But it was said that it was the second day after the release of the list.

Wang Xijue, Lin Yanchao entered the palace according to the rules.

Wang Xijue and Lin Yanchao came to the Wenhua Hall with a copy of the list posted by the Ministry of Rites.

The Son of Heaven looked at Wang Xijue, and Lin Yanchao nodded on the list and said, "A total of three hundred and fifty-one tributes have been taken from this branch, which is far better than the previous branch." I remember that in the last section, I increased the number of people by the emperor's heir Qin En, but the Ministry of Rites did not ask for it, and still took 50 more people, which seems to be the reason for the third son of Emperor He. ”

Wang Xijue, Lin Yanchao was taken aback when he heard this.

Obviously this is not the case, because there are more scholars in this branch than before, so they ask for an extra fifty people.

But the Son of Heaven issued an edict on the occasion of the birthday of the third son of the emperor, which was simply a trick on them.

Wang Xijue was about to play: "Your Majesty ...... Qi"

The Son of Heaven said as a matter of course: "Okay, Aiqing doesn't need to say more, the two Aiqing have been working hard for the country these days, and they will give the two Qing's family two colored satins!" ”

Lin Yanchao said in his heart, the methods of the Son of Heaven are really becoming more and more shameless. The ministers who have seen the pit emperor, but the emperor who has not seen the pit minister, is really ......

Just as he was thinking about it, the Son of Heaven looked at Lin Yanchao and suddenly said, "Lin Qing, I heard something yesterday, this will be the first grandson Chengzong to do things under your curtain, I don't know if it's true?" ”

Lin Yanchao said immediately: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister does not dare to hide it, there is indeed such a thing." ”

The Son of Heaven said: "I have heard that the internal move does not avoid relatives, and the external move does not avoid revenge, this Sun Chengzong is doing things under your curtain, but with Lin Qing's eyes, he appreciates him very much." ”

Listening to the knife handed over by the Son of Heaven, Lin Yanchao said: "Back to Your Majesty, Sun Chengzong's scroll is among the five thousand Zhu scrolls, and when he was recommended to the ministers in the same examination, the ministers didn't know which one was Sun Chengzong's scroll......"

Wang Xijue also said: "Your Majesty, this Sun Chengzong's volume, the minister has already seen it when he was on patrol, and he was very talented at that time. Later, when the ministers read the recommendation papers of other rooms, they saw Sun Chengzong's papers. Reading carefully, not only can I understand the scriptures, but also his advice, which is full of practical opinions, not empty talk. ”

"And in the final selection of the leader, half of the same examiners cited this volume as the Huiyuan volume, at that time, Mr. Lin admitted that he and Sun Chengzong had an old suspicion, and was not among the recommendations, but the minister thought that this son was a talent that could be used by the world, so he dared to raise it for His Majesty, and made it a Huiyuan to recommend His Majesty."

The Son of Heaven was relieved when he heard this, saying that Lin Yanchao was selfish, and he believed it. But he didn't believe that Wang Xijue was favoritism.

There is no reason, the Son of Heaven has such trust in Wang Xijue.

The Son of Heaven said happily at the moment: "With Mr. Wang, Lin Qing's recommendation, this Sun Chengzong must be a genius, and when he comes to the palace examination, you will hand over his scroll to me, and I will focus on his scroll." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Xijue and Lin Yanchao said together.

The Son of Heaven said again: "Mr. Wang, your secret revealed that someone in this subject will be tested with the examiner to secretly communicate with each other, right?" ”

Wang Xijue replied: "That's true, fortunately, there is an examiner who acted impartially and exposed this matter, otherwise the traitor would have almost succeeded." ”

"The case of fraud in the scientific field has been repeatedly banned since the opening of the imperial examination in this dynasty, how serious is it this time?"

Lin Yanchao replied: "Before the minister read the papers, he had already heard a lot of rumors, and when he was about to read the papers, he found that the question papers were written. These volumes are broken at the second question of the four texts, and they all use the four 'ones' as the words, so there are a total of sixteen questions in total! ”

The Son of Heaven said angrily: "Sixteen volumes! That is, sixteen candidates, these people really read the books of the sages in vain, and those who did not find out, they are really bold. I want to do it again, and I will send an order to arrest these sixteen people and torture them to the criminal department, who is the mastermind? ”

Wang Xijue immediately dissuaded: "Your Majesty, these people may be hearsay and lucky, but they don't really want to cheat. What's more, if this matter is spread, it will inevitably arouse unnecessary doubts among the scholars, and it will provoke tongue in vain, and the ministers think that it is advisable to visit secretly rather than to investigate openly. ”

The Son of Heaven listened to Wang Xijue's words, then stopped his anger, nodded and said, "If it weren't for Mr. Wang's reminder, I would have almost lost my mind." However, in such a ceremony of the imperial court, there were people who cheated, and it was not for the two ministers to take scholars impartially, which almost led to a fraud case in the scientific field. Before this happened, I was gone, but not in the future, two Aiqing, I already have a claim on this matter. ”

After Wang Xijue and Lin Yanchao retreated, the Son of Heaven immediately said, "Let Zhang Whale come to see me." ”

Soon, Zhang Whale, who was wearing a python robe, came to the Wenhua Hall and kowtowed: "Minister, Zhang Whale, knock to see Your Majesty!" ”

The Son of Heaven was in a depressed mood, and when he saw Zhang Whale, he said impatiently: "Come near, I have something to ask you." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty," Zhang Whale walked up to the Son of Heaven with a flattering expression.

The Son of Heaven glanced at Zhang Whale, and immediately threw a piece of music on the case at Zhang Whale's feet and said: "Feng Jiqing, the imperial eunuch, ordered his family Feng Jiqing to ask him to return to Beijing in the Tongzheng Division, but as soon as this music was released, there was an imperial envoy to impeach Feng Bao in Nanjing without thinking about introspection. ”

Zhang Whale hung his head when he heard this.

The Son of Heaven looked at Zhang Whale and said, "Aren't you very good at talking on weekdays?" Why don't you talk today? Speak to me. ”

Zhang Whale smiled dryly: "Your Majesty, Nanjing is thousands of miles away from Beijing, and the slave really doesn't know what Feng Bao is doing in Nanjing?" ”

"Don't know? Then Feng Bao asked to return to Beijing, and there was an imperial envoy to impeach, was it behind your back? Are you afraid that Feng Bao will return to Beijing and take your throne? ”

Zhang Whale knelt down in a hurry, and even knocked off the crown of his hair when he kowtowed: "Long live Lord Mingjian, long live Lord ...... That's right, the slave is worried about Feng Bao's return to Beijing, but not for himself or for the emperor. Feng Bao was originally a man who deserved to die, but it was a great grace for Meng Wansui to allow him to be raised in Nanjing and let him live. But grace should not be taken lightly, long live Rao Feng Bao will not die, if he is allowed to return to Beijing again, if his ill intentions are not conducive to His Majesty...... The slave has no ability, and the slave can repay His Majesty by letting the Admiral Dongchang be repaid, that is, not allowing the traitor to have any chance to offend His Majesty. ”

The Son of Heaven nodded and said, "Okay, you are afraid that I will spare Feng Bao if I am soft-hearted, but I have never let Feng Bao return to Beijing." That is the case, I made a decree to reprimand Feng Bao, that is, since he is an idle person, let him fill the army, so he should be honest. ”

Zhang Whale was overjoyed when he heard this: "Your Majesty Shengming." ”

The Son of Heaven said again: "There is one more thing, this time someone will try to communicate inside and outside the examination room, with the intention of cheating, this matter requires you to take Jinyiwei and Dongchang, so you can check it out and see who is behind the scenes, and take people to me!" ”

Zhang Whale immediately said: "Your Majesty, rest assured, the minister will definitely arrest this bold person and bring him to justice." ”

Hearing this, the Son of Heaven sneered and said, "Bold? I see you're the one who dares you! ”

When Zhang Whale heard this, cold sweat fell on his back, and he thought to himself that the emperor knew something.

"Alright. See how scared you are? Let's get on the errands! The Son of Heaven waved his hand.

Zhang Whale breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The slave retreats." ”

"Wait!"

Zhang Jing just turned around, and was half frightened to death when he heard this sound, and immediately knelt down and said, "Please give instructions to Your Majesty." ”

The Son of Heaven said: "Today, the Yuan Sun Chengzong, you check this person, as well as his relationship with Lin Yanchao, and tell me separately after you have checked it." ”

Zhang Jing walked out of the Wenhua Palace, feeling that half of his life was about to be gone.

As soon as Zhang Whale arrived outside the hall, dozens of brocade guards and inner supervisors followed.

In the hall, Zhang Whale is just a servant, the servant of the Son of Heaven, but outside the hall, his majesty is heavier than that of the Son of Heaven. Because he is a eunuch who is also the commander of the East Factory, he is also in charge of the Jinyi Guard, and the Fusi of Beizhen.

Left and right to bring him a stool, this thing is like a chair with a backrest, and add two rods on both sides, the chair with a leather jacket, front and back with a horizontal carry, but the lifter is not in the wheel, only in the outside of the bar obliquely inserted to carry the lift.

The reason why it is called a stool and not a sedan chair is because the ancestral training palace is not allowed to take a sedan chair.

Even if it is a stool, in the palace, only the eunuch Zhang Hong, the eunuch who holds the seal of the celebrant and the old eunuch Bingbi, has this qualification, and only the first assistant Shen Shixing can take a step in the palace.

As for Zhang Jing, even if he is the commander of the East Factory, he does not have this qualification. But with the Holy Favor on his side, he asked the Son of Heaven for a stool and a pestle to show off.

Zhang Whale sat on the stool, and couldn't help but curse a few swear words from his hometown, and the two eunuchs Xiao Yu who were close to Zhang Whale, Wang Zhong glanced at each other and immediately asked, "Who is the ancestor unhappy about?" Let the sons be angry with you. ”

Zhang Whale glanced at the two of them and said, "Can you kill Feng Bao for me?" ”

The two of them changed color when they heard this.

"Rubbish! If you can't do this, what's the point of getting angry? Zhang Whale scolded, and the two of them were submissive.

The stool moved, and the group hugged each other. Zhang Whale closed his eyes and thought for a while, and then said, "Master Lin is still in the palace, you arrange it, I want to see him." ”

But said that at this time, Lin Yanchao really did not leave the palace, after he went to the Wenhua Palace, he went to the cabinet to meet Shen Shixing, Xu Guo, Wang Jiaping, and explained the things that would be tried.

This time, Shen Yongjia, the second son of Shen Shixing, also participated in the examination, but in the end he did not win.

Of course, this is Wei Yunzhen, Li Sancai played a great role at the beginning, and formed a unanimous public opinion in the government and the opposition, so Wang Xijue did not dare to recite this infamy, so he did not take Shen Yongjia. He explained to Shen Shixing about this.

That is, he can talk to Shen Shixing in the cabinet, and if someone else dares to take Shen Yongjia, try it.

No matter how much Shen Shixing manages yin and yang, no matter how good his temper is, he will have infinite small shoes for this person to wear in the future.

After Wang Xijue explained, Shen Shixing said with a smile: "The dog is just one of the five thousand candidates, it doesn't matter if he hits or not, Brother Yuan Yu doesn't need to change the standard of the imperial court for this, let alone go out of his way to talk about it." The servant has always been trustworthy to Brother Yuanyu's character. ”

Seeing that Shen Shixing was so 'reasonable', Lin Yanchao breathed a sigh of relief, and he and Wang Xijue also suffered a lot of pressure for this matter.

After the two of them reported the situation of the examination to Shen Shixing.

Wang Xijue returned to the pavilion to do business, and Lin Yanchao left the Wenyuan Pavilion and returned to the Hanlin Academy.

But as soon as Lin Yanchao came out of Wenyuan Pavilion, an internal supervisor told him that Zhang Whale wanted to see him.