Everyone who received the news, no matter where they were, was stunned. It was as if the world had fallen silent.
The School of Miscellany had actually made a move.
Although this was only a warning to those who had a minor in the School of Miscellany, this also proved that the School of Miscellany had the power to destroy a large number of scholars in Jingguo.
Among the scholars of the human race, most of them majored in Confucianism, and most of them also majored in Confucianism.
There were not many people who majored in the School of Miscellaneous, slightly fewer than the School of the Military, the School of Legalism, the School of Engineering, and the School of Medicine. However, there were more scholars than the School of History and the School of Agriculture.
However, the number of scholars who majored in the School of Miscellany was second only to those who majored in Confucianism.
It could even be said that in terms of influence, the School of Miscellany was actually second only to the School of War and the School of Confucianism.
This was especially so for the low-ranking officials of the human race. They realized that their talents were limited and that it would be difficult for them to embark on the Divine Path. Therefore, no matter which school they majored in, most of them majored in the School of Miscellany in the end, hoping to obtain a higher position through the School of Miscellany.
Reality also proved that officials who majored in the School of Miscellany were more likely to be promoted than other officials.
Although those who majored in the School of Miscellany would be less affected after being punished by the School of Miscellany, at most, their literary guts would crack, and they would never be promoted to the civil rank. However, this alone was enough to shake the foundation of a country.
The importance of the country's grassroots had always been the same as that of its higher-ups. Any country that looked down on the grassroots would inevitably fall into chaos or even collapse.
The grassroots officials had low salaries to begin with, and they were influenced by their superiors. After being frightened by the School of Miscellany, they immediately fell into panic.
A few days ago, it was only the officials with higher ranks and higher positions who resigned. After the news of the Xiang Zhou officials being punished by the Zajia spread throughout Jing Country, many ninth-rank, eighth-rank, or even scholars and xiucai with no rank began to resign.
In places like Jiangzhou and Xiangzhou that were heavily influenced by the School of Miscellany, more than half of the officials in some prefectures and counties claimed that they were sick or old. There were even some who directly resigned.
Jingguo might punish a small number of people who resigned, but with such a large number of officials resigning, no one could punish them.
The Jingguo Cabinet had no choice but to hold an emergency meeting. Because only low-ranking officials were involved, the Empress Dowager was not invited.
The cabinet members quickly came up with some countermeasures.
First of all, the salaries of the low-level officials would be increased and the retirement system would be reformulated so that the low-level officials could obtain better security. However, this security was only for the officials who retired normally. If they suddenly left when the country needed them, they would not enjoy any benefits.
Secondly, anyone who resigned during the special period would not be allowed to become an official again. No matter what industry they were in, no matter what they did, they would not be able to enjoy the preferential policies of various regions.
Finally, their children, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law were not allowed to become officials in the imperial court. They were not allowed to hold any public positions, and they were not allowed to receive any titles from the imperial court.
The next day, the cabinet announced the decree.
When the officials in Jingguo saw the first clause of the decree, they felt that it was normal. When they saw the second clause, although they were dissatisfied, they knew that it was normal. However, when they saw the third clause, many officials were either angry or frightened.
Cutting off the path for future generations to enter the court and become officials was a great punishment.
In fact, in many places, some powerful families would hold on to some public positions. There were even rules that stated that these positions could be inherited. With this decree, once they resigned, there would be a gap in the succession of power. Once the position was taken away by someone else, it was very likely that they would lose it completely. This would cause the family's power to be greatly reduced.
Some of those who resigned early began to regret it and immediately returned to the yamen, hoping to be reinstated. However, no matter how close they were to the local officials, they were all rejected.
During this special period, any official who disobeyed would be severely punished.
However, this punishment also angered some who were hesitating whether to resign or not. Some officials openly criticized the decree and claimed that they did not want to resign, but because of this decree, they would resign immediately and leave Jingguo.
In any case, this decree had a certain effect. The number of people who resigned was greatly reduced.
Even so, the local officials were very busy looking for suitable officials. They even had to invite back some old people who had retired long ago.
Soon after, the Jingguo Cabinet issued a decree. In an extremely strict tone, they criticized the School of Miscellany for harming the human race and interfering with Jingguo's internal affairs. This kind of behavior was simply leading the way for the demon world.
After that, Jingguo requested the Notre-Dame to make a decision on this matter. The Right Prime Minister, Cao Dean, and the Minister of Rites, Sheng Boyuan, went to the Notre-Dame together.
Because they had to accept the Notre-Dame's decision, the School of Miscellany had to stop punishing Jingguo officials. However, the School of Miscellany was still investigating Jingguo.
Jingguo and Tan Si now shouldered the responsibility of suing the Zong family and Gyeongo in the Notre-Dame. From the beginning, they had been following the principle of "delaying". No matter what happened, they would deliberately delay until the end.
Therefore, the Notre-Dame's decision lasted for a whole month, but the two sides still did not reach a consensus.
In this month, without the threat of the School of Miscellany, very few people resigned from Jingguo. Furthermore, Jingguo was not greatly affected by this and continued to develop vigorously.
In this month, Fang Yun mainly did something dishonorable, but he had to do it.
With the explosive development of Jingguo, there was no shortage of people in the fields. However, there was a shortage of people in other areas. Whether it was mining, logging, or working in the workshops, they all needed people.
Because of the lack of people, the cost of recruiting workers increased.
Moreover, with the influx of gold and silver from the outside world, Jingguo's prices began to soar. Before long, the increase in the income of Jingguo's citizens would be far behind the increase in prices.
In the past, the workshops could exploit their workers. However, after Fang Yun abolished slavery and formulated a series of policies, the workshop owners did not dare to exploit their workers too much. However, if the profits were low, it would lead to a decrease in investment. This would inevitably affect the development of the workshop and the advancement of technology.
Fang Yun had already prepared for this. Therefore, other than the workshops that targeted the marine race, which had a relatively large proportion of luxury goods, the other workshops mainly produced bulk goods. This was because the market for bulk goods was large and the volume was large. This could bring in more manpower and machinery to prevent the industry from becoming hollowed out.
No matter how Fang Yun prepared, he could not stop the increase in manpower costs. This was the inevitable trend of a country's development. However, the excessive manpower costs became a big problem for many workshop owners. If this trend continued, the profits of the workshops would be greatly reduced in a year at most. Some workshop owners were even secretly discussing whether to move to another country in half a year.
Fang Yun had already prepared a plan. In order to keep the workshops in Jingguo, he secretly commanded and manipulated them to recruit workers from various underdeveloped and poor areas. In order to gain the trust of the people, he did not hesitate to pay them in advance.
At first, it was relatively smooth. However, some families saw a business opportunity and began to treat the recruitment as a business. Therefore, many families and businesses were like sharks that smelled blood. They began to recruit workers from various places and then sold them to the workshops in Jingguo.
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