In May of the sixth year of Chongzhen, after the list of new science and technology scholars this year was released, in addition to causing routine gossip and heated discussions among the people in the capital, this list also quickly saw something among those who were interested.

This year, about 113 people from Yenching and Jinling University participated in the imperial examination, but more than 60 people were admitted, accounting for almost one-fifth of the undergraduate scholars. From this point of view, the students who have studied at these two universities, especially Yenching University, have almost half a foot in the career.

Therefore, after the list of this year's gold list spread, the number of applicants for Yenching and Jinling universities increased suddenly. At the same time, there were four new universities co-founded by the imperial court and the local government: Xi'an University, Luoyang University, Chengdu University, and Shanghai University. These universities were established in places presided over by reformist officials, and provided a place for graduates from Yenching and Jinling Universities, which greatly promoted the spread of new learning in the local area for a while.

However, this is only the beginning, as Yenching and Jinling universities began to cultivate graduates in batches, the Prime Minister's Yamen, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Ordnance Supervision Department all issued a clause to give priority to recruiting graduates from the university's natural sciences. At the same time, the Ministry of Officials, which is responsible for the selection, promotion, and day-to-day management of officials, has also issued a new management method for officials.

It is stipulated in the measures that in order to ensure that the new scholars can give better play to their talents, the officials will also conduct a common sense assessment before selecting officials, and those who cannot pass the common sense examination must undergo a six-month common sense training, and those who pass the examination can proceed to the next step of the election of officials.

In addition to social knowledge, the common sense assessment is scientific knowledge. Under such a screening, the non-university Jinshi has an additional six months of general knowledge study than the university-born Jinshi. From this moment on, the jinshi who were not from the school system were naturally pressed by the jinshi from the school system.

For those Jinshi from poor backgrounds, this is equivalent to supplementing the common sense of how to be an official, and they have no dissatisfaction. However, for those Jinshi who were born in official families, the imperial court's approach was tantamount to abolishing the secret secrets of being officials that were not passed down by these families, and let them stand on the same starting line as others.

Although some people were extremely dissatisfied, their voices were really not loud, and it was difficult to arouse the support of public opinion, so they were quickly buried. In addition to administrative officials, the other two types of officials have opened up the door to the promotion of civil servants and engineers, although the conditions for promotion are extremely harsh.

Although the new law has attracted the attention of officials, before they can reach a consensus on this matter, two other things have diverted their attention: the cabinet change and the entry of some retired officials into the Senate to continue to participate in politics.

Huang Liji, who has served as the first assistant since the end of the Apocalypse, whether it is for Emperor Tianqi to stabilize the situation or for Chongzhen to carry out political and economic reforms, has made him a thorn in the side of a large number of officials, believing that Huang Liji is a powerful villain who cannot keep his civil duties and stabilize his position by currying favor with the emperor.

Huang Liji's retirement means the end of an era for many people. Everyone thinks so that the new cabinet chief assistant is the sign that can truly reflect the advent of the Chongzhen era. The change of the new cabinet is more concerned about the stability of their own official positions than the trouble caused by the new election law to their future children and grandchildren, which makes officials more concerned.

The House of Lords was renamed the Senate, and it included some high-ranking officials over sixty years of good health in order to force them to cede their positions to future generations, which was also an extremely important policy for officials. Because of the unrestricted method of the imperial examination system, many veterans in their forties and fifties are also constantly taking exams, and are unwilling to do other jobs.

The incompleteness of the previous official retirement system has made some old and incompetent bureaucrats occupy high positions, but they cannot bear the responsibilities appropriate to their positions, which also makes the entire Ming bureaucracy a situation where old people are messing around, and new people want to do things but have no power.

Previously, local gazetteer compilation offices were set up, which made some incompetent bureaucrats semi-retired in a flexible way, which stimulated the enthusiasm of local bureaucrats to do things. Then the establishment of the Senate is a spur and placement of the central bureaucracy.

For some people, as long as the treatment remains the same, they don't care to go there, and the Senate is obviously also a good position for the elderly. For others, being forced to leave a position of real power is obviously a matter of extreme dissatisfaction. But there was still a place to stay, and it was difficult for them to make up their minds to resist.

In the midst of such disturbances, Qian Qianyi became the first assistant of the cabinet. Even if he didn't have any ambitions, when he reached the highest apex of the people, he couldn't help but feel a little fluttery.

With the idea of the new official taking office with three fires, on the second day after taking over as the first assistant, Qian Qianyi went to visit the emperor with a stack of documents, trying to gain Chongzhen's support for some policies.

"You mean, I hope I can agree to waive the 4.2 million yuan owed by the provinces for salt arrears?" Zhu Youjian looked at the Chinese document in his hand and asked Qian Qianyi casually.

Qian Qianyi explained excitedly: "Yes, Your Majesty, since the restructuring of the salt farms and the reform of the Salt Transportation Division, the current salt tax collection methods and collection departments are very different from the past.

The minister thought that now that the treasury was still full, it would be better to write off this old debt, so that the local officials could go into battle lightly, and the local officials would have less name to exploit the small people, which could be regarded as killing two birds with one stone. ”

Zhu Youzhen didn't agree with Qian Qianyi's opinion in his heart, and kept the arrears and didn't write them off, not that he still wanted to get the money back. The reasons for this old debt are actually very complex, some places are really unaffordable, some places are misappropriated by officials, some places are businessmen who are in arrears waiting for the court to pardon, and so on.

A write-off only fuels the greed of corrupt officials and rogue businessmen. But if you have to pursue it, you will hurt the innocent. Therefore, the result of the previous discussion between Chongzhen and Huang Liji was to put it on hold for the time being and wait for it to be dealt with in the future.

However, as soon as Qian Qianyi came to power, he put forward such a suggestion, and Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but respond. He thought about it for a long time in his heart, and always felt that the salt arrears were just a beginning, and if it was written off like this, I am afraid that someone would propose to exempt the arrears of field taxes over the years.

Compared with the 4.2 million yuan in arrears of salt, the arrears of land tax over the years are about 10 times that of this figure, and more than half of the arrears are in the Jiangnan region, of which the Suchang region accounts for nearly one-fifth of the country's field tax arrears. Obviously, the Jiangnan gentry wanted to take advantage of Qian Qianyi's rise to power and make a windfall for themselves.

After weighing and calculating in his heart, Zhu Youzhen finally said to Qian Qianyi: "I wonder if Mr. Qian has paid attention to the plague detection rate in the Gyeonggi area?" ”

Qian Qianyi paused for a moment, not knowing why Chongzhen suddenly shifted to this topic, he could only shake his head and honestly admit that he didn't know these things.

Zhu Youzhen continued: "Since the establishment of the Patriotic Health Committee in the capital, and the establishment of a health bureau and epidemic prevention station under the city hall to be responsible for the city's health and epidemic prevention work, the incidence of plague in the capital has dropped greatly.

In particular, since the Patriotic Health Committee promoted cowpox planting, from last year to today, there has not been a single case of smallpox in Beijing. I think you should be aware that since its establishment, the Patriotic Health Committee has been subsidized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In particular, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has provided nearly half of the funding for the promotion of cowpox cultivation.

I once said that the biggest difference between the Ming Dynasty and the surrounding barbarians is that my Ming Dynasty is a civilized country. What a civilized country is that the policies and inventions we formulate are not only beneficial to our own people, but also to the historical progress of the entire human race.

For example, we have invented the compass,* in history, papermaking and printing, or we can add a cowpox cultivation technique in the future. Therefore, after the effectiveness of the Patriotic Health Committee and the vaccination against smallpox, I thought it was time to promote the organization of the Patriotic Health Committee to the whole country, and promote the national cowpox planting program, so as to fight a national health campaign to eradicate smallpox..."

Qian Qianyi was still pondering why the emperor suddenly made such a generous statement, and he heard Chongzhen's next words again, "... Whether it's expanding the Patriotic Health Council or the Mass Vaccination Program, money and resources are ultimately needed. The exemption from the salt arrears of the provinces benefited only a few officials, merchants, and a small number of the people, and it was not cost-effective for the imperial court.

What's more, God knows whose pockets these arrears will go to after they are waived. Rather than allowing those corrupt officials and profiteers to take advantage of the opportunity, it is better to benefit the public. My suggestion is to order the provinces to establish branches of patriotic health committees and be responsible for vaccinia. The provinces were then ordered to report the reasons for the salt arrears, and the imperial court sent personnel to the provinces to inspect them. Waiver of the outstanding amount that meets the exemption requirement; Non-compliance with the requirements of the arrears shall be made up within the liability period; For the amount defaulted in bad faith, not only the money must be recovered, but also the interest during the arrears period must be made up. If the responsible person is unable to pay the arrears in time, he or she shall be dismissed from his post and investigated after the expiration date.

All the recovered funds do not have to be deported to the central government, and will be transferred to the treasury and then transferred to the special funds of the Patriotic Health Committee to promote the cultivation of cowpox..."

Qian Qianyi finally understood why Chongzhen brought up the issue of plague incidence at this time. While there are many injustices in this era, there is at least one thing that is fair to everyone.

From the dignitaries to the common people, once they encounter the plague, the mortality rate is the same. Among these plagues, the most smelly one is smallpox. Even those Jurchen Tartars, who were brave and good at fighting, were terrified when they heard the name of smallpox.

Since its establishment, the Patriotic Health Committee has actively promoted the cultivation of cowpox, which has won the royal family a high reputation among the people. However, calls for the Patriotic Health Committee to promote cowpox cultivation throughout the country have also been high.

It's just that due to financial constraints, the expansion of the Patriotic Health Committee has not been fast. Qian Qianyi immediately realized that this was a good opportunity for him to gain great recognition from the people everywhere since he took office. Compared with the simple exemption of the salt arrears in various places, it is undoubtedly the first fire that is more suitable for him.

Qian Qianyi immediately said to the emperor: "What Your Majesty said is that the minister is ignorant for a while. The salt tax in each province is used for the well-being of the people in each province, which is what His Majesty said: take it from the people, use it for the people.

If anyone dares to manipulate and make profits, the minister will not let him go. So dare to ask Your Majesty, what should I do now about this academy? ”