In the spring of the fifth year of Longwu, Guilin has been shrouded in restlessness and excitement.

March is the day of the spring examination, and the scholars from all over the country have come to Guilin, and the inns in the city are full, with wine shops, teahouses, book clubs, temples, and ...... Young people in Confucian shirts can be seen everywhere, and there is no decrease until the end of the examination.

In the past two years, the imperial court has opened several enkes, and scholars in the southern provinces can basically pass the examination as long as they can learn the articles. The years have become a thing of the past, and the upward channel of scholars has suddenly opened, and everyone is surprised to find that it has never been so easy to become an official in the middle of the year, but it has stimulated more people to participate in the imperial examination.

In addition to the scholars of Liangguang, Huguang and Jiangxi, the number of scholars from Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan suddenly increased, after the Great Western Army returned to the Southern Ming Dynasty, Yunnan, western Guizhou and southern Sichuan were also incorporated into the territory of the Longwu Imperial Court, the local scholars did not catch up with the previous Enke, and in this year's examination, at least three or four of the ten scholars spoke with a southwestern accent, and people from other provinces listened like Sichuanese, and could not tell whether they were from Yunnan, Guizhou or Sichuan.

What is even more striking is that there are still many scholars from Fujian, Zhejiang, Nanzhili and other areas occupied by the Qing army who participated in this examination, because the local area could not organize the township examination, so there were more than 100 Xiucai and Tongsheng, and a few people still had the fame of the Manchu Dynasty. It stands to reason that they are not qualified to participate in the examination, but Emperor Longwu deliberately gave grace and organized a special township examination before the examination, selected more than 90 people, and then participated in the examination.

The illiteracy rate in this era is surprisingly high, as long as you are a reader. are all valuable resources. In order to compete with the Manchu Qing Dynasty for talents, the Longwu Imperial Court relaxed the standards for scholars from enemy-occupied areas, and the promotion of merit was basically a free gift. The proportion of students who pass the examination is more than 80 percent, but the final Jinshi merit card is relatively strict, and it must compete fairly with the scholars from other regions.

Such preferential treatment of the scholars in the enemy-occupied area is also to buy horse bones for thousands of dollars and use the family power behind them.

After the release of the list, the scholars no longer talked about the exam, and the most common sentence on their lips was a sentence. It is "Hulu has no luck for a hundred years". The successive victories of the Eastern Crusade stimulated the blood of these young scholars, and even the fallen scholars did not want to return to their hometowns. Instead, they stayed in Guilin to form associations, or to point out the country, or to promote words, and comment on the general trend of the world.

A lot of people don't pay attention. There are fewer scholars from Huguang and Jiangxi this year. Only the senior officials of the Chuxun Group knew this.

In these two provinces, the imperial examination is no longer the only way for scholars, and it is the quickest way to get ahead by joining the Chu army. Although the Chu army was not confined to showing talent to lead troops, it attached great importance to the cultural qualities of officers, and after scholars joined the Chu army, as long as they could get through the initial period of transformation and adaptation, they would be promoted much faster than others. Among them, the best will also be sent to the Jinggangshan Military Academy for further study, and I heard that after graduation, they will directly serve as junior officers.

Stone Drum Academy is also a good place to visit. Scholars with a certain cultural foundation can find a job with good pay after six months to one year of training there, so they are very popular with children from poor families.

All in all, in Huguang and western Jiangxi under Wang Kefan's rule, the upward channel of low-level talents became more abundant, so the number of people participating in the imperial examination was diverted.

Not only has the number of people taking part in the imperial examination decreased, but the number of people in Huguang this year has also decreased, and at the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Officials was preparing to appoint 120 local officials to serve in Huguang and western Jiangxi, but Wang Kefan picked and picked them up and beat back more than half of them. The Ministry of Officials now has a new term called "Chu Xuan Guan", which refers to the local officials appointed by the Chu Xun Group itself, and all appointments, dismissals and promotions are decided by the Huguang side, and only a record is made in the Ministry of Officials.

I heard that Huguang's Chu election officials were promoted very quickly.

I heard that the Chu election officials in Huguang do not focus on merit and fame, and some are even retired officers, and the officials and officials feel that it is an unbelievable joke when they mention this matter, and the vulgar Wu Ben can also be an official, which is really a big joke in the world.

I heard that the official positions in Huguang are very messy, some strange yamen have no idea what they do, and some inconspicuous small yamen have inexplicably set up many high-ranking official positions...... Experienced veteran officials of the Ministry of Officials analyzed this very thoroughly, Wang Kefan's qualifications were too shallow, so he had to send official hats everywhere and use high-ranking officials to envelop his subordinates, although this can unite people's hearts in the short term, but it has left a great hidden danger, it is not difficult to imagine that there must be people in the Huguang officialdom now, pulling each other's skins, and the chaos is not going to look like it.

"You see, although the name of this traffic bureau is strange, nine times out of ten it is a post post, and it is over to set up a post to preach, but what is the traffic bureau to be called, there is also a positive and three deputies, four four-grade observers, and six five-grade directors, which is really envious of others!" A white-bearded official shook his head again and again, and said sourly: "The old man has been working for thirty years to be the six-grade chief, it is better to go to Huguang to manage the post in several counties, and he has also lived the addiction of the fifth-grade chief." ”

"Alas, Huguang's post station is still doing well, and the transmission of military intelligence is much faster than that of other provinces...... someone came out and said a fair word.

"Hey, so many fourth-grade and fifth-grade officials are only in charge of some post stations and delivery shops, and the finger-pointing is not messed up, you see, Huguang's post post will definitely have an accident within the year, and it will be a big deal!" Whitebeard asserted with confidence.

"Lao Fang, what is this Huitong Bureau? There is also this Gewu Bureau, and the official position in it is not low! ”

"Who knows! In my opinion, it is to arrange the yamen that is specially set up in order to arrange the real shortage, and those martial artists fight on the battlefield, and they don't have to work for the rest of their lives, and they are very expensive! The white-bearded old man's cool words came one after another.

"I don't think it's anything, the Chu army has made great military achievements in the past few years, and of course the imperial court should support them...... Did you hear that? The official army has already recovered the capital of Tingzhou, and it seems that it is about to reach Fuzhou. ”

"So what? It was the Guangdong official army that restored Tingzhou, not the Chu army......" Lao Fang immediately retorted, but everyone else was attracted by the news of the recovery of Tingzhou Mansion, and no one listened to him anymore, which made Lao Fang so angry that his white beard trembled.

The reconquest of lost territory is not only a blessing for the country, but also a rare opportunity for individuals. Seeing that the entire territory of Fujian is expected to be recovered, there will be a large shortage of local officials, and it is better to be a petty official of six or seven grades in the imperial court.

With the victory of the Eastern Crusade, the whole Longwu court was immersed in the joy of victory, and the intrigues and contradictions on weekdays were now gone, all covered by the aura of victory, at least in the short term, they could unite and fully support the Eastern Crusade.

On the third day after the Qingming Festival, Liu Shu personally escorted 100,000 taels of military pay back to Zhangshu Town, Jiangxi. (To be continued......)