head in front of the villagers.

The nomination process is completed, but the counselor cannot just give up. He must help the students get on the horse and see them through!
The counselor is stationed in the village to supervise the newly appointed village head to perform his duties, assist him in completing various tasks of the village head, and guide him to lead the villagers to build a new agriculture and a new countryside.
At the same time, the counselor must also monitor the village head to see if he relies on the power in his hands to commit crimes!
Once it is discovered that the village head has engaged in illegal activities such as oppressing villagers, accepting bribes, and engaging in favoritism and fraud, report it immediately to the township office, request that the village head be suspended and that an investigation team be organized to investigate him.

After verification, they will be formally dismissed, and those involved in illegal activities will be transferred to the county procuratorate and judicial bureau."

Pan Yinglong's eyes became brighter as he listened.

The counselors are equivalent to "imperial envoys" sent to each village by the county government.

The village chief is nominally the head of the village and is subject to his supervision and guidance in all aspects. In fact, the counselor is the leader and the village chief is just his deputy in executing specific affairs.

But the counselors were only sent by the county government to guide the selection process and supervise and assist the village chief in his daily work. In other words, if they put on a cover, the villagers would not reject them.

Those candidates who want to be elected as village chiefs will try every means to curry favor with him. The elected village chief will not dare to offend him and will help him integrate into the village.

Wonderful!

However, Pan Yinglong thought of an important issue.

"Your Majesty, the village counselors will be selected from officials who have been regularized for three years, and they must be young officials. Now provinces, counties and prefectures are in urgent need of officials, especially young and knowledgeable officials.

Now even the township offices are not fully equipped, and counselors have to be sent to each village. I am worried that the shortage of manpower will become more serious. "

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, "Fengwu, we can't think like that. The prime minister must have come from the prefectures, so where did the counties come from? It must be the village officials.

Our previous mechanism for selecting officials was very unreasonable.

First, the officials were separated, with a natural chasm in between.

Once they passed the provincial and imperial examinations, they would be able to leap over the dragon gate. The Jinshi and Juren, who had no experience in governing the country, were forced to take on the heavy responsibility of governing the country.

Is this a joke? "

Zhu Yijun changed his tone and continued.

"Of course, there were many talented people among the Jinshi, such as Master Zhang, Lord Zhao, Lord Tan and many other important officials. There were also many talented people among the Juren, such as Lord Gangfeng and Lord Zhuowu.

But the yield rate is too low, and a gap is formed."

"Your Majesty, may I ask what the fault phenomenon means?"

"The gap phenomenon is that among the many Jinshi and Juren admitted every three years in the past, only a few were qualified to govern the country, and only a small number were qualified to govern local governments.

Most of them are either mediocre people who do nothing, or censors who are good at talking big.

There are only a few excellent officials at the top of the official team, only a small number of decent officials at the second level, and almost no qualified and useful officials below that. "

Pan Yinglong remained silent.

He knew the emperor's standards too well.

In the emperor's mind, a qualified and useful official is not one who can write poetry or lyrics, or one who is good at writing eight-legged essays, but one who can at least handle the daily government affairs clearly.

However, most of the officials who came from the official channels of the previous dynasty were good at talking big and doing idle talk.

Boasting and criticizing others are their specialties.

When they were asked to handle specific local government affairs, their true colors were immediately exposed. They either handed them over to their staff or were sidelined by the clerks below.

Thinking about it this way, what the emperor said was right, there was indeed a gap in the past.

"In my opinion, the court should select qualified officials, and the final official team should be in the shape of a pyramid.

The lowest level, which is also the largest in number, should be officials with average abilities who are barely competent for their jobs. They are distributed in the county government offices and township offices.

They were the screws in the huge machine of the Ming Dynasty.

Above the county is the prefecture, above the prefecture is the governor, and above the cabinet is the six ministries and temples. As you move up the hierarchy, the higher the ability requirements are, and the fewer people you have.

In my imagination, this pyramid of officials should be a process of sifting through the sand, layer by layer, and finally, from hundreds of thousands of Ming officials, more than 120 court officials, 24 advisory scholars, and four advisory grand secretaries should be selected.

Real knowledge from practice!
In my opinion, this is the best training and selection mechanism. Village counselors are the first step in the pyramid screening process.

Young officials who responded to the call and volunteered to serve as village counselors should be the focus of training by the court. Future county governors, county magistrates, and county magistrates should be selected from these people.

The future provincial governors, governors-general, and cabinet ministers should be selected from these county governors and magistrates."

Pan Yinglong nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I respectfully accept your order.

After I took office as the Minister of Personnel, I immediately set up a special group to carry out the Emperor's wishes.

The Ministry of Personnel communicated with Shuntian Prefecture, Hebei Provincial Administration and Luanzhou Prefecture to select a dozen counties in the capital area as pilot counties for village counselors.

Then select ten to twenty villages in each of these counties as pilot villages.

The pilot program involves dispatching counselors to guide villages in selecting village heads and coaching the elected village heads to lead villagers in building new agriculture and a new countryside.

During the pilot process, we took this opportunity to explore the improvement of the local grassroots organizations and their operating mechanisms in the country, and at the same time began to establish a good bottom-up mechanism for the training and selection of outstanding officials.

Zhu Yijun nodded with satisfaction.

Outside, on the sixth floor of the hotel, in room 612, Liang Menglong was sitting in the living room, talking with Lieutenant General Lu Xiang and Rear Admiral Deng Zilong.

There was a knock on the door.

"They should be coming."

Liang Menglong stood up and walked to the door. He opened it. There were seven or eight people standing at the door, shouting in unison, "Mr. Mingquan!"

(End of this chapter)