If the Fan family could produce cotton armor, the imperial court would use it in large quantities to replace expensive leather and iron armor. The reason why this agreement was reached was that Huang Qiong believed that some things might not be completely changed by the imperial decree alone. What's more, the imperial court cannot afford such a huge investment. It can be said that most of the real scientific and technological progress and development in the Far West countries are the result of businessmen working backwards. The same is true for the technology involved in war. Real development depends on the investment of businessmen.
If they can obtain enough benefits through businessmen, they will naturally invest in order to obtain more benefits. As for now, except for gunpowder and ordnance, everything can be opened to merchants. The agreement he reached with the Fan family was, at best, just the first step in a long march of thousands of miles, and it was still far from success. If you want to change this situation now, it will not be solved overnight. I am afraid that it will take a long time, and it will require the efforts and accumulation of several generations, or even more than a dozen generations.
Of course, a large part of the reason why Huang Qiong reached this agreement with the Fan family was to find a relatively cheap warm item for ordinary people. Fur is expensive, and even the cheapest sheepskin is not affordable for poor people. Even for relatively cheap silk floss, its price is not within the reach of ordinary people. Those living at the bottom can only rely on linen clothes, paper clothes, or even reed-filled clothes to keep out the cold in winter.
In recent years, winter has become colder and snowier every year. Every year in the capital, no one knows how many frozen victims have to be carried out. What's more, there are countless people in this world? If cotton can really be in your own hands, you can form a complete process of planting, elasticizing and weaving. Because cotton is relatively cheap, it can provide a kind of popular cold-proof clothing and quilts for poor people all over the world. Although he, the emperor, could not live in thousands of mansions, he had finally done something practical for the people.
Of course, Huang Qiong had selfish motives in appointing the Fan family instead of choosing Ma Rui. In Nangong Mei's words when the two of them were secretly together, Huang Qiong was saving money for his son, whom he could not recognize. Although Ma Rui's income was not low, in addition to being transferred to the inner treasury by Huang Qiong, 60% of the money Ma Rui returned every year was used to establish a royal fund. Prepare to subsidize those royal families who may have some difficulties in life in the future after the abolition of the enfeoffment system.
The Fan family will leave it to their son in the future, and the Fan family has made a lot of concessions now. For the sake of his own son, and even more to compensate Nangong Mei, Huang Qiong showed the Fan family an extra path. Even with this exclusive period, Huang Qiong only gave the Fan family twenty years. But with the Fan family's business capabilities, these twenty years are enough to accumulate a considerable amount of wealth. After the matter was settled, the head of the Fan family was very wealthy, but his slightly cracked mouth also foreshadowed the excitement in his heart.
It was for these two reasons that Huang Qiong stayed at Fan's house for a full month in order to pave the way for the next step. Even when Huang Qiong brought the Fan family to visit, he almost pointed out that Daqin and Dashi in the far west had high-quality cotton and mature cotton spinning technology. All I have to do is tell them that if they don’t make it, that will all happen in the future. As for now, we must first meet the court's needs for talent selection. When I went south this time, I heard that the imperial examinations were suspended due to the need to counter rebellion, and there were loud complaints from the people. Even if it is just to suspend the conference test and the road test in Jiangnan provinces. It has already caused complaints from those scholars.
He has been on the throne for three years, not to mention that Enke, who should be opened, has been delayed. Even the Spring Festival, which was supposed to be held this year, did not take place. If it were not held here, there would probably be some public dissatisfaction. Although Huang Qiong did not think that those scholars represented the people of the world. But after all, they actually have the right to speak. After all, any policy of the imperial court must be transmitted through their mouths. Even the local tyrants and evil gentry running rampant in the countryside would not dare to offend this group of people easily.
Because scholars do evil things, they are really evil to the end. Besides, suspending the imperial examination for a long time would also be detrimental to the selection of candidates for the imperial court. It is easy to cause a shortage of talents. No matter how dissatisfied I am with today's imperial examinations, the imperial examinations can still select talents. For example, Fu Yuanshan and Lu Duan, as well as Lu Mengzheng and Yu Mingyuan in front of him, weren't they all selected through the imperial examination? Although today's imperial examinations have many shortcomings of one kind or another, they are not all without merit. It still depends on how those in power make good use of it.
After pondering for a long time, Huang Qiong finally nodded slightly. Said: "According to your opinions, the examination will be held next spring. The Enke examination that was originally supposed to be held will be held together with next year's spring. Since the court now has a large shortage of civil servants, the quota for Jinshi in the examination will be increased with the quota for Enke Jinshi. Together, we will minus 30% to admit scholars. This matter is related to the will of the people, and the examiner must choose a reliable person to preside over it. As for the questions of the examination, I will personally draw up them. From now on, this will become a routine."
"However, I have two requirements for this examination. First, after the six bureaus and various roads observe the government, all the Jinshi selected this time will be sent to local areas, preferably third-class counties or poor counties. None of the three provinces and six bureaus will No one is allowed to stay, and all yamen are not allowed to stay. All the vacancies in the central yamen are to be replaced by existing local officials. If you don’t truly experience the hardships of people’s livelihood, how can you make decisions for the people? They say that parents are officials, and parents are officials. If you don’t see those who have hardships in people’s livelihood, How do you treat the people as your own family?”
"I also know that there are quite a few sons of aristocratic families among those candidates. Some things may not be easy for you, and you have to worry about many things. But the imperial examination is to select candidates for the country, not to give favors. It is not for those sons of aristocratic families to get salaries. At a young age, I don’t want to make progress, and I am preparing for a place to retire. If anyone has any opinions on this matter, you can just push it to me. Let them come to me and have a good talk. Also, this time There is a shortage of officials in various fields, can we also select some of the casual officials?"
"Not all the sons of aristocratic families are necessarily bastards, there are still some real ones. We have to give them some opportunities to prove that they are not? As long as they are tempered, they can be reused by the court. Those who are young can do it with a salary. What kind of behavior is it to do nothing during the day and idle around in the capital? There are also clan members who have graduated from the fifth service. If they are willing to give up their titles, they can also be selected as officials. Didn't I tell you long ago that the students of the Imperial College are selected by electors? Officials are all available."
"To fill the vacancies of local officials, you may not always need two rankings of Jinshi. Those who are not successful in the examination may not be without talents, and not all of the two rankings of Jinshi are good birds. To tell you something you don't like to hear, those corrupt officials Among them, the two-ranked Jinshi account for the majority. I also know that you are all scholars, and you cannot hear that scholars are bad. But you are all people who have been officials for many years, and you are still clear about many things. The forest is big, There are all kinds of birds. There is nothing that cannot be said or heard."
"This is my first request. As for the second request, this is the joint examination. Among the candidates who participated in the imperial examination, those over fifty are not allowed to take the examination again. I hold the imperial examination to select talents, not It is for some people to provide for their old age. What else can a fifty-year-old person do after being awarded a Jinshi? Do they still have the energy to serve the court and benefit the people? I am afraid they will sit in the Yamen and doze off every day. From now on, the government and the road will , and the age limit must be stipulated for the three-level examination, except for mathematics."
"Only after I inherited the throne did I know that the oldest Jinshi candidate since the founding of this dynasty was actually fifty-six years old. After being selected as a Jinshi in the general examination, I was so happy that I passed away. Such a person is successful, After a year of experience in the six divisions, what else can you do? After serving as a county magistrate, you will be old enough to become an official. Even if such people become Jinshi, most of them will only be in the corpse meal position, but they will occupy the official position. One that should have given young people a chance.”
"Let those young people who are willing to serve the country have to wait for several years because these old and ignorant people have to wait for several years. I also know that the imperial examination depends not only on knowledge. If they can pass the examination, at least they have good knowledge. It's not too bad. I haven't been able to win the lottery in these years, maybe it's just bad luck. But if you are old, you are old, and there is nothing you can do about it. The court is not a nursing home. I also know that it is a bit embarrassing for you to deal with it like this. . But can you think of a way to give them some compensation?"
After Huang Qiong finished speaking, the three people present looked at each other, somewhat unsure of what to say. Indeed, in all the imperial examinations in this dynasty, except for the one in front of me as the chief examiner, although screening was carried out every time, there were one or two in each imperial examination who were over fifty years old and passed the examination. These people have been studying for a lifetime and taking the imperial examination for half a lifetime. Because I was a little older, I was disqualified from taking the exam. This will undoubtedly extinguish the dreams of many people, especially those who are still scholars.
Among the common people, they can still speak out. After all, in rural areas where most people are illiterate, the communication of government orders and the reading of proclamations still rely on these scholars. Therefore, even if you know these people clearly, they really shouldn't be taking the imperial examination. Not only is he too old, he won't be able to work for long even if he gets Jinshi. After the six departments have been trained, when they are distributed to various yamen, they even have to consider whether their bodies can withstand certain places where they are allowed to serve.
Don't be on the way to take office. If something happens halfway, it could turn into a tragedy. Therefore, those who were too old to enter the imperial examination were usually sent to Honglu Temple, Sinong Temple, or a cold yamen like Taichang Temple after the Sixth Bureau observed the government. There is no other way. These people cannot go out, and they must consider whether they will be tired from the journey and have any accidents. Even those office offices cannot bear the high-intensity work. These people are Jinshi and to be honest, they can only be raised.
But even if they had to support a bunch of idlers, considering certain influences, the imperial court never completely cut off their path to the imperial examination. Even if there are some people who cannot be promoted as officials, they have reached the age where they should become officials. Because the imperial court has always had some scruples. After all, these people are old. If they are not screened, their last hope will be completely cut off. I'm afraid many people can't bear it, and some trouble might arise.
Seeing the hesitation on the three people's faces, Huang Qiong, who knew the reason for their difficulties, smiled and said: "Don't these people want to be officials? Among the candidates for the election, you can choose from them. Shouldn't they be given priority in the selection? If they are over fifty, it would be okay to be a county magistrate, governor, or edict. As long as they don't cause trouble, they can be given priority for these positions."
"Those who have done well and are in good health will be promoted to county magistrates first. These positions are official positions with little pressure and little power. These people have been taking the imperial examinations all their lives, just dreaming of becoming an official in order to get ahead. They themselves also I know that even if I get the Jinshi, it will be difficult for me to rise up the official ranks. Continuously relying on the imperial examination is just fulfilling a dream of my own and giving an explanation to my family. Partially satisfying my wish will not cause any trouble. .”
