Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 128, Second Scientific Expedition

The two states of Su and Hui are vast in area and rich in resources. Although they are not as large as the entire Daxi, they are enough to be comparable to some small countries.

Therefore, the pressure required to govern such an area is doubled.

Fang Yong ordered a second scientific expedition just to recruit talents and fill the gaps in governance.

At the same time, the practical examination has been reopened.

This promotion channel independent of the imperial examinations unexpectedly did not encounter much resistance from the imperial examination candidates.

On the one hand, it was because of Wu Yuan’s policy of granting silver but not official positions.

On the other hand, it was also because the practical examinations were far from threatening the status of the orthodox imperial examinations.

Among the talents who emerged from the last practical examination, except for Shen Tu, most of the others did not make any achievements.

Nearly half of them were dismissed due to lack of ability.

Some people were killed because of corruption.

Although these people were born in the lower class, this did not allow them to put themselves in the shoes of the lower class people. On the contrary, due to the limitations of their lower class background, they are more likely to be tempted by some interests and then go astray.

Fang Yong is relatively tolerant towards these people.

Greed is human nature.

He was not as harsh as Zhu Yuanzhang who hated corrupt officials so much.

Peeling the daylilies is too cruel, he could have just killed the whole family. He was still a relatively kind person.

Of course, not all the talents who passed the practical examinations are bad. Although there are no great talents, there are still a few small talents.

Apart from Shen Tu, the person who is currently doing the best is a man named Zeng Jian.

Zeng Jian used to be a porter, specializing in carrying things for people.

He and his fellow villagers formed a team in the city to take on work.

During this period, Zeng Jian often traveled around the city and dealt with all kinds of people. This experience played a significant role in training Zeng Jian's ability to get things done.

Later, when Fang Yong held a practical examination, Zeng Jian signed up.

Finally, I was successfully admitted.

Afterwards, Zeng Jian was first sent to a military settlement to manage farming equipment.

The farming tools here include oxen, plows, water wheels, etc. These items are not available in ordinary people's homes, and need to be uniformly managed and distributed by the Huaiyin Army.

Zeng Jian did a very good job in this position. He was kind and fair. No equipment was ever damaged or lost in his hands, and the people were very satisfied with him.

The highly praised Zeng Jian was soon successfully converted to an official position and truly escaped from his civilian life. At the same time, he married a local wife, joined the army, and learned to read with some officers of the Huaiyin Army.

Fang Yongzheng was extremely short of talent at that time. Based on the principle of using people as much as possible, Zeng Jian was quickly promoted after he learned some basic characters.

He was transferred to Chuzhou to assist in transporting grain together with the grain transport team.

During this period, Zeng Jian also participated in Zhai Xun's ambush plan against the two bandits Chi Heng.

After the grain transportation was completed, Zeng Jian was sent to Shizi Town in Chuzhou area to assist in military farming. In addition to being responsible for the original work such as farming equipment, he was also responsible for handling disputes in the Shizi Town area and livestock breeding.

Because of his outstanding work, Zeng Jian has now been transferred to Chaozhou, where he is solely responsible for the military settlement work of a town.

Although this position was not very high, Zeng Jian, who was originally a porter, was very satisfied with it.

For Fang Yong now, both big and small talents are equally scarce, so the scope of the scientific examination he will organize this time will be larger and the number of people admitted will also be more.

Fang Yong set up examination sites in nine cities, namely Xuzhou, Huaizhou, Yangzhou, Jinling, Gusu, Chuzhou, Hefei, Anqing and Fengyang, preparing to hold a large-scale imperial examination in order to select a large number of basic officials.

Regardless, the imperial examination is still the main force in selecting talents, which is an unchangeable fact. In Huaizhou, at a stall selling calligraphy.

It says, "Three couplets and five letters."

But few people are interested.

Song Yun was reading a copy of the Four Books, touching his empty stomach from time to time.

After a while, an old woman came to write a letter.

The old woman kept talking about how she had two sons in the army and they were supposed to come back this year, but unexpectedly, at the end of the year, the eldest son was injured and shot in the leg by an enemy arrow, so he had to stay in the barracks for treatment, and the younger son also stayed there to take care of his brother.

Now more than a month has passed and there has been no letter from the two sons. The old woman is worried, so she asks Song Yun to write a letter.

Song Yun listened to the old woman's rambling impatiently. He waved his hand and said, "You just said you wanted to write a few letters. What are they about? Don't say anything else. Don't disturb me from reading the articles of the sages."

The old woman heard this and said cautiously:

"I want to write two letters. My elder daughter-in-law and younger daughter-in-law each have something to say, and it's not easy to write them in one letter. How much does it cost?"

Song Yun pointed at the sign and said, "Didn't you see it's written here?"

The old woman looked at the upright sign. She usually went to the city to buy things. After a long time, she could recognize a few simple words, but she could not recognize the words written by Song Yun.

It turned out that Song Yun was showing off his calligraphy. He wrote it in the style of Huang Shen, one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. The characters were open and undulating, with dragons and snakes dancing wildly. To the old woman, it looked like a book written in heaven. How could she understand it?

Seeing this, Song Yun shook his head and laughed, "You ignorant little man, it's a pity that I have to write a letter to you with my good handwriting."

The old woman could only smile awkwardly when she heard this.

Song Yun was too lazy to talk to him and said directly: "A letter costs five cents, two letters cost ten cents, pay up."

The old woman looked reluctant when she heard this.

He carefully took out ten coins, thought for a moment, and asked:
"Look, I'll write two letters, can you give me a discount? How about nine cents?"

Song Yun said nothing, but he didn't even want to say anything more, so he turned around and started reading a book.

He is a scholar. Although he has to sell his calligraphy due to his poverty, how can he bargain like a common merchant?
Seeing this, the old woman had no choice but to put all the ten cents on the stall.

In fact, the old woman doesn't need the money at all.

Her eldest son is a veteran in the army. He had followed the general in many battles and had made many contributions. He is currently a first-class soldier. He receives one or two taels of silver in military salary every month, as well as various subsidies. If he makes more military achievements, he will be promoted to sergeant.

The youngest son joined the army late, but he also earned 500 yuan a month, which was enough to support the family without any worries about food and clothing, not to mention that the family had land.

The two sons were very filial and sent back most of the military pay. The old woman could be said to be quite wealthy and did not have to care about that one or two pennies at all.

However, the old woman was afraid of being poor.

Before the general came in the early years, she almost starved to death. If her two sons had not been adults and worked hard to support the family, she would definitely not be alive today.

People who are almost starved to death will never forget that fear.

So even though she has money now, she still doesn't dare to spend it recklessly. She tries to save as much as possible, fearing that one day...

At this time, a middle-aged woman passed by. It turned out to be Mrs. Liu from the same village as the old woman.

Sister Liu saw that the old woman was paying and hurriedly stopped her, saying:
"Aiya, Second Aunt, why are you writing letters at this stall? It's so expensive. You can go to the stall in front of the East Corner Bookstore, you can also write letters there, it only costs three cents a letter!"

When the old woman heard this, she was surprised.

He quickly called Song Yun to apologize and then headed towards the east corner.

(End of this chapter)