Fenghou

Chapter 1380 Pros and Cons
At noon, Chen Qing once again invited the three ministers to Qingfeng Teahouse for dinner and tea.

After eating, Chen Qing took a sip of tea and asked with a smile, "Is there any preparation for the imperial examination?"

Jiang Yanxian smiled and said: "It's almost the same. It will be officially held in seven days. This year, more than 10 scholars have participated in the imperial examination, which is the largest scale ever. Siwei is a ninth-rank official, and if he is admitted to Mingjing, he will have the opportunity to be a security officer, even if he has entered an official career, followed by the examination of engineering and computing, and he will be able to take up the newly established post of county worker if he is admitted to the engineering and computing department."

Chen Qing frowned, "There are qualifications and qualifications for being a secretary and a county worker. You must have been in politics for more than five years in the county government or the state government. Have you made it clear?"

"I have made it clear that passing the entrance examination is just a qualification. You must have sufficient qualifications before you can hold a job. Moreover, completing your studies in Taixue is also regarded as being admitted to the Engineering and Computing Department. This has been clearly stated."

"There is also a system department!"

Chen Qing knocked on the table and asked, "Is the agricultural and industrial exam I arranged last year implemented normally?"

"It's going on smoothly. There are quite a few people who have taken the exam. The results won't come out until autumn!"

Zhou Kuan said with a smile: "Actually, His Highness's reforms don't need to be so urgent. You can take it a little longer and make changes without knowing it. It will be more calm, and everyone will accept it more easily."

Chen Qing was startled, and asked puzzledly, "Is there something that is difficult for everyone to accept now?"

Zhou Kuan said indifferently: "It's not unacceptable! It's just that 10 people came to participate in the imperial examination, and the Mingjing Division and the Engineering and Computing Division have lowered the threshold of the imperial examination."

Chen Qing looked at Zhou Kuan and said, "Old Zhou is telling the truth, do you have any objections to the two official positions of prison officer and county worker?"

Zhou Kuan nodded, "Improved the status of the prefect, confused the boundaries between officials and officials, and added a county worker, which seemed to increase a bit of professionalism, but actually made the officialdom at the county level more chaotic, more strife, and factional struggles intensified. , it can be said that these two head-slapping decisions of His Highness have shaken the foundation of the local officialdom."

Chen Qing really heard something harsh, and said with a sullen expression on his face: "Isn't it a good thing for professionals to do professional things? If you have to let laymen lead the insiders, everything will be a mess in the end."

Zhou Kuan was also not afraid, and met the lord's sharp gaze and said: "This is what His Highness takes for granted. Whether a job is done well or not does not depend on whether the officials understand it or not. The officials don't need to understand it. As long as the craftsmen are selected well and the funds are sufficient, The rest is left to the artisans.

Now that there is an extra county worker, His Highness thinks he can do things well?What can the county magistrate do if he doesn't allocate money and food?There are a thousand and ten thousand reasons why the county magistrate does not allocate money and food, and all of them make people speechless. The most indispensable thing in officialdom is reason. "

Jiang Yanxian quickly winked at Zhou Kuan, telling him not to be so tough, Jiang Yanxian tactfully said: "Your Highness attaches great importance to business and agriculture, and always hopes to increase food production so that the people can eat enough and the population can grow. We fully understand these.

In fact, all local officials want to have political achievements and attach great importance to agricultural technology. Once a new agricultural technology comes out, everyone will rush to promote it in their county. Your Highness, just look at the promotion of corn. They are all planting a large amount of corn, and the officials are more active than the common people. There are also pumpkins. Officials from all over the country line up to ask for pumpkin seeds. Everyone knows that it has a large yield, can be stored, and is a good helper to survive the disaster year, but some Things really don't need to be so urgent, too urgent will backfire. "

"Jiang Shenzheng is also talking about county workers?" Although Jiang Yanxian said it very implicitly, Chen Qing still understood.

Jiang Yanxian nodded, "This is actually a matter of responsibility. In the past, agriculture was the responsibility of the county magistrate, and the county magistrate had no shirked responsibility. He has the power in his hands, so he can do things well. Now the county magistrate doesn't care, and agriculture is the job of the county workers. The county workers are responsible for the accidents. The county workers need money but have no money, and people who need people have no one. They can't do anything. They can't borrow cattle for spring farming, can't raise money for well digging, and can't recruit people to build farmland and water conservancy. Your Highness , the existence of the county worker is actually taking away part of the power of the county magistrate, which county magistrate would be happy? If it is the county magistrate's own confidant, then it is easy to handle, but it happens to be appointed by the official department, and things are messed up."

Zhang Xiao also said: "Your Highness, I have to say a few words about the lowly position, to improve the status of the prefect. Your Highness' original intention is to let the imperial court control the county more deeply, but in fact! With the power of the county magistrate and the county magistrate, the official struggle in the county is fierce. Everyone is busy fighting, building relationships, and looking for backers. Who cares about the lives of the people?
More importantly, raising the status of the prefects actually created conditions for the local wealthy families to reach out to the county government. Most of the prefects are the children of wealthy families!They have real power, and they must take care of the interests of the wealthy and erode the interests of ordinary people. In the past, they were appointed by the county magistrate, and if they did too much, the county magistrate would balance it out, but now they have the support of the officials and the wealthy. It is definitely not a good thing for the county magistrate, the county magistrate, Your Highness, and subordinate officials to be in power! "

The carriage left Qingfeng Teahouse and drove slowly on the streets in the city. Chen Qing was still in deep thought.

The problem of local governments has always been a big problem that has been difficult to solve in the past dynasties, especially in the vast empire. In the era of inconvenient transportation and communication, the governments of various places have always been in a semi-independent state. It is easy to be controlled by the local gentry and become a vassal of the gentry.

This has been the case in all dynasties. The history of thousands of years is basically the struggle between the local separatist forces and the central court.

Of course Chen Qing knew about this big problem, and he was also trying to solve this big historical problem that has plagued him for thousands of years. He promoted the position of the prefect, and a small move divided the relationship between the gentry and the county magistrate, making them no longer become one.

The reason is also very simple, since they can directly control the power, why should the gentry take a long way to find the county magistrate to speak for them? The county magistrate will be weakened by the gentry and will not benefit, so he will naturally regard the gentry as an enemy, and the struggle will come.

This was the real purpose of Chen Qing's elevation to the position of the prefect, but the affairs of the county needed someone to do it, so the role of the county worker came out.

Therefore, Jiang Yanxian's point of view is not completely correct. The enemy of the county magistrate and the county magistrate is not the foreign county workers, but the local escorts. County workers go to work.

Of course, Chen Qing also knows that there is a lot of chaos now, which is normal. There are two catfishes stirring up the secretary and the county worker. The officialdom at the county level will definitely not be peaceful. It will take time to observe the effect. If it really works If it doesn't work, it's never too late to change it.

Chen Qing sighed softly and looked at the blue sky outside the car window. In fact, no matter how he reformed, he could not change the involution of the empire. The turmoil in the past dynasties was all caused by involution. To change it, the real solution is to Expand outward.

There is still such a large area of ​​land overseas, and so many rich species, expanding outward. The large ships of the Song Dynasty went to Africa and Arabia. There is no shortage of navigation technology. What he lacks now is a large ship of [-] shi, which requires a huge colonial population. .

(End of this chapter)