Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

"You bastard, you really deserve to die!" Zhuang Bochang saw Tang Yin making such a fuss in the restaurant, and he was so angry that he gnashed his teeth.

He was exactly one circle older than Tang Bohu, and this was his fifth time to participate in the imperial examination. He believed that his talent was not inferior to Tang Ziwei, and his efforts were even more than Tang Bohu's.

In Jiangnan, who didn't know Tang Bohu's reputation as a playboy.

The matter of Tang Bohu's prostitution was reported to Fang Zhi, the governor of education. Originally, the governor wanted to deprive Tang Bohu of his qualification to participate in the provincial examination, but Fang Yunming's father and others came forward to plead for him.

God was blind. This person who usually lingered in the place of fireworks and only started studying in the last half a year actually passed the exam as the first place in Nanzhili.

In this imperial examination, facing the historical policy essay "Ask about the Spring and Autumn Period, which of the hundreds of schools of thought is most related to Lu Buwei, can you explain the reason?", he didn't know the connection at all.

Although he praised Confucianism in his answer sheet, he knew that he would fail the exam for the sixth time after he learned that Lü Buwei was actually a representative of the Miscellaneous School.

Zhuang Bochang quickly adjusted his mood, but suddenly a plan came to his mind: "It's not easy for me to fail the exam, and you can't expect to succeed either. Go to hell!"

With the help of some people, this public opinion quickly fermented.

There were many candidates who did not perform well in the exam like Zhuang Bochang. When these frustrated candidates heard such remarks, they were so angry that they wanted to go up and kill this person.

Some people originally wanted to find Tang Yin to make a few sarcastic remarks, but the other party was Tang Yin, a talented man from Jiangnan and a Jieyuanlang from Nanzhili. He seemed to have the qualifications to be so arrogant.

However, facing this crazy student who rubbed salt into the wound, they also developed a strong hostility.

"Did he answer it?"

"No, absolutely impossible!"

"Such a tricky question, how could this person who has been hanging around in the red-light district answer it?"

...

Zhuang Bochang has exaggerated the deeds of Tang Yin, and combined with the difficulty of this question, many candidates have deep doubts.

Throughout the ages, cheating in the imperial examination is nothing new.

If Tang Yin did not answer normally, then it can only be cheating. Although the examination room has an anti-cheating system of covering names and copying, everything is operated by people, and human operation has room for cheating for personal gain.

That's why speculation about Tang Yin's cheating is rampant, and all the credit should naturally be attributed to Zhuang Bochang and a large group of failed candidates who have nowhere to vent.

"Tang Yin must have cheated!"

"Yes, if he didn't cheat, how could he answer such a tricky historical question!"

"The examination hasn't started yet, and Tang Yin said he would definitely pass the exam. Isn't that strange?"

...

As the incident continued to ferment, some people were just guessing in their hearts, but now they have directly expressed their suspicion of cheating.

Since everyone believes that Tang Yin cheated, they naturally have to start looking for evidence. Those who can participate in cheating in the examination must be rich or noble.

The resentment in the hearts of those who failed the exam is deeper than anyone else. Thinking that Tang Yin was born in Suzhou, the first prefecture in the world, they immediately started to dig up Tang Yin's three generations of ancestors.

"His family must be very rich!"

"Ah? His father Tang Guangde only runs a tavern?"

"He must be the second generation of an official!"

"Haha... His grandfather Tang Tai was the head of the military department and died in Tumubao!"

"Fake? This person was not on the list of officials killed in Tumubao? The head of the tavern who died was not surnamed Tang?"

...

But the results of the investigation disappointed them very much. They originally thought that Tang Yin was either the son of an official or his family was very rich, but it turned out that he was neither.

If the son of a tavern owner could cheat in the imperial examination, it would be the most bizarre news in the world.

Although some people began to suspect that Tang Yin's father Tang Guangde had a great favor to Song Cheng, one was in Suzhou Prefecture in the south and the other was in Huizhou Prefecture in the northwest, and the two places were really far away from each other.

Zhuang Bochang was from Changzhou Prefecture and was also a veteran scholar, so he was more familiar with the people and things in Nanzhili and the candidates from other places.

In response to Tang Yin's condemnation, he naturally could not let the matter come to an abrupt end, and immediately released the "new material" appropriately.

"Is his friend Xu Jing's family rich enough to rival a country?"

"I heard that when they went to Beijing, they found six singing girls in Yangzhou, and then went north all the way, playing tricks every day!"

"Although the two of them met during the exam, Xu Jing is a die-hard fan of Tang Yin, and it is reasonable for Xu Jing to give Tang Yin the questions he got for money!"

...

Since there was no flaw in Tang Yin, everyone quickly set their sights on Xu Jing, Su Yin's new friend from the rich second generation, and Xu Jing's wealth naturally made him a suspect of cheating.

Originally, Xu Jing and Tang Yin met on the road and went to Beijing together, but now in their eyes, they are brothers who can wear the same pants for life and death.

Zhuang Bochang thought of his experience of being rejected, and immediately released the explosive news again.

"This is incredible. Guess what I found out?"

"Do you know who Xu Jing and Tang Yin visited before the exam?"

"They visited Song Cheng, the current Minister of Justice. Song Cheng is from Nanzhili and the chief examiner of this joint exam!"

...

After a deep investigation, the last piece of the puzzle has been completed, that is, Tang Yin and Xu Jing are good friends, and the two of them happened to visit the chief examiner Song Cheng together.

Although Tang Yin did not have the money to buy the exam questions from Song Cheng, Xu Jing was a famous rich second generation, and it was natural for him to spend a large sum of money to buy the questions from Xu Jing, the current Minister of Justice.

"If that's the case, then everything makes sense!"

"It's a lie that Tang Yin and Xu Jing came to visit, but it's true that they bought the questions!"

"Although Xu Jing provided the money, Xu Jing also shared the title with Tang Yin!"

…

The failed candidates were induced by thoughtful people, and the whole process of a fraud case in the examination room has taken shape, and the main participants are Tang Yin, Xu Jing and Song Cheng.

"We must not let maggots like this ruin the talent promotion ceremony!"

"Such blatant fraud is unheard of!"

"We are petitioning to petition, and we must find out their fraud!"

…

Because the fraud in the examination room was said to be serious, many candidates really couldn't answer the question, so they pointed the finger at Tang Yin, and two other important participants, the examiner Song Cheng and Xu Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice through.

Stepping on corpses to rise to the top has always been the path to promotion for officials in the Department of Science and Technology.

After Hu Kezhizhonghuachang learned the whole story, he immediately wrote a memorial to impeach Song Cheng. He suspected that Song Cheng had leaked the test questions to Tang Bohu and Xu Jing in advance, and asked the emperor and the cabinet to investigate the matter.

In the capital city in February, the spring is freezing.

Zhu Youtang, wearing a dragon robe, was handling government affairs in Yangxin Hall as usual. It has been twelve years since he took the throne, and he is about to turn thirty.

This age is actually still relatively young. However, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is a short-lived profession. If it is the same as the original history, there are actually only a few years left.

Fortunately, since the year he ascended the throne, he has deliberately adjusted his diet to make his diet healthier, and he also refused food from Qingning Palace.

Zhu Youtang is very open-minded about life span. If God really wants to take him away, then he has no complaints. As an emperor, he is worthy of the people of the world and worthy of the blood flowing through his body.

"I pay homage to your Majesty!" Yin Zhi, the chief assistant of the cabinet, walked in and saluted respectfully.

If Zhu Youtang is considered old at thirty, then Yin Zhi is actually over sixty and now has a head full of white hair. However, he takes good care of himself and his body and bones are still strong.

In the original history, it was Zhu Youtang who died before Yin Zhi.

Zhu Youtang picked up Hu Ke's memorial to Shi Zhonghuachang and handed it to Liu Jin for delivery. In fact, no matter how things went wrong, they would eventually come to the cabinet and the emperor.

If the original history is followed, Emperor Hongzhi would naturally follow the advice of the cabinet. The chief minister of the cabinet at that time was Xu Pu, the Qingliu leader. Naturally, he would take care of the public opinion of the scholar-bureaucrat class, so he definitely agreed to conduct an investigation.

In fact, there is still a dispute between the North and the South here. At that time, Xu Pu was from the Northern Party and Cheng Minde was from the Southern Party, so Xu Pu would not miss this opportunity to attack the Southern Party.

However, the current Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youtang is not the kind of emperor who follows the wind and rain, and it is impossible to obey the cabinet in everything. Instead, he has his own clear judgment.

Judging from various signs, this fraud case is just a rumor. The only evidence is that "Tang Yin claimed that he could win the championship." But isn't it normal for such words to come from the mouth of a genius?

"Your Majesty, the talent promotion ceremony is related to the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. This matter should be taken seriously!" Yin Zhi said solemnly after reading Hu Ke's memorial to Shi Zhonghua Chang.

Although he didn't think it was a fraud in his heart, it was ultimately related to the most important talent selection of the Ming Dynasty, so careful consideration would naturally make the Metropolitan Procuratorate take it seriously.

It's like someone crying wolf. Although you can't believe it all at once, you still have to at least look up.

Zhu Youtang picked up the tea cup next to him and spit out two words: "Thorough investigation!"

"This fraud in the examination room is just based on rumors. It should not disrupt the current talent promotion ceremony. Your Majesty, please think twice!" Yin Zhi's eyes widened and he immediately admonished.

Zhu Youtang took a sip of tea, raised his eyes and looked at the nervous Yin Zhi and said: "Who said that I want to thoroughly investigate the cheating in the examination! I have heard the rumors in the capital a few days ago. Who is the source of such slander? The Procuratorate must investigate this matter and make this case a regular practice! In the future, if candidates fail to take the exam, they will accuse them of cheating and accuse others randomly. The fairness of our exam is not a failure for him. People just throw dirty water at will!"

This decision has nothing to do with saving Tang Bohu, but stems from the normal thinking of an emperor.

Those candidates failed in the examination room. It was just a wild guess, and they openly "stormed" Tang Yin and others. Although it was their way of venting their emotions, it was undoubtedly unfair to Tang Yin and others.

If you stop the examination papers because of this and start investigating people and things for which there is no evidence, you will be the biggest fool in the world.

"Your Majesty, the imperial court has always tacitly allowed those who failed to express their emotions. If this matter is investigated further, your Majesty's reputation may be damaged!" Yin Zhi breathed a secret sigh of relief, and then reminded him with a worried look.

"I don't want to cherish my reputation. Future generations will call me a tyrant!" Zhu Youtang has never valued these false reputations. He seemed to be selfless and said: "It's just that Song Cheng is not greedy for a penny, and Tang Yin also participated in the examination according to the procedures. Why should he let an upright official He suffered an unfair injustice! Check whether it was fabricated by someone who failed in the exam, but Hua Chang did not focus on the household department but went to the etiquette department to check whether he was impeached because of his relatives and friends. "

"Your Majesty is wise, I obey your decree!" Yin Zhi felt Zhu Youtang's strong will and saluted in a formal manner.

To the east of the city, Mingchun Restaurant.

Uncle Zhuang was exchanging glasses with his friends, with a proud smile on his face.

My classmate and friend Hua Chang has already submitted the impeachment memorial, and I believe there will be a result soon. If a re-examination can be arranged this time, everyone will be happy that year.

Of course, even if there is no re-examination scheduled this time, if that question is defined as a leaked question, then the examiners will naturally reduce the score of that question, and they may be selected.

Zhuang Bochang was in a very good mood, and he raised his wine glass and said proudly: "We don't know whether he will go to high school, but Tang Ziwei will definitely have to stay in the dormitory!"

"Let's drink to get rid of Tang Zi's fear of the harm caused by such imperial examinations!" Other candidates raised their glasses to greet him, believing that the imperial court would start investigating the fraud in the examination room.

Just when he was intoxicated with this contentment, there was a rush of footsteps coming from the stairs of the restaurant.

"Which one of you is Zhuang Bochang, the Changzhou Judizi?" Wang Yu, deputy director of the Procuratorate of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, personally brought people up and looked at everyone present with blazing eyes.

Those present could not help but look at each other in confusion, and then turned to look at Zhuang Bochang.

Zhuang Bo often knew that the other party was from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so he immediately stood up and said with a smile, "Are you an official from the Metropolitan Procuratorate? You are looking for me because of the fraud in Tang Yin's examination room. I am the same person as this person." As a person from Nanzhili, I do know some things!”

"Zhuang Bochang, I have three questions to ask you. You must answer them truthfully!" Wang Yu is no longer the conflicted young man he was back then and asked very steadily.

Zhuang Bochang raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and immediately expressed his position: "Even if this official asks, I will definitely tell you everything I know!"

"Last year on the Qinhuai River, you fell in love with Tang Yin because of your friendship. You wanted to attack Tang Yin but you lost your front tooth instead?" Wang Yu noticed that Zhuang Bochang was missing a front tooth and asked very seriously.

this……

Juzi who was present heard that there was such a grievance, but he didn't expect that this man kept scolding Tang Yin for being a prostitute. In the end, he himself was jealous of the brothel girl. He was really a hypocrite.

Uncle Zhuang was about to argue, but facing Wang Yu's sharp gaze, he could only lower his head silently and said: "Yes!"

"I asked hundreds of schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn Period, which one has the most connection with Lu Buwei and can tell his story? Did you answer this question incorrectly, or did you hand in a blank paper?" Wang Yu spoke again and asked the second question.

Zhuang Bochang's face instantly turned pale, but the cold sweat on his forehead and trembling hands betrayed his inner panic. (End of chapter)