Chapter II: Responsibilities (1)

In the Song Dynasty, Fuzhou was not a very prosperous place. No matter compared with Quanzhou, a commercial port with the reputation of "City of Light" not far from the south, or compared with Lin'an and Suzhou, which are rich in products and have the nickname of "paradise on earth" in the north, Fuzhou City seems too ordinary and too simple. Even the color of the building pattern and the width and narrowness of the street seem a little old and cramped.

All of this suddenly changed one day two years ago. Many old people in Fuzhou City still remember the scene when the army was captured and won the city. It's like a thunderstorm in the summer, it's coming, and it's too late to prepare. When the people recovered from their shock, the Mongols' wool was trampled underfoot.

Originally, everyone thought that changing the rule of the Great Song Dynasty was just a change of place to pay taxes. In recent years, the city has changed the Great King's Banner many times, and many people have become numb. As long as he can keep his head, he is not willing to care about the affairs of the city wall. Anyway, since ancient times, the only duty of the government has been to collect taxes, and it has never paid attention to the lives of the small people.

After a few months, someone slowly discovered that the new government was different from the original. The people in the yamen gradually became polite when they saw the people, and they didn't dare to extort money everywhere anymore. The white officers (assistant police, chengguan) who followed the tolerance ass were also dismissed, and several of them set up bureaus to defraud people of money, and the people were very angry and were convicted. The scribes at all levels have also changed, no longer following the Great Song Dynasty, but following the old officials of the Great Yuan, replaced by some veterans of the Broken Army who retired due to age and physical reasons. What touched everyone the most was the changes on the road, and the cards that were blocked at every door and blocked at every bridge were all gone. Whether you are on the road or selling goods, you no longer have to worry about being slaughtered on the road.

As for the election, which caused an uproar in Confucianism and officialdom, it had little impact on ordinary people. The people of the Great Song Dynasty have always been honest and duty-bound, except for some "thorns" who are surprisingly bold, no one thinks that they are the material of the county lord. As for those who have read books for half their lives just to seek high-ranking officials, they are not optimistic about the prospects of the Fujian Metropolitan Governor's Office. Therefore, Fuzhou, Jianning, and Shaowu asked the people to elect officials for the first time, and basically no one came out to run for election. Many local celebrities who became county magistrates and government officials were forcibly pulled out of their homes by Chen Longfu. And they were allowed to choose to defend the city and surrender after the defeat of the captive army.

The Confucian scholars who hid at home and refused to come out to run for election soon found themselves missing a golden opportunity to come out of thin air. With the implementation of a series of new policies to stimulate people's livelihood in the Fujian Metropolitan Governor's Office, with the rapid popularization of new civilian technologies and new equipment invented by the Academy of Sciences, and with the emergence of new workshops and new products, the provinces controlled by the Broken Army have prospered rapidly. Especially in a big city with a unique geographical location like Fuzhou, seeing that business and travel are gathered, thousands of sails have arrived, and the degree of prosperity has faintly surpassed the trend of Suzhou and Hangzhou.

With the recovering of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou by the Broken Army, as the seat of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion and the center of the Great Song Dynasty's decrees, Fuzhou City changed even more. The dilapidated city walls have been renovated, the roads that have fallen into disrepair have been widened and compacted, and some important areas have been paved with a new product from Shaowu - cement. The silt inside the harbor was cleared, and the wood-framed piers were turned into stone and cement. The barren beaches and depressions near the wharf were leveled, combed, and warehouses were built for merchants to store their goods. Even the Mazu Temple on the edge of the city for voyagers to burn incense and make wishes has been overshadowed by the government with a lot of money. Not only did the walls be repainted, the eaves were repaired, and the columns were reinforced, but also a maritime museum was opened outside the temple, and models of various ships, navigation equipment and various nautical charts since the Han and Tang dynasties were placed in it for the reference of aspiring voyagers.

The largest investment of the government was the Confucius Temple, where Confucius and his seventy-two sages were re-sculpted and placed in a large hall. Walking from afar, it seems that there is a sound of Langlang reading for thousands of years. Some pre-Qin classics, literature and history have also been collected, copied by the famous masters, and placed in the newly opened library in the Confucius Temple, together with all kinds of miscellaneous studies, encyclopedia classics from Arabia for those who are interested to read. In the vicinity of the Confucius Temple, a new school covering an area of nearly 100 acres was opened by using the confiscated official residence, which is divided into two parts: primary school and middle school, and young children can study and read in the primary school. If you are a little older, you can study in the middle school of Yixue, and after learning basic mathematics (mathematics) for half a year, you can choose one of the subjects of business, Yu (geology and mining), metallurgy, and engineering in Yixue. Although these miscellaneous studies are not as elegant as Confucianism, they are proficient enough to find a place in many emerging industries in the city. Confucianism, which is the most orthodox of all kinds of studies and needs to be looked up to the most, has also opened a course in Yixue, and it is up to the students to choose whether to study it intensively or not.

Some stubborn old Confucians have protested against this, believing that Confucianism is the foundation of the Chinese inheritance, and although other miscellaneous subjects are of temporary use, they cannot be listed with Confucianism. However, the funds for Yixue were allocated by the Metropolitan Governor's Office himself, and the old Confucian people were not asked to donate. And Wen Tianxiang also hired them to teach. Therefore, despite the opposition, the voice is not loud, but with the passage of time, because some people in the family have gained benefits in the emerging industry, they slowly feel that the four words "Yourong Naidada" written by Tianxiang himself on the Yingliang of the gate of Yixue look less eye-catching.

Yixue is free, as long as you can be admitted with ability, all apprenticeship fees are free. In addition to providing three meals a day, the government also provides students with a set of single clothes and a set of cotton clothes every year. For the people who are interested in learning, but miss the age of studying, evening classes are also opened, free of tuition, but no food and clothing are provided, starting from "the beginning of man, nature is good" and "1, 2, 3" of Arabic counting.

Although everything is just the beginning, many far-sighted people have come to the conclusion that "this is a righteous act that will be used for a thousand years" and "it is enough to make a name for yourself in the world". Some even believe that even if the Fujian Metropolitan Governor's Office were indeed what some opponents believe, it would be a flash in the pan. With what it has done for the people for more than two years, with its library and its righteous learning, the people involved in it are enough to live on forever.

With the gradual prosperity of the market and the continuous victories of the Broken Army on the battlefield, some scholars who were unwilling to surrender to Dayuan to become a fourth-class slave and had long been desperate for the Great Song Dynasty slowly warmed up and focused their attention on the Dadu Governor's Mansion. It is no longer difficult for government departments and officials at all levels to hire staff and servants, and some ingenious but well-paid departments, such as the household department, the budget yamen, and the customs, have become hot spots for people to drill camps.

Organizing the election of officials in the newly liberated areas is no longer an easy task. Unlike the first official selection, which was deserted, the election office under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Officials is now full of people. Optimistic about the political prospects of the Broken Army, some of the clans began to slowly extend their tentacles to the newly recovered areas. In addition to reciting poems and paintings, writing books and sayings, some new and old celebrities and Qingliu began to go out of the courtyard and come into contact with the people. Some people who used to be cold to the New Deal also came to the door, dragged relationships, left favors, and bent over a candidacy. There are even some clever people who not only contribute money and efforts to help the army stabilize the locality, but also use methods such as opening porridge sheds and lowering field rents to curry favor with the ordinary people who have never looked at them properly, hoping that one of their ancestral graves will smoke and get the right to vote, so that they can vote for themselves in the election. There are also some people who are too agile in their minds, and even distribute copper coins among the people before the election, openly bribing the voters.

Among these people, there are many who sincerely agree with the New Deal and want to contribute to the country. But speculators make up the vast majority. For this reason, Liu Zijun, who was involved in internal affairs and enemy affairs, and Chen Longfu, the head of the Ministry of Officials and the Taishou of Quanzhou, were deeply distressed. even made a special trip to Fuzhou to discuss countermeasures with Wen Tianxiang. To their surprise, Wen Tianxiang, who has always maintained high integrity and hated corrupt officials and corrupt officials, was not as anxious as they imagined. It's just that Liu Zijun has increased funds and manpower, so that he can increase supervision and strive to eliminate those who fish in troubled waters.

"Prime Minister, isn't there a way to go on like this? At present, the captive army only occupies the first and half roads of Fujian and Guangnan, and it has reached this point of chaos. If you take one day to recover the entire territory of the Great Song Dynasty, wouldn't it be even more chaotic. At that time, even if I waited for a strong struggle, the world ......." Liu Zijun did not continue. He believed that his subtext, Wen Tianxiang, could understand it. In his consciousness, the electoral system adopted by Wen Tianxiang is nothing new. The filial piety of the Han Dynasty is similar to this. However, in the Han Dynasty, the government was very bad, and there was no poor family in the upper grade, and there was no big clan in the lower grade, which led to the failure of the government decree and the chaos in the world. Therefore, after the Sui and Tang dynasties, the imperial examination method was adopted to select talents. Although the selection of talents in the imperial examination is narrow and single, it is undoubtedly much fairer than the recommendation system, at least the poor students have a chance to become famous in one fell swoop.

Although the method of allowing the people to nominate deputies and the deputies and those with military merits to elect officials from among the candidates was more complicated than the method of promoting filial piety and honesty, it could not resist the erosion of power from the great families. If it is really extended to the whole country, not only will some capable people in the people accumulate grievances because they can't find a shortcut, but the opposition forces in the court will also take the opportunity to attack it. In this way, Wen Tianxiang and the others are equivalent to putting themselves on the opposite side of the world's scholars, and unless they rely on force to kill all opponents, there is no room for harmony with other people.

After listening to Liu Zijun's words, Wen Tianxiang gave a clear answer. The family and the scholars changed their attitude towards the Prime Minister's Mansion so quickly, and the speed was somewhat beyond his expectations. In his planning, the state of recruiting officials but no one in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion will last for a long time, after all, the Northern Yuan still has the absolute upper hand at the moment, and the relationship between the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion and the Xing Dynasty is not very clear. After the area controlled by the Broken Captivity Army stabilized, the strategic stalemate with the Northern Yuan Dynasty was really reached, and the relationship with the Xing Dynasty was straightened out one by one, the speculators wanted to get involved, and the key positions were also occupied by the forerunners who were sincere in serving the country.

Once the electoral system is formed, it will slowly circulate and gradually improve, becoming a strong support for the New Deal.

It was not until the official positions in the areas controlled by the Broken Army became so popular so quickly, and it was so hot that people did anything to grab official positions.

"Zijun is right, relying solely on the inspection of the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of the Interior, there will be omissions in the end. Moreover, the officials of the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of the Interior are also human beings, and it is inevitable that there will be favoritism in the process of supervision! Chen Long Fu saw the expression on Wen Tianxiang's face that seemed to be a smile rather than a smile, in the past, he had not paid attention to the inherent harm hidden under the surface chaos, and reminded in a low voice.

"I'm afraid, bribery is inevitable. Except for you and Minzhang (Liu Zijun's words) to put more effort and think of some solutions, there is no shortcut to solve it for a while! Wen Tianxiang sighed and sat down in his chair. For a moment, it was as if he had lost the ability to think. Just sat quietly and listened to Liu Zijun and Chen Longfu's complaints.

Liu Zijun and Chen Longfu enumerated the scandals that occurred when the newly reclaimed district election officials were republiced. Both concluded that events could not be allowed to develop in this way. However, the solutions proposed are not the same. Liu Zijun hoped to abolish the electoral system, reopen the imperial examination, and take advantage of the opportunity of the Northern Yuan Dynasty not allowing Han people to take the examination to win the support of scholars from all over the world. However, Chen Longfu's opinion is that the election method needs to be changed, and it is better for the government to appoint people with good reputation and family background as representatives, so as not to abuse the power of representation by the people.

Wen Tianxiang listened for a while, and suddenly laughed, as if he had seen through the spring night outside, and smiled so calmly.

"Why is the prime minister laughing?" Chen Longfu changed color and asked loudly. He knew that Wen Tianxiang was not a person who could not accept advice, and as the prime minister's arm, he had to speak out at a critical moment and urge him to make appropriate changes to the decree.

Wen Tianxiang saw that Liu Zijun and Chen Longfu both changed their faces, knowing that they had misunderstood him, he put away his smile and explained in a low voice: "I'm thinking, if I give everyone the right to vote, do those families have the financial resources to give everyone money to fulfill their wishes!" ”

"Start, easy! Subsequently, I am afraid that the appetite of the people will also increase!" Chen Longfu thought about it and replied very seriously. After carefully deducing this line of thought again, he suddenly smiled and said, "In this way, it's not a completely bad thing!" At least they got a few bucks, better than nothing! ”

"My subordinates don't see what's funny about this! Prime Minister, at present, the army is progressing smoothly, and the area under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion is getting larger and larger, so we must guard against the slightest and not give the enemy a chance to counterattack, especially not to let Lord Lu, Lord Deng, Liu, Li and other adults in the dynasty pick out too many mistakes! Liu Zijun saw Chen Longfu and Wen Tianxiang asking and answering, and he was so happy that he simply pointed out his worries directly.

"I know, Minzhang, I know your thoughts. But since we have tried this method, we can't just go back because someone bribed the election. The people who came up in the examination are all literati, and they are probably not bad at writing poems, but they can't do well in governing the place in a few years. Isn't it the same as following the meaning of the local heroes, going to the mountains and rivers by yourself, and having a good time? Wen Tianxiang smiled and said frankly. Having been a magistrate, he knows the trick. When a new official from the imperial examination arrives in a place, his eyes are black, and even if he wants to benefit the people, he can't find a way. The first few years can only be mixed. When I have some experience and want to show my strengths, the term of office has also arrived. Either you are transferred or promoted, which is equivalent to doing nothing during the re-term period. In contrast, it is those officials who rely on donations to get their posts back, because they want to get back their capital, but they have a hot fight with local tyrants and do bad things like a fish in water.

Liu Zijun was also born in the imperial examination, and he knew the helplessness he faced when he was an official for the first time. Under the old system, they were either lazy and confused; Either merge and become a corrupt official, there is almost no third option. Judging from the current state, does the following method really work by adopting the electoral system advocated by Wen Tianxiang?

Will the illiterate people really cherish the power in their hands?

If they are too obsessed with the power in their hands and ask Wen Tianxiang to give way to others, how should the Broken Army respond?

For the first time since Baizhangling, he became suspicious of Wen Tianxiang's strategy. Although this suspicion flashed in his heart, it still made him feel extremely confused.

Wen Tianxiang saw all this in his eyes, and he himself was not confused. Governing the country is different from fighting on the march, leading troops to confront the Northern Yuan, in Wen Zhong's memory, he can find a lot of good weapons and good tactics. According to the actual situation of the Broken Army, if you imitate it, you can hit the Northern Yuan by surprise.

But in Wen Zhong's memory, there is no good way to govern the country. Yes, it is just the humiliation of destroying the country and exterminating the species again and again. The only successful experience is the election demonstration in the base areas. From Wen Zhong's memory, he believed that the only way to change this ill of officialdom was to elect. As long as the power to appoint or dismiss officials is in the hands of the people, local officials will not dare to be lazy. Even if someone relies on the family's power in the place and acts recklessly, they will be found by political enemies and quickly exposed. The lack of public wisdom and bribery in the election cannot be used as an excuse to oppose the election. In his time, the ruler always used this excuse to control the country, and his party wrote a lot of articles criticizing these excuses.

The three of them argued together for a while, but none of them could think of a suitable solution. It is not advisable to return to the imperial examination method of selecting officials, and there have been too many examples of failure in the past. It is not feasible to rely on fame to select talents, in this era, many celebrities are touted by Confucianism to each other, and their ability and backbone cannot stand the test.

In the end, the decision was still made by Liu Zijun's Ministry of the Interior to increase supervision. When Liu Zijun said that he was not able to do it, Chen Longfu said that the newspaper he was mainly engaged in could help partly. After all, newspapers have been around for so long, and some people who write articles criticizing current politics have already had some experience.

"What if the person who wrote the article also received a favor from others?" Liu Zijun continued to ask.

"Then it depends on whether the temptation of the official position is big enough, and whether there are enough people staring at this position. If there are more people fighting, they will attack each other, and they will be careful not to leave a handle for their opponents! Wen Tianxiang hesitated for a moment and said angrily.

Liu Zijun was silent.

That night, seeing off Liu Zijun and Chen Longfu, Wen Tianxiang wrote under the candlelight: "Perhaps, my choice was wrong, but I really didn't find a third way to go." Elections are not good governance, they are just a system. Some people have developed such a system, and some people have tried to take advantage of it. And one of the responsibilities of the government is to widen your eyes to find out the people who drill the gaps, and block the gaps found one by one! ”

Is this really possible? Putting down the pen, he fell into deep thought again.

Wouldn't it be a good thing if people got a few pocket money in exchange for selling their votes?

The candlelight flickered, casting Wen Tianxiang's lonely figure onto the curtain, long and short.

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