Zhu Biao saw that his father, who was the founder of the country, was furious, and he was also slightly afraid in his heart, thinking that Liu Sanwu was already old, he still had the courage to kneel on the ground and play: "There is no evidence for this matter, and it is inevitable that the civil and military officials will be suspected of catching the wind and shadows. He also felt that Fang Cai's words were too bold and refuted his father's face, so he took a step back, hoping that his father would take care of Liu Sanwu being too old and detain him in the mansion, so as not to suffer the disaster of imprisonment in Jinyiwei.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw Zhu Biao kneeling on the ground and pleading for mercy, and his heart couldn't help but soften, but he recalled in his mind that the 51 people who had passed the test in this session were all southern scholars, and at present, the scientific examination in the north was less than one-tenth of that in the south, and the civil officials in the DPRK and China were even more in the southern provinces, especially Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang. Thinking about this, he immediately hardened his heart and pretended to be indifferent, and said coldly: "Those who do not seek the overall situation are not enough for a certain domain, and those who do not seek eternity are not enough to seek a moment." For the way of the king, we should keep the world in mind and weigh the pros and cons first. After that, he picked up a letter and looked at it, ignoring Zhu Biao, who knelt down in front of the desk.

Although Zhu Biao's temperament is completely different from Zhu Yuanzhang, he has also accompanied this father for a long time, and he is not an ignorant person, he smells the meaning of his father's words as if he wants to hurt Liu Sanwu and others, and his heart is anxious and has not recovered from his illness for a long time, he is in weakness, and he can't help but feel dizzy in his mind, and he feels a little spinning.

After about a cup of tea, Zhu Yuanzhang heard Xue Jing, who was tiptoeing into the imperial study to serve tea, exclaim, only to find that Zhu Biao had fainted to the ground at some point, and he stood up immediately.

Seeing that Zhu Biao, who was unconscious, was carrying the little eunuch back to the East Palace, Xue Jing hurriedly went to find the imperial doctor to treat the prince, Rao is Zhu Yuanzhang's temperament that is not shocked on weekdays, and he can't help but be slightly upset in his heart. The so-called knowing son Mo Ruo's father, although Zhu Biao is gentle and frugal on weekdays, rarely openly opposes himself, in fact, he is also a quite assertive person, his regret about his status as a prince is that he is weak and frail, and since childhood he has followed Song Lian and other Confucian celebrities to study, as the future emperor who is in charge of the Ming Dynasty in his day, he has been too bound by the so-called benevolence and morality of Confucianism.

A few days later, in the middle of the night in Yingtian City, in a hall in the Guozi Prison, the candles were still flickering, and it was bright.

The tired face of the imperial study read Zhang Xin, raised his head and glanced at the officials from the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial History Observatory who were sitting on his left and right sides, and said in a deep voice: "Tomorrow is the deadline for Your Majesty to limit the re-reading of the papers, and give an explanation to the Manchu courtiers and all the scholars in the world. ”

The first person sitting on Zhang Xin's left hand was a gray-haired, over fifty years old, quite old-fashioned person, but it was Yin Changlong from the Hanlin Academy, after hearing Zhang Xin's words, he couldn't help frowning and said: "Zhang Shiyu, in the old man's opinion, although this scientific examination may not involve favoritism and favoritism, but if you don't select a few northern scholars to take the tribute exam, I am afraid that it will be difficult to explain to Your Majesty......" As he said this, there was a cold snort in the nose of another scholar of the Hanlin Academy beside him, and the old face involuntarily blushed slightly, I felt quite speechless, and then I was silent.

After Zhang Xin's questioning, he saw that all the officials who re-read the papers were slightly bowed their heads, and when he was speaking, he heard Yin Changlong say this, and he couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and then said with a wry smile: "All the examination articles have already been seen, Zhang Moucai is shallow in learning, although His Majesty decreed, responsible for the re-marking of the papers, but I want the article to be examined by the benevolent, the wise see the wise, tomorrow morning when you can express your opinions, you have worked hard for a few days, so you will rest early, and wait for tomorrow morning." ”

Hearing Zhang Xin's words, all the civil officials immediately stood up, and left silently after each saluting.

Under the flickering candle flame on the table, a tiny moth finally scorched its wings after hitting the candle flame several times, but it was not dead for a while, and Wu Zi struggled on the table.

Seeing such a scene, Zhang Xin's rather wooden face couldn't help but show a little wry smile, and let out a long sigh.

On the Fengtian Palace, a group of civil and military officials were silent, but their eyes couldn't help but fall on Zhang Xin and the other twelve officials who had re-read the papers.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was wearing a five-clawed dragon robe, checked the names and origins of the 12 civil officials who passed the Gongshi literary examination one by one, and the more he looked at it, the more gloomy his face became, and finally stood up angrily, pacing back and forth for a few steps, and finally said coldly: "Zhang Xin, I trust you so much, why do you re-examine the examination papers, and the results are still like this?" He was so angry because among the twelve civil officials, ten of them were still all southern scholars, but a few of them had different rankings, only Yin Changlong, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, and Dai Yi, an imperial historian, selected a few northern scholars to pass, and the particularly unbearable ones were Zhang Xin, who was responsible for re-reviewing the examination papers, and the rankings taken were exactly the same as the previous chief examiner Liu Sanwu, no different.

Zhang Xin was not flustered when he heard this, and bowed down and said: "A few days ago, Weichen heard that the fifty-one people who passed the Gongshi literary examination were all southern lifters, and he couldn't help but have doubts, but he re-examined the examination papers carefully, and compared them with the questions, the questions, the starting shares, the questions, the middle shares, the back shares, and the bundle of shares. When he finished speaking, he seemed to feel a great sense of relief.

Yan Shuzai, Dong Guan, Zhou Heng, Huang Zhang and others from the Hanlin Academy, Yushitai, who accompanied Zhang Xin to re-read the papers, bowed down and said: "Weichen and others all think that the fifty-one people who pass the examination in this section are all southern lifters, and there is no fraud and bias in this......

"Bastard." Zhu Yuanzhang angrily interrupted the words of the civil officials, waved his hand and threw the proposed ranking and ranking into the ground.

The commander of the Jinyi Guard made Jiang Xian see that the emperor was so angry, but he gloated but did not take the opportunity to speak, just because he knew that not only would Zhu Yuanzhang not be satisfied with the result of re-reading the papers, but even those officials from the north would never give up, so why did he have to be this wicked person?

Sure enough, Yang Dao, the imperial historian, stepped out and said: "Weichen Yang Daoqi plays my emperor, how can such a result convince the world's scholars?" It is bound to make the imperial court imperial examination discredited in the world. Speaking of this, he turned around and pointed at Zhang Xin and said, "Weichen thinks that Master Zhang seems to be suspected of colluding with Liu Sanwu. ”

"Fart." Huang Zicheng, the attendant of the East Palace, heard Yang Dao's words like this at this moment, and he couldn't bear it, and couldn't help but scold angrily.

Seeing that 10 of the 12 officials who re-read the papers were still selected, 51 of them were all southern scholars, and there were still suspicions that Liu Sanwu, Zhang Xin, and others were cheating and favoritism, and they also came out one after another. For a while, the two sides held each other, arguing endlessly in the court, and fighting for each other. If it weren't for the etiquette of the monarchs and ministers above the court, it was very possible to swing their fists at each other.

Zhu Quan thought that this re-reading of the papers, as long as a few northern scholars were selected as tributes, it would be a happy ending, but he didn't expect that this confused lawsuit about fraud and favoritism in the imperial examination was so twists and turns, he couldn't help frowning, but he was also silent, and coldly squinted at Yang Dao, a native of Henan, and secretly thought to himself in his heart: Ordinary people think that the sword is a murder weapon, but they don't know that the three-inch incorruptible tongue of these literati is a fast knife that kills people without seeing blood.

Although Fu Youde, the Duke of Yingguo, is also a man of both civil and military affairs, but because he is a military general, it is really inconvenient for him to take the imperial examination, and he has been silent.

Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang looked coldly at these noisy civil officials, and he also felt a little remorse in his heart, and secretly thought to himself: I knew that Zhang Xin, a corrupt Confucian, was so stubborn, I shouldn't have let them re-examine the examination papers, thinking about this, I couldn't help but flick my sleeves and shout angrily: "Enough." Seeing that the civil officials closed their mouths, they secretly thought to themselves: When dealing with extraordinary things, extraordinary means should be used. Thinking about this, his eyes shone with a cold light, and Sen Ran said: "Liu Sanwu, Zhang Xin, Yan Shuzai, Dong Guan, Zhou Heng, Huang Zhang and an official of the Ministry of Rites and Rites have engaged in favoritism and malpractice, causing the imperial court to lose their trust in the world, and their crimes are not light. Speaking of this, after a slight pause, he said coldly: "Thinking of Liu Sanwu's old age, and his contribution to the Ming Dynasty in the past, he was exempted from death and exiled to the northwest." Zhang Xin, the attendant of the imperial study, lived up to the grace of the saint and was executed by Ling Chi, Yan Shuzai, Dong Guan, Zhou Heng, Huang Zhang...... Twenty court staffs, dismissed from office, exiled to the frontier. 1. The officials involved in the case of the Ministry of Rites shall be handed over to the Criminal Department for questioning. ”

The civil officials below the six Shangshu servants were shocked when they heard this, and they all knelt on the ground, and everyone asked Zhu Yuanzhang to withdraw his order and send someone to read the paper again.

Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly in an unquestionable tone: "I have made up my mind, and all the papers and articles of this subject will be sent to the imperial study by the Ministry of Rites, and they will be decided by the imperial review." ”

Zhang Xin heard that he had been sentenced to death by Ling Chi, his lips trembled lightly under his pale face, and he was still silent, and left the palace under the hostage of the brocade guards in front of the palace.

Zhu Quan saw that Zhang Xin was silent and did not shout grievances to plead, and held the backs of the two brocade guards far away, his heart was like a heavy lead, extremely heavy, and he whispered: A word of foolishness, what I hated in the past, and what I respect today.

At this moment, an old man with gray hair and more than half a hundred years old stepped out of the ranks, bowed his head and said in a trembling voice: "Yin Changlong of Weichen Hanlin Academy feels that he is only a shallow learner, and he really has no shame to live in this position again, and I implore Your Majesty to remember that Weichen is old and faint, and he will be allowed to give Zhishi and return to his hometown." At this point, his wrinkled face was already full of tears. He was naturally very thorough in his heart, and knew that as one of the twelve officials responsible for re-marking the papers, the reason why he did not fall into the fate of losing his official position and being assigned to the frontier was only because he took several northern scholars to qualify.

Three days later, a dilapidated caravan slowly walked on the streets of Yingtian City, but in front of the car and behind it were the officials sent by the four criminal departments.

Liu Sanwu, a white-haired former bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, sat on the straw mat in the car, looking at the still bustling flow of people outside the window, and said with a wry smile: I'm afraid that this old bone can't go to the northwest, so it should fall apart. I vaguely saw many people on the street wearing square scarves and dressed as scholars, watching a notice, some of them sighed for a long time, but there were also many people who were happy and inspired, and they stretched out their heads out of the window with a slight movement in their hearts, and said lightly: "Brother Tired Tolerance, can you ask a scholar to come forward and ask?" ”

The leader of the tolerance this time picked such a drudgery to escort the criminal minister to the northwest, was complacent and resentful, heard Liu Sanwu's words were about to attack, and then remembered that although this bad old man was a criminal minister, but when he set off today, the squire of the criminal department actually came to order in person, and specially prepared an ox cart for him to ride, and he was very respectful to this old man between his words, and he could not see the majesty of weekdays at all, and he also knew that this old man was only afraid of a small future, so he did not dare to slack off, and forced himself to press his anger and ordered his subordinates to stop.

A young man who was about twenty-seven or eighteen years old could hear the words, although he was very abrupt, and turned his head to see Liu Sanwu and Long Zhong in a distance, but he still walked over, and Shi Li said: "I don't know the call of the old man, what do you see?" "There was a northern accent between the words.

"You are waiting for the onlookers to watch the list of articles, but what are you talking about today's exam? But what is the way to put it? Liu Sanwu looked at the young man and asked.

When the young man heard this, he replied: "Today, the Holy Lord has issued an edict, and Liu Sanwu has been exiled by the Holy Decree for favoritism. Zhang Xin, the attendant of the imperial study, colluded with Liu Sanwu to favor the southern scholars, and was sentenced to Ling Chi. After the Holy Emperor read the examination papers, the fifty-one people who had passed the examination were all northern scholars. ”

After Liu Sanwu heard that he had said that he had committed favoritism and was sentenced to exile, his face was still unwavering, and when he heard that Zhang Xin, who was in charge of re-reading the file, was actually convicted of colluding with himself and favoring the southern scholars, Ling Chi was executed, and his face that had always been as calm as water couldn't help but be a little distorted.

"The saint announced to the world, and since then, I have been divided into the north and south lists." The man said in a deep voice.

Liu Sanwu couldn't help but sigh when he heard this.

Juzi replied with a look of excitement on his face: "In the past, the scientific examination was held, but people from all provinces of Daming came to Yingtian to take the same examination together. Since then, I have tried to raise people in the north and south townships of the Ming Dynasty, and the ranking of the examination will be carried out according to the place of origin of the provincial government, and then enter the Beijing palace examination after admitting the tributes. ”

Liu Sanwu saw the uncontrollable excitement on this young man's face, and couldn't help laughing: "Listen to the little brother's northern accent, but he has already been admitted to the Gongshi?" ”

When the young man heard this, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed, and said ashamedly: "The little humanity is not as good as people, and the second list is still in the first place." ”

Liu Sanwu bowed his head slightly and said, "There is little brother Lao." ”

The official of the Criminal Department in charge of escorting saw Liu Sanwu chattering with this sour Confucian non-stop, and he felt impatient in his heart, so he drove the ox cart forward slowly when he heard the words.

After the curtain fell, Liu Sanwu couldn't help but let out a long sigh and muttered: From now on, I will be a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, and I will definitely not have half of the country. Although he said this, his wrinkled face was already unconsciously full of old tears, and he muttered to himself: "The old man is about to die, and the old man with a candle in the wind is splashed with sewage, so what is there to fear?" Why did Zhang Shiyu do this foolish act? ”