Tibet.

Chapter 1465 Reform Pilot
Wang Xianwei smiled and said, "Of course, it's also a case test. For example, at noon, you suddenly received an urgent report from your subordinates that two groups of people were making trouble and fighting in a restaurant. How would you deal with it? It's not a test of how you deal with it normally, but a test of how you deal with it according to the regulations."

Ma Hui scratched his head and said, "According to the regulations! I must take a dozen of my men to the restaurant to stop it, and send someone to notify the county lieutenant. Then, depending on the severity of the incident, if there is no fight, we should disperse as soon as possible. If a fight breaks out, there will be a lot of things to deal with. We need to determine if anyone is dead or not, arrest the main culprit, compensate the restaurant, and finally investigate the specific cause of the fight."

County Magistrate Wang smiled and said, "Just answer like this, isn't that enough?"

Wang Xianwei said to everyone, "Didn't you all get your exam tickets? There are different types of exam tickets, and then there are different exam rooms and different exam papers. Everyone should go to bed early tonight and take the exam well tomorrow. Once the clerks are incorporated into the imperial official system, everyone's status will be higher."

"Will you stay in Chencang County in the future?" Someone suddenly asked a question, which is also the most crucial question.

Everyone looked at the county lieutenant.

County Magistrate Wang smiled bitterly and said, "I don't think it's likely, but it shouldn't be too far! They are all within the Guanzhong Road. I heard that the court only considers exchanging people within the same road, and will not exchange them to the east or west of the river."

Everyone immediately started talking about it. "Where are we going to live? What about our families and children? What about our land?"

"Everyone, be quiet!"

County Magistrate Wang waved his hand and asked everyone to be quiet. "This is a restaurant, please don't make any noise. I won't hide it from you. We in Chencang County have received advance notice from the higher-ups to prepare ten courtyards as official housing. A county won't be without even a few courtyards. So you will have official housing in the new place. The old house will definitely be yours. It's yours. You can bring your family with you. Once you become an official of the court, you will receive various subsidies. Your salary will at least double. If you really don't want to leave home, you can only resign, or be demoted to a poor official, or open your own shop and do business!"

"Why does the court do this?" Household Official Liu Xingyuan said with dissatisfaction.

County Lieutenant Wang gave him a meaningful look and said, "Liu Hucao, your father, Mr. Liu, is a well-known figure in Chencang County. Your Liu family claims to be descendants of the Han emperor, and is one of the most powerful families in Chencang County. I tell you frankly, if there were no children of powerful families like you in the county offices of all the counties in the world, the imperial court would never be so bored as to carry out local administrative reforms."

The next morning, the exam began. In the Imperial College exam room, thousands of clerks sat at their desks, writing furiously. In another building, hundreds of police chiefs gathered. These police chiefs were military officials who were only slightly literate and could understand some wanted notices and other official documents, but they could not sit down for the exam, so they were interviewed.

Ma Hui, the chief constable of Chencang County, sat nervously on his chair. An official from the Ministry of War asked, "How long have you been the chief constable of Chencang County?"

"It will be exactly ten years in three months!"

"What did you do before you became a police chief?"

"I was a constable before, and I worked there for nine years."

The officials asked questions according to a checklist, writing them down as they went along.

"What are your achievements?"

When talking about his achievements, Ma Hui suddenly became excited. "I have caught countless thieves. I caught Mi Xiong, the thief who committed many crimes on Chencang Road. I was promoted to the chief of police because of this. Later, I caught Wang Lun, the fake Maitreya who spread rumors to deceive the people. I also caught the thirteen thieves who massacred the Liu family rice shop in Chang'an. And more."

"That's it!"

The official waved his hand and smiled, "Two are enough. And the last question is, if a murder suddenly occurred in broad daylight in the city, and the situation was urgent, what would you do first?"

Ma Hui said without hesitation: "Close the city gates immediately. Although it is beyond your authority, you should explain to the county lieutenant and the county lord afterwards that this kind of murderer will usually flee to Chang'an. Once he leaves the city, it will be difficult to catch him. The key is to trap him in the city first."

"That's it! Press your fingerprint and your test is over."

Ma Hui put his fingerprint on the test paper. He hesitated and asked, "Will I fail the test?"

The official smiled and said, "I think your qualifications, performance, and emergency response capabilities are all qualified, and you don't have any physical disabilities, so it shouldn't be a problem!"

Ma Hui was overjoyed and quickly bowed and left.

The examinations for civil servants are basically based on practical work. For example, one question asks, "During the An-Shi Rebellion, Mrs. Chen San fled from Hebei to Guanzhong with her children and later settled in Guanzhong. How should she and her children be registered?"
The correct answer is to register the copy first, and then register the original copy after the government in her hometown has a receipt for the cancellation of the household registration. If there is no receipt in ten years, then go straight to the original copy. Generally speaking, if there is no receipt in three consecutive population censuses, the other party will delete the household registration.

There are also test questions on how to compile year-end written reports, etc., as well as the procedures for building a government-run school, which is a test for academic qualifications.

How many times a year does the government warehouse need to be inventoried? What is the brief description of the inventory process, etc.? These are questions marked for answer by the Warehouse Officer and the Household Administration Officer. If not, there is no need to answer them.

All the clerks found the exam very easy, and after it was over, they were all smiling and talking and laughing.

The court did not intend to replace them. These clerks with many years of low-level experience have been needed in every dynasty. The key is who controls them? The local powerful families or the court officials.

After the exam, the next step is to classify each person. The court divided officials into five grades, based on the county level and job level. For example, the Ya Si of Wannian County and Chang'an County were first-level officials. The Xue Zheng and Xing Bu of Wannian County were second-level officials. The six Caos of Wannian County were third-level officials. For example, the two Ya Si of Chencang County were second-level officials, mainly because the county level was low.

After the grading is completed, the counties will be exchanged.

The exchange of clerks mainly takes place between counties of the same level. If they are transferred to a county of a higher level, it means they have been promoted. If the bailiff of Wannian County is to be transferred, it means that they will be promoted, but usually they will be promoted to the ninth rank official of the provincial government, and will not be directly promoted to one of the four county officials.

In the imperial study, Emperor Li Ye was also paying attention to the civil service examination in Guanzhong and Luoyang areas.

Incorporating low-level clerks into the Tang Dynasty's bureaucratic system was definitely a bold attempt, which was of great significance to the grassroots' implementation of the court's policies. The biggest beneficiary was actually the county magistrate. The term of office of a county magistrate was five years. In fact, the first two years were spent familiarizing themselves with the various intricate relationships. Once the relationships were sorted out and a firm foothold was established, they began to consider their next term.

In order to avoid being sidelined, county magistrates often use their own staff, which in turn causes conflicts with other officials and subordinates.

Once the clerks also join the official system, the county magistrate's staff will not be able to seize power, and the county magistrate will not face the situation of being sidelined in the previous two years. The county magistrate can engage in substantive governance as soon as he takes office.

Li Ye handed over the power of assessing clerks to the provincial government, which was then responsible for assessing clerks in each county. However, the power of appointment and dismissal was in the hands of the Ministry of Personnel, so the Ministry of Personnel also set up a special Clerical Affairs Bureau to promote clerks from all over the country based on the provincial government's assessment and appointment and dismissal.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Wei, Prime Minister Zhang, and Minister Liu are here!"

"Summon them to an audience!"

Soon, Wei Jiansu, Zhang Li, and Liu Yan hurried into the imperial study, bowed and said, "Your Majesty!"

"My three beloved ministers, please do not bow. Please take a seat!"

The three of them sat down, and Wei Jiansu presented a memorial, "Your Majesty, this is the reform plan for the civil servants in Guanzhong formulated by the Ministry of Personnel. It is a summary of experience, and the next step is to promote it to all parts of the country."

Li Ye looked at the plan, pondered for a moment and said: "I have been considering two things these days. The first is about the time of the pilot. Of course, there is no problem with the examination. The successful experience should be promoted to all parts of the country. The state government will organize examinations in various places, and then the clerks will be included in the court official system. This point will not change.

But regarding the exchange of civil servants, I think we still need to be more prudent. Let's first look at the pilot projects in Guanzhong and Luoyang. We might as well extend the pilot period a little, to about three years. If the effect is very good, then we can implement it in all places. But if it causes a large number of civil servants to resign, then it means that there is something wrong with our system and we are not thoughtful enough. We need to find out where the problem lies. What do you think?"

Wei Jiansu nodded, "Your Majesty, I think it's reasonable for you to consider it from a prudent perspective!"

Zhang Li and Liu Yan also agreed that the reform has not stopped, but has become more stable and the pilot period has been extended. This is a good thing. It is just like treating a patient or testing a new drug. You cannot declare it a success and start promoting it as soon as the patient takes it. You always have to observe the patient for a period of time to see if the drug is effective. Therefore, the observation period is very important.

The emperor just wants to extend the observation period, which is of course a good thing.

"What's another thing your majesty is considering?" Wei Jiansu asked with a smile.

(End of this chapter)