Chapter 326: Chapter 187: Governance Strategy_2
Translator: 549690339
Hearing that Lu Yuan had seized eight million silver taels and could leave five million silver taels and local industries, a smile emerged on Sun Siwen’s face: “With five million silver taels as support, there would be no problem.”
In this world, many things can be solved with money.
If they can’t, it’s probably because there is not enough money, or the money you give is squandered and not used for the intended purpose.
Lu Yuan provided enough money, and Sun Siwen was an honest official. With these two factors combined, things were bound to work out.
In fact, Sun Siwen took the initiative and immediately suggested: “Linavvl Verisure From my journey from Luyang Prefecture all the way here, I have seen that the people in Yangshan Prefecture are all pale and hungry. It is obvious that they are living under the rule of the Miao rebels and in extreme hardship.
Now that the three prefectures have experienced war chaos, famine is inevitable this year.
South Sea Prefecture has always been a granary, but its southern location makes it difficult for grain transportation, so the price of rice here is very cheap. I heard that it is only four wen per catty.
Now that we have opened up Yangshan Prefecture and restored communication with South Sea Prefecture,
To protect the livelihood of the people, I propose that since we have pacified the three prefectures, we can send people to Lingnan County to collect grain.
In this way, there will be enough supplies for the military and the people.
With food for both the army and the people, the local stability will be restored.”
Facing such a good suggestion, Lu Yuan naturally had no objections, and nodded: “This is acceptable.”
Having settled on the purchase of grain, Sun Siwen continued: “Now that the three prefectures have been pacified, a large number of officials are needed to rebuild the government if we want to restore local order.
Countless clerks may be needed, but more than 400 officials are required for the thirty counties within the three prefectures.
Although I can recommend some talented people, at most a few dozen, which is far from enough to fill this gap.
My lord, you must think of a way to solve this problem.”
According to the custom of the dynasty, even for the lowest ninth rank, one must have the background of a juren.
The newly reclaimed three prefectures have lost all of their original officials, so where can they find more than 400 juren in a short period of time?
If this difficult problem is not solved, the framework of the government in the three prefectures and their counties cannot be established, let alone restoring local order.
Of course, Lu Yuan can seek the help of the imperial court as he lacks sufficient officials.
The imperial court owns eight prefectures throughout the world, with tens of thousands of juren and jinshi on the roll. Each year, they hold examinations and add thousands of juren each time.
With such a large pool of talents, not only can more than 400 officials be easily replaced, but even if the number is increased tenfold, the imperial court can easily fill the vacancies.
However, Lu Yuan has fought hard to win the three prefectures and is ready to establish a foundation here.
Therefore, the appointment of officials here must be done by himself.
Otherwise, when the imperial court assigns officials to you, deliberately placing troublesome people to passively resist and hollow out your power would mean inviting trouble for yourself, right?
Sun Siwen has already acknowledged Lu Yuan’s leadership, so when considering issues, he naturally prioritizes his good friend’s interests.
Therefore, seeking help from the imperial court was ruled out at that time.
“This is indeed a problem.”
Lu Yuan frowned as he listened to Sun Siwen’s explanation of the difficulties, and then said after a moment of thinking: “In that case, you and Prefect Cui discuss conducting an examination in Shaoyang Prefecture and Luyang Prefecture.
Those who pass can be promoted two ranks, transferred to the southern three prefectures, and serve as officials above the eighth rank.
As for the remaining ninth-rank and regular ninth-rank junior officials, they can be selected through the examination in my five prefectures, picking capable and outstanding scholars for extraordinary promotion and granting official status.
In this way, we should be able to gather enough officials for the three prefectures.”
Both Shaoyang Prefecture and Luyang Prefecture are places that Lu Yuan has been operating for a long time.
The officials in these two places are mostly loyal and trustworthy.
As for the students, let’s not talk about Luyang Prefecture as it has been under control for a short period of time. But in Shaoyang Prefecture, where Lu Yuan has ruled for several years, who among the local gentry and common people doesn’t praise him?
Therefore, the combination of internal and external examinations can be used to win over the hearts of the people in the South, as well as the scholars of Luyang and Shaoyang prefectures.
In fact, these examination methods for selecting officials are almost equivalent to the imperial examination.
However, the imperial examination belongs to the power of the imperial court. Lu Yuan is neither a local governor nor a central official, so he has no power to start the imperial examination.
Therefore, he could only hold an irregular and unconventional examination for selecting officials.
Nevertheless, as long as the list of names is submitted to the court, approval is almost guaranteed.
As long as they can become officials, and the court can endorse them, there will be no problems.
Moreover, there is an added benefit.
All those who become officials or are promoted will naturally regard Lu Yuan as their benefactor.
They will be grateful to him for allowing them to become officials, rather than being grateful to the court.
With such a layer of sentiment in place, Dongting jurisdictions in the southern five prefectures would be considered stable from a bureaucratic standpoint.
Upon hearing Lu Yuan’s plan, Sun Siwen couldn’t help but praise: “If this is done, the gentry and students in the southern five prefectures will all admire the general’s virtue.”
This sentiment was genuine.
What do scholars want when they study?
Naturally, it is to become officials.
Take Shaoyang Prefecture as an example: there are only about 400 scholars with a Scholar’s Degree. Among these people, only five or six, or at most more than ten, can pass the prefecture examination and be granted the title of juren each year.