Dominate the Country

Chen Ming went to Jiangnan for two months, but there was not a single day of peace in Lushan. Many government offices were busy sorting out their inventory files and information, because of the internal wrangling over who should leave and who should stay. The entire court could not move out all at once. Even for the government offices that had already been confirmed to move out, many officials were left in Lushan.

Just like the Ministry of Communications, the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, and the Grand Commandery, although the main officials had moved out, there were still many people left in the government offices, and they were still opening their doors and working as usual.

And with the arrival of the third imperial examination, the whole Lushan was too lively.

The number of students from all over the country who gathered in Lushan to report this time exceeded 8,000. Because Chen Han had already posted the examination, the indulgence of the qualifications of Jinshi and candidates ended from this subject, and the next imperial examination would return to the old rule of once every three years, and no one could take the exam.

To take the Jinshi exam, one must have the title of Juren, and to take the Juren exam, one must have the title of Xiucai, but to take the Xiucai exam, one does not need the qualifications of a Tongsheng. Moreover, Chen Han also made a reform to the imperial examination, a major reform.

——If you pass the examination to become a scholar, you can become an official. The Chen Han government clearly stated this sentence.

As long as you pass the examination to become a scholar, you can get a job in the local government. And the Juren above the Xiucai also have to enter the government, and the initial starting point is one level higher than the Xiucai, and most of them can be ranked.

In the eyes of many old literati, this rule is a bit like an enlarged "Juren and a certain official". Moreover, there is no distinction between officials and clerks in the Chen Han government. Even a small scholar can climb to the top of the cabinet throne step by step as long as he has practical ability.

Therefore, the attraction of this imperial examination is extremely attractive to many people who aspire to become officials.

As long as they catch up with the end of this last subject, their starting point in the officialdom can start from the fifth rank at the lowest.

The Shanghai Yangtze River Daily once reported on Chen Han's official system. Chen Han's official system was different from that of previous dynasties. Entering the imperial examination was equivalent to entering the officialdom. After obtaining the title of scholar, most of them had to work in the government. After that, whether it was the examination for Juren or Jinshi, the study and preparation during the period had to be done by themselves after work, unless you resigned!

However, there was a very rigid rule in Chen Han's employment system-every public official had his own merit book, which had points on it. Not enough points would be fatal. In addition, the future Jinshi had to start from the grassroots level as soon as they entered the job. It was impossible to imagine that the Jinshi who passed the second or third place in their teens and twenties in the previous dynasty would immediately govern a region.

So, the newspaper sighed with emotion: Now I know how expensive it is to be a county magistrate!

Even if those scholars passed the examination at the age of 18 and could become the parents of a county by the age of 30, it would be smooth sailing. It is not old to be a county magistrate at the age of 40!

The fifth-rank county magistrate is a milestone in the beginning of Chen Han officials. The fourth-rank officials hold the power of a prefecture, or are the heads of a department in the provincial government. Whether they are regular officials, or in the provincial government or the central government, they should not be underestimated.

Chen Han's "official system" claims that in the future, prime ministers must come from the state and the ministers must come from the ranks. It emphasizes and values ​​the grassroots governance experience and ability of officials. Therefore, if Chen Han can continue safely for a long time, after a few decades, the provincial and ministerial officials will probably be political veterans in their fifties and sixties. Then everyone is an old-fashioned person who has experienced struggles and is accustomed to the treacherous officialdom and the change of people's hearts.

Of course, the current group of people in Chen Han's central government cannot do so. This is the significance of the founding heroes of the country. That is for the future.

Therefore, the fifth-rank county magistrate is regarded as a milestone in Chen Han's officialdom, and his status is very important. The importance of the seventh and sixth ranks is greatly reduced, and even in the eyes of many people, there is no big difference at all. Except for the level of salary. Are they all small officials under the township officials or county magistrates?

Those who can pass the imperial examination now, with a blink of an eye, are at least fifth-rank officials. Regardless of whether they are the chief or deputy officials, their ranks can be said to have reached the level of county magistrates in one step. As for the future jinshi, unless they are the first-class officials who stay in the central government or already have official positions, they can only start from the chief officials of townships or even their deputies. In the Tang Dynasty, they were really small officials of the ninth rank.

How comfortable are the jinshi now? Those who do not have enough experience in governance can go to the political academy to study for a while, and then stay in the central or provincial government offices for a while, and then go down to the grassroots level after a period of training. The training is so complete that it is very similar to some of the people with deep roots in the great heaven and the dynasty in Chen Ming's previous life.

Because of this, the value of the jinshi of the third category has not only not decreased due to the change of dynasties and the changes in the Chen-Han system, but has become more important than before.

"Your Highness, the whole Lushan is in chaos. People are everywhere using connections to get in touch with others." Chen Dawei has always been an invisible person beside Chen Ming, with a very weak presence, although he holds Chen Ming's guards, which have been expanded to 500 people. But Chen Dawei's presence is much lower than Liu Wu's.

Moreover, Liu Wu has a brother named Liu Wen, who is already the deputy minister in Chen Han's Ministry of Culture and Education. Although he has not crossed the threshold of the left and right assistant ministers, the real director and the title of assistant minister are also promising - people with this title have a special title in the court of Chen Han: deputy minister, which is a word that came from Chen Ming's mouth. Now it has become popular.

"This relationship has come to you. Liu Wu--"

"What about you?"

The slip of paper that Chen Dawei took out had two names on it, and their resumes were attached to the back. Chen Ming took it and didn't look at it, but called Liu Wu.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your consideration." Liu Wu amused Chen Ming with his emphasis in an opera, and the slip of paper he took out also had two names on it. No more, no less, the people around Chen Ming were very conscious.

"Your Highness. This year, Uncle Gang is the deputy examiner of the examination."

Liu Wu felt that Chen Ming was a little too indulgent to Chen Gang. The latter's identity was too embarrassing, and Chen Ming's father also showed that he wanted Chen Gang to return to his clan, which was a bit too much, and he couldn't let him live too comfortably.

"The previous two examinations were one main and one deputy, this year it is one main and two deputy, and Uncle Gang's position was specially proposed by the King of Han." Liu Wu's eyes were sharp, as long as Chen Ming said, he really dared to immediately order Lushan's men to use this imperial examination to directly make Chen Gang "disabled". Liu Wu was fully confident!

Chen Ming could feel the murderous aura coming out of Liu Wu. He patted his shoulder gently, "No need." His father didn't ask for the throne, but wanted to give Chen Hui a throne in the future. Chen Ming had discussed this with Chen Hui in detail before he came out. This matter couldn't be delayed any longer. Chen Hui would be emperor soon.

There was no need to mention Chen Gang's return to his clan. Chen Ming disagreed. But Chen Ming promised to give Chen Gang a king with the same name in the future, and it would be hereditary.

Chen Hui immediately agreed, hugged Chen Ming and promised that he would never mention the matter of letting Chen Gang return to his clan again. His face was full of joy, and his heart was even happier.

But what about this promise to Chen Ming himself? In the future, the territory he wants to conquer is huge. Chen Gang just stays there honestly, serving as the banner of Confucianism, and it doesn't matter if he mixes with a bunch of corrupt Confucian cynics. If Chen Ming is generous, he will banish him to North America and give him a coastline; if he is unhappy, he will kick him to South America. Let him experience the test of the "South American Independence War" in the future!

The "great ambition" in his heart is the biggest confidence for Chen Ming to agree to give Chen Gang the throne without hesitation. The land under the sky is too big! How could China always be trapped in this corner of the East for thousands of years? Take advantage of the great opportunity of the colonial era and expand vigorously!

- Expand outward!

Even if it is a lot of places that seem to be barren now. Use the sword in your hand to obtain land for the plow of the people!

The fleet is heading towards Wuhan. Chen Ming is in Nanjing and did not go to Wuhan immediately.

May is almost over, and the "resistance and disaster relief" work in the south is going on again. From Guangdong and Guangxi to the Yangtze River, millions of people have gathered on the rivers. The people who suffered a great loss last year brought all the local dogs to the river bank this year.

Along the rivers where the floods are high, young and strong men and even strong women are organized into groups and lined up to take turns on duty.

...

Lushan, Chen Ming went to Jiangnan for more than two months. In the past two months, Lushan was like a pot of boiling water, with undercurrents surging.

The one who took the blame during the Chinese New Year of Chen Hui was promoted to the position of concubine again, and was given a better-sounding title, Wanpin. Because, this Wanpin lady is pregnant again.

Wanpin, whose maiden name is He, is from Changsha, Hunan. As the favorite concubine of Chen Hui's harem, Wanpin's brother from her maiden family also served as a counselor and attendant beside Chen Hui, and Wanpin's sister-in-law from her maiden family often came to the Han Palace. Especially after the matter of moving the capital was decided, the visits became more frequent. Because they all knew that when they arrived in Nanjing, the area of ​​the inner palace would be larger and the rules would be stricter. At that time, it would not be so convenient to meet inside and outside.

The pregnant Wanpin was Chen Hui's darling. Chen Hui often came to visit and stayed here at night. Wanpin herself could not serve because she was pregnant, but there were many beautiful women around her.

"My queen, the king stayed at Wanpin's place again today."

Mother Chen Ming didn't care at all, and continued to play with the jade mahjong set that Chen Ming brought in. Gao, who was completely addicted to building the Great Wall, didn't care at all that Chen Hui had brought in a few more. Li Xiaomei and the others all followed Chen Ming to Nanjing, and Gao, who had no grandchildren, spent her days holding on to the power of the inner palace and playing mahjong.

The people around her also knew that Gao didn't care about this, and continued to report: "When He was discussing things with Wanpin, she drove all the maids out. But when the king went to visit Wanpin in the evening, Wanpin said that there were eight or nine people..."

Gao paused while playing with the jade mahjong cards. After the people went down, she took out a piece of paper from her dressing box, on which were written the names of several people, all of whom were favored in the palace. There were different numbers at the end, from the least two or three to the eight or nine behind Wanpin now. Gao put down her pen and calculated it up and down. There were 300 Jinshi quotas, and the women in the harem alone handed over 40 to Chen Hui. Although so many quotas may not even take half, it is also a world wonder.

In a corner of the Han Palace, Zhao Erxi stretched lazily. Today he was not supposed to be on duty, and he could sleep comfortably early.

The door was pushed open with a "creak..." sound, and a person came in with a bucket of hot water.

"Hey, Mr. Xi, please sit down. I'll get you some water."

"Madam Zhao asked me to thank you."

"No, no. I haven't been able to finalize the exact number and haven't got the name yet. I'm sorry."

"Mr. Xi, you are stubborn. Madam Zhao just asked you, but never asked you to go to inquire specifically."

No one knew about the conversation that took place in a corner of the palace, just like no one knew that this afternoon in the Prince's Mansion in Nanjing, Shi was frightened to the point of paleness, almost falling off the stool, and her stomach tightened.

Because her mother, who had moved from Guangdong to Nanjing, brought her cousin who had just arrived in Nanjing to visit her in the mansion today, and talked about an incident that had just happened in Dongguan - a group of saboteurs were caught not long ago in the Dongjiang River of the Pearl River. Three of the five people were beaten to death on the spot and two were captured alive. The local people hated these Qing Dynasty lackeys to death, and did not inform the government. The people guarding the dike directly erected wooden rafts and nailed people's hands and feet to the wood, just like Qi Shiwu, the Minister of Justice of the Ministry of Justice of the Communist Party of China, when the Kowloon was fighting for the throne - that person was nailed to the wall with iron nails by Kang Mazi's order, and finally died after howling for several days. Now the two people who were captured alive were also nailed to the erected wooden rafts by the people guarding the dike in Dongguan, and they survived for three days and two nights before they died.

The government of Dongguan did not know at first, and later it seemed that they really did not know.

Shi was so scared that her face turned pale.

Her cousin was also frightened. For these "jianghu children", the death of one person was not a big deal. Although the two thieves died a little tragically, they deserved it. But she forgot that her cousin's identity was no longer the same as before. If she told her pregnant cousin about such a bloody thing, her family would be finished if something bad happened.

Shi calmed her pounding heart and said comfortingly: "I have become timid. I can't stand the trouble after just a few years of good life."

Chen Ming didn't know anything about this, and Shi wasn't so fragile that she was frightened, so she immediately went to find the imperial physician. What happened in Dongguan was handed over to him a few days ago. The Qing Dynasty is still thieves.

...

June, the 140th year of Chongzhen.

When an Austrian merchant ship sailed directly from Batavia to Tainan's Takao Port, a group of local Taiwanese workers surrounded it, some working on the cranes, some pulling the ropes, and several brand-new heavy animal-powered pulley cranes. With the hard work of dozens of workers and ten cows, the cargo on this small ship of 300 to 400 tons was unloaded in half a day.

Fieldler took his wife Anna to the dock and took a deep breath.

Well, except for the natural smell of the sea, it feels good, better than the smell of the Batavia dock.

What he is most satisfied with Takao Port is that the entire port is very clean and tidy. You can't see feces, garbage, flies, and mosquitoes here. But Fieldler thinks that this is not the self-consciousness of the Chinese, but only the strict and demanding of the managers. In Batavia, the Chinese there are not as clean as the ones in front of him.

The entire Takao New District, including the port, is a flat ground compacted with cement. The cement plant in Taiwan started construction last spring and started shipping in the summer. Snow-white lines divide the port work area into grids, and neat dock warehouse buildings are scattered and accompanied by several lawns or tree green belts, which really surprised Fieldler. Even the lamp posts are painted snow-white, with beautiful windproof oil lamps hanging on them.

Dock workers in uniform push carts or lead horses, shuttling back and forth, and there are also two-person water police, with batons hanging around their waists, passing leisurely. Fieldler can even occasionally see Europeans in clean and beautiful dresses/dresses in front of the local product store on one side of the dock, picking and choosing rows of goods.

Taiwan's camphor trade has grown rapidly after the Fu Han Army took control of Taiwan. Chen Han is not like the Qing Dynasty. Kang Mazi once banned the felling of camphor for camphor production, but Chen Han strongly encouraged the felling of camphor for camphor production. As for the Taiwanese aborigines encountered in this process, well, I won't write about it.

The market for camphor is quite extensive. Asia, Europe, and America all need camphor in large quantities. Therefore, after tea and sugar became the two pillars of Taiwan's export trade, the camphor industry also rose rapidly.

Looking forward along the wide street, the old Takao Port, the Takao Port that Fieldler was familiar with, finally caught his eye. This is an old area. The Fu Han Army has only controlled Taiwan for a short time, and only a small part of the energy used in Taiwan is used. It is not easy to repair a port area. If you want to build a new port area, the time is far from enough.

However, the reconstruction of the port area must be done. This is Kaohsiung in the future. It is one of the foreign ports that Chen Ming is going to focus on developing. Now the utilization efficiency of the land in the port area is too low and poor, and it is not beautiful!

As for the management office set up by Chen Han in Takao Port, hidden in an old-style house, Fieldler clearly saw it.

He has not returned to Taiwan for a year. When he tentatively came to Takao Port last year, it was all calm here. The scene of the Takao Port and the changes in the entire port area now surprised Fieldler, who was well prepared.

He knew that the Chinese officials here were very different from the original Chinese officials, but even so, thinking about everything he had just seen in the dock area, the planning and development here were all done by the Chinese themselves, Fieldler was still very shocked.

Fieldler then thought of Nanyang. Now every merchant ship that has stopped in Batavia or Manila knows why the tense atmosphere in Nanyang came from.

The Chinese officially intervened in Southeast Asia. They swallowed up Sulu and stationed troops to build a port in a place called Singapore. Spain and the Netherlands were all nervously watching every change in Southeast Asia. By the way, the Chinese also set foot in Borneo. Now they are in the limelight in Southeast Asia!

"God, is this really a port governed by oriental officials? It's much more beautiful than Batavia." The beautiful and fresh port area in front of Anna brought great surprise. Although it is far less large than the Batavia port.

"Yes, baby. Even the most beautiful port in Europe is not as clean as this. I think it is the right choice to return to Taiwan again."

"Dear, where is our home?" Anna clung to her husband and acted coquettishly. She knew that her husband had another house here. China allowed Europeans to buy land and build houses here, but the area was relatively limited.

"I have entrusted this matter to Flaminius a long time ago. He will help us do everything. I think there will be a beautiful manor waiting for us to move in soon. Although it will be relatively small, I think it should be very beautiful." Looking at a carriage with the French flag and the East India Company flag flying slowly approaching in the distance, Fielder showed a smile from the heart.

"Fielder, and the beautiful lady, welcome to Taiwan." A thin middle-aged man came out of the carriage. This is Flaminius mentioned by Fielder, his old friend. He is also the representative of the French East India Company stationed in Taiwan.

"Yes. I am back to Taiwan again. I hope this is the right decision."

"Of course you made a right decision. Although Taiwan is very small compared to the Chinese mainland, it is also full of opportunities to make a fortune..."

The changes in Taiwan have never attracted the attention of only domestic people. Europeans are equally sensitive!