"Your Majesty, it has already cost enough to immigrate to the Northeast and Southeast Asia. If we still want to immigrate to North America."
Peng Jun said with a grimace.
He doesn't know how expensive firewood and rice are.
He has since become the left prime minister of the Ming Dynasty.
Seeing that there is no balance almost every year, and sometimes even owes some debt, the Ming treasury is worried.
This has been true since ancient times.
Wherever the court plans its income for the year in advance at the beginning of the year, there will almost never be a balance in the treasury.
What if something happens?
"We can issue bonds and use Jinshan's land as collateral. In addition, the town wants to grant San Jin'er a fief of Jinshan. Shi Fei now owns the Nanyang Shipping Company and has plenty of money. If Jinshan is San Jin'er's fief, she will definitely You won't get rid of everything, what do you think, right minister?" Emperor Zhu said quite shrewdly.
Peng Jun was talking about the emperor's wisdom, but he was already complaining in his heart, "The emperor is really smart, he even counts his own wife's money."
However, the current population of this Jinshan City is only a few hundred.
The title given to the second prince, Zhu Yixin, seemed a bit unworthy of the status of the second prince.
Seemingly understanding Peng Jun's worries, Emperor Zhu waved his hand and said: "Jinshan will definitely be a big city in the future, and my prince cannot be the ruler of the city, he must be the leader of expansion! The seal of North America is for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and the expansion of China's borders. Damn it, this is the mission of my princes!!"
North America is a great place.
Of course it is to be divided among the sons.
But this is a noble statement.
At this point, Emperor Zhu began to discuss another matter with Peng Jun.
That is the matter of unifying the national imperial examinations.
"Prime Minister Zuo, let's not talk about Jinshan and India for the moment. Now that the world is unified, I think there are conditions for a unified scholar examination in the southern region. The imperial examination will no longer be divided into provinces based on the time and content of each province. How about a unified imperial examination? In the future, the Ming Dynasty's imperial examinations can be compared every year. Each province will take 1,000 literary scholars and 500 military scholars each time. "How about this?"
Due to the impact of the war, the situation in each province is different, so the Ming Dynasty's "Scholar Examination" is not held regularly. Up to now, every province has held the Scholar Examination, but the number of scholars has exceeded 20,000. As long as the winner If you become a scholar, you are qualified to be an official, and it is easy to get an official position.
However, the era when it was so easy to become an official has now passed. Because people from all over the country have become officials, the next scholar examination will be much more difficult. Each province only selects 1,500 scholars every two years. If there are more, it will be difficult. It would be difficult to arrange official positions for these talented men.
"Okay, there should be a system, but the quota of 1,500 people is a little small. How about setting it between 1,500 and 2,000 people, and determining the quota according to the taxes paid by each province?"
Peng Jun thought for a while and said.
Emperor Zhu nodded when he heard this: "This charter must be completed as soon as possible, but I also need to add two rules, one is the retirement system, and the other is the age limit system for scholars. Let's talk about the retirement system first. I have preliminary ideas. County Officials below the provincial level will retire at 55, provincial-level officials will retire at 60, and ministerial-level officials will retire at 70! '
"In addition, the age of the scholar cannot be too old. In my opinion, if you are over thirty years old, you should not take the scholar examination."
retirement system.
This is something that Emperor Zhu has been thinking about for a long time.
People tend to become confused when they get old, and the Ming Dynasty does not need so many confused officials.
Moreover, with a retirement system, part of the bureaucracy can be kept alive. After all, there is a constant flow of living water.
Emperor Zhu even wanted to mention the rejuvenation of cadres.
But after thinking about it for a moment, he felt that it was too early to mention this.
Peng Jun was stunned.
Then his face changed drastically.
"Your Majesty, is this too hasty?"
Peng Jun's forehead was covered in cold sweat.
At the age of 30, you will no longer be allowed to take the exam to become a scholar.
What kind of rule is this?
Why does this emperor always come up with such nonsense?
If he passes these things when he is prime minister, I am afraid his reputation will be affected.
And the impact of this is really too great.
The last wave of boycotts in Sichuan has just passed. Now what if there is another wave of boycotts in other provinces?
There is no reason to set an upper age limit for the imperial examination - if a scholar is still an idiot at the age of thirty, it is indeed time to find something else to do.
But being a scholar is actually also an identity!
The thing about the imperial examination is that as long as you have the guts, you can continue to take the exam, and maybe you will win next time!
This is a hope for scholars, an opportunity to become a master in an instant.
No matter how poor a scholar is, not many people in the local area will bully him. Who can guarantee that he will not pass high school and become a master in the next imperial examination?
This is especially true for scholars from wealthy families, whose status as gentry is based on their connections with the officialdom.
And next time I might become an official in high school, which is the most important link.
This is what is called being a farmhouse minister in the morning and ascending to the emperor's hall in the evening!
With this possibility, the status of these scholars will be different from that of ordinary civilians. They are the reserve army of officials and the reserve army of the privileged class.
The Xianghu Party in the Ming Dynasty is a typical gentry group and a typical example.
Not all Hunan scholars could be officials in the Qing Dynasty, but because of the existence of the imperial examination, they all had the possibility of becoming officials, so they could be part of the same party and refer to each other.
As long as someone wins the Jinshi. The Xianghu Party members in the government will vigorously promote the underachievers, while the Xianghu scholars in the opposition will serve as staff and work for them.
The scholars who did not come out from their hometowns relied on the protection of their classmates and fellow villagers who were serving in court or as staff and became their big landlords in Hengxing Township.
It is precisely because of this that those landlords and wealthy people who know that they will never be a scholar in this life will study hard with books all day long and take the imperial examination again and again, in order to stay in the circle of scholar-bureaucrats and keep their status as gentry. identity!
Without this identity, it would be difficult for them to evade land and taxes and oppress the common people.
But now Emperor Zhu has set a threshold of thirty years old.
It is equivalent to digging up the foundation of the vast reserve team of officials and the broad group of gentry.
After the age of thirty.
There is no possibility for you to study and become an official.
Will there still be such a thing as the Xianghu Party and the unity of the gentry and the gentry?
After the age of thirty.
Just honestly go somewhere else to make a living.
Of course Emperor Zhu knew.
He changed it like this.
There will definitely be huge backlash and opposition.
But Emperor Zhu was not afraid of this.
Because he is worried that if things are not reformed now, when he has the greatest prestige and the strongest control over the military.
Later on, if you want to change it, you may be unable to do so.
He must push forward the reform of the imperial examination forcefully.
This is the key to whether his policies can be sustained.
If the gentry below wants to rebel, please do so. If you don't want to rebel, just take a test!
(End of chapter)
