My life skills in Daming Liver

The square in front of Nanjing Imperial College is becoming more and more lively.

This spring in the southeast is about to begin this year, and scholars from all over the world are gathering in Nanjing to compete for the top spot in this triennial talent promotion ceremony.

Tang Xianzu was wearing an ordinary scholar's gown, mingling among the young scholars, and browsing the scenery of the Confucius Temple along the Qinhuai River.

As various systems in the southeast became more and more perfect, the seriousness of the imperial examinations greatly increased. The scholars who were able to come to Nanjing to participate in the imperial examinations were all those with great ambitions.

However, the imperial examination in the southeast is somewhat different from the Ming Dynasty's one-test-for-life examination model. Nowadays, multiple systems for entering officialdom have been formed. Some scholars have given up participating in the imperial examination and choose to take other examinations to enter the officialdom.

The first is the civil servant examination in each province. Since the civil servant examination fraud case in Zhejiang a while ago, the Ministry of Rites has stipulated that the qualifications for the recruitment of civil servants shall be determined by the Xuedao Yamen at the provincial level. Now the civil servant examination is organized uniformly by each province, and then Distribution will be uniformly based on the number of vacancies in each prefecture and county.

For many scholars, it is better to take the civil service examination directly than to take the Jinshi examination, which has little hope.

Anyway, there are six levels of officials that can be promoted. After being promoted to the sixth level, they can participate in the assessment for becoming officials. Nowadays, some officials in the southeast are also promoted from official positions.

In addition to the civil servant examination, the military examination was also a circuitous route into the officialdom of the southeast.

Nowadays, the southeastern army also needs a large number of soldiers who understand culture and arithmetic. Moreover, the military treatment in the southeast has always been good, and more and more scholars choose to join the army.

The Metropolitan Government has also issued a decree before, establishing the rotational service period for ordinary soldiers. Veterans who have participated in frontline wars can retire and transfer to the local civilian system after eight years without being injured, and return to their hometowns according to their qualifications and personal wishes. Arrange the work of civil servants or military logistics officers.

If the veterans are injured and lose their combat effectiveness, they will be resettled directly and can choose to return to the city or the countryside to serve.

This regulation also increased the enthusiasm for joining the army. Today, soldiers in the southeast are no longer military households who have been in the army for generations, but a profession.

Moreover, this profession also has a time limit. After completing the military service, you can continue to stay in the military, or you can take off your military uniform and join the local service, and you can also receive a large amount of retirement pay.

Some young people who have no hope of passing the imperial examination also choose to enter the southeastern system through this method.

Finally, it’s the craftsman’s exam.

This is an assessment set by the Ministry of Industry. However, this assessment is not a large-scale comprehensive selection examination held uniformly like the imperial examination, but a skill level examination of an assessment nature.

For the first time, the Ministry of Industry held qualification examinations for occupations such as "iron officer", "carpenter", "medical officer" and "chef". Such examinations are held every three months and are practical-based. Those who pass the examination can obtain "professional certificates" ".

Workshops from the government to private workshops have begun to pay more and more attention to the value of "certificates". Starting from government-run workshops, many positions require this type of craftsmanship assessment when recruiting.

And those who pass the craftsman officer assessment can get more salary and better promotion opportunities than those who fail the assessment.

Nowadays, with so many opportunities to enter the official system in the southeast, only the most ambitious scholars will take the Jinshi imperial examination, which has the lowest success rate.

However, the Jinshi imperial examination is still the hottest topic in Nanjing, and the status of Jinshi officers is still the most valuable among officials.

Tang Xianzu was walking by the Qinhuai River. The Confucius Temple not far away was the Confucian Temple of the Ming Dynasty. However, it is now open to ordinary people for free. It is very popular near the imperial examination. Many scholars come here to worship the sages and pray for good luck in the examination. .

Not only the Confucian Temple, but now all Taoist temples and Buddhist temples in Nanjing are prosperous, which reminds Tang Xianzu of the time when he participated in the imperial examination.

Those who participated in the imperial examination in the same year are now far apart. Even the first-class Jinshi who stayed in Nanjing are all away on various business trips. This time Tang Xianzu returned to Nanjing to report on his duties, and he only stayed for five or six days. He was about to leave for Henan, so He also did not invite the same year party.

After submitting a large amount of work report materials to the Ministry of Industry, he will soon submit a work report on behalf of the Railway Department at the Constitutional Convention. Tang Xianzu has already received a lot of information. It is said that many representatives of the Constitutional Conference have proposed that the Railway Department should be removed from the Constitutional Convention. The Ministry of Industry became independent and became an independent Ministry of Railways, coordinating national railway affairs at the ministry level.

According to the political system of the Southeast, such reform measures need to be passed at the Constituent Assembly, but Tang Xianzu also knew very well that with the current influence of the Railway Department in various places, this proposal would definitely be easily passed.

All provinces are vying to build railways. The railways between Nanjing and Songjiang have been connected, and the railway from northern Jiangsu to Xuzhou has started construction. Now Lu Gang has ambitiously proposed to build a railway bridge across the Yangtze River through the railway. Connect Xuzhou.

If the construction can really be completed, it will only take one day to transport materials from Suzhou to Xuzhou, and the entire South Zhili will be completely connected because of this railway.

The importance of this railway goes without saying. Everyone has seen the huge impact the railway has had on the entire Southeast. Railway bonds are still the bonds with the most stable returns. No one doubts the profitability of the railway and its role in stimulating the economy.

However, the Railway Department has a rather conservative attitude towards the demand for railway construction in various places.

Tang Xianzu started traveling across the country half a year ago. He had just returned from Henan. After conducting demonstrations and inspections across the country, Tang Xianzu vetoed the railway construction plans of most provinces.

Tang Xianzu made it clear that the technology for building railways in hills and mountainous areas is immature. Forcing construction in these places is totally outweighing the gains. The construction costs are too high, and mountainous areas may not be able to gain benefits from railways.

Therefore, Tang Xianzu believes that the highest priority is currently given to plain areas.

The Railway Department internally believes that the railway project with the highest priority is naturally the "Beijing Railway".

That is, the railway from the capital to Nanjing, which can connect the two political centers of the south and the north, solve the increasingly congested Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal water transportation, and strengthen the connection between the two major centers of the empire.

However, there was still no hope of implementing this plan before the Ming court was completely defeated, so Tang Xianzu settled for the next best thing and proposed a plan to build the Xuluo Railway.

Build a railway from Xuzhou to Henan via the railway between Xuzhou and Luoyang.

This is of course just the first step in Tang Xianzu's ambitious plan. In his plan, Henan will be the central hub area for railway transportation in the entire Central Plains. In the future, the east-west, north-south railway networks will all intersect in Henan.