When everyone saw Wu Shen's performance, they all understood in their hearts that Li Wei was trying to help his own people to take the position, and they immediately looked at Wu Shen with implicit envy.

After Wu Shen sat back, Li Wei continued: "This matter must be solved as soon as possible, Your Majesty will definitely let people re-read the papers, if you are selected by Your Majesty to participate in it, remember to make up the northern scholars!" ”

Wu Shen nodded hurriedly, obeying Li Wei's words, and the others had no opinion, but Wu Bozong and the others frowned slightly.

"If the northern scholar is sure that his writing is not good, will he also make up for it?" Wu Bozong asked.

"Yes, you must!" Li Wei said solemnly.

Seeing that Wu Bozong and the others still didn't seem to agree, Li Wei added: "Think about it, if you are a scholar in the north and you see no one in the north ascending to the top, do you believe it?" ”

Wu Bozong and Han Yike were all frowning and silent.

Dao Tongzi was straight, and asked directly: "Why is this happening?" ”

Li Wei said softly: "Actually, it's very simple, the south of the world is rich and the north is poor, not to mention that the north has been war-torn for a long time, there are few people, and the level of scholars is naturally not good, and the Beijing division is located in the south of the Yangtze River, and the northern scholars are far away from Beijing to catch the exam, maybe some excellent scholars have not had time to arrive." ”

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but nod their heads again and again.

"Does Grandpa have a good plan?" Wu Shen asked with hope in his eyes, and everyone also looked over.

However, this time Li Wei did not say it directly, but took out a note from his sleeve and handed it to Wu Shen, saying, "The good strategies are all here." ”

Wu Shen was overjoyed, and immediately understood that this was what Li Wei had prepared to help him ascend, so he hurriedly stepped forward and took it with respectful hands: "Xie Guogong!" ”

Li Wei bowed his head slightly.

Although everyone also wanted to know the good strategies, but seeing Li Wei's arrangement, it was not good to ask more, anyway, they would know about these good strategies sooner or later after Wu Shen presented them, so they were not in a hurry.

After arranging these things, Li Wei didn't speak anymore, and reached out to serve the tea bowl, the main purpose of his calling everyone here today was these things.

Seeing this, everyone was about to retire, but Wu Bozong suddenly spoke:

"I heard that the policy of spreading the money into the mu that the champion Yuan Xun admonished His Majesty during the palace examination was from the hands of the Guogong, I don't know if it is true?"

Hearing Wu Bozong mention this, the faces of everyone present changed slightly, and Li Wei's movements were also stagnant.

Although everyone took refuge in Li Wei, but in this matter, their interests were opposed to Li Wei, in order to avoid embarrassment, everyone avoided talking about it, and the same was true for Li Wei.

As long as it doesn't affect working together, some contradictions can be put aside first, anyway, he doesn't plan to really push anything into the mu.

However, now that Wu Bozong mentioned this matter, he couldn't avoid it.

Everyone looked at Li Wei, and they were a little apprehensive.

They very much hoped that Li Wei would reply that he had no such intention, after all, they were all Li Wei's subordinates, and if Li Wei really wanted to push this kind of policy that harmed their interests, they would also be entangled in whether to oppose or agree.

Li Wei pondered for a moment, and then said directly: "This idea is indeed what I have mentioned, but I have no intention of implementing this policy at this stage. ”

When everyone heard this, their hearts suddenly sank, although Li Wei gave a buffer and said that he would not implement it immediately, but as long as he had this idea, there would be irresolvable contradictions between the two parties.

However, Wu Bozong, Han Yike and others were exceptions, and when they heard this, they not only did not object, but also praised it.

"Great, the Guogong is benefiting the country and the people, if it is used in the future when it is implemented to the place of the lower officials, the Guogong will command!"

Wu Bozong is arching his hand.

Han Yike and Daotong also nodded in support.

In fact, anyone with a discerning eye knows that this matter is a good thing for the benefit of the country and the people, including those civil servants and scholars who keep scolding Li Wei for being treacherous, and they are not stupid.

It's just that the ass decides the head, and there are very few people who can insist on honesty and honesty regardless of their own interests.

Seeing their attitude, Li Wei couldn't help but smile knowingly.

In fact, people like Wu Bozong are the allies he wants the most, but it's a pity that these people are deeply imprisoned by the Confucian idea of loyalty to the monarch, and it is impossible to follow him to do something against the imperial power.

It's a pity that the world's gains and losses don't always follow people's wishes.

"There's no urgency about this, let's talk about it later, of course, it mainly depends on Your Majesty's intentions."

Li Wei was simply perfunctory.

Wu Bozong and others also agreed.

They are also all knowledgeable people, and naturally they understand how much resistance there will be in this matter, just look at the deserted scene around Li Wei now.

After expressing their attitude, Wu Bozong and the three of them did not say anything more, and retired with everyone.

Everyone left in twos and threes, and the hall suddenly fell silent, leaving only Li Wei, Wang Jie, Shen Jue and a few of his students.

"Go ahead and get busy, leave me alone."

Li Wei said to Wang Jie.

"Yes, then the lower official also retired."

Wang Jie and the others also got up and left the lobby.

After a few people left, Zheng Zhihua hesitated for a moment, and asked Li Wei with some guilt: "Teacher, am I causing trouble for you?" ”

Li Wei looked at him with interest: "Why do you say that?" ”

Zheng Zhihua's expression was dejected, and he said, "If it weren't for the fact that I had the audacity to mention to His Majesty in the palace that the gentry would pay for food together, these gentry would not have treated the teacher like this." ”

Although he is young, he has also seen the changes in the court after these few days.

Because of his reckless discussions, Li Wei became the target of public criticism, and the name of traitor reappeared, all of which made him very guilty.

"Hehe," Li Wei smiled and comforted: "It's okay, anyway, you're not wrong." ”

When Zheng Zhihua heard this, he still lowered his head, feeling a little sad.

Although Lu Xiu and Ye Qingyun didn't feel as guilty as him, they were also frustrated because they couldn't help the teacher at all.

Li Wei looked at them, thought for a while and said, "These people can just go, they don't conspire with each other, and it's okay to go." It's you who I really trust. You don't have to be discouraged in this matter, you can learn these court things slowly in the future, and you will naturally understand it after more experience, so you don't need to worry. ”

When the three of them heard his words, they perked up, and their eyes lit up with determination.

"Rest assured, the students will work hard and will not disappoint the teachers!"

"Hmm!"

Lu Xiu said as he spoke, and Zheng Zhihua and Ye Qingyun also nodded heavily.

Li Wei smiled with satisfaction: "That's good, it's okay, you can go back too, and go to perform your duties as soon as possible when the appointment of the imperial court comes down." ”

"Yes."

Lu Xiu and the three of them respectfully said yes, and then turned to leave.

After they left, Li Wei was the only one left in the hall, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

This time Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately ordered Zheng Zhihua, who was the most hated in his opinion, to attack him, and the current situation is indeed as Zhu Yuanzhang wants, he can be said to be shouted by everyone now, if it weren't for the power of the Guogong, I'm afraid that the rest of Wang Jie and others would also betray him.

But it's okay now, just like what he said to Zheng Zhihua just now, these people are different from him, even if they are temporarily attached to him, they will betray sooner or later in the future.

But after this case, it is enough to shut up some guys who scolded him for being a traitor!

……

Li Wei guessed very correctly, and the day after he finished instructing everyone, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately organized a group of officials to re-read the papers.

These officials include Liu Sanwu, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, Zuo Zanshan Zhou Zijian of the Zhan Mansion, Zhao Rui, the chief historian of the palace, Wang Xiaoyou, etc., in addition to them, there are also Wu Bozong and Wu Shen, who have been degraded and reviewed by the Hanlin.

These officials come from different departments, and their positions are not too high, such as Liu Sanwu, who has just entered the court as an official after being introduced, so this combination avoids so much fraud to the greatest extent.

Zhu Yuanzhang attaches great importance to this matter, in addition to dispatching these officials, he also personally stares at the scene, and lets these officials read the file in front of him.

The Fengtian Hall was full of tables, and many officials who had been transferred were nervously reading the files.

These answers are all sealed, and they can't see the names, but there are still subtle differences in the style of the north and the south, and if you really have to distinguish them carefully, it is not impossible to distinguish them.

Wu Bozong carefully read more than a dozen answer sheets, among these answer sheets, there are south and north, but the answer sheets of those northern scholars are really not good in literature and science, thinking of Li Wei's instructions, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, and finally picked a barely qualified one in the answer sheet of the northern scholars and submitted it.

As for Wu Shen, he got the greatest benefit in this matter, and his words to Li Wei were simply flattering, Li Wei said that if they made up for the northern scholars, of course he would not hesitate, as for the quality of these answers, it doesn't matter!

With the passage of time, after two days and one night of intense review, the officials finally reviewed these answers and presented the answer sheets that they felt were excellent to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang read these answer sheets, but his face was even more ugly.

"Why are there so few answers from the northern scholars?" Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at everyone sharply and asked in a deep voice.

Everyone looked at each other, and Zhou Zijian stepped forward and arched his hand: "Your Majesty, I don't know, the names on these answer sheets have been sealed, and we can't see them." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, we don't know."

Liu Sanwu, Wang Xiaoyou and others also chimed in.

The corners of Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth twitched, and his face was extremely ugly.

What Zhou Zijian said is not unreasonable, and they don't know whose answer is it, and they all review it impartially.

"Go, remove the seal, and pick some outstanding ones from the answers of the northern scholars to present to us."

Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly.

Zhou Zijian and the others didn't dare to say much, and they all claimed yes, and then they unsealed the answer sheets they had just reviewed today, but they selected them for a while, and the answer sheets they picked out and presented to Zhu Yuanzhang were all articles that did not make sense of literature and science, and they were unqualified at first glance.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was even more annoyed in his heart: "This is what you picked out?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, this is indeed one of the better ones."

Zhou Zijian replied with some apprehension.

The answer sheet of the northern scholars was really not good, and Zhu Yuanzhang was in a hurry, and they didn't have time to carefully select, so they could only find some people who barely passed the test from memory, but Zhu Yuanzhang was obviously not satisfied with this.

Wu Shen's eyes flashed on the side, these ministers in front of him were all criticizing Li Wei, and they were the clear enemies of the Li Party, at this time, His Majesty was dissatisfied with these people, if he spoke out and attacked, it was estimated that he would be able to deal a heavy blow to the enemy immediately.

If it was in the past, he might have hesitated, but this time Li Wei wants to help him to take the position, he has become a more loyal lackey of the Li Party than Wang Jie, and naturally he will not let go of this good opportunity.

"Your Majesty, although the names on these answer sheets have been sealed, there are still slight differences in the style of the northern and southern scholars, and you won't be able to distinguish them if you look closely.

Wu Shen stepped forward and said loudly.

Zhou Zijian and the others suddenly changed color when they heard this, and hurriedly said: "You are talking nonsense, Your Majesty, the minister has absolutely no such intention, the answer sheet of the northern scholar is indeed not good, if Your Majesty does not believe it, you can personally read it!" ”

"Hmph, do you mean to let Your Majesty read all these hundreds of test papers?"

Wu Shen said sarcastically.

"You!"

Zhou Zijian's eyes widened angrily, Zhao Rui, Wang Xiaoyou and others also glared at Wu Shen angrily, but Wu Shen was not afraid and looked at him.

"Your Majesty, the ministers will never do this, Wu Shen is slandering the ministers!" Zhao Rui followed and bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Humph!"

Wu Shen snorted coldly, after Li Wei mentioned it, he now knows the essence of this matter very well, so he dares to slander Zhou Zijian and others so blatantly, and Zhou Zijian and others have not realized the seriousness of the problem, and what truth do they want to emphasize, which makes him feel an inexplicable sense of superiority, and at the same time secretly admires Li Wei in his heart.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at everyone with a gloomy face, this time he personally supervised, he believed that Zhou Zijian and others did not dare to show favoritism in front of him, but if it was really as they said, the northern scholars would definitely not accept it.

After being silent for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang asked everyone: "Then what do you think should be done with this matter?" ”

Zhou Zijian replied: "Naturally, it is handled impartially, and the northern scholars are not well educated, so it is natural that they should be defeated." ”

Liu Sanwu, Zhao Rui and others also nodded in agreement.

Hearing their words, Wu Bozong frowned slightly, wanting to remind them, but this kind of thing could not be explained.

Wu Shen sneered secretly, they obviously didn't understand His Majesty's intentions.

Sure enough, when Zhu Yuanzhang heard their words, he was even more blushing and silent.

Wu Shen saw that the time had come, and hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, in the opinion of the ministers, it is better to divide the imperial examination into two lists, the north and the south, even if it is the south list this time, the imperial court can open another northern list, and then record the same number of northern scholars, so fair and just, it can show that the imperial court regards the north and the south as one." ”

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his heart moved slightly, this is indeed a solution.

Wu Bozong also looked at Wu Shen sideways, and secretly said in his heart, could this be the good advice that Li Wei gave him?

However, Zhou Zijian and others immediately objected: "How can this be, the world is all Ming, why should the imperial examination be divided into north and south?" Naturally, the imperial court should select the best scholars and record them, how can you let the outstanding scholars in the south not have to record those northern scholars? ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, this move is inappropriate, if you take a scholar like this, I am afraid it will not be beneficial to the court." Liu Sanwu also followed. (End of chapter)