Take a plane to the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 187
"Huh?" Chongzhen was taken aback, looking at Shang Zhouzuo, who was kneeling on the ground and raising his hands, holding a memorial in his hands, he felt a little angry.

Fraud in the examination room, this is not an ordinary case.

Among these people in the imperial court, apart from Zhu Changyuan, which one of them is not a vested interest in the imperial examination. Although the politics of the late Ming Dynasty was corrupt, face is still needed.

Then, at least this person will be demoted, or even executed!

"Minister!" Before Chongzhen could speak, Liu Zunxian came out suddenly, knelt down on the ground, and presented a memorial in his hand: "Liu Zunxian, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, impeached Wen Tiren, the chief assistant of the cabinet, colluded with Zhang Hanru, the master of Changshu County, and framed the former right servant of the Ministry of Rites. The evidence of Qian Qianyi's crime is conclusive."

There was a wave of unrest and another wave. Over there, Shang Zhouzuo’s memorial had not yet been presented to the imperial court. Here, Liu Zunxian added another major crime to Wen Tiren: framing the minister.

Wen Tiren suddenly couldn't sit still, and said: "Your Majesty, the old minister has been wronged!"

Liu Zongzhou didn't give Wen Tiren a chance to defend himself, so he came out for the third time, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I have also heard about this. There are rumors in the market that Li Zhitian, the Jinke Tanhualang, spent 3 taels of silver to bribe the officials of the Ministry of Rites, which is harmful to the examination room. He was an illiterate swinger."

"Huh? There is such a thing?" Chongzhen's eyes became sharper than ever before, and he shot at Wen Tiren who was kneeling on the ground, and asked, "Wen Aiqing, is there such a thing?"

Wen Tiren kowtowed, and said slowly: "Return to Your Majesty, I don't know."

This answer seems to be a bit of soy sauce, but it completely removes the relationship, whether there is or not, don't ask me, I don't know.

However, how could Liu Zongzhou give up this opportunity to attack Wen Tiren, and said with a cold snort: "Ministry Wen Ge, don't rush to shirk, the old man remembers that all the test papers of the first three Jinshi were submitted to the imperial court by Your Excellency, you Dare you know nothing about it?"

Before Wen Tiren could speak, Xue Guoguan, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, said: "Lord Liu, don't spout blood. The rumors in the market can also be used as a basis for attacking ministers in court. This is really the first time I have seen you."

Jiang Fengyuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, also questioned Liu Zongzhou: "You are a great Confucian, how can you speak like a woman? Even if there are rumors, how can you win the trust? The test paper is clear, can it be fake?"

"Of course it's a fake." Shang Zhouzuo said the second sentence. After the second sentence, the quarrel in the court fell into silence. I found Li Zhitian last night and was arrested in the Yamen. If you don’t believe me, please order to move him into the palace and into the platform. You will know if you are talented or well-learned!"

There was a sudden silence in the hall, Wen Tiren, his accomplices and those who wanted to defend him were silent.

Many officials just accepted bribes. As for how talented this Li Zhitian is, only God knows.Some people who know the inside story only know that Li Zhitian's test papers were changed after the exam, and when the matter goes deeper, even Wen Tiren doesn't know.

Wen Tiren may not be involved in this matter, but he must not escape being involved.

"Why are you silent?" Chongzhen snorted coldly, waved his hand and said to Shang Zhouzuo: "Go, pass on my oral order, and ask Jinke Tanhualang Li Zhitian to call for you."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Shang Zhouzuo bowed and stepped back.

Then, Emperor Chongzhen sighed, looked at the silent officials below, stretched out his hand to call Cao Huachun over, and said, "I remember that the crown prince is nine years old this year, right?"

Cao Huachun smiled and said: "Dodge, old slave, remember that His Royal Highness will be nine years old when the New Year is celebrated this year!"

"En. Time flies, and in a flash, I have been on the throne for ten years." Chongzhen patted the table with one hand, and said: "The prince is about to grow up. You go and call the prince over, so that you can let him go later." He has seen and seen, and my Ming Dynasty's Jinke Tanhua has a literary talent."

"Old slave obeys the order."

The platform is at the junction of the inner palace and the outer court, not far from the inner palace, Cao Huachun took advantage of the twilight and called the little prince Zhu Cihong who was still asleep.

The prince walked into the court, a little scared, Cao Huachun comforted him while finding a seat for him.

Emperor Chongzhen said: "It's the first time for the crown prince to go to court, and he should observe it with an open mind. You don't need to give a seat, just stand at the end of the line and stand behind Zhu Changyuan."

Cao Huachun led the prince to the end of the team and stood there.

"Hey, senior official?" After seeing Zhu Changyuan, Zhu Cilang smiled mischievously, pulled his official uniform and said in a low voice: "A senior official who knows how to brag, you are already standing in the last row."

Zhu Changyuan smiled wryly, other places could be as big or small as this little prince, but not here, even though the emperor couldn't see clearly from a long distance, the surrounding officials could see clearly.

"I pay homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Really bowed respectfully.

When everyone saw Zhu Changyuan kneeling in such a salute, they couldn't help kneeling, and said, "I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

The little prince was so scared that he didn't know what to do, he murmured for a long time before saying: "Get up, you all get up." Then everyone got up.

Chongzhen laughed loudly, and said: "The crown prince is young and ignorant, so don't blame me!"

Not long after, Shang Zhouzuo also led Li Zhitian, who was also trembling in blue, into the platform hall.

Zhu Changyuan was also drunk, secretly thinking that the distance to the palace is not close, how come Shang Zhouzuo brought this thing here in only 10 minutes, could it be that it was tied up and placed outside the palace gate, waiting for His Majesty to summon it?
Unfortunately, he really guessed right, this Li Zhitian has been brought by Shang Zhouzuo's side all this time, hiding in his sedan chair.

"Your Majesty, this is Jinke Tanhualang, No.3 Li Zhitian in Yijia."

"My lord, Li Zhitian is here to see His Majesty, may your Majesty live forever!" Li Zhitian's body was trembling, and his voice was also trembling.

Chongzhen hummed, and waved to Cao Huachun, who handed over a blank piece of paper.

"When I first read "Shu Lun Gongfu Dalue", I was astonished as a heavenly man." Emperor Chongzhen took the paper in his hand and stroked it, and said: "Liaodong and the rebels must appease one side, and then defeat the other side. , this point of view agrees with me deeply.”

"The article proposes that if possible, he would not hesitate to make peace with the captives, or take advantage of the bandit army. Li Aiqing is really a genius!"

Li Zhitian was not happy when he heard Emperor Chongzhen's words, but a layer of worry was cast on his face, he said: "Your Majesty's absurd praise, I'm just discussing the matter as it stands, if you don't write well, it will insult you."

"No problem." Chongzhen waved his hand, and then said: "As for whether it is absurd praise, I can't say for sure now." Suddenly he shouted sharply, and said: "Li Zhitian, Shang Zhouzuo, the royal censor of Zuodu, impeached you for bribing the officials of the Ministry of Rites. You have been guilty of cheating on others and gaining the title of Tanhualang by doing so?"

"Minister, minister!" Li Zhitian trembled. Although he had no literary talent and was a slutty young man, since he had the means to bribe the entire Ministry of Rites, he was naturally not a fool.

After a moment of panic, he slowly calmed down, and secretly said: Admitting is death, and not admitting may still have a glimmer of life.Then he kowtowed heavily on the ground, "Your Majesty, I don't dare. Although I have little talent and little knowledge, I won't behave like this and stain the face of scholars."

"En!" Emperor Chongzhen snorted coldly, looked at Liu Zongzhou, and said, "Liu Aiqing is a great Confucian in the world, and he is familiar with classics and history books. You should ask questions first!"

Liu Zongzhou is a great Confucian, and his reputation is definitely not in vain. Not only do he have thousands of disciples all over the world, but he is also a popular candidate for the next cabinet chief.

However, since it is necessary to warm the body and benevolence, it is impossible to be merciful and specially ask some difficult questions.

Let alone Li Zhitian, even Wen Tiren might not be able to answer these questions.After hearing his question, everyone slandered Liu Zongzhou for being shameless.

Wen Tiren finally couldn't help but jumped out, and said: "Master Liu, these questions are too partial, and there is no conclusion in academic research. How can they be used to embarrass a young man?"

Xue Guoguan also came out to speak.

Even Emperor Chongzhen couldn't stand it anymore, and said, "Liu Aiqing, you've got a picture!"

Liu Zongzhou said cheekily: "Since Li Tanhua can't answer the crime of the humble official, then the old official should ask some simple questions. Hmm..." After thinking for a while, he said: "Then let's test the couplets."

"Okay, Master Liu please come up with a question." Although Li Zhitian's knowledge is not good, but when it comes to couplets, he must know a few. At least for him, the couplets test is much better than others.

Liu Zongzhou pondered for a while, and came up with a couplet: Born in the Ming Dynasty, the two characters for East and West are sun and moon.

Well, right? After a quick look, many people think it’s right. This couplet is neither a palindrome nor a ruthless couplet. Don’t you think the most difficult part of this couplet is to break Ming into two characters, day and month?
However, when you are right, you will find that the biggest problem is not that the sun and the moon make up the Great Ming, but the inconspicuous "two" character, which can be regarded as a big hole dug by Liu Zongzhou.

During the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom sent envoys to the Central Plains, and Su Dongpo, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, was ordered to entertain them.The Liao envoy issued a couplet: "Sanguang sun, moon and stars", asking Su Dongpo to correct it.The Liao envoy believed that this was absolute.

After a quick look, it’s right, it’s okay to be right, “Sanguang Sun, Moon and Star” is not the same, I am right about “Five Elements, Metal, Wood, Water...” Well, everyone understands, this is an absolute, strictly speaking no People can come out right.

And today Liu Zongzhou made this pair, not to mention Li Zhitian, even if it is the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty combined, it may take half a day to come out with the pair.

Gradually, many people in the court discovered the trap in this couplet, and they couldn't help cursing Liu Zongzhou for being shameless. It's easy to come up with such a couplet, why are you trying to come up with a rare one?

Like everyone else, Zhu Changyuan also thought it was very simple when he heard this couplet just now. Although he didn't understand the couplet, he still understood it pretending to be forceful.But after a period of pondering, I realized that this couplet is so difficult that it can almost make people cry.

(End of this chapter)