Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 84 Bombardment of Zhu Yuanzhang

In front of the Meridian Gate, a group of ten blind daters were waiting to see him.

In this place, apart from the guards of the Forbidden City who were not looking sideways, and the attendants of everyone in the distance, there were no onlookers, and it seemed a little quiet.

Zhang Yifan looked at the competitors around him, and he found that, except for Li Qi and Mei Yin, the other seven young people were obviously a little nervous, looking up at the Forbidden City from time to time, showing a faint fear.

Even when these seven people saw Li Qi turning to look at them, they all hurriedly avoided it, not daring to look at him.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Yifan knew in his heart that these seven people were probably just making up the numbers, and the final competition would be between himself, Li Qi, and Mei Yin.

He was thinking about it when suddenly, he saw Mei Yin turning to look at him and said proudly: "It is said that the eldest princess and you are in love, but it is a pity. Since the eldest princess said that only the most talented person in the world can marry, then It has to be me."

After finishing speaking, he turned around and looked directly in the direction of Fengtian Gate, ignoring the others.It was as if his words were a declaration.

After hearing this, Li Qi let out a loud "hum", feeling very dissatisfied.This nephew of the Marquis of Runan actually ignored him like the other seven people. It was really unreasonable!

Zhang Yifan was also speechless after hearing this. It was just a false name, so why did he come to steal someone else's wife?
Besides, are you really that sure that you can be ranked number one by classmate Zhu Yuanzhang?Didn't you see that Li Qi didn't panic at all? The test was most likely to test her ability in governing the country. Just because you are so young, can read the Four Books and Five Classics, and can read poems and songs, you can win?

With this thought in mind, he gave this Mei Yin a comment: Childish!

There is no need to pay attention to such a person, otherwise, the more you pay attention to him, the better he will pretend!

Fortunately, not long after, a eunuch appeared and ordered the ten of them to meet in court.

The expansion of the inner palace began in the eighth year of Hongwu and was not completed until the tenth year of Hongwu.Therefore, at this time, Zhu Yuanzhang placed the competition to recruit his son-in-law in the Imperial Garden.

In a pavilion, Zhu Yuanzhang and Queen Ma were sitting, and then two rows of people stood on both sides.

On one side are Zhu Yuanzhang's adult sons, including Zhu Biao, Zhu Xi, Zhu Fan and Zhu Di; on the other side are several important officials of the court, including Korean Duke Li Shanchang, Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong and Hanlin scholar Song Lian.

This location, coupled with this posture, can show that Zhu Yuanzhang's recruitment of the consort was more focused on family affairs.Of course, the royal family affairs are not purely family affairs, so there are also foreign ministers included.

There are vassal kings, civil servants, generals, and even famous scholars, so it can be considered complete.

Zhang Yifan looked at it secretly, but still didn't understand what kind of test questions Zhu Yuanzhang would ask?

However, by observing the facial expressions between Li Qi and Li Shanchang, he knew with a high probability that Zhu Yuanzhang would still prefer the Li family and would come up with questions that the Li family was good at.

If that's the case, don't be afraid!

After ten people came forward to greet him and introduced themselves to a set of procedures, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "No matter what kind of talent it is, in the final analysis, it can only be regarded as talent if it is used. I will give you two questions, which one you are most satisfied with." One of them is my consort!"

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan couldn't help but comment in his heart: The founding emperor was decisive in doing things, and there was really no sloppiness at all!

This kind of examination is actually the same as the imperial examination held by Zhu Yuanzhang before. It is the so-called policy theory.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the ten of them and asked in a deep voice: "I have suffered from corrupt officials since I was a child, so I will never tolerate corruption and punish it with strict laws. However, not long ago, everyone in the court , there was an official who fooled the court with a blank account book stamped with the official seal. I will not tolerate such illegal things, and decided that the chief seal official should be executed, and the deputy should be punished with a hundred men and a hundred soldiers. What do you think? I want to hear it. What do you think?"

Everyone was immediately surprised when they heard his words.

No one expected that Zhu Yuanzhang would be too bold at the beginning and even use the empty seal case to test these ten people.

You know, when the Kongyin case occurred, Zhu Yuanzhang was furious. No matter Li Shanchang, a very influential grand master, Hu Weiyong, who held the power of prime minister, or anyone else, no one dared to discuss this matter.

It was also because of this that in the original history, Zheng Shili wrote a letter about this matter.

At this time, Li Shanchang suddenly felt a pang in his heart when he heard Zhu Yuanzhang talking about this matter. Although he had hinted to Zhu Yuanzhang and also created public opinion, saying that it was better to use the strategy of governing the country and ensuring peace during the examination, he really didn't expect that Zhu Yuanzhang would Take the empty seal case as an example.

This blank seal case is of great importance. How can it be discussed by these ten people in front of me?
Even if he is his son, he cannot talk nonsense on this matter!
His idea was actually the idea of ​​most people present.Suddenly, after Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, the scene suddenly became quiet.Only the occasional sound of birds chirping in the distance broke the tranquility.

The seven people who made up the numbers didn't even dare to raise their heads, for fear that Zhu Yuanzhang would call their names.Just like when Zhang Yifan was studying in later generations, those scumbag students avoided the teacher's roll call speech.

I have to say that Li Qi, a man in his 40s, stood out among a group of young boys.

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang looking at him, he couldn't help taking a peek at his father. His heart broke, and he played to Zhu Yuanzhang: "The student thinks that His Majesty's handling is very appropriate, and the student admires him very much!"

Li Shanchang listened and nodded slightly. His son's attitude was very good.Although it was a bit cliché, it could at least show the emperor that the Li family had no objections.

The reason why he had such an idea was also because of the empty seal case, which was done in the Yuan Dynasty, but Zhu Yuanzhang was furious, and wanted to kill a group of officials and beat a large number of officials.Seriously, will the officials of the Ming Dynasty be convinced?I will definitely not be convinced!

However, Li Shanchang knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was using the subject as an excuse, a bit like calling a deer a horse. Who would come out to oppose him?
It is also for this reason that he has not spoken out on the empty seal case, and Hu Weiyong has also not spoken out on this matter.

Everyone knows that if you step out to seek justice at this time, you will definitely be beaten!

At this time, after Zhu Yuanzhang heard Li Qi's answer, his face was expressionless, and it was impossible to tell whether he was satisfied or dissatisfied. He just glanced at the ten people in front of him.

Suddenly, he noticed that there was someone with a strange expression. At first glance, he found that it was Mei Yin. Then he followed Mei Yin's gaze and found that he was looking at Song Lian.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately snorted and said: "Mei Yin, do you have anything to say? I will test you and tell you what you think. I am just choosing a prince-in-law, and I will not blame you."

When Mei Yin heard that he was called by the emperor, he raised his head, as if he was ready to die, and immediately replied to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, students think that corrupt officials will naturally be severely punished, but in this case of empty seals , but they were wrongly blamed. The students thought..."

Perhaps because he finally opened his mouth and had less scruples, he immediately started talking nonstop, completely ignoring the wink his teacher Song Lian gave him, and even his eyelids were sore but could not stop him from continuing.

I just heard him say generously: "First of all, the account books delivered to the household department by the yamen in various places are all stamped with a seal. There is no comparison between a piece of paper and a seal. Even if someone accidentally picks it up, the piece of paper is only half a seal. Trying to use fraud to commit corruption will definitely not work."

"Secondly, the amount of money and grain handed over to the household department must be reviewed by the county, government, province, and ministry at multiple levels. It is inevitable that there will be losses or negligence in the middle. If the number is wrong, it must be returned to the original place and reported again. If it’s just the county government under the state capital, it’s still easy to handle, but if there’s a problem at the Ministry of Household Affairs, it’s going back to the original place for a retrial, given the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty, it’s really labor-intensive and time-consuming, and it’s very unpleasant!”

"..."

Listening to his accusation, Zhu Yuanzhang remained expressionless and just looked at him.

But Song Lian's face turned a little pale. He knew that this student had a very bad temper.

I heard that the most talented person in the world must sign up for this title, even if Song Lian persuaded him to be useless, and said that if he didn't get this title, he would be sorry for Song Lian's teaching.

If I had known that the emperor would ask this question and Mei Yin would answer this way, no matter what, I should have stopped him from signing up.

But at this time, it was useless no matter how much Song Lian regretted, as Mei Yin was still making impassioned speeches.

"Thirdly, even if the officials involved in the case have political errors and should be punished, there must be laws to follow. However, as far as the students know, the court does not have laws on empty seals. The students believe that His Majesty cannot To judge someone as a corrupt official on a whim will make the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty frightened and will be detrimental to the country!"

"It is really contradictory to kill innocent people in such a random way and His Majesty is thirsty for talents and has issued recommendation edicts many times!"

When Mei Yin said this, he immediately knelt down, kowtowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and said again: "Your Majesty is busy with many things, so it is inevitable that you will neglect this inside story. The student implores your Majesty to hand over the case of the empty seal to the chief judge of the Ministry of Punishment. , Only then can the civil and military officials feel at ease and the people of the world feel at ease!"

Zhang Yifan was stunned when he heard this. This Mei Yin really deserves to have a bad temper.Historically, Zhu Di was drowned because of his disobedience. Under his own butterfly effect, he dared to bombard Zhu Yuanzhang. This was seeking death!

At this time, the six ministries, including the Ministry of Punishment, are in the charge of the prime minister, and the prime minister is responsible to the emperor. If you ask the Ministry of Punishment to interrogate, isn’t that handing over the power to Hu Weiyong? How could Zhu Yuanzhang agree?
Thinking of this, he secretly looked at Zhu Yuanzhang's face and found that Zhu Yuanzhang's face was really ugly.

However, as luck would have it, when Zhang Yifan secretly went to see Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang glanced over and made eye contact.

So, I heard Zhu Yuanzhang ask in a cold voice: "Zhang Yifan, tell me too!"

(End of this chapter)