"Your Highness, let me tell you, this Wenqi is simply amazing..."
After a while, Zhao Hongrun took Wei Jiao and Gao Kuo to the headquarters of the Ministry of Rites.
Along the way, Gao Kuo kept talking about the miraculous deeds of the candidate named Wen Qi in this year's general examination, and Zhao Hongrun also roughly learned from Gao Kuo's story what Wen Qi did in this year's general examination.
What a great thing he did.
It was not unusual for him to cheat in the examination room. Zhao Hongrun thought that he could do it too. What was amazing was that Wen Qi helped others cheat, and he helped more than one person.
Even Zhao Hongrun couldn't compare to his intelligence.
"Hey, it's a pity that I couldn't see my father's expression at that time with my own eyes..."
In the carriage, Zhao Hongrun sighed with regret, and at the same time imagined the scene in the imperial examination in his mind: when his father, Emperor Wei, asked about a student who was clearly the top student in high school, he did not expect that the other student turned out to be a top student.
If you ask this ignorant idiot, you can imagine how Emperor Wei felt at that time.
"Hehehehe..."
Zhao Hongrun would be overjoyed just by imagining it in his mind, let alone if he was lucky enough to see it with his own eyes.
It's a pity that this kind of thing only happens once every hundred years.
After laughing for a while, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but think of Wen Qi.
He only met the student named Wenqi once, that is, in the examination hall three years ago.
At that time, Zhao Hongrun was trying to retaliate against Luo Wenzhong, the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs at that time. He was too eager and was used by his father, Emperor Wei, to ask him to find out the cheating incident in the examination, so that Emperor Wei could take the opportunity to weaken the Ministry of Civil Affairs and defeat him.
Many functions and powers were transferred to the Yushijian.
At the beginning, even Zhao Hongrun didn't realize how those people cheated. It wasn't until Wen Qi reminded him that he suddenly realized.
After that incident, Zhao Hongrun didn't pay much attention to Wen Qi. He thought that this person was good enough to be in the first class of high school, but he didn't expect that this person actually failed.
"Then why did Wen Qi fail the exam three years ago?" Zhao Hongrun asked with a frown.
After hearing this, Gao Kuo hesitated and said in a low voice: "It is said... well, it is said that it offended the officials..."
Zhao Hongrun was stunned for a moment, then figured it out, and said with a wry smile: "Is it because of me?"
Gao Kuo chuckled.
Think about it, Zhao Hongrun caught the fraud incident in the examination three years ago under Wen Qi's prompting, which gave Emperor Wei the opportunity to weaken the power of the civil servants, thus bringing down the civil servants who were the top of the six departments in the past.
One can imagine how much the officials in the Ministry of Personnel hated Zhao Hongrun.
However, due to hatred, those officials did not dare to retaliate against Zhao Hongrun. After all, Zhao Hongrun was the prince and was gradually winning the favor of Emperor Wei.
So naturally, Wenqi became the target of revenge by those officials.
About an hour after burning incense, Zhao Hongrun and his party arrived at the Ministry of Rites headquarters in a carriage.
After learning about this, Du You, the Minister of Rites, came out in person to greet Zhao Hongrun.
"His Royal Highness Prince Su... you are such a rare guest."
Seeing Zhao Hongrun, Du You, the Minister of Rites, made a harmless joke. After all, everyone in the court knew that His Highness Prince Su, who hated red tape, had always avoided the Ministry of Rites.
"Du Shangshu." Zhao Hongrun bowed his hand in return.
After a few simple greetings, Du You welcomed Zhao Hongrun into the hall of the Ministry of Rites and ordered the servants to serve tea.
Seeing Zhao Hongrun pick up the tea cup first, Du You also picked up the tea cup and took a sip. Then he put down the tea cup and asked with a smile: "His Royal Highness Prince Su is here today. What do you want to teach me?"
Speaking of which, Du You and Zhao Hongrun can be regarded as old acquaintances who have interacted with each other several times, and their relationship was not bad in the past.
But when Zhao Hongrun opened his mouth, Du You's expression changed slightly.
"Du Shangshu, I heard that a magical fraud occurred in this year's examination..."
"That's what happened." Du You said with a restrained smile and a frown: "That candidate disrupted the imperial examination and ruined the prestige of the imperial court. He committed a heinous crime."
Seeing the angry look on Du You's face, Zhao Hongrun secretly shook his head.
He didn't know why Wen Qi wanted to retaliate against the imperial court. The problem was that the Ministry of Rites was severely reprimanded by Emperor Wei for making such a fuss. It was not difficult to guess the attitude of the officials of the Ministry of Rites towards Wen Qi.
After thinking for a while, Zhao Hongrun raised his hand and said: "Du Shangshu, this time I came here just to intercede on behalf of this person. I hope Lord Shangshu will be accommodating."
"Wen Qi?" Du You narrowed his eyes when he heard this. Although he had guessed something earlier, he had not thought that His Highness Prince Su in front of him would actually intercede for a candidate who had cheated in the examination room.
He said quietly: "It's so lucky for this son to be able to find a way to get His Highness Prince Su to come and intercede for him..."
"Haha." Zhao Hongrun smiled and did not hide anything. He told the story of getting help from Wen Qi. At the end, he smiled again and said: "... Because of this, I thought I owed him a favor. Now that I see him, I owe him a favor."
He was in trouble, so naturally he had to help him. Having said that, this person also played an important role in the Ministry of Rites gaining the right to preside over the examination... I hope Du Shangshu will show his noble hand and expose this matter."
Hearing this, Du You pondered for a moment, frowned and said: "Your Highness, Prince Su, please allow me to speak from the bottom of my heart... If it is just an ordinary fraud incident, then let it go. For the sake of His Highness, Prince Su, I will expose it as soon as possible.
But this Wen Qi is maliciously cheating, deliberately helping some people with insufficient talent and learning to get on the top list, and the impact is extremely bad. If there is no severe punishment, where is the fairness of the examination? Where is the majesty of the imperial court?"
Zhao Hongrun smiled bitterly when he heard this, because this was indeed the problem: Wen Qi's fraud was not an ordinary fraud, he deliberately disgraced the court and made the court look embarrassed.
People like this, from the standpoint of the imperial court, even if Zhao Hongrun felt that they should be killed as a warning to others, punished severely, and serve as a warning to others, they should never be tolerated.
But the problem is that he owes Wenqi a favor.
"Please forgive me, Your Highness Prince Su. There is nothing I can do about this matter." Du You shook his head and picked up the tea cup.
After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun looked at Du You with a slight displeasure.
He knew the character of the Minister of Rites in front of him very well: Although Du You was a civil servant, he was very courageous. When Xiong Tuo, the king of Chu Yangcheng, led his army to attack their Wei State, even Li Huan, the Minister of War, supported the alliance with the Chu State.
Peace talks were held, but the Minister of Rites proposed a resolute counterattack.
Even with Zhao Hongrun's current status, it is impossible for the Lord Shangshu to compromise.
Fortunately, Zhao Hongrun had already taken countermeasures. Hearing this, he smiled and said: "Since Du Shangshu refuses, then forget it... By the way, I have kidnapped more than a million Chu people from Chu this time, and my father has also granted him a seal.
The six counties will be merged into our Shangshui County to facilitate the resettlement of those Chu people. When the time comes, I hope Du Shangshu can help."
"..." After hearing this, Du You, the Minister of Rites, suddenly became strange, and he hesitated to speak.
You know, the conflict between Yanling and Anling made the Ministry of Rites very worried, not to mention the millions of new Chu people now.
Du You had no doubt that the Wei people in Zhaoling County would react violently to these Chu refugees.
If His Royal Highness Prince Su had not come forward to intimidate him, Du You thought that the Ministry of Rites would not be able to mediate.
Thinking of this, Du You, the Minister of Rites, sighed and said with a wry smile: "His Royal Highness, King Su, you are really... Oh, that's all. Anyway, the face of my Ministry of Rites has fallen to the ground and cannot be recovered. Your Highness, you can do whatever you want." At this point.
, he added: "But Your Highness, Du has something to say first. For your sake, Your Highness, our Rites Department can pretend to turn a blind eye to this matter, but it is absolutely impossible to withdraw the punishment of that candidate."
The implication is that Zhao Hongrun can rescue Wen Qi, but if he wants to restore Wen Qi's performance in the New Year's Examination, this is impossible.
Come to think of it, because of Wen Qi's relationship, the reputation of the Ministry of Rites was greatly damaged this year. It was also impeached by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who wanted to take back the right to host the imperial examinations. In addition, Emperor Wei was angrily reprimanded during the palace examination and at the court meeting.
, one can imagine how angry Du You and other officials from the Ministry of Rites were.
Later, the Ministry of Rites banned Wen Qi's results and finally saved some face. But if Wen Qi's results were restored now, wouldn't it mean that even the last bit of face could not be saved?
"Of course." Zhao Hongrun nodded to express his understanding. After all, he also understood that this was Du You's final bottom line.
After saying this, the atmosphere in the room seemed a little strange.
Zhao Hongrun looked at Du You, who didn't make any movement, and Du You also looked at Zhao Hongrun, who didn't make any movement. The two of them stared at each other with some doubts in their eyes.
After a while, Zhao Hongrun couldn't hold it any longer and reminded him with a strange expression: "Du Shangshu...can we let him go?"
As soon as he heard this, Du You knew that His Highness had misunderstood. He shook his head and said, "That candidate is not in my Department of Etiquette."
"The ceremonial supervisor who is not in your department is copying the documents?" Zhao Hongrun was stunned for a moment when he heard this.
Because as far as he knew, candidates who cheated in the examination room this year will have to go to the Ministry of Rites to copy books for free as punishment. Depending on the seriousness of the case, the number of years of service will be increased accordingly.
After all, the Ministry of Rites is a government agency that pays attention to education. It will not really kill some candidates who cheated in the examination just to make a warning. It will only choose methods that are in line with the teachings of the saints to make these candidates repent.
For example, when it comes to copying books, the library of the Ministry of Rites contains tens of thousands of books, which will inevitably be affected by floods and pests. Therefore, what is lacking are the reserved rubbings for hand-copied books.
After listening to Zhao Hongrun's words, Du Yousui gave an explanation, still with a bit of indignation in his tone.
"Du just said that Wen Qi's fraud is not an ordinary fraud. That's why he is not in the ceremonial supervisor of our Ministry of Rites, but in the jail of the Ministry of Punishments."
"..." Zhao Hongrun frowned. He originally thought that Du You's words just now were just excuses, but he didn't expect that it was really the case.
But think about it, Wen Qi deliberately cheated in the examination hall in order to retaliate against the imperial court. The circumstances were indeed bad enough to be caught and prosecuted in the Ministry of Punishment.
Maybe, I might ask him to behead him.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun immediately stood up and left.
Depressed, I touched the wrong door and my trip was in vain...
Zhao Hongrun left the Ministry of Rites Department quite depressed.
But then he thought again and changed his mind: Although he had found the wrong person, at least he persuaded Du You, the Minister of Rites, and made the Ministry of Rites acquiesce to this matter. As long as the Ministry of Rites did not come forward to object, he wanted to rescue Wen Qi. Naturally,
It's much easier.
It’s not easy to repay the small favor I owed back then... If Wenqi doesn’t feel grateful and use it for me, it’s really unjust.
Smiling at himself, Zhao Hongrun shook his head helplessly and could only go to the Ministry of Punishment headquarters again. (To be continued.)