The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 196

Xiao Jing is drinking tea.

Mou Bin said: "It seems that Mr. Zhang's words are all right. Mr. Li Ge didn't raise doubts on the grounds of incomprehensible words and incomprehensible sentences. Instead, he chose the well-written test papers."

Xiao Jing curled his lips lightly and said: "Old Li Ge's direction is always right. If there is fraud in the examination room, but even the basic articles are written to the point of nonsense, what is the point of cheating? Look at the four selected, three of them are Those who have already been selected, or who is Mr. Li Ge trying to catch among them!"

"As long as there is no Mr. Zhang." Mou Bin said intentionally or unintentionally.

Xiao Jing stopped drinking tea, and looked sideways at Mou Bin.

Although the words are plain, they are the most reasonable.

It doesn't matter who he is involved in, as long as Zhang Zhou is not involved, if His Majesty can do business, won't my mission be completed?
It's been a long time.

Hanlin Xiuzhuan Liu Chun came to report and said: "Eunuch Xiao, Commander Mou, the unsealing has been completed. Mr. Li Ge invites you to come over."

"Let's go!" Xiao Jing took Mou Bin to the marking room.

……

……

Marking room.

Li Dongyang only called a few fellow examiners to come, they are the kind who are more knowledgeable and generally don't like to be a prick, it is equivalent to having an examiner present to explain clearly in person, but it is impossible for someone to always interrupt when speaking.

"Mr. Li Ge, how is it? The four selected examination papers, are there any people who are suspected of being guilty of Hua Chang's performance?" Xiao Jing asked with a smile.

He also emphasized that since Hua Chang participated in the performance, he was also a person who was "suspected to be guilty". He just reminded Li Dongyang that Zhang Zhou had already been excluded from the inscription case by the emperor. Consequences, don't make trouble for everyone.

Li Dongyang cupped his hands and said, "Not yet."

Xiao Jing smiled when he heard this.

In the case of vague names, only four questionable papers were selected out of four or five thousand examination papers. I was not familiar with the writing style of the three, and I wanted to involve any one of Zhang Zhou, Tang Yin, and Xu Jing. The probability of "winning" is too low.

Li Dongyang asked: "Now that the seal has been opened, should I fill in the list?"

"Wait a minute first." Xiao Jing said, "Mr. Li Ge, there are still two days before the release of the list, and it will not be too late to fill in the list tomorrow. Our family still wants to make a report to His Majesty first. Do you want to write a report in your name first?" How about a memorandum to state this matter?"

Li Dongyang looked at the fellow examiners whom he had called to observe, and suddenly felt that it was inappropriate to ask someone else to come.

It seems that many things are really suitable to discuss with Xiao Jing alone.

"Filling in the list is postponed until tomorrow, you all go back to rest first. After filling in the list tomorrow, you can go out of the curtain."

When the inner curtain officials finish their missions, they don't have to wait for the rankings to be released, as long as they fill in the rankings, hand them over to the Ministry of Rites, and make a performance, the errands of these people will be completed.

Originally, many people thought that the examination papers, which had been postponed for a few days, would finally be over, and they could leave today, but they would have to wait another day, in fact, they were waiting for Xiao Jing to go to the emperor to ask for instructions.

……

……

Back to private occasions.

Li Dongyang didn't shy away from it, and directly asked Xiao Jing what he meant.

Xiao Jingdao: "Mr. Li Ge, you are highly respected, and you are also the chief examiner of this exam. You and Cheng Xueshi still presided over this ritual exam together. Some words are for you to say, which is more suitable than others."

Li Dongyang understood right away that Xiao Jing wanted him to "intercede" Cheng Minzheng as a cabinet minister.

Although he didn't want to embarrass Cheng Minzheng, he didn't say he wanted to stand up for Cheng Minzheng.

From his point of view, the matter is so uproar, who knows whether Cheng Minzheng is really involved in the problem?Why should I speak for him?

"Old Li Ge, so far, there is still no evidence?" Xiao Jing laughed.

Li Dongyang nodded: "That is to say that there is no real evidence to make the prelude?"

"Probably so." Xiao Jing thought to himself, it's rare that you, Li Bin, are on the right track. Is it so difficult to ask you to write a memorabilia of "no proof"?

Li Dongyang said: "Then I will report it according to the facts, but Mr. Xiao, I still have a doubt, why didn't you do a re-examination under the condition of Kaimifeng? Now, two of the three candidates involved have passed the examination. I'm afraid it's not easy if you want to calm things down like this?"

Xiao Jing smiled and shook his head: "How your majesty ordered, how our family will convey it depends on your majesty's instructions. You just need to finish your own work. Before filling out the list tomorrow, there may be a court meeting to discuss this matter. Why are you in such a hurry?"

Li Dongyang was quite stubborn at first, but when he thought that the emperor might take this matter to the court to discuss and ask the ministers to give their opinions before filling out the list and releasing the list, he immediately felt a little more balanced.

Afterwards, he followed Xiao Jing's "reminder" and wrote a report on the unsubstantiated investigation of the vendi case.

……

……

Inside the palace.

Zhu Youtang summoned Zhang Zhou, nominally to talk about the examination questions, but after the meeting, Zhu Youtang seemed to have completely forgotten about this matter, and only discussed with Zhang Zhou about health preservation.

He also asked Zhang Zhou about the way of heaven, the secrets of heaven, and the appearance of heaven, and the three words were inseparable from "heaven". Probably what Zhu Youtang feared most now was heaven, and he regarded Zhang Zhou as half of heaven's envoy.

"The prince's schoolwork has been progressing slowly recently, and he is not in the mood to study. I have also supervised it many times, but with little success." Zhu Youtang said, "After the examination is over, you have more time to enter the palace, I think Let you make him a Mr. early."

Zhu Youtang has high expectations for his son.

But Zhu Houzhao is obviously not a serious learning material. It doesn't matter how fast Zhu Houzhao learns, it will always be different from the emperor's expectations. In addition, Zhu Houzhao's stubbornness will make his father feel that his son is very incompetent.

Zhang Zhou was engaged in education in his previous life.

I also understand some paradoxes in family education. When a father always thinks that his son has embarked on a "point of no return" because his son's work habits are different from his own, but when the son educates his grandson, the same situation will appear again. .

The father always lives in his own stubbornness, thinking that being the same as himself is "correct", but those sons who are ineffective in the eyes of the father support the progress of the times and pass on the human race.

"Your Majesty, Eunuch Xiao is back." A young eunuch came in to report.

Only then did Zhu Youtang remember what Zhang Zhou was calling for today, and he waved his hand: "Let him in."

Then he saw Xiao Jing trotting all the way into Qianqing Palace, seeing Zhu Youtang sitting side by side with Zhang Zhou at first, he was somewhat uncomfortable.

Xiao Jing said happily: "Your Majesty, the inner curtain has been opened, and the result has been released. Mr. Zhang is among the winners."

"call……"

When Zhu Youtang heard it, he seemed to be completely relieved.

Finally, there is no need for Zhang Zhou to enter the court as a tribute, that is to say, Zhang Zhou is now considered a Jinshi.

"Bingkuan, congratulations." Zhu Youtang smiled and congratulated you.

Only Zhang Zhou didn't think things were that easy, but he also understood that no matter whether he was selected as a Jinshi or not, he would easily fall into the whirlpool of public opinion, and it was better to be selected than not to be selected.

Dai Yi asked, "What number?"

Xiao Jing smiled wryly, Dai Yi, Chen Kuan and the others thought that the ranking was not good, but they heard Xiao Jing say: "Nangong is the first."

"..." Dai Yi also looked a little embarrassed, and turned to look at Zhu Youtang.

And Zhu Youtang didn't think it was a bad thing at all, instead he got up and walked in front of Zhang Zhou, and patted Zhang Zhou on the shoulder: "It's okay to be number one in Nangong. Let me plan for you."

It's not really a surprise that Xie Yuan, who took the Jiangnan provincial examination, won the first place in the general examination.

Zhang Zhou thought to himself, thank God, thank God, thank God for being bored in the pile of old papers in his previous life, and thank God for being knowledgeable and not serious about exams, thank God for allowing me to come to Daming to experience the life of the ancients...

Zhang Zhou first made a speech in his heart, and then asked: "What about Tang Yin and Xu Jing?"

Zhu Youtang also realized that Zhang Zhouzhong's failure to be a Jinshi is not the point. He should quickly calm down the public opinion on the examination questions. He also asked, "Can the two be selected?"

Xiao Jing said: "Returning to Your Majesty, Tang Yin is ranked No. 13, and Xu Jing is not among the candidates."

"Oh."

Zhu Youtang nodded.

When he heard that Tang Yin had also won the tribute, he looked a little hesitant. Obviously he didn't think that Tang Yin's tribute was a good thing, and Tang Yin was being regarded as the focus of public opinion outside. At this time, Tang Yin won. Doesn't it mean that there may be a relationship between Tang Yin and Cheng Minzheng? Tricky?
Zhang Zhoudao: "Tang Yin's talent is not bad, and before the exam, he calmed down for a while, so he can prepare for the exam with peace of mind."

Zhu Youtang nodded: "It's not unusual for Yayuan in the Jiangnan Provincial Examination to be No. 13 in the examination. But in this case, it seems difficult to clear away the suspicion."

Xiao Jing hurriedly presented Li Dongyang's memorial again: "Your Majesty, this is Li Ge Lao's memorial to Cheng Minzheng's memorial in the inner curtain, please read it."

"bring here."

Zhu Youtang directly took over the memorial and read it on the spot.

After reading it, he handed the memorial to Zhang Zhoudao: "Bingkuan, take a look too."

Zhang Zhou read the above content, and Li Dongyang not only stated that Cheng Minzheng’s question was unsubstantiated, but also mentioned that Tang Yin’s name was mostly due to his talent and learning. In the investigation of the Four Books and Five Classics, there were no obvious omissions in talent and learning. or deviation...

It roughly means that there is no question that Li Dongyang answered poorly, but that Cheng Minzheng answered exceptionally well.

The standards that Li Dongyang told Xiao Jing before are all fooling around, the most important thing is actually this one, but Li Dongyang can't directly tell Xiao Jing which questions are from him, and which questions are from Cheng Minzheng.

Xiao Jingdao: "After the inner curtain is opened and sealed, the filling of the list will be postponed in advance. Please ask your majesty to fill in the list tomorrow, and the list can be published early in the morning."

Zhu Youtang looked at Zhang Zhou, and said seriously: "Bingkuan, do you think Tang Yin should be deposed to quell the arrogant discussions of scholars?"

Zhang Zhou put down the memorial and asked, "Your Majesty, what is the reason?"

"There is no need for reason." Zhu Youtang said, "Scholar selection in the imperial examination, in terms of articles, the likes and dislikes of the chief examiner are likely to be unfair and biased. If Tang Yin is deposed alone, he can equalize the opinions of the scholars and get what he wants. "

(End of this chapter)