Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 437: The palace examination is equally divided into north and south
As soon as this cry comes out,
The commotion around me became louder.

The rest of the academy students on the second floor and the scholars who came to Beijing for the exams were all talking loudly, scolding the examiners for favoring the southern candidates, and denounced the injustice of the court. Some of the words were ugly, and they said everything.

Zhang Jinyu listened happily. While eating, she watched those people gather together in anger and curse, and she couldn't help but admire. Literati have always used no curse words when cursing people. As expected, it was so enjoyable to hear.

After hearing these words, Emperor Wu's face turned pale. He suppressed his anger and threw down the naan in his hand.

asked in a deep voice,

"Has the cabinet made a final decision on what happened last year?"

Dai Quan saw this and stood up quickly to comfort him.

"Mr. Huang, it's just a casual talk by a few young students. How could this really happen? Last year, the weather affected the performance of the students in the north. The elders also re-printed the papers for the scholar examinations. I took it and looked it up carefully and compared it. It is true that the articles written by northern scholars are at a slight disadvantage. This year in Enke, the weather is good and the weather will be good, so it will definitely be good."

"Then you can guarantee that these candidates from the north will perform well this year?"

Zhou Shihong spoke angrily. Dai Quan was stunned and lost his voice. How could he guarantee that those people were still taking the exam? Since they failed once, it was obvious that their articles were not as good as others, so he had to shake his head and replied,
"I can't guarantee it, old slave,"

"Sit down, there's so much nonsense."

Emperor Wu Zhou Shihong was restless, with this matter stuck in his throat. He thought a lot in his mind, whether it was really the examiner's problem, or whether someone else was behind it. He turned to look at Marquis Luo Yun who was still eating and drinking, and was furious. At one point, he ate most of a plate of meat himself.

"Master Zhang, what do you have to say?"

Although Zhang Jinyu was eating and drinking there, he listened carefully for a while and understood that the candidates from the north could not pass the exams from the south, and they were jealous of those people, so they could only make a fuss. But then again, those scholars You are right. If all the officials were from the south, it would be difficult for the court. The rural party and the rural party are no joke.

"Mr. Huang, is this right or not? The truth is that I just heard about it. It's the imperial examination. People from the north can't pass the exam, but people from the south can't be admitted. What's the point of the cabinet? I don't know, but Master, what the students said is right, how can the civil servants of the imperial court be dominated by one family, so the situation last year will never work, and you can make slight changes. If it doesn't work, just look at the household registration and avoid it again. "

Looking at the understatement of Marquis Luo Yun, he thought it was cheating. Dai Quan couldn't help but replied,

"Mr. Zhang, you are thinking simply. The provincial examinations are taken from below, and are presided over by local officials as examiners. Only the general examinations and palace examinations can be held in the capital. The examination papers and names are anonymous, so the examiners can only When you look at the paper, you can't see your household registration name. You can only see it when you are selected as a top three Jinshi during the imperial examination. These are all rules left by our ancestors and must not be changed."

Hearing that it was so complicated, Zhang Jinyu was also confused. It was really troublesome. He couldn't cheat and had to find another way out.

"But Butler Dai, when they talk about the south suppressing the north, are they talking about the general examination or the palace examination?"

"It's the palace examination. Basically, everyone who can pass the joint examination is pretty much the same. There is a quota limit, so each province can share the profits. Only the palace examination only looks at articles, and there is no limit on quotas. Last year, most of the people who were in the top three were among the top three, second place, and number one. They are all from the south, so if something went wrong, the results of the scientific examination would be cancelled, and that's why there's this dispute."

Dai Quan explained in detail the controversial points, and Emperor Wu also nodded. The imperial examination turned out to be the source of the conflict. As for those articles, I was really amazed after reading the articles by the southern scholars, and I couldn't bear to cross them out.

Emperor Wu asked anxiously,
"Master Zhang has some plans."

"I haven't thought about it yet, but since it is a palace examination, it must be about policy theory. I boldly asked, who asked the question about policy theory and how did it come up?"

Dai Quan secretly glanced at the emperor's expression, and when he saw Emperor Wu nodded in agreement, he replied,
"Mr. Zhang, these strategic examination questions were naturally thought up by the cabinet elders, and then promulgated in the Palace of Qianqing. Sometimes they were questions set by the emperor. They were not all given in one order, and there was no fixed number. Naturally, most of the questions were about matters within the imperial court. "

hear this,
Zhang Jinyu slapped the table and said,

"This matter arises from this question. This has always been the case in examination questions. The elders have also come up with this idea all the time. Those in the south are relatively wealthy and can settle down to study.

However, due to various reasons, the students in the north are exhausted and cannot compare with the articles written by the people in the south. Therefore, I suggested that all the questions be changed, and they were changed just before the exam, and Mr. Huang personally wrote the questions and content. Naturally, it was the border troops outside the customs, the grasslands, the north, etc., who caught them off guard, or the cabinet had prepared the questions and changed them before the exam, so others would not know. "

Dai Quan's eyes widened and he looked over in disbelief. He could come up with such a crooked idea, but it made sense.

Zhou Shihong squinted his eyes and thought carefully. What he said made sense, but he still had some questions.
"If this is the case, what if the northern scholars are not as good as the southern scholars?"

Zhang Jinyu took a sip of tea and felt helpless. If this didn't work, then she was really not as good as others, so she could only cheat.

"Master, if this doesn't work, to be honest, those people are really not good, but we can also set a rule, half of the Jinshi will be taken from the north and half from the south, and at most more people from the south can be taken, and the quota of scholars from the north can not be occupied. , it’s considered cheating.”

This method is also the idea of ​​​​the North and South List that Zhang Jinyu learned from which dynasty in his previous life, but he is a bit scoundrel and unworthy of those students.

Emperor Wu's eyes narrowed and he thought for a moment. It might be a good idea. He was afraid that the people in the cabinet would object, as well as the scholars, but he thought that Enke could give it a try this year.

The conversation here is over,

Suddenly I heard someone at the next table talking again.
"Brother, don't be sad. After dinner, let's go to the divine fortune teller at the street entrance and it will be done. It's very good. It is said that the old god can make sixty hexagrams a day and only predict those who are destined to meet him. He is very good at it."

Everyone sitting around was stunned.
"If it's true or false, you can tell if you pass or fail the imperial examination."

"Of course, I tell you"

Another words came, which aroused everyone's interest. Zhou Shihong was also interested and asked,

"Master Zhang, do you believe it or not?"

Zhang Jinyu had just eaten a few mouthfuls of food, and when she was asked about this again, she seemed to be confused about whether she believed it or not.

"Mr. Huang, there is no magic. If he can calculate this, there is no need to take the test. Just ask him if he is successful or not. Using the guise of fortune telling, it is nothing more than defrauding some money."

"Sir, Mr. Zhang is right. There are so many fortune tellers in the capital who claim to be gods. They are just using their own signs to deceive."

Dai Quan echoed at his side.

However, Emperor Wu was still suspicious. It seemed that those people did not seem to be deceived. Since they were right, could there be another mystery?
"What if it's really one of one?"

"Well, either he is really good, or there is something else going on and the test questions were leaked."

Zhang Jinyu also murmured in reply, but suddenly felt something was wrong and hurriedly changed his words.

"It could be a coincidence, sir. I just said it unintentionally."

But these words made Emperor Wu remember it in his heart. What he was thinking about just now was hit by Luo Yunhou's words. This is the only situation. It would be a big case. How could he still think about eating?
"Whether it is yes or not, we will find out if we go and take a look. If we can't figure it out, we won't be able to eat this meal. What do you think, Mr. Zhang?"

"Of course I can't eat it. Mr. Huang, let's go take a look."

Zhang Jinyu was not full yet. She looked at the food on the table, put down the food in her hands with a wry smile, wiped her hands, and shouted,

"Waiter, check out,"

"Here comes the guest officer."

Beijing South area,

Master Zeng Ze was walking on the street with his guards, with a look of confusion on his face. Why didn't Master Zeng Ze open the official warehouse to put food in? Is it really necessary to get out of control? There are tens of millions of people outside the city. Life.

Back at the magistrate's office, many government servants were waiting at the office. Nowadays, the people in the city didn't have much food left in their homes. Even the government's errands could only rely on the food from the government's warehouse, let alone the hungry people outside the city.

After returning to the court and sitting down, Master brought tea and asked,

"Your Excellency, you are so frustrated, but the Governor-General does not agree with your views?"

Zeng Ze came back to his senses and sighed,

"Yes, seeing that the hungry people are coming outside the city, there will also be a shortage of food in the city. If those hungry people arrive and someone instigates them, they will definitely rise up. I'm afraid I'll be waiting for them then."

"I'm afraid that at that time, your Majesty will not be able to keep his hat, and may even be guilty of beheading. But sir, if the granary is really opened now, can I ensure that the hungry people outside the city go back in peace and order? I'm afraid not,"

The master moved the tea bowl forward. Zeng Ze saw that the master Lu Yanze had something to say vaguely. He picked up the tea bowl and took a sip of tea. After calming down, he asked,

"There is no guarantee, but after all, there is so much food in the official warehouse, it will definitely be able to save many people. It may be able to appease them and let them return home, or the crisis may be resolved."

"Mr. Zeng, this is wrong. Nothing can be done to touch the official warehouses of the county. A few days ago, the adults of each county were searching for food everywhere. Do you know why?
Isn't it just an urgent order from the subordinates in the court? The official warehouses in various places must be filled up truthfully. If the official warehouses are not up to standard, they will be demoted and dismissed, or the homes will be confiscated and exiled. This must be the will of the Holy Emperor. If you open the official warehouses, you will know what to do. How many officials were killed, and those officials tried their best to stop it. "

Master Lu explained the ins and outs to Magistrate Zeng with precise words.
"Having said that, it would be a big deal if those hungry people turned against us. There are quite a few of them."

Mr. Zeng sneered. He was protecting himself, but if he really wanted to rebel, would these people be enough to kill?

"Then we will exterminate the rebels. Maybe we can get some credit and avoid our sins. Kill as many as you come. Sir, look forward."

Master Lu stood in the hall, looking mysterious and unpredictable, but Zeng Ze was furious.

"Those are not just a few victims, but the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. In your opinion, they are worse than animals. To put it simply, if it is really reversed, do you think you can hold it with just the people of the government army? Besides, the people in the city are also We don’t have much food left, so we have to cooperate inside and outside, and we don’t know how we will die by then.”

"Hey, sir, look at you, the slightest movement is like the sky is falling. If you do this, you will be killed. You just need to follow the other people and guard one-third of an acre of land. In the city, Since someone came forward, in such a big country, if something doesn't happen to him one day, right? Let alone the country, it's just home. There must be no trouble one day. As an official, don't be afraid of getting into trouble. If something happens, you'll be wiped out together with others. It’s over. If you are afraid of these things as an official, why should you be an official?

The matter has already happened, so don't expect the court not to know about it. What you want now is to have a unified voice and protect yourself. "

Lu Yan made the point clearly, and Zeng Ze took a closer look at the Yamen's master. He was always dressed in gray clothes, wearing a square hat, and had a beard. He was over fifty years old, and he was so well hidden. He was so clever.

"Master Lu is very clear. I want to ask you, who are you, or who sent you?"

(End of this chapter)