Chapter 728: Comparing it carefully, the data is so bloody (please subscribe and vote)

"This is..." Xin Maojiang looked at the note in his hand in confusion, not quite understanding what it meant.

"This matter must not be leaked. Even if you find my third young master, he will never admit it."

After saying this, the middle-aged man turned over, jumped on the horse, and galloped away, leaving behind a heroic figure for the four local tribute talents.

The four of them looked at each other, all a little confused. Xin Maojiang spread out the note with confusion on his face and only glanced at it.

He couldn't help but let out a small sigh, and as if he thought of something, he immediately folded the note.

"Three of you, let's talk after we go in."

Seeing what the calm Xin Maojiang said, the other three suppressed their inner curiosity and followed Xin Maojiang back to the house.

At General Xin Mao's signal, Wu Xiangshou, who was walking at the end, closed the door. At this time, General Xin Mao spread out the note and placed it on the desk.

After just two glances, Shangguan Yi couldn't help but take a breath and wake up.

"This...hiss...could this be..."

Ren Yaxiang also took a breath of cold air as if he had a toothache and muttered softly.

"No wonder Cheng Taichang asked the personal attendant to explain it like this just now. This must not be leaked."

"Tai Cheng does this often, isn't it a bit..." Shangguan Yi couldn't help but frown slightly.

After spreading the note, Xin Maojiang, who had been silent all this time, slowly spoke.

"Everyone, do you still remember what Cheng Taichang said to us here before?"

"The princes in the court are not comfortable with us being able to come out on top, so they hold another imperial examination..."

"Don't forget our origins."

Xin Mao said a few words, which made the other three people's expressions darken.

The princes in the court were unhappy. They must be referring to the aristocratic families with heirlooms of poems and books, and they were not happy to be overshadowed by a humble scholar like himself.

It is precisely for this reason that they will try every means to conduct the imperial examination.

The reason is that he wants to take advantage of the opportunity of the palace examination to put himself at the bottom of the Jinshi list.

"Mrs. Cheng treated me like this and reminded me again and again not to disappoint His Majesty. This proves that His Majesty is also on his side."

"I hope we can continue to be among the best in the palace examination."

"We originally had no hope of an official career, but now things have turned around. At this time, there is no need to discuss it any more."

"We'd better think carefully about how we can write a good article on top of the imperial examination, live up to Cheng Taichang's trust, and live up to His Majesty's high expectations."

Ren Yaxiang smashed his mouth, picked up the note and looked at it twice, then took a tinder from the side and lit the note until it burned out.

The four of them looked at each other in a tacit understanding, picked up the wine glasses in unison, and drained the wine in one gulp.

#####

Two days later, the Jinshi list was finally posted. Look at the names at the top of the list.

It immediately aroused disbelief and uproar among those candidates, whether they were on or off the list.

"What, what's going on? Could it be that the list was wrong?" A fellow who was also on the list couldn't help shouting loudly.

"That's right, aren't the four of them recommended by Cheng Sanlang? Cheng Sanlang has already annoyed the official department of Changlu, but the person he recommended can still be ranked at the top of the list..."

Noises and discussions arose one after another, and some candidates who knew Ren Yaxiang, General Xin Mao and others were looking for the four candidates recommended by Cheng Chubi.

But no one was found, which made everyone even more unhappy.

"Also, look, someone is here again..." At this moment, another police officer was seen arriving holding a notice.

This notice tells everyone that in order to congratulate His Majesty the Tang Emperor on the tenth anniversary of his rule, at the request of hundreds of officials, His Majesty the Tang Emperor showed his love for talents and his heart to recruit talents.

It was decided to hold the imperial examination in Hanyuan Hall in mid-April. His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty would hand-pick the top three Jinshi who were admitted in the tenth year of Zhenguan, that is, the number one scholar, the second person, and the third flower.

And those Jinshi who were on the list who had already learned the whole story from the aristocratic families, unexpectedly showed such expressions.

Soon, these Jinshi scholars who were on the list left the place where the results were released earlier than those who failed the list.

Some of those who failed to pass the exam for the title of rural tribute, beat their chests and stamped their feet, cried loudly, and were dejected.

Naturally, he also wanted to be peaceful. On the contrary, he was surprised that General Xin Mao and the other four people could not only be admitted as Jinshi after Cheng Chubi offended Changsun's official department.

He is actually ranked at the top of the list. What does this mean? Doesn't it mean that Cheng Chubi's weight in His Majesty's heart is even greater than that of Changsun's official department?

Of course, everyone only dared to speculate and discuss in whispers, but such rumors quickly spread among the more than a thousand rural tribute candidates who failed the exam, and then began to flow into the market.

#####

In the Ganlu Hall, Li Shimin sat in front of the desk with a very ugly expression on his face, looking at the two folders placed in front of him.

The booklet was filled with dense data, and it was those data that made Li Shimin tremble with fear.

After seeing only the data of Chang'an County, I couldn't bear to look at the data of Wannian County and threw both the documents back on the table.

It's as if it's not just a bunch of numbers, but a hot potato.

After a short meeting, Fang Xuanling and Ma Zhou, who seemed a little short of breath, rushed to the Manlu Hall hand in hand.

Li Shimin reluctantly smiled at these two confidants, raised his hand and said:

"You two gentlemen, come and sit down..."

"Your Majesty summoned us urgently, but what's the important matter?" Ma Zhou and Fang Xuanling looked at each other and asked first.

"In the past few days, I have sent people to collect some data and come back. You two, please take a look first..."

Li Shimin sighed lightly and handed over the two folders on the case table.

"Take a look, this one was collected from Chang'an County, and this one was collected from Wannian County."

Ma Zhou subconsciously raised his hand to take the certificate from Chang'an County handed over by His Majesty, and looked at the data carefully.

Soon, his face became extremely ugly, and those shocking data were really frightening.

"I really didn't expect that after careful comparison, it would be so bloody..."

Fang Xuanling's expression on the side was not much better. He looked at the data on the booklet in his hand and said in a voice after a long time.
Chapter completed!