Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Qian Jiazheng was extremely supportive of Wang Lin's idea.

His purpose in taking this mock exam was to gain a group of fellow students and gain connections in the officialdom.

Therefore, he will definitely pass this mock exam and become an official. He also persuaded Wang Lin to become an official and support each other in the future.

He even revealed a piece of news that confirmed Wang Lin’s thoughts:

"Many of those who ranked in the top 100 in the mock exam are Juren. These people are taking part in the general examination and will not participate in this election."

"Many of the Tai students who are ranked at the front plan to return to their hometowns to continue taking the imperial examinations, and later pass the examinations for the Ming Dynasty in Law and Ming Shu."

"These people don't participate in the election of officials. Brother Wang can choose a good position."

When Wang Lin heard this, he suddenly felt happy. However, when he thought that many Tai students planned to return to their hometowns to take the exams, his unwillingness resurfaced, and he was still hesitant:
"I heard that Qian Muzhai is planning to put the etiquette, law and calculation questions in the provincial examination."

"Brother Qian, what do you think are the possibilities? Will the provincial examination be a good test site in the future?"

Qian Jiazheng had also heard about the news, but he didn't think it would have much impact on Wang Lin. He advised:

"Even if the questions on etiquette, law and calculation are transferred to the provincial examination, it won't have much weight for a while."

"What's more, although Brother Wang is good at arithmetic, he is not necessarily much better than others when it comes to etiquette."

"If you learn it all over again, what advantage will Brother Wang have?"

Wang Lin was speechless and gave up the idea of ​​returning to his hometown to take the exam.

As Qian Jiazheng said, it is unpredictable when the etiquette and law calculation questions will be transferred to the provincial examinations and what proportion they will account for.

Moreover, he is no more proficient in etiquette than others. The result of learning from scratch is unpredictable, and it may be even harder to succeed than it is now.

It is better to seize this opportunity and become an official directly.

The idea of ​​joining the Guard's Office resurfaced in Wang Lin's mind:

"The Weiwei Department is a military attache, and the period of training is five years. Compared with Brother Qian, who is a Yuanshi, there is only one year difference." 』

"If I make a few more achievements, I might be promoted faster!" 』

Wang Lin has always paid attention to the Weiwei Department. Wang Lin knew that during the Spring Festival, many people in the Weiwei Department had made meritorious service and were personally promoted by the emperor.

If he joins the Guards Agency at this time, he is very likely to come into the emperor's sight.

The only thing that worries him is that Jin Yiwei has a bad reputation, and military attachés of the same rank cannot compare with civilian officials.

Regarding his concerns, Qian Jiazheng thinks it is not a problem at all:

"Can the military attachés of Jin Yiwei be the same as other military attaches?"

"Brother Wang will serve as an official in the Guards Office. Maybe he will make meritorious service in the future and receive a reward from Yonsei Kingo!"

"Those slanderers are just jealous. Which high-ranking official now doesn't want future generations to be hereditary royal guards?"

He tried his best to persuade Wang Lin to join Jinyiwei so that he could help him find out information in the future.

Under Qian Jiazheng's persuasion, Wang Lin gradually solidified his idea.

Qian Jiazheng's rhetoric is on the one hand, and on the other hand he feels that with Qian Jiazheng as a friend, he may be recognized by the civil servants——

At least this group of people who passed the mock exam and became officials will not look down on him.

The two of them support each other and can go further in the future.

In this way, the two took the vacant official positions announced by the Ministry of Personnel and discussed which position they should choose.

He even found a few Tai students who were also qualified to serve as officials to discuss the matter together.

In this way, when the examination was approaching, a group of Tai students who were not qualified to participate in the examination and had passed the mock examination to obtain official qualifications began to choose official positions.

In order to show his importance, Zhu Youjian held the official selection ceremony in Jianji Hall. To this end, the Jianji Hall was renovated and plaques and couplets were hung.

The four words written on the plaque are "The Imperial Construction has its extremes", which comes from "The Imperial Construction has its extremes" in "Shangshu·Zhou·Shu" Hong Fan.

The pillar that holds the backbone is extremely central, which is extended to the principle of Zhongzheng, which means that the emperor established the highest principle in the world to establish Zhongzheng.

These words are the origin of the names Huangji Hall and Jianji Hall. Zhu Youjian originally planned to use them in Huangji Hall, but after thinking about it, he still used them in Jianji Hall.

(Jianji Hall, formerly known as Jinshen Hall, was changed to Baohe Hall in the Qing Dynasty, and the plaque "Imperial Jian Youji" was written by Qianlong)
The couplet next to it is a passage selected by Zhu Youjian from the Tao Te Ching:

Those who accept the filth of the country are called the masters of the country;

If you receive bad luck from your country, you will be the king of the world.

Corresponding to the "Emperor is the parent of the people and the king of the world" in the Huangji Chapter of "Hong Fan", reminding himself that as the emperor, he must bear the responsibility of the entire world.

Such renovations make Jianji Hall look more solemn. It was no longer just used as a place for the emperor to change clothes as before.

Most of the students came to the palace for the first time and were very excited when they saw the solemn Jianji Hall. He thought that although he was not qualified to take the palace examination in Huangji Hall, he could come to Jianji Hall during the official selection, and his life would be worthwhile.

Zhu Youjian was very pleased to see that most of these people were still young. It is believed that these people can work longer and contribute to the great tomorrow in the next 40 to 50 years.

Although most of these people will become subordinates and few of them can appear in front of him, Zhu Youjian still attaches great importance to them and considers them to be the starting point of professional bureaucrats——

The professionalization of agencies such as the Three Law Departments and the Ministry of Accounts will start with them.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian met them in person and presided over the official selection ceremony.

According to the previously set regulations, this time the official selection will be based on ranking.

The Ministry of Officials wrote down the vacant official positions on a large list, and the top three students came forward to select them.

After three minutes at the latest, the person at the front of the queue must decide on the official position they have chosen. The official of the Ministry of Personnel crossed out the corresponding official position, and another official next to him recorded it, and a cabinet secretary filled in the decree, issued the official seal and ribbon, and appointed the position on the spot.

When the first person accepts the appointment, a supplementary person comes forward to watch the vacant official position.

In this way, there were always only three people who took turns to come forward and look at the list of vacant official positions. Everyone has three minutes to choose their favorite official position.

This is the specific process. After Yang Jingchen read it out, he ordered the first three people to come forward and let them choose official positions.

Before they confirmed the official position they selected, Zhu Youjian asked the eunuchs around him to read out the appointment of Qian Jiazheng, granting him the rank of ninth-rank official in the Hanlin Academy.

Although this official position is not high, it is in the Hanlin Academy. After hearing this, all the students were filled with envy——

There are no official positions in the Hanlin Academy among the vacancies announced by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The top ranked scholar, the ninth rank of Imperial College, is a little worse than the ninth rank of Imperial Academy.

It can be said that the position Qian Jiazheng was awarded this time is better than that of all students. The emperor was very kind to this Yuanshi. Qian Jiazheng accepted the appointment with excitement. Qian Jiazheng knew that not only was he in the emperor's heart, but he had also established his position in the mock examination subject——

Although his grades were not the best, he was awarded the highest official position. By analogy, it is like the top scholar in the imperial examination being awarded the title of editor for the Hanlin Academy.

Then, the first student to be selected was selected, and as expected, he chose the position of Imperial Master, Ninth Grade Scholar. For those who came from Taixue, this position is familiar and promising, so it is the most suitable choice.

Next, the official positions in the capital were quickly taken away by those who were ranked first. Some people would rather choose a ninth-grade official position in the capital than go to other places.

After the selection of the ninth-rank Taichang Temple Zanglilang and the Honglu Temple Chief Minister, there are still candidates from the ninth-rank Honglu Temple Chanting Preface Class and Taichang Temple Si Yue. They want to serve as the ninth-rank official at the level of the ninth rank. Official position.

Of course the officials in the Ministry of Personnel disagreed, especially Yang Jingchen, who was in charge of this matter, and his face was ashen. For this official selection, he specially released several good local positions. Unexpectedly, these people did not appreciate it and were unwilling to choose them.

So after asking the emperor for instructions, he announced:
"If a ninth-grade official chooses to be a ninth-grade official in the capital, he will be demoted one level."

"The chief register of the ninth rank in each county can be acted by an official from the ninth rank. As long as there are no mistakes for three years, it can be officially awarded, and after three years, it will be promoted to the ninth rank."

"Those who go to work in border areas such as Shaanxi and Southwest China can add one level of external posting and be directly taught the ninth grade."

This means that if you go to work in other places, you can lose two years of grinding, and if you go to work in a border area, you can be directly promoted to one level.

This made official positions in other places more attractive, and students began to choose official positions in other places.

In this way, although there were some minor problems in the process, they were all solved on the spot. Most students are very satisfied with this election. Even if some people don't get the official position they want, they can only blame themselves for not being as good as others and not being chosen first.

It can be said that they are all convinced by the selection of official positions based on merit.

Some of the court officials who witnessed this scene began to support the official selection law and suggested that it be implemented among new scholars.

In particular, Wen Tiren and Qian Qianyi took the lead in supporting the official selection law and made a lot of noise.

One said that the official selection law is fair and just, and the other said that the official selection law respects everyone's will. Each has his own reasons, and both think the official selection law is good.

Although Zhu Youjian had this plan in his mind, he did not make a decision immediately to avoid affecting the test. The public statement is that after the palace examination, all new scholars will be allowed to choose between selecting officials or drawing lots.

This made those who participated in the examination feel relieved. It’s up to them to know how to select officials. There is no need to consider this issue now——

Their most important task now is to obtain Jinshi. How to become an official after becoming a Jinshi is a question that will be considered later.

At the same time, Zhu Youjian did not let his students take office immediately after they selected official positions. Instead, he established an administrative college in Taixue to train these people. Lest they have no idea what to do when they get to the place and be fooled by the subordinate officials.

Especially the officials who went to Shaanxi, Zhu Youjian planned to send them to Xi'an first so that Sun Chuanting could continue to train them and assist Sun Chuanting in his work.

At this time, the memorial written by Sun Chuanting years ago had been passed on.

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied when he saw in the memorial that Sun Chuanting visited Shaanxi and not only wrote about his experiences but also made suggestions. I think the governor of Shaanxi was chosen correctly and he understands the situation in Shaanxi very well.

What particularly satisfied him was that Sun Chuanting clearly realized that the current Shaanxi, like Shandong in the past, was on the verge of civil unrest. This is consistent with Zhu Youjian's understanding that Sun Chuanting has a keen vision.

Therefore, he directly agreed to the tax reduction and construction of water conservancy projects mentioned in Sun Chuanting's memorial.

And decided to give him all the new officials who were going to work in Shaanxi and let him conquer these people.

In order to allow Sun Chuanting to restrain these officials, Zhu Youjian planned to trial a proposed reform in Shaanxi:

"After the establishment of the Government Affairs Bureau, the Civil Affairs Section was established to be responsible for the appointment of civil servants."

"Levels of officials are also standardized to nine levels, and they are transferred according to merit and length of service."

"But who will confirm these appointments? What are the rules for turning clerks into officials? It has not been decided yet."

"I plan to send an official to Shaanxi to try this out."

Zhu Youjian mentioned this matter at a standing meeting that dealt with official affairs.

Shangshufang Guangwei, the official minister, was old and didn't really understand these new things. After expressing his agreement, he pushed the matter to Yang Jingchen.

Yang Jingchen had communicated with the emperor before, and now he said:
"What your Majesty said is absolutely true!"

"I believe that the chief secretaries of each province should set up civil affairs departments to be responsible for these matters."

“The number of officials in prefectures and counties and who can be promoted to officials should be decided by the Department of Civil Affairs.”

"We can try to build a civil affairs office in Shaanxi to be responsible for the appointment of civil servants."

When the ministers heard this, they were all shocked. I know that the emperor's adjustments to official institutions will extend from the capital to Shaanxi.

When adjusting the Household Department and Taifu Temple before, the emperor had stated that the Provincial Grain Control Road, Duce Road, etc. should be changed to the Chief Secretary's Household Affairs Office, responsible for collecting taxes and transshipment matters.

Now that this matter has not been implemented, Yang Jingchen has proposed to establish a civil service department. It is obvious that he will model the six departments of the imperial court and establish various departments in the Chief Secretary.

Extremely cautious about this, Yuan Keli said:
"It is extremely appropriate to establish a civil affairs department to manage civil servants, but Shaanxi is currently poor and cannot increase the burden."

"I think we should be cautious and not increase the number of officials."

This is his consistent attitude, believing that there should not be too many officials to avoid redundant officials.

If Zhu Youjian had not communicated with him about the reform of civil servants, the establishment of the Civil Service Section of the Government Affairs Office would have been a foregone conclusion. Maybe Yuan Keli would object even to matters related to the Civil Affairs Bureau.

Zhu Youjian knew his attitude. Seeing that he just said that there could not be more officials, he agreed:

"It is indeed not appropriate to increase the number of officials. Existing officials should be used to serve concurrently."

"The affairs of the Household Affairs Department are the responsibility of the former Supervisor of Food and Political Affairs."

"Each Chief Secretary has a left and right political officer, and I think that another political officer should be in charge of the civil affairs department."

This is a general principle, which shows that the responsibilities of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Household Affairs are equally important, and the subordinate agencies of the Ministry of Personnel cannot be lowered than those of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

However, everyone involved in politics in Shaanxi now has their own responsibilities, and Zhu Youjian is unwilling to make adjustments at will, nor does he want to randomly appoint an unknown official to be a pilot.

So he said again:
"The affairs of the Shaanxi Civil Affairs Bureau are now only on a trial basis, and no one will be allowed to take political responsibility."

"I plan to select an official from the imperial court to be appointed as the Fourth Rank Counselor of the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province to be responsible for the trial construction of the Civil Affairs Hall."

"Does the Ministry of Personnel recommend any candidates?"

The previously decided matter of adding left and right counselors was brought up again at this time.

This matter was decided when the false title of Chief Secretary was added, and it was intended to compensate for the downgrade of the Chief Secretary from the second rank to the third rank.

It's just that there were too many things in the court last year, and Zhu Youjian has never been able to take care of this matter. When he asked the Ministry of Personnel to plan the world's officials some time ago, he found that many local officials were vacant, and the addition of counselors in various provinces was not implemented.

So at this time, he proposed it again and decided to send a group of court officials to serve as counselors in the local areas to strengthen the court's influence on the local area. (End of chapter)