The days when I ransacked the house in Jinyiwei

Chapter 217 The Chang Mansion is Very Busy Tonight

After the early court, Chang Feng followed Li Dongyang to the cabinet to discuss the investigation of the imperial examination fraud case.

Li Dongyang took a sip of tea: "Chang Tongzhi, I know that you Jinyiwei like to start a big case. But this time, I hope you don't."

"The matter of the examination is extremely sensitive. If there is a big trouble, it may hurt the hearts of scholars all over the world. It will involve the foundation of Jiangshan Sheji."

At the beginning of the Hongzhi Dynasty, when Li Dongyang was still a bachelor of attendants, he saw Chang Feng calling out "Master Chang".

Now that he is the second assistant, the title has been changed to "Chang Tongzhi".

Naturally, this is the official way of addressing them.There is nothing wrong with it.

But this feeling is like some scumbags in later generations who call others Xiaotiantian before marriage and Mrs. Niu after marriage.

What Li Dongyang meant was obviously to make the fraud case in the examination room less serious and trivial.

Chang Feng didn't express his opinion lightly, but said: "I will try my best to investigate with Jifu, just to find out the truth."

Li Dongyang nodded slightly: "Okay. Let's go to the Imperial Academy first, gather a group of academic officials, and go to the Ministry of Rites to review the test papers."

Li Dongyang obviously regards himself as the leader of this investigation.

Chang Feng said: "Follow Cifu's orders."

Let's say that after the early dynasty, in a hidden house in the clothes bureau in the palace.

Eight eunuchs, young supervisors, and supervisors sat around one place.

The windows of the house are sealed, and there is no sunlight, which looks very mysterious.

The eight people are Liu Jin, Zhang Yong, Gu Dayong, Ma Yongcheng, Qiu Ju, Luo Xiang, Wei Bin, and Gao Feng.

These eight people will have a notorious but prestigious name "Eight Tigers" in the future.

But now, these eight people are not yet "tigers".The power is not as great as it will be in the future.

The purpose of this small group of eunuchs was to form a group against the civil official group.

Everyone in the officialdom in the capital knew that the emperor relied on civil servants.The power of civil servants is growing day by day.

Last fall, the civil official group even manipulated the censor to abolish the guarding eunuch system.This aroused the vigilance of the eunuchs in the palace.

If the power of civil servants is allowed to expand, I am afraid that the eunuchs will become powerless and powerless in the future.

So these eight people secretly formed a clique, and every time something important happened, they would discuss it secretly in the clothes bureau.

However, this small group of eunuchs is not monolithic.

For example, Zhang Yong looked down on Liu Jin and Gu Dayong, thinking that they could only engage in conspiracies; Gu Dayong and Qiu Ju were at odds;
For the common benefit of the eunuch, they let go of their respective contradictions and reluctantly came together.

Liu Jin cleared his throat: "Everyone knows that civil servants are very powerful nowadays. Given time, I'm afraid the cabinet will completely take away the power of supervisor."

"The local governor will take away the right to guard and supervise the eunuchs."

"In the past two years, the civil servants have repeatedly attacked us. Because the emperor treated the civil servants too leniently. We can only be beaten, not fight back."

"Today, the good opportunity to fight back has finally arrived!"

Zhang Yong took a sip of tea: "Are you talking about cheating in the exam?"

Liu Jin nodded: "That's right! Although Cheng Minzheng is only a servant, because of his background, he is one of the core members of the civil service."

"It can be said that the top civil servants of Ming Dynasty can more or less have a relationship with him."

"And this time, it's not our people who impeached Cheng Minzheng. It's Qing Huachang, a civil servant who is eager to get promoted."

"It's their dog eating dog! We can't blame us."

Gu Dayong answered: "We can take advantage of their dog-eat-dog opportunity, one case leads to ten cases, and one case flies ten miles. Uproot the power of civil servants."

Wei Bin smiled and said, "Hey, Eunuch Gu is brilliant!"

Gao Feng said: "But Li Dongyang is in charge of this case. How can we intervene?"

Luo Xiang said: "Why is Eunuch Gao so confused? Master Chang of Jinyiwei participated in the investigation. He belongs to our side. Among the eight of us, many of us have received his favor."

What Gao Feng said was true.

Chang Feng indeed has a lot to do with many of the Eight Tigers.

Liu Jin needless to say.If it weren't for Chang Feng, he might still be a humble fireman now.

Li Guang framed Xingwang's mutiny, and Zhang Yong was involved in it.It was Chang Feng who acted resolutely and cleared Zhang Yong of his grievances.The two also followed Wang Yue to carry the coffin to the west.

Wei Bin was originally a subordinate of Guo Qilu, the young supervisor of the Shandong River Channel Supervision.Chang Feng followed Liu Daxia to Shandong to rule the river, punish Guo Qilu, and ordered Wei Bin to fight back.

Afterwards, Chang Feng fulfilled his promise and brought Wei Bin back to the capital, where he was taken care of by Liu Jin.

If it wasn't for Chang Feng, Wei Bin would still be acting as a wife for Guo Qilu on the bed.How could he be able to rise to the top and be promoted to Duzhijianjiancheng?
Qiu Ju has never been favored by Chang Feng.But have a good relationship with Changfeng.

He is in charge of Huangzhuang on the outskirts of the city.Emperor Hongzhi once gave Changfeng one thousand mu of land in Huangzhuang.

Qiu Jushun helped Chang Feng take care of this one thousand mu of land.

Every year, Chang Feng takes his family to his field for a spring outing, and goes to Qiu Ju to drink tea and chat.

In other words, four of the eight tigers have a close relationship with Chang Feng.

Liu Jin said: "Eunuch Luo is right. Master Chang is on our side. And he is one of the bosses of the factory guard."

"Factory guards and civil servants are the natural enemies of each other!"

"Tonight, I will go to Master Chang and ask him to help me turn the imperial examination case into a big case involving ten cases."

Zhang Yongdao: "I'll go too. Master Chang and I have just returned from the Western Expedition, so we lived and died together. He has to give me some kindness."

Liu Jin smiled and said, "Besides Master Chang, there is another person who is willing to help us deal with civil servants."

Zhang Yong asked: "Who?"

Liu Jin clapped her hands lightly.

A person walked into this secret room.

This person is Chang Feng's substitute in Jinyiwei, Qian Ning!

Zhang Yong was surprised: "What about Qian Qian?"

Qian Ning smiled and said, "It's right here."

Liu Jin said: "Everyone, the matter of Qian Qian is Master Chang's right-hand man. This time, I would also like to help us and severely attack the power of civil servants."

Qian Ning found a chair and sat down: "I can't bear to see that group of civil servants riding on the head of our factory guard and shitting!"

"The emperor is benevolent, and the civil servants will stick their noses in the face. Don't take the emperor's domestic slaves seriously."

"As soon as I got back, I led people to arrest Chen Minzheng, his eight examiners, and the three hundred tributes from the undergraduate course, and put them in prison."

Zhang Yong asked: "Is this what Eunuch Qian means?"

Qian Ning smiled slyly: "I am me, and my godfather is my godfather. It is my own business to help you, and has nothing to do with my godfather."

Xiao Jing and Qian Neng, the two giants among the eunuchs, have always been very slippery.Never take part in the battle with the civil official group on the bright side.

Gu Da said with a sinister smile: "If you have money to help, this time we will be even more powerful!"

In the lobby of the Ministry of Ceremony.

Chang Feng re-read the exam papers with Li Dongyang and the officials of the Imperial Academy.

Chang Feng was surprised to discover something.He turned to his exam paper.This time, according to the five symbols of circle, triangle, slash, vertical bar, and cross, he actually ranked among the [-]rd in the examination.

Only three places away, they will be able to enter the apricot list.

But that's irrelevant to this case.

Li Dongyang read more than a dozen examination papers, and grasped the crux of the matter: "If there is a problem in this test, then the problem is the fourth question of Jingyi."

"Cheng Shilang's question is tricky and weird. For ordinary candidates, in such a short test time, I'm afraid they can only make up an essay."

"Only the current generation can grasp the key points of this question."

Chang Feng echoed: "What Cifu said is very true. I am a person who has experienced the test. I don't know how to solve the problem and answer it. I can only write a random article, so as not to explain it."

"If you give me three or four days, I can browse through the ancient books. Maybe I can find a way to solve and inherit the problem."

Wang Huadao, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, said: "I roughly browsed the top 1 test papers. For the fourth question of Jingyi, only No.2 Tang Yin and No.[-] Xu Jing's articles are relevant. The rest of the candidates are all rote."

"Among them, Tang Yin's article can be described as splendid. Xu Jing's article is slightly inferior, but it's just relevant."

"Even so, Xu Jing is still able to rank second with this question."

Everyone checked the papers in the Ministry of Rites for a whole day.It didn't end until the evening.

Li Dongyang wanted to jump to conclusions and help Cheng Minzheng escape, lest someone in Beijing would take the opportunity to stir up a political tide.

Li Dongyang said: "In my opinion, the articles of the 300 people who participated in Bagong all meet the standards of tribute scholars."

"The fourth question of Jingyi is extremely tricky. Tang Yin and Xu Jing did it, and they deserve to be ranked first and second."

"Don't forget, Tang Yin was originally the head of the four great talents in the south of the Yangtze River. It was Ying Tianxiang who tried Jie Yuan again. He is a man of great talent, why is it so strange to become Hui Yuan?"

"Xu Jing is on good terms with Tang Yin. A friend of a great talent, naturally the talent and learning are not far behind."

"It's all about the jealousy of the losers. They are named as losers, and they have nowhere to vent their anger. This is why they took the opportunity to make trouble."

"Whose protégé is that guy Hua Chang? Are you crazy about wanting to be promoted? You messed around with the low-ranking candidate, and you actually made a fuss about nothing in the morning."

Li Dongyang said a lot of words, in the final analysis, there are only five words "it's all a misunderstanding".

Chang Feng frowned: "Cisuke, you can't draw conclusions so easily?"

"To investigate the case, we must consider all possibilities. Is there a possibility that Cheng Minzheng sold the fourth question of Jingyi to Tang Yin and Xu Jing?"

"If that's the case, the two looked up ancient books before the exam. They came up with the method of inheriting and breaking the questions. It is natural to be ranked first and second."

Li Dongyang just wanted to argue.Cabinet member Xie Qian hurried in and whispered something beside him.

Li Dongyang frowned: "Chang Tongzhi, Qian Ning of your Jinyiwei arrested Cheng Minzheng, eight examiners, and [-] undergraduate tributes. Was it your order?"

Chang Feng was stunned for a moment, and then showed sullen expression: "This Qian Ning, how can you make up your own mind. Even if you want to arrest, you can arrest Cheng Minzheng, Tang Yin, and Xu Jing."

"Arrest the other eight examiners and 290 eight tributes."

"Cifu, it's getting late, let's go here first today. I'll go back to Jinyiwei and release everyone who shouldn't be arrested."

Li Dongyang said: "Okay."

Chang Feng rushed back to Jinyiwei.Qian Ning, Shi Wenyi, and Fatty Xu came up to meet them.

Chang Feng questioned Qian Ning: "Why are you arresting so many people?"

Qian Ning said: "Master Chang, they are all suspected of fraud in the examination room. Our Jin Yiwei always handles cases, and we would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let one go."

"They are all soft-boned literati. Give them a big punishment, and the truth will naturally come to light."

Qian Ning is such a person, he is very happy to handle the case, and he can handle the case on a big scale, not a small one.He wished to set off a shocking case, kill hundreds of him, and make himself more famous.

Chang Feng scolded: "Stupid! You just detain Cheng Minzheng, Tang Yin, and Xu Jing."

"Put them in the Imperial Prison first. They will not be sentenced without my order. The rest of the examiners and tributes will be released."

Channing had no choice but to cup his hands: "Yes."

Twilight has come.Chang Feng said: "Let's do this for today. The brothers are separated. I will think about it at home at night, how to investigate this fraud case in the examination room."

Fatty Xu said: "My father has been obsessed with worshiping Buddha recently. Today, the whole family will fast and worship Buddha. I will go to your house to play the autumn wind."

Chang Feng nodded: "Success."

On the way home on horseback, Fatty Xu smiled and said, "This guy, Qian Ning, is looking forward to causing a shocking case again."

Chang Feng said: "If one day he becomes the big treasurer of Jinyiwei, then there will be a lot of panic in Beijing."

Chang Feng had dinner at home just now, and the servant reported: "Eunuch Liu Jin, Eunuch Liu, and Eunuch Zhang Yong from the palace are asking to see you."

Chang Feng said: "Oh? Let them talk in the living room."

Fatty Xu said: "The two of them approached the door just after the big imperial examination case came out. It must not be a coincidence."

Chang Feng said: "Well, you come to the living room with me."

The two came to the living room.Chang Feng ordered someone to serve tea to Liu Jin and Zhang Yong.

Liu Jin began to insinuate: "Master Chang, I didn't say it. The civil servants in Beijing have been lawless these years."

"The emperor is lenient, and he has tolerated them again and again. But the forbearance will intensify for a while, and take a step back to make progress!"

"Less than three months have passed this year. The cabinet has sealed and returned the emperor's twelve imperial edicts."

"The original intention of Emperor Taizong to set up the cabinet was to allow cabinet members to provide advice and suggestions for the emperor's handling of government affairs."

"Now the cabinet is riding on the emperor's head. The Emperor Taizong knows that the coffin of Changling may not be able to hold it down!"

Zhang Yong echoed: "It's not just that. The civil servants and the local gentry have formed a monolithic alliance of interests."

"Land annexation is becoming more and more rampant, and the common people cannot survive. The root cause lies in those greedy civil servants."

"Anyone who proposes a government policy that is not in their interests, they will hold up the banner of 'ancestral system cannot be violated' to resist"

Chang Feng took a sip of tea: "Let me tell you, the three of us are old inner ministers. Don't be clouded by mist in your own family. If you have anything to say, just say it!"

Liu Jin smiled and said, "Little uncle, speak quickly. What our palace intends is to take advantage of this imperial examination fraud case to severely punish a group of civil servants."

"Let the civil officials know that this world belongs to the emperor, not their civil servants."

Chang Feng asked: "Who are you referring to in the palace? The emperor? The empress? The empress dowager?"

Liu Jin explained: "It refers to those of us internal officials who have not lost their conscience."

"Grandfather Taizong strictly forbids internal officials to interfere in politics. However, Lord Taizong boldly uses internal officials in order to check and balance the power of civil servants."

"But in this dynasty. The civil servants really regard the internal officials as slaves and don't take them seriously."

"If things go on like this, shouldn't civil servants dominate the court? The emperor may not be able to control the court."

Zhang Yong interjected: "Let's make it clear. We hope, Master Chang, that you will turn the imperial examination fraud case into a Hongwu Dynasty's empty seal case. Let the civil officials know that the palace and factory guards are not given for nothing."

"The court is not their family's final say."

Chang Feng took a sip of tea, remained silent and did not express his attitude.

There was an awkward silence in the hall.

Liu Jin was very discerning. He got up and said, "This is a big matter. It needs to be carefully considered. Let's take our leave first, Master Chang, please think about it carefully."

Chang Feng nodded: "Yeah. See off the guests."

Just as Liu Jin and Zhang Yong left, the Chang family had another visitor.

The people who came were the elders of the three cabinets, the first assistant Liu Jian, the second assistant Li Dongyang, and the cabinet member Xie Qian.

Changfu is very lively tonight.

(End of this chapter)