"Zhang Qing, you don't have to worry about this matter, I will persuade Wuqing to wait for Shi Heng."

"I just need a definite answer from you, are you willing to set things right together?"

Zhu Qizhen no longer has the patience to move with Zhang Yi with affection and reason, he must get the absolute allegiance of the other party before he can start the next move.

For no other reason, Zhang Xuan controlled a part of the soldiers in the Beijing camp, and it was still a camp close to Nangong. When the time comes to launch a coup d'état and restoration, his soldiers and horses are the key to breaking the Nangong Praetorian Guard.

In history, it was Shi Heng, Zhang Xuan and others who used giant trees to break open the palace gate of Nangong and complete the change of seizing the door.

Under the threat of death, Zhu Qizhen really couldn't wait for a moment, and kept putting pressure on Zhang Xuan.

"One day for the king, life for the lord, the minister Zhang Xuan is willing to be loyal to the emperor and jointly create a peaceful and prosperous world!"

"Okay, I'm very relieved!"

Zhu Qizhen immediately rose up, and after completely getting rid of Zhang Xuan, the security crisis in Nangong was lifted. Outside, there is also the Shenji Battalion controlled by the in-law An Yuan Hou Liupu, and there are Tengxiang four guards in the palace with Guo Jing's palm print.

As long as Shi Heng is finally wooed, King Yu will be vulnerable under the combination of inside and outside!

Just when Zhu Qizhen was making wishful thinking, Cheng Jing, the eunuch in the imperial study of the Forbidden City, walked in quietly and said: "Your Majesty, Zhang Xuan, the governor of the right capital, was summoned by the emperor to the South Palace to discuss the restoration. ”

"Brother Huang really can't bear it?"

Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu replied indifferently, to be able to sit in the position of the Ninth Five-Year Supreme, no matter how bad he is at the emperor's mental tricks and power struggle, there is still basic vigilance.

In front of Dong'an Gate, no one would believe that Zhu Qizhen of Ming Yingzong was willing to give up the supreme imperial power and tasted the fruits of power, so naturally he would not take it seriously.

From beginning to end, in addition to the guards arranged by Nangong, there were also many secret agents who kept an eye on Zhu Qizhen's actions at all times. These spies were Zhu Qiyu's old men in the palace of King Yu, and there was absolutely no doubt about his loyalty, but his number and ability were not enough to show him in the court.

"The emperor has won over Zhang Xuan, the governor of the right capital, which means that the ten battalions in Nangong are unreliable, do you want to start a rotation of stations?"

Cheng Jing cautiously asked Zhu Qiyu, originally according to his status as a eunuch and internal official, he could not be involved in the military and political affairs of the former dynasty. But there is really no one around Emperor Jingtai, and one Yu Qian abides by the society and is the most important to the king, and he will never be foolish and loyal.

As for Shen Yichen, even whether he is loyal to himself or not, Jingtai Emperor Zhu Qiyu has no bottom in his heart.

"The sudden rotation of the station is equivalent to telling the imperial brother that I have placed someone next to him, and he will only do more secretive when he contacts the courtiers in the future."

"In this way, the edict decrees that from today onwards, the palace door of Nangong will be locked and filled with lead, and only a small hole will be allowed to be opened to pass food. In addition, find a way to catch the imperial brother's transgression, so as to justifiably execute his cronies and cut off all contact with the outside world. ”

"Since the imperial brother is unkind, then I can only be unjust, and there is no room for two kings in this world after all!"

Completely imprisoned was the first step of Jingtai Emperor Zhu Qiyu, and after the court eliminated the influence of Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, it was the second step to become seriously ill, and finally died violently.

Both of them have realized that in the face of the struggle for imperial power, what sibling affection is not worth mentioning!

On the other side of the Shuntian Gongyuan, after experiencing the discussion about the famine in the north, the relationship between Shen Yichen and He Pingyan has eased slightly, at least there is no sabre-rattling scene like before.

Staying on the Mingyuan floor and watching for a few days, while the first round of the examination was about to end, Shen Yichen came to the room to inspect the candidates' answer sheets. Once upon a time, he was also waiting for a choice of fate in this small number room, and now after being in a high position, he can decide the fate of others.

The location of the number room determines the background identity of the candidates to a large extent, and Shen Yichen first came to the newly built brick and stone structure room facing north and south, where most of the children of some high-ranking officials in the DPRK and China are located.

Seeing Shen Yichen's arrival, the candidates in the masonry room did not show much nervousness, after all, many of them had seen the market, and there were many high-ranking officials in Beijing like dogs, so a Zhengsanpin cabinet minister would not be frightened.

Shen Yichen casually stopped in front of a candidate's room and watched his answer to the first four-book question. In the four books of ancient imperial weightlifting, the first question was emphasized, and basically the quality of the answer to this question would determine the results of the examination for one's own subject.

The first question of the four books was not agreed upon by the two presidents of the examination and the eighteen examiners, but on the contrary, Shen Yichen made a decision on his own, and decided that "Zhou and Tang are heavy on the outside and light on the inside, and Qin and Wei have their own opinions on the outside and on the inside." ".

To use the vernacular translation of later generations, it is about the distribution of power between the Zhou, Tang, Qin and Wei courts and local powers, and how to correct which is better or worse.

In addition to the old cause of land annexation, the imbalance of power between the central and local governments is also a very important factor, and there is a high probability that the Forbidden City will not be issued in the end.

But the problem is that the central government does not delegate power, and with the administrative efficiency of ancient times, it is waiting for the center of the court to make decisions everywhere, and I am afraid that the daylilies will be cold. Excessive decentralization is like leading to the rise of local mountains and the division of warlord power.

Shen Yichen wanted to brainstorm a balanced division of power in all aspects through this four-book exam question, and improve the administrative efficiency of the central court and local government of the Ming Dynasty. Instead of testing something every day, it is better to focus on government affairs.

After all, the candidates who will be in the test will get the title of Jinshi and scatter to various places in the Ming Dynasty as officials. It's all nerds who don't know how to do politics, and when they get to the place, they will only cause trouble.

This is why Shen Yichen will forcefully change the established exam questions during his tenure as the president of the examination. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and only through the imperial examination system can a group of people with real talents and practical work be selected, so that there can be like-minded people to form the foundation of reform, and the spark can start a prairie fire in the future!

The candidate's article in front of him is not too bad, but he still hasn't jumped out of the traditional category, and said a lot of irrelevant Confucian and Mencian sage words, which is a little incomprehensible in Shen Yichen's eyes.

After a few casual glances, Shen Yichen went to the next candidate's room, and the content of the answers was basically the same, and he couldn't find any bright spots.

After reading a few in succession, when Shen Yichen was about to turn back, he suddenly found that in the first line of text content of these candidates, there was a very similar outline angle.

In order to gain fame in the examination, Shen Yichen can be said to have studied hard and practiced the pavilion body. But even so, the final effect of the text written on the paper cannot be the same strokes and angles.

And this is not a coincidence of one or two, Shen Yichen walked all the way, at least saw five or six candidates whose first line of strokes were extremely similar, this is absolutely impossible to be a coincidence!

In order to verify his point of view, Shen Yichen specially moved to another row of rooms, and it happened that he met an acquaintance here, who was He Wendao who asked for the people's life in Shuntian Gongyuan Square.

Seeing Shen Yichen walking towards him, He Wendao opened his mouth wide in surprise, and his face instantly showed an excited expression.

In He Wendao's eyes, Shen Yichen is not only his academic leader, but also a bright light in his life.

However, He Wendao quickly reacted that there could be no verbal conversation with the president of the inspection room in the examination room, otherwise there would be suspicion of favoritism. So he suppressed the excitement in his heart and buried his head again, but the slightly trembling arm still revealed his true thoughts.

Shen Yichen paced in front of He Wendao's room, and carefully looked at the strokes of his first row of words, which was completely different from the angle of the candidates he had seen in the masonry room before, and He Wendao's handwriting could not find any rules to follow.

After seeing this scene, Shen Yichen probably had the bottom in his heart, but this matter was not reputable without evidence, so he shifted his attention to He Wendao's article.

Compared with the flashy words of Confucius and Mencius in the previous candidates, He Wendao very pragmatically analyzed the disadvantages of the Zhou and Tang dynasties, and the disadvantages of the princes making the princes bigger and separating the feudal towns, and at the same time showed the shortcomings of the low efficiency of local administration brought about by the transitional centralization of power between the Qin and Wei dynasties.

It seems that his academic concept of "applying it to the world and seeking truth through dialectic" has really reached the hearts of young scholars like He Wendao, rather than floating on the surface!

After reading He Wendao's article, Shen Yichen walked to the room next to him, and first glanced at whether there was a problem with the strokes of the first line. This candidate, like He Wendao, has his own special angle, which is completely different from the candidate in the masonry room.

Originally, Shen Yichen didn't plan to review this candidate's examination essay in advance, but after glancing at it so casually, he was attracted to stand in place, and his face subconsciously showed a look of surprise.

Compared with He Wendao's "teacher" Shen Xue, he himself is developing in a pragmatic direction, and it is not surprising that he can write articles that are relevant to the key points of current politics and analyze the pros and cons. On the contrary, this candidate Shen Yichen had no impression, but the article was far-reaching, comprehensive, and far-sighted.

Even Shen Yichen can feel a patriotic heart and the ambition of the world from his words!

With a sense of curiosity, Shen Yichen looked at the frontispiece that had not yet been sealed, and the two words Peng Shi jumped in front of him.

Peng Shi is the champion and first of the orthodox thirteen years in history, and also created a record of the fastest entry into the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty. It can only be said that even if history changes, the essence of talented people will not change, and gold can shine wherever it is placed!

Of course, even if he admired Shen Yichen, he couldn't reveal it, and after looking around, he turned around and returned to Mingyuan Tower. Yang Hongze, who happened to be inspecting the examination room, also returned at this moment.

"Yang Shaoqing, the first question of the four books of the examination is over today, I wonder if you have found the pillars of the country when you inspect the examination room?"

"What do you want to say?"

After the invigilation of the past three days, except for the first day on the issue of food shortage in the north, the two sides had an exchange, and the next two days were almost blind, and there was no verbal communication at all.

Shen Yichen inexplicably threw out this sentence after inspecting the examination room, and Yang Hongze's first reaction was that the other party had something to say.

"This official found that there are a few candidates, the font on the scroll is unusually beautiful, it is like a divine help, Yang Shaoqing can feel the same?"

Hearing Shen Yichen's slightly teasing words, Yang Hongze's face changed instantly, but it quickly returned to normal.

"What if you feel the same way, this matter has no evidence and no evidence, what can you and I do?"

"If this official is not mistaken, Yang Shaoqing once said that he is a farmer from a poor family, and he must have experienced hardships beyond the reach of ordinary people after studying hard until he entered the cabinet to worship the prime minister today."

"If the fairness of the imperial examination cannot be guaranteed, will the poor peasant family have a bright future in the future?"

When this sentence came out, Yang Hongze secretly did not answer, in fact, there was an agreed code in the candidate's article, and he was not unaware.

But in officialdom, many things are involuntarily self-sufficient, and this kind of thing inevitably happened in previous imperial examinations. Even Yang Hongze and He Pingyan, in addition to their own talents and knowledge, it is difficult to say that they do not have the help of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials.

In the current cabinet, Chen Xun, Miao Zhen, and even Gao Gu and others have not yet cultivated their reserve forces due to the short time they have been in the cabinet. Jingtai's own department in the first year is destined to be a vanity fair for all parties to compete!

"I advise you not to meddle in this matter, the ministers behind the cabinet are involved, unless Shen Zhongtang wants to be an enemy of the Manchu Dynasty."

After hesitating for a long time, Yang Hongze still gave Shen Yichen a word of advice, the fraud in the imperial examination is not a situation that can be achieved by a single person at all, but the cabinet minister tacitly formed a tacit understanding and divided the quota for his own children.

Yang Hongze also disdains this kind of move in his heart, but he knows better that this is the status quo that he cannot change, unless he detachs himself from the entire civilian interest group.

With his background as a poor farmer, how can the civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty who offended him have a foothold in the court in the future?

"Yang Shaoqing, do you think that after the official should bear the food shortage, can he still get along with the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty?"

A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Shen Yichen's mouth, since he chose to stand on the opposite side, he would go all the way to the dark, and there was no turning back. At the same time, he also deeply understood why the powerful ministers of all dynasties who wanted to do practical things eventually chose to form a party for personal gain.

After all, personal strength is limited, and this Yiji Year is the foundation of Shen Yichen's future in the court!

Shen Yichen's words made Yang Hongze not answer again, from this moment on, he finally realized the gap and responsibility between himself and the other party. There is no accident in the world, Shen Yichen can come to this day, there is a completely different thing that belongs to him, and it seems to be so incompatible with the turbid officialdom.

Even as an "enemy", at this moment, Yang Hongze's heart couldn't help but give birth to a touch of admiration and respect.

Isn't it a blessing to have the existence of Shen Yichen in this world?