Chapter 306 - 204

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Chapter 306: Chapter 204 In the study, Mr. Xiao played chess with Zhao Yao while chatting. The two of them casually analyzed the court’s situation very thoroughly. One taught in Wende Hall, and the other studied there; neither had ever attended the court, yet the two of them saw the court’s situation clearly, even more so than many ministers. Speaking of the ministers in the court, Mr. Xiao’s expression suddenly became serious. He sighed softly, "Alas... Most of the ministers today come from noble families or families of officials, rarely from commoner families. It is still too difficult for scholars from commoner backgrounds to make their mark." "It’s much better now than it used to be. At least there are more ministers from commoner backgrounds in the court," Zhao Yao kneeled for a while and his legs went numb, so he changed to sitting cross-legged. If it weren’t for facing Mr. Xiao, he would have liked to scratch his toes. "During the previous dynasty, nearly all the ministers attending morning court came from noble families; it could be said that the noble families controlled the court." In this regard, Zhao Yao was very much like the emperor. "When Grandfather founded the Great Zhou, he specially invited the maternal grandfather of the Fourth Uncle to come out and establish the Imperial College to recruit scholars from commoner backgrounds, aiming to cultivate officials for the court. Now the Imperial College has trained some ministers from commoner backgrounds for the court. Although most of them have not yet held important positions, they will surely take key roles in the future. By then, they will recommend scholars from commoner backgrounds to become officials in the court. In this way, the number of ministers from commoner backgrounds in the court will increase." "This is very good, but it eventually addresses the symptoms, not the root cause," Mr. Xiao said, slightly furrowing his brows, "The noble families will never let ministers from commoner backgrounds increase too much, nor let them hold key positions in the court, taking away their power." "It’s not about what the noble families want or don’t want," Zhao Yao tossed the chess piece into the air and caught it again, "Father would never allow the noble families to prevent scholars from commoner backgrounds from becoming officials." "In the capital, the emperor can prevent noble families from interfering in the selection of officials, but it’s not necessarily the case in the provinces," Mr. Xiao sighed, "The provinces are far from the capital, and the emperor’s reach is distant. The selection of local officials is still often decided by local officials." "I heard that some places openly sell official positions, of course, the positions sold are not major ones, just minor ones." For local major officials, the court has the final say, such as the governor. The governor has the authority to recommend officials and select some officials to serve under him. The positions of the officials under him are mostly determined by the governor. Even though the governor decides his subordinates’ positions, there is supposed to be an assessment process. However, in many places, this process is skipped. On the surface, the governor doesn’t dare to sell official positions, but secretly, it’s still happening. Not to mention, every place has wealthy merchants. Although these merchants are rich, their social status is very low. These merchants do not want to remain subservient; they also aspire to become high officials, but their status makes it impossible for them to enter the court as officials. Yet, they do not want things to stay this way. They can keep a low profile themselves, but their descendants cannot. Wealthy merchants have money and are very ambitious. They not only want money but also power, hoping to develop their family into a noble one. A merchant who doesn’t want to become a noble is not a smart merchant. Wealthy merchants know they cannot serve as officials in the capital, but they can hold positions locally. Even being a minor official locally is a good thing. So, in many places, wealthy merchants secretly buy official positions. The court prohibits the buying and selling of official positions, but many places exploit their distance from the emperor’s reach to secretly sell positions. "This situation is repeatedly prohibited but not stopped," Mr. Xiao said gravely, "Since ancient times, the methods for selecting officials have not been very effective, even monthly assessments from the past." Zhao Yao asked, "Sir, then what do you think is a good way to select officials?" Mr. Xiao shook his head, "I don’t know. If I had a better idea for selecting officials, I would have told the emperor long ago." Saying this, Mr. Xiao sighed with a troubled expression, "I just want more scholars from commoner backgrounds to have the chance to become officials, to fulfill their ambitions, serve the court, and pray for the people." "Actually, there is a way to enable more scholars from commoner backgrounds to become officials and select outstanding ones from among them." Mr. Xiao’s eyes instantly brightened upon hearing this, eagerly asking, "What way?" Zhao Yao was just about to speak but suddenly thought of something and immediately fell silent. Seeing Zhao Yao suddenly purse his lips and stop speaking, Mr. Xiao asked with concern, "Your Highness, what’s wrong?"

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