Zhang Zhou heard Zhu Youtang's attitude towards this matter.
Don't worry about Tang Yin, can your personal interests be compared with the overall stability of the court? Sacrificing you alone will help everyone, even if you get the title of Jinshi, you will be deprived of it.
"Your Majesty, my opinion is still to uphold justice. If there is no evidence, it should be done justice."
Zhang Zhou had already made up his mind to help Tang Yin. At this time, seeing that the emperor wanted to erase Tang Yin's reputation, it was a reasonable reminder.
Zhu Youtang was silent for a moment and did not answer Zhang Zhou directly.
Dai Yize said: "Mr. Zhang, Tang Yin's reputation is insignificant. If he is really talented, he will be easy to take the exam in the future. Why should he be pushed to become a Jinshi at the cusp of the storm?"
"No." Zhu Youtang said, "Bingkuan's situation is actually the same as that of Tang Yin. I helped Bingkuan, so I should treat Tang Yin equally."
Dai Yi was startled.
The emperor changed his mind so quickly just because Zhang Zhou spoke for Tang Yin?
Zhu Youtang looked at Zhang Zhou again and said: "Bingkuan, I can protect Tang Yin, but what I want to think about is, can the scholars' discussion be calmed down? Will it get more intense?"
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, what the scholars want is to vent their emotions. The imperial court investigated and gave them an explanation. This is the grace of your majesty and the imperial court. If there are still people who want to continue to mess around, let them provide evidence instead of just accommodating. Furthermore, Your Majesty, doesn’t your Majesty still have Cheng Minzheng who has not yet questioned him in detail? He should be allowed to make it clear to the outside world.”
"How do you say that?" Zhu Youtang frowned.
Even Dai Yi and others don't understand.
Can you make things clear by relying on Cheng Minzheng to talk to the world? Continue to talk about "you can't accuse me unjustly if there is no evidence"?
"Your Majesty, this actually depends on Cheng Minzheng's own consciousness and whether he is willing to sacrifice his temporary official career to calm the discussion. As long as he takes a step back, those who intend to target him will definitely not make things more difficult for him," Zhang Zhou said.
Zhu Youtang nodded as if he didn't understand, and said: "Then let him serve as an official for the time being."
The reason is obvious.
The reason why you, Cheng Minzheng, have been criticized by so many people and come here twice is because you, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang are not in the same group. In addition, the emperor intends to cultivate you to be the fourth member of the cabinet, and there are many people He covets your position as a Hanlin bachelor, so he will continue to bombard you.
As long as you retreat, people outside will see that your goal has been achieved and they will naturally stop talking.
It's not that the civil servants have no intention of killing you, but the key point is that no one has evidence of your accusation. Without evidence, getting the result that you can become an official is enough to put the matter to rest.
People like Liu Jian and Li Dongyang are shameless people. As long as you are willing to give up your position, they may even help you.
Zhu Youtang thought for a while and sighed: "I'm afraid that if he becomes an official, the matter will not be settled so easily. But since you said it, Bingkuan, I always have to try. Because even if I check, I can't find anything." As a result, the discussion continued."
The emperor's words actually represented his inner conflict.
He wanted to sacrifice Tang Yin and Xu Jing together, but he felt that it might not make sense to do so. It was rare that he now had an aide who could see the overall situation and didn't have to hide his identity as a scholar to give him advice, telling him that he should protect Tang Yin and sacrifice Cheng Minzheng's career. , which is equivalent to helping him make a decision when he is hesitant.
Neither option is good, so it’s better to listen to Zhang Zhou first.
In terms of inner tendencies, Zhu Youtang is very dependent on Zhang Zhou, because he has received great benefits from listening to Zhang Zhou several times before, so there is no reason to insist on going against Zhang Zhou this time.
…
…
At Zhang Zhou's suggestion, Zhu Youtang decided to retain his status as a tribute scholar of Tang Yin.
Seeing that it was almost dusk, Zhu Youtang still wanted to keep Zhang Zhou in the palace for dinner. Xiao Jing, who was standing next to him, asked: "Your Majesty, will you just let the inner curtain fill in the list, or will the matter be discussed at the court?"
Zhu Youtang said: "Isn't this the case? What more discussion is needed? I will inform you tomorrow morning and fill in the results. The results will be released as normal the day after tomorrow."
On this matter, the emperor didn't bother to ask the civil officials.
He couldn't explain the unexplained problems. The most annoying thing for the emperor was arguing with the civil servants. This is no longer the time when Zhu Youtang first came to the throne and relied on the civil servants for everything. Recently, his health has also improved, and he has obviously tightened up on the decision-making level. Gradually, Begin to demonstrate imperial power.
"Your Majesty, it's time for me to resign," Zhang Zhou said.
"Bingkuan, actually I really want to talk to you more, but again, you will be a Jinshi later, and you will have plenty of time to chat after entering the palace. In this way, when you leave the palace, talk to Xiao Jing and see how you can make Cheng Minzheng himself Be more sensible, the number of memorials requesting his detention has increased in recent days, if he continues to be so stubborn, I'm afraid I won't be able to help him even if I want to!"
Zhu Youtang felt that it would be a good thing for Cheng Minzheng to temporarily retire from office and avoid the limelight.
But he can't bring it up. Cheng Minzheng should take the initiative to request it. But Cheng Minzheng is still pretending to be aloof and thinks that he is not wrong at all. Even the emperor thinks that Cheng Minzheng is a bit stubborn and ineffective. Although you, Cheng Minzheng, have been criticized, you have no basis for it. According to, but to put it bluntly, isn’t it because you are a troublemaker?
The troublemaker should be aware and settle the matter quickly so that people can worry less.
…
…
On the way out of the palace.
Zhang Zhou walked with Xiao Jing, and Xiao Jing naturally followed the holy will and asked Zhang Zhou for his opinions along the way. Now he was no longer asking about how the inner curtain officer should deal with Li Dongyang, but how to make Cheng Minzheng take the initiative to admit his mistakes and retire.
"... Mr. Zhang, in fact, he and Mr. Li Ge discussed the questions for the general examination together. He didn't even participate in the marking. As long as the matter is announced to the outside world, it will be more beneficial to him. But he just wants Cheng Minzheng to admit it. It's difficult to find fault in him, he just can't get in. How about... take him to Beizhen Fusi first?"
Xiao Jing's idea is that we might as well suggest to His Majesty that he be sent to Beizhen Fusi.
Anyway, Your Majesty listens to you, and it doesn't mean that you want to torture Cheng Minzheng, just scare him or make him surrender.
Zhang Zhou said: "Why didn't Eunuch Xiao use Xu Jing as a breakthrough?"
"Xu Jing?" Xiao Jing was puzzled.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "As I know, this Xu Jing is a well-known rich man in Jiangyin. He is very generous. As soon as he arrives in the capital, he can visit Bachelor Cheng. How do you think he does it?"
"This... Mr. Zhang, you seem to have said that the servants in Bachelor Cheng's family are not very behaved, right?" Xiao Jing seemed to have found the context of the problem.
"How can we meet celebrities casually without spending some money on this kind of visit? At that time, there were many people who went to Cheng's residence to deliver greeting cards. As a Hanlin bachelor, Cheng was usually very busy with official duties. Even if he rarely returned home or was on vacation, There are only a handful of people who have the opportunity to meet him in a day or two. Xu Jing must have abilities beyond his reputation to allow Bachelor Cheng to meet him out of the ordinary."
Zhang Zhou almost wanted to say that Xu Jing paid a lot of money to meet Cheng Minzheng, so this was his breakthrough.
"Then what?" Xiao Jing was still not sure what Zhang Zhou meant.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "With Xu Jing's confession, let's show it to Bachelor Cheng. Will Master Cheng still be as persistent as he is now? I don't know exactly what price Xu Jing paid. It still depends on Xu Jing.
The result of self-confession. As for how to get him to confess... I think it's not my responsibility to ask, right?"
Xiao Jing nodded.
If Dongchang wants a person to give an honest account, isn't there a lot of tricks?
"According to my calculations, he has been detained for a few days. If you ask him for gifts, buy articles, etc., he probably won't continue to persist in his obsession." Zhang Zhou made a suggestion.
Xiao Jing smiled and nodded, saying: "Xu Jing can make a name for himself, and probably Bachelor Cheng can do it, but Tang Yin..."
"Tang Yin...hehe, in my opinion, he is just a poor scholar. He follows Xu Jing and swaggers through the city. Does he really have the confidence and strength? But he still doesn't know himself. He wants to compare with this one and that one.
, If he hadn't been so flamboyant, how could he be where he is today?" Zhang Zhou seemed to be criticizing Tang Yin.
Xiao Jing thought to himself, in fact, you Zhang is not much better than Tang Yin.
When others want to attack the issue, why don't they attack you first?
Xiao Jing smiled and said: "Actually, there are many similarities between Mr. Zhang and Tang Yin. It is probably because of this that Mr. Zhang will help him, right?"
This time Xiao Jing really saw it. If Zhang Zhou hadn't spoken for Tang Yin just now, the emperor would have wiped out Tang Yin's name as a tribute. It's still up to two people whether Tang Yin would have the chance to take the examination again in the future. This time
When Tang Yin was unable to prove his innocence during the case, he would encounter some inhuman treatment.
Zhang Zhou really did it. While scolding Tang Yin for being ignorant, he helped Tang Yin escape from the sea of misery.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "It's not because of this. Who makes him my junior brother who has never been a disciple?"
"ah?"
Xiao Jing would never have thought that Zhang Zhou would have such a tricky starting point.
A junior brother who has never passed the exam...
Relationship: Just because you made a bet and said that Tang Yin would join your school if he lost, you would help Tang Yin?
Xiao Jing shook his head helplessly and sighed. He was still secretly thinking that Mr. Zhang's thinking was indeed different from that of ordinary people.
…
…
The next day there was a meeting at Meridian Gate.
All the ministers were waiting for the emperor to discuss with them the progress of the examination proposal. After all, the results would be released the next day. Logically speaking, filling in the results would be completed on that day, and the errands of the inner curtain officials would also be finished.
However, Zhu Youtang still did not mention anything about the issue until the end of the court meeting. Even some officials came out to mention related matters, but Zhu Youtang stopped them.
Finally, Liu Jian came out as the chief assistant to ask: "...Your Majesty, I heard that the examiner behind the scenes gave a report on the case. I wonder how we should deal with the release of results for tomorrow's examination?"
Zhu Youtang said: "Mr. Li Ge checked the papers behind the curtain. There were four questionable papers, but there were no people involved in the case. Cheng Minzheng also never participated in the marking of papers from beginning to end. No candidate was from him.
The one who was chosen was based on the fact that he wrote the topic in advance, and the topic was also discussed between him and Mr. Li Ge. There is a memorial written by Mr. Li Ge as evidence. I dare to ask you, how do you want me to check it? "
Cheng Minzheng did not come up with the question alone. During the marking process, Cheng Minzheng was left alone. As a result, no evidence was found that Zhang Zhou, Tang Yin and Xu Jing were involved in the question.
Just ask: If we continue to investigate this matter, are we making fun of the laws of the Ming Dynasty?
The civil servants present also had a headache.
The key is that Hua Chang and the outside scholars did not know that the emperor could find another way to deprive Cheng Minzheng of his qualifications during the discussion. People outside spread rumors about how Cheng Minzheng used the exam questions in advance and discussed with Tang Yin and others what to use.
The code word came to select these people... and also said that Cheng Minzheng would select a person and collect as much money as he wanted...
The story was rumored to be very strange, but now the first one has been rejected.
In the case that Cheng Minzheng has not even read the test paper, Cheng Minzheng may have discussed with outsiders in advance the possible questions at most, but this kind of accusation requires more evidence. The test papers are all the same, so why?
Determine whether a person has accepted the question or not?
Even the well-known Li Dongyang, who was good at resourcefulness, did not catch Tang Yin and others after inspecting the inner room for a long time. This in itself shows that it is difficult to determine from the evidence whether there is such a problem or not.
"Then, Your Majesty, since Cheng Minzheng has been proven innocent in the examination papers, why do you want to deprive him of his qualifications to be the examiner before the examination begins?"
It was Min Gui who came out to question.
In this matter, Min Gui seems to be more active than anyone else. It seems that the person who wants to put Cheng Minzheng to death the most is Min Gui.
Zhu Youtang replied coldly: "Don't you all know why I did this?"
Min Gui originally wanted to question the emperor, but instead he was questioned by the emperor.
Min Gui almost said it, but of course we didn't know, but then he noticed that Xie Qian was giving him a wink, telling him to stop talking.
In fact, many people understood that the emperor deprived Cheng Minzheng of his qualification to grade papers in advance. In addition to the rumors that had spread after the exam, it was also because Cheng Minzheng had been involved in a ridiculous incident when the main examiner of the joint examination had not yet been decided.
Currently working on the topic.
This is already the second time.
The last time, without any basis, a civil servant proposed a strict investigation of Cheng Minzheng, and the initiator at that time was Li Dongyang, who was also the examiner in this examination.
Until now, many people have not understood why Li Dongyang targeted Cheng Minzheng without any evidence.
Many people attacked Cheng Minzheng this time because they found "inspiration" from Li Dongyang's attack on Cheng Minzheng last time.
What they didn't know was that in the last question, Li Dongyang asked the emperor to investigate because he was frightened by the topic spread in his mind, and was not specifically targeting Cheng Minzheng.
Many people mistakenly think that the cabinet wants to pull Cheng Minzheng down.
Zhu Youtang said: "After the results are released tomorrow, if there is any discussion again, there must be evidence. I will continue to interrogate Cheng Minzheng and Xu Jing. If they exchange ideas selflessly, I will clear their names. If there are some
I will never condone any shameful things."
The minister soon heard something different from before.
Not only did the emperor remove Zhang Zhou, but it seemed that Tang Yin was also gone this time. Does this mean that... Tang Yin's suspicion has also been cleared?
