After three days of short training, Xia Xun finally mastered his position, movement, and procedures for going to court. Today is his first time accompanying the court. [] Xia Xun stood on the left side of the throne and pressed the knife
Standing upright, next to him is a handsome young man of eleven or twelve years old, holding a whisk in his hand.
Usually, when the military officials go to court, they don't pay attention to the warriors and eunuchs at all, but this time is different. They already know that Yang Xu has become the third-class sword-bearing guard in front of the imperial court. Almost everyone who goes to court, whether they are ministers or generals,
No matter which faction you belong to, you should give him a careful look.
These are all big shots stomping and trembling in all directions. Any one of them can tower over Xia Xun, but here, in the Jinluan Palace, there is only one core of power, and that is Zhu Yuanzhang, standing next to him, from
The deterrent to others seems to have completely disappeared.
Li Yuan, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, also stood in the position where Xia Xun stood. Back then, he was the guard in front of the palace, Niu Qianbeishen. He was not a relative of the emperor, nor could he be the son of a hero. Now the three guards standing in the other triangle of the throne are also standing there.
They are all relatives of the emperor. Xia Xun was able to get this position and stand at the front just because Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to demonstrate to his ministers.
Zhu Yuanzhang is sitting on the dragon throne. Many times, he will leave some state affairs to the emperor's grandson, and then comment on the gains and losses of his comments. This is his conscious cultivation of successors, but he has to take charge of major events himself.
.What we are going to discuss today is a major event that is related to the destiny of the country and must be controlled by him.
Hundreds of military officers and nobles gathered together, the emperor ascended the rank, sat down, and hundreds of officials looked after the officials, shouting "long live the emperor" three times, uniformly, vigorously and powerfully.
The tiger is old, but its majesty is still there. Zhu Yuanzhang is sitting on the high throne, his old face still shows confidence and the perseverance to dominate everything. Heroes and generals, veterans, new nobles in the court, think tanks and talents of the Ming Empire,
The elites of this great era all prostrate themselves at his feet, shouting "Long Live the Mountain" and worshiping him.
They stood neatly, giving people a sense of unity and majesty. However, Xia Xun, who had experienced so much, stood here, controlling the military officers who controlled the entire empire, but he had a completely different interpretation in his heart.
.
Officials either directly admonished or flattered, each person's opinions, positions and interests, each other's disputes, conflicts and calculations, as well as all aspects of the empire's affairs, as well as the divisions and alliances between many officials and various factions in the court.
Together, they scheming and making plays, this is the largest vanity fair and hunting ground in the world, filled with birds singing and flowers fragrant, but in fact, it is surrounded by dangers.
Today Zhu Yuanzhang will come to the court in person to listen to the government affairs for this year's scientific examination.
In February of this year, during the Spring Examination, Xia Xun was on his way back to Jinling. In March, the list came out and all the 51 candidates were from the south. Northern candidates were in an uproar, and they jointly filed a petition to sue the examiner.
Liu Sanwu and Bai Xin favored the southerners. The northern imperial censors were even more angry and impeached, accusing the examiners of corruption and extorting bribes. For a while, the north and the south were at odds, and the whole city was in commotion.
Such examination results were indeed unprecedented and unheard of. Zhu Yuanzhang became suspicious and could not help but suspect that the three southern examiners were engaging in malpractice for personal gain. He was born in a poor family, and what he hated most in his life was "corruption and malpractice for personal gain."
For this reason, Zhu Yuanzhang specially ordered twelve people including Zhang Xin, the attendant, Dai Yi, Wang Junhua from the right, Zhilang Zhang Qian, and the Collector of the Economic Affairs Bureau to re-read the examination papers. All officials involved in the case were banned from the house, waiting for the results of the investigation. Today is It's the day when Miss Twelve People's Investigation will reveal the results of the investigation.
Among these twelve people, Zhang Xin, the attendant, was also an official who suspected examiner fraud. Yan Shuzai, Dong Guan and others were known for their erudition and learning, while Zhou Heng, Huang Zhang and others were known for their loyalty and outspokenness. The selection of these investigating members , it is really fair and just.
Everyone in the government and the public is paying attention to today's investigation results, and all the officials in the world are waiting for them. Since the emperor ordered the re-examination of the investigation in March, Northern officials have been suppressing their anger until today, today's investigation results. , either a sweet rain extinguished the flames in their hearts, or prompted them to explode, leading the entire northern gentry to rebel against the imperial court, bringing incalculable consequences.
In the morning of this morning, everyone knew that this important matter was going to be discussed, and other matters that were not very important were given way. Therefore, no one was ignorant and made some messy things to ask the emperor for instructions. "Retreat from the court without incident." As soon as he shouted, Zhang Xin, the minister, came out of the class to stand, hugged the scepter and saluted: "I, Zhang Xin, have been ordered to investigate the Chunwei scientific examination case. I will reply today."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "You were ordered to reread the test paper. What was the result?"
Zhang Xin saluted again, inserted the wat board into his belt, turned around and took out several rolled test papers from the arms of another review officer, held them in his hands, raised them high, and said: "Your Majesty, the court is taking the test. , only use the chapters to determine the good and bad, strive for justice, and serve the world. Twelve people including the ministers followed the emperor's will and reviewed carefully, paying special attention to the examination papers of the Northern Juzi. After repeated readings, they found these seven examination papers, the chapters If he is fluent and his strategies are feasible, he can be regarded as the best among the candidates in the north. He can become a talent of the country. In terms of his talent, the ministers think he can be promoted."
There was a commotion in the Jinluan Palace. Everyone thought that even if only one person could be selected, it meant that the examiner was acting in favor of others. The emperor hated officials the most and violated the law. What's more, this matter has caused a sensation in the world. Isn't it reasonable to punish him severely? I'm afraid it will happen again. A bloody storm, a mass killing?
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly after hearing this, and thought to himself: "Only seven? There are fifty-one undergraduate candidates. Northerners only occupy such a small number of places. How can we convince the people in the half of the country north of the Yellow River?"
Unexpectedly, Zhang Xin's next words almost caused Zhu Yuanzhang to dodge. Zhang Xin handed the papers to the young chamberlain, and then took out a stack of examination papers from another official's arms and said: "Your Majesty, there are seven more examination papers here. These were the test papers for the last seven Southern scholars on the list. I compared the seven test papers from the Northern Juzi with the seven test papers from the Southern Juzi who were at the bottom of the list one by one. I found that there was a huge gap in the scores between the Northern and Southern candidates.
The chapter of the last one on the list is also far higher than that of the top students from the north. Your Majesty, when you open a subject and select a scholar, you should use the chapter to determine the merit. I deeply appreciate the meaning of long live the emperor. Although I feel that the seven chapters of the Northern Scholars are not good enough. Those who show their talents can also be used by the court, but the number of scholars in the court is limited. They ignore academic status and only rely on grades and the results of the investigation by ministers. The top rankings are fair and impartial and should not be changed. The northern candidates who took the exam should indeed fail the rankings. "
This sentence was like a thunder on the ground, which shocked everyone. Wu Baiguan did not expect that the review officer would come to such a conclusion. Zhu Yuanzhang was also surprised. He was stunned for a long time before he sneered and picked up the previous letter in the case. The memorial said angrily: "Zhang Qing is really fair and fair, and he is so good at putting on a show! When you took people to read the test papers, I received a secret notice saying that you were in cahoots with the former examiner Liu Sanwu, because you have been walking around me, and I still I don’t believe it, I can’t believe it…it’s just what it says!”
Zhu Yuanzhang slapped the imperial case and became really angry.
This is not because Zhu Yuanzhang saw that his wish was not working out and randomly found a name to run against Zhang Xin, but that someone did report Zhang Xin for fraud. The whistleblower was Yang Dao, the censor from Henan, who was an official from the north. The official from the north was because of this investigation.
Kao's exclusion of northerners aroused their resentment that northern officials had always been ostracized by southerners in the court, and they were almost going crazy.
At first, Zhu Yuanzhang did not expect that Zhang Xin would achieve such a result if he did not understand the holy will, so he did not take this report letter to heart. At this time, after hearing Zhang Xin's investigation results, he became angry and couldn't help but mention this letter.
Report letter.
Zhang Xin was shocked and angry, and quickly defended: "Since I was ordered to examine the papers, I have not had any contact with any of the reviewing officials, and the Gongyuan is strictly protected inside and outside. How could I collude with Liu Sanwu to commit fraud?"
"Your Majesty, this is deliberate slander!"
A white-haired official jumped out with a snort. This man was seventy-eight years old with white beard and hair. He was Liu Sanwu, the chief examiner of Chunwei of Jinke. Liu Sanwu was a contemporary scholar who served as the envoy to Guangxi during the Yuan Dynasty and founded the Ming Dynasty.
Later he became an official in the Ming Dynasty and made many achievements.
He formulated the regulations on the imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty, and he also wrote the preface to the Criminal Law of the early Ming Dynasty. In addition, he also edited "Huanyu Tongzhi", and together with Wang Rui and Zhu Shan, he was known as the "Three Elders".
, is a generous man with no ambitions. He calls himself Tan Tan Weng. He can be said to be a scholar leader with excellent character, talent and learning.
Old Liu was impassioned and said angrily: "I have been reprimanded by the emperor and banned from the palace. I have never left the house. How can I collude with Lord Zhang Xin? The people from the north cannot be included in the list. It is not because of fraud on our part. There are actually three reasons."
Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly: "Why, please tell me."
Liu Sanwu said: "First, the people in the north were first ruled by the Jin people for more than a hundred years, and then by the Yuan people for more than a hundred years. Both the Jin people and the Yuan people were barbarians who did not promote ethics and education, so the folk culture of learning was not strong. In the north,
The foundation of Juzi studies is not as good as that of southerners;
The second is poverty. Compared with the south, most people in the north are poor and cannot afford to study or seek education, so they become increasingly weak;
Third, the northerners are not familiar with the imperial examination system. The imperial capital is in Jinling, and the southerners are immersed in the imperial examination system. They are well aware of the various requirements and rules for selecting scholars. The northerners do not understand its tricks and do not practice the skills. Even if they have real talent and practical knowledge, it is difficult to write a satisfactory essay.
Standard high score chapter.”
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed angrily: "Sir, since you know this, why don't you select a few northern scholars to encourage the northerners?"
Liu Sanwu replied: "When I select talents for the country, I only use the merits of the examination papers as the criterion, not the southerners or the northerners, regardless of the reasons for their weakness."
Zhu Yuanzhang had nothing to do with this stubborn old donkey, so he softened his tone and discussed: "Sir, in my opinion, you might as well select a few people from the north to calm people's hearts and quell public anger. Why don't you just...
How about seven people being added to the list?"
Liu Sanwu clung to the "truth" and shouted angrily: "The rankings for the general examination have been determined. The elected candidates are worthy of their names. How can they be replaced?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily: "Sir, if you insist on not changing, don't you have any selfish feelings?"
Liu Sanwu refused to accept it, slapped his neck, and said loudly: "Then please ask the emperor to send a third group of people to investigate, including the old ministers. I am aboveboard, so what should I be afraid of?"