September 9, Chung Yeung Festival.

Everyone has become accustomed to the emperor's road, and only on various special festivals will he personally come to the court, and after the dispersal of the court, he will give a banquet to the ministers.

Wang Yuan finished yawning outside as usual, and came to Fengtian Hall to sleep with his eyes squinted.

Wang Jing, the imperial history of the right capital, made a report: "Cheng Shi, the wife of Chen Lianghan, the head of the Criminal Department, killed slaves and maids and hid their bodies in wooden cabinets. The next day, he tried to kill a maidservant, but failed. Chen Lianghan and his wife Cheng have been sent to Jinyi to guard the prison and have confessed. The Metropolitan Procuratorate reconsidered and believed that the Cheng family was extremely vicious and should be beheaded according to the law. Chen Lianghan, the director of the Criminal Department, committed murder against his wife, and he should take his official body and be assigned to the border! ”

Including Wang Yuan, the drowsiness immediately disappeared, and the ministers were all surprised by this matter.

Slaves are also human beings, and naturally have personal rights.

Although the killing of slaves and maids with a rod happened from time to time in the Ming Dynasty, and most of them did not alarm the government. But this Cheng family is too cruel, he actually killed the slave and maid and divided the corpse, and he was addicted to killing other maidservants.

Zhu Houzhao was also a little angry, and said: "In the capital city, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, there is actually a matter of killing people and dismembering corpses. The quasi-capital inspection institute played, asked Cheng to behead, and exiled Chen Lianghan! Also, who recommended Chen Lianghan, the director of the Criminal Department, will be held accountable to the end! ”

Yang Shen's face was very ugly, because this Chen Lianghan was a member of the Lize Society, and he was Yang Shen's Sichuan villager. is usually an upright person, how can he not govern his family strictly and let his wife do murder and dismemberment of corpses?

Wang Yuan finally remembered that on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month of this year, he was still drinking with Chen Lianghan on the painting boat to enjoy the lanterns.

Immediately, an official came out to take the blame, and the person who knew him was unknown, and he was fined for three months.

Liu Chun, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, immediately came out: "Your Majesty, the Shuntianfu Township Examination has been completed, and the chief examiner Wang Yuan and the deputy chief examiner Wu Yipeng have made meritorious contributions, please praise them." ”

Wang Yuan's face was expressionless, neither happy nor sad.

Wu Yipeng was happy, he had been in the Hanlin Academy for many years, and he was thrown by Liu Jin to Nanjing for a leisurely meal halfway, and now he should be given a position in the Zhan Shifu.

Yang Tinghe, Liang Chu and the others frowned, because the speech of Liu Chun, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, completely bypassed the cabinet, and they had no idea about it!

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "It's a compliment." Wang Yuan, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, was promoted to a doctor of the court; Wu Yipeng, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, was promoted to the priest of Nanjing Guozi. ”

Wu Yipeng suddenly probed and looked at the emperor stupidly, with a black question mark on his face.

If nothing else, this bachelor of the Hanlin Academy can only stay in Nanjing for the rest of his life to eat. Who recommended him to be Yang Tinghe as a deputy examiner?

"Alas!"

Yang Tinghe sighed secretly, holding a wat board with a bitter word, the emperor retaliated endlessly.

Not long after he came to court today, Yang Dang was fined one, exiled one, and thrown into Nanjing.

Yang Yiqing looked at his nose and nose, his nose looked at his heart, and he was silent.

Suddenly, there are people who bypass the cabinet to do things, and it is not yet the imperial party. Xu Han came out of the list in the matter of the right of the court: "Your Majesty, the minister impeached Wang Yuan, a bachelor in the Hanlin Academy and the chief examiner of the Shuntianfu Township Examination!" ”

Wang Yuan tilted his head to look at this person, unable to understand what he was doing with impeachment.

Zhu Houzhao asked: "You deliberately added a main exam for the Shuntianfu Township Examination, is it to impeach Bachelor Wang for fraud?" ”

"No," Xu Han arched his hand, "The minister impeached Bachelor Wang for the township examination, and when the questions were asked, half of the major questions and half of the small questions were released, and there were interception questions and embarrassing questions!" Township exams, meeting exams, and taking scholars for the country are all big questions. The trivial question is not orthodox, divides the scriptures and righteousness, and deviates from the scriptures, how can it be allowed to do it? ”

Zhu Houzhao smiled and asked Wang Yuan: "Master Wang, what do you have to defend yourself?" ”

Wang Yuan defended: "Your Majesty, the imperial examination is a small topic, the orthodox dynasty has already existed, and the imperial court has not banned it. If it is not forbidden, it can be done, and the minister does not know where there is a mistake. ”

Xu Han said angrily: "Master Wang, your embarrassing question, do you know how many scholars have been harmed?" ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "If you can't even memorize Mencius, what's the use of taking it?" Moreover, this time the Shuntianfu Township Examination ranked eighty-seventh, although this person forgot the source of the question, he knew what the word "mantis" meant. With 200 words, his article is quite good, and I also supplemented it when I searched the papers. ”

The ministers were in an uproar, feeling that Wang Yuan was messing around.

How can you forget the source of the question, just because the article is well written, you pass the exam and become a lifter?

Wang Yuan said again: "I didn't make a ruthless match for those interception questions, all of them were invited, and there was no difficulty at all." I made a small question, just to avoid someone rote memorizing the past years! ”

There are really people who are admitted by memorizing the imperial examination model texts, and there are quite a few of them, Wang Yuan is also reasonable.

Xu Han was too lazy to talk nonsense with Wang Yuan, so he knelt down directly and said: "The minister begs Your Majesty, from now on, it is expressly forbidden to take the township test, and the small questions will be tried!" ”

"The minister seconded the proposal!" A few more speakers popped up.

These officials have a characteristic, all of them are Jinshi in the fifteenth and eighteenth years of Hongzhi. Their situation is very embarrassing, the backers behind them have long been gone, and Liu Jin was unable to be promoted normally during the chaos of the government, and now anyone who wants to take refuge has to queue up, so they can only impeach officials everywhere and ask for a reward.

Zhu Houzhao thought about it carefully, he didn't want to make an unpleasant quarrel with the officials because of this trivial matter, and immediately said: "Quasi-play." In the future, no questions will be asked in the township examination and the general examination. ”

The officials were very happy, especially Xu Han, whose suggestion was accepted by the emperor, which was equivalent to adding another political achievement.

Zhu Houzhao asked Wang Yuan again: "What else does Master Wang have to say?" ”

Wang Yuan didn't have anything to say, but since the emperor asked, let's say a few more words. Immediately took the wat board and lined up: "The minister begs Your Majesty to allow Guizhou to open its own township test!" ”

As soon as these words came out, all the ministers were shocked, and they all looked at Wang Yuan.

Poke the hornet's nest!

The first to oppose it was Yang Tinghe: "In the remote areas of Guizhou, there are very few schools and not enough scholars. If you open a township test without permission, you will spend too much money and food in vain. ”

Du Yu Shi Qiao Ying also said: "Your Majesty, Guizhou has opened a township test, and it needs to be discussed carefully. You can't let Guizhou set up its own township examination because Bachelor Wang won the top prize in the exam and came from Guizhou. ”

An Pan said in the matter: "Guizhou has its own facts. In the rest of the provinces, there are two political envoys, but Guizhou has only one political envoy. Why? There are too few officials, too many local officials, and there are barbarians everywhere. The same is true for the imperial examination in Guizhou, how much is the school? Scholar geometry? There are only 2,000 Guizhou students who take the township examination every year, and sometimes there are only more than 1,000 people. For these more than 1,000 people, a separate township test was set up, where is the province where thousands of scholars will take the exam? ”

One official after another stood up against it, and it was all from the middle list of officials!

The officials of the north and south lists were silent, laughing at the dog-eat-dog infighting on the list.

How so?

Because of the Daming examination, admission is proportional, and only 10% of the areas on the list are selected.

Once Guizhou opens a separate course, it will definitely increase the number of people to be lifted accordingly. However, the number of people in Guizhou has increased, but the proportion of Jinshi in the list will not change, which means that there will be more people in Guizhou to compete for the number of Jinshi with other provinces on the list.

On Wang Yuan's side, there is not a single supporter.

It's just that Guizhou hasn't been in or out of Jinshi for more than ten years, and the most recent Guizhou Jinshi, or Zhan En, the elder brother of Wang Yuan's classmate, has been sick and died for seven or eight years. The Manchu Dynasty was civil and military, and only Wang Yuan was a native of Guizhou!

Wang Yuan held the wat board in his hand and smiled silently.

After all the opponents expressed their positions, he sighed: "It is born from the same root, so why be too anxious to fry each other." We are all officials on the list, why is there such a fuss? ”

An Pan sneered: "Master Wang, we are discussing national affairs, please don't divide the middle list, the south list and the north list." ”

Wang Yuan glanced at this person and said loudly: "Let me ask An to give the matter, you said that there are too few officials in Guizhou, too many local officials, barbarians everywhere, and scholars are scarce, so it is not suitable to open a township test alone." Is that what it means? ”

"Isn't that true?" An Pan asked rhetorically.

Wang Yuan said again: "Then I may ask An Zhizhong, why do we want to be officials?" ”

An Pan said solemnly: "Report to the king, protect the people, and serve the Ming Dynasty." ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "Then may I ask, Guizhou is a Ming country?" The people of Guizhou are the people of the Ming Dynasty? ”

"Naturally, yes." How dare An Pan say no.

Wang Yuan shouted: "Since Guizhou is a Daming country, can you bear to watch Guizhou always be controlled by Tusi?" The people of Guizhou are not only the sons of the Ming Dynasty, but why are they called barbarians? Even if they can't speak Chinese or write Chinese characters, shouldn't they be educated? Why are there so few scholars in Guizhou? It is because of the lack of education! The more this is the case, the more we should open a township trial in Guizhou, so that more people in Guizhou can bathe in holy virtue. Wait until one day, Guizhou barbarians can also spread all over the court, then the grace of the Holy Son of Heaven can be demonstrated! Don't you want the Ming court to educate the barbarians in Guizhou? What are your intentions? ”

"I ...... You...... Swear black is white.! An Pan was so stunned that he didn't know how to argue.

Wang Yuan suddenly changed his words: "Your Majesty, this person has been trapped in the injustice of Your Majesty, please punish him!" ”

An Pan said angrily: "You spew blood, when did I fall into the injustice of Your Majesty?" ”

Wang Yuan asked: "In the fourth year of Zhengde, did you instigate Your Majesty to pursue your teacher's fate?" ”

The audience was silent, and no one spoke.

Not only An Pan's face changed drastically, but several other officials were also trembling, and even Zhu Houzhao's face was a little unnatural.

During Liu Jin's period of power, he not only forced away Liu Jian, Xie Qian and other ministers, but also took away their orders and rewards. Pingjiang Bo Chen Xiong was exiled to Hainan, which belonged to the fish that slipped through the net in pursuit of the edict, and Liu Jin ordered the officials of the province to strictly investigate.

And An Pan and others took the opportunity to slacken, saying that Liu Jian and Xie Qian were heinous, not only to take away their own lives, but also to take away the gifts of their wives, parents, and ancestors for three generations!

Now, although Liu Jian and Xie Qian's rewards have been restored, the shameless negligence of those officials is a stain that they can't wash away in their lives.

Zhu Houzhao was quite embarrassed and said: "Bachelor Wang, don't mention old things, today I will only talk about the Guizhou Township Test!" ”

Wang Yuan smiled and walked to the center of the hall and asked, "Do you colleagues know that when I participated in the township test, I was robbed by bandits on the way?" At that time, the mountain road was narrow, and only two people could walk in parallel. Hundreds of bandits blocked the way forward and back, and threw stones and arrows on the hillside, trying to put us and other Guizhou students to death! ”

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "I heard Li Sanlang talk about it. ”

Wang Yuan continued: "Fortunately, I still have some martial arts, riding a horse and running on the mountain wall, cutting off the head of the bandits with a knife, and then braving the rain of arrows, killing dozens of bandits on the mountain. Only then did I go to Yunnan to participate in the township test! The hardships of Guizhou scholars, who among you can understand? ”

The ministers were stunned and speechless.

Wang Yuan also said: "I am from the Xuanwei Division of Guizhou, and I have to walk more than 2,000 miles to Yunnan Township for the test. Farther away, there are Sinan, Yongning and other government guards, they have to walk three or four thousand miles! It is not a thousands of miles of roads in the Central Plains and the south of the Yangtze River, there are no waterways to work for boats along the way, and there are no flat official roads for horses. In the middle of summer, the mountains are steep, miasma invades prostitution, and bandits are rampant. How many Yunnan scholars died of illness, exhaustion, and were killed by thieves on the way to the exam, do you know how powerful? Yang Ge Lao said that there are not enough scholars in Guizhou, of course they are insufficient! Every time I take the township exam, there are nearly half of the Guizhou scholars, and they can't walk to the Yunnan examination room smoothly! ”

Wang Yuan glanced at the ministers and sneered: "If I hadn't used the force of one enemy and one hundred, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to speak here today, and I would have become a dry bone in the mountain roads of Guizhou!" Do you think that all the scholars of Guizhou can defeat one against one hundred? Then don't take the Wenju exam, it's better to let the Guizhou scholars go to the martial arts exam, and ensure that the little Mongolian prince doesn't dare to go south! ”

"Haha, that's a wonderful statement!" The last two sentences made Zhu Houzhao laugh out loud.

Wang Yuan held the wat board in the posture of holding a knife, and asked, "Who else is against it?" Debate with me! ”

No one spoke.

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "In this case, Guizhou is allowed to open its own township test." ”

Liu Chun, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, reminded: "Your Majesty, if Guizhou opens the township test, there should be a special envoy, and it can no longer be concurrently served by the Yunnan envoy. In addition, the number of people in Guizhou should also be increased. ”

Zhu Houzhao said: "It should be so. ”

When this policy spread to Guizhou, the scholars of the whole province rejoiced, and they all regarded Wang Yuan as a hero in Guizhou's academic circles. The first Guizhou envoy, after coming to Guiyang, the first thing was to erect a monument and engrave Wang Yuan's deeds, otherwise this envoy would not want to win the hearts of the locals.