250 – The Road to the Emperor (6)
A man named Max Weber said this.
“There are no downsides to bureaucracy! The most perfect institution in the world is bureaucracy!”
If people living in modern times heard this, they would retort with ‘What kind of bullsh*t is this?’…
Even now, more than 100 years after the concept of bureaucracy was advocated, there is no case of a system that goes beyond that in managing a large-scale organization.
In the era when Max Weber lived, the result of summarizing the shortcomings of the bureaucracy was presented, and even if he claimed that there were such shortcomings, there were many rigid systems of different dimensions that could be overlooked cutely, saying, ‘Is that enough? What more do you want?’ Did.
In France during the era of absolute monarchy, government offices were sold openly.
There is even an anecdote about the famous chemist, Lavoisier, who bought a post as a tax collector and was executed during the French Revolution as a hotbed of corruption while collecting taxes.
In England, which is called a hateful country, buying and selling of military posts and ranks was tolerated even during the Napoleonic Wars and beyond.
If you dig deeper, I don’t know if you should say that Hwang Seong-guk has a conscience, but when you buy a position in the army or navy, you don’t get promoted just by preparing money.
Even with such restrictions, there was a crazy trap clause that said that if the family had enough money, they could easily be promoted to brigade commander or division commander.
Of course, since titles are inherited in our empire as well, someday there will be cases where a nobleman like Schwein inherits the title and becomes a commander.
Then, in order to prevent such a situation, the military and administrative organizations should not be made into stagnants only for the nobility.
Encourage commoners to go to the academy to significantly increase the number of officials and commanders from commoners, and when nobles succeed to titles, we must focus on developing their abilities so that they do not suffer ‘disgrace being eaten by commoners because their children are incompetent’. Do.
At the same time, among nobles, the title can be passed on to an incompetent eldest son, and then the real authority can be eaten by a competent official from a commoner. It is also necessary to plant the trend of
Coming to think of it, people living in the former Imperial Territory can also be given hope that ‘if you study well in the Creutel Empire, you can become a noble’, and dissatisfaction will drastically decrease.
“If the human rights of the people have been guaranteed to a certain extent for the development of the empire, the next step is to maximize opportunities for education.”
After that, I went into the room where the president of the academy was waiting.
As soon as the president saw me, he tried to get down on both knees as if he was treating God.
“Isaac von Bolton, Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, I salute Your Majesty the Emperor, the great pioneer and benefactor of education.”
I just noticed he’s about to get down on both knees, but he’s staring at me with eyes full of respect, like he’s looking at a god.
Certainly, for the development of the academy, I created an academy city with a population of about 10,000 residents under it, and I often gave away my personal money to make sure the budget was not short, so the treatment of the academy professors was ridiculous. It has improved, and its influence has grown, but…
Still, isn’t it a bit like seeing people as gods?
With that kind of heart in mind, I looked at him and said with a burdened expression.
“It’s fine to show respect and respect to me, but isn’t it a bit too much to try to get down on both knees? If the clergy of the Deus Church see it, they will try to find fault with it.”
After saying that, the president said with his eyes even brighter.
“Thanks to Your Majesty’s support for the academy both physically and mentally, the Creutel Imperial Academy is already recognized as the best academy in Europe. Therefore, their status has risen overseas to such an extent that the sons of nobles in France, Brittany, and Romania, excluding the eldest son, have applied at least once in the hope of being accepted. Especially in the military department, thanks to the line-up of all the nobles of the Kreutel Empire to apply, our professors are treated with respect and generosity everywhere!”
I decided it was necessary to do so for the sake of the Empire, so I added a little extra to the academy and poured in the budget for three regiments even after excluding the own income from Academy City.
If you create a social atmosphere where education and ability are essential for success in the future…
No matter how high the authority of professors rises, it will stop at the level of emerging aristocrats, but in the case of the president, since he becomes the teacher of students who have passed through the academy, that authority will rise like crazy.
In the worst case, it’s not even that the emperor is doing something crazy, but enough to put a check on it.
If I said that to the president now, he would say, ‘What bullsh*t is that? Is it the sound of eating?’, But in fact, in Joseon, there were people who did not have the official title of ‘Sanrim’, but had high academic and moral reputation, so there were people who had more political influence than Jeongseung.
Ha ~ Should the president next to this nobleman raise his father or Ron on a symbolic level, and then pass it on to the head of the family that Victoria will make when she grows up?
Anyway, the family that Victoria will create is a collateral imperial family, so it has no right of succession, but even if the generations pass, it will be bound by the symbolism of the imperial family and will support the emperor.
Letting go of those worries, I patted the president on the shoulder and said.
“I see, then would you accept any request I make?”
“Of course. Even if the academy were to teach pagan religions on the premise that they would be excluded, I would teach them!”
Thanks to the president’s attitude, I was glad inside that I didn’t have to try to convince him.
“Tell me directly. From now on, regardless of department, 3% of the quota admitted to the academy should be allocated to the children of serfs and workers. Also, if they are selected, pay not only tuition fees but also living expenses and expenses for maintaining dignity in accordance with the ensign.”
After hearing that, the president responded in a voice that seemed curious about my intentions instead of refuting.
“Can you tell me why? In particular, if you don’t know about other departments, the military department is a place where you can rise above the baron depending on your abilities after graduation. Not only students, but there may also be opposition from nobles.”
“Okay, then I’ll tell you specifically.”
The moment he leaves this place, it will no longer be a special story.
In times like these, if you say, ‘I’m only telling you,’ expectations go up, and the possibility of acceptance goes up.
Is that why? Even though he was already in his mid-fifties, the president pricked up his ears as if he were hearing rumors about a woman he liked.
“I’m thinking of raising the academy’s status to a great extent. Specifically, until the idea was established that even the eldest son of a noble family had to go through the academy in order to succeed in the empire.”
To be honest, the three counts Balt, Frost, and Biermann, who are now the most successful among my vassals, are not very smart people.
So, all three of them instruct their vassals on the general direction and method, and the highly educated guys below are executing all the practical tasks.
Thus, if I shake off the dirt like dust, those three won’t get caught, but among the barons and inspectors under my command, there won’t be one or two noblemen who will run away at my hands.
I think there will be cases where they don’t cross the line because they learned at the practical level, but I don’t intend to intervene that far.
But what if the successor of the guys in charge leaves the academy’s military department and learns science related to supply?
They will become more capable enough to catch corruption themselves.
“Instead, students of all departments except the military department, which requires at least 10 years of service in the military after completing the academy, are compulsorily dispatched to each village for 3 years after graduation, regardless of status, to learn one more lesson than what the priests taught. You will be teaching advanced level classes. It will replace military service. At the same time, the entrance exam for the academy will be unified into a test called the ‘School Ability Assessment’, and it will be taken once a year at the initiative of each baron. The difficulty level will be presented at the level of evaluating whether or not you have the mathematical ability to understand and follow the studies you learn at the academy. This is the same for the imperial family.”
Until now, there was only one academy called the Imperial Academy, so if you want to get a score above the passing cut and enter, you’ll have to study a lot for the entrance exam. Moreover, since there are popular departments like military departments, the competition rate must be very high.
As time goes on, if there are more universities or vocational schools to replace academies, and if those with higher education become leaders in society, the rate of going on to school will rise like crazy, saying, ‘The only way to live is through education,’ as in Korea.
“If the exam is unified, fewer students will be able to enter the academy thanks to their parental status as before. However, if 3% is unconditionally allocated to serfs, serf-born academy graduates will not be treated well enough in society.”
“That makes sense. Therefore, from now on, we will set aside a two-year preparatory school system before entering the formal academy to provide an opportunity to bridge the gap in academic achievement between serfs and nobles before entering the academy. At the same time, isn’t there a system where even if you don’t pass the graduation exam, you are treated the same as a bachelor’s degree with ‘graduation recognition’? Try lowering the standards a little, but if you don’t pass, you won’t be able to graduate as an academy student. If you don’t pass for more than three years, you will fail regardless of your status.”
Hearing those words, the president seemed to roll his head and fell silent.
If the academy accepts 3% of commoners, if all nobles have to go through the academy in order to succeed, did you think that the academy’s status would rise and not fall?
“This is a radical policy that would not have been accepted by any other empire… But if it is Your Majesty’s order, we will accept it, regardless of the nobles and commoners of the Empire.”
I took his hand and shook his hand.
“Thank you. At the same time, the academy’s status has risen, so your next president will be my father. Then Ron, and later Victoria’s husband, will inherit it.”
Then, realizing what he meant, he said with tears in his eyes.
“Then, as the first president, I will go down in history as a great scholar who raised the status of academics, and perhaps…”
“If you hold the math ability evaluation test in the following year without any problems, you will be honorably retired, and you will be given the title of Viscount at the court for your achievements so far. Your family probably enjoys power as an aristocratic family with the highest status in learning.”
Perhaps that prestige is not enviable anywhere.
Because that family probably has several professors, including the head of the family.
And those professors point to nobles and gain their own strength.
However, giving equal rights to education.
That is the best way for the empire to overcome the closedness of the caste society and develop.
From Noble mtl dot com