The road to Jianghu started from the martial arts hall

Chapter 341: Recruiting Military Officials and Selecting Scholars
Yu Jiaolong said calmly: "Money issues are not something you should worry about. I will find a solution!"

At this point, she suddenly changed the subject and said, "Sir, you were transferred to the palace to take charge of all the affairs, but you don't have a title."

Li Muzhi's heart was moved when he heard this, and a trace of excitement emerged. Is he finally going to be promoted?

As expected, Yu Jiaolong continued, "Now that I have succeeded the King of Yue, you should also have a title. Become the Chief Historian of my Palace!"

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Li Muzhi bowed calmly, feeling slightly excited.

The position of Chief Secretary is in charge of different affairs, but the main job is to find and fill gaps for superiors, and he can be in charge of everything.

Although the rank is not high, compared with the court, it is equivalent to the prime minister, who is in charge of yin and yang. It is already the highest-level official position in the Yuewang Palace.

While feeling excited, Li Muzhi was also feeling emotional in his heart, as this position was originally meant for Liu Changqing, the former governor of Dongting.

Liu Changqing had some thoughts of his own in his mind, but they were later killed by Fang Xun.

Li Muzhi knew that after Yu Jiaolong learned about this, she just said "well done" and ignored it.

"I will do my best and die for your Highness!"

He is considered an old man in the Prince of Yue's Palace, and now he has been promoted to the Chief Clerk of the Palace, which means that his future is completely tied down.

Unless Yu Jiaolong wants to rebel, there is no possibility for her to get off the boat. Otherwise, if she really abandons her master without reason, she will surely be despised by the world and will leave a stain wherever she goes, and she will not be able to find another place.

"Ok!"

Yu Jiaolong nodded and returned to the previous topic of the development of the palace.

"All the planning I mentioned before is of great importance. You still need to set up the business as soon as possible and get it on the right track. You don't have to worry about the expenses."

Li Muzhi's heart moved when he heard this. The development plan of the royal palace was complicated, but fundamentally it was still about the two things: elementary education and the large-scale popularization of communication instruments.

The popularization of communication tools, if such tools really exist, is indeed a great thing in Li Muzhi's opinion.

However, the universalization of elementary education in literature and martial arts for all children of school age in the territory instinctively aroused a sense of resistance in him for some reason.

Li Muzhi's mind raced as he had some guesses and he asked tentatively.

"Your Highness wants to popularize elementary education, so should we make some changes to the future examinations?"

In selecting talents in the royal fiefdom, in addition to recruiting from outside, there was no imperial examination within the fiefdom, and a recommendation system was implemented.

The officials selected were all from prominent families that had followed the first King of Yue for generations to this day.

Only a few, like Master Lu, were recruited to serve in the royal palace halfway through their careers.

Li Muzhi immediately realized that his master might want to make changes to the existing talent recommendation system.

Yu Jiaolong smiled and said, "You don't need to test me again and again. If you have something to say, just say it. I'm not a tyrant who won't listen to advice. What can't you say directly?
Yes, I have two plans. One is to recruit military officers, and the other is to select scholars through examinations. With both civil and military means, within five years, we can replace the existing official recommendation system in the fiefdom and make the stagnant water flow again!"

Speaking of this, Yu Jiaolong's heart was pounding. These were the two strategies that Fang Xun taught her, aimed at introducing a large amount of fresh blood and building up talent reserves to cope with future expansion.

"Those who recruit military personnel as officials either recruit retired or disabled soldiers from the army, or recruit those low-level people who are alone from the underworld to serve as local officials."

Fang Xun once counted the cultural level of the population in this world. He found that compared with the ancient times in his previous life, there were two very special groups. Their cultural level, at least in his previous life, was at least elementary school or even junior high school graduation.

One is the army, and the other is a group of individual people at the bottom of the underworld.

He was not surprised that this situation occurred, because both groups were at least above the sixth level of acquired realm.

Even if they have not received a systematic education, they can still read, write and do arithmetic. Otherwise, if they don't have a high level of education, they won't even be able to understand the martial arts manuals, so what's the point of practicing?

The population of these two groups only needs a short period of training to be more than qualified for the jobs of village heads, village heads, tax collectors and other grassroots clerks.

"As for the selection of officials, there are imperial examinations every year. No matter your family background or place of origin, as long as you have no criminal record or criminal record, you can take the examination. There are five subjects: mathematics, agriculture, commerce, martial arts, and engineering.

Positions are granted based on the results of the examinations, and those with excellent results can directly serve as officials in their fiefdoms!"

The more Yu Jiaolong spoke, the louder her voice became, and the more cold sweat appeared on Li Muzhi's forehead.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid these two strategies will attract a lot of criticism!"

He knew very well that if the two policies were really implemented, not only would the elders in the palace and fiefdoms criticize him, but it would even cause people to turn away from him!

The landlords and gentry occupied large tracts of fertile land, and their clans controlled people and dominated the channels for upward mobility.

The village heads and pavilion chiefs at the township level and the minor clerks in the county government are all from humble families, while the officials in the county and prefectural capital are all from prominent families.

The roots have spread out layer by layer and have become tangled.

Even Li Muzhi himself is a member of this rentier class. He also has a family with a large number of descendants.

But now, Yu Jiaolong, who is at the top of this huge interest group, wants to break this pattern.

If these two policies are successfully implemented, it will be digging up the roots of these landlords and gentry!
If it hadn't been said by Yu Jiaolong, Li Muzhi would have cursed out loud.

"Criticism? I'm a yellow-haired girl who hastily ascended to the position. Is it too early to criticize me?"

Yu Jiaolong sneered.

"Dongting Prefecture is my fiefdom. As the King of Yue, I want to recommend talented people and appoint officials. Do I have to act based on the opinions of my subordinates?"

Li Muzhi felt a chill in his heart and immediately adjusted his attitude, shouting loudly.

"Your Highness is a man of great talent and vision. Even if I die, I will implement these two strategies for Your Highness!"

Having said this, if he continued to persuade them, it would mean that he had to admit that the King of Yue had to act according to the opinions of his subordinates, so he could only express his position immediately.

Anyway, as the Prince of Yue's Palace develops in the future, all interests will be inseparable from him, the chief historian, at most within the family.

His family is controlled by him, the master of Yin Shen. Now that he has great power in his hands, any loss to the family's interests can be compensated from other places.

Li Muzhi believed that Yu Jiaolong must have considered this and would not let him down.

Seeing Li Muzhi's statement, Yu Jiaolong nodded and said, "Don't worry, I also know the importance of this matter. However, you don't need to take these two measures slowly. Just implement them with great fanfare. I want to see how the families in Dongting Prefecture react!"

"I know!"

Li Muzhi thought about it and agreed immediately.

He had a hunch that recruiting military officers as officials and selecting scholars through examinations were just appetizers.

Li Muzhi remembered that they were just discussing the large-scale popularization of literary and martial arts education for children of school age in the fiefdom.

If this policy is implemented, although there will be no visible impact in the short term, after a few years, when the first batch of children from the lower classes who have received elementary education grow up,
Coupled with the fact that in the examination, no matter one's background or place of origin, as long as one has no criminal record or criminal record, one can take the examination, Li Muzhi felt a chill in his heart.

I'm afraid that Yu Jiaolong also realized that this was somewhat shocking to the world, so she didn't discuss this with me in depth.

'Hiss, this is not only about drastic reforms to the examination system, but also about completely replacing the Confucian Academy education system in the fiefdom!'

(End of this chapter)