The spring breeze carries the water vapor from the Yangtze River into the elegant house.
Zhao Mian, who had never seen fishermen casting nets on the river, looked sideways at the few old scholars who had come from afar.
These are all Confucian figures with great reputations among the scholars in Jiangnan.
On weekdays in the countryside, there is never a shortage of disciples and disciples who are studying and serving. Throughout Jiangnan, and even the whole world, countless young scholars hope to be honored by being able to follow these people.
In the south of the Yangtze River, they were able to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over the entire world of scholarly Confucianism.
The old Confucian who claimed that this encounter was both a crisis and an opportunity glanced at Liu Sanwu, the scholar on the spot.
The old Confucian did not have any of the nervousness and hesitation that ordinary people had when meeting officials.
It is more of a confidence and calm demeanor.
"Since His Majesty has granted Enke, it is a good thing for us and other scholars in the world. Many students who have exhausted their knowledge can finally take advantage of this opportunity to gain fame, enter the court, and contribute to the world's society."
As the old scholar spoke, there was a burst of agreement from everyone present.
"We scholars should serve our country."
The old Confucian continued: "Your Majesty wants to fully fill the official vacancies in the court, and the number of people employed will not be small. The number of people currently employed will probably increase."
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Having said this, the old Confucian looked at Zhao Mian, the Minister of Household Affairs in front of him.
Zhao Mian hurriedly bowed slightly and nodded: "Although there are alternate officials in the imperial court, there have been a lot of shortages of officials in the local area in recent years. In addition, half of Zhejiang Road has been lost this time. In any case, if we want to fill up the officials as your Majesty said, If there is a shortage, it is impossible to recruit less scholars in this department."
The old scholar nodded, then looked at Liu Sanwu: "In that case, you should compete for the position of examiner for the current examination."
The examinations held in Yingtian City are usually organized with the support of the Ministry of Rites, and most of them are ministers of the Ministry of Rites who serve as examiners.
But relatively speaking, the candidate for the examiner of the general examination can also be selected from people who are proficient in Confucianism in the court.
It just so happened that Liu Sanwu was from Zhongshushe and a master of Confucianism.
As long as he says that he wants to take the position of chief examiner of the Jinke Examination, there won't be much opposition from the DPRK.
As if they already knew this suggestion, several old scholars looked at Liu Sanwu calmly.
Liu Sanwu, who was nearly eighty years old, seemed to be a student in front of these old scholars. He chuckled and said, "Do you think I can be the chief examiner?"
Someone immediately said: "Why not?"
The old scholar who spoke first also nodded and said: "Only if we win the position of chief examiner of this subject, we can handle the matter calmly."
Zhao Mian on the side couldn't help but turned his head and looked over. He had vaguely guessed what the thoughts and ideas of these old gentlemen were, and couldn't help but glance at Liu Sanwu.
After Liu Sanwu pondered for a moment, he whispered: "Jinke... without respecting dignity, will more of my Jiangnan students be chosen for the top spot?"
Several old scholars nodded in agreement at the same time.
"In previous years, I always had to worry about the dignity of the people in the world, but this is different. His Majesty Jinke wants to recruit talented scholars to fill the official vacancies. This is a real benefit."
"Zhejiang Taoism is carrying out so many reforms, and has the idea of promoting it to the world. Your Majesty used Enke to divert the attention of us and the people of the world, so we have no choice but to ignore our dignity."
"As long as all my students from Jiangnan are on the gold list and there are vacancies in the selection of local officials, then we can calmly deal with the reform in the future!"
It seems that this is also the method that several great scholars who rushed to Yingtian have discussed in advance.
Zhao Mian was the youngest person present and immediately said: "How to deal with His Majesty's desire to carry out reforms?"
No matter whether Enke is open this year or not, and no matter how Jiangnan scholars are ranked, the reason why they are gathered here is because of the land tax and commercial tax reforms currently being implemented in Zhejiang Province.
Several old scholars seemed to smile, as if the problems that gave Zhao Mian and Liu Sanwu so many headaches were easily solved by them.
"First, Your Majesty uses Enke to divert attention, and we can take the opportunity to promote Jiangnan scholars to become officials in the court, and turn this Enke into an opportunity for Jiangnan scholars!"
"Secondly, I, the Jiangnan scholars, will pass the imperial examination and become officials this year. Next year, your Majesty will carry out tax reform in the world and inventory the land. There are these young scholars who are just entering the official career, and I have been waiting for you for the past few years. The old friends and disciples in the court are here. How to change the taxation matter, and how far it can be changed, isn't it still up to us and the rest of the world to have the final say?"
Zhao Mian had already stood up and was serving tea to several old gentlemen and seniors.
After pouring hot tea into several teacups, Zhao Mian bent down and asked with a smile: "Gentlemen, I'm afraid it's difficult for us to change what your Majesty wants to do."
"Shangshu Zhao is testing us?"
An old scholar drank tea and glanced at Zhao Mian blankly.
Zhao Mian immediately forced out a smile: "Students don't dare."
The old Confucian put down his tea cup: "What is the fundamental point of this Zhejiang Dao reform?"
"In the farmland of Zhejiang, in the business of prefectures and cities, and in the business of shipping goods everywhere." Zhao Mian replied in a low voice, as if he was enlightened at home when he was young, and he answered respectfully when facing his husband's questions.
The old scholar smiled and stroked his beard: "It is here. It is precisely for this reason that the court can only collect taxes according to the number of acres in the local area. But what if those acres are gone? Where will the court go from here? Collect taxes everywhere?”
Zhao Mian's eyes suddenly widened, and he exclaimed in his heart that he was really a fan of the authorities, and he had never thought of this.
Another old Confucian smiled and said: "Except for Enke this year, only Zhejiang Province will implement tax reform. Your Majesty must first let Zhejiang Province eliminate the results before it can be implemented in the world. This year is the opportunity for us to wait calmly. Take care of this."
Another person took over the message: "Plant trees in the mountains and fields, raise fish near the water, widen the fields, and level the fields to raise chickens and ducks. At that time, I, a scholar from the south of the Yangtze River, will be the local official, and I will still follow the imperial decree and count the acres of land." , still reporting the number of local acres of land truthfully."
The old scholar who spoke first hummed and took over the words: "At that time, as long as the court determines the number of acres, all those trees, pond fish, chickens and ducks can be removed."
Zhao Mian was frightened when he heard this, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.
When he looked at the smiling old gentlemen, the minister in charge of the household department of the Ming Dynasty finally understood why these old gentlemen were famous all over the world, could make countless disciples and apprentices, and could even call themselves sir. senior.
And Zhao Mian almost squeezed out a sentence through his teeth: "Destroy the fields!"
As long as the imperial court destroys all the former fertile land when it checks the local land, it will not be registered and sent to heaven. After the remaining fields are sent to Yingtian, the destroyed fields can be restored.
This is like empty pay in the army.
Zhao Mian has already thought that when this thing is really done, those fields that have not been registered will be able to be cultivated together with the fields that have been registered and sent to the sky, and they will not have to pay a penny of taxes.
His back felt numb.
Thinking that I am the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, I have never even thought of this.
Zhao Mian gave a helpless smile.
However, an old Confucian snorted coldly, with a bit of displeasure on his face: "Why destroy the fields! The imperial court has its difficulties, and we are aware of them. Everyone in the world knows that the imperial court is difficult. But people in the world are more aware of it. It’s difficult, and it’s even harder for those of us who are studying hard in a poor family!”
"With one more ration, there will be more seeds for reading in the world. To plan for the seeds of reading for the world and to plan for the country, we must think about this matter no matter what."
Zhao Mian frowned slightly, then sighed silently after a long time and raised his arms: "Students will be taught."
Several old Confucians nodded with satisfaction when they saw that the Minister of Hubu accepted their ideas.
Then he looked at Liu Sanwu, a member of Zhongshushe.
"At this time, we have to start working on how to obtain the position of Enke's examiner this year."
Liu Sanwu immediately spoke: "The Minister of Rites has been vacant for many years. Now the Ministry of Rites is supported by Ren Hengtai, the Minister of Rites. Ren Hengtai has been in the Ministry of Rites for many years. He has good moral conduct and profound knowledge, and is highly valued by His Majesty. If the guess is correct, Enke will be the chief examiner this year. Your Majesty belongs to Ren Hengtai."
"Then suppress him!" An old scholar said bluntly that he wanted to suppress a minister who was in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Etiquette.
Liu Sanwu shook his head: "Ren Hengtai did nothing wrong in the past and could hardly find any faults. It would be difficult to facilitate this matter."
"We also have many old friends and students in the Metropolitan Procuratorate. If His Majesty opens Enke this year, there is no way that the examiner will be impeached."
Liu Sanwu raised his head: "You want the censors to impeach him?"
"I and you guys are going to study in Yingtian this year, and I will help you now. The first thing I will do is get the chief examiner. Please don't interfere in this matter, lest His Majesty will keep an eye on you."
Liu Sanwu thought about it and felt that this was a feasible method, and finally nodded.
On the other side, Zhao Mian, the Minister of Revenue, who looked out the window from time to time, whispered: "There are so many ships today!"
Everyone immediately followed his gaze and looked out the window.
I saw a large group of fishing boats suddenly appearing on the river in the distance outside the window.
A famous boatman stood at the stern of the boat to support the river boat. In front of the boat, fishermen kept throwing huge fishing nets onto the river.
"At this time, when the fish are plump and full of seeds, the people don't know how to let the fish give birth to more fish. Such exhaustion of fishing will not last long. In this case, I and other scholars are asked to educate them. "
In the elegant house, an old scholar spoke calmly.
…
"A bunch of bad ass old guys!"
On the distant Yangtze River, there was a river boat in the middle that was intentionally or unintentionally surrounded by all the surrounding river boats. From behind the open window under the awning in the middle of the boat, a low curse from Zhu Yunxi came.
Sun Cheng, deputy Qianhu of Jinyiwei, was sitting on a small stool, handling a stone pot of stewed fish in front of him.
Open the lid and a delicious meal wafts out.
This caused the two women, Tang Queqing and Mu Caiyun, who were sitting next to them, to subconsciously lick their lips and teeth.
Next to him, the twenty-third prince of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Huang, was already picking up the bowl in front of him, his index finger moving widely.
Zhu Yunxi looked through the ship window and stared at Yingtian City in the distance.
Where is the Waijinchuanmen Longwan Pier, and behind it is Lion Rock.
There is an elegant house on Lion Rock!
