"Your Majesty, these words were discovered by the minister when he was dealing with the aftermath of the Suzaku Gate, and the minister did not dare to deceive His Majesty, so he came to report it."

After that, Yang Guozhong handed over the thick stack of papers, and then stood aside with his hands down, carefully inspecting Li Longji's face, this is his usual style, the backlash before falling, since Li Linfu has not hesitated to attack him, then he will never let Li Linfu have the last laugh, but Li Longji did not shoot the case as he thought, and jumped like thunder, only glanced at it and then put it aside, without any expression on his face, Yang Guozhong suddenly felt like a punch, and his heart began to feel a little uneasy.

Li Longji took a copy of Wang from the desk: |.. Is this true? ”

Yang Guozhong trembled and opened the fold, the more he looked at it, the paler his face became, and finally he knelt on the ground and said: "The minister dog participated in the scientific examination this year, his foundation is poor, the minister is entrusted with the relationship, please Da Xi Shilang take care of one or two under the same conditions, the minister thinks this is human nature, which parent in the world is not like this, but this fold says that the minister sells exam papers and colludes with other candidates to collectively engage in fraud, this is absolutely slander, the minister does not lack this money, and he will not do this kind of stupid thing of cocooning himself, I hope Your Majesty will investigate!" ”

Li Longji nodded secretly, he didn't quite believe Wang:|. More than 200 people under the command know that Yang Huo is selling questions, and the details described are exactly the same, how is this possible? and Da Xixun and Yang Shenjin have always been at odds, how could they collude to hire candidates. Moreover, Yang Shenjin had already written to impeach these new scholars for misconduct, Wang: < = explain that Li Linfu wanted to use this imperial examination case to deal with him with two eye nails, one was Yang Guozhong and the other was Yang Shenjin, so Li Longji believed Yang Guozhong's self-defense, but Yang Guozhong said some hidden things He must figure out.

"Whose relationship are you trusting? Who is the thread for you and Da Xixun? ”

When asked about Yang Guozhong's vital point, he hesitated for a long time before finally whispering in a voice as thin as a mosquito: "King Qing!" ”

"It's this damn thing again!" Li Longji couldn't help but grit his teeth secretly, he was about to ask again, but suddenly remembered that Li Qing had said that King Qing seemed to know the details of the treasury. The timing of saving money and withdrawing money is just right, there must be insider collusion, is it collusion with Yang Guozhong? It should be like this, Yang Guozhong is the secretary of Taifu Temple, of course he is very aware of the treasury's money inventory and expenditure budget.

The most critical line was straightened out, Li Longji's thinking suddenly became clear, Da Xi Xun was recommended by King Qing, Yang Guozhong found King Qing Li Cong in order to find a way for his son, and King Qing's condition was that the treasury was fine.

The problem is that Li Qing didn't say anything about these things. Could it be that he already knew about the fraud in the imperial examination? If so, what is his role here? Li Longji was in a trance, and he had the feeling that the praying mantis was catching cicadas and the yellow finch was behind. Based on his intuition, Li Qing must have intervened in this matter.

"Your Majesty. The minister is willing to accept the crime for personal gain! ”

Yang Guozhong's final statement interrupted Li Longji's train of thought, he settled down, and said with a cold face: "No matter what your purpose is in this matter, but the result is to greatly damage the reputation of the imperial court, I have carefully considered it, this is because you are too easy to become an official, and you don't know how to be cautious as an official." In addition, it is easy for you to be in a high position without merit, so it is better to keep a low profile. So don't do the two positions of Taifu Siqing and Jing Zhaoyin, and concentrate on being your imperial historian! ”

"Command!"

Li Longji's words had already been spoken, and Yang Guozhong had no choice but to kowtow gloomily and accept the punishment of being dismissed from office, at this time, there was a voice from outside Yu Chao's graceful request for instructions, "Your Majesty, Zhang Shangshu and Zhang Qiu Xiangguo are asking to see each other outside the palace, the exam has ended, and they are here to present the results!" ”

"Announce them in!"

Li Longji glanced at Yang Guozhong, and saw that his face was pale and his expression was sad, so he comforted him lightly: "You must walk steadily so that you won't fall, today you take a step back, isn't it a good thing, you are my uncle, I have high expectations for you, you have to do it yourself in the future, don't let me be disappointed again!" ”

Yang Guozhong heard Li Longji's words, and trembled with excitement, "Plop! He fell to his knees and wept, "Thank you, Your Majesty! ”

Li Longji waved his hand, "Go ahead!" Restrain your son, make fewer fox friends and dog friends, and go less to *** places, your eldest duke will let him enter the palace as a guard! ”

"Yes!"

After Yang Guozhong withdrew from the imperial study, Li Longji took the stack of papers, stared at the three words 'Chitose' for a long time and was silent, a touch of murder suddenly flashed in his eyes, and slowly crumpled the stack of papers into a ball, how could he not take it to heart, what happened in the Suzaku Gate the night before yesterday, he had already known through the ears and eyes of Gao Lishi, Li Linfu used his own name to show goodwill to the scholars and invite people's hearts, which had made him very unhappy, but the three words 'Chitose' were like a fuse, igniting the long-hidden dissatisfaction in Li Longji's heart.

"Your Majesty, Zhang Shangshu and Zhang Qiu Xiangguo are here!"

Gao Lishi quickly put away the paper balls with his hands and feet, and saw Zhang Yun with a melancholy face and Zhang Qiu and Qiong with anxious faces striding in.

"Minister Zhang Yun see Your Majesty!"

"Chenzhang Qiu and Qiong see Your Majesty!"

The coldness on Li Longji's face had disappeared, and it was replaced by a gentle smile, "Two Aiqing, please take a seat!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The two sat down one after another, and Zhang Qiu and Qiong couldn't wait to say: "Your Majesty, Da Xixun was severely punished yesterday and has died, and the deputy chief examiner Miao Jinqing committed suicide by hanging himself from the beam last night, but was rescued by his family in time and fortunately unharmed. ”

"There is such a thing!"

Li Longji gasped, his face changed several times, but he immediately regained his indifference, glanced at Zhang Yun and said, "How is the situation over there Zhang Shangshu?" ”

Zhang Yun shook his head in frustration, and bowed forward and said: "The minister was ordered to re-examine the current imperial examination, and the results are extremely unsatisfactory, if according to the standards of the minister, at least half of them are unqualified, so the minister dares to conclude that there must be fraud in this imperial examination." ”

As soon as he beckoned, a eunuch came over with a plate of test papers, and Zhang Yun personally brought it to Li Longji and said: "Those who are unqualified are all people recorded by Da Xixun, Miao Jinqing is still good, and it is not appropriate to record Zhang Yizhi." ”

Li Longji picked a few copies and flipped through them, and then said coldly to Zhang Qiu and Qiong: "It is not a crime to dare to openly cheat in such an important imperial examination."

Spread my will, confiscated the family property of Da Xi Xun, and his wife and daughter were assigned to Anxi as slaves, not the mastermind, but concealed for him, it was also regarded as an accessory, and he was demoted to Ankang Sima, and all those who were recorded this year were invalidated, and those suspected of fraud were not allowed to participate in the imperial examination for three years. ”

Zhang Qiu and Qiong hurriedly got up to receive the order, he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Then will there be another imperial examination this year to re-admit new scholars?" ”

Li Longji sneered and categorically refused: "Dare to gather a crowd to persecute me, didn't they think that they would have to pay the price like this?" This year, the scientific examination will not be reopened, and all non-Beijing scholars will be allowed to return to their hometowns within three days, and then the magistrate will be ordered to strictly supervise them, and they will not gather again! ”

"This. Said: "The minister fully agrees with His Majesty's decision, abolishing the recorded people and punishing the examiner is an explanation to the scholars, but canceling the re-examination is a warning to the scholars. ”

There is some truth in what he said, Zhang Qiu and Qiong saw that Li Longji let Yang Shenjin go, and he didn't say more, but Li Longji smiled faintly and said: "Yang Guozhong and Zhang Yizhi both participated in this imperial examination cheating case, and their father should be held responsible, I have issued an order to remove Yang Guozhong from the positions of Jing Zhaoyin and Taifu Siqing, and demote Zhang Yi to serve the imperial history, now I want to discuss with the two of you, the new candidates for Jing Zhaoyin and Taifu Siqing." ”

Zhang Qiu and Qiong and Zhang Yun glanced at each other, and they couldn't hide the surprise and ecstasy in their eyes. With such an important position, the emperor actually bypassed Li Linfu and discussed it directly with himself, the implication was to give these two positions away, what happened here, and where did Li Linfu do wrong?

The candidates for these two positions were considered by Zhang Qiu and Qiong countless times, and he did not hesitate to say: "Since Your Majesty asks the ministers. The minister recommended the two, Jing Zhao Yin for the maintenance of Chang'an security, to ensure the stability of the capital of the important position, non-experienced can not hold, Taiyuan Yin Wei Zhi has been in the place for a long time, the qualifications are abundant, the minister recommended him as Jing Zhao Yin. ”

Since Wei Jian was demoted. The Wei clan of Chang'an is disheartened and depressed, and it is very necessary for a leader to re-establish the status of the Wei family, and Wei Jiansu, the left attendant of the household department, is not qualified enough to take on this important responsibility, Zhang Qiu and Qiong thought of Wei Zhi, the two were colleagues, and they had a close relationship, if he could enter Beijing as the Yin of Chang'an, plus Shao Yin Xian Yu Shuming. The local power of Chang'an will be attributed to the Zhang Qiu Party, and at the same time, the Wei family will be revitalized. It's a win-win-win-win

But Li Longji was silent, he smiled. He asked again: "Who is the candidate for the Taifu Temple of the Left Minister?" ”

Zhang Qiu and Qiong's chest had already been established, and he smiled slightly: "Taifu Siqing was originally the executive organ of the household department, this time Li Qing implemented the new salt tax law and established the official cabinet workshop, and Taifu Temple has a lot of subtle cooperation, such as the establishment of the liquidation office, as well as the management of the two cities, are closely related to the operation of the official cabinet workshop, so the minister means that the Taifu Temple Qing is best served by Li Qing, the household servant." ”

Zhang Yun next to him also smiled and said: "I heard that the million salt tax in the Jianghuai area has been solved to Tianbao Canal. He will enter Beijing soon, and the minister will be in charge of the household department. Although he doesn't ask about practice, he also knows that Li Qing is a practical person, if he concurrently serves as the secretary of Taifu Temple, it should be proneficial, and besides, he has also been the governor of Shazhou and has the title of founding marquis, and he is already from the third grade, which is not considered to promote him, so the minister agrees with the recommendation of the left minister. ”

Li Longji played with a new paperweight on the ground in his hand, smiled and said nothing, Zhang Qiu and Qiong were the first to propose, he did not approve, the reason why he asked Zhang Qiu and Zhang Yun to recommend it was just a gesture, how could it be possible to let Zhang Qiu and his party dominate, Jing Zhaoyin had already had a candidate in his heart, and after a while, Li Longji said slowly: "Li Qing implemented the salt law, thanks to Sheji, but he did not get any reward, so Zuo Xiang recommended him to serve as the secretary of Taifu Temple, I have no objection, but Jing Zhaoyin's position is held by Wei, but I think it is inappropriate, He is more than upright, but he is not flexible, I looked at Pei Shiyan, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, and he will be Jing Zhaoyin, how about the two Aiqing? ”

Zhang Qiu and Qiong and Zhang Yun suddenly realized at the same time that the emperor wanted to strengthen the strength of the Pei Party, which was a very obvious signal, indicating that in Li Longji's heart, Li Linfu's status had begun to decline, from the competition between the two parties to the three-party competition, poor Li Linfu planned for so long, and finally made a wedding dress for others, and he didn't get any of them.

The two hurriedly stood up and said, "Your Majesty! The ministers fully agree with His Majesty's decision. ”

.

In April of the fifth year of Tianbao, the uproar of the imperial examination fraud case gradually came to an end, the chief examiner Da Xi Xun did have the fact of fraud, the crime was confirmed, but he himself was dead in the trial, then raided his home, exiled his family, the deputy chief examiner Miao Jinqing knew without saying anything, was deposed as Ankang Sima, the two major people involved in the case Yang Guozhong and Zhang Yi were demoted, but the excited taxis were poured a basin of cold water head-on, the imperial court not only did not re-conduct the imperial examination, but ordered them to leave Chang'an within three days, and the soldiers who were exhausted silently packed up, began to leave Chang'an one after another, and the youth leakage point needs them to use reason to guide them, perhaps this is not necessarily a bad thing for their understanding of life.

In the subsequent reshuffle, Li Linfu, who was the most active in investigating the imperial examination case, became the biggest loser, and Fang Xuan of the Zhang Qiu Party was promoted from the main guest of the Ministry of Rites to the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, replacing the position of Da Xixun; supervised the promotion of the imperial history Pei Mian to the ministry and replaced Miao Jinqing; And Yang Guozhong gave up two positions, which were also divided between the Zhang Qiu Party and the Pei Party, Li Qing, the head of the household department, concurrently served as the secretary of the Taifu Temple, while Jing Zhaoyin was taken away by Pei Shiyan of the Pei family, but Li Linfu's Xiangguo Party did not gain any benefits. It was the imperial examination case that became a turning point in Tang politics, Pei Dang gradually began to emerge, and Li Linfu's career went downhill.

In April, a piece of gossip quietly circulated in Chang'an, but it was far more concerned by the people than the imperial examination case, Yang Guifei's three sisters were named Mrs. Qin, Mrs. Korea and Mrs. Guo, each rewarded the beautiful house, money and silk, and the other two brothers of Yang Jiadi also entered the court as officials at the same time.

This is exactly what it is: 'Then the hearts of parents in the world are not born again, men and women are born'.