At night, when the lights were on, beside the bright gas lamp, Yu Wenwen looked through the memorials, and from time to time he picked up his pen to write something. On the side, Chen, who was the secretary, sorted out the documents, arranged the memorials one by one, and registered them.

On the other hand, Zhang Lihua was also reading at night. She was reading books, which were related to mining and had to organize them every month so that she could report to the queen in a timely manner.

Among the concubines, only the "newcomer" Chen has a lighter task and only needs to be a secretary to help Yuwen Wen. All the others are "appointed" and are in charge of some industries (accounting, reconciliation), or managing the banned internal affairs, no exception is.

In addition, everyone also has to take a "rotate" on weekdays, accompanying the little princes and princesses to play, do their homework, and exercise, and is jokingly called "three escorts".

Then, the concubines held a small meeting at the beginning of the month, mid-day, and at the end of the month, called "ventilation meeting", reporting to the queen and listening to the queen's instructions. In addition, the quarterly meetings must be held every quarter, and they are not allowed to be idle anyway.

Even pregnant women are no exception!

Zhang Lihua looked up at Chen. Chen, who was among the concubines last fall, was extremely favored by Yuwen Wen. At this time, she was pregnant and her abdomen was slightly bulging.

However, because the month is not too long, he is not allowed to recuperate. He still serves as secretary for Yuwen Wen and also helps Manager Chen.

Chen is now in charge of some of the internal affairs of the ban and has to supervise the chef. He is also very busy. The concubines "go to work" at the pace of "doing five or two off", and they don't feel like concubines, but the shopkeeper who works for the boss.

Because I am "working", I have "wage" every month.

Zhang Lihua was a "experienced person". As the concubine of Chen at that time, she was quite familiar with palace affairs. Originally, the Shaofu was responsible for the palace industry and property management, but Yuwen Wen was better off and handed over all the industries to the queen and concubines to manage (accounting).

The reason why there is such a strange phenomenon is that Zhang Lihua knows that this is the case when Qiandi was founded. When various industries were first established, the female family members of Qiandi were in charge (in charge of the accounts), so it has continued to this day.

As she thought about it, Zhang Lihua thought of herself. She had never been able to give birth to a prince for Yuwen Wen, so as time went by, the possibility of losing favor became greater and greater.

Those who serve others by sex will love to fly if they are less lustful. The concubines in the harem are the oldest. Although they have maintained their care over the years and insisted on fitness, they still maintain a high level in terms of body and appearance, but they still cannot do anything to compare with other concubines.

Not to mention the young and beautiful "newcomer" Chen, Zhang Lihua feels that her appearance probably only needs to be able to compete with her at the same age.

Fortunately, Yuwen Wen handed over an important industry to her to manage (accounting), and the days ahead will not be so hopeless.

Coal, black things, are not worth much, but coal mines that produce large amounts of coal are like springs that spray money at a glance, bringing a steady stream of income to the owner every month. In just a few years, the revenue of the trading companies under the name of the Palace has increased by five times compared with the first year by directly mining or investing in various coal mines.

With the explosive growth of coal mining scale in various places, the income of this industry will soar in the future, not only the royal family, but also other officials who run mining industries. Zhang Lihua holds such an important industry and her anxiety has gradually dissipated.

She failed to give birth to a prince for Yuwen Wen, but she was also useful to Yuwen Wen. She is now in charge of mining and has always performed well. Every time she holds a meeting, the queen can't find any problems.

Therefore, since she is a useful person, she is not a redundant person. Even if her beauty is declining in the future, she will not be forgotten by Yuwen Wen in any corner. No one will care about her well-being when she is sick.

As he thought about it, Zhang Lihua’s intention to be an “excellent shopkeeper” became even stronger.

Of course, Yuwen Wen didn't know what Zhang Lihua thought. At this time, his attention was entirely on the memorial. As the first shot of the imperial examination (country examination) was successfully launched, the curtain of the "redundant officials era" prophesied by some knowledgeable people slowly opened.

The imperial examination requires regular examinations to be held in the selection of talents, so as time goes by, the problem of more and less officials is becoming more and more obvious, and more "carats" appear, but the "pits" are not enough, so there are more and more redundant officials who are free to pay their salary and do not do anything.

This situation will probably become serious after decades, but Yuwen Wen will not sit idly by.

To solve this problem, we can limit the number of Jinshi selected in each palace examination, so as to achieve the number of Jinshi as there are as many vacancies as there are.

But it is not possible to actually operate, because there will definitely not be many vacancies, but there will only be more and more people who want to be officials. If the number of Jinshi selected in each imperial examination is too small, it will make the exam too difficult, which will be detrimental to the court to win people's hearts.

The "people" in the hearts of people, of course, refer to the cold tribe (small and medium-sized landlords). This is the basic class of the ruling of the court, and it is impossible not to bribe them.

Even if it causes redundant officials, as many people as possible must be allowed to enter the system, so the number of Jinshi cannot be too strict.

However, if you buy people's experience, spend too much money and the finances cannot hold on. It is impossible to "laid off employees" or suspend the imperial examination at that time.

Therefore, how to find a balance between buying people's hearts and serious financial bankruptcy caused by redundant officials is something that Yu Wen Wen must consider.

Because even without the imperial examination, the problem of many officials in the Zhou Kingdom is already in the absence of many officials.

Since the second year of the elephant, after more than ten years of turmoil and war, the Zhou State finally unified the Central Plains. However, due to the turmoil and war in the past decade, a large number of old ministers and old people have been created, with only scattered orders, but no suitable official positions are arranged.

The suppression of Yang Ni and Yuchi Ni were the first to conquer the Chen State (Yuchi was in charge), and the second to conquer the Chen State (Yuwenming was in charge), all produced a large number of meritorious ministers, who were awarded titles and had scattered ranks.

Not only that, the Liang State withdrew its vassals and the Chen State was destroyed. A large number of officials from the Liang State and Chen State were appointed as officials of the Zhou State. In addition, after Yuwen Wen ascended the throne, he pacified Nanzhong, restored Liaodong, and attacked the Turks. A large number of meritorious officials and soldiers also emerged.

These people also have titles and ranks, but because of the lack of vacancy, many people are still waiting to be appointed.

As a result, the lack of officials in the Zhou State began to become prominent, and many officials only had scattered ranks but had no actual appointments, becoming scattered officials.

Even though Yuwen Wen had established new offices such as Maritime Department, Zhudao Weaving Department, Zhu Transport Department, and other new offices, as well as the establishment of prefectures and counties in Nanzhong and Liaodong, which absorbed many officials to "employment", these "employment positions" still could not meet the huge "employment needs".

Now that the imperial examination is held again, a large number of "newcomers" rush into the officialdom to "take work". It is conceivable how the "old people" waiting to be appointed will complain.

Originally, the salaries of officials were linked to positions (official positions). Of course, there would be no salary without appointment. The officials could only rely on income from titles and fiefs (fixed titles). However, in order to stabilize the hearts of the people, the court still paid appropriate rice to these officials.

People do not lack this little bit of money, just to be honored, comforted, and speak, but not to give it?

Okay, if one day, the old King Qi made a cry about the Taimiao incident, the scene would be as ugly as it would be.

To put it bluntly, it is to spend money to maintain stability. However, the fact that spending money to support idle people made Yuwen Wen feel very distressed. Although the problem of redundant officials is not very serious now, if he does not solve it, if he reaches his son, his grandson will be even more unable to solve it.

Therefore, we must prepare for the future, and even if it cannot be cured, we must find ways to alleviate it.

Of course, the government officials have to think about it. After a few years of arguing, they finally came up with a plan. Then, based on this plan, they each drafted their own draft and presented it to the imperial examination.

The memorial that Yuwen Wen read at this time was related content, but as he looked at it, he felt something was wrong.

Then I remembered a poem.
Chapter completed!