Lian Guo Shi is a practical person. After arriving in Xi'an, Feng Ziying handed over all the affairs of Xi'an Mansion that he valued most to Lian Guo Shi.
It was the first time for the two to work together, but they had known each other for a long time and had similar temperaments, so they felt more at ease when working together.
With Zheng Chongjian in Fengxiang Prefecture, Xi'an Prefecture practicing state affairs, Geng Ruxi in charge of Yan'an Prefecture, and himself in charge of the center, Shaanxi will be able to stabilize most of it.
The prefect of Hanzhong Prefecture is Wang Qia. He is from Linyi, Shandong, and is considered a native of Feng Ziying's hometown. With this relationship, it will be much easier to deal with.
Moreover, Wang Qia was fair in his work and had high prestige in Hanzhong. In the past two years, chaos had broken out all over Shaanxi. Relatively speaking, Hanzhong was considered the most stable.
So Feng Ziying didn't even go to Hanzhong for a tour. Instead, Wang Qia took the initiative to come to Xi'an for talks, and Feng Ziying entrusted Wang Qia with the affairs of Hanzhong Mansion.
Among the remaining houses, Feng Ziying is not satisfied with the situation in Qingyang and Pingliang, so he has been considering personnel adjustments, but he also knows that this is not something that can be accomplished overnight, and the staff department is not run by his own family, nor by himself. Whoever wants to adjust can adjust.
Although the officials of this feudal dynasty had great power, their power was more in doing things. On the contrary, it was in the arrangement of personnel, which was more concentrated in the central government. For example, the Ministry of Personnel gathered the adjustment of almost the entire Zhou Dynasty officials. .
Of course, it is impossible for the Ministry of Personnel to control it. To a large extent, it is assessed and reviewed through daily assessments and inspections, and then adjustments are made. The superiors of officials at all levels have a greater say here.
In addition to the unsatisfactory performance of officials from Qingyang and Pingliang Prefectures, Feng Ziying from the more remote Gongchang and Lintao Prefectures also made a special trip.
The geography of these two places is difficult, but farming is not done well. It is difficult to say that officials from prefects to tongzhi and tongpan are satisfactory. Feng Ziying used one word to describe it, that is, mediocre and step-by-step. However, this is exactly the situation for officials in this era. normality.
Feng Ziying knew very well that he did not have the ability to change the entire Shaanxi officials according to his own ideas in just one or two years. Not to mention the magistrates of the prefectures and counties, even the magistrates of each prefecture, he could not do anything about it. Do it.
Firstly, he does not have the power. Secondly, he does not have that many officials he likes in reserve. Thirdly, the time is too short.
If he could serve as governor of Shaanxi for ten or eight years, he might be able to do it, but this is undoubtedly wishful thinking and impossible.
"Personnel issues should be the key factor that makes it difficult to promote many local affairs, or make progress difficult." Feng Ziying looked at the basic prefecture and county magistrates of more than ten prefectures and counties in Pingliang and Qingyang that Wang Wenyan and Wu Yaoqing had painstakingly prepared. Situation and their realistic performance materials, couldn't help but sigh.
Among the magistrates of these fourteen prefectures and counties, only two were born as Jinshi, seven were born as Juren, and five were born as tribute students.
This situation is unimaginable in Jiangnan, and it is basically impossible in places such as Beizhi, Shandong, Shanxi, and Huguang.
Most of the magistrates and county magistrates in the south of the Yangtze River were Jinshi. Seventy to eighty percent of the magistrates and magistrates in places like Beizhi and Shandong were from Jinshi. The rest were all Juren. It was basically impossible for tribute students and donated officials to serve as chief officials, and most of them were assistants. Second official.
"Sir, you can't expect these places to be compared with those in Jiangnan. The literary style here is not strong. In addition, in these remote areas, who with a Jinshi background would want to come here?" Wang Wenyan said with a smile: "Besides, this is not entirely a matter of the official's background. , I think there is a lack of detailed assessment rules for prefectures and counties from the province to the government. The examination rules handed down by the officials are too rough and just a formality. They are basically followed from the province to the government. Many of them should have been Some targeted adjustments were made based on local conditions, but they were not made.”
Feng Ziying glanced at Wang Wenyan, "Wenyan, aren't the examination rules from the imperial court the same? Each province has different specific circumstances.
Similarly, various tasks also have priorities, but does the Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of War, Ministry of Punishment, and Ministry of Works seek opinions when setting the standards for the examination? Maybe it has happened, but it only comes once every ten or eight years. Logically speaking, this should be adjusted every year after soliciting opinions, but those gentlemen in the Ministry of Personnel are all aloof, so how can they consider the feelings of the people below? "
Wang Wenyan nodded, "Mr.
Examination rules that are too rigid and dogmatic make it difficult to mobilize the enthusiasm of officials below, and they are not targeted. Therefore, many officials follow the rules mechanically and follow the procedures step by step. The result is that after several years, the situation has not changed at all, but the evaluation above is still the same. In this case, who would care about this assessment rule? "
"The key is that the assessment rules are not linked to many specific local affairs!" Feng Ziying said with emotion, "Construction of water conservancy, construction of post roads, and industrial and commercial development. Who is willing to do these things that cannot be accomplished overnight? Those vain people. What kind of moral education or gimmick to please the gentry has become a sought-after move? How can this examination method make officials who are capable but have no connections stand out?"
Feng Ziying's lament also resonated with Wang Wenyan.
When he was a minor official in She County, he felt that the officials of the Zhou Dynasty were too good to be in, especially the chief official of the state and county, who basically acted like a Bodhisattva and followed the instructions from above step by step.
Everything is done by staff, assistant officers and lower-level officials. There is neither initiative nor groundbreaking. Many people are even unwilling to integrate with local realities.
Anyway, the above examination is judged by the superiors and the local gentry. In this case, all you need to do is please the superiors and the local gentry. People from the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Procuratorate don't care about what you did.
Feng Ziying served as Tongzhi and Fucheng twice in Yongping Mansion and Shuntian Mansion, with similar responsibilities, but she basically performed the duties of the chief official, so she had a deep understanding of the shortcomings here.
After arriving in Shaanxi, I came to Yan'an Prefecture to dissect sparrows, and then further observed and analyzed in Xi'an Prefecture. Especially when Shaanxi is facing a major disaster, it is very important to see how well the measures of drought relief, relief, and suppression are done in various places. To a large extent, it has a lot to do with the quality and ability of local officials.
However, judging from the evaluations of officials from various places obtained by the Chief Envoy, they are completely different from the current performance of these states and counties. Many of them had excellent evaluations in previous years, but in fact, starvation and pregnancy were everywhere in the counties, and refugees fled in waves. Riots and chaos swarmed.
Yan'an Prefecture takes Qingjian, Yanchang, Yanchuan, Yichuan, Luochuan, and Yijun counties as examples. In fact, the conditions in these counties are not the worst in Yan'an Prefecture, but they have the largest number of refugees and rebel forces. The largest, the most serious land annexation, and the powerful and evil gentry are the strongest. However, in the evaluation, the magistrates in these counties all performed relatively well.
On the contrary, counties such as Suide, Mizhi, Wubao, Shenmu, and Fugu are all passable, but they are all rated as middle or lower.
Let’s not talk about Fushi and Ganquan counties. They are Pan Ruzhen’s territory, and he must protect them no matter what as he is the prefect. But for the prefectures and counties in front, it is obvious that the reaction of the local gentry and the prefectural and county officials’ respective connections are closely related. It worked.
But in Feng Ziying's eyes, these actual performances were completely different.
"Sir, this mechanism is also inherited from the Zhou Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. In fact, various places have responded to this, and the court is not unclear about it, but how to improve this examination mechanism and how to enable officials to have a better A superior and more realistic examination method can be used to carefully judge and then mobilize the motivation of officials to do their work. This is a very large and complicated matter. I am afraid that it cannot be done by the Ministry of Personnel or the Metropolitan Procuratorate. It has to be done by the cabinet. We must take the lead to win over the president, and the other seven ministries and the Metropolitan Procuratorate must be involved to make it possible."
Wang Wenyan thought about it for a while before suggesting. He knew that he had great ambitions, but doing things and doing this kind of thing were different.
The former are specific matters, while the latter is about changing the governance model of a dynasty.
With Feng Ziying's current status, even if he has the support of Northern scholars such as Qi Yongtai and Qiao Yingjia, it is absolutely impossible.
Maybe give Feng Ziying ten or twenty years, and he will be the first assistant, and he will have to have a large group of officials who have already occupied considerable positions such as Lian Guoshi, Zheng Chongjian, Fu Shi, Pan Ruzhen, Xu Junyang, and even Zuo Liangyu and Yang Zhaoji to fully support him. , in order to be successful.
Seeing the insincere look on Wang Wenyan's face, Feng Ziying also laughed: "Do you think I worry too much? This shouldn't be my business. When I am the governor of Shaanxi, I will do Shaanxi's things well. You are in charge of your own affairs. I also know that I am not qualified to ask about these things now.
But I feel that in some specific aspects, I can still implement some of my ideas. At least in Shaanxi, I can try this and use this method to select and screen officials. I still have this power, or I can use my own The influence of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Inspection Yuan should be done more. If you want to do a little bit, then do a little bit..."
Wang Wenyan sighed when he saw Feng Ziying's eyes were full of determination.
This may be the characteristic of those who achieve great things. Only by having a persevering and unswerving heart can we stick to our beliefs and persevere consistently. We will not shrink back and be discouraged when encountering setbacks. Only in this way can we succeed.
In fact, many people are not bad in terms of talents, but most of them lack spiritual qualities in this regard.
Seeing that Wang Wenyan was silent, Feng Ziying didn't care. He would not change his mind. Wang Wenyan and the others must feel that they are a little ignorant and young and energetic, but as someone said, they are not young and energetic. Are you still called a young man? If you don’t do whimsical things while you are young, when you reach middle age, you may have to settle for the status quo and enjoy yourself. It’s the right time to do things!
