When the northern scholars dispersed from the gate of the Imperial College, Lao Zhu felt relieved. But when he learned that they actually went to block the gate of the academy, he suddenly became nervous again, even more nervous than when the Imperial College was blocked.
There is no way, although Lao Zhu also attaches great importance to the Imperial College, but who allows his sons to be in the academy? Lao Zhu has always protected his shortcomings, so there is no problem if he pays more attention to the academy, right?
When he heard that Mao Xiang had brought Han Du to ask for an audience and wanted to reveal all the examination papers, Lao Zhu couldn't help but frown.
Before Lao Zhu could clear his mind, a eunuch came to report and Han Du asked to see him.
Lao Zhu originally wanted to send Han Du back first, but after thinking about it, he still said: "Pass."
He wanted to see what Han Du wanted to do.
After Han Du paid his respects, before he could speak, Lao Zhu said, "I already know your purpose of coming. Do you want to show the exam papers to everyone?"
Han Du smiled apologetically, nodded and said, "I do have this idea."
Lao Zhu was not angry, but after pondering for a moment, he sighed and said: "Do you think I didn't think of this method? But if the examination papers are displayed to others because some students are making trouble, then where is the majesty of the court?"
"This" Han Du didn't expect Lao Zhu to be worried about this. To be honest, Han Du didn't expect it.
After hesitating for a moment, Han Du deliberately showed a distressed look, "But the reason is unclear. Rather than letting these scholars continue to make such a fuss, it is better to give them an ironclad proof. If they are not allowed to see everyone's test papers, let them
They see where the gap is, and they will not think that they are inferior to others. Even if the court sends more officials and re-grades the papers several times, they will not agree."
Lao Zhu lowered his head and pondered for a while, then raised his hand and waved it twice.
The old eunuch understood the situation and waved his hands repeatedly. When the palace maids and eunuchs on the left and right saw this, they quickly and quietly exited the palace.
Only the old eunuch and Mao Xiang were left with Lao Zhu.
Lao Zhu put his hands on both sides of the dragon chair to support him. Seeing this, the old eunuch quickly took a step forward and helped Lao Zhu up.
Lao Zhu walked down from Danbi step by step with his hands behind his back.
Han Du kept his eyes on Lao Zhu, waiting for his next words.
Lao Zhu sighed and shook his head: "The north has been governed by the Mongolian Yuan for too long, and the people there have close contacts with the Mongolian Yuan. Even though the Ming Dynasty has been established for twenty years, the north has never truly surrendered. Now there are all the northern scholars.
In the past few days, many northern officials have written letters criticizing the examination as a fraud and requesting me to continue the examination.
We will send someone to investigate thoroughly.”
Even officials were involved. Han Du's eyes flashed, and he realized the seriousness of the matter.
No wonder Lao Zhu was so decisive in his killing that he had to lower his head to ask Liu Sanwu for concession. It turned out that now it was not just a matter of northern scholars, but also northern officials were involved.
Han Du suddenly realized that he could not give in. Once he gave in, he would probably be doomed.
"Has your Majesty ever heard of this?" Han Du's face flashed with a stern look, and even Lao Zhu didn't notice it.
Lao Zhu had his back to Han Du, so naturally he could not see the changes on his face. But Mao Xiang stood on Danbi from the beginning to the end and could clearly see the changes in Han Du's expression.
This was not the first time Mao Xiang had seen Han Du's current expression, but it still shocked him. Because every time Han Du had this expression, his actions would be different from his usual amiable expression.
It's extremely vicious.
It was Han Du's viciousness that made Mao Xiang dare not rashly attack Han Du even after he knew that it was Han Du who suggested that the emperor cancel the idea of establishing a royal guard.
Because Mao Xiang was also afraid, he was not sure he could withstand Han Du's vicious attacks.
"What are you talking about?" Lao Zhu turned around and looked at Han Du curiously.
Han Du chuckled twice, and said with a cold and stern voice: "Every time there are people who slaughter dogs in a righteous way, there are always scholars who are unfaithful."
The words echoed in the hall, as if they resonated with Mao Xiang's heart, making him feel tight and his face turned cold. You must know that Han Du is also a scholar. He belittles scholars like this, does he not even care about himself? This is
Killing like crazy!
Mao Xiang swallowed his saliva and quickly lowered his head, determined not to get involved in this bad thing again.
Although Lao Zhu was also shaken, he just looked at Han Du without saying a word, waiting for his next words.
Han Du did not look around, but looked at Lao Zhu calmly, "Your Majesty, scholars are those who bully the weak and fear the strong. If the court gives in easily, it will only make them think that the court is weak and can be bullied. In the future, as long as they are slightly dissatisfied, they will repeat their old tricks.
Shi used gatherings of people to cause trouble to intimidate the imperial court. They even dared to cause trouble and force the palace when the Holy Emperor was in court, wouldn't they be even more unscrupulous in the future?"
Han Du just wanted to remind Lao Zhu that these scholars are not even afraid of you, the founding emperor. If you give in now, how will the emperor still be looked down upon by the scholars in the future?
If Lao Zhu can not think about himself, how can he not think about his descendants?
Sure enough, after hearing this, Lao Zhu suddenly opened his eyes like bells and was about to say "How dare they do this". But suddenly he felt that Han Du's words were right. This was not a question of whether those scholars dared or not, but that they had already done so.
This was done. It was just because there was no result yet that they took no further action.
Lao Zhu thought for a moment, stared at Han Du and asked: "But if the scholars think that the court is unfair, and the northern provinces are alienated from the court, what should we do?"
When Han Du heard Lao Zhu's words, he knew that his heart had begun to favor him. Indeed, no emperor would treat anyone who was a threat to his empire, whether they were scholars or officials.
Lao Zhu was just worried that several northern provinces and the imperial court would be at odds with each other, destroying his desire to unify the world. Unification of the world is not a trivial matter. Since Qin Shihuang unified the world, future emperors will all be punished if they fail to unify the world.
The world’s joke. ??
"It is precisely because of this that I suggest that the examination papers be made public to give the world a fair judgment." Han Du sighed with emotion and persuaded Lao Zhu: "And I think that the court must be tough on this matter and cannot be reconciled with the scholars.
There is no compromise at all.”
Han Du had just told Lao Zhu the reason for not being able to compromise.
Lao Zhu stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, then asked: "This will cause turmoil in several northern provinces. What if there is an emergency?"
What I mean is that I am worried about rebellion in several northern provinces.
"Your Majesty, there are not many people in this world who want to be farmers. But there are many people who want to be officials in this world. I think that since these scholars and officials do not have their hearts towards the court, there is no need for the court to use them.
"They." Han Du's meaning is very clear. Since these scholars and officials are still thinking about Meng Yuan's good deeds and are violating the Ming Dynasty, then if they don't change their minds, they can only change their people. If we don't clean out these resentful scholars and officials,
, sooner or later it will be a hidden danger.
Han Du was so aggressive and decisive, which made Lao Zhu hesitate. It would be good to depose all these scholars, but in Lao Zhu's view, there were only a few scholars with dissident intentions, so he would kill them all with one blow.
, Lao Zhu always felt that it was too intense.
"What if I want to recruit some northern scholars?"
When Han Du heard this, he felt disappointed. He didn't expect that Lao Zhu would be indecisive at times. But since Lao Zhu had this idea, Han Du couldn't change anything, so he could only sigh and continue: "The emperor's golden words, of course it is okay."
Lao Zhu saw Han Du's expression in his eyes. After a moment, he suddenly smiled and said: "Don't you want to make the test papers public? I agreed."
Huh? Han Du was in a daze for a moment before he realized what he was doing. He quickly bowed his hands in joy and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
As long as Lao Zhu agrees to make the examination papers public, then his trip will not be in vain. As for Lao Zhu who wants to recruit some northern scholars, just take them, even if the current candidates will be deposed because of this, Han Du
I don't care anymore.
Lao Zhu insisted on doing this, and there was nothing he could do about it.
"Well!" Lao Zhu nodded and thought for a moment, then said: "But after all, this examination paper cannot be easily shown to others. Let's just display it in the palace. I will allow all scholars to enter the palace once."
"Your Majesty has thought carefully, I will prepare now."
The news that the imperial court was preparing to release all the examination papers was like throwing a huge boulder into a pond. It stirred up waves among the scholars and also caused an uproar among the people. For several days in a row, the people were talking about the imperial court's public examination papers.
.Obviously these common people are not even qualified to participate in the examination, but they are more curious about this matter than the scholars.
But it is a pity that the examination papers were made public this time in the palace, and no one except the scholars who participated in the examinations was qualified to see them.
On the day when the examination papers were open to the public, the scholars came to the palace gate early, took the vouchers for their original contributions to the Tribute Academy, and entered in order.
Before seeing the examination papers, not only the northern scholars were unconvinced, but also the scholars in the Imperial College and even those from other places were unconvinced.
A row of tall wooden boards were placed against the wall. From left to right, they were covered with examination paper articles. The top one was naturally the article by Huiyuan Wang Yuanji, who ranked first in the Hui Yuan Examination. The next one was, of course, the article from the high school.
There are three hundred articles about Jinshi. Going forward, there are articles about people who were deposed.
There is no way to sort these articles, they are just posted one after another at random.
When scholars came here, the first thing they read was not Huiyuan's articles, but the first thing they looked for was their own. Only after they found out that they were indeed written by themselves, did they have time to read other people's articles.
article.
Scholars who have graduated from high school are not bad. They can maintain their mentality and patiently read the articles of others around them to see how others are better than themselves and how they are worse than themselves.
But for those scholars who failed the rankings, what they want to know most is why their articles failed the rankings, while someone else’s article ranked first?