"Mr. Ambassador, Mr. Deputy Ambassador, you must be of very noble origin, right? What is your title?"

In a banquet hall of the Hofburg Grand Palace, which has more than a thousand rooms and a complex internal structure like a labyrinth, the Holy Roman Emperor was holding a banquet for the envoys. Just as the guests and hosts were enjoying themselves, many

After drinking a few drinks, the Holy Roman Emperor suddenly inquired about the titles of Ji Kun and Li Shaoyou, two envoys of the Ming Dynasty.

The emperor spoke German. A captain of the East India Company who came with Van Diemen, the thirty-four or five-year-old Swede Coit happened to speak German and Chinese, so he acted as an interpreter. The diplomacy of the Ottoman Empire

Minister Gülü is a very knowledgeable man and can speak German, so there is no need to arrange an interpreter.

After listening to Coit's translation, Ji Kun, who was born in the military, did not feel that this question made him lose face, so he answered with a smile: "Your Majesty, neither this envoy nor Deputy Ambassador Li are from noble families, we are both from civilians.

, and became an official of the Ming Empire after passing the examination."

Li Shaoyou did not come from the imperial examination. He came from Jinyiwei, but he studied in the Beijing Academy and did well in it. He became a teacher, so he can be regarded as an official with an examination background.

"Civilians passed the exam to become officials?" The Holy Roman Emperor was very surprised. "Then what are the nobles of your country doing?"

What are you doing? Just eat and wait to die.

Of course, you can't say that. Ji Kun thought for a while and said with a smile: "Nobles can also pass the exam to become officials or enter the martial arts hall to study, and become officers after graduation."

"What? Both nobles and commoners take exams?" Ferdinand III seemed to be very interested in China's imperial examination system.

"You have to take exams. You can also serve in the military with meritorious service. However, if you want to become an officer without military merit, you still need to be admitted to the martial arts hall to study."

"Don't the nobles get any discounts?" Emperor Shinra continued to inquire.

For example, a discount, extra points, etc.?

Ji Kun said: "Nobles are not given preferential treatment in the official selection examination, but they have the right to give priority to study and study civil and military studies. The Ming Emperor established a martial arts lecture hall, a Beijing school, and a Taixue hall.

State government official schools were opened in various state capitals (in fact, the new school in the state capitals has not yet started, and the official school is still the same as before)."

What Ji Kun is telling Emperor Shinra now is the latest rules for official examinations.

Although Zhu Cixiang is the big leader of the "Beiren Xungui Group" and the defender of the interests of the Xungui, his way of safeguarding the interests of the Xungui is not to make them become incompetent officials, but to open schools to train their children and pass exams.

Select young people with outstanding talents among the nobles' sons and let them enter Jiangwu Hall and Jingxuetang to receive higher education. After they graduate from Jiangwutang and Jingxuetang, they can then become officials.

Although the Capital Academy, which trained civil servants and military officials for the Ming Dynasty, was also a university, it was two types of universities like Taixue. The former focused on vocational training, while the latter focused on general education. Both could lead to the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.

.

In addition, Jiangwu Tang and Jing Xuetang, like Taixue, are open to enrollment. Although there are extra points for noble children, they are not many. However, the examination content of Jiangwu Tang and Jing Xuetang is focused on elites. In the words of later generations, they are

Quality education is not about singing and dancing, but about military quality, so most of the people who can get into the exam are the children of military nobles.

The reason for this arrangement is, on the one hand, to ensure the interests of the Northern ruling group, and on the other hand, to cultivate a group of officials with both civil and military skills to take over the leading roles. The Jiangwu Hall and the Beijing Academy mainly train civil and military officials. In today's troubled times,

, Officials with both civil and military skills are the country’s core competitiveness. It’s impossible not to have a firm grasp of them!

Ji Kun explained it very carefully, and he also "removed the dross and kept the essence" and told Emperor Shenluo all the most advanced methods of examination and officialdom in the Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Shinra still didn't quite understand, "Mr. Ambassador, what benefit does it bring to the country to let civilians take the official selection examination? Are China's nobles not good enough to shoulder the responsibility of governing the country?"

"Of course not," Ji Kun thought for a moment, "The emperor of our country hopes to pass the exam to attract talented people from the people who may pose a threat to the stability of the country to the officialdom. If all the capable people below become officials

If there are more people, there will be fewer people who can organize rebellion."

Let the people below take the exam and become officials, so that they won't rebel?

Yes! This is a way!

Ferdinand III was so excited!

This method of gaining extra points for becoming an official and aristocrat in the examination is tantamount to a good medicine to boost the spirit of the Holy Roman Empire, which is currently about to fall apart!

Although the empire was divided into more than a thousand pieces, and the Habsburg family's direct jurisdiction was in Austria and the Czech Republic, the emperor still had the right to appoint and remove officials within the imperial government (central government) and the Habsburg family's territory.

The power of appointing and removing officials is the bargaining chip that the emperor can use!

The empire can completely introduce China's advanced experience, open a "bureaucratic academy" in Vienna, and allow the children of the empire's nobility and lords to pass the exam to enter the academy. Of course it is not completely fair, but it can be based on the father's title and the candidate's son's rank.

For extra points, even illegitimate children can be recommended by the lord to take the exam.

In this way, the connection between the emperor and the noble lords at all levels of the empire will be greatly strengthened, at least the Catholic nobles can be united around the emperor.

And there is a certain probability that the eldest son will die earlier than his father. If the other sons of a Catholic lord are all students of the Bureaucracy Academy, then in the future a large number of "bureaucrat students" will become lords of the empire!

This will undoubtedly greatly strengthen the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor. The feudalism of the Holy Roman Empire is hierarchical. It is the so-called "vassal's vassal is not my vassal". There are also many small lords under the Catholic big lord, and the small lords are loyal to the big lord instead of the emperor.

.

If the eldest son of a minor lord dies early, the position of lord will be inherited by the second son who is loyal to the emperor!

In addition, the Bureaucratic College can also recruit children of Protestant nobles and Czechs!

The emperor is the emperor of the entire empire, not the emperor of the Catholics!

As long as the children of Protestant noble lords were willing to be loyal to the emperor and had sufficient talents, they could also serve as bureaucrats in the empire.

Of course the Czechs are the same

Thinking of this, Ferdinand III even cried. If his dear father knew that there was such a good way, there would be no Thirty Years War!

The empire is finally saved!

Ji Kun was stunned when he saw the foreign emperor crying. Did he say something wrong? This emperor must have disliked studying since he was a child and had a headache when he saw the exam. He looked clumsy. He must be very stupid.

If you hate exams, it’s better to change the subject quickly.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor of our country has written a personal letter to be delivered to King Louis of France, but now we are facing a rebellion by the stone-throwing rebels in France. I wonder if His Majesty the Emperor can help my envoy enter the country of France?"

Ji Kun saw that little King Louis was not going to last long, so he wanted to send Zhu Cixi's letter before he died, which would be considered as completing his mission.

"This," the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire wiped his tears, "this is easy to handle. I will write to General Frederick Schaumberg who is fighting for Louis XIV. He is a great military strategist and a German

Man, it is a pity that there is no Viennese bureaucracy school that can transform him into a loyal soldier of the empire. However, I can still ask him to send a team of German mercenaries to escort you to the Chateau Saint-Germain outside Paris. This will not hurt Louis XIV.
Chapter completed!