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, standing upright with his sword pressed.
Next to him is an eleven or twelve-year-old little Huangmen with delicate features who is persistent in dusting the whisk.
Normally, when civil and 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 civil servants or military generals,
No matter which faction you belong to, you should look at him carefully.
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 where Xia Xun stood. At the beginning, 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. The three guards who are now 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 civil and military officials gather together, the emperor ascends the rank, sits down, and the hundreds of officials shout "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 prostrated 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 and looked at the civil and military officials who controlled the entire empire, but he had a completely different view and perspective in his heart.
Interpretation.
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 playing tricks, this is the largest vanity fair and hunting ground in the world. You can watch the birds singing and the flowers fragrant, but in fact it is full of 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 fifty-one successful candidates were from the south. The northern candidates were in an uproar over this, and they jointly filed a petition and filed a lawsuit.
The examiner Liu Sanwu, Bai Xin, favored the southerners. The northern Yushi Yanguan was even more angry and impeached, accusing the examiner 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."
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For this reason, Zhu Yuanzhang specially ordered twelve people including Zhang Xin, the attendant, Dai Yi, the right praiser, Wang Junhua, the direct minister Zhang Qian, and the secretary of the Economic Affairs Bureau to read the examination papers again. All the officials involved were banned from the house, waiting for the investigation results. 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 famous for their erudition and learning, while Zhou Heng, Huang Zhang and others were famous for their loyalty and outspokenness. The choice was truly 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 mid-March, the northern officials have been suppressing the anger in their hearts 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 has taken out In the examination, only the articles were used to determine the merits. In order to seek justice and serve the world, 12 people including the ministers followed the emperor's order and reviewed carefully, paying special attention to the examination papers of Northern Juzi. After repeated tasting, they found these seven examination papers. His articles are 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. Based on his talent, the ministers think that he can win the examination."
There was a commotion in the Jinluan Palace. Everyone thought that even if only one person could win the election, it meant that the examiner was acting in favor of his own interests. The emperor hated the officials who violated the law for their own interests. What's more, this matter has caused a sensation in the world. Isn't it reasonable to punish him severely? I'm afraid it won't happen again. Is there going to be bloodshed and mass killing?
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly after hearing this, and thought to himself: "Only seven? Fifty-one scholars are admitted to the undergraduate program. 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 made Zhu Yuanzhang stumble. Zhang Xin handed the papers to the young chamberlain, then took out a stack of examination papers from another official's arms and said: "Your Majesty, there are seven more papers here. The test papers were those of the last seven Southern scholars who were successful in the list. I compared the seven test papers of the Northern Juzi with the seven test papers of the Southern Juzi who was at the bottom of the list one by one. I found that there was a huge gap in the scores of the candidates from the North and the South.
The essays of the candidates at the bottom of the list are also far higher than those of the best students from the north. Your Majesty, when you open a subject, you should judge your merits by your essays. I deeply appreciate the meaning of long live the exam. Although I feel that the seven candidates from the north are the best. The talents shown in this article can also be used by the imperial court. However, the imperial court has a limited number of scholars. It ignores academic status and only relies on grades and investigation results of ministers and other officials. The first list is fair and impartial and should not be changed. The northern candidates who are taking the exam are indeed You should fail."
This sentence was like a thunder on the ground, and everyone was stunned. None of the civil and military officials expected that the review official came 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 acting! When you took people to get the test papers, I received a secret notice, saying that you were colluding 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 had a white beard and hair and was already seventy-eight years old. 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 was reprimanded by the emperor and was banned from the palace. I never left the house. How could I collude with Lord Zhang Xin? The people from the north cannot be on 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,
Juzi’s literary foundation 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.
A standard high-scoring article.”
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 quality of the test paper as a criterion, not based on whether the people are from the south or the north, 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 of the northerners to calm people's hearts and quell public anger. Why don't you just...
How about these 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, is there no selfish feeling in it?"
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?"