1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 86

The higher-ups are determined to use these assets to carry out a "plundering of the people" operation. This is a purely open conspiracy. Although the methods are somewhat shameless, the procedures and legal principles are beyond reproach.

Because the fundamental premise of everything is that the government can expand the pie of the whole society. Only when this premise is achieved can the government "plunder" the people by driving the appreciation of these assets out of thin air.

If the cake can't be made big, it's all just wishful thinking and serves no purpose.

Fortunately, Zhao Yan didn't just exploit his fellow countrymen; he also treated foreigners the same way.

After the Beijing debt negotiations, Zhao Yan almost had nude photos taken, but he managed to open up channels for foreign investment to enter the domestic market both domestically and internationally.

Then a large amount of foreign debt was converted into domestic investment and poured into the market. But after the foreigners converted their debt into Chinese yuan and entered the Chinese market, they were just as confused as the locals.

Local governments have fulfilled their promises regarding preferential policies for foreign investment, such as the "three reductions and two exemptions" policy and the government's responsibility for "three connections and one leveling" (water, electricity, roads, and land leveling). However, land is the only problem that is causing them great distress!

Land suitable for factory construction and investment is definitely not in remote, desolate areas. It must be surrounded by convenient transportation, dense population, and close to markets to facilitate product circulation and the recruitment of labor for production.

However, the vast majority of such land is held by the government. If foreign investors want to find alternative ways to acquire land from private individuals, they still have to go through government procedures.

The more losses Zhao Yan suffered before, the more expensive the land will be when it is sold to foreigners.

Moreover, the corporate income tax exemption for foreign-invested enterprises also includes the free expenses for infrastructure development, land preparation, and utilities. However, the government then extracts these funds from various other taxes, such as fixed asset tax, transaction tax, stamp duty, environmental protection tax, and urban construction tax.

Some taxes would make even Jews weep, but Zhao Yan actually came up with an emissions tax!

However, foreign investors still gritted their teeth and went for it, because the market potential here was too great, and the consumer population was too large. The initial investment was not a big deal, as they could make back all their money and profits later.

Goods manufactured in factories in China can be sold directly in the Chinese market without tariffs. Although Zhao Yan was somewhat dishonest, he didn't cause any trouble in other aspects.

Goods produced by foreign-invested factories can circulate freely in the Chinese market without discrimination and enjoy the same treatment as domestic products. In other words, the domestic products that Zhao Yan considers are not those invested in by any particular company, but those produced within China.

Chapter 150 The New Imperial Examination System After the War

September 1, 1908, Nanjing.

At this moment, Nanjing is bustling with prosperity. As an important city in the south of the Yangtze River and the wartime capital of the People's Republic of China, Nanjing holds a very special political position in the country.

Wu Zifu, Zhao Yan's top disciple, was stationed in Nanjing, and the mayor of Nanjing was also a high-ranking official of the fifth rank, making the administrative configuration here quite special.

Today, the first national civil service examination since the founding of the People's Republic of China is being held in Nanjing. It is equivalent to the imperial examination of the People's Republic of China.

This is another instance of Zhao Yan fulfilling his revolutionary promise. When he first raised an army in rebellion, he promised to restore the imperial examination system and give all scholars a chance to advance.

For the past two years, due to the threat of war, such exams have been unable to be held smoothly.

Now that the war is over, the central government is making arrangements immediately. The entire national examination is overseen by the Prime Minister's Office, with the Ministry of Education taking the lead in planning and implementation, and each province carrying out the specific tasks.

The Ministry of Education announced the recognition of diplomas and resumes from the previous dynasty. This means that the academic titles of Xiucai, Juren, and Jinshi from the Qing Dynasty are now officially recognized and converted into corresponding academic qualifications.

Xiucai (秀才) corresponds to a high school diploma, Juren (举人) corresponds to a university diploma, and Jinshi (进士) requires separate examination and is awarded separately, but it is at least a university diploma.

During the Qing Dynasty, scholars who passed the imperial examinations (xiucai, juren, and jinshi who had not yet been granted official positions) could be exempted from the national examinations and could directly enter the civil service system after only passing an interview.

All other students without official titles can participate in this year's national civil service examination. The national civil service examination does not have specific rankings, and there are no provincial, prefectural, or palace examinations. All examinations are held simultaneously in each province. As long as you pass the admission line, you can enter the civil service system.

Many officials in the central government originally proposed to continue the existing and mature imperial examination system, but Zhao Yan rejected it outright. He said that the imperial examination system could only select two or three hundred officials at most a year, which was of no use.

With only two or three hundred officials a year, you can't even gather enough government clerks for a single county. And those who passed the imperial examinations are given a county magistrate position right after they finish the exams—that's far too frivolous.

Zhao Yan simply waved his hand and launched a civil service examination system in one step. This year, at least 10,000 civil servants will be recruited to work in the system. The reach of the government will not necessarily extend to the countryside and villages, but it must at least reach the town level.

The current grassroots government administration of the People's Republic of China is almost paralyzed. The Republic has taken over the system where the Qing Dynasty's imperial power did not extend to the county level. The lowest level of government office is the county government office, while the townships below are completely autonomous.

During the war, in order to collect taxes and bleed people dry, and to mobilize manpower to support the front lines, the higher-ups forced the county government to work around the clock, and the county magistrates were treated like livestock.

As a result, local county governments were exhausted to the point of paralysis, and many county heads couldn't take it anymore and wanted to resign.

The higher authorities now want to fill the gaps in the grassroots township governments and restore the administrative capacity that a modern government should have. They can no longer allow troublemakers below the county level to operate outside the law.

This requires a large number of civil servants to do the work. The old practice of having only 20,000 to 30,000 officials to govern hundreds of millions of people is simply not enough to meet the current administrative needs.

Previously, many of the officials left over from the Qing Dynasty were still afraid that Zhao Yan would turn against them later, but now they are afraid that they will work themselves to death in office, with thousands of threads above and only one needle below.

The administrative affairs of the People's Republic of China are many times more numerous than those of the Qing Dynasty. In the past, county magistrates could compose poems and socialize everywhere, but now county heads are so busy that they can't finish their administrative duties even if they run their legs off all day. They can't even sit in their offices, and they have to eat on the way to collect taxes.

The number of personnel needed for newly established agencies at the county level across the country alone exceeds 10,000. Local county governments are desperately begging their superiors to send more people over as soon as possible.

Therefore, for the first national civil service examination this year, Zhao Yan decided to recruit at least tens of thousands of people. Basically, anyone who could read and write and was mentally sound was brought in to serve as a slave.

Those scholars and officials from the previous dynasty should not be spared either. They have studied the classics for so many years. If they cannot serve the people, then what is the point of their studies?

The new national civil service exam is held simultaneously in all provinces. Each province sets up an exam venue in its capital city, and education officials from each province are responsible for administering the exam. The higher-ups are not worried about corruption or malpractice. Now is the time when we need people, so what if you cheat? Even if you are caught cheating, so what?

The literacy rate in China under the rule of the Manchus was too low. Nowadays, the civil service exams don't select top scholars, imperial examination graduates, or successful candidates. They select frontline clerks and laborers. As long as you can read and write, read official documents, understand orders, and are in good mental condition, you can be brought into the system to work like a beast of burden.

The civil service exam consists of three subjects, all taken in one day. The morning exam covers Chinese language and mathematics, while the afternoon exam covers national ideology.

Each course is worth 100 points, for a total of 300 points. You only need to score 100 points to reach the admission threshold.

The dates for the national civil service exam were announced to various regions in early July, and the exam was officially held on September 1st.

Allowing candidates two months to prepare is quite ample time, especially since it's not like you're traveling to the capital for the exam; it's just a provincial exam.

The requirements for candidates from higher authorities are very simple: all four limbs must be intact, no diseases, and the candidate must be male, aged 18-45. That's all.

The purpose of this exam held by the higher-ups was not to select outstanding talents, but to recruit a large number of people who would do the work. After passing the exam, they would not be granted positions such as county magistrate or county assistant; all those who came in would have to start from the lowest level of clerk, the ninth rank.

At this very moment, outside the gate of the Nanjing Imperial Academy examination hall, which was only seven o'clock in the morning, the area was already crowded with examinees. The youngest was only thirteen or fourteen years old and had concealed his information to take the exam, while the oldest was over fifty years old with white hair, but he still came to take the exam despite his fear.

The exam was scheduled to start at 9:00 AM, so everyone arrived early to wait.

Everyone was clutching their citizen ID cards tightly; these were their admission tickets. Without a citizen ID card, you couldn't even enter the examination room.

Civil affairs bureaus across the country made a fortune during this national civil service exam, selling countless ID cards for six cents each.

"Attention everyone, this national civil service exam is a subject-based exam. Please choose your exam room in advance!"

"This exam is divided into three sections: administration, law, and finance!"

"The corresponding job positions are clearly listed on the bulletin board. Please check it yourself!"

Staff members came out of the examination room and offered some friendly reminders.

The three subjects—administration, justice, and finance—have different admission standards. The exam content is the same, but the selection criteria are different.

For example, the Administrative Department requires a score of 120 for admission, but students must score above 60 in both the National Ideology and National Language exams; those scoring below 60 will not be admitted.

For the Judicial Department, the only requirement is a score of 60 or above in the National Ideology section, with a total score exceeding 100.

The admission requirements for the Finance Department are a minimum score of 30 in Mathematics, 60 in National Ideology, and a total score of 100.

The test takers looked at the notice outside the examination room and understood that the administrative department selected management personnel, while the finance department selected financial personnel with a mathematical foundation and the ability to do arithmetic.

The judicial department selects police officers and other personnel; the requirements are minimal, but it feels like once you're in, you're not much different from a yamen runner.

Time passed slowly, and soon it was nine o'clock in the morning. The examination hall doors opened, and armed soldiers stood at the door to check the ID cards of the examinees. As long as the person and the ID card matched, they were allowed to pass.

As for the items that the candidates bring with them, nobody pays any attention to them.

Some people reported that fellow test takers brought cheat sheets into the exam room, and some even hid a copy of the Analects of Confucius in their clothes. However, the exam staff ignored them and scolded them for not reading the exam manual.

"This is an open-book exam. Except for firearms, ammunition, and living people, you can bring anything you can carry!"

"Once inside the examination room, no talking is allowed, no leaving your seat is permitted, and no submitting your paper early is permitted."

The so-called examination venue was actually an open-air square, densely packed with tables and chairs, many of which were borrowed from ordinary people. The exam papers were placed on the tables in advance.

Candidates were not assigned seats; once inside, they had to quickly find an empty seat and sit down. They had to bring their own pens and ink, and once seated, they had to pick up their pens and start writing.

The first Mandarin exam was not complicated, and for the first time ever, multiple-choice questions appeared.

You only need to choose one of the four options, A, B, C, and D, to write down. The main test is the candidate's reading comprehension ability. Many questions are excerpts from official documents, and then you have to choose the correct answer from the four options to fill in.

The final, most challenging task was to write an official document in plain, precise language about the implementation of citizen ID card registration. The document required concise and accurate wording that would be easy for ordinary people to understand.

Many candidates were incredulous upon seeing this exam paper, some even bursting into tears. "After studying hard for over a decade, this is the result?!"

The most difficult part of this exam paper is no longer the exam questions, but the process of filling in the candidate information.

The candidate's name, citizen ID information, and residential address are the key information. Each line has a fixed position, and the government's offer letter will be sent out using this information after the exam.

If you fill this out incorrectly, even if you get a perfect score, it won't matter. If the information is wrong, your score will be invalidated.

The writing area is very small, and you have to use a small wolf-hair brush or pencil to write in it. Many people look down and feel gloomy when they see it, because all the pens they brought have too big a tip.

This so-called national language exam is more like a form-filling test and an illiteracy test. As long as you are intelligent enough, can read, and have the ability to process forms and official documents, you can pass.

Don't underestimate this seemingly simple test; it can actually stump many people.

Some candidates were smart enough to bring pencils or fine-tipped pens to the exam, while others didn't and could only watch helplessly.

At this point, some of the bolder ones actually asked the proctoring soldiers to borrow pens, and the soldiers didn't refuse, taking pens from other candidates and letting them use them.

Others followed suit, and some candidates who had participated in the Qing Dynasty's imperial examinations exclaimed in surprise, "What kind of examination discipline is this?"

The only task of the soldiers proctoring the exam was to maintain order. As long as the exam room didn't become chaotic, nothing else mattered.

Even if these cattle and horses pass the civil service exam, they'll still be pitiful creatures earning only three yuan a month, with food provided but no accommodation. Why make things difficult for them?

After the first exam, the second math exam followed immediately. The math test was simple, consisting of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, with the final challenging question being the calculation of the area of ​​squares, triangles, and circles.

The Chinese and Math exams were at the level of elementary school students in later generations, but if you could pass them, you would be considered one of the nation's elites in this era, a promising talent who could be molded.

The government needs people who are literate and can do arithmetic. Enough is enough. First, solve the problem of having enough, and then solve the problem of quality.

After the two morning exams, there was a one-hour break. During this break, the candidates left the exam room, and the examiners collected the papers for both subjects at once.

After the exam resumed in the afternoon, the National Ideology test paper was brought out, and the candidates finally cheered themselves up to face it.

The first question was about your impression of the head of state.

The second question asks how you view the significance of a head of state to a country.

The third question asks you to list the contributions of the head of state to the country.

The final question: Write a 500-word essay on the deeds of President Zhao Yan, without any restrictions on whether it's praise or criticism (try criticizing one!).

The first three questions are worth 30 points each, and the final essay question is worth 70 points.

This exam paper is nationally standardized, but the Chinese and math exams are set by each province according to its own circumstances. Anyway, the people recruited are used by each province, so it doesn't matter if you don't care. You're the one who's going to be exhausted.

The only test on national ideology was one that was centrally administered and set by the central government. Zhao Yan felt this was a bit too sycophantic, so he personally wrote a sentence on the center of the test paper: "Please evaluate this head of state objectively, without any need for flattery!"

Upon seeing this sentence, all the test takers knew who had set the exam! They all focused intently, writing with utmost care.

The Chinese and Mathematics exams each have an hour and a half to answer, but the National Ideology exam has a full two hours to answer.

After the exam, it was exactly 4 p.m., an awkward time. The candidates couldn't even get a meal and were all driven out of the exam room to go home.

The central government did not allocate a single penny to the civil service examination; all expenses were raised and paid by the provincial governments themselves. In wealthier areas, professional examination venues were set up, and each candidate had their own test paper to answer the questions.

In some poorer provinces, several candidates share the same answer sheet and bring their own paper to write their answers.

In the poorest provinces of North Korea, the exam papers were simply posted publicly, and the candidates copied the papers themselves, answered the questions, and then sent the papers to the government at their own expense.

In short, everyone showed their unique abilities and initiative, and since the higher-ups didn't have money, they found their own ways to hold the exams.

This absurd civil service exam attracted over 100,000 candidates, half of whom were just there to take advantage of the situation, with some even copying other people's answers during the exam.

But basically no one cares. If you can copy, that's a skill, and the results you get from copying count too. At least you can write and recognize characters.

Chapter 151 New Education After the War

September 7, 1908, in a certain place in western Hunan.

Nestled among the mountains, a small town sits beside the river. This place is in the Zi River basin. The town is called Meihua Town, and for thousands of years, the town has lived a peaceful and stable life.

Until recently, a town mayor arrived in the town with a dozen or so clerks and announced the establishment of the Meihua Town Government of Hunan Province of the People's Republic of China, the town began to undergo new changes.

Mayor Lin Jishun is a middle-aged man missing an arm. He was a member of the revolutionary army and later participated in the Korean War, where he was wounded and retired.

After retiring from the military, he was transferred to the civil service system without taking an exam and became an eighth-rank clerk. He interned and participated in politics in other county governments for less than three months before being sent to Meihua Town to establish a town government.

The tide of the times is rolling in, and whether you like it or not, you can only move forward with it. Lin Jishun is one such example.

At this moment, Lin Jishun stood in front of his dilapidated town government building and sighed helplessly, "Alas, if I weren't disabled, would I have fallen so low?"

"Mayor, dinner is served. Would you like to eat later or now?"

"Come right away, save some for me!" Upon hearing the word "meal," Lin Jishun quickly dismissed his chaotic thoughts. Before he could even finish speaking, he hurriedly took out a lunchbox and chopsticks from his satchel and headed straight for the government lobby.

The so-called town government was actually a local earth god temple, which was built during the Ming Dynasty. After the higher authorities planned to establish a town government in Meihua Town, they didn't have much funding, so they chose this ownerless earth god temple as the location of the town government.

As long as they can spend less money, the higher-ups don't care about anything else; cost is the top priority.

Due to funding issues, the town government operates on a two-meal-a-day system, with lunch and dinner served. There is no canteen within the government premises; meals are delivered by people from the local community at the government's expense.

When Lin Jishun first arrived half a month ago, he still put on airs and let his subordinates eat first. Unexpectedly, his subordinates were really not polite and left him nothing. They finished every meal. After being hungry for two days, Lin Jishun no longer dared to put on airs.

Today's lunch was quite substantial. The main dish was sweet potato and mixed grain rice, along with a pumpkin soup and stir-fried chili peppers with fermented black beans as side dishes. Don't expect any oil or grease. The reason it was considered substantial was because the sweet potato and mixed grain rice was so filling that a whole big bucket was delivered.