February of this year coincided with the spring festival once every three years, and according to the system, the Ministry of Rites presided over the system, and the emperor appointed a chief examiner, a deputy chief examiner, and 18 students from all over the world were selected. In previous years, at this time, the crown prince and King Yu would do their best to help their own people compete for the position of new science master, and the examiners who took advantage of the momentum of their friends naturally took into account the interests of their own sons, and the wind of private abuse prevailed. Some loyal imperial courtiers have admonished countless times, not only have they not had much effect, but they also end up not looking good. The disadvantages of electing scholars have basically become a major chronic disease of the government, and those who have a little insight know it in their hearts.

However, what everyone understands better is that the situation will definitely change this year, and many people are waiting to see how it will change.

Except for the eldest son of the hereditary noble family, surgery is the only way for most people to open up a career in civil service, and all aspects involved are very complex: region, origin, in-laws, old age, and teachers...... Many factors can affect the final outcome, and it is not just about party disputes, and in order not to succumb to these and eliminate all the, it is necessary to withstand the pressure from all sides, and at the same time ensure absolute integrity and fairness, so as not to be singled out.

At this time, the crown prince is out, and the claustrophobic king can influence the emperor to determine the candidate for this year's examiner, and it seems that only King Jing is the king. If he intended to exert this kind of influence, no one would dare to fight him at this time.

At the end of January, the Ministry of Rites announced the auspicious day of this year's spring season, and Emperor Liang asked King Jing for his opinion on the selection of examiners in the court, and the answer was "I dare not answer without permission, please let Rong Erchen think carefully for a few days", although there was no clear answer. But it's clear that he doesn't intend to stay out of it. However, it is not an easy task to reverse the malpractice, and if you don't get it right, it will backfire, so everyone is waiting for the final list to come out. In fact, he was waiting to see that the final decision of this prince was not afraid of offending people. Trying to recommend the kind of Geng Jie that he admires, he still succumbs to the conventions of the past years, and makes a good examiner who knows things well, leaving a gap for some special people to be promoted.

On 4 February, the edict was finally signed. It is read out in public by the celebrant. If people's chins can really fall, they must be able to pick up chins everywhere in the court that day. The deputy examiners are all the youngest and vigorous officials among the six squires, but the chief examiner is Cheng Zhiji, the seventy-third old man of the former Fengge Pavilion. Although Mr. Cheng has been at home for many years and has not stepped into the court, although Ge Lao is a well-known honorary official position, he still has a positive rank in the system, which belongs to the scope of being elected as the chief examiner.

It's just that no one like him has ever been reinstated before, and no one has thought of him when speculating about possible candidates.

However, what effect is this kind of old and young match suggested by King Jing to achieve, everyone quickly realized that Cheng Zhiji is not a particularly tough old minister. He is gentle and gentle, never refuses guests, and does not wipe people's face. I know the current affairs very well, but the current affairs don't know him very well. Because he really hasn't been to the court for too many years. I don't know anything about the connections between the DPRK and China, and I only need to mention something to others, and everyone knows about it. I have to explain the ins and outs of the situation to him. The key is that if people don't have a particularly ironclad relationship, who would dare to rashly say the words of martyrdom so clearly, especially for an old minister who has been forgotten for many years and can't figure out his depths. After all, the risk is still something to be considered first, and it can't be done without being familiar with the road, so he carried a large box of gold, silver and jewelry to the door to ask for help, and the newly appointed city is not a vegetarian.

However, there are only about ten days from the selection of examiners to the start of the examination. Before he could find out the way to Cheng Zhiji, the old man packed his baggage and entered the examination room. Without the influence of the outside world and their own selfishness, even arguments and disagreements will become simple. In fact, the biggest flaw in the combination of old and young is that the older ones are conservative and do not accept new ideas, and the young are conceited and do not respect the experience of their predecessors. This is what King Jing should consider avoiding when deciding on the candidate for "a few days of careful consideration". Although not all of the final list was suggested by him, Emperor Liang himself changed a few, but the big pattern finally did not change, and finally achieved the effect that King Jing wanted. This is mainly due to the fact that Cheng Zhiji did choose the right person. Although he is old, his temperament is not stubborn, and he is willing to listen to debates, and at the same time, as a former generation of university scholars, where is the heavy foundation of the eighteen deputy examiners, after the first day of the examination, he is convinced of this old gentleman, and no one dares to disrespect him. Once the examiner does not resent the eclecticism and recklessness of the young people, and the deputy examiners admit the authority of the examiner, then mutual restraint can naturally become mutually beneficial, and there will be no major contradictions.

In fact, this year's spring festival is far from being able to do without missing any talents, because it is impossible, but at least this is definitely the cleanest and fairest scientific expedition in many years. King Jing's goal is to "have no merit and no fault." He did not expect to clean up all the accumulated defects at once, nor did he adopt a tougher, ruthless, and more likely to attract dissatisfaction and opposition to ensure integrity; the first thing he wanted to change was the old concept of "no defects and no science field", cutting off many so-called conventions that had lasted for many years, and thus taking the first step in purging the election of officials.

The spring ended smoothly without a big turmoil, which made Emperor Liang very happy. What he was most worried about was that King Jing didn't know the current affairs, and blindly tossed the government according to his own ideas, and he was not at peace, but now he is gradually getting along, and his heart is naturally happy.

In the blink of an eye, the grass grew and the warbler flew to the Inner Court Division in March and began to be busy preparing for the spring hunting of the royal family and the departure of Jiu'an Mountain. Among the princes, except for King Yu, who is still claustrophobic and cannot accompany him, the rest of course have to go, plus nearly 200 people from the clan and important ministers, each with a group of entourage, the scale is the largest in the history. The queen is still under the edict as in previous years, but the concubines are no longer accompanied by the Yue Guifei who once favored the six palaces, but has become Concubine Jing.

Two days before the scheduled Yi drove out of Beijing, Mu Qing once again took his eight-carried sedan chair to the Su house, and carried it until the backyard before getting off the sedan chair, and out of the sedan chair, in addition to the little prince himself, there was another young man who seemed to have just recovered from a serious illness.

Li Gang came over silently and saluted. turned around and led the two into the main house of Mei Changsudi. As soon as Mu Qingle entered the door, he arched his hand in the direction of the main seat and said, "People, I have brought all the peace on the road." Nothing. After speaking, he turned to the side of his body and showed the young man behind him.

"Thank you, Lord Mu." Mei Changsu returned the salute with a smile. At the same time, he glanced at the young man, "In Xiamei Changsu, I am fortunate to see General Wei, is he well injured?" ”

Wei Zheng suppressed the excitement in his heart and said in a trembling voice: "Mr. Su's grace to save him." In the next Mo Yan unforgettable ......" said that he wanted to bend his knees to worship, but was stopped by the other party's soft gaze, so he had to make a deep bow.

Mu Qing felt that the task was completed, shook his hand easily, and asked, "What about Feiliu?" "He's not here." Mei Changsu understood what this little prince meant, but now there are people waiting in the secret room, of course, he has to find a way to drive out the guest first, "I'll take him to the house another day." But I'm afraid I can't accompany you today, so I'm going to settle General Wei first. ”

"Remember to come." Mu Qing is a cheerful person. I didn't feel anything, and then turned around and walked away. His figure had just disappeared. Wei Zheng fell to his knees with a thud and said with tears: "Young marshal...... It's all to blame Wei Zheng for not noticing for a while......"

"Alright. Do you need to talk about this between you and me? Mei Changsu didn't help him. Instead, he squatted down and held his shoulder. "You be quiet, don't get too excited, I'm going to take you to see King Jing, don't lose your mouth when he addresses me in front of him."

"Yes......"

"Get up."

Wei Zheng took a breath, stretched out his hand to help Mei Changsu stand up straight, and the two came to the inner room side by side, opened the secret door, and walked in one after the other.

"His Royal Highness King Jing, General Wei has arrived." After saying this sentence briefly, Mei Changsu also dodged like Mu Qing and quietly retreated to the corner.

Wei Zheng ...... See His Royal Highness King Jing......"

Looking at the old man who thought he was saying goodbye forever, Xiao Jingyan felt that he was even more excited than expected, so he hurriedly stabilized his mind and stepped forward to help Wei Zheng. Lie Zhanying, who was standing behind him, couldn't help but take a step forward, staring at Wei Zheng up and down carefully, and then his eyes turned red.

"Your Highness, let's sit down and talk. I don't think it's going to be a short time to talk about tonight. "Meng Zhi, because he had seen Wei Zheng many times before, was the most emotionally stable and came over to arrange the seat. Lie Zhanying insisted on standing aside according to the rules of the army, while Wei Zheng glanced at Mei Changsu quietly, obviously wanting to stand behind him very much, but unfortunately the latter was leaning against the kang table and playing with the stove without raising his eyes.

"Wei Zheng, don't be polite when you meet in the dark room, I have a lot of things to ask you, you sit down first." King Jing pointed to the seat closest to him, "I have hidden many doubts in my heart for many years, I thought that there was no answer, I am glad that God protects me, I can see the old people again, and I hope you will solve my doubts one by one." "Yes." Wei Zheng gave a deep salute, and then slowly sat down: "Your Highness, may I ask, Wei Zheng must know everything, and he must have said everything." ”

King Jing stared into his eyes and asked at the first question, "Are there any other survivors?" ”

Wei Zheng had prepared for this question, so he immediately replied, "Yes." But there are not many, and there are even fewer who have a job. Because they were declared rebels and had to serve hard labor, even the soldiers did not dare to return to their hometowns and had to live in other places. ”

"What else do I know?"

"Below the captain, I'm afraid that His Highness is not familiar with it, and then there is only Nie Duo ......"

King Jing couldn't help but look at him: "Nie Duo is still alive?" ”

"Yes. But I don't know where he is now. In short, it's all anonymous hiding. ”

"Nie Duo is also the main person...... And what about Chatani? Chatani really didn't survive any of them? ”

Wei Zheng lowered his head, not knowing whether he could bear to answer or was unwilling to answer.

"How can this be......" King Jing tried to stabilize his trembling voice, "Others don't know, I know best that the Red Feather Battalion is the strongest team, just with Xie Yu and Xia Jiang with 100,000 soldiers and horses transferred from the Western Territory, how could they fight like this?" ”

Wei Zheng Huo Ran raised his head and his eyes were like fire, "Could it be that even His Highness thinks that we are fighting with Xie Yu like this?" Could it be that our Red Flame Army is really a rebel army, and will fight with the army assigned by the imperial court to make such a tragic situation? ”

King Jing grabbed Wei Zhengdi's arm and used it so hard that he almost crushed his bones: "You mean, you didn't resist, Xie Yu still poisoned him?" But with Xiaoshu's temperament, even if he didn't expect it at first, once the butcher's knife was raised, he would definitely not sit still! ”

"Your Highness is right, but ......," Wei Zheng's cheek masseter muscles tightened, stretching out iron-like lines, "When the butcher knife was raised, we had just experienced a fierce battle, and we had no strength......"