Liu Ziqiu groaned: "If these people have any big plans, it is impossible for the Lord to stay behind the scenes all the time, and there will always be a time to show up." However, everything is just in case, and it is not impossible for Li Aiqing to worry. The herald ordered the forbidden army not to be relaxed, in case these people had already agreed to do so. ”

Zhao Ling frowned and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that if they had already agreed on the time, they would have chosen the day of the imperial examination!" ”

Liu Ziqiu let out an "oh" and asked, "How dare Zhao Aiqing be so sure?" ”

Zhao Ling stroked the few strands of long hair under his chin, and said with a smile: "Now the four seas are peaceful, the law is strict, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. As long as people's hearts are not confused, even if there are some anti-thieves, there is no way to start. The minister thought that these people just wanted to take advantage of the national talent selection ceremony to create some chaos and demagoguery. ”

"Demagoguery?" Liu Ziqiu frowned and said in a deep voice, "Don't they know how tightly guarded the capital is?" Just to confuse people's hearts, it is a bit unbelievable to give thousands of lives in vain. In my opinion, I'm afraid it's not that simple. ”

Wei Zheng arched his hand and said: "The imperial examination is tomorrow, if they really choose that day, tomorrow will be known." As long as the city is more vigilant, why not be afraid of thousands of nights! ”

Liu Ziqiu waved his hand and said, "It's okay." No matter where these people came from or why they came, they are all the people of my Han Dynasty, and I don't want to kill more. Spread my will, tomorrow send a large army into the city, and strengthen the guards in all parts of the capital until the end of the imperial examination. I hope these people can understand my distress and retreat. However, even if these people leave the capital, they should not be taken lightly, and must secretly send orders to the local governments to find out where they came from. ”

In fact, the easiest way to find out where these people came from is to arrest a few people and interrogate them strictly. However, Liu Ziqiu always felt that the mastermind behind them was definitely not simple, so he was always reluctant to startle the snake, and wanted to use the whereabouts of these people to find out the mastermind behind the scenes.

…

Early the next morning, when the people of the capital opened the door of their courtyards, they were surprised to find that there were several times more soldiers patrolling the streets than usual. However, today is the day when the imperial examination begins, and in order to prevent anyone from making trouble, it is also a very normal thing to send additional manpower. After all, it is the people of the capital, and they are well-informed, and everyone quickly calmed down, what should they do.

However, some people in the capital who have experienced the first imperial examination have found that the guards at the imperial examination site this year seem to be too strict. There is still a long way to go from the Tai Academy, and the soldiers who maintain order are three steps and one post, five eyes and one sentry. All candidates lined up in a long line, and they could only enter the Tai Academy after six searches. Another feature of this year's examination is that all the materials used in the examination, including pen, ink, paper and inkstone, are all supplied by the imperial court. Candidates don't have to bring anything, as long as someone is there. As a result, the intensity of the search is greatly reduced. Even though there are four search procedures compared to previous years, the speed of entry for candidates is still much faster. Of course, in doing so, the expenses of the imperial court will also increase significantly. That is to say, the Han Dynasty obtained a large amount of gold and silver through the trade with the West and the mining of corn in Africa in recent years, and it was not difficult to afford it.

At that time, after the candidates entered the city, there was a quiet in the capital, and the group of suspicious people did not make any special moves. But in a short period of time, I didn't see that these people had any intention of leaving the capital.

Three days later, the exam ended, and the candidates came out of the academy. Although the results have not yet been released, the results of the exam have been written on their faces. Some people rejoice, some sigh, and some put on an attitude of indifference. And on this day, the guards on the streets were again strengthened, and the ranks of patrols were almost twice as numerous as usual. I don't know if it was because the agreed date of the gang had not arrived, or because they were intimidated by the increased number of troops on the streets, in short, they did not make any special moves, nor did they leave the capital.

After the examination, the examination papers are marked, and all the examination papers are sealed with the candidates' names first, and then copied by the scribe, and then handed over to the examiner for review. This prevents a certain connection between the marker and the examiner through the identification of handwriting. In order to ensure the fairness of the exam and prevent fraud, Wei Zheng and they also used a lot of brains.

Since Liu Ziqiu has decided to delegate power to the cabinet, he is not willing to ask too much about the results of the examination. However, after the results of the marking came out, Wei Zheng hurriedly sent the list to Liu Ziqiu's imperial case. Because, there is another unexpected figure in this year's list, that is, the new Jiangdu horse Li Shimin.

The grievances and grievances between Li Yuan's family and Liu Ziqiu, Wei Zheng is very clear. At the point where Wei Zheng came, no matter how benevolent he was, his actions would become decisive and ruthless. He once reminded Liu Ziqiu that he should not leave troubles behind! But the situation was special at that time, and Li Yuan surrendered to Luoyang City. In order to win the hearts of the world, Liu Ziqiu also had to pardon Li Yuan's family. Of course, if you want to take the lives of Li Yuan's family, it is simply easy for Liu Ziqiu now, and he can do it at any time. What made Wei Zheng dissatisfied was that Liu Ziqiu was reluctant to make this determination, but instead took Li Jiancheng to the imperial examination, and he would soon be released to serve in the local government. And now, Li Shimin has won the imperial examination again, and he is ranked second, and this achievement is destined to enter the cabinet. In such a situation, how could Wei Zheng not be in a hurry?

Liu Ziqiu took the list and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Wei, there is no problem with the evaluation of the examination papers, right?" ”

Wei Zheng arched his hand and said: "Please rest assured, there is absolutely no problem!" ”

Liu Ziqiu nodded and said, "Since there is no problem, let's publish the list accordingly!" ”

Wei Zheng was shocked: "Although Li Yuan is dormant in a corner, according to what the minister has seen, this person's thief heart is not dead. Now, his eldest son is about to be released from office, and his second son is second in high school, and sooner or later he will join the cabinet. The Cabinet is a central place, and no such person should be allowed to enter. Please admit Li Shimin to the second class, and I hope that Your Majesty will think twice! ”

After the first imperial examination, the candidates studied in Tai College for four years, and two of them were able to finally enter the cabinet, that is, the eldest grandson Wuji and Pan Zhi, who came from a poor family. In order to attract more people to participate in the imperial examination, and also to fiercely contest the next class of candidates, Liu Ziqiu specially issued an edict, promising that after the second imperial examination, the top three candidates in high school would have the opportunity to enter the cabinet. Therefore, Wei Zhengcai proposed to demote Li Shimin to the second class, that is, to demote Li Shimin to the fourth, and he naturally lost the best chance to enter the cabinet. After entering the Tai Academy, the merits of the students' grades are all judged by the bachelors. In the words of later generations, it all depends on the subjective impression of the scholars. As long as there is a slight hint, no matter how good Li Shimin is, he will not be able to enter the cabinet. And this imperial ranking is almost his only chance to enter the cabinet.

Liu Ziqiu shook his head and said, "Even if he enters the cabinet, I am not afraid!" He also said, "People can be deceived, but heaven cannot be deceived, and I still don't want to do anything that is against justice." ”

Wei Zheng couldn't persuade Liu Ziqiu, so he could only bow down and retire.

On the day of the release of the list, the capital was once again heavily guarded, as if facing a great enemy. In order to avoid crowd gathering, the list was also printed in multiple copies at the same time and posted in the corners of the capital. The leader of high school is Du Ruhui, who Liu Ziqiu has always admired, Li Shimin, the second is Li Shimin, and the third is Lu Zhengqi, a child of a family, from the Fanyang Lu family.

On this day, the candidates who have been waiting for the release of the results in the capital are a few happy and a few worried. However, all the wine shops and green buildings were still full, and the songs and laughter resounded in the sky. On such a day, the capital naturally looked a little messy, but the two suspicious people still didn't make any moves. It even gives people the illusion that these people have no special purpose at all, and they have never thought of disturbing the security of the capital, just to observe the grand occasion of the imperial examination. But Liu Ziqiu didn't think so, he was even more suspicious of the purpose of these people, but he was very calm. The Lord keeps his face from appearing, and He will not give orders to do it.

…

A few days later, Liu Ziqiu held a banquet in Xiyuan, and in the name of the imperial court, he invited the 400 candidates who won the list. These people will all enter the Tai Academy to study, and Liu Ziqiu is also one of the teachers of the Tai Academy. In other words, these people will all be his students in the future. What Liu Ziqiu really values is not the teacher-student relationship between him and these students, but wants to cultivate real pillars of talent for the Han Dynasty.

The scenery of Xiyuan is still the same, in the middle of summer, the trees are shady, but there are many fewer beauties and more freedom. With the passage of time, the people in the capital have no longer regarded Xiyuan as a forbidden place for the royal family, whether it is a rich person or a small person, as long as they have time, they will go to Xiyuan to play and play. And Liu Ziqiu has always advocated the concept of equality, even if he is hosting all the candidates at the banquet in Xiyuan today, he does not prohibit the people from coming and going. Therefore, today's Xiyuan is still full of people.

The banquet was set in Qiyin Courtyard, which used to be Gao Xiuer's residence, and Liu Ziqiu also had a soft spot for it, and every time he visited Xiyuan, he was indispensable to come here. With such a heavy banquet, the candidates were naturally absent and waited in the courtyard early. Liu Ziqiu didn't put any car, only took Da Du and dozens of guards out of the palace. Before he could reach the gate of Xiyuan, he saw a few fast horses flying over.

Horses are not allowed in the capital, unless there is any urgent military situation. Although it is also important to entertain candidates, no matter how important it is, it is not as important as an emergency military situation. Liu Ziqiu couldn't help but stop his steps, and shouted in a deep voice: "Go to two people and ask, what happened?" ”

Without waiting for the guards to leave, those people had already approached, rolled their saddles and dismounted, knelt on one knee, and said loudly: "General Li has an urgent military situation to submit, please take a look!" ”

A guard had already stepped forward, took a document from the man's hand, and forwarded it to Liu Ziqiu. Liu Ziqiu opened it and saw that it was the group of people who had been dormant in the capital for many days, and he couldn't help sneering: "Sure enough, I can't hold it back!" Spread the decree, if these people really dare to those places, there will be no forgiveness! ”