Yingtian Prefecture, this bustling Southern Capital, inside a restaurant filled with chatter.

Many scholars gathered here, wearing long robes and square hats, faces marked with the unique pride and concern for their nation inherent to intellectuals.

"The Country has never had a precedent for punishing people for their words, Xu Gongming this time, undoubtedly has broken the rules." A scholar suddenly stood up, waving his hands fervently, his face full of indignation, as if having suffered a great injustice.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was instantly ignited by him, with everyone whispering and engaging in heated discussions.

"Ah, Xu Gongming has broken the rules more than once." Another scholar gently shook his head, his tone carrying a trace of helplessness and lament.

Not long ago, Xu Qing was still an idol to these Southern scholars, famed far and wide as Xu Liushou, Champion Marquis, his talent, his demeanor, earning the admiration of these scholars. Yet now, Xu Qing's series of measures have shattered their idol in an instant.

In their view, all they did was express some opinions on current affairs, discuss the pros and cons of abandoning the North, and Xu Qing responded with thunderous tactics, arresting scholars en masse and sealing newspapers, which was truly excessive.

"Really thinks he's King Li of Zhou, guarding the mouth of the people, is more severe than guarding the river." Someone muttered softly, their voice full of dissatisfaction.

"This is overstepping..." Another scholar said indignantly, but before he could finish speaking, the person beside him quickly tugged his sleeve, signaling him to be careful.

The waiter had already noticed the commotion over here, and promptly pointed to a banner hanging high in the restaurant hall, which read "Do not discuss national affairs," his expression carrying a hint of warning.

"Just talking about..." A young, impassioned scholar suddenly slapped the table, his voice echoing throughout the restaurant.

Just at this moment, a commotion arose from the street downstairs.

Everyone craned their necks to look, only to see a group of scholars whose homes had been raided, being escorted by government officers, surrounded by a crowd of ignorant commoners, some picking up rotten vegetable leaves from the ground and ruthlessly throwing them, occasionally someone took an egg from their basket and forcefully hurled it at those unfortunate scholars.

Needless to say, Yingtian Prefecture truly lives up to being a wealthy place, where the populace are willing to use eggs to vent their emotions. Witnessing this scene, the speaking scholar's voice suddenly softened considerably, a trace of fear surfaced on their face, as if seeing their own fate.

Everyone tacitly understood, did not dare to discuss loudly anymore, only communicated through glances, those gazes held anger, helplessness, and a trace of fear.

After savoring their meal and drinks, they embarked on their journey home, only to learn of a shocking piece of news.

The Ministry of Rites had issued a decree, encouraging scholars to inform and denounce each other. If ordinary scholars' reports were successful, local prefecture schools may consider promoting them to stipend students. Scholars were also divided into levels: stipend students, attached students, and Zengsheng. Among them, stipend students were the ones truly receiving royal provisions, able to receive subsidies from the officials every month.

This decree once released, impacted the essence of South Zhili scholars like a heavy bomb.

"Public power used for personal gain, acting against the current..." a scholar cursed through gritted teeth, yet could only lower his voice, secretly cursing alone at home.

They were well aware that nowadays, Yingtian Prefecture was already Xu Qing's domain, a slight misstep might invite disaster.

…

…

Yingtian Prefecture, temporary Cabinet.

The atmosphere here was tense, Cabinet Ministers of the Inner Court, Six Department Inspectors, and Ritual Supervision eunuchs, all wore troubled expressions, with heads overwhelmed.

In their hearts, they all thought, Champion Marquis really is making too much trouble! The operations to capture scholars here had not even concluded, and suddenly he's about to implement a new reform mandate—the clerk selection examination.

Isn't this just the clerical Imperial Examination!

Previously, the Country's clerks were all accepted under a tacit hereditary system, although Xu Qing's Recovery Society had opened a minor gap, overall local clerk families still held dominance.

In this dynasty, some clerks had even altered their household registers, changed names, and directly became imperial sons-in-law, illustrating the great influence clerks wielded.

They could dominate locally, some clerks even boldly proclaimed: "The County Master is the temple's statue, only responsible for receiving offerings, we clerks are the temple priests, the actual holders of power."

In many regions, this was indeed true, without the help of local clerks, officials couldn't even collect taxes, constantly getting manipulated by local nobles without knowing why.

Clerks are as slippery as oil, is not an empty saying.

Xu Qing promoted a clerk selection exam, restricting the candidates' scope to only scholars.

Apart from this, he also applied a patch. Previously, clerks couldn't become officials, at most they'd have a stroke of luck like Lord Li in the past, becoming an archivist, which was already the ceiling clerks could reach.

Now Xu Qing had removed both restrictions.

However, this matter wasn't considered Xu Qing breaking the rules, as many high officials in prior dynasties had started as scribes, previously there wasn't a separation of officials and clerks, our dynasty rather is an exception.

But our dynasty has its peculiar circumstances, there are simply too many scholars, even many Scholars struggled painstakingly to advance, how could there be room for clerks to get promoted?

Actually, at the beginning of the Country, there wasn't a separation of officials and clerks either, later on, due to pressured circumstances, they had to divide.

Moreover, more and more bigwigs within the Court were now from Imperial Examination backgrounds, they underwent great difficulty to pass the exams, why should they receive the same treatment as lower clerks?

If it were before, establishing a clerk examination system by Xu Qing, would certainly be extremely difficult.

But now circumstances differed, as the army had already assembled, provisions already prepared, if others dared to stir up trouble, this army might just as much be marching north to relieve the Capital, or heading south to suppress opposition forces.

While the sword might not cure hearts, it could certainly force those below to act a bit.

The key point is that Xu Qing has already infiltrated the Clerk group within the Government Office through the Recovery Society, and is not without preparation.

Moreover, there has been an excess of scholars throughout the Southern regions.

The vast number of Scholars enjoy certain political treatment, coupled with the popularity of newspapers, giving them more room to discuss national affairs, consequently increasing their demands for enhanced political privileges by the day.

In the past, clerks with no path to promotion were certainly beneath the scholars. But now, things are different!

Xu Liushou, indeed worthy of being the Wenqu Star of the era, has opened the lines between heaven and earth.

With newspapers in circulation, once Xu Qing enacted this decree, soon everyone in South Zhili knew about the upcoming Clerk selection exams.

Moreover, the exam content would only test on the Qin system and unification. Former scholar Liu Zihou's "Feudalism" is an extremely important reference material. Xu Qing's choice of Liu Zihou's work, a top-tier scholar of ancient and modern times, has its reasons. Liu Zihou was also a core reform figure of the previous dynasty's Yongzhen reforms, a staunch reformist.

Xu Qing has always been meticulous in his actions, with every step well-thought-out.

The printing workshop of the Great Ming Newspaper initially didn't understand why the owner insisted on printing "Feudalism", but now they finally find out. Moreover, there are Xu Liushou's annotations on "Feudalism". Alas, many scholars secretly cursed Xu Qing, yet had to spend a fortune buying the "Feudalism" printed by the Great Ming Newspaper. Not only is it expensive, but due to rushed production, the quality is abysmal; the paper is coarse, and the lettering a bit blurred. What choice do they have but to buy it? In the black market, this version of "Feudalism" even sold for three silver coins and was still in short supply.

"I advise you not to harshly criticize Qin Shihuang; the burning and burying incidents require discussion. The soul of Ancestor Dragon perishes, yet his legacy remains. The Cynics' reputation is high but truly inferior. For a hundred generations, Qin's laws and administration have prevailed; ten critiques aren't good articles. Thoroughly study the Tang people's feudalism, don't follow Zihou to revert to Wenwang."

Many scholars who bought the much-desired Liushou edition of "Feudalism" were taken aback by the prologue. Have people been wrong in criticizing Qin Shihuang over the centuries?

What does "Cynic" imply? Isn't this referring to scholars who read Confucian classics? The champion marquis is too arrogant! Many scholars cursed and wished to dig up Xu Qing's ancestral grave out of spite.

But they endured the humiliation, swallowing their pride for the sake of promoting Confucianism.

Despite the curses, studying is still necessary. If they fail to pass the Clerk selection exam, wouldn't their silver be wasted? Besides, taking the Clerk exam is easier than the Imperial Examination anyway.

Becoming a Clerk is also like eating the emperor's grain, with room for promotion.

Undoubtedly, Xu Qing's Clerk selection exam has severely harmed the interests of the Scholars. In the past, gold for Scholars, silver for Scholars, as Scholars held significant influence locally.

Now with Scholars passing the Clerk exam and gaining power in the Government Office, compared to Scholars, it is uncertain who holds more influence.

This way, how could Scholars still exert power among their hometown folks, feasting on them like foxes borrowing tigers' growl? It's practically overturning the Heavenly Gang.

However, many Scholars couldn't oppose even if they wanted to, because their families also have scholars. They can't deprive their kin of opportunities just because they became Scholars.

Actually, the biggest issue with the Clerk selection exam is how to enforce the decree, which requires a knife, and the champion marquis is the sharpest knife of the dynasty.

Besides this, there's the financial issue. As for how to gather taxes from the townspeople, Xu Qing had long sent the Recovery Society to investigate during the reforms, and even wrote booklets to be strictly followed.

Tax collection and disaster relief have always been the hardest tasks in the land.

Historically, initially collecting just one stone of grain from the people could, by the time it reached the region, not even ten stones would suffice. The same goes for disaster relief, when ten stones of grain were allotted, if even one stone reached the disaster victims, it would already be considered good.

So how much worse could it get?

Moreover, Minister of Revenue Chen Fu has carefully analyzed that increasing Clerks and paying salaries primarily in silver coins can effectively promote the circulation of silver coins.

On the other hand, it can also reduce the value of the white silver hoarded in the cellars of many nobles, which is equivalent to indirectly taxing the nobles.

As for whether the common folk would be implicated? Certainly. But this time, the loss is borne by both the nobles and the common folk, which is indeed an unprecedented benevolent policy!

Chen Fu also secretly thought that once these new Clerks entered the officialdom, even if unwilling, they too had to support Xu Liushou.

Because in the Great Yu Dynasty, the person dies and the policy ceases. Overthrowing Xu Liushou would mean denying their own origins.

Xu Liushou once said that people think with their butts; vulgar as it may sound, it holds truth.

Xu Qing followed each harsh measure with a sweet date, leaving the scholars of South Zhili without words.

With the exam date fast approaching, everyone rushed home to review their coursework, leaving no time to connect. It's no joke, they had a sudden epiphany, pointed out by Xu Liushou, like lambs astray, now returning to the right path!

If heaven does not give birth to Xu Zi, the long night continues eternally!

Scholars from ordinary family backgrounds were especially grateful to Xu Qing for giving them this opportunity. Originally they saw no hope on the path of the Imperial Examination, but now the Clerk selection exam is like a dawn illuminating their future.

Some scholars, confident they will pass, have even begun studying the reform regulations to facilitate future governance achievements and promotions.

One who does not plan for the long term cannot plan for the short term.

Success in the Imperial Examination relies much on chance, but passing a Clerk selection exam, with capability, one can truly rise!

In the end, citizens of the dynasty have always been extremely eager to rise in officialdom and wealth; this is an irresistible temptation.

The exams arrived as scheduled. Given the many quotas and the lenient grading, the results were quickly announced. An elderly candidate, upon learning of his success, wept uncontrollably and with trembling hands, sincerely wrote, "Xu Liushou surpasses my own grandfather."

Subsequently, this remark once became black material used to attack Xu Liushou. However, after some time, many also realized that Xu Liushou has surpassed not only their own grandfathers; there's nothing wrong with this statement!

In any case, Xu Liushou's new regulations finally stood firm.

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