Chapter 607: The Imperial Examination for Civil Servants

"Such a huge population and cultivated land account for one-tenth of Sizhou's population. Moreover, due to the loss of the puppet Wei's archives, these populations were not recorded."

"To the wealthy family, this is like fat falling from the sky. No wonder they can't help it."

After reading the information given by the Sima family, Ma Su quickly understood the reason for everything.

You know, the entire population of Sizhou is only a few hundred thousand. Even if those aristocratic families have been cultivating for many years, they only have about 100,000 hidden households.

Letting these people take the initiative to give up the benefits they are talking about is no less than killing them.

"But fortunately, the Hanoi noble families still support the imperial court. Now with the information and officials provided by the Hanoi noble families, we should be able to recover the missing population." Liu Xuan also nodded in agreement, but still seemed quite satisfied. .

At least from the current point of view, the Hanoi noble family and Sizhou are not of the same mind!

"Not necessarily..." Unlike Liu Xuan, Ma Su knew the temperament of these wealthy families very well. So after reading the files provided by the Sima family, he couldn't help but sneered.

"If I'm not wrong, this file does not come from Hanoi's wealthy family at all. They are only responsible for transferring it. The people who really want to hand over this file are precisely the wealthy families in Luoyang!"

"Ah?" Liu Xuan was a little stunned and looked at Ma Su with some confusion.

For this reason, Ma Di was also very patient and immediately explained to Liu Xuan.

"This group of farmers and the fields are too big, and the nobles in Sizhou know they can't hide it. So from the beginning, they never thought about eating it all themselves."

"This file was spit out by them on their own initiative to satisfy the interests of the imperial court. But it is definitely incomplete. There is definitely a large number of people who have been embezzled by them."

Take the initiative to give up some of your interests, and then split the accounts with the government to ensure harmony and wealth. This is the method that wealthy families everywhere are best at, and it is also a trick that has always been tried and tested.

At least if the person coming to Guandong was not Ma Su, any other official would probably acquiesce to this situation.

After all, the imperial court had benefited, and the local wealthy families were willing to cooperate. Local taxes can be collected, and materials for continuing the Eastern Expedition can be raised. Why not?

However, this time their plan may have failed, and Ma Di will not accept this trick.

"So...does the father-in-law still plan to settle the land in Sizhou again?" Liu Xuan hesitated for a moment and then asked.

If Ma Su planned to clear his father's land, he would naturally support it firmly. After all, this is his father-in-law, and as a student he can still tell who is his.

"It is necessary to clear the father-in-law's land. I don't know how many household registrations in Luoyang have been concealed. Many things must be broken and then established." Ma Di nodded slightly, but then the conversation changed,

"But there is no rush on this matter. We have many more important things to do before that."

"After all, we don't have enough officials to handle this matter right now, and most of the existing officials in Guandong are not trustworthy. If it really happens, the big clans will have 10,000 ways to sabotage our actions."

"So the current strategy is to recruit officials as soon as possible to expand the influence of the Han Dynasty in Guandong. Only by bringing enough Guizhou leaders and officials to our side can we successfully carry out the issue of clearing land ownership."

"Oh... ok... it all depends on the father-in-law." At this moment, Liu Xuan had no idea what Ma Di was talking about, and she had a mother's expression on her face.

But it doesn't matter whether he understands or not, Ma Su already has his next plan.

"Let Qin Mi and all the great scholars come, we have important matters to discuss!"

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The facts are similar to what Ma Di guessed. The Hanoi noble families did have some exchanges with the Sizhou noble families.

And the people and fields they handed over were also the benefits they planned to give up from the beginning. As long as they give up the farmsteads that do not belong to them in the first place, they will not cede their interests to the Han court.

This method of borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha is indeed very skillful.

In this regard, the Luoyang East Palace and the General's Palace, where Liu Xuan supervised the country, seemed to have acquiesced in this matter. Apart from converting the population recorded in the archives to normal household registration and reducing taxes as promised, there are basically no other major actions.

Overall, it seems that Ma Su has no plans to make any big moves. This made the Luoyang clan, who had been worried, gradually feel relieved.

Ma Su has indeed been smoothed by the times, and is now back to normal. In this way, there is no need to be so nervous. Anyway, it is just a different court.

With both sides exercising as much restraint as possible, a large number of farm households that had been exploited by Cao Wei were liberated. Their household registration was transferred back to the formal household registration, the farmland became their own, and even the tax was reduced to 10%.

Although in contrast, their corvee has also returned. But compared to the struggles under Cao Wei's rule, the current situation is comparable to heaven.

For a time, the whole south of Luoyang was praising the emperor's benevolence. Including Ma Su and Liu Xuan were praised, and the popularity of the man in Luoyang was rising.

However, when all these matters were basically settled, the Donggong Mansion suddenly issued an announcement to the entire Sizhou. After this Zhaowen was announced in Luoyang, it was then delivered by fast horse to various counties in Sizhou.

This Zhaowen is very simple. It is a notice to Sizhou. In order to revive Confucianism and implement the unified Confucianism policy announced by the court, the current crown prince Liu Xuan and a group of university scholars of the Imperial Academy will give lectures in Luoyang.

Therefore, the Eastern Palace announced to Sizhou that all students who want to learn can come to listen. The status of the learners is not divided into high and low. Even if you are just a farmer, you can come to listen to the lectures and learn Confucianism and classics.

At the end of the Zhaowen, the Eastern Palace also revealed one more thing. That is, due to the shortage of officials in Guandong, the Han court will open an imperial examination to Luoyang to recruit officials.

Even if you are a kid herding cattle on the ridges of the fields, as long as you pass the examination, you can become a minor official in Sizhou of the Han Dynasty.

Note that this is to open an imperial examination to recruit officials, not to open an imperial examination to recruit scholars. Those who pass the examination will become grassroots minor officials, not regular Han officials.

Before, the position of county minor official was generally the exclusive right of the illegitimate children of the gentry. But now, the Eastern Palace will open it to all the people.

As for the exam content... it's not difficult, and it's all what the prince taught. If you are willing to come, you have the opportunity to become a minor official in the Sizhou of the Han Dynasty.

When this imperial edict was published, the entire Sizhou and the counties were in an uproar. A large number of scholars looked gloomy, and there were also many people who were lucky enough to be literate and excited.

But no matter what, this Sizhou is likely to change...