"The Imperial City Secretary is on an errand, so all irrelevant people should get out of the way!"
Late at night in Bianjing City, there was a rapid sound of horse hoofbeats on Nanxunmen Street, and a group of knights in costume suddenly appeared in everyone's sight.
Under the cold moonlight, the cold light reflected from the weapons on the waists of this team of men can be vaguely seen.
The curfew in Bianjing is very short, almost non-existent. Although it is not the Lantern Festival, the streets are still bustling and lively.
Seeing a group of knights rushing towards them with great momentum, all the pedestrians on the street hurriedly avoided the way, causing Nanxunmen Street to panic for a while.
The officer on duty at the street entrance saw clearly the token held by the person in front of him. He couldn't help but feel shuddering and quickly ordered his men to remove the fence blocking the road.
Then, he watched blankly as the group of knights roared past him on horseback.
"Boss, what errands is the Imperial City Secretary doing in the middle of the night?"
"If you don't want to die, don't talk too much!"
The squad leader glared at his subordinates fiercely, and then directed the rest of them to thoroughly clear up the truth, otherwise those men would have to come back again.
There was the "Black Ice Platform" in the Qin Dynasty, the "Embroidered Clothes" during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the "School Affairs" established by Cao Cao in the Three Kingdoms, and the "Li Jing Gate" in the Tang Dynasty.
These are supervisory agencies that directly take orders from the emperor, and their roles are similar to those of the well-known secret service "Jinyiwei".
The Imperial City Division is the "Jin Yiwei" of the Great Zhou Dynasty. In addition to being responsible for the security of the imperial city, the most important responsibility is to spy on various intelligence and monitor civil and military officials.
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, although the Imperial City Division was not as powerful as Jinyiwei, it was still enough to make most people intimidated by it. Naturally, a small government official would not dare to touch the troubles of these people.
Not long after, the Dazhou Gongyuan in the south of Bianjing City welcomed a group of uninvited guests, dozens of riders from the Imperial City Division riding horses from Nanxunmen Street.
After the leader, Dutou Gu Wan, showed a handwriting, the closed Gongyuan slowly opened its door.
"Stay at the door. Don't let a fly out without my order."
Gu Wan ordered his men to guard the gate, and then, accompanied by several imperial soldiers, entered the Gongyuan of the Great Zhou Dynasty and went straight to the court hall.
When he arrived at the Zigong Hall and saw the examiners waiting at the door, Gu Wan did not hesitate and said loudly: "Where is Yang Yuanzhen, the concubine of the left?"
After asking three times in a row, I heard a feeble answer: "I am here..."
Everyone was stunned. Yang Yuanzhen finally woke up and opened his eyes. With all his strength, he finally sat up with the help of his subordinate clerk. He looked at Gu Wan and others at the door with a confused look on his face. Seeing this, Gu Wan couldn't help but frown slightly and said loudly: "Your Majesty ordered Yang Yuanzhen to come to the palace immediately to see you! Master Yang, please."
Yang Yuanzhen was shocked when he heard this, and looked at the deputy examiner and fellow examiners with wide eyes.
The deputy examiner explained helplessly: "President, this matter is so serious that I have to send someone to report it to Your Majesty. Since Your Majesty is still willing to summon the President to the palace for an audience, it shows that you still trust the President. I just want to find out the reason for this matter."
.The CEO can take this opportunity to prove his innocence in front of His Majesty."
Yang Yuanzhen was silent for a long time after hearing this, and finally sighed: "Well, I have never done such fraud before. Since I have a clear conscience, what's the harm in going through this?"
After saying that, he bowed his hands to the examiners and followed Gu Wan and others out.
Gu Wan was quite polite to Yang Yuanzhen. Not only did he not treat him like a criminal, but he also helped him onto the carriage himself, which made Yang Yuanzhen feel relieved.
Gu Wan brought a dozen of his men into the palace with Yang Yuanzhen, while the Imperial City Division troops stayed behind, sealed off the entire Gongyuan, and interrogated the remaining dozen examiners one by one.
If the leaked questions are indeed true, Yang Yuanzhen, as the examiner, is naturally the most suspicious, but other examiners are also suspicious.
Before the matter is investigated clearly, no one can leave Gongyuan.
……
The rear hall of Chongzheng Hall.
After paying homage, Yang Yuanzhen knelt at the foot of the steps and waited tremblingly for Zhao Zhen to ask questions.
Zhao Zhen, who was sitting on the throne, yawned and rubbed his eyebrows again, with a listless look on his face. It was obvious that he had just been woken up from his sleep.
More than two years have passed, and now Zhao Zhen is increasingly showing his age, unable to sleep for more than two hours a night.
Being disturbed from his dream for no reason, or such a major matter as fraud in the imperial examination, it is conceivable that Zhao Zhen must be very irritable in his heart.
However, Zhao Zhen never expresses his anger on others. After drinking half a bowl of ginseng soup to cheer up, and listening to the reports from the people below, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was fishy.
Therefore, he did not throw Yang Yuanzhen into prison in anger, but ordered the Imperial City Secretary to open the palace and bring Yang Yuanzhen into the palace for questioning.
Zhao Zhen stared at the Henan Provincial Examination Yellow List in his hand, tapped his finger on the table, and frowned more and more.
"Sixteen of the one hundred and twenty new imperial examination candidates are from Yuzhou. Even the first placer, Jieyuan, is actually from Yuzhou. Yang Qing's family, as the chief examiner of the provincial examination, you have nothing to explain to me.
"?"
"Replying to your Majesty, I am wronged!"
Yang Yuanzhen quickly took a few steps forward on his knees, kowtowed and said bitterly: "I am honored by your majesty to recruit scholars for the country. I have always been cautious and cautious, walking on thin ice, and I dare not make the slightest mistake.
These one hundred and twenty candidates for the new imperial examination are not the arbitrariness of a single minister, but the consensus of all the examiners. If your majesty does not believe it, you can summon the other examiners and you will know after asking."
Zhao Zhen looked at the old chamberlain who was responsible for all matters in the Imperial City Department and saw that he nodded silently, knowing that what Yang Yuanzhen said was true.
Since there is no problem in the marking process, could it be that someone leaked the questions in advance?
But before Qiu Wei, even Yang Yuanzhen himself did not know that he would become the examiner of the provincial examination. It was not until seven days before the examination that Zhao Zhen suddenly made the appointment.
After that, Yang Yuanzhen was not even allowed to return home. He was sent directly from the Hanlin Academy to the courtyard of Zhuzi, with people from the Imperial City Division strictly guarding him along the way.
With such a strict confidentiality system, it stands to reason that Yang Yuanzhen should have no chance of leaking the information. What exactly is the flaw?
Zhao Zhen looked at Yang Yuanzhen, who was kneeling at the foot of the stairs in fear, and couldn't help but fell into deep thought.
At this moment, Gu Wan, the head of the Imperial City Sidu, hurried outside the palace. When the old chamberlain saw Gu Wan, he immediately cast an inquiring look at Zhao Zhen. When Zhao Zhen nodded, he went out of the palace to talk to Gu Wan in a low voice.
Get up.
Not long after, the old chamberlain returned to Zhao Zhen carrying a wooden box, whispered a few words to Zhao Zhen, opened the wooden box, and placed the contents on the royal eucalyptus.
Yang Yuanzhen lowered his head and lay on the ground, not daring to breathe, but he still couldn't help but secretly glance at the royal eucalyptus.
Seems like a book?
Yang Yuanzhen's heart tightened for no reason.
At this time, Zhao Zhen had already opened the thick book on the table, followed the old waiter's instructions, turned to a certain page, and then compared it with the first question of the provincial examination beside it.
After a while, Zhao Zhen's face suddenly changed color. He slapped the book on the imperial eucalyptus. Still feeling uneasy, he picked it up and threw it down the steps, throwing it at Yang Yuanzhen's feet.
"You Yang Yuanzhen, how dare you lie in front of me! This was found from Guo Jin's residence, and the test questions you asked are clearly written in it!"