Chapter 2584

Bai Letong believed that the fraud in the rural examination was an attempt by Yangzhou salt merchants to bribe the township examination officials to facilitate the children of the salt merchants who participated in the township examination. The township examination officials also wanted to take this opportunity to take care of their descendants. Everyone

A combination of evil spirits, ghosts, and snakes led to the current situation. As the local official in charge, Shi Diwen cannot absolve himself of the blame for this regardless of whether he knew about it before.

However, Shi Diwen insisted that the tightness and tightness of the system should be flexibly controlled, especially in some special circumstances, relaxing the standards may bring greater benefits to Haihan than the imperial examination itself.

In Bai Letong's view, neither the relatives of the township trial officials nor the children of Yangzhou salt merchants can be considered "influential people". If you turn a blind eye and let these people pass, then what will happen?

For Haihan, the risks outweigh the benefits. Once exposed, not only the imperial examination, but also the credibility of the government will be in crisis.

The authorities are confused, but the bystanders are clear. There was no conclusion in the debate between the two people, but Tao Hongfang, who was next to him, had heard some clues and asked: "Uncle Shi, what do you mean, the rural test program is not actually for this purpose.

Opened by the sons of salt merchants, they just happened to meet the opportunity?"

Bai Letong glanced at Tao Hongfang and thought to himself, you are thinking the same thing as me, and then asked: "Uncle Shi, you have been trying to protect the officials of the township trial, but they don't agree to let me modify the test question plan. I should

Is it for the same reason?"

Shi Diwen said with a smile: "Your tone is a bit like calling the enemy to task!"

The two of them hurriedly said they didn't dare. Even if they came here with this idea today, they certainly couldn't admit it verbally. This would be a great disrespect to their elders. What's more, there are many hidden things in this matter that they have not yet figured out, and they also

I dare not blame Shi Diwen for all this.

Shi Diwen put away his smile and said in a deep voice: "Although our country has replaced the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty ruled the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions for more than two hundred years. It is difficult for us to eliminate the influence in this region in the short term.

This year we retain the old imperial examination system, which sounds nice to stabilize people's hearts and select talents, but in fact it is also a compromise made out of desperation."

"For our country, how to prove that we are the orthodox people destined by destiny and let the people of the world recognize our authority is a very urgent task at the moment. To achieve this goal, we have to take measures from all aspects, including of course

Including the imperial examination."

"But is it enough to just retain the imperial examination system of the previous dynasty? Things are not that simple. It may not be difficult to make the people obey, but winning their trust will not be achieved overnight. I know you are paying close attention to the questions in the provincial examination

Plan and the selection of officials for the township examination, but you may not have noticed the big difference in the number of students who signed up to participate in the township examination this year compared with previous years. If anyone knows, you might as well tell me."

Tao Hongfang and Ning Zijing looked at Bai Letong, and Bai Letong couldn't help showing a look of shame. As Shi Diwen said, he didn't know the situation in this regard because he didn't pay attention to it.

However, the relevant information should not have been ignored so easily. As an official sent to Hangzhou by the Executive Committee to supervise the examination, his performance in this regard was indeed somewhat derelict.

Shi Diwen saw their reactions in his eyes, nodded and continued: "Then let me talk about the official statistics. Without going into detail, it shows that in the more than 20 years after Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, Zhejiang held a total of

He passed nine provincial examinations. During this period, the Ming Dynasty has been in decline. Although Zhejiang is a prosperous place and its cultural and educational undertakings are relatively developed, the number of students applying for the provincial examinations is getting smaller and smaller. Until the last provincial examination before we took over Zhejiang, the number of applicants was

There are only three thousand people."

"Does this number sound a little small? But in fact, across the country, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces already have the largest number of candidates. And the number of scholars who can pass the provincial examination in Zhejiang is only a few.

About a hundred people. You have been living in Sanya, and you should all know that our country needs a large number of people with cultural background to enrich the official team, but just relying on Hainan Island’s educational institutions to cultivate talents is far from keeping up with the needs of development. So

The Executive Committee attaches great importance to the imperial examination system and hopes to obtain more talents from the original Ming Dynasty jurisdiction."

"But the number of students who applied for the provincial examination this year is still far behind our expectations. Xiaobai, you should know this number, right?"

Bai Letong responded: "So far, more than 1,400 people have registered for this provincial examination..."

Shi Diwen nodded and said: "You have all heard that this number is less than half of that during the Chongzhen period, and the registration area for this provincial examination is not only Zhejiang Province, but the entire Donghai Region! The registration area has become larger.

, but the number of applicants has dropped, please tell me, where is the problem?"

The jurisdiction of the Donghai Region extends far beyond Zhejiang. Parts of Jiangsu and Anhui are also included in the Donghai Region. It is almost the richest area in the former Ming Dynasty, with both geographical area and population.

Very impressive.

Ning Zijing was the first to respond: "There must be areas where the publicity work is not in place. The public does not know enough about the time and place of the rural examination and has not had time to prepare in advance."

Tao Hongfang said: "Perhaps some scholars still have doubts about the rural examination held by our country. They are not clear about our country's talent selection standards and dare not try it easily."

"Where's Xiaobai, what do you think?" After listening to their opinions, Shi Diwen turned to ask Bai Letong again.

After hearing what Shi Diwen just described, Bai Letong actually knew something in his mind. With the current registration situation, no matter how many qualified talents can be selected in the end, the influence of this provincial examination will be far less than that of the executive committee.

The expectation of meeting. As for the reasons, Bai Letong can roughly think of some.

"Juniors believe that the main reason is that local literati still lack enough trust in our country, which has led to many people taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the rural examinations sponsored by our country and having no willingness to actively participate." Bai Letong also calmed down at this time, and according to the facts

Answered Shi Diwen's question.

Shi Diwen nodded and said: "What you just said makes sense. The problem lies here. Do you have a solution?"

Bai Letong hesitated and said: "The provincial examination is coming soon. Even if we come up with a solution now, it will be too late to implement it, right?"

Shi Diwen said: "Whether it's late or not, it doesn't stop us from discussing solutions. Even if it's too late to implement it this time, it can be used next time."
Chapter completed!