flstandardbreds Chapter 952 The Resolute Emperor Wenchu
Chapter 952 The Resolute Emperor Wenchu
The first thing that came out was the assignment of the newly appointed scholars to official positions.
The imperial edict clearly stated that all Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), even those who ranked last in the third class, would be appointed as county magistrates, holding the rank of seventh grade.
In a short period of time, a large number of personnel changes occurred in various prefectures and counties in the north, and many former officials were transferred or reassigned.
The vacant county magistrate positions were almost entirely snapped up by this group of newly appointed imperial protégés.
A seventh-rank county magistrate is a position that no lowly clerk can ever achieve in their entire life.
Even a scion of a humble family like Lu Wen could only reach this level.
But for these newly appointed scholars, this was merely the starting point of their official careers.
And this is just the beginning.
Those who excelled in the second-class imperial examinations were directly granted positions in the various departments of the Six Ministries, starting as the seventh rank or even the sixth rank, thus entering the core administrative departments of Daqing.
What truly made the scions of aristocratic families green with envy was the appointment of three top-ranking scholars in the imperial examinations:
Zhang Qian, the top scholar in the imperial examination, was appointed as a compiler in the Grand Secretariat, a sixth-rank official!
The cabinet was the core decision-making body that assisted the emperor in handling all government affairs.
Although the position of compiler was mainly responsible for compiling documents and recording imperial edicts, and was a type of scribe, it did not have any real power.
But everyone knows that being able to step into the cabinet means having one foot in the pinnacle of imperial power.
Zhang Qian will be there listening to government affairs, making progress every day under the guidance of senior cabinet members, and his governing experience will become increasingly rich.
This truly shows that Jian is favored by the emperor. As long as he doesn't make any major mistakes, his entry into the cabinet and becoming prime minister is almost a certainty.
Zhang Han, the second-place scholar in the imperial examination, was appointed as an assistant secretary in the Ministry of Personnel, a sixth-rank official!
The Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Heavenly Officials, was in charge of the appointment, dismissal, evaluation, promotion, demotion, conferment of honors, and transfer of civil officials throughout the land. It was undoubtedly the most powerful of the six ministries.
Although the position of Assistant Minister was a deputy, it was a crucial position in the selection process.
It involves access to the personnel and promotion channels of officials throughout Daqing, and is a truly powerful official position with influence far exceeding that of other positions of the same rank.
Lin Qingyuan, the third-ranked scholar, was appointed as a compiler in the Xuanzheng Hall, a sixth-rank official!
Xuanzheng Hall was an important venue for Li Che to handle government affairs and hold court assemblies.
The position of "Jiantao" was responsible for drafting imperial edicts, organizing classics, and serving as a reader and lecturer, making him a true close advisor to the emperor.
He was by the emperor's side day and night, constantly exposed to important military and national affairs. He saw the emperor every day, a sight that other ministers rarely had.
These three appointments shook the entire capital's officialdom, and the turmoil quickly spread to the local areas.
Upon hearing the news, the scions of prominent families were consumed by jealousy, feeling as if they were being torn apart by a hundred claws.
One imperial examination, just one imperial examination!
These three unknown children from humble backgrounds were directly elevated to a position of power that countless children from prominent families strive for their entire lives but can never reach.
How could this not cause them to lose their composure?
They dared not openly complain about their elders' decision to prevent them from participating in the imperial examinations, but deep down, they couldn't help but fantasize:
If I had participated in the imperial examination back then, with my family's scholarly background, how could those poor peasants have competed with me?
The positions of top scholar, second-place scholar, and third-place scholar are surely within my grasp.
These three enviable starting points should have belonged to me!
However, before they could recover, another message from the palace plunged all the noble families into complete panic.
His Majesty has decreed that libraries be built next to the government offices of each prefecture, county, and state.
The imperial printing houses were responsible for printing the Four Books, Five Classics, agricultural books, industrial books, medical texts, legal texts, mathematical texts, and even poetry, songs, and children's primers...
Anyone in the world, regardless of their background, as long as they have a clean record, may enter to read and copy.
This decree caused an uproar throughout the land!
what does this mean?
This means that the knowledge barrier that had been monopolized by powerful families for thousands of years was broken open by the emperor in the most direct and domineering way.
Reading is no longer the privilege of a few, but a right accessible to everyone!
This is not over yet.
Following this, another business decree was promulgated:
The imperial court issued a public tender to merchants across the country, granting them 'permits for printing and selling books'.
The imperial court will provide standardized printing plates for books and set uniform prices for them.
Licensed booksellers could organize their own artisans to print, bind, distribute, and sell using woodblocks provided by the imperial court.
Apart from paying a woodblock printing fee to the imperial court, the court did not take a single penny of the profits from the sales.
As soon as the order was issued, astute merchants immediately flocked to the scene.
They realized that the price of books would be driven down to an unprecedented low.
The costs are reduced to paper, ink, and labor; everything else is profit.
Even more coincidentally, the best paper in Daqing today comes from the Fengguo Paper Mill, which was originally the emperor's business.
In other words, the imperial court had already made a fortune by selling woodblocks and paper.
While Li Che made a fortune, he also pushed the books to the public at an unprecedentedly low price.
The knowledge monopoly of aristocratic families was completely rendered a joke by Li Che's three decisive moves.
Li Che's intention was clear: Everyone should read to me!
A top-down literacy campaign begins right now.
Faced with Li Che's radical move, the powerful clans found themselves powerless to do anything but rage in vain.
Because they do not have military power.
The powerful clans in the north had long been wiped out, and those that survived were in a state of near-crippled disarray.
Armed resistance is tantamount to rebellion and is tantamount to self-destruction.
They can't even exert political restraint; in the current court, the newly rich from humble backgrounds and the imperial faction are at their zenith.
So they all turned their attention to the southern battlefield and began to pray for a miracle.
. . . . . .
The situation in the south is already appalling.
The puppet regime's army, under the tacit cooperation of the two renowned generals Li Lin and Yang Zhongsi, had already suffered repeated defeats.
They lacked the abilities of that female general from Shu, who could leverage geographical advantages and popular support to outmaneuver the Fengtian Army.
Faced with the Fengtian Army's muskets and cannons, the Southern Army collapsed almost immediately, utterly powerless to resist.
Cities fell one after another, and the defensive lines kept retreating.
Now, the hastily assembled imperial entourage of Emperor Wenchu has fled south in a sorry state and has arrived in Ganzhou.
Further south, one could only retreat into Lingnan.
Everyone understood that Lingnan was shrouded in miasma and was an untenable place to stand.
So, their final destination was just as the court had said: they would cross the ocean and escape to Qiongzhou to become island guerrillas.
The Ganzhou government office was hastily converted into a temporary palace.
Inside the palace, Emperor Wenchu sat blankly in front of a blurry bronze mirror, staring at his increasingly thinning head reflected in the mirror.
Since embarking on this journey of escape, he has not had a single night of restful sleep. He is plagued by nightmares and often wakes up in terror.
Perhaps due to excessive worry, his hair is falling out in clumps, and large patches of scalp are now visible.
He always felt that his hair loss was a sign of something...
Just as he was lamenting his fate in front of the mirror, a eunuch rushed in from outside in a panic.
Startled, Emperor Wenchu instinctively reached out and pulled out a few more strands of dry hair.
But he seemed numb, staring blankly at the eunuch, and asked in a dry voice, "What is it now?"
Emperor Wenchu knew that this was definitely another piece of bad news.
After all, since leaving the capital and embarking on his escape, when has he ever heard a single good news?
The eunuch knelt down with a thud, crying out, "Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! Fuzhou... Fuzhou has rebelled!"
"what?!"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Wenchu was taken aback at first, then a surge of anger rushed to his head, and his entire face instantly turned bright red.
He slammed his hand on the table, making the teacups jump around: "Where is Qin Huizhi?! Didn't he swear to me before that he had contacted the powerful families in Fuzhou and would definitely be able to persuade them to send troops to our aid?"
"Now you're telling me Fuzhou has rebelled? He's deceiving the emperor!"
The eunuch, with a mournful face, hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Prime Minister Qin did indeed contact the powerful families in Fuzhou, and they initially agreed."
"But to everyone's surprise, the Prefect of Fuzhou, Su Chen, took the initiative and led his troops to take control of those families, slaughtering all the private soldiers they had raised!"
"Su Chen then openly announced that Fuzhou would no longer obey the imperial court's orders and would be under the jurisdiction of the puppet regime in the north!"
As Emperor Wenchu listened, the anger on his face gradually disappeared.
He seemed to have figured out something crucial, muttering, "Then it's not surprising, then it's not surprising..."
He slumped back into his chair, his eyes vacant: "Old Six has been to Fuzhou. With his abilities, anyone he's met will be devoted to him."
"Su Chen was originally Lao Liu's man. He was just lying low and pretending to be obedient."
"Fuzhou has always been Lao Liu's territory; it's just Qin Huizhi being delusional and indulging in wishful thinking..."
Seeing him like this, the eunuch was overcome with grief and wept, saying:
"Your Majesty, now that Fuzhou has fallen, our eastern defenses are gone, we are surrounded by Wang Sanchun's pursuing troops to the north and Yang Zhongsi's menacing presence to the west. We are besieged on three sides, and Ganzhou will certainly not be able to be defended."
"It seems we have no choice but to continue retreating south, into the wild and pestilential lands of Lingnan..."
Emperor Wenchu gave a bitter smile, a smile more painful than tears: "Wasn't this just a matter of time? From the day I left the capital, my fate was already sealed."
The eunuch raised his head and asked in a trembling voice, "But Lingnan has no natural defenses and the people are not civilized. Does Your Majesty really intend to go to Hainan Island? That is a place of exile for criminals!"
"Qiong Island?" A resolute look appeared on Emperor Wenchu's face. "I swear I will never go to Qiong Island!"
The eunuch was taken aback upon hearing this; he had never seen such tragic integrity in this emperor.
He was shocked and exclaimed, "Your Majesty... do you intend to commit suicide...?"
Before he could even utter the word "country," Emperor Wenchu glanced at him with an expression as if he were a fool.
He then stroked his smooth head, lowered his voice, and asked:
"Go and inquire for me whether there are any Buddhist temples in the deep mountains and forests of Lingnan that are not popular and are located in secluded places?"
"You need something that truly allows you to purify yourself and cultivate yourself; once you delve into it, you won't find anyone else there."
eunuch: "Huh?"