Several, not one! So, if only one of them hits the water, is that considered good luck for them?
The three young scholars of Zou Ming were able to take the provincial examination in their early twenties, making them the best among all the scholars in the province. Even if they did not hear anything outside the window and only read the books of sages, they at least recognized this.
It is not difficult to understand the meaning. As for the other people in the second hall, there is not a single stupid person. At this time, they all can't help but change their expressions.
Even Zhu Ying, who had always stayed away from creatures like Juzi, couldn't help but scolded: "How unreasonable! Which of the Juzis was not obtained by Han Chuang after studying hard for ten years, and which one was a fluke? He did it because of jealousy.
If you vent your anger on someone, you will be cut into pieces! With just one stab in the head, you can get into the Li Jian? Does he regard the Li Jian as some kind of shameful place?"
The three people, Zou Ming and others, were all excited when they heard the previous words. They thought that Miss Zhu, who was famous for being domineering in the capital, turned out to be quite knowledgeable. But after hearing the second half of the words
, their expressions instantly froze, and they couldn't help but tighten their legs.
The description of being stabbed in the head is really terrible for a man! Apart from Zhu Ying, which rich lady can say such explicit words without restraint?
Magistrate Shen, who just now was worried that the case would become unsolved if he could not ask for a confession, now no longer cared about the dignity of a man, and it was not him who was talking about it anyway. Now that Ah Liu asked for a confession, he only felt surprised and happy.
He quickly winked at Zhang Captou.
When he saw the person, he immediately dragged Lin Laohu out very wisely, and soon he diligently invited Ah Liu in. He said to Zhang Shou with a smile: "There are no weak soldiers under a strong general. Dr. Zhang's men are indeed
There’s a lot of talent.”
"First, the generals of Zhao Guogong's family heroically rescued people, and then Dr. Zhang's capable people asked for confessions. Today's case might have shocked the capital, but now it was solved in one fell swoop without causing any harm to anyone. It was all Dr. Zhang and the eldest lady.
Thanks for your contribution! I heard that you two are getting married next month, and I will definitely go and have a glass of wedding wine by then!"
Zhu Ying likes people to talk about how she and Zhang Shou are doing. Seeing Magistrate Shen say this, she naturally smiled. But before she could say anything, Zhang Shou slowly got ahead of her: "Ah Liu, you just asked
After the confession was made, was there someone to sign it, or were there other witnesses present?"
"Of course!" Ah Liu said calmly without blinking, "The confession is in the hands of the witness."
Zhang Shou glanced at Zhang Captou and Lin Laohu, who were a little confused, and already guessed who the so-called witness was. Unlike him who knew it, Magistrate Shen who didn't know it immediately asked: "
Dare I ask my brother, who is the witness outside..."
"The fourth prince." When Ah Liu said these four words, he seemed to be talking about an ordinary kid next door. Until he saw Magistrate Shen was stunned for a moment, then choked and almost lost his breath, he downplayed it.
He said, "When I took the fourth prince out of Jiangdu Palace, I heard someone talking about the young master and the eldest lady rescuing people, so I came all the way here."
When they learned that when they went to find Ah Liu, the child they had left behind as insignificant was actually the fourth prince, Zhang Captou and Lin Laohu went crazy! Zhang Captou had indeed never seen the fourth prince, and Lin Laohu
But I’ve seen it before!
But when Lin Huhu just saw Ah Liu talking to the fourth prince, his tone was as if he didn't treat them as nobles in the palace, coupled with the fourth prince's clothes that didn't show much luxury - the emperor often taught these brothers to be Simple, so the third prince was really simple - so he didn't care at all.
But who would have thought that the child squatting and playing next to the half-dead man wrapped in a quilt was the Fourth Prince?
After finally regaining his breath, Magistrate Shen stood up immediately when he saw Zhang Shou, called Ah Liu over and said a few words before he hurriedly got up and walked out. He also hurriedly left his seat to follow. As for Zhu Ying... when he saw Zhu Ying While asking Zou Ming and the other three to go out with her to meet the Fourth Prince, he felt that the eldest lady was not as indulgent and willful as the rumors said. At least she still took the Fourth Prince into consideration!
Although in order to show off their integrity and integrity, in the past, the court officials would only give a respectful salute to the fourth prince when they met him, and would not pay too much attention to him, let alone say a word. But Even if the current fourth prince is different from the third prince who is about to be crowned prince, he is definitely different from the past. At least, who dares to ignore him?
When County Magistrate Shen Wan Zhang Shou hurriedly came outside, he saw a scene that stunned him. Not far away, he saw a corner boy sitting boredly on the back of a big man on the ground, with his feet on the ground. On the head, from time to time he would move his feet and give people a hard blow on the head, just like those common urchins who bully honest people.
However, when he saw a group of people coming out, he stood up immediately and ran over quickly: "Teacher, sister Yingying!"
The fourth prince's face was full of joy, and he smiled at Ah Liu who was next to Zhang Shou: "Brother Six, I will follow the method you just left and ask again! This guy doesn't know where he heard the statement. , he said that the cabinet is the foreign minister, and the ceremonial supervisor is the internal minister. As long as he can get in, he will have a better future than those serious Jinshi, so I am excitedly preparing to go to the imperial palace!"
When the word "self-gong" was mentioned, the fourth prince didn't even pause - even though he didn't understand what "self-gong" meant at all, it didn't stop him from expressing his contempt for someone.
"Humph, what kind of place does he regard the Secretary of Ceremonies as a dirty place?" These words were exactly the same as Zhu Ying's words, but what the fourth prince said next sounded to Zhang Shou that he had only heard a little bit about it, and what else? Or something I’ve never understood before.
"I heard Liu Feng say that the charity hall of the Director of Ceremonies adopts many abandoned babies every year, and then selects the smartest ones and raises them until they are six years old, and then selects a group of people based on their qualifications to focus on training. Among them, the best in reading and exams Only the best people will be sent to the inner study hall of the Si Li Jian. The Si Li Jian will teach them from an early age that those who care about children but not raise them are not worthy of being called parents. Loyalty to the emperor is the foundation..."
The fourth prince was talking casually about the rules that Liu Feng had told him about the rituals supervisors. He didn't even notice that Magistrate Shen frowned. Zou Ming, who was wrapped like a rice dumpling, even forgot the identity of the fourth prince. , couldn't help but retorted: "This is wrong. Parents, who are all good in the world, how can they be slandered just because of abandonment? Furthermore, even if an orphan is an orphan, it is inappropriate for the Chief of Ceremonies to abuse him like this..."
It wasn't until one hand was pinched hard by his companion that Zou Ming just shut up in anger, but he was still full of anger. The fourth prince was not angry, but slightly widened his eyes and said with confusion: "What's wrong with the Chief of Ceremonies?" Abuse? Didn’t Wang Si in Nancheng open a charity hall before? That’s called abuse. Very few people who come from the charity hall of the Secretary of Ceremony enter the palace, and most of them work outside!"
When the fourth prince said this, Magistrate Shen suddenly changed his expression. How the Supervisor of Ceremonies recruits people is an internal palace matter, not something that can be managed by foreign ministers. This is because they have always strictly controlled the entrance of their own palace, and the number of internal servants in the palace Moreover, the Supervisor of Ceremonies has always had strict control, so even if there are all kinds of random rumors, since they cannot be confirmed, foreign ministers cannot comment on them.
But at least, it is almost impossible for a poor family to sell their children and castrate them into the palace, because they are not accepted at all!
But in this case, where did the eunuchs in the palace come from? Now listening to the tone of the fourth prince, it is already clear that the Chief of Ceremonies actually set up a charity hall privately, selected abandoned children with good qualifications to train them, and then cut off their parents. The relationship between relatives, even inculcating the sin of abandonment by parents, artificially creating hatred for parents, and then taking people into the palace! Only loyalty, not filial piety, is simply ridiculous!
The most important thing is, apart from the group that entered the palace, the rest of the people are working outside? It is obvious that in addition to the small group of people on the surface, the Chief of Ceremonies also has a large number of people secretly! This After operating it every year, Magistrate Shen couldn’t even imagine the scale!
The Fourth Prince didn't have much good or bad feelings towards the Supervisor of Ceremonies. At this time, he just wanted to explain that the Superintendent of Ceremonies could never get in if he wanted to. He didn't care about Magistrate Shen's expression at all, and continued to talk to himself: "Secretary of Ceremonies" There are many rules in the prison. Only the Beijing dialect is allowed, no local accent is allowed. No one is allowed to join the hometown party, no foreign relatives are allowed, and it is forbidden to introduce people into the palace... Oh, I heard that among the orphans, there are also young children from the Northern Han Dynasty..."
Magistrate Shen was certainly shocked beyond measure, but Zou Ming and others were also shocked beyond measure!
Since ancient times, eunuchs have never been cut off, and this dynasty is no exception. It is just because Emperor Taizu repeatedly emphasized in the public that it is forbidden to leave the palace, and he will never accept people from the palace. In addition, the palace The number of eunuchs has always been kept at a very low level, and palace eunuchs are released on time when they reach their age, so the civil servants naturally welcome this kind of virtuous government.
Who would want a lot of eunuchs to turn a deaf ear in front of the emperor and then fight for power with themselves?
Because it is rare to hear that someone has been castrated and entered the palace, and eunuchs are unlikely to appear outside the capital. Therefore, scholars like Zou Ming from other places have never thought about what is going on in the palace. To supplement the eunuch's question, while the fourth prince's words popularized some knowledge to them, they also made them all shocked and angry.
Magistrate Shen endured it again and again, and finally said in a deep voice, "Orphans are also raised by their biological parents. If they are adopted, they are castrated and sent to the palace, severing family ties and nostalgia. Where is the justice of nature and humanity? This is really too much!" "
Haha, is this too much? You have never seen the system of castrating young Christian boys as slave guards! Besides, the mess of keeping slaves and raising maids in the homes of literati and poets, except that there is no castration, is nothing compared to the palace. Is it clean?
Zhang Shou knew very well that there is a natural opposition between scholar-officials and eunuchs - this is normal. In essence, it is a game between the imperial power represented by eunuchs and the scholar-official group. Except in the late Tang Dynasty, eunuchs controlled the emperor to abolish the emperor and exercised imperial power on his behalf, while the vassal government Then they took control of the military power, and the civil servant group tried to suppress the eunuchs internally and gather military power externally, but in the end they were completely defeated, and all dynasties continued to fight endlessly.
Even in the Song Dynasty, where eunuchs were not that famous, the Northern Song Dynasty had Tong Guanliang Shicheng, who was trained by Song Huizong, who was the most skilled in playing power, and the Southern Song Dynasty had Dong Songchen, who was trained by Song Lizong, who claimed to advocate Neo-Confucianism but was a mess in governing the country and using troops. Which one was not a lackey of imperial power?
"That's too much. Last time, I asked Liu Feng to secretly take me to the inner study hall. The sound of books there was very interesting! It's not like I haven't studied in the Imperial College, but there are many prison students there who are just hanging around. , not as good as the inner study hall!”
The fourth prince has always been reckless, impulsive, and even a little rebellious, so he certainly doesn't like Magistrate Shen, an old man who talks about justice, so he opened his mouth to retaliate.
Now, not to mention that Magistrate Shen's face was ashen, even Zou Ming and the others could not bear it anymore. The scholar who had thanked Zhang Shou so much for saving his life said word by word: "Fourth prince, what's wrong with the library in the Li Prison?" Can it be compared with the Imperial College? Most of the Imperial College's graduates have serious academic achievements, and they have studied hard for ten years. They are abandoned children adopted by a group of eunuchs, and what kind of sage books they read!"
"I only know that Liu Feng told me that there are hundreds and thousands of orphans from Gyeonggi who are admitted to the charity hall every year. After studying, only one tenth of them can pass the monthly exams and finally enter the inner school. .And those who passed the inner study hall's three selections and finally entered the palace were only one-tenth. And those who were able to enter the ceremonial supervisor after entering the palace took three major examinations, but still only one-tenth!"
"Every time those who were failed in the exam cried bitterly, regretting that they didn't study hard enough to learn their skills! But I see that among the six halls of the Imperial College, if you go around in circles for ten or eight years, you won't be as good as those in Guangye Hall by the time you graduate. Even if there are too many, these supervisors will not be ashamed!"
"Fourth Prince, that's enough!"
Although Zhang Shou also wanted to hear more about the large pile of useful information about the Director of Ceremonies that the fourth prince suddenly poured out today - after all, even if he couldn't pry into these things randomly, otherwise it would be a real spy on the palace - but he was still silent at the moment. He shouted loudly. When he saw the fourth prince shut up with disapproval on his face, he shook his head at him.
"You have to be measured in what you say. What Liu Feng said to you can also be used as evidence when arguing with others? Besides, why are you just staring at those uneducated rats in the Imperial College who spoil a pot of porridge? The Imperial College has also produced talents, such as..."
"For example, sister Yingying's eldest brother." The fourth prince snorted gloomily, but under Zhang Shou's stern glare, he finally just muttered in a low voice, "We are all scholars, why do we look down on others?"
The fourth prince said that he was a scholar, which made Magistrate Shen, Zou Ming and others turn pale.
Knowing that they were absolutely unwilling to be compared with a group of "elites" who were future ceremonial supervisors and the current outcasts from Shantang, Zhang Shou could only grimace again. But before he could stop the fourth prince again, Magistrate Shen Suddenly he asked: "May I ask who the Liu Feng that the Fourth Prince keeps talking about is?"
Zhang Shou suddenly looked at County Magistrate Shen in astonishment. Liu Feng was also in charge of Qianqing Palace after all. Magistrate Shen, as the magistrate of Wanping County, wouldn't he not know this? However, when he saw that the person was still acting so solemnly, he realized, Magistrate Shen wanted the fourth prince to tell him personally.
Sure enough, how could the young fourth prince know these things? He immediately said without thinking: "He is the steward of Qianqing Palace? He said that he was a loser who didn't study hard, so he couldn't get into the ceremonial department."
Zhang Shou was still deeply impressed by Liu Feng's mercurial nature. Hearing what the fourth prince said now, he just felt a little weird. Liu Feng had no problem telling the fourth prince what he was doing. Did you know that the fourth prince was sometimes prone to speaking uncontrollably? ?Sure enough, the next moment, he heard County Magistrate Shen say**: "It turns out he... dared to bewitch the prince like this, I will definitely impeach him!"