Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

The interviewee scurried away.

Fang Zheng Yi suddenly spoke, "I think that young man from earlier was quite good. Have someone fetch me his file."

The interviewer abruptly turned around, only then realizing that Fang Zheng Yi was standing behind him. He busily said, "Master, please have a seat. I'll go get it right away."

Li Yuan Zhao dazedly asked, "I don't quite understand. What exactly is this interview for?"

Fang Zheng Yi smiled slightly and pushed a chair over, "Actually, it's nothing much. The people I recalled from the county are all professional lecturers. They frequently provide ideological education to the people in our county office. They've seen countless people."

"Saying it's an interview is just taking a glance and asking a simple question. Those who lie are immediately filtered out. It's that simple."

"Look at that kid. He's dressed very plainly. After getting money, instead of wanting to indulge in pleasure, he actually wants to help the people of the world. Even though he was told to answer truthfully, he lied without batting an eye. Someone like that definitely won't pass."

"Of course, this question is rather extreme. If he had hesitated for a moment and said no, he would have successfully passed."

"Uh... what if he wasn't lying?" Li Yuan Zhao was somewhat speechless.

"Then he's probably mentally unsound and likely to become a troublemaker. We don't want someone like that," Fang Zheng Yi said with a smile. "A person who doesn't have money, after getting money, doesn't think about letting himself, his family, and friends enjoy themselves. Instead, he wants to wholeheartedly help strangers. Isn't that crazy? Absolutely not."

"Lao Fang, according to your logic, there are no saints in the world," Li Yuan Zhao said, shaking his head and sighing.

"There are, but the probability is too low. I don't believe in low-probability events. If he were that kind of person, even the Embroidered Uniform Guard might not be worthy of him."

"Then why do you think he's good?"

"Because he's very handsome. Don't you think his eyes reveal purity? That's the elite of the Embroidered Uniform Guard I'm looking for."

"....."

Li Yuan Zhao quietly moved two steps towards the door.

Fang Zheng Yi gave him a look of disdain, "Your Highness, after the personnel are selected in the next few days, I plan to send them all to the Eastern Suburbs for training. The Embroidered Uniform Guard guarding the palace, the Ministry of War has already selected a portion, but I don't think they're enough. They need to be retrained. How about leaving this part to Your Highness?"

"These newly recruited commoners can be trained together. What's there to train for the people selected from the army? Lao Fang, don't you trust me?" Li Yuan Zhao's face was full of dissatisfaction.

Fang Zheng Yi silently nodded. Li Yuan Zhao was about to retort when he heard him continue:

"Your Highness, the people I need, being able to fight is certainly a basic requirement, but that's not the most important thing. The people selected from the army are too thuggish. They need to be slowly reformed later. But these new recruits are blank slates. I need them for other purposes."

"What other purposes?"

Fang Zheng Yi said, "Your Highness, you often stay in Banshan Ward. Do you know what the common people's biggest dissatisfaction with the government is?"

"Abuse of power, demanding bribes, and exploiting the common people," Li Yuan Zhao replied without hesitation.

He has been working among the people for a long time and can easily mingle with them. Naturally, he understands this situation very well.

The governance in Banshan Ward now can be regarded as extremely clear, and such situations rarely occur.

Fang Zheng Yi explained, "Your Highness is right. Low-level officials abuse their power to exploit the common people. Although the Embroidered Uniform Guard's responsibility doesn't extend to the common people, they can manage the people who manage the common people."

"The current tax burden is already heavy for the common people. Adding a few layers of exploitation out of thin air makes life even more difficult. In the future, only... cough, they are clearly law-abiding citizens, yet they need to pay more to do the same business as the powerful and wealthy. Is that fair?"

"Of course it's not fair! The Embroidered Uniform Guard I want to build is to maintain fairness. His Majesty and the safety of the palace are jointly responsible by the Directorate of Palace Attendants and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Except for specially designated major cases, I don't need to do too much."

"So, in my opinion, the most important thing for the Embroidered Uniform Guard is to crack down on illegal activities among the people and then promote it throughout the world."

Li Yuan Zhao thoughtfully said, "I see... So the reason you want to choose people with excellent appearances is to be able to get close to the people as soon as possible and win their trust?"

"That's right. Of course, this is only in the early stages. After this early transition passes, people with poor abilities will be filtered out, and capable people will be re-selected to join the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Performance assessments will be arranged for them."

"In addition to this, there is a big use," Fang Zheng Yi continued to explain, "Every time at the end of a dynasty, there is the problem of redundant officials. The burden on the court gradually increases, and the institutions cannot be streamlined. The Embroidered Uniform Guard may as well be a sharp knife to cut away the redundancies."

"Of course, these are just my humble opinions. This kind of problem may already be decades later. At that time, how to use the sharp knife of the Embroidered Uniform Guard should be a problem for Your Highness to consider."

Li Yuan Zhao showed a thoughtful expression and nodded unconsciously.

Fang Zheng Yi had also thought about this matter for a long time.

The duties of the Embroidered Uniform Guard are certainly determined by the palace, but there is still room for maneuver within the scope of authority.

The most important thing is that the organizational goals must be emphasized, otherwise, it will fall into a state of chaos.

The goal he emphasized was naturally consistently placed on the people. He was not very enthusiastic about monitoring the officials, and Emperor Jing did not particularly care.

"However, Your Highness doesn't need to be too confident. My Taoyuan County's training method is unique. When it comes to fighting, professional troops may not be their opponents!"

Li Yuan Zhao came back to his senses and sneered, "Good! We can compare separate training. Don't say I'm taking advantage of you by training the strongmen selected from the army."

"Heh, heh, heh, Your Highness can compare however you want... There are still many people behind. If Your Highness wants to interview in person, you can stay here to interview."

"Alright."

......

Li Yuan Zhao interviewed a few people in a row and found it extremely boring. He slipped away before long.

Fang Zheng Yi remained calm and observed the scene. This was his responsibility, and it concerned the people, so he had to do his best.

He could still learn more about the situation in the early stages. Perhaps he wouldn't have this leisure time when there were more people in the future.

In the afternoon, an interviewer came to Fang Zheng Yi with a stack of files.

"Master, the young man who came for the interview this morning has been thoroughly investigated. His name is Meng Puyu. His father was a scholar who died when he was a child."

"It's just that Meng Puyu's behavior is improper, and his character is stubborn. He squandered his family property early on. Now his old mother is still alive, and he has a wife and a son at home. This is the oral account of his neighbors."

Fang Zheng Yi took the information and carefully examined it, immediately frowning.

It was written that this guy not only often beat and scolded his wife and children but also had an affair with a widow next door. His reputation in the neighborhood was also extremely bad. His character was really terrible.

"Among today's interviewees, is there anyone who looks better than him?"

The interviewer shook his head, "This person's appearance is indeed outstanding. Among all the interviewees I've seen today, there is no one more handsome than him."

"But he is still far behind you, Master!"

"Stop flattering me. Then this person will be exceptionally admitted. It's not too late to slowly reform him later. Go to his house and give him the notice."

......

Brothers, the updates have been irregular recently, please understand... Because Banmian is discussing important life events with his family, cough, you know, it's the age where you can't avoid it.... The daily updates will be unstable in terms of time. I will update more for everyone after the middle of the month, and I will make up for what's missing.