Han Yuan Palace, roll call to give the first, the first three people and the first, the second one hundred and twenty-six people are born as Jinshi, and the third two hundred and seven people are born with Jinshi. After the roll call, some officials brought green robes, boots, and wat and gave them to these new science and technology scholars, which means that these people will be officials from now on.

Immediately followed by praise, music, four bows, flat body, and then the prince gave wine, and the Ministry of Rites introduced the new branch of the scholar to thank him. The drums outside the main hall sounded, and the umbrella cover instrument was guided through the street from the welcoming Zhujinshi. Shi Chongwei was a little excited, originally these things were to be done by the Son of Heaven himself, and as a prince, he presided over the roll call ceremony, which is also a rare thing in the history books.

Shi Chongjie, the king of Chu'an, stood on the left side of the imperial steps, looking at the new branch jinshi receiving robes, boots, wat and other things with a calm face, and turned his head slightly, and Zhou Chongrui was standing not far behind him. Zhou Chongrui is a son of Huangzhou, and he stood out at the poetry meeting held by the Chu'an Palace, Shi Chongjie talked with him, and found that this person is not only good at writing and poems, but also proficient in practice, and talking about the way of governing the country in an orderly manner, Shen Wenqing praised him for having the talent of Wang Zuo.

Zhou Chongrui's family was poor, Shi Chongjie funded him with 200 taels of silver, and secretly sent people to the temple where he stayed to take care of it, Zhang Changlin and others made trouble, Shi Chongjie ordered him not to disturb him to study hard, hoping that Zhou Chongrui could make a splash in the examination and help him in the future.

Zhou Chongrui ranked seventh in the examination, and ranked nineteenth in the palace examination, this ranking is very remarkable in the eyes of others, after all, there is no first place in the article, and the article is well written and the taste of the examiner, there are too many human factors. But after Zhou Chongrui's palace exam, Shen Wenqing invited him to drink tea, Zhou Chongrui recited the article he made to Shen Wenqing, and felt that it was written well, and Shen Wenqing even asserted that this article should be in the top three.

When the list was released, seeing his name listed in the nineteenth place, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed while being happy, Zhou Chongrui felt a little sorry for the love of King Chu'an, King Chu'an sent someone to invite him to the mansion, and set up wine to celebrate him, during the banquet, Shen Wenqing said that Xiang Kaijie and others bought the door, and Zhou Chongrui, who was three points of wine, looked up to the sky and sighed, full of anger.

Shen Wenqing said: "The prince intends to seek justice for the son of the world, and tomorrow he will expose the matter on the Golden Palace, question the prince for private inquiries, and then report to the Son of Heaven to find out the malpractice." ”

Zhou Chongrui said gratefully: "The prince is smart and martial, noble in character, and has the world in mind, Chongrui is willing to follow the prince in this life and do his best." ”

Shi Chongjie raised his glass and said: "Today's imperial juzi, lonely and heavy, to be able to get Chongrui's help, it is really a lonely luck, lonely respect for a cup of Rui, in the future, we will work together through thick and thin, and do a career for the country and the people." ”

Zhou Chongrui was impassioned, stood up and raised his glass with both hands and drank it all.

Waiting for Zhou Chongrui to sit down, Shen Wenqing gave him a dish of chopsticks, and sighed: "The prince and the prince are not on good terms, I think Chongrui has also heard about it, the prince is the people of the world, but the prince thinks that the prince intends to seize the prince and fight for power, which is really funny." In order to win over the ministers, the prince of the imperial examination opened the door to recruit the children of the powerful, but it was a pity that those poor students had worked hard for decades but were blocked out of the Golden Palace, and they had no intention of serving the country but had no way to serve the country. ”

Zhou Chongrui is a son of a poor family, and he felt deeply at these words, and sighed: "As a prince, the prince should be dedicated to the public and the country, but it is difficult to convince the world for personal gain." ”

Shen Wenqing said: "Tomorrow, the prince of the Golden Palace will stand up and speak up for the sons, but he is also afraid that he will be said to be fighting for power and profit against the prince

King An, but he is also afraid that the public will be rich, and the crown prince will ascend the throne in the future, which may not be good for the prince. ”

Zhou Chongrui said angrily: "The prince is brave and loyal to the country and the people, Zhou swears to follow, I don't know what Chongrui will do tomorrow on the Golden Palace?" Zhou Chongrui knew in his heart that this was for him to surrender his name, but he had already boarded the ship, so he could only go with the boat, not to mention that the big boat of King Chu'an was also worth taking.

Shi Chongjie and Shen Wenqing both smiled, Zhou Chongrui is very good, and people with useful value are useful talents, otherwise the greater the ability of Jiang Anyi, the more harmful it will be to King Chu An. Shen Wenqing said with a smile: "Chongrui rest assured, the prince values you very much and will never let you be in danger, Shen assures you that the prince will never let you lose." Tomorrow, the prince of the Golden Palace needs an introduction, Chongrui ......"

Seeing King Chu'an turn sideways and gestured with his eyes, Zhou Chongrui knew that it was time to appear according to the discussion, when the little official came to him with a tray holding robes, boots and other things, Zhou Chongrui gritted his teeth, took two steps forward, knelt down in front of the steps, kowtowed, and said: "Minister Zhou Chongrui has something to play the prince, please ask the prince for permission." ”

Suddenly, everyone in the Golden Palace was stunned, and the supervising imperial history was stunned by Zhou Chongrui's actions, and he was at a loss for a while. Shi Chongwei originally looked at the robes and boots of the crowd with a smile, ready to accept the worship of these people, and he was even ready to go down the steps in person, and helped up the champion Xiang Kaijie, Bangyan Guan Wenhua, and Tanhua Ma Fengqi, with a few words of encouragement, he knew that as the prince and prince, these few fluttering words were very likely to make these people die for themselves in the future. It's a pity that time is limited, otherwise Shi Chongwei would have to say a few words to each of them and encourage them, and most of these three hundred and thirty-six people would become his minions.

Zhou Chongrui suddenly knelt in front of the steps, Shi Chongwei was also stunned, and subconsciously asked, "What's the matter with you?" ”

The prince opened his mouth, and the supervising imperial history who had just woken up did not step forward to pull Zhou Chongrui away, and looked at him worriedly, for fear that he would say something inappropriate to affect himself.

Afraid to the extreme, Zhou Chongrui said loudly: "I heard that there are many disadvantages in this imperial examination, and the children of the powerful are in the forefront, and this year's champion Xiang Kaijie bought the door of the secretary and eunuch Tang Wenzhong, and bought the position of the champion for 42,000 taels of silver......"

Before the words were finished, several angry rebukes sounded above the Golden Palace, "Shut up", "a faction of nonsense", "Supervise the imperial history, and don't pull this madman down the Golden Palace", several angry rebukes were from the mouth of Xue Zhiren, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Kong Province and Ma Suizhen, these people knew that what Zhou Chongrui said whether it was true or false would set off a shocking wave in the court, and countless people died because of it, and the court was unstable, especially at the moment when the Son of Heaven was seriously ill, the border was restless, and the country was in great need of peace.

Xiang Kaijie stood at the front of everyone, his face was full of joy and joy, Zhou Chongrui's words were like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, Xiang Kaijie was dizzy, almost didn't sit on the ground, and there was only one thought in his mind: the incident happened. Zhou Chongrui not only knew that he was following the path of the eunuch Tang Wenzhong, how could he even know the amount of silver bribes, could it be that Tang Changfu was arrested and confessed himself.

Supervising the imperial history to catch Zhou Chongrui, Chu'an Wang Shi Chongjie shouted: "Wait, nothing can be said to people, since Zhou Chongrui is conclusive, why don't you let him finish his words, if he is accused and punished according to the law, if what he says is true, he must not sit back and watch this happen." ”

Kong Province faced King Chu'an and said in a trembling voice: "Lord Wang, the overall situation is important. ”

It's not that Shi Chongjie doesn't know the damage to the court caused by the troubles at this time, it's just that his father is seriously ill, and the prince is pressing forward step by step, especially Tang Wenzhong communicates with him, and the news of Yanshan Villa is all in the hands of the prince. If you sit back and watch, after your father dies of illness and the crown prince ascends the throne, the best way out is to be outside the domain like King Anyang, and it is not good to be imprisoned in Beijing, and life and death are in the hands of others.

"Kong Xiang, the ceremony of picking talents is a major event of the country, this is the overall situation", Shi Chongjie unceremoniously retorted: "Today, the doubts of the imperial examination are continuous, and after the list of exams comes out, more than a thousand people go to the Ministry of Rites to petition, and it is difficult to stuff the letter of complaint in the copper box, I want to ask Kong Xiang, as the first assistant, you ignore this, and blindly think about calming things down, whether you are entrusted by your father." ”

Kong Xing looked at the excited King Chu An, knowing that Shi Chongjie was going to take advantage of the imperial examination to officially challenge the prince, the previous secret battle turned into a open dispute, and the court was really eventful, and he was not good at being the left minister, Kong Xing smiled bitterly.

On the high seat, the crown prince Shi Chongwei slapped the table case and reprimanded angrily: "Shut up, Shi Chongjie, how dare you be rude to Kong Xiang." The matter of the imperial examination has been played by my father in detail, and my father is very satisfied, I don't know if you are dissatisfied? ”

The big hat was buttoned down, Shi Chongjie had already made up his mind to carry it, there was no lack of etiquette, and he responded respectfully: "Father and emperor asked his younger brother to assist the imperial brother in taking care of the government, and the younger brother did not dare to slack off. The father and emperor were recuperating in the Yanshan Garden, and the younger brother was afraid that he would be deceived by others, so he went to the Yanshan Garden to see the driver, told him the truth, and asked him to make a decision, and Rong Chendi retired first. ”

After saying that, Shi Chongjie bowed and saluted, turned around and went down the hall. Kong Province hurriedly stepped forward to stop him and persuaded: "Think twice, the prince." ”

The golden palace was silent, and all the ministers looked at each other, all dumbfounded. On the throne, Shi Chongwei was a little flustered, he didn't expect Shi Chongjie to tear his face on top of the Golden Palace, which made him a little difficult to ride a tiger. Seeing Shi Chongjie turn around and leave, Shi Chongwei really wanted to order him to be taken down, but King Chu'an was his younger brother, and the Son of Heaven did explain that Shi Chongjie would help take care of the government, and the three law divisions, the Ministry of Industry and other yamen were specifically responsible for King Chu'an, and Shi Chongwei, as the crown prince, could not take down King Chu'an for no reason.

Huo Ran stood up, and Shi Chongwei hurriedly said: "Shi Chongjie, you stopped standing alone and disturbed your father, can you afford it?" ”

Ma Suizhen also stepped forward to stop Shi Chongjie, he was the nominal prince of King Chu'an, and said with a calm face: "Lord, only by being cautious in your words and deeds can you go far, as the prince of the country, how can you act so recklessly, don't you know that governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh, you are so fiercely fried, what is also confused by you." There are drawbacks in the imperial examination, and the payment is asked, so why stir up the Eucharist. ”

These words were good words, and Shi Chongjie stopped to think about it. On the high level, Shi Chongwei saw Shi Chongjie hesitate, thinking that although Tang Wenzhong asked himself for details, his choice of Xiang Kaijie as the champion was not for favoritism, but because he really liked his talent, that is, in front of his father, Xiang Kaijie's examination papers were submitted, and his father would not blame.

Thinking of this, Shi Chongwei's mind was hot, and he blurted out: "The father of the imperial examination is clear, and the choice of Xiang Kaijie is also for the country." Shi Chongjie, you accuse Lone of hoodwinking his father, although he went to Yanshan to complain, but Lone has a word first, if his father has a mistake, Lone will not be spared. ”

Shi Chongjie flicked his sleeves and strode away.