Donggong Zhangjiao

Chapter 13 Official Scandal
Royal study.

With a round figure, he looked at the fat and kind Emperor Cheng Jing sitting behind the desk, frowning, as if he had encountered something difficult.

The people standing at the bottom were Pei Yao at the head, followed by the two sons of Emperor Chengjing, Pei Zecheng, the first prince born of the Empress Li's family, and Pei Zeyi, the second prince born of Concubine Chen Gui.

Behind them are Li Mu, the left prime minister, the father of the queen, Lu Chuan, the right prime minister, Lu Chuan, the father of the princess, Fang Hongshen, the father of Fang Jun, and several other officials.

"The imperial examination is an important matter of the country. There is such a scandal in the south of the Yangtze River, and it has even made trouble in the capital. If it is not handled well, this year's autumn will probably cause people to panic, which is not conducive to the selection of talents. The emperor must handle it properly!"

Li Mu cupped his hands with a solemn expression.

He is a veteran of the two dynasties and a national battle, so Emperor Chengjing naturally responded.

"Of course I will take care of this matter. Li Xiang can rest assured, but now I don't know where to pick up my thoughts. Please think about it, if there is any good way."

Pei Yao, who was next to him, closed his eyes. He knew about the Jiangnan scandal in the conversation between the two of them a month ago.

It was about the fact that the candidate was replaced by an impostor after he won the ranking.

A poor student named Xu Bohan from Zhongzhou in the south of the Yangtze River entered Beijing five years ago to take the exam, and got 120 and [-] in the top three rankings. Yong failed.

The two were classmates and good friends in Zhongzhou, and they knew each other very well. This time, when they failed the ranking, Wang Yong felt vicious due to jealousy.

Killed Xu Bohan and impersonated him.

Because Xu Bohan's ranking was not high in the list, and he came from a poor family. He had no one to help him in Beijing, so no one paid attention to him.

Wang Yong took Xu Bohan's position in this way and went to other places to become an official.

But what he didn't expect was that when his servant killed Xu Bohan back then, he didn't check carefully. Xu Bohan's breath was weak, almost in shock, but he didn't die. .

Because of severe head injuries, although Xu Bohan was rescued, he was blind and almost half-deaf.

Although he has reported the case to the government many times for help, firstly he has no evidence, and secondly if he really investigates this matter, he will offend the officials, so the lower yamen will naturally ignore him.

After all these years, Xu Bohan had nowhere to turn for help, so he decided to go back to his hometown in Zhongzhou in frustration.

After returning home, I found that my family members had already passed away. After inquiring, I learned from other people that the house was caught in a fire in the middle of the night. Except for him, no one in the family survived.

And from the neighbors, he heard the news that the high school official was Wang Yong, not him. He also said that when the Beijing Zhongxin news was delivered, the county master personally went to congratulate Wang Yunyun.

After hearing this, Xu Bohan never guessed that it was the Wang family who bribed the county government, intercepted his happy news, and killed him and his family members, so as to pretend to be his position.

With family hatred and personal hatred, Xu Bohan was furious with grief, and wrote poems and essays about his experiences, and sang them all the way to the capital.

And on the way to Beijing, he met an official under Pei Yao's command. As soon as the man made up his mind, he secretly reported this to Pei Yao in advance.

Liu Minghe, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, is the father of the eldest prince and concubine. This case has something to do with the fact that the Ministry of Officials keeps hacking with knives. Naturally, Pei Yao doesn't mind embarrassing the eldest prince.

In addition, the scientific examination was replaced by an impostor, and the family feud was added. Justice should be given to the person involved, so Pei Yao managed to make Xu Bohan meet a well-known upright old censor in the court.

No, the old censor didn't disappoint Pei Yao, and he brought up the matter the next day.

It was obvious that Emperor Chengjing was under the nose, so naturally he couldn't ignore it.

Of course, it's not easy to rely on the censor's words alone, so Pei Yao also tried his best to go to Jiangnan.

After news about Xu Bohan spread in Kyoto, it quickly spread back to Jiangnan.

In Jiangnan prefectures and counties including Zhongzhou, a large number of impoverished students united to criticize this matter severely, and wrote many articles and poems to mock the court's omissions and so on.

Students from Jiangnan, this generation is the place with the most prestigious scholars in Daqi. The students gathered together and made a fuss. Even if Emperor Chengjing wanted to make big things into small things, he couldn't.

Now, if this matter cannot give a good answer, I am afraid it will chill the hearts of scholars all over the world.

But if he made a random move and easily offended the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, he would offend the eldest prince.

So when Emperor Zi Chengjing asked the ministers for their opinions, no one dared to speak easily.

Seeing that the atmosphere was tense, Lu Chuan, the right minister, stood up.

"Your Majesty, I think it's easy to deal with Wang Yong and the corresponding dereliction of duty officials in this impostor case, but the difficulty lies in how to appease the students in Jiangnan and make scholars all over the world believe in the justice of the imperial court."

Emperor Chengjing nodded, and immediately asked again.

"What suggestion does Prime Minister Lu have?"

"I think that the emperor can make a tour to the south to appease the students."

The latter answered with hands folded.

Li Mu next to him immediately refuted.

"The emperor's dragon body is precious, how can he travel far away from the palace at will, it is too dangerous. Although Lu Xiang's method is good, it has lost consideration."

Fang Hongshen also stood up right after him.

"That's right, the emperor goes out to inspect the palace, there are many red tapes, and the dispatch of guards is also very costly, and it is not good for the emperor's safety. If you really want to take this method, you can just send someone there."

It's just that they stopped Emperor Chengjing from leaving the palace, but it just fit Pei Yao's mind.

At this moment, Pei Yao stood up in a timely manner.

"Uncle Huang, my servant is willing to go to the south of the Yangtze River to appease the students."

His voice sounded, and everyone's eyes immediately looked over.

After a moment of silence, the eldest prince Pei Zecheng immediately stood up and bowed to Emperor Chengjing.

"Royal father, it's dangerous to go here. The dragon body of the royal father is precious, and the royal brother is the heir, so you can't put yourself in danger. It's better to go as a son."

Logically, Pei Yao is his cousin, but the two grew up together, and they were close as cousins, so Emperor Chengjing also asked Pei Yao to call himself a son-in-law in front of him, and let his two sons call Pei Yao the emperor's brother.

But this time the eldest prince spoke respectfully, it seemed that he was thinking of Pei Yao, but in fact he just didn't want to give Pei Yao a chance to increase his reputation.

This trip to Jiangnan is a great opportunity to win the hearts of Jiangnan students.

Seeing this, Li Mu next to him also agreed in due course.

"What the eldest prince said is very true, and I also think that if you want to send someone to tour the south, the eldest prince is the most suitable."

"Your Majesty, I do not agree."

Lu Chuan immediately retorted in a deep voice.

Emperor Chengjing frowned and looked at him, "What does Prime Minister Lu want to say?"

Obviously he has also reacted now, and he is a little closer to his own son, but since this matter was planned by Pei Yao, how could it be possible for the eldest prince to take advantage of it?
So at this moment Lu Chuan answered calmly.

"Your Majesty, this scandal is related to the Ministry of Officials, and Mr. Liu, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, is the father of the First Prince and Concubine. If the First Prince is involved in this matter, I am afraid it will make people feel that there is a suspicion of covering up. If the Ministry can’t rectify its name properly, I’m afraid it will be bad.”

(End of this chapter)