Above the court, things are always changing.
Originally, Du Ning opened his mouth to report and first denied the possibility of bribery and fraud in the imperial examination, which was enough to shock everyone present. However, as his purpose was truly revealed, all the ministers present were still shocked and confused.
You know, as soon as this case came out, it became a certainty that Xiao Tan would pack up and return to his hometown. Originally, the matter should have ended here. It was enough to have such a Hanlin bachelor to take the blame.
However, what no one expected was that Academician Xiao was so concerned about face that he was scolded by his disciples at the gate of the palace, handed the emperor a letter of self-introduction, and then committed suicide by cutting his pulse.
If you just die like this, then forget it. There are many people who would do this kind of thing by pouring dirty water on the dead. It is so easy to call it suicide out of fear of crime.
But by chance, the man was saved!
Now, it becomes interesting.
As we all know, suicidal thoughts are often impulsive. If you really get over that impulse, you may not be able to make the decision again.
Especially at the moment of life and death, few people would want to experience that feeling of powerlessness again.
Therefore, Xiao Tan's life was saved, and the possibility of him committing suicide again was very small.
It is precisely because of this that this case will take a turn for the better. Since Xiao Tan committed suicide, it means that he is very likely to have been wronged.
For a pure poet like him, he couldn't bear this kind of stigma, so he wanted to die to prove his innocence.
Although he is not dead now, the resentment in his heart will not be alleviated in the slightest. In other words, if someone really framed him, then Xiao Tan will definitely bite back at all costs, even if it involves him, he doesn't care.
In this situation, as long as Du Ning can use it properly, Xiao Tan can completely become his helper to bring down Jiang Yuan, or even the people behind Jiang Yuan. This is the wisest approach.
However, Du Ning did not do this. Although he pointed the finger at Jiang Yuan, he was not just targeting Jiang Yuan alone, but also brought Zhang Min, Zhu Jian, and even all of them with his words.
All the readers were impeached.
If we look at the facts of the case alone, as long as what Du Ning said is true, then it is indeed hard for these file readers to escape their involvement.
But when it comes to matters in court, we can never just look at the facts.
It is already very risky to rashly involve three cabinet ministers at the same time. You must know that no one who can achieve the position of cabinet minister will be alone in the government.
The reason why the ministers felt that Du Ning would target Jiang Yuan was because he was the biggest suspect in this matter.
The more important point is that most of Jiang Yuan's connections in the court were cut off after he had a falling out with Chen Xun.
In addition, Du Ning and Jiang Yuan both came from Qingliu, so it was not convenient for ministers from other factions to intervene in their disputes.
But even so, people who are well-informed about the cabinet know that since Jiang Yuan and Zhu Jian teamed up to run against Yu Shiyue, he switched to Wang Ao's disciples.
With this chief minister supporting the scene, Mr. Jiangge is not so easy to manipulate.
Apart from Jiang Yuan, although Zhang Min has never had a strong sense of presence in the cabinet, he is a practical talent.
The five ministers of the cabinet, Wang Ao and Zhu Jian, were promoted based on merit, and foreign officials came to Beijing. Yu Shiyue was transferred from Dali Temple. Although Jiang Yuan was promoted to the cabinet from the Minister of Justice, he belongs to the Qingliu lineage and came from Hanlin.
The six departments to which the hospital was transferred have no local experience.
Among these individuals, Zhang Min was the only one who started from the rank of seventh-rank county magistrate in a serious manner, and was promoted step by step to the position of minister of the Ministry of Industry. Then he won the appreciation of the emperor during the restructuring of the craftsman's household and was promoted to the cabinet.
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With such solid political performance qualifications, coupled with Zhang Min's always good temper in the court, his reputation in the court has always been good.
Especially after entering the cabinet, Wang Ao, Yu Shiyue, Jiang Yuan, and Zhu Jian all had troubles due to various reasons. Only Zhang Min, although he and Yu Shiyue, the second assistant, have always maintained the same
They have a good relationship, but they have always been peaceful and without any trouble.
Such people may seem easy to bully, but in fact they are the hardest to bully.
Because once you point the finger at him, everyone will feel that you are bullying an honest person.
Although there are many people fighting for power and profit in the imperial court, people like Zhang Min who work down-to-earth are indispensable.
Du Ning beat him down together, which would easily arouse the resentment of the court officials.
As for Zhu Jian, although he was defeated in the previous fight with Yu Shiyue, he even became infamous because of his attempt to seek Zhan affairs in the Prince's Mansion.
But what has to be said is that Mr. Zhuge, after all, carries the credit of going on a mission alone to rescue the Supreme Emperor.
Not to mention, many people are actually speculating that behind Zhu Jian, the Supreme Emperor is secretly supporting him.
It was already difficult to deal with just one of these people, not to mention that Du Ning had to deal with three of them at once.
Oh, by the way, that's not all. Although Du Ning placed the main responsibility on the three cabinet members, he did not forget the responsibilities of the other ministers.
Although these ministers had changed their positions, they basically did not move much. They were considered important and well-connected figures in the court. Behind them, near or far, stood several important ministers of the Seven Ministers.
If these people unite, Du Siqing will offend most of the court this time.
The most obvious point is that after Du Ning finished speaking, the seven ministers in the court, including the cabinet minister Wang Ao, all turned their attention to Du Ning's teacher Chen Xun.
That means, what on earth are you doing as a disciple?
However, facing the probing looks of a group of ministers, Chen Shangshu remained unmoved and expressionless, as if what Du Ning did had nothing to do with him.
In this case...
There was silence in the court for a moment, and the elders all looked back.
They gave me face, but since Chen Xun didn't accept it, they can't be blamed.
All the elders lowered their eyebrows and spoke in low voices. The discussion in the court became louder and louder. Finally, Zhao Xin, the Minister of Civil Affairs, strode out and said.
"Your Majesty, since Dali Temple has an imperial decree to investigate this case, it should be cautious. Now, Du Siqing is claiming that this imperial examination was the result of Hanlin scholar Xiao Tan colluding with cabinet ministers Jiang Yuan, Zhang Min, and Zhu Jian to deliberately set the standards in secret.
I don’t know where the evidence is for seeking personal gain through the imperial court’s talent promotion ceremony? What is their personal gain?”
Since Du Ning is going to cause trouble, he must have the confidence to withstand doubts.
The slight silence just now was because the ministers in the court gave Chen Xun the face to allow him, Du Ning's teacher, to come forward and clean up the situation.
However, if Chen Xun did not move, then he tacitly allowed the ministers to fight back.
In fact, this is the reason why many ministers in the DPRK and China were surprised by Du Ning's move.
Fraud in the palace examination is not a small crime. For the ministers involved in the examination, ending it with a lack of talent and a temporary mistake is the best reason.
Of course, since the emperor was angry, it was obviously impossible to simply cover it up.
However, Du Ning is a veteran in criminal cases. He can use Chunqiu's writing style to focus on Jiang Yuan and several other people, or even Jiang Yuan alone.
But he refused, so since Duning impeached them first, they can't be blamed for resisting.
There is no reason why Duning can only impeach them but not allow them to question it.
Of course, the ministers involved would not be the first to speak.
Taking the Ministry of Personnel as an example, the one who took part in the palace examination this time was Yu Shan, the former Minister of the Ministry of War and the current Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. The person who came forward to question it was another Minister, Zhao Xin.
This Zhao Shilang had a lot of experience in the court. He had been the Minister of Civil Affairs since Wang Zhi, the old minister, had not yet taken office.
Moreover, the experience of Zhao Shilang is very legendary. He is one of the few officials in the court who did not have a Jinshi background.
In the third year of Yongle, Zhao Xinxiang passed the examination and was selected to study at Taixue. Later, by chance, he participated in the compilation of "Yongle Dadian". Later, he was awarded the title of director of the Ministry of Industry. He served successively as director of the Ministry of Industry, doctor of the Ministry of Households, governor of Jiangxi, and official.
He holds positions such as Minister of the Ministry, and is known for his integrity, diligence, and honesty as an official. He is a good hand in many aspects such as grain storage and official administration.
More importantly, when Wang Zheng was gaining momentum and Yu Qian was framed, Zhao Xin, like Yu Shiyue, was one of the few ministers willing to stand up and speak out for Yu Qian.
Even because of this incident, Zhao Xin was later hated by Wang Zhen and imprisoned. Because of this incident, although Yu Qian now lives in Shaobao, he still respects Zhao Shilang very much.
In fact, had it not been for Wang Wen's sudden appearance, Zhao Xin was once considered to be the most likely person to take over the position of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Wang Zhili.
Even though Wang Wen intervened and became Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Zhao Shilang did not complain at all. Instead, he assisted Wang Wen conscientiously in completing the previous large-scale capital inspection.
Such a minister, except that his official position is not as good as that of the Seven Ministers, his influence in the court is not weak at all.
It's just that this old man has always kept his peace and does not participate in the battles between the court and the government. He only cares about the affairs in his hands, but this time, it is different. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together, this Zhao Shilang has a good friend,
It was none other than Zhang Min from the cabinet.
Facing Zhao Xin's questioning, Du Ning remained calm and said.
"Servant Zhao, before Xuexian Xiao committed suicide by cutting his pulse, he left a letter of self-introduction. This self-introduction letter explains how Jiang Yuan took the initiative to contact him and how he determined the review standards."
"On that day, before the marking, Jiang Yuan took the initiative to stop Xiao Tan, and during the break, he proposed that the marking standards should be unified. At that time, Xiao Tan originally planned to refuse, but Jiang Yuan was willing to help him select three candidates.
After persuading Xiao Tan, the imperial court called Zhang Min and Zhu Jian, and both of them agreed with Jiang Yuan's grading standards and said that Xiao Tan could select candidates on their behalf."
"Subsequently, Xiao Tan summoned the examiners to circulate Cheng Zong's examination paper after the examination began. Together with Jiang Yuan, he praised Cheng Zong's examination paper for being upright and peaceful, implying that they would depose those who were too sharp and not moderate enough.
Exam paper."
"Except for the secret discussion between Jiang Yuan and others, which came from Xiao Ban's self-introduction, all other matters are well documented and are not just nonsense by me."
Hearing this, Zhao Xin frowned. Seeing this situation, Jiang Yuan finally couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, Academician Xiao did indeed summon the examiners to praise Cheng Zong's examination paper, but he did not imply that we should depose the examination papers that differed from Cheng Zong's arguments. As for Du Siqing's accusation that Chen Chen colluded with Academician Xiao, it is even more so.
It’s nothing.”
"I don't know why Academician Xiao framed me. In this palace examination, I failed to select candidates for the country, and I know that I am guilty. However, I dare not accept the crime if I want to inflict it. Your majesty is wise, and you will be able to clearly understand the details and clear my name."
At the same time, Zhang Min also stepped forward and said.
"Du Siqing, you said that this matter was planned by Mr. Jiangge. He teamed up with me and Mr. Zhuge and used three places to be presented to the imperial court in exchange for Academician Xiao recommending Cheng Zong. Then I would like to ask, why did Mr. Jiangge
Do you want to do this?”
"You have said before that we, the readers, and the scholars, including Cheng Zong, have nothing to do with each other. So, Mr. Jiang Ge took this big risk just to recommend an unknown person.
, I’m afraid this doesn’t make sense, right?”
"Even if Mr. Jiang Ge has his reasons, then I would like to ask, why did Mr. Zhu Ge and I join forces with Mr. Jiang Ge?"
Although Zhang Min has always kept a low profile in the cabinet, just because he looks easy to bully does not mean that he is really easy to bully. This series of questioning pointed out the flaws in Du Ning's words.
Then, before Du Ning could answer, Wang Yining, the Minister of Rites, stood up again and spoke.
"Your Majesty, what Jiang Ge Lao said is true. Xiao Xueshi did summon the reviewers to praise Cheng Zong, but he did not imply anything. The ministers selected talents improperly and should be punished. But what Du Siqing said,
I want to impose a crime on you, so please let your Majesty take a closer look!"
Therefore, this is the biggest disadvantage of Duning's approach.
It is difficult for two fists to defeat the Four Hands. What's more, the ones he wants to oppose are not the Four Hands, but a large group of high-ranking ministers.
Zhao Xin wouldn't say anything. Just having Jiang Yuan, Zhang Min, and Wang Yining, the file readers, stand up would be enough for him.
Of course, this is also because Du Ning has indeed not produced any solid evidence so far. The only one is Xiao Fan's self-introduction statement.
However, this is just Xiao Ban's side of the story, and it is quite difficult to accuse so many court ministers on this.
In fact, this is also the reason why Jiang Yuan and others can wait calmly until now.
They had already known the contents of Du Ning's memorial. It was precisely because they knew that although Du Ning shouted loudly, he actually could not produce any solid evidence, so they did not show any panic at all.
Some people may even be thinking that they might be able to take advantage of this opportunity to bite back.
Faced with such a situation, Du Ning was also a little nervous.
Of course he was aware of any loopholes in his memorials.
In fact, at the beginning, he planned to target only Jiang Yuan and not involve other people, but in the end, he changed his mind after Chen Xun's suggestion.
Nowadays, the negative impact of such an endowment has gradually emerged, but where is the turning point that the teacher mentioned?
Or is it time to reveal the final trump card?
This chapter has been completed!