Chapter 327: Chapter 187: Governance Strategy_3

Translator: 549690339

That is to say, among all the scholars in Shaoyang Prefecture, only one out of fifty people each year can be an official.

Although this admission rate can’t be considered too low, it’s definitely not high.

But when expanding the scope to the whole South Sea Prefecture, there is no need to mention the South Sea Prefecture itself, which has been devastated by the Miao People. Probably, there aren’t many scholars left.

But considering the size, there should still be about two or three hundred scholars.

The situation in Luyang Prefecture is relatively better, and there should be about three or four hundred scholars.

So putting all five prefectures together, there will be more than a thousand scholars.

Lu Yuan held a selection examination and offered more than four hundred official positions for the candidates from the population of just over a thousand scholars, so the probability of being selected was almost a one-to-one choice.

If the probability of becoming an official has increased by twenty or thirty times, isn’t it good news for those scholars?

They would probably kneel down and sing praises for Lu Yuan after hearing the news.

And those who can read are usually powerful and influential people in the local area. Isn’t it equal to stabilizing the local government if they are grateful for Lu Yuan’s help?

Therefore, Lu Yuan’s move is an excellent strategy in winning people’s hearts.

But while secretly admiring him, Sun Siwen still raised a little suggestion: “General, the examination for selecting officials is only carried out in the five prefectures of South Sea Prefecture. I think the scope is still too small.

පනවාගේ,නාපුලසුද නැටිලාව නැතිව සහභාගී කළාවක්. මෙහිද මුල් රටක් නිර්මාණය කර තිබේ.

In the five prefectures across the river, there are only a thousand scholars to participate in the selection of officials. This will inevitably result in a large number of people without talents getting official positions and repeating the cycle.

Moreover, General has ambitions in Dongting. How can your grace be limited to the Nan River prefectures only?

In my opinion, the decision of selecting officials should be extended to the whole prefecture.

Even now, despite the disturbances in Dongting Prefecture, there are still three thousand to five thousand scholars left in various places.

General can issue a decree seeking talents, allowing them to come to the examination. This will not only spread your reputation but also let the people of the prefecture know your rules and regulations and realize the legitimacy of the government.

Furthermore, it could show kindness to the gentry and powerful families in the prefecture and win their loyalty.

In the future, when you raise an army to revolt, wouldn’t the local rich and powerful welcome the royal teacher with food and drinks?

Moreover, if the whole prefecture can hold exams, then one person can be selected from ten candidates, thus promoting the best among them and making them useful. This will also be helpful to local governance.

My humble opinion, please decide, General.”

After saying this, Sun Siwen bowed and then waited for a reply.

Lu Yuan listened and thought: “Expand it to the whole prefecture?”

Actually, the examination range could be extended to the whole prefecture.

But in this way, it would also be like declaring to the court that he wants to separate the entire Dongting Prefecture.

Such a thing, of course, the court would never accept.

By that time, the court would take measures to suppress and disrupt the situation indispensably.

And even more extreme, the court might directly regard him as a rebel and suppress him.

After all, unlike the already ravaged Xichuan Prefecture and Jiuzhen Prefecture, although Dongting Prefecture has experienced long-term turmoil, the population is still quite large, and the output is abundant. If managed properly for a few years, it would be a major source of wealth and food.

How could the court let go of such a big piece of fat meat?

However, Sun Siwen has a point.

If he can take advantage of the official selection this time and win the hearts of the entire prefecture’s gentry and powerful families, it would undoubtedly be greatly beneficial to his future rule of Dongting Prefecture.

So, what should be the choice?

Lu Yuan stretched out his fingers and tapped on the table, falling into deep thought.

After a while, he looked up and said, “There is no need to rush the selection of officials for the whole prefecture. Let’s do it this way. The exam for scholars will be postponed for half a year. For now, let’s hold a selection for local officials within the three southern prefectures and set up the framework there first.”

The half-year period is the time Lu Yuan currently estimates for himself to break through the Innate realm.

As long as he waits for half a year, he can achieve the Inborn Grandmaster realm and become the pinnacle of martial artists in the world.

By then, he would have enough strength to negotiate more terms with the court.

‘In half a year, I can have a good talk with Yan Wangqiu about the conditions as well. I don’t believe that the old man really likes to move to the poor Xichuan Prefecture and face the threat of the Zhou People all the time.

Isn’t it better to stay in the South Sea Prefecture and be a king here than in Xichuan Prefecture?

If I can win him over, my bargaining chips in negotiating with the court will increase even more.’ Lu Yuan thought in his heart, gradually becoming somewhat confident about his plan.

Seeing his appearance, Sun Siwen didn’t understand why he wanted to postpone the selection of officials for half a year, but he could also see that his lord and good friend had his own considerations.

So he nodded and said, “That’s a possibility, but if we can’t select officials immediately, relying only on officials above rank 8 to maintain local order, it may take longer for the South Three Prefectures to recover.”

Lu Yuan waved his hand: “No need to be anxious. All I need from you is to maintain the stability of the South Three Prefectures. Matters related to the restoration of people’s livelihood can be carried out slowly.”

Sun Siwen said, “Then there should be no problem.”

After discussing this issue, the topic of local governance in the South Three Prefectures had been almost settled.

Sun Siwen wanted to leave, but Lu Yuan stopped him and brought up another matter: “During this battle, I wiped out sixty thousand Miao Soldiers and captured another thirty thousand. Now, there are more than ten thousand Miao soldiers who have been dispersed and need to be eliminated.”

As for the surrendered Miao Soldiers, their families can be pardoned.

But those killed Miao Soldiers’ families and the families of the scattered Miao Soldiers cannot be spared and must be dealt with.

There are sixty thousand soldiers under my command, nearly fifty thousand of whom have no wives or homes.

In the past, I promised the soldiers wealth and stability in the army, and now their wealth is abundant due to the loot.

But their stability is still somewhat lacking.

So, my intention is to distribute the wives and daughters of those sinful Miao People to my soldiers in batches.

In this way, not only can the local population be replenished, but also the family members of the sinners won’t be left uncontrolled, causing trouble. It will also allow my soldiers to have a family and fight for me wholeheartedly.

As you return, count the numbers and then start implementing it.

First, I will start with the tens of thousands of soldiers I left in the South_three_prefectures as a pilot.”

There are at least fifty thousand to sixty thousand families behind the hundred thousand Miao Soldiers in Nanshan Prefecture, which is a population of more than three hundred thousand people.

So many people, if left unchecked, facing Lu Yuan who killed their fathers, sons, and husbands, would naturally harbor resentment.

But if they are rewarded to Lu Yuan’s soldiers, then everything would be fine.

With those loyal soldiers watching, those Miao People’s wives and daughters would give birth to a few children for the soldiers, and eventually become content with their lives.

In this way, local stability can be achieved, the populace can be replenished, the livelihood of the Miao People who have lost their men can be resolved, and the loyalty of the soldiers under his command can be gained, which is a win-win situation on four sides.

Lu Yuan would naturally not let go of such a great opportunity.

Of course, Sun Siwen could also understand this point, so after listening to Lu Yuan’s words, he immediately said, “This is a good policy, and I will immediately deal with this matter once I return.”

“Good, let’s keep it that way.”

Lu Yuan nodded in satisfaction and waved to let Sun Siwen leave.

After the person left, he continued to bury his head at the desk and began to deal with the painful task of paperwork.

There was no other way. Although Sun Siwen had come, the political affairs and military affairs of the South_three_prefectures still needed to be handled by him before the framework could be established.

For now, he had to endure it.