After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Ning Yabai, Ning Yafeng, Ning Yazhi, and Chi Fei left the northwest and embarked on the journey back to the northeast.

Along the way, Ning Yafeng seemed very excited, because his father Ning Zhiyuan really sent him an extremely important task: to form a sailor division in the shortest possible time, block the entire Wujiang River, and no longer let the ships of the puppet dynasty have a chance to cross the river.

Ning Yafeng knew his father's intentions, which was to prevent the puppet dynasty from throwing a large number of displaced people to the northeast like last time.

Today's Northeast is really difficult to accept a large number of displaced people.

In order to let the second son do this well, Ning Zhiyuan also sent two experienced staff members to fully assist him.

This matter was originally supposed to be done by the eldest son, Ning Yabai, but because the musket plan of the youngest son-in-law Chi Fei came out, Ning Zhiyuan had no choice but to change the generals on the spot, and the second son was in charge.

At this time, in Ning Zhiyuan's eyes, there is nothing more important than achieving mass production of muskets.

At the same time, the reform system for the selection of officials, which had been set before the Chinese New Year, has finally begun to be carried out in an all-round way in the northwest.

When the government posted the list in the prefectures and counties in the northwest, it instantly caused a shock in the whole northwest.

In particular, a large number of officials such as county officials, priests, county lieutenants, and wardens from all over the country were even more excited, even more excited than picking up a silver ticket.

Because as soon as this new policy came out, it meant that these officials, who could not have been officials in their lifetimes, finally had the opportunity to become officials, how could this not make them very excited.

It is clearly written on the list that anyone who has achieved meritorious service or above, or who has been an official for more than five years, is eligible to participate in the official selection examination.

The content of the examination is mainly water conservancy, taxation, law, and the Four Books and Five Classics.

The selection exam will be held in Wuchi County in two months and will last for three days.

Once you pass the exam, you will have the opportunity to confer an officer.

In addition to the official selection examination, a civil servant selection examination will be held in Wuchi County in three months' time.

Anyone who is literate can take the test. The content of the exam is also mainly based on water conservancy, taxation, law, and the Four Books and Five Classics, but the content of the exam will be relatively shallow, and the exam time will also be three days.

Once you pass the exam, you will have the opportunity to become a member of the yamen.

As soon as this list came out, not only the officials who had been serving in the yamen were very excited, but other literate people were also moved.

The land in the northwest is barren and the property is limited, and there are so few ways for the common people to make money, so most of the people are generally poor.

If you can be a clerk in the yamen, it will be an iron rice bowl with no worries about food and clothing.

Moreover, once they pass the examination and become officials, as long as they stay in the yamen for five years, they will have the opportunity to participate in the official selection examination, which is simply a great blessing for many scholars who can't even pass the exam.

For a time, almost the people of the entire northwest were talking about it. Especially those who are literate, they are all gearing up to go to Wuchi County to try the test.

Those officials in the yamen even took advantage of these two months to study and study hard every night, hoping to be admitted to the official examination in one fell swoop, and from then on become a master.

After learning the reaction of officials and people in various parts of the northwest after the post of the list, Ning Zhiyuan was greatly satisfied, and joked to his confidant Zhang Wenxuan: "Old Zhang, if those officials know that you put forward this idea, they will definitely regard you as a reborn parent." ”

Zhang Wenxuan said very modestly: "The lord is the one who implements the new policy, and his subordinates are just doing their best, how dare they pay the credit."

Moreover, after Mr. Su improved the official selection system, it is very different from what his subordinates mentioned before.

The subordinates' original proposal to use officials as officials was only a last resort expedient, and did not mean to replace the imperial examination system.

However, Mr. Su's idea is to open up a new system of electing officials on top of the imperial examination system.

Its significance is no less than the imperial examination system, and even surpasses it.

Mr. Su's talent is really ashamed of his subordinates. ”

Ning Zhiyuan said with a smile: "Okay, you two don't have to push each other's work." Ah Zhen is certainly a genius, but you are also very good, and with your help, I have the confidence to carry out the reform.

Lao Zhang, when do you think it is better to implement the clean and honest society system? ”

"My subordinates think it's better to implement it after half a year, and it's best not to do it for more than one year."

"Why?"

"In half a year, whether it is an official or an official, the selection has basically been completed, and the personnel are basically complete. At that time, it was the right time to implement the system of the Anti-Corruption Society to monitor local officials.

If more than a year passes, these newly elected officials have gradually become familiar with the local squires and merchants, and it is possible that the usual system of officialdom in the past will be formed, and then the names such as charcoal and ice will appear one after another.

At that time, if the system of a clean and honest society was implemented, it would not be as simple as supervising hundreds of officials, but directly arresting people.

Therefore, the system of a clean and honest society should be sooner rather than later, this is the idea of the subordinates. ”

Ning Zhiyuan thought for a while, and felt that Zhang Wenxuan was reasonable, rather than making amends, it was better to take precautions.

Originally, he wanted to implement the clean and honest society system in a year, but now that he thinks about it, it is better to implement it as soon as possible.

It's just that in this way, correspondingly, it is necessary to put the system of raising officials as soon as possible, and this money is not a small amount of money.

At the thought of coming up with such a large sum of money, Ning Zhiyuan suddenly felt a pain in his flesh.

Originally, after he "robbed" dozens of big families in the Northeast, he had already made a lot of money, and now he had to spit out at least some of it.

He now extremely hoped that the family would come out to make trouble again, so that he could take the opportunity to make another profit.

It's a pity that the remaining families in the Northeast were killed by his previous round of purges, and now they are all as careful as quails, where do anyone dare to make trouble again.

……………………

When the group passed through Zhangnan Mansion, Ning Yafeng said goodbye to them because he was preparing for the establishment of a water division, and returned to Zhangnan Mansion with the two staff members sent to him by Ning Zhiyuan.

After Chi Fei, Ning Yabai, and Ning Yazhi returned to Jiujiang, Chi Fei soon received a report from the craftsman in the workshop that the drilling machine he had designed before had been completed, and asked him to go over and see if he could use it.

When Chi Fei heard this, he was overjoyed, and immediately called Ning Yabai to rush to the workshop to check it out.

Ning Yabai came to the workshop for the first time, and saw that although the workshop was simple, there were many soldiers patrolling and guarding outside, which showed that her brother-in-law attached great importance to this place.

In the workshop, Chi Fei finally saw the perforating machine that the craftsman said.

I saw that the base of the machine tool was a whole piece of wood, because this piece of wood was big enough and heavy, the machine tool itself would not shake easily. Although this is not as good as the structure of a whole piece of iron, it is basically enough.