"I never thought that Gu Yuan has some abilities."
In the Luzon Governor's Mansion, Jin Bao heard the news from Qi State and his heart moved. Such a talent is indeed very good.
He sighed with emotion, then began to write again, and stored it in a wooden box, which would be sent to Beijing later.
Secret folding is normal for him, the governor of Luzon.
And he knew that as a frontier official, not only he, the governor, but also several of his subordinate officials must also have secret boxes.
In this case, if someone reports the matter but he fails to report it, his future can easily be ruined.
"There are still a few years left in my second term, and it's almost over. I don't know what kind of official position I can get."
Jinbao was full of hope.
In terms of rank, the governor is the same as the governor in the interior, with greater power. Military, political and legal affairs are integrated into one. Small matters are arbitrary, and major matters are dealt with in advance.
So in some situations, he is quite calm.
For example, from the perspective of the Luzon Governor's Office, it is beneficial to Luzon to do its best to assist Qi and expand its territory and population.
Jinbao, on the other hand, was obsessed with the fact that too much friendship with the feudal king was detrimental to his political future, so he could only maintain his indifference.
With his future in mind, Jin Bao couldn't help but think about his political achievements.
"Please come over, Chief Minister."
The chief envoys and governors in the country are colleagues, but their rank is half a level higher. Although they have administrative power, they are not too great.
In Luzon, although the chief envoy was appointed and dismissed by the court, he was indeed his subordinate official, with clear superiors and subordinates.
The chief envoy did not dare to delay and came over quickly.
"I wonder how my culture and education in Luzon have improved over the years?"
Jin Bao asked softly: "How many scholars are there now?"
"Reporting to the Governor, we in Luzon now have about 300 private schools, 30 social schools, and more than a thousand students. It can be said that the literary style has been at its peak in these years."
The chief envoy hurriedly said: "As for the scholars, in the past few years, only three of them have gone to the capital to take the imperial examination..."
Speaking of this, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.
"Shuntian Mansion, it's so difficult!"
Jin Bao sighed, feeling uncomfortable in his heart.
Although the Luzon Governor's Mansion is at the provincial level, it does not belong to the province. It is included in the Shuntian Mansion just like the scientific examination.
In other words, students in Luzon take the county and government examinations in Luzon, and then have to rush to Beijing all the way to take the college examination, which is as difficult as jumping over the dragon gate.
One can imagine how difficult it is to compete in Shuntian Mansion.
Specifically, the number of places admitted to each county's scholar examination varies according to the local grain and literary style. The lower limit is 8 people and the upper limit is 20 people, usually between 10 and 15 people.
The richer the county and the county that pays more public food, the more admission places will be available, but the competition will be more fierce because there are too many scholars.
For Luzon, since it is not yet a formal provincial unit and is planned to be in Shuntian Prefecture, it is difficult to save such a minimum of eight people.
These three people could only barely pass the county examination in the Ming Dynasty. They relied on Jin Bao's help to pass the scholar examination.
"Only three people, three people——"
Jin Bao murmured, feeling particularly unwilling:
"According to the rules of the imperial court, we in Luzon receive hundreds of thousands of silver coins every year. Although it is not as good as Suzhou and Songjiang, it is more than enough than other prefectures and counties."
"Now that there are college exams this autumn and September, we have to find a way!"
The academic examination is conducted in various provinces and prefectures, and the time is not fixed, and there are always differences in each prefecture and county.
"This is worthy of the imperial court."
The chief envoy also agreed: "The majestic Luzon Mansion has only three scholars. How unbecoming it is!"
"As long as there are more scholars and scholars, the imperial court's foundation in Luzon will naturally be stable."
Jin Bao actually agreed with this statement.
Since ancient times, interests have driven people's hearts the most.
After the Ming Dynasty occupied Luzon, in order to stabilize its rule as quickly as possible and obtain taxes, it
A series of compromises were made with Catholicism and Western Yi.
For example, Catholics are allowed to freely spread their faith as long as it does not violate the law.
After the ruling order was established, the Governor-General of Luzon issued a land grant order to open up wasteland for farming. As long as it was reported to the court, its ownership would be recognized.
A series of other tax cuts are also the norm.
The reason why Luzon was able to continue to be prosperous and stable and contribute a large amount of taxes to the imperial court was fundamentally due to the imperial examination system.
Even though he is just a scholar, he still enjoys exemption from corvee service, the ability to study freely when he sees an official, and he can also receive a monthly salary.
More importantly, he can be an official.
The Luzon Governor's Mansion has held several county and government examinations in recent years, and as many as three to five hundred children have passed the county examination.
These people are all local wealthy families, including Westerners, indigenous people, and Han people. They can be said to be rich and powerful.
For these people, the Luzon Governor-General hired them as officials and filled the entire officialdom.
The scholar made an exception and was appointed as the county magistrate, which shocked the whole Luzon.
In this way, local interests are combined with the interests of the governor-general, and the imperial rule is naturally as stable as Mount Tai.
But everyone has ambitions.
For the huge reading group, there are too few scholars.
The decision-making power of the imperial examination rests with Shuntian Prefecture, which makes it easy for Luzon scholars to oppose it, which is not good for the rule of the court.
If things go on like this, it will inevitably become a crater, and even the slightest spark will erupt, causing great harm.
To put it bluntly, after the imperial examination came out, we could only continue to move forward without obstruction or partiality. Fairness and openness were the best ways to maintain rule.
For example, the Manchus in the Qing Dynasty, due to the embarrassment of a small clan facing a large clan, paid more attention to the fairness of the imperial examinations, and even issued regulations that did not allow Manchus to be nominated as the number one scholar.
When it comes to dealing with fraud in the examination room, there are countless cases of confiscation of homes and executions.
And what about in the Yuan Dynasty?
People simply implemented the Mongolian and Han exams. The Han people had the smallest share and the highest difficulty. After hard work, their status was not as good as that of the Semu people.
Moreover, the imperial examination was only held for a few sessions before it was discontinued.
In this comparison, Manqing is simply a living Bodhisattva.
The two of them made up their mind and immediately started writing the memorial, and asked some of the leaders to co-sign, and then submitted it to the court.
As soon as this incident came out, the whole Luzon rejoiced.
Without it, the expansion of the number of scholars is a good thing for Luzon as a whole, because it means that the cake of power has increased.
Ma'an County, Luzon.
Because there is a mountain forest here that resembles a saddle, the county got its name and was changed to Saddle County. As for the previous New Seville, it has been forgotten by everyone.
On that day, the weather was fine, a rare sunny day in Luzon. Jeff Waters and his family took the opportunity to get on the carriage and go to a nearby church to listen to teachings.
Because the Luzon Governor's Palace has money, the palace roads are wide and straight, and coupled with the implementation of left and right lanes, traffic flows smoothly all the way and there are no jams at all.
This is twelve-year-old little Jeff. He lifted up the curtains with his little head and leaned out of the car. He looked at the farmers, crowds, and buffaloes grazing on the roadside. He was a little excited for a moment.
"What is this?" Suddenly, his mother saw the bamboo basket from the back of the car.
Some candles, yellow paper, and copper coins.
Mrs. Waters said angrily: "Jeff, you are so disobedient, how can you bring these Mingren things to church."
Mr. Waters, who was resting with his eyes closed, moved his ears, opened his eyes, and saw the contents of the bamboo basket.
Little Jeff could only hang his head and defended: "My grandfather was buried in the church, and my younger brother was also buried in the church. I missed them, so I took these things to the church to burn them."
"In addition, there are some books and toys, and I also had people fold them into paper..."
"Who did you listen to?" Mrs. Waters said angrily, her voice getting sharper.
"How can you burn things casually in a church? This will cause a fire. My God, God will never let us go.
our. "
"Mother, I heard those Ming people say that as long as you burn something for them, your relatives will receive it in heaven..."
Little Jeff said aggrievedly: "Don't worry, I will never let the church catch fire."
Mr. Waters also understood at this time. He put his arm around his wife's waist and said softly: "The child just misses his brother and grandfather..."
"I don't know what happened to my Andre in heaven!" Mrs. Waters heard this and couldn't bear it anymore.
Tears welled up in his red eyes, and most of the makeup on his face was ruined.
The family is immersed in sadness and cannot extricate themselves.
Soon, the carriage arrived at the church.
The middle class and landowners from more than a dozen nearby villages, regardless of their status, prayed together under the leadership of the priest.
Afterwards, some people went to the cemetery behind the church.
Mr. Waters discovered that there were many people like his family who burned paper, and they even brought a clay pot with them to avoid causing a fire.
He found that there was a paper money burner next to him. When he looked carefully, he saw that it was Mr. Macaulay, the most famous man in the neighboring village.
Farmers in half the village were growing crops for him.
"Hello, sir."
Waters walked over to say hello and saw that he had burned a lot of things.
In addition to some daily utensils, there are also some books, silks, etc., as well as decent paper horses and paper figures, which are particularly weird.
Seeing his expression, Macaulay smiled and said: "I burned some servants for my father. He always needs people to serve him and can't live without them for a moment."
"Is this the custom of Ming people?" Mr. Waters offered a cigar and said softly, "Doesn't the priest care?"
"Whatever, why don't you care?"
Mr. Macaulay chuckled and said, "The Ming people are in control of Luzon now. As long as the faith remains unchanged, the priest will naturally not dare to mess around."
"It would be bad if this doesn't go well and causes fear. After all, even the Archbishop has to give the Governor three points."
In the Philippines, now in Luzon, the people in power have been replaced by Ming people. In the face of the unbelieving governor, the power of the priests has inevitably shrunk.
Nowadays, they don't dare to act pretentious and can only keep preaching.
As he spoke, Mr. Macaulay smiled slightly and said with a hint of contentment: "To be honest, my son passed the county examination last year and became a child student."
"He taught me how to make these things. I was a little embarrassed at first, but after thinking about it, although my father is at peace in heaven, it is also our intention to send some things up there."
As Macaulay spoke, he suddenly mentioned his son: "Michael is only sixteen years old. He has only studied for two or three years. He has already passed the Four Books and Five Classics, and passed the county and government examinations."
"I estimate that I can pass this year's college examination, and if I become a scholar then I can become a county magistrate."
"Our family will be considered fully developed, and by then our business will be able to reach the entire Luzon..."
Hearing this, Mr. Waters almost gritted his teeth and felt extremely jealous.
Why? We are all ordinary people, not nobles. Your son can be an official, but my son cannot?
You know, even in Spain, those ordinary knights and barons can only live in disgrace in the countryside. They are bumpkins and cannot be officials at all.
Thinking of this, he felt fierce in his heart. I also want my son to be a scholar.
Afterwards, the two walked together.
The two chatted well and had similar family backgrounds. Suddenly, the Macaulay family visited his home and met his son, who was a good student.
Sure enough, his son Michael was good-looking, but what was strange was that he was wearing Akito's robe at home, which made him look particularly weird.
Mr. Macaulay explained: "He is called a Confucian robe. After he is selected as a scholar, he has to put on a kind of robe and hat."
"This is unique to scholars, and no one else can do it."
Hearing this, Mr. Waters' stomach growled with acid.
He looked up at his son and asked, "As you know, there are not many good private schools nearby. Where did you find them? I want Jeff to go, too."
"In the city." Macaulay said directly: "It costs two silver coins every month. It is very expensive, but the knowledge is good. If Jeff goes there, he will definitely be able to make a difference."
Suddenly, a servant sent a letter. Michael couldn't wait to read it and was ecstatic.
A group of people were puzzled and asked why.
Michael then calmed down and said, "Your Excellency the Governor feels that the number of scholars is too small for Luzon, so he plans to jointly submit a letter to the court about this matter."
"Once there are more places for scholars, the opportunities will be greater for me."
Michael said happily: "As long as there are eight places, my teacher said that my chance of becoming a scholar can be half."
"Thank God, thank Confucius, I hope the emperor will pass it as soon as possible!"
This is a happy event, especially for the McCauley family.
The Waters family could only celebrate.
At night, when the banquet began, gentlemen, landowners, and even several officials from the county came to attend, which made Waters feel even more jealous.
They didn't go home until the next day.
As soon as he arrived home, Mr. Waters announced that Jeff would be sent to the county to study.
He said sincerely: "As long as you can pass the county examination, you will be able to serve as the third elder in the village. It will be very honorable for our Waters family."
As he spoke, Waters sighed: "In Spain, even for knights, it is difficult to be an official, let alone civilians like us."
"Jeff, you must live up to your expectations."
Then, Mr. Waters directly announced that from today on, everyone in the family, including the servants, must change into Akito's clothes.
In his words, in the future when the young master becomes an official, all the people he associates with are Ming people, and they will still dress like barbarians, but it will be a loss of face.
