Chapter 32: A Brief Introduction to the Economics of Yingzhou (4)
The Yingzhou management system that Li Chengzhong painstakingly conceived is a form that is outside the regular system of the imperial court. In name, this management organization belongs to the staff of Yingzhou Governor Shifu and has nothing to do with the imperial court and Jiedufu.
All the responsibilities were concentrated on Chang Shi himself. When the imperial court or Jiedu Mansion needed to contact Yingzhou affairs, all the affairs were handled by Chang Shi himself. When the actual management of Yingzhou was performed, it was performed by various departments under Chang Shi Mansion.
They have public power and undertake official functions. In other words, these people are responsible to Chief Shi Feng Dao, rather than to Jiedu Mansion and the imperial court. They are also called non-staff employees in post-secular terms.
Because Li Chengzhong reached an agreement with the governor Zhang Zaiji, and because of his special relationship with Zhou Zhiyu, Yingzhou actually implemented a system of administrative and military contracting. In terms of civil affairs, Chief Shi Fengdao served as the contractor and responded to government affairs.
Feng Dao was responsible for the specific operations, and the annual taxes and fees were paid in accordance with the contract agreement. In terms of military affairs, Li Chengzhong served as the contractor, and Li Chengzhong took care of all military affairs to complete the tasks assigned by the Jiedu government and the military envoy Zhou Zhiyu.
Feng Dao thought carefully, digested it in his heart for a long time, and finally accepted this weird system. In fact, he couldn't refuse this system because the civil rights given to him were too great. To put it bluntly, once this system
In operation, Feng Dao was the de facto supreme civil affairs official in Yingzhou. He even vaguely felt that his power in Yingzhou was much greater than that of the ministers in the Imperial Government Hall.
"The general just said that the ranks of these officials are from the military ranks?"
Li Chengzhong said: "That's right. The nine departments we have established will initially have one chief member, two deputy chief members, and six department members..."
Feng Dao smiled and interjected: "Total nine, nine and eighty-one, is it suspected of exceeding the limit?"
Li Chengzhong said: "It's purely coincidental, and the specific number can be discussed later. The title of the section staff is Peirong Deputy Lieutenant, ranking from the ninth rank below; the deputy chief section officer is Peirong School Lieutenant, ranking from the ninth rank, it can also be called
The deputy section chief; the chief section officer is Deputy Lieutenant Renyong, with a rank of ninth rank, and can also be called the section chief."
Feng Dao nodded: "With the rank recognized by the imperial court, they have official status, and they can do things legitimately." He has actually seen that in this system, the rank of officials is based on their military position.
Li Chengzhong was responsible for issuing military positions, and Li Chengzhong actually held the power of personnel appointment and dismissal firmly in his hands. Of course, Feng Dao did not think there was anything wrong in his heart. This was an era when military leaders were in power, and as the de facto leader of Yingzhou
Master, Li Chengzhong must control everything. If Li Chengzhong doesn't do this, Feng Dao will feel uneasy.
Feng Dao did the math and said, "It's better to review the personnel of each department and set the number based on actual needs, okay?"
Li Chengzhong said: "You should consider this. Our real jurisdiction now is only the land from Bailang Mountain to Liucheng, so you, the Changshi Mansion, must act as the Liucheng County Magistrate."
The two discussed it for a while and finally finalized the setup and responsibilities of the various agencies of the Changshi Mansion.
Chang Shi's Mansion has added a deputy director, with the rank of Renyong Xiaowei, who is on the ninth rank, to assist Chang Shi in handling official affairs as a deputy.
The office is a coordinating organization responsible for reporting information and assisting the director. It has one section chief, one deputy section chief, and two section staff.
The Personnel Section is responsible for evaluating the merits of officials, appointing and removing personnel, and other matters. It has a section chief, a deputy section chief, and two staff members.
The branch office is responsible for appropriating and allocating property, and has one section chief, one deputy section chief, and four section staff.
The Legal Department is responsible for criminal litigation and has one section chief, two deputy section chiefs, and four section members.
The Propaganda Department is responsible for education and publicity, and has a section chief, a deputy section chief, and a section member.
The Tax Collection Section is responsible for collecting taxes, increasing taxes, and dispatching personnel. It has one section chief, two deputy section chiefs, and six section staff.
The three departments of agriculture, industry, and commerce are each responsible for their own business, with one section chief, one deputy section chief, and two section members.
The above total is forty-six people.
Feng Dao thought for a while and said: "There are currently 17 civil servants under a certain person, and there are not enough staff."
Li Chengzhong said: "Recruitment can be done through examinations. First, a simple examination will be conducted among these seventeen people, and each person's responsibilities will be assigned. Then, examinations will be conducted throughout Liucheng to recruit new civil servants."
Feng Dao frowned: "General, are you planning to hold a scientific examination? I'm afraid it's overstepping the rules."
Li Chengzhong smiled and said: "It's not a scientific examination, let's call it the 'Ying Governor Shi's Mansion Civil Service Examination'."
…
One day later, before the teams heading south to conduct the "census" departed, Li Chengzhong and Feng Dao jointly presided over the first 'Yingzhou Governor Shi's Mansion Civil Service Examination'. The examination location was located in the lobby of Yingzhou Governor's Mansion, and the participants were
There are seventeen staff members under Feng Dao. Due to the rush of time, there are only two policy essay questions in the exam. One is "A Trial Discussion on the Military of Yingzhou" and the second is "An Interpretation of the People's Livelihood of Yingzhou", each of which is limited to 300 words. Two questions.
The policies and theories are relatively vague, and they mainly examine the staff's analysis and judgment of the current military and civil affairs, as well as their ability to think and make inferences.
To be honest, among the two groups of staff currently under Feng Dao, the ability of the Bailangshan "staff" to write articles is obviously not as good as that of the Liucheng "Jiangchen". No matter the vocabulary, sentences, or the structure of the article, they are all a mess. But
What Li Chengzhong and Feng Dao care about are their views and opinions. In this regard, the "officials" of Bailangshan have to take advantage. They are more or less familiar with the governing ideas of those in power.
Of course, no matter what happens in the exam, Li Chengzhong and Feng Dao are already fully prepared to confirm their passing. In other words, the first civil service exam is quite qualified, and the purpose of the exam is just to clarify their status as officials of the Changshi Mansion procedurally.
identity, and at the same time verify the Chang Shi Mansion's ability to hold examinations. In addition, appropriate selections will be made, and some of the outstanding ones will be awarded the rank of deputy section chief or even section chief.
Among these seventeen people, six finally stood out, namely Cheng She, Cheng Dai, Liu Zixu, Liu Zhongzuo, Zong Liang and Gao Wenyun. Cheng Dai was appointed as the deputy director of the office, and Cheng She was appointed as the deputy chief of the personnel department.
Liu Zixu is the deputy section chief of the Tax Branch, Zong Liang is the deputy section chief of the Publicity Section, and Gao Wenyun is the deputy section chief of the Tax Collection Section.
Because of his outstanding performance in two policy papers, Liu Zhongzuo was unanimously recognized by Li Chengzhong and Feng Dao. He was confirmed as the first place in the examination and was awarded the position of chief of the legal department. This scholar with the most profound knowledge in Liucheng received the "
When "Vice Lieutenant Renyong" surrendered, he immediately returned home and gathered the whole family together to pay homage to their ancestors with tears in their eyes.
On April 20, the third year of Guanghua, a proclamation from the Governor's Office of Yingzhou was posted on the eight-character screen wall in front of the Yingzhou Governor's Office, announcing that the "Civil Service Examination of the Governor's Office" would be held in five days. Anyone who was interested could apply. The announcement
It was then posted all over Liucheng, causing a sensation throughout the city.
Qian Wuchang is the third shopkeeper of Wuji Store in Youzhou. As a young man under the age of twenty-five, it is not easy to become the third shopkeeper of a large shop like Wuji without any family background.
. He has studied for several years, but his classics and history are not clear. His specialty is calculation, and he is a good hand in the accounting office. He can become the third shopkeeper because of this ability.
Qian Wuchang found out a large amount of money in and out of the Cangzhou branch in last year's store branch account. The shopkeepers of the Cangzhou branch quietly concealed 5,000 yuan in the form of expenses. The money was gradually swindled over five years.
What came out was gradually drawn out bit by bit, and then divided up by several shopkeepers. The accounts of the Cangzhou branch were very confusing. Qian Wuchang carefully checked the inventory in the accounting, and after comparison, he found an extremely small error.
This uncovered a major case in which the shopkeepers of the Cangzhou branch collectively divided up the master's property. He himself was promoted to the third shopkeeper of the Youzhou branch.
Originally, with Qian Wuchang's ability, he should focus more on the accounting department, but if he wants to truly enter the head office and take charge of the core accounts, he must make a lifelong contract. This is an impossible thing for Qian Wuchang, who is ambitious. The boss treats him
It was a pity for him to make this choice, but he also felt sorry for the rarity of talents, so he finally got out of the accounting business and started to make a living.
This was the first time that Qian Wuchang led a team to Liucheng. He drove five large trucks and loaded them with some basic goods such as salt and cloth. This time, it was mainly for testing after the trade road was reopened and to see what the current situation in Yingzhou outside the Guanwan was like.
situation and prepare for the next official opening of trade routes.
The goods were very easy to sell. As soon as he led the caravan to the gate of Liucheng, he was eaten by a Wangji merchant in the warehouse here. The price was also very reasonable and satisfactory. After the business was successfully completed, Qian Wuchang settled the caravan and his entourage.
After getting ready, I left the inn and walked around to take a look at the scenery of Liucheng.
Walking around the streets of Liucheng, you can see people of all kinds. Judging from the clothing, there are more Hu people. Because there has not been any disasters caused by weapons and wars, the people's livelihood in Liucheng is very stable. Shops are open, vendors are walking around, and the sound of hawking is heard on the streets.
He kept hearing this. He randomly selected a few shops and went in to take a look. He found that the purchasing power of the Hu people was amazing and the prices of goods were relatively high. Qian Wuchang listened and inquired about it, and then he realized that after the Pingzhou Army occupied this place,
, and did not plunder the Khitan people's property, but the Khitan people's wealth lies in their looting over the years, especially the looting of the Mohe people in the Bohai State.
Qian Wuchang was not interested in fighting. His focus was that business here was easy. As long as he had goods in hand, he would not worry about selling them, because the Hu people had a lot of money, cattle, sheep, and mountain goods, but lacked them.
Cloth, salt, farm equipment and other daily necessities. So he regretted that he had taken action too early. At the same time, he was also planning to urge the caravan to return to Youzhou tomorrow. This time he would bring more goods and make a lot of money.
When he walked to the gate of the Yingzhou Governor's Mansion, he saw the notice posted on the eight-character screen wall and stopped. As a businessman, it is the most basic requirement to pay attention to government notices and understand people's livelihood policies, so he read it carefully
.
Announcement of the Civil Service Examination of Yingzhou Governor Shi’s Mansion? What kind of exam is this? Qian Wuchang continued to read. The notice restricted the qualifications for candidates - being able to read and hyphenate, and then explained the responsibilities of civil servants - handling official duties.
Civil servants. Official duties refer to government errands. Seeing this, he somewhat understood that this was the recruitment of staff by the Governor Shi's Mansion. Next, there was the treatment of civil servants once they were recruited. Among the various benefits listed,
Qian Wuchang was surprised to see that three types of civil servants of different grades would be awarded formal ranks. Although it was a rank in the military, it was also an official status recognized by the court!
Qian Wuchang was puzzled. He looked around and saw that there was no one in front of the screen. There was only a soldier standing guard in front of the screen. After hesitating for a moment, he stepped forward and said, "I don't dare to ask for advice."
"What's the matter?"
"I wonder why this official of the Changshi Mansion was awarded a rank? Is this rank recognized by the imperial court?"
"Of course, it is the official rank of the imperial court, and the person who conferred the rank was a certain general." The soldier answered quickly, and it seemed that he had answered this question countless times.
"Oh, why was the rank granted to the staff of the Changshi Mansion?"
The soldier smiled and said: "Many people have asked this question. Let's put it this way. Counting Manying Prefecture, there is only one civil servant, Feng Changshi of our Governor's Office. Do you understand?"
Qian Wuchang was stunned for a moment, and then he suddenly understood. He was very interested and asked: "If this is the case, does it mean that it is equivalent to the imperial examination? But these civil servants are not recognized by the imperial court, and the imperial examination cannot be mentioned..."
The soldier said: "A certain general said that this is not an imperial examination, but a recruitment examination. However, these civil servants also have official status. They come from military positions, and the lowest rank is to be a deputy lieutenant, starting from the ninth rank."
For Qian Wuchang, this was an interesting thing. After he figured it out, he smiled and continued walking along the street. But as he walked, the sentences in the announcement came into his mind more and more frequently.
"Don't ask people where they come from..."
"Literacy and hyphenation..."
"Granted to confess..."
He stopped suddenly, turned back quickly, and read the notice carefully again, but saw that the exam date was today. Calculating the time, it should have already started. He felt disappointed and looked at the soldier on duty.
, couldn't help but ask: "Someone is late, but I don't know if I can still participate?"
The soldier thought for a moment and said, "I'll ask you." Then he turned around and entered the Governor's Yamen. After a while, he came out of the gate and said to Qian Wuchang: "Hurry up. I've asked the deputy section chief Zong. He