In the autumn of the third year of Hongwu's reign, the grain harvest in North China failed due to drought.

However, unlike previous dynasties and generations, there were no large-scale starvation incidents in the disaster area.

Although the victims are all skinny and miserable, they are in good spirits, and their sallow and thin faces are usually filled with smiles.

They are not crazy, but they see hope in life.

The common people are all realistic, and they don’t understand any big principles. Only the deep wells newly dug in each village and the mountains of grain piled up on the drying grounds cannot be faked.

All this is due to the central government’s effective protection and relief efforts.

Only a unified and stable government can connect the four directions and mobilize resources. Otherwise, in this ancient time when materials were not extremely abundant, he would be stupid to sell food to you if he was not from the same country, even if he has a good relationship.

Other conditions must be attached.

Autumn has passed, the scorching sun has turned cooler, and in the land of North China, the Chinese people who have suffered so much have regained their vitality.

During the morning meeting at the Military Aircraft Department, Li Jiang took in the disaster summary sent from various places, his eyes red.

Wei Yixiao joked: "Why was the Prime Minister so moved?"

Li Jiang put down the document, looked up at the sky, tried not to shed tears, and sighed: "Why do I always have tears in my eyes? Because I am deeply loved by this land..."

"Puff"

Wei Yixiao and Fan Yao laughed together.

Yang Xiao smiled, while Leng Qian's mouth twitched.

Li Jiang shook his head and sighed: "Those who know me say that I am worried, but those who don't know me say that what do I want!" Then his tone turned sharp, and he shouted at Wei Yixiao: "You are a rough guy, Lao Leng is already innate, and you are still here

Wait, wait. Could it be that the Peiyuan Pill I gave you was fed to a dog?"

"Nonsense!" Wei Yixiao jumped up, pointed at Li Jiang and said: "Don't think that just because you are the Prime Minister, you can curse people. You will step down next year..."

His voice suddenly became softer, and he sat down in a daze.

There was a deathly silence in the conference hall.

After a long time, Li Jiang broke the silence and said: "Yes, once next year is over, the Ming Dynasty will depend on you..."

Wei Yixiao couldn't sit still anymore, stood up from his seat, clasped his fists and gave a deep salute, apologizing: "Old Li, I didn't mean that, I have a bad temper, don't take it to heart..."

Li Jiang took a step forward and helped Wei Yixiao up, and said with a smile: "Get up, you like to joke, I know very well whether you mean what you say or not. However, whether your words are rough or not, I will indeed step down next year, haha..."

Others also laughed.

After the banter, the work continued.

In early winter and October, the National Civil Service Recruitment Examination, which Ming Dynasty had been preparing for for more than half a year, began.

Because the dynasty was first established, there were not many scholars, so there were no provinces, but all were centralized in the capital for unified examinations.

When registration began to be accepted in April, Tong Derong, the Minister of Civil Service, was still worried, fearing that no one would sign up or that there would be too few people, making the Civil Service Examination a laughing stock in the world.

This is because the situation at that time did not give him confidence. Because there was a lot of noise in the academic circles in various places, all of which were opposition and resistance to the civil service examination, and many scholars even claimed to knock on the que and submit a letter.

During that time, Tong Derong's life was really like a year. He specially sent small officials from the staff department to guard the four gates of the capital and secretly observe the scholars who came to the capital.

As long as a scholar went to the military airport through the left gate of the imperial city, his heart would be agitated.

Fortunately, most of the scholars who came to Beijing came to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to register, and only a small part went to the left gate of the imperial city.

What is surprising is that the scholars who passed through the left gate did not march into the military headquarters, unlike what they clamored before to touch the fence with their heads. I recommend Xuanyuan with my blood.

They feinted a shot, walked south along the edge of Taiye Pond, and entered the Yushitai on the west side of the square.

According to the clerk's quick report, these people submitted their appeal materials at the interview window of the Yushitai in accordance with the petition/visit procedures stipulated by the Military Aircraft Department, and then obediently backed out after receiving the receipt.

After Tong Derong put down the big stone on his chest, he was shocked by what they did next.

As if they were not the ones complaining just now, Shi Shiran walked to the staff department on the east side of the square and signed up for the civil service examination.

Tong Derong couldn't help but sigh, "I've really seen how shameless scholars are. The Prime Minister is so far-sighted that he has never worried about it..." He praised Li Jiang a lot, regardless of whether Li Jiang could hear it or not.

The exam was held in the square south of the imperial city. The venue is wide and there is no problem in setting up tables and benches to accommodate thousands of people. Moreover, there are government offices on both sides, so there is no shortage of invigilators for anyone who wants to take the exam.

The content of the examination was drawn up by Song Lian, the leader in the first civil service recruitment. It had nothing to do with the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It was not until the examination started that he was escorted by the imperial army. Song Lian, the director of the Taishi Museum, who had been imprisoned for more than ten days, was finally able to return.

Home.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the second civil service examination was more formal, but it was still crude compared to the imperial examination. The imperial examination lasted three days, while the civil service examination lasted only one day, with tests in the morning and essays in the afternoon.

But compared with the apparent exam time, the Civil Service Examination appears to be very complicated.

The results will be released within ten days after the exam. Let’s not talk about the losers for now, but those who are on the list cannot be proud. They still have one more step, the interview.

The interview will be held ten days after the results are released. In addition to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, other ministries, including the Military Aircraft Office, will also send interviewers.

If you pass the interview, congratulations, you have the qualifications to be an official. This is different from the imperial examination, where you can be used immediately after passing the exam or enter the Six-Buddhist Guanzheng.

The interviewees are not even qualified to watch politics. They have to go to the National Xingzheng Academy for one year of training and systematically study courses in ideology, law, economics, management, etc. Only those with outstanding results can be awarded official positions.

Those who fail to pass will continue to study, and those who fail to pass within three years will be dismissed. If you want to become an official, please take the next exam.

As for those who failed the Civil Service Recruitment Examination, the Military Aircraft Office upheld the concept of "God is good for life" and gave them another chance: they could study at Taipei University for free, and those from poor families could apply for living allowances.

Taixue, like the National Xingzheng College, only lasts for three years. If you fail to pass the Civil Service Examination after three years, this fully proves that you are not qualified to be an official. It is better for you to go home and have fun with your wife and children.

At the end of October, the winter wind was so cold that dogs were reluctant to go out.

Outside the south gate of the imperial city, there was a lively atmosphere. There were huge crowds of people watching the list and those who wanted to catch their son-in-law under the list.

A certain member of the party and several servants in an aggressive manner squeezed into the crowd, and at a glance they saw the old member of the party, Liu, who was wearing a beard and looking around.

So he greeted: "Brother Liu, why are you here today free? Didn't you catch a good son-in-law in the first year of your life? Is it possible that you have a second daughter in your family? Does your sister-in-law know?"

When Old Liu heard the sound, he knew who was coming, his mortal enemy! So he withdrew his inquiring eyes and said angrily: "Guan Tuzi, can you take care of it? I don't want to help my daughter change it?"

"Oh?" The man named Guan Tuzi became interested and asked curiously: "Old Liu, does your previous son-in-law have any hidden diseases?"

When Lao Liu heard him mention the son-in-law he had chosen before, he had no intention of estrangement from Guan Tuzi. He smiled bitterly and said: "There is no hidden problem, he has a bleak future!"

"Tell me about it," Guan Tuzi asked on behalf of the group of people gathered around him.

Old Liu endured it again and again, and finally couldn't help but spit out: "Oh..., I can finally see the general trend of the country. Those who were listed in the imperial examination may seem to be beautiful, but in fact they are hard to live up to. The son-in-law I captured two years ago is still here.

Xingzheng College, Pei... um, training, just giving him tuition and living expenses has caused me hardship."
Chapter completed!