However, this is not a problem at all for Zhaojiazhuang Town.
Zhaojiazhuang Town is still short of a chief registrar, and Zhaojiazhuang School is still short of an official such as Xuezheng and Zhixue.
Redundant personnel existed in the Song Dynasty, but did not exist in Zhaojiazhuang Town at all.
Zhaojiazhuang has a population of 30,000, which is larger than many counties.
The taxes in Zhaojiazhuang Town are extremely high, even higher than those in Chongqing Prefecture.
In the eyes of the imperial court and some people in Tongnan Fulu and Changzhou, they wanted to promote Zhaojiazhuang Town to a county and arrange for the positions of county magistrate and county captain.
However, this move was strongly opposed by Changyuan County. If Changyuan County did not have this town, Changyuan County would not be called a county.
Yuan Tao also has his own reasons. Changyuan County is already small, and Zhaojiazhuang Town is even smaller, so it can become a county.
For this reason, Yuan Tao wrote a letter to Zhao Ping, hoping that Zhao Ping would not agree to Yu Jie.
Zhao Ping thought for a while and realized that what Yuan Tao said made sense.
From Zhao Ping's own perspective, the area of Zhaojiazhuang Town is less than half of Changyuan County. If someone tries to build his own workshop, the buffer space is much smaller.
Changyuan County is different. It is not only deeper, but also has a larger population and a larger buffer space.
After all, Zhaojiazhuang Town is the place of origin. From the perspective of Taoist yin and yang, this is the place of dragon prosperity. Zhaojiazhuang is the key to whether it can become more prosperous in the future.
No matter what, Zhao Ping and others must do everything possible to preserve the birthplace of Zhaojiazhuang Town.
Zhao Ping found Yu Jie, but of course he couldn't express his thoughts for the time being. He just said that Zhaojiazhuang Town was too small to be promoted to a county.
Yu Jie is an old fox, so she doesn't know what Zhao Ping is thinking.
However, Zhao Ping was his granddaughter's future uncle and nodded in agreement.
Unexpectedly, not long after, Yu Jie asked Tang Yi to find Zhao Ping and asked Zhao Ping to go to his office.
Yu Jie rarely let Zhao Ping go to his office, which surprised Zhao Ping. Could something big happen?
Fortunately, Tang Yi was an acquaintance, and it was said that the person coming was an official of the imperial court, so he was asked to be more careful.
After hearing Tang Yi's words, Zhao Ping understood immediately.
Zhaojiazhuang Town is so fat that everyone in the court wants to slander it.
Those officials tried their best to come to Zhaojiazhuang Town, and they were willing to lower themselves to one level or even several levels.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Ping, through Yu Jie, actually refused the imperial court's appointment of Zhaojiazhuang officials, and also refused to promote Zhaojiazhuang town to a county.
Hearing Yu Jie's reply, these officials were so angry that they cursed: "I am an official who passed the imperial examination, why can't I take up my post?"
"Although Zhaojiazhuang Town is small in area, its population reaches 30,000, and its tax revenue has already exceeded that of a county. Why can't it become a county?"
No matter how these officials scolded Zhao Ping, Zhao Ping never let go.
These officials also had other options. They simply went to the staff and asked them to settle the matter.
Tang Hong, the Minister of Civil Affairs, had not paid much attention to Changyuan County and Zhaojiazhuang Town before. Now when he heard that the taxes exceeded those of Chongqing Prefecture, he felt like a thunderbolt.
Seeing the gifts on the table in the study, Tang Hong couldn't help but shake his head. These gifts were too hot to touch.
He walked around the coffee table a few times, thought about it, and finally decided to send a member of the staff, Wai Lang.
In his opinion, the target of the attack this time was Changyuan County, and there was no need for the minister to take action.
Even if the member is outside, he still represents the official department.
There are six departments in the imperial court, but the official department has always been superior to the other five departments.
At the same time, he was even more curious, and officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs took action to see how Sichuan would handle the matter.
Seeing that the Ministry of Personnel actually sent an official to Sichuan, Yu Jie frowned, not expecting the unexpected development of the matter.
In the past, Yu Jie could have refused on the spot.
But last time the officials actually arranged for a gold medal envoy to return to the capital to report on his work.
The gold medal messenger can only be used if it is used, and it can only be used if it is related to the life and death of the imperial court.
Yue Fei had already defeated the Jin soldiers and regained the Central Plains, but sixteen gold medals forced him to withdraw his troops.
Seeing that Yue Fei was killed by Qin Hui on trumped-up charges, Yu Jie became extremely desperate for the Song Dynasty court.
If Zhao Ping hadn't settled it for him, he would most likely have committed suicide by taking poison.
Even so, his wife Hou Liu was frightened and cried, and persuaded him to deal with the relationship with the court.
After all, the supportive Prime Minister Xie Shenfu has died, completely losing the support of influential figures in the court.
And like Yue Fei, although he is proficient in writing and calligraphy, he has no fame after all.
In this case, Yu Jie thought about it again and decided to be more cautious. Zhao Ping naturally didn't know this and came to Yu Jie's office leisurely.
Yu Jie didn't say what he wanted Zhao Ping to do, but just introduced him as Wai Ling, a member of the civil service department.
Jingdong, a member of the Communist Party of China, bowed his hand to Zhao Ping and said it very politely, hoping that Zhao Ping would consider it.
After all, Yu Jie was the envoy of Sichuan and had the power to act arbitrarily, so the officials had to negotiate with Yu Jie.
Yu Jie used to arrange officials without asking for Zhao Ping's opinion. What's more, Changyuan County is not under Zhao Ping's management and can be arranged directly.
But now Zhao Ping has more and more influence in Sichuan, and he is the uncle of his future granddaughter, so he asked people to bring Zhao Ping.
Jingdong is about forty, relatively thin, with sharp eyebrows and fine eyes, fair skin, a slender figure and a slender face, and quite a scholarly look.
He looks outstanding and speaks politely, which makes people like him immediately. This may be the reason why the officials sent him to Chengdu.
Zhao Ping had his own principles. After the greetings, he said to Jingdong: "Mr. Jing is very polite, but Zhaojiazhuang Town is indeed too small, less than half the area of Changyuan County, and it is not suitable to be promoted to a county."
"Marquis Zhao, the area is indeed not large." Jingdong did not stop at this question and continued to explain the reason, with a smile on his face while cupping his hands, "But the population and tax have already reached the qualifications of a county."
Although he was sent by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, his rank was only from the sixth rank, which was much lower than Yu Jie and Zhao Ping, so he was naturally worthy of a lower official.
"Mr. Jing, may I ask which county in the Song Dynasty has the same area as Zhaojiazhuang Town?" Zhao Ping asked calmly while returning the courtesy.
Jingdong's white face turned red. After thinking for a while, he swallowed his saliva and said: "The area of Zhaojiazhuang Town is indeed too small. It can be taken from Dazu County." Wouldn't it be enough to adjust the area in Changyuan County?"
"Transfer to the economy?" Seeing that Jingdong actually had the idea of Dazu County and Changyuan County, Zhao Ping sneered in his heart, but said with a smile, "Among the entire Changzhou, Changyuan County is the smallest, followed by Dazu County. . Are they willing to cut off the area like meat?"
"This..." Jingdong's old face suddenly turned the color of pig liver. This move was obviously too difficult.
Yu Jie didn't speak, just drank tea and looked at the conversation between the two.
Seeing Jingdong's expression, he smiled to himself, but his face was calm and calm.
Jingdong was extremely anxious and his brows furrowed unconsciously.
Looking at Yu Jie, he felt like he had grasped a life-saving straw, and his eyes lit up.
Jingdong bowed his hands to Yu Jie and said, "Bachelor Yu, you are polite when you are a lower-ranking official."
Yu Jie has six official positions, one is the Bachelor of Zizheng Palace, one is the Minister of the Ministry of War, one is the commander of Sichuan, one is the history of Sichuan Zhizhi, one is also the transit envoy of Kuizhou, and the other is the prefect of Chongqing.
No matter which official position he holds, his rank is above Jingdong.
"Is something wrong with Zixi?" Yu Jie asked calmly with a twinkle in his eye.
Hearing this, Jingdong's originally calm face turned the color of pig liver again, and he had no choice but to bite the bullet and said, "Scholar Yu, the population and finances of Zhaojiazhuang Town have already exceeded that of a county in the Song Dynasty, and it has already reached the qualifications of a county."
If it were elsewhere in the Song Dynasty, the court would directly promote Zhaojiazhuang Town to a county without seeking local opinions.
However, Yu Jie had six official positions, and the court gave him the power to act arbitrarily, so he had to plead with Yu Jie.
"I think Ping'er is right. Zhaojiazhuang Town has too little area, so it would be best to become a town." Yu Jie shook his head, smiling like an old fox.
He called Zhao Ping Ping'er in front of Jingdong, which showed that the two were extremely close, and at the same time refused Jingdong's plea.
Although he had already guessed this was the result, Jingdong felt bitter at this moment and his face was so gloomy that it could drip.
He rolled his eyes and tried to calm down.
Jingdong bowed his hands to Zhao Ping and said, "Marquis Zhao, I have one more request."
"Mr. Jing, please tell me." Zhao Ping returned the courtesy and said with a smile.
He just breathed a sigh of relief and felt excited again. He didn't expect that this official from the Ministry of Civil Affairs had not given up yet.
Jingdong's face was full of smiles, which made people feel like spring breeze: "Marquis Zhao, the chief secretary of Zhaojiazhuang Town has been idle for a long time, and the imperial court plans to arrange someone to take up the post."
In Jingdong's view, Zhao Ping had already rejected one of his requests, so he should agree to this one.
"It is true that the chief secretary of Zhaojiazhuang Town has been vacant for a long time, but if someone takes the post, there must be some special requirements." Zhao Ping did not refuse outright, but put forward a condition.
"What's the special request? Please tell Marquis Zhao about it." Jingdong felt a little uneasy and had no choice but to ask.
Zhao Ping had a smile on his face and just asked: "Officials in Zhaojiazhuang Town must not only pass the imperial examination, but also have practical experience and be able to do practical things."
"Marquis Zhao, I don't understand why Zhaojiazhuang Town made this request?" Jingdong suppressed his discomfort and asked immediately.
Zhao Ping looked at him calmly and said softly: "Nearly everyone in Zhaojiazhuang Town is literate, and almost everyone is knowledgeable and understands right and wrong."
"The education is so in place, I would like to ask Marquis Zhao, how did Zhaojiazhuang Town achieve this?" Upon hearing this, Jingdong stood up from his seat as if he was struck by lightning.
He had always thought that the best place for education in the Song Dynasty was the capital city. Even in the capital city, it could not be said that everyone was educated in place. He never expected that Zhaojiazhuang Town said it had been achieved.
Zhao Ping talked for a long time, and his mouth was a little dry. At this time, he picked up the tea cup and took a slow sip of tea.
Seeing Zhao Ping drinking tea carelessly, Jingdong wanted to pour all the tea in the cup into Zhao Ping's mouth.
】
He was extremely anxious. He didn't expect that an urgent patient would encounter a slow doctor today.
Seeing Jingdong's anxious look, Zhao Ping was secretly amused.
He just wanted to interrupt Jingdong's train of thought and let him follow his own pace.
Zhao Ping said calmly: "Zhaojiazhuang Town requires that those under the age of fifteen must study, regardless of gender."
"Marquis Zhao, please tell me if they are willing?" Jingdong rolled his eyes twice, feeling that he had caught Zhao Ping's weakness, and said excitedly, "Also, what about those people over fifteen years old?"
After talking about it, Jingdong laughed in his heart, and his originally gloomy face suddenly brightened up.
If Zhao Ping can't do it, he can not only slap Zhao Ping in the face severely, but also force Zhao Ping to agree to his request.
"Of course I do. All students in Zhaojiazhuang Town study without restraint. Those under fourteen years old will attend Zhaojiazhuang School, and a free lunch will be provided at noon. Those over fifteen years old will study at night school."
"Night School," Jingdong asked with confusion on his face, "What is Night School?"
Zhao Ping smiled slightly: "The night school is a school where you can study after get off work. It is specially provided for people above fifteen to study."
"Studying at night, is this possible? Besides, they have to make a living during the day." Jingdong shook his head, with a sly smile on his face.
Zhao Ping smiled lightly: "In ancient times, people used to cut walls to steal light, and hang beams to protrude their buttocks to study. Why don't people study at night today? What's more, in Zhaojiazhuang Town, the more you study, the more ways you can make a living, and the higher your salary will be."
"Here," Jingdong's white face turned red, he thought for a while and said, "It's too tiring to make a living during the day, I'm afraid it will affect their studies."
"The school provides butter lighting, and the lights are bright. What's the problem there? These teachers are also above the level of academicians, and they teach according to each person. They study very hard." Zhao Ping said calmly.
Jingdong smiled awkwardly, his smile uglier than crying: "Zhaojiazhuang is indeed wealthy, but do those people in their forties still come to attend night classes?"
"There are some who are over forty, but they learn much more slowly, and there are almost none who are over fifty. After all, fifty people know destiny." When Zhao Ping said this, he couldn't help but sigh, looking very regretful.
In previous lives, there were universities for the elderly everywhere, and people even studied in their seventies. Unexpectedly, the ancients were unwilling to study after fifty.
Hearing this, Jingdong felt as if two eggs had been stuffed into his mouth, and he couldn't close his mouth for a long time.
His eyes seemed to have lost focus, and he murmured: "It's so absurd, is it true?"
"There is also a night school in Jintang County. Jinglangzhong might as well check it out. Men, women and children study here, and they are very serious." Zhao Ping still looked calm.
Zhao Ping's second hometown is in Jintang County. Anyway, Jintang County also has a horse road, which can be reached by carriage in an hour.
Jingdong shook his head when he heard Zhao Ping inviting him to visit the Night School.
He just doubted it, but his focus was not here.
What's more, if Zhao Ping can invite him to take a look, nine times out of ten it will be true, and he will still be embarrassed when the time comes.
Jingdong rolled his eyes, returned the courtesy and asked: "I don't understand, how do you know that the imperial official can't do things?"
"Officials in Zhaojiazhuang Town require direct dealings with the people." Zhao Ping smiled and replied lightly, "If the appointed officials can do this, then it's okay."
"Here, aren't there also minor officials in each house? They deal with the people." Jingdong shook his head, disapproving.
In Jingdong's view, officials who came out of the imperial examination only need to control the direction, and other matters should be handled by the subordinates below.
In fact, not only did he think so, many officials in the Song Dynasty also thought so.
