Time came to the late autumn of 1794 in a blink of an eye.
On the morning of September 26, Beihai Town Administrative School held the graduation ceremony of the first batch of imperial examination scholars in the newly completed auditorium. In order to show their attention, Zhao Xin, Chen Qingsong, Wu Siyu, Yu Deli, Wang Zhong, Duan Yucai, Jiao Xun and others were all present. In addition, several French people also followed Jiao Xun to see what was going on.
There were 215 candidates for the first new imperial examination held in Beihai Town last year. Except for Yuan Mei's female disciple Xi Peilan, the other 214 people entered the administrative school for one-year training after admission.
In the last three months of training, all the scholars were assigned to internships in various departments in Beihai Town, and some even participated in the city's reception work with the Eastern Front Command's work team.
At nine o'clock in the morning, the auditorium was packed. In addition to this year's graduates, more than 500 scholars and students who have just taken the second imperial examination this year also came.
Following the host's announcement, first Zhao Xin and others entered the venue amidst the warm applause of nearly a thousand people, and then the whole audience stood up. Everyone sang "God Bless China" together with the impassioned music.
".From the tropical coast to the Arctic frontier, there are endless forests and fields everywhere. From the Pamir Plateau to the Rocky Mountains, there are countless treasures. The sun and the moon never set, thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, and the friendship of all ethnic groups builds an iron wall. .The wisdom of Chinese civilization belongs to the people! Glory, China! We are proud of you!"
This song is now a household name in Beihai Town. The radio station plays it every morning, noon and evening. Many children can already hum along without even speaking the words clearly.
Although the purpose of the time travel group is to strengthen the people's national consciousness through this song, it's a good thing that there are no big hairy people in the time travel group in Beihai Town, otherwise the other party will definitely grab Zhao Xin's neck and scold you for daring to plagiarize.
A collective chorus ended, followed by speeches by Zhao Xin, the principal, Chen Qingsong, executive vice president Yu Deli, and vice president Wang Zhong. Then the students who have performed well during the training are commended, and then they receive graduation certificates by class. There were no speeches by graduate representatives or teachers.
Yes, the principal of Beihai Town Administrative School has been Zhao Xin from the beginning, but this guy only shows up twice a year; one is the entrance ceremony for new students, and the other is the graduation ceremony. However, facing a principal who only fishes for two days a year and spends the other 363 days drying nets, every student who enters the administrative school will consider themselves a student of His Highness King Zhao.
Lin Qizong from Ninghaizhou, Jiaodong thinks so too. He never dreamed that he, a child, could take advantage of the new dynasty to become a scholar, become the "emperor's disciple" that was envied by countless people, and even become an official.
After taking the stage, Lin Tongsheng took the graduation certificate and civil service qualification certificate from Wu Siyu and returned to his seat. Oh no, it was Lin Xiucai and he began to think about it.
"Hey, from now on, I, Mr. Lin, will be a seventeenth-level civil servant. I will receive a salary of 1,100 silver dollars per year, as well as position allowances. I will no longer have to look at my father-in-law's stinky face!"
At this time, Sun Yuanxiang, a disciple of Yuan Mei, also walked up to the stage. He took the two certificates from Zhao Xin with excitement, bowed and was about to leave, when he heard the other party suddenly whisper: "Do you still write poetry often?"
Sun Yuanxiang was stunned for a moment and hurriedly replied: "Your Highness, you are busy with schoolwork and Yuan Xiang only does it occasionally."
"Yes." Zhao Xin patted the other party's shoulder lightly and said with a smile: ""Tongdian" says that those with little talent in calligraphy, painting, poetry, and poetry are not as capable as managing the country. Work hard and write a big poem in the future. .”
"I would like to learn from you!" Sun Yuanxiang's face suddenly turned red and he bowed in salute. How could he not understand the meaning of Zhao Xin's words. The other party was trying to persuade him to stop focusing on romance poems and do good work for the country.
In another time and space in history, Sun Yuanxiang was famous for his poetry. He was famous in the capital in his youth, but he made no achievements in the country or the people. He won the second place at the age of 46. After the imperial examination, he was elected to the Hanlin Academy's Common Hall and became a concubine. However, he took leave of absence due to illness and returned to his hometown soon after, and never served in an official position again.
The conversation between the two people on the stage was naturally seen by nearly a thousand pairs of eyes under the stage. For a moment, various emotions of envy, jealousy, and hatred arose in everyone's mind, thinking that it would be very honorable if His Highness King Zhao could say something like this to me.
In fact, Zhao Xin also had an impromptu idea. When Yu Deli read Sun Yuanxiang's name, he suddenly remembered that this man was Xi Peilan's husband, and Xi Peilan was the first female scholar in Beihai Town, so he said a few more words. sentence.
Xi Peilan participated in the imperial examination to fight for himself and also for the "female disciples of the Yuan family", to prove that women are no worse than men in learning. Although her test score ranked fifth among Tong Sheng's group, she was also embarrassed if she really wanted to show up to participate in government affairs training, not to mention that her husband Sun Yuanxiang did not agree. So after receiving the "Student Certificate" issued by Shen Xuan personally, he went to teach in Beihai Town Primary School.
Sun Yuanxiang, who had become the focus of everyone's attention, returned to his seat uneasily, took a few deep breaths, and then opened the two certificates with trembling hands and looked down at them. Needless to say, the graduation certificate, but in the column of the "Civil Service Level Qualification Certificate", it clearly says "Civil Service Level 15".
Well, as the North Korean Navy's entry into the country is approaching, the Civil Affairs Bureau, after the "29-member Committee" meeting in August, introduced the civil service hierarchy and a series of systems that have been brewing for many years, and plans to trial it in some areas to provide Be prepared to take full control after entering the customs.
Although the practices of the Military Control Commissions in various places in Jiaodong over the years have made many people realize that the official selection system of the New Dynasty will be very different from that of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, when the new system was introduced, it still caused a shock to countless people. It was truly shocking! We must know that this system will completely change the talent selection system and political and cultural traditions that have existed for thousands of years, which is unprecedented.
It is said that the "nine grades and eighteen grades" classification system of ancient Chinese officials mainly reflected the hierarchical classification between officials and officials. All administrative personnel were divided into two major grades: "officials" and "officials." Since the Tang Dynasty, civil and military officials had to pass the imperial examination, be selected by the Ministry of Civil Service and the Ministry of Military Affairs, and then be appointed by the emperor.
Civil servants are usually selected by officials and are responsible for carrying out specific administrative affairs; let alone the third class of government officials. Although they have a fixed establishment and salary, they belong to a lowly position in the social class. Children and future generations want to get rid of class and realize their status. It's impossible to cross.
Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, due to the eight-legged stereotype of the imperial examination and the normalization of the donation system, most of the selected officials were not familiar with specific administrative affairs, and even completely left the affairs to the masters and subordinates who carried out the specific tasks. This is what the saying goes, "The clerks are not accustomed to official duties and only serve the officials as their teachers."
It is impossible for subordinate staff to be promoted to official positions, and they are engaged in many and complex administrative affairs, which is far out of proportion to their social status and salary. An unfair system will inevitably breed corruption, which has also resulted in the situation where local subordinate officials have long controlled county and township affairs, enriched their own pockets, and used power and influence.
In the civil service system promulgated by Beihai Town, the civil service system consists of "ten grades and twenty-seven levels", which completely abolishes the distinction between officials and officials formed since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and all officials outside the military system are collectively referred to as civilian officials. The most obvious thing is that the "officials" responsible for specific administrative affairs will also obtain the status of civil servants and corresponding status, treatment and legal protection, and they can also be promoted to senior civil servants through examinations and assessments.
According to the newly introduced "Civil Service Examination Law", the civil service examination after admission will be held every two years and is divided into three types: higher examination, secondary examination and ordinary examination, hosted by the Higher Examination Committee and the General Examination Committee respectively. The general examination is held in the state capital of each province, the secondary examination is held in the provincial capital, and the advanced examination is held in the capital.
In order to prevent fraud such as the leakage of test questions in various provinces, all test papers are uniformly set by the national-level examination committee, escorted by the military, and unsealed five minutes before the test. Both committees were temporarily appointed by the emperor before the examination, the former was a special commission and the latter was a Jane faction. Once the exam is over, it will be revoked.
In general, the traditional imperial examination has formed the basic principles of open assessment, equal competition, and merit-based admissions, and has strict examination procedures. Therefore, the transition from the imperial examination to the civil service examination system is not complicated in terms of procedures. The most critical of these is to provide a way out for the more than 10 million scholars under the old system and to ensure social stability after the transition of power.
In view of this, the new imperial examination, that is, the examination method, adopted a "dual-track system" for old-style scholars and students receiving new-style education.
All those who have obtained the titles of "shengyuan" and "juren" under the Manchu system (excluding donations), as well as those who are over 20 years old and have not passed the third level of the child-student examination, must take the eight-legged literary policy theory examination. After taking the exam, you will have to undergo one year of placement training before you can be assigned to various departments. This is what the new imperial examination in Beihai Town is currently doing, and it is also a test for the future.
Children under the age of 20 should not cling to the Four Books and Five Classics. In the future, schools in various counties will open professional training courses, and then study for two or three years to take the new professional examination. To participate in professional training, you must first choose your career aspirations, and then conduct targeted studies and examinations in administration, education, technology, finance and taxation, justice, and diplomacy.
Regarding the treatment of civil servants, each profession has different management regulations such as appointment, grade, salary, assessment, and punishment based on the importance, complexity, and difficulty of its affairs. For example, the monthly basic salary for the lowest-level administrative civil servant is NT$72, while the monthly basic salary for the lowest-level technical officer is NT$88, and that of a judicial officer is NT$60 per month.
Although the salary of technical officers is high, it is also very difficult to get admitted, and there are many types of positions; such as medical, water conservancy, engineering, surveying, chemistry, geology, mining, metallurgy, machinery, etc.
The simplest ones are those students who receive new education, which is similar to that of another time and space. If you don’t want to continue studying after six years of primary school, you can go to a vocational school for three years and then either become a worker or start as a township clerk at the lowest level of the civil service; or you can go to the Junior Military Academy and become a soldier.
Taking into account the problems of poor transportation and information, the dual-track civil service examination system will be implemented for 12 years after entry, that is, for six sessions. The "one size fits all" approach will not work. It is tantamount to making an enemy of the entire scholar class, and it is still a life-and-death kind of thing.
In addition, in the "Civilian Appointment Methods", Zhao Xin was given the power to specially promote civilian officials. Specially promoted civil servants do not need to pass the exam and can directly enter the civil service system of Beihai Town. The reason for setting this up is to leave a loophole for the Manchu officials who surrendered and those great scholars who have failed repeatedly.
For example, Ruan Yuan, who worked as an informant for the Intelligence Bureau, not only provided Beihai Town with Qing court intelligence for so many years, but he was already a member of the Imperial Academy in the Manchu Qing Dynasty. As a result, you told people that there was a paper here. Please write an eight-legged essay, even if it is insulting, you would not do it.
Another example is Wang Zhong, Duan Yucai, Jiao Xun and others, who were the first scholars to defect to Beihai Town. The knowledge of these people is incredible. They were the ones who asked the exam questions for both exams, especially since Wang Zhong was half of Zhao Xin's master. Who in the entire Beihai Town is qualified to take their exam? Who has the skills to give them questions? Anyway, no matter whether it is Zhao Xin or other time travellers, they all think that they are not capable of this.
Of course, in order to prevent corruption and nepotism, the specially promoted power can only be used by Zhao Xin, and it must be approved by half of the "29-member committee".
Although Beihai Town, in order to win over people's hearts, accepted all candidates for the two new imperial examinations, whether they were children or scholars, the gap in knowledge and experience between the two was there after all. Furthermore, from the perspective of social reality, scholars belong to the scholar-bureaucrat class, while Tong Sheng is just a white man no matter how talented he is. Therefore, there is a distinction in the initial civil service level.
As a result, the only ones who are really unlucky are those who donate children. However, this group of people does not constitute the majority, and they have always been looked down upon by scholars from a decent background. Beihai Town has abolished the honorary title of donation. Those who study hard in the cold window must raise their hands and feet in approval and praise Emperor Zhao's wisdom and greatness.
Furthermore, most of the people who donated money to receive honors were landlords, wealthy businessmen and the second generation of upright Manchu officials. After all, the children of businessmen have the ability to settle accounts passed down from their families, so it is just right to take the business exam; as for those guys who live in vain and try to steal the people's wealth through donating official posts, hey, they are welcome to cause trouble, suppress them every minute, and then pack them up and send them to Siberia!
Let’s go back and talk about the more than 200 people who graduated from the first training session. On the evening of the graduation ceremony, more than a dozen tables of banquets were set up in the cafeteria of the administrative school. More than two hundred civil servants who were about to take office were drinking and drinking. It was very lively. Everyone was not only feeling the friendship of classmates for more than a year, but also preparing for the upcoming graduation ceremony. Feelings of being apart from each other. When it was time to break up, many people were so drunk that they had to be carried back to the dormitory.
According to the plan set by Zhao Xin and Chen Qingsong, except for some of the graduates of this class who will work in Zhao Xin's secretariat, most of them will be assigned to the military control committees of counties in Liaodong and Shandong, starting from the lowest level as affairs officers. Start.
It is said that Zhao Xin has had a group of staff members from the General Staff Department to help him with military affairs in recent years, while Zhong Huai and Huang Chengji have been responsible for civil affairs. Sometimes Wang Zhong also helps, but he can handle it.
The problem is that Chinese scholars since ancient times have regarded the "three immortalities" as their life pursuits, in order to save themselves from adversity, establish themselves in the right way, and make contributions to the times. After working as Zhao Xin's assistant for several years, Zhong Huai, who is over thirty, thinks he has a thorough understanding of Beihai Town's political methods. Seeing that Beihai Town had regained several prefectures and counties in Liaodong and Shandong, and that Hong Liangji, Liu Taigong and Jiang Fan were all working independently, either in the army or politics, he wanted to go there and give it a try.
His subordinates wanted to make progress, but Zhao Xinduan had no reason to hold back. Running water does not rot, and door hinges do not suffer from beetles. So he mentioned something to Wang Zhong yesterday, asking him to find a few who are diligent and good at writing among more than 200 scholars. He would look at their resumes first, and then interview and decide on the candidates.
The next morning, when Zhao Xingang arrived at the office, Huang Chengji sent over several resumes. While he still had some free time, Zhao Xin looked through them one by one and made a decision quickly. He used a red pencil to draw a five-pointed star on the upper right corner of each resume, then handed it to Huang Chengji and said, "Just them. You can bring them over at 1:30 in the afternoon. Half an hour should be enough."
"yes."
Huang Chengji took the resume and glanced down at it. The former person was fine, but when he saw the latter person's name, the expression on his face instantly became a little weird.
(End of chapter)
