According to the practice of the Ming Dynasty, the chief examiner of the township examination was mostly appointed by the imperial court, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites or the Hanlin Academy were also appointed, rather than local administrative officials. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoBut there are always some exceptions in this world, and Hu Lin is such an exception, but it depends on his clever skills.

As the governor of a province, it is already difficult for Hu Lin to go further at the local level, so his next goal in his career is to become a Beijing official and enter the cabinet or the real power yamen such as the Six Ministries. But this requires great popularity and merit, and it is precisely because of this that he dredged up relations in the capital last year, so that the Ministry of Rites finally confirmed him as the main examiner of this township examination.

Hu Lin really knows too well the benefits of being able to serve as a township test, especially when the first assistant of the dynasty, Zhang Taiyue, is a township test. This not only enabled him to gain the gratitude of many scholars and accept them as protégés, but also befriended Zhang Juzheng and became his cronies. The local concept of this era is much heavier than that of later generations, and these scholars who came out of Huguang will inevitably join the door of fellow villager Zhang Shoufu as long as they are officials, and Hu Lin, as their teacher, will naturally be included in this circle.

What's more, after presiding over a township examination, his reputation in Shilin will be much heavier than in the past, and those scholars who become his protégés will call him a teacher no matter what achievements they have in the future, but it is difficult to refuse if they have an invitation, which will naturally be of great help to his career. With so many benefits in front of him, how could Hu Lin not want to do everything he could to win the position of the main exam?

The final result was also very satisfactory to Hu Lin, and he really became the chief examiner of this township examination. Although he knew before that there were some trends in the science field that were inevitable even if you were doing it right, he didn't pay much attention to it, the water was clear, there were no fish, and there were no fugitives when people were observed, and he was confident that he could control everything. Even with this, he can get closer to those powerful people in Huguang. Although he will also delay some business because of this, but what is it compared to what he has gained because of it?

But he didn't calculate anything, but he couldn't have imagined that things would have such a change!

Originally, Hu Lin returned to the Zhigong Hall after inspecting the examination room once, planning to read the meeting book and then deal with some official business. But he had only flipped through a few pages of the book, and the prison official He Bi came to report in a panic that Zheng Fang, the political envoy, had led people to break into the Gongyuan and come to arrest people.

Hearing this, Hu Lin's hand couldn't help but tremble, and the volume of "Book of the Later Tang Dynasty" that he was looking at fell to the ground: "How dare he...... How to enter the Tribute Academy! It was this question that finally crossed his mind, and it was the one that made him the hardest to tolerate.

Hu Lin, who came back to his senses, was no longer as calm as before, so he hurriedly ordered a few relatives and hurried over. He didn't know the basis for Zheng Fang's actions, and he didn't know what the other party had mastered, but he knew that he must catch people before things get out of hand, and control the impact to the minimum, otherwise it would be bad.

To be honest, Hu Lin hasn't run as fast as he does today since he became an adult, and he has torn his red robe like a flag raised in the wind. Fortunately, Zheng Fang's dress was very conspicuous, so as soon as they inquired, they chased after them and saw Zheng Fang who was being searched in front of the Xuan 13 examination room.

Hu Lin was shocked and angry, and when he saw someone at this time, he shouted, and at the same time accelerated the speed of rushing forward again. Zheng Fang heard someone call his cousin like this, and he also subconsciously looked over, facing Hu Lin's angry eyes, and after being slightly surprised, he glared back without giving an inch.

In fact, Zheng Fang really didn't know that Hu Lin was the main examiner of this township examination. He had no power because he was excluded, and he didn't have much power because he was less moving around with his colleagues, so he knew even less about the big and small things in Huguang's officialdom today, even if Hu Lin was the main exam, he was ignorant of such a sensitive topic. As for whether Shen Yan knew about this, if he knew, why didn't he say it, Zheng Fang had no time to think about it at this time.

At this point, the skin between him and Hu Lin has been completely torn, so what is there to be afraid of? Thinking that he was originally a political envoy of a province and a second-class official, but because of Hu Lin's suppression everywhere, today's situation of being alone and widowed, if he has no grievances in his heart, it is false. This time, he has to fight for his future.

In fact, during the time of Taizu of this dynasty, the political envoy of a province was the largest administrative official in the territory. But after becoming an ancestor, there was one more governor to come, and his power was even more overwhelming. Although the governor was not a permanent official position at the beginning, but after the Jiajing Dynasty, the rules were set, in addition to the north and south of the direct subordination, the 13 provinces of the Ming Dynasty all have the post of governor, in charge of a place of civil affairs, military and politics. In this way, the position of the original political envoy will be embarrassing, if he meets a good person, his power can still remain, otherwise, or like Zheng Fang, he will lose his backer, and the DPRK and China will come to power with hostile forces, so naturally he will only be excluded and calculated.

Now, when he saw such an opportunity, how could Zheng Fang not seize it? Facing Hu Lin's angry gaze, he just smiled indifferently: "I have seen Lord Hu, whether the courage of this official is big or small, there is no need for adults to care." But here, there is a really bold scholar who cheated in the examination room in my hometown. ”

The fast running, the anger and anxiety in his heart, and the last angry rebuke made Hu Lin's breath that finally came to Zheng Fang extremely heavy, and he couldn't speak for a while. It was a long time before he could speak: "You...... What did you say? Fraud? ”

"Yes, this official heard that there was fraud in this township test, so he came here in a hurry, and it was also a major event for the country. And just now, I have been stolen! ”

"Ah...... And took the evidence! Hu Lin only felt dizzy for a while, and he couldn't turn too many thoughts. He rushed in, only thinking about stopping Zheng Fang's actions, and he didn't have any plans about what to do once he found the evidence. Now, he could only be stunned for a while, and then said, "Bring me the evidence......

Zheng Fang was not afraid that he would dare to destroy the evidence in front of everyone, so he handed over several articles to Hu Lin with the box: "This was found from under the seat of this candidate, and it is the article of this township examination." Today is only the second day of the exam, and the topics of the policy discussion have not been announced, but the article has been made here, which is really impressive. ”

Hu Lin heard the words and flipped to the end, only after reading one question, he knew that what Zheng Fang said was good, this was all the questions he and those deputy examiners worked out, how could he not recognize it? This made his face even more ugly, knowing that this time he was at a disadvantage, but there may be room for salvage in this matter......

But the words he thought of were quickly cut off by Zheng Fang: "There is another point that is the most important, do you know where you found these things?" ”

"Sit down, ......" Hu Lin turned his mind and looked towards the examination room, only to see that the small space was already in chaos. But under the candidate's seat, there is a pit, and it looks like the size is just right for this box. At this moment, Hu Lin's heart sank completely, and his face turned pale.

As Hu Lin, who has come up all the way up the imperial examination and has heard too many stories about fraud in the scientific field, the seriousness of fraud in the scientific field is also varied. If it is just a matter of carrying something, the official is at most guilty of negligence. But today, like today, that's the case of internal and external collusion. Not to mention how the exam questions for tomorrow's exam, which have not yet been released, just what happened to the articles hidden under the candidate's seat are enough for him, the examiner, to drink a pot. This is not something that one or two ordinary officials or soldiers can do, there must be a core figure among the examiners involved, and he, the chief examiner, is the object of suspicion in the first place.

Hu Lin only felt a bitterness in his mouth, he knew that this was the case, he shouldn't have fought for the position of the chief examiner in the first place, didn't he have nothing to do if he was only the governor? But there is no regret medicine in this world that can be bought, and at this point, he can't turn back, so he can only try his best to control this matter.

"Ahem...... Lord Zheng is a heart for the country, and the official really admires it. This matter is indeed very important, but now that it is still in the township test, I hope that Lord Zheng can focus on the overall situation and put this matter down first, and the official will definitely give you a satisfactory answer after that. Now Hu Lin can only think of another countermeasure by sending Zheng Fang out first, so he turned around and ordered: "Come on, send Master Zheng away." ”

"Wait!" How was Zheng Fang willing to go, and immediately said: "Master Hu, now it is the key to find out how many people here have cheated, how can it be like this?" ”

"Hmph, Lord Zheng, this matter will be handled by the official. This official is the main examiner of the township examination, and I am in charge here, do you want to do it on your behalf? Seeing that Zheng Fang still wanted to do a lot of things, Hu Lin couldn't manage too much, so he wanted to press each other with momentum.

"I don't dare to do it, but since this matter was found out by this official, there is no reason to leave! And I'm afraid that someone will be caught again soon. There was no turning back when he opened the bow, and Zheng Fang, who had already been released, swept away the depression of the past six months, and did not retreat in the face of Hu Lin's compelling momentum.

As if to support Zheng Fang, Shen Yan had rushed over at this time. Behind him, those servants also pulled a pale and trembling scholar, who was Yao Shuguang. Behind them, there were four or five officials, but the deputy examiners also rushed to hear the news.

"My lord, this person was copying articles when we took them down, and the villain and others also searched a dark cave under his seat, thinking that these things were hidden." Shen Yan stepped forward and handed over another box.

Zheng Fang took the box, opened it again and took out those test papers, and looked at Hu Lin with a smile: "Master Hu, can you still say that this is just an accident?" ”

"I ......" Hu Lin was speechless for a moment, he didn't expect Zheng Fang to have this hand, it seems that the other party is completely targeted.

Suddenly, Zheng Fang raised his voice: "In this imperial examination, there are people who are cheating, or is it a fraud of clever means that collude inside and outside, and hide the topic underground." The township examination is an opportunity for everyone to get after ten years of cold windows, and if you fail in this subject, you will have to wait for three years. Zheng Fang, the political envoy of this official Hu Guangbu, in order to return everyone to a fair and just situation, find out those who cheated, decided to ask for the examination room, and asked all candidates to come out! Come on, search for me! ”

ps: There is no protagonist, Lao Zheng continues to fight on the front line, and asks for all kinds of support and encouragement from all the officials~~~~