Yulan complained about the prince in her heart, and worried about Yuxin for a while, and then returned to the topic: "Since the ins and outs of this matter have been clarified, what should we do next?" ”

Ye Yichen said: "It's not too late to see what the emperor reacts to!" ”

Yulan saw that his expression was calm, and his tone was full of confidence, and his heart calmed down.

Sure enough, as Ye Yichen expected, as soon as the impeachment of Yu Shi Huasong was presented, the orthodox emperor was furious when he saw it, and Chen Jia fanned the flames on the side, and the orthodox emperor immediately issued a holy decree, ordering Jiang Zheng, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, to immediately stop reviewing the candidates' test papers, go home to wait for the review, and at the same time order the officials of the Criminal Department to intervene in the investigation. All the papers he had already selected were reviewed by the Ministry of Rites and other examiners.

Ye Yichen also runs outside every day, the political system of Dachu is very mature, the military and the government are separated, Ye Yichen is a figure in the military, he is an authority in military affairs, but he himself cannot meddle in government affairs justifiably, but he is not a fool for so many years, he has already formed his own team in the court, six ministries and five temples, and the eighteen yamen have his manpower.

He added fuel to the fire in the back, and naturally couldn't hide it from Ye Minyu and Chen Jia, both of whom were a little surprised. Because Ye Yichen has always been a posture of not helping the crown prince and King Zhao's succession, whether it is Ye Minyu or the prince, if anyone wins Ye Yichen's support, he will immediately have an overwhelming advantage, but Ye Yichen has always had an ambiguous attitude, and no one can figure out what he is thinking in his heart.

So as soon as he made a move this time, he immediately attracted the attention of Ye Minyu and Chen Jia. They couldn't figure out what Ye Yichen meant, so they had a little more scruples when they acted, if they pushed Ye Yichen to the prince's side because of such a small matter, it would be more than worth the loss.

More than ten days later, the work of marking the papers of the Ministry of Rites was completed. The investigation of the Criminal Department has not made the slightest progress, and a member of the Criminal Department was ordered to raid Jiang Zheng's house in Beijing, Jiang Zheng's family is quite wealthy, but the Jiang family is originally a big family in Jiangnan, and Jiang Zheng's wife is also from everyone's background, and there are 20,000 or 30,000 taels of marriage alone, and there is no definite evidence that the money is Jiang Zheng's bribes.

Not only that, but after the review of the Ministry of Rites, Jiang Zhengchu did not have Chengzong in the volume selected by Jiang Zhengchu, which also somewhat reduced the suspicion of the two.

There has been no progress in the case, but when it is time to publish the list, the list has not been released, and Chunyu has pushed it again and again, and many people from other places have been stranded in Beijing for a long time, and there are many complaints for a while.

The orthodox emperor called the criminal department Shangshu to the palace and scolded him, but this kind of case could not be investigated in a moment. The orthodox emperor had no choice but to adopt the suggestion of the Ministry of Rites, and if it was found that there were bribes to buy exam questions in the future, the official name would be cut off and severely punished.

On the day of the list, Chengzu and Chengzong did not dare to come forward, and the little girl went to the Gongyuan early in the morning. The eldest lady and the second wife sat in Yiningju in the main courtyard, with a worried face, and the little girl ran back after a while.

The eldest lady and the second lady all stood up and asked in unison, "How is it?" ”

The little maid said with joy on her face: "Congratulations to Mrs., Mrs. Hexi, the third young master has been selected!" ”

"Hit?" The eldest lady didn't know whether she should be happy or not, and asked hurriedly; "How many places did you win?"

"Won second place!"

The second wife couldn't hold her breath anymore: "What about the eldest young master?" ”

The little guy lowered his head: "The little one searched all over the three emperor lists, but I didn't find the name of the eldest young master!" ”

When the second wife heard this, her heart fell to the ground like a stone: "If you don't hit, it's good, if you don't hit!" Amitabha, Bodhisattva bless! ”

The little guys are stupid, the third young master won the second place, but the eldest lady was full of gloom, the eldest young master did not pass the exam, and the second wife was overjoyed. What exactly is this rhythm?

In the palace of King Jin, Yulan also got the news, she leaned on the big pillow on the big kang near the window, and her face was worried: "So, the third brother won the second place in the exam?" She saw it much more clearly than the eldest lady: "This is not a good thing, could it be Chen Jia's ghost?" deliberately let him get a high ranking, so that the third brother will be even more difficult to argue! ”

Ye Yichen sat on the Taishi chair behind the long table, shook his head and said: "I deliberately let out the rumors to let them know that I had interfered in this matter, Chen Jia is not such a stupid person, he should not be against me at such a juncture." Besides, this volume is all named, and it's not so easy to cheat. ”

In other words, it was entirely his own ability to take the second place in the exam.

Yulan couldn't help but smile bitterly: "I didn't expect the third brother to learn so much, if it weren't for the scientific examination fraud case, it would not be impossible for Jinshi and Di." ”

After the examination, there is also the palace examination, and only the top three of the first class will be given the title of "Jinshi and the first", which are the champion, the list eye, and the flower. The second class can only be given the "Jinshi origin", and the third class can be given the "same Jinshi origin".

This is almost the highest honor that a literati can receive in his lifetime.

"Fortunately, the eldest brother didn't pass the exam, and he was not named in the rumors, so he should be fine. Now the second aunt should also rest assured. Yulan lifted his spirits and asked, "How is that Jiangyin lifter Zhang Lin?" ”

Ye Yichen also smiled bitterly: "Zhang Lin took the third place in the exam!" ”

"Third place?" Yulan's movements became stagnant. I can't wash it by jumping into the Yellow River.

Ye Yichen also smiled bitterly: "This eunuch really has vision!" "Of the two people he framed, one passed the second and the other the third. I don't know if it's because he's too lucky or if he did a thorough investigation first. Anyway, Chen Jia is still so powerful that Yulan is a little scared!

At this moment, Chengying hurriedly came in and reported: "Lord Wang, the people watching the list over there in the Gongyuan are making a fuss." Ye Yichen's face was slightly gloomy, this matter was not unexpected, but he asked in a deep voice: "What's the matter?" ”

Chengying said: "Today's list, even if the title of the gold list is happy, it is celebrated. Those who fell off the list couldn't get together for a long time, whispered and discussed, and were angry. Later, some people shouted that the examination room was unfair, and this shout did not matter, and everyone responded, shaking the roof tiles. Later, a candidate simply rushed forward and tore down the list and tore it to pieces. The candidates scolded Jiang Zheng and Master Jiang, and some people scolded Zhang Lin and the third young master for being shameless and insulting. The cries and scolding attracted countless onlookers of all kinds! Later, Shuntian Mansion Mansion Yin led troops to bomb and suppress, and finally dispersed everyone! ”

Ye Yichen sneered: "You can see clearly, the one who fanned the flames and took the lead in making trouble, but it was a real candidate?" ”

Yulan was startled. Ye Yichen is really cunning and cunning, she didn't expect this. The tribute court made trouble and tore up the emperor's list, which is not a small crime. Chinese-style literati have this kind of mentality, that is, no matter how unbalanced, no one takes the lead and does not dare to really rush out and fight against the government, this kind of thing is the same in ancient and modern times, and the candidates are so excited, maybe someone really mixes into the troubled waters among them, and deliberately makes the situation bigger.

The ones who benefited the most were still Chen Jia's gang. In history, I don't know how many hot-blooded young people in Lu Dao have been used by the superiors in this way, anyway, they are the ones who shed blood, and when they enjoy the fruits of victory at the end, they have nothing to do.

Chengying said: "The little one has already sent people to follow the few people who took the lead in making trouble, if the prince wants to meet them, the little one will get them back to ensure that the gods don't know the ghosts!" ”

Ye Yichen thought for a while and said, "No need! There is no need to interrogate these little shrimps and crabs! He instructed Chengying: "You ask Yuan to bring a sentry and a horse with his head, and seal the chessboard street for me, and no idle people are allowed to enter!" ”

Yulan was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood that Ye Yichen was afraid that someone would take advantage of this excuse to go to the Yang Mansion to make trouble.

Chengying agreed and was about to leave, but Ye Yichen instructed again: "You arrange a few more kung fu jun people to secretly protect that Zhang Lin and don't let him fall into the hands of others." ”

Chengying just went.

Ye Yichen turned around and hugged Yulan in his arms, and said softly: "You have to be prepared in your heart, the third uncle is not good, I will go to the prison prison of the Criminal Department for a few days!" ”

As Ye Yichen expected, the students in the capital began to make trouble at the instigation of someone with a heart. On the night of the release of the list, Jiang Zheng's house was set on fire by angry students, and Jiang Zheng escaped from the back door in embarrassment under the protection of a group of nurses, so as to avoid the fate of being burned to death.

On the same night, the Tenglong Inn where Jiangyin candidate Zhang Lin lived was also surrounded by students, and everyone rushed into Zhang Lin's residence, but found that the building had already been empty, and everyone smashed the restaurant in anger.

Some people also thought of the Yang family making trouble on Qipan Street, but Yuan Datou and hundreds of personal soldiers blocked the entire Qipan Street. Yuan was the most obedient to Ye Yichen, and Ye Yichen told him not to allow idle people to enter and leave at will, so he guarded the entire street like an iron bucket, and he couldn't even get into it.

The lifters shouted that they wanted to go to the Yang Mansion to seek justice, but Yuan's head and neck were stalked, and his face was jumping: "Lao Tzu has important military affairs, and you go to the Yang family, Niu Family, Lao Tzu can't take care of it, and I don't want to take care of it." However, Lao Tzu on this street was requisitioned tonight, which of you dares to take a step forward, the guy in Lao Tzu's hands doesn't recognize anyone! ”

There are those who don't believe in evil and dare to break in, and as soon as they stepped on the ground of Qiban Street, they were unceremoniously thrown out by the big-headed soldiers, and their noses and faces were swollen for a while.

The big head recognized one, as long as you don't go to the chessboard street, I don't care if you kill people and set fires, but you are not allowed to enter the chessboard street for a single step.

Xiucai met Bing, and he couldn't explain it clearly.

Where can the lifters consume these big soldiers, they confronted each other for an hour, and they had to disperse. At the end of the day, of the three people involved in the rumors, only Yang Fu was unharmed.

That night, Shuntianfu and Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division also went out to calm down the incident and arrest the perpetrators, and the entire Beijing Division was in an uproar and made a lot of noise for a night.

I thought this matter should be over. The next morning, there were successively lifters to come to the noon gate, and thousands of lifters had gathered at the noon gate at noon. Under the leadership of several leading people, everyone knelt on the ground and shouted loudly, asking the emperor to order the arrest of Jiang Zheng, Yang Chengzong and Zhang Lin, thoroughly investigate the fraud case in the department, and retake the examination at a later date.

Chen Jia led thousands of soldiers in the Suwei Palace to surround the Wumen group, but he did not dare to arrest Juzi casually, but the literati elite of the entire Great Chu gathered here. Shinong industry and commerce, all dynasties attach great importance to scholars, because scholars are virtuous in their hearts, meritorious contributions to the world, meritorious contributions to words, and Ze is the cornerstone of the entire country's rule. If Chen Jia gave an order and clicked all the scholars present, then Da Chu would probably be finished soon.

Chen Jia ordered the soldiers to maintain order, and he personally went to the Cultural Hall to meet the emperor and ask for his will. In the Cultural Palace, not only the emperor is here, but the three princes, the crown prince, King Zhao and King Lu, are all alive.

After Chen Jia came in to greet the ceremony, he said: "Thousands of students have gathered outside the noon gate, and they keep saying that they want His Majesty to severely punish the examiners who bribe and buy test questions, thoroughly investigate the cases of fraud in the department, and give the world's scholars a fairness!" In addition to Yang Chengzong and Zhang Lin, there are still nine well-known and inferior disciples such as He Mengchun and Xu Yuanhua. Everyone suspected that these six people had also bought off the examiner and got the test questions in advance. The lifters are very emotional, although the slaves have already led the troops to martial law at the noon gate, but the stakes are very high, and they dare not take people at will, please make it clear to the lord of long live, what should the slaves do next? ”

The prince sat under the emperor in a bright yellow brocade robe, when Chen Jia spoke, his eyelids drooped slightly, and he didn't dare to look at the emperor's face, when he said "He Mengchun, Xu Yuanhua" and other people's names, the prince's eyes flashed slightly, one hand tightly pinched the teacup, and his knuckles were already slightly white.

He was indeed involved in the leak. He Mengchun, Xu Yuanhua and other four people are all from the Jiangnan clan, the family has tens of millions of assets, and many relatives in the family are officials in the court.

This staff member accepted a bribe of 10,000 taels of silver from each of the four people, gave the prince 36,000 taels, and kept 4,000 taels for himself.

Looking for the emperor, he asked him to open a private treasury and spend money to repair the garden for himself, but he didn't dare. Now that he had this money, which had just solved his problem, he immediately accepted it. The examination questions for the examination were jointly drawn up by the three major scholars of the cabinet the night before the examination, and a total of nine questions were formulated, and three of them were circled by the emperor as the examination questions of this subject.

These topics are difficult for others to steal, but the prince has lived in the palace for a long time, but has a unique advantage, he spent two thousand taels of silver to buy off the eunuch Bingbi, when the emperor chose the topic, this eunuch Bingbi was waiting on the side, naturally saw it clearly.

The prince got the question, handed it over to his staff, and strictly ordered him not to leak the topic to anyone else. Otherwise, no one will get any good out of the trouble.

Unexpectedly, there was a sudden incident of Jiang Zheng bribing and selling exam questions, he vaguely felt that this matter should be related to Zhao Wang Ye Minyu, today I heard Chen Jiayi say, it seems that there are five people who also got the exam questions, he can't help but hate in his heart, thinking that it must be that the staff member did not listen to his orders, and leaked the exam questions to others to know the truth. I don't know how much benefit he has received from it!

The cries of the lifters shook the roof tiles, and the orthodox emperor could hear them clearly here. He had been the emperor for seven or eight years, and he had never encountered such a thing, and he was a little at a loss for a while, so he asked: "The prince, Yu'er, and Zhao'er, you all tell me, how should this matter be handled?" ”

The crown prince has the highest status and is an elder brother, so he should be the first to say it. The cause of this incident was because of him, and he naturally didn't want to investigate it. After listening to the emperor's words, he got up and played, "Return to my father's words." Erchen thinks that since it is a talent selection, there will always be those who can be selected and those who can't be selected, and those who are admitted are naturally satisfied with the spring breeze, and those who fail the examination will inevitably be depressed and disappointed. A few days ago, rumors were rampant, saying that Jiang Zheng, the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites, bribed and sold exam questions, and the people from the Criminal Department were verifying. ”

"The court is now investigating, but these movers still dare to gather before noon to make trouble, obviously not for fairness, but unwilling to fall off the list, and have no chance with their careers. The scientific examination is a grand ceremony for the country's talents, and it is the most important thing related to the country's prosperity and political stability. Lord Jiang is an important minister of the state, how can they punish him severely when they say that he will be severely punished? They coerced the court and the emperor so much, but they just took a fancy to the law and did not hold the people accountable. If they make trouble and reopen the scientific examination, what will be the face of the imperial court? Where does the face of my father remain? ”

"If they are allowed this time, then every time they are not hired, he will come to make a scene, what kind of system will it be at that time! In the humble opinion of the ministers, they should take tough measures to disperse the lifters, and arrest and put the leaders in prison for taking the lead in causing trouble, and either remove their fame and never use their reputation, or punish them for not participating in the scientific examination for three years, so that the court can uphold discipline and the matter will be satisfactorily resolved. ”

The orthodox emperor frowned slightly when he heard this, and the prince meant to forcibly suppress it by force. Although what he said seemed to have some truth, Orthodoxy was not a fool, and he vaguely felt that it was not appropriate to deal with it in this way.

He went to see Ye Minyu. "What does Yu'er think it should be?"

When the prince was making a big statement just now, the corners of Ye Minyu's mouth couldn't help but hook up a sarcastic arc. Seeing that the emperor named himself, he hurriedly got up and said respectfully: "Father, the thoughts of the sons and daughters are different from those of the crown prince. Erchen thought that it was not appropriate to forcibly suppress this matter, and it was more appropriate to adopt a policy of tenderness. According to what the prince said just now, it seems that the sons gathered outside the noon gate for their own selfish interests, but the sons had different ideas. If this is the case, why didn't the lifters make trouble three years ago, and the movers didn't make trouble six years ago, but they chose to make trouble today? ”

Ye Minyu said: "There are so many joints in the examination room, not to mention the scholars, even the sons have heard of it. This spring has many disadvantages, and after the list is issued, the scholars are angry at its injustice, and the discussion is boiling. Groundless, not for no reason, and aside from Yang Chengzong and Zhang Lin, He Mengchun and Xu Yuanhua have heard a little about it, but they are uneducated and unskilled, and they are frequent visitors to the Chu Pavilion in Qinglou, how can such inferior people stand out in the national talent ceremony, if they don't find out, how can justice be upheld and the people's hearts be calmed. It was because Erchen thought that the examiner and the candidates involved in the case should be locked up and put in prison immediately, and ordered the Yamen of the Division to be strictly interrogated, so as to correct the constitution of the country and make a major ceremony! He said this righteously and loudly.

But the prince heard it with great hatred in his heart.

Ye Minyu continued: "As for those students, although their behavior is quite inappropriate, but their circumstances are excusable, they should be appeased, they are all people who have read poetry and books, and send a senior official to explain the position of the imperial court and the next measures to be taken, they will definitely not make trouble again." ”

The orthodoxy of the words bowed slightly. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a loud voice outside the noon gate. Chen Jia saw a personal relative outside coming in a hurry, and he didn't dare to enter the hall without summoning him, so he was so anxious that he was in a hurry. He left the temple quietly. The entourage whispered a few words in his ear, Chen Jia's face changed, and he hurriedly returned to the palace, where he saw that the crown prince and the king of Zhao were still arguing and arguing.

And Ye Minzhao sat on the brocade bench gracefully, drinking the best red robe that came up from the tribute below, which seemed to mean that he didn't want to get involved in the dispute between the prince and the king of Zhao.

This one is laid-back.

Chen Jia couldn't find an opportunity and hurriedly interjected; "Your Majesty, the students outside are emotional, some people are crying at the door, and the slaves are afraid that it will change later, so please make a decision as soon as possible!"

Orthodoxy also heard the voices outside, which was really shocking, and he saw that his two sons had already expressed their opinions, and suddenly wanted to hear the opinion of the younger son. "Zhao'er, what do you think?"

Ye Minzhao lay in Qixiang Palace for a few days, the emperor rewarded, the queen rewarded, and all kinds of supplements entered his abdomen at a high price, and soon became alive and jumping.

This time his father called him to come, he didn't expect the two brothers to be there, these two people pinched each other as soon as they met, he hid aside and didn't help anyone, just watching interestingly, but he didn't expect his father to suddenly burn on his body.

Ye Minzhao sighed in his heart, he was not far away from the two elder brothers, it didn't mean that he was afraid of which one. Since the emperor asked him, he said solemnly: "My son is young, and his knowledge is not as good as that of the prince, nor is he as good as the fourth brother......"

Orthodoxy said: "You don't have to be humble, you don't have to think about anything, but it doesn't hurt to talk about it." If it's wrong, no one will blame you! ”

Ye Minzhao smiled: "Since this is the case, my son has trespassed." The prince said that he would severely punish the troublemakers, and the fourth brother said that he would severely punish the officials who cheated, and the son felt that what he said was reasonable. The son felt that the cheating official should be dealt with strictly, and the person who took the lead in making trouble should not be spared. It means that one person adopts half of the proposal.

"The examiners and students involved in the case should be immediately arrested. And immediately told the students outside that as for those who made trouble, they could be appeased by the officials first, and when they dispersed from noon, after a few days, they would be sent to arrest them. That's all you need. ”

The orthodox emperor listened to it and thought for a moment, "Just do as you say!" ”