Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 116 North-South Confrontation
Scholars have their own integrity, and civil servants have their own stance. It is not so easy for them to adapt.

Zhao Mian and others sent the list again, and the list of those who passed the examination was basically delivered to him.

Still one person remains unchanged, still one word remains unchanged!
This is the position of Zhao Mian, Liu Sanwu and others. They seem to not take the requests of the Crown Prince Zhu Yunhuan seriously at all.

Looking at the list in his hand, Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help laughing, "That's right, if they change it easily, it won't be the style of these people!"

In the historical case of the North and South Lists, Zhu Yuanzhang killed almost all the chief examiners and deputy examiners, and only two people in charge of the review were not killed or exiled.

The reason was that Zhu Yuanzhang had repeatedly demanded that the number of northern scholars be increased, but others ignored him and insisted that the articles written by northern scholars were not good enough to be included in the list.

Only Dai Yi and Yin Changlong were exempted from punishment because they found northern scholars on the list of successful candidates after reviewing the examination papers.

They didn't care about what Emperor Hongwu said, let alone Zhu Yunhuan, the crown prince.

As for the crown prince who has a bad reputation in the past and has been almost always being bullied by civil servants in the past year, there is no need to care too much about him.

Chang Sheng was acting as usual, although he had been sitting in court most of the time these days and only returned home occasionally, but today he needed to go back to the Kaiping Palace.

He was riding a tall horse and walking towards the mansion with his guards, when suddenly a group of scholars rushed out from the front.

"Please, Duke Kaiguo, make the decision for us!"

"Zhao Mian favors southerners, please ask the Duke to make a decision for us northern scholars!"

"Duke Kaiguo, Zhao Mian and others submitted a shabby manuscript with the intention of suppressing the northern scholars like us. These people who deceive the emperor and deceive the superiors, please kill them!"

A group of well-known scholars in the provincial capital knelt in front of Chang Sheng's horse and shouted loudly.

Chang Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately shouted, "Submit your petition, and I will make the decision for you!"

In front of the mansion of Marquis Wuding, Guo Zhen looked at the scholars who were surrounding and crying. At this moment, he acted courteous and approachable, and carefully inquired about the demands of these northern scholars.

He was the son of a marquis and the emperor's consort. Marquis Wuding was a close confidant of the Hongwu Emperor, and this consort was also said to be trusted by the crown prince.

The northern scholars could not remain calm. Although the results had not been announced yet, all kinds of news were flooding in, saying that no northerners would be able to pass the exam in this subject.

The chief examiner cheated and demanded bribes, and Liu Sanwu, a former minister and scholar, also had ulterior motives, and all the rumors were plausible.

The scholars in the north started to make a fuss. They began to stop the carriages of some officials to file complaints, and some of them began to organize joint petitions. These people could not help but care because it was related to their future.

The status of a Juren seems to be very glorious, but it is no match for a Jinshi!

The scholars in the north began to become active, and they did indeed cause some noise.

But the students in the south were not happy about this. The northerners started to make noise, shaking the interests of the southerners. Of course, the southern scholars wished that all the official positions in the court were occupied by southerners.

It was said that only southerners were selected for this subject. It was understandable that northerners were angry when they heard that the examiner favored southerners. But these southern scholars were happy in their hearts.

With the instigation of some people with ulterior motives, scholars in the south also began to take action.

He began to accuse the northern scholars of being poorly trained and began to make trouble, believing that these northern scholars were provoking regional disputes.

Old Zhu and Zhu Yunhuan remained silent. They had known that this scene would definitely happen. The appearance of this scene could be regarded as the beginning of a complete explosion under their incitement.

But for Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunhuan, they really had no better solution. Even though the Ming Dynasty had been established for nearly 30 years, the regional distinction was still a deeply rooted concept in many people's minds.

If they don't resolve these hidden dangers in advance, such conflicts are bound to break out in the future.

Even at that time, such conflicts and contradictions would become more intensified. If there was no emperor with full control, such conflicts might actually divide the Ming Dynasty into north and south.

"I have no other options." Zhu Yunhuan said self-deprecatingly while holding the secret report sent by Jiang Lin and others. "Hundreds of years later, there will still be regional disputes and some map cannons. Now there is even less options."

The next moment, Zhu Yunhuan's eyes were sharp, "The territory of the Ming Dynasty is unified. People from the south and the north are all citizens of the Ming Dynasty, and they are all Han people! If anyone dares to hinder the overall situation in this matter, don't blame me for being rude!"

Mei Yin was also taking action, because the drum for reporting suddenly sounded, and the northern scholars were about to file a complaint with the emperor!
Dengwen Drum is not just for decoration. It originated from the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties.

During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed a special person to manage the case. Whenever there was a complaint from an innocent citizen, the emperor would personally handle it. If an official tried to obstruct the case, he would be severely sentenced.

This year, an incident occurred in which common people in Yuzhou County filed lawsuits for trivial matters such as neighborhood disputes and then took the case to the capital. So Zhu was furious and stipulated that matters concerning marriage, land and houses, and fights would be decided by the village officials; only serious matters could be reported to the officials.

Some behaviors of going beyond the limit of appeal also need to be suppressed. Otherwise, some people dare to beat the drum for trivial matters. It is also because the people now understand the value of the "Great Edict". About five or six years ago, a citizen in Changshu tied up a clerk who was doing evil, and a group of people escorted this evil citizen to the capital. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, people often see people escorting officials to the capital to file complaints on some official roads.

If there was any obstruction, there were local officials who had done so before, but they were found out. The result was that the whole clan was executed. Old Zhu would not be polite to anyone who dared to prevent the people from seeking justice.

The censor in charge of the Dengwen Drum immediately took over the case and began to prepare for the preliminary work.

At the beginning of a new day, Zhu Yunhuan arrived at the court early.

"Your Majesty, yesterday a scholar sounded the drum to accuse the Minister Zhao Mian of favoritism and corruption."

Lao Zhu rubbed his brows and said, "Zhao Mian, what do you want to say?"

Zhao Mian quickly knelt down and shouted, "I am innocent!"

Zhu Yunhuan also stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I heard that scholars in the north think there is fraud in this year's imperial examination. There are rumors everywhere that all the successful candidates are from the south."

Old Zhu looked at Zhao Mian and asked, "My dear, is this true?"

Zhao Mian immediately loudly defended himself, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! This year's imperial examination was conducted impartially and fairly, and there was no fraud. I think the rumors are not credible. This is a deliberate frame-up by some unruly people, who are trying to manipulate public opinion!"

Zhu Yunhuan spoke up and said, "Minister Zhao, I've also looked at the list of successful candidates sent to me these past two days. Less than 20% of them are from the north. What's the reason for this?"

Zhao Mian said with more confidence, "Your Highness, after reviewing the papers, we have decided that the best essays will be admitted. The northern students are not good at literature and science, and they have violated the prohibition, so they will be deposed and fail the exam!"

Many people in the civil service group were looking at each other and talking in low voices.

In fact, there are some northern civil servants in the court now. However, compared with the southern civil servant group, the northern civil servants are at a clear disadvantage in terms of both rank and number. This is an indisputable fact.

Zhu Yunhuan spoke again and asked, "The court's previous recovery of the northern land is not as good as the education during the Yuan Dynasty?"

I have to say that Zhu Yunhuan's words were a bit harsh, but these words didn't seem to scare some people.

Zhao Mian said righteously, "Your Highness, I am honored to be the chief examiner of this year's exam. I will only look at the essays, not the backgrounds. Only those with the best essays will be included in the list, and only then can I select talents for the court!"

At this time, several officials also came out of work, and they all seemed to support Zhao Mian's views.

Since it is an imperial examination and a talent selection ceremony, it is natural that the essays will be looked at.

Zhu Yunhuan's face turned pale and blue with anger, and then he quietly stepped aside, as if he had nothing to say after being confronted.

Old Zhu said irritably, "Zhan Hui, you are the Minister of Personnel, I order you to review it. Add forty northerners to silence the gossips."

Zhan Hui immediately left the class. He was nominally the head of the civil service. "Your Majesty, I dare not obey your order! I think the selection of talents should be the most important thing in the talent selection ceremony!"

"Enough!" Old Zhu was furious, and stood up and cursed, "It's a mess every day! Add northern scholars, that's it! They are not good at literature and science, but they can pass the exam. How can they be poor at literature and science and write nonsense?!"

Watching the emperor walk away in anger, Zhan Hui was a little nervous. He thought that adding a few northerners might be a good idea, so that the emperor would stop caring about these things.

But Zhan Hui suddenly felt that he had no way to retreat. If he retreated, his reputation in the literati would be ruined. At that time, Zhao Mian and others would be strangers to him, and these southern civil servants would despise him.

The morning court ended in a bad mood, and some things that happened in the court were once again spread by people with ulterior motives.

It couldn't be said to be a huge uproar, but this time the imperial examination was clearly developing in a direction that many people had not expected.

Zhu Yunhuan arrived at Wuying Hall and said with a smile, "Zhan Hui has no choice now. The moment he hands in the list of tribute students, that's when he'll lose his head."

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunhuan and asked with a smile, "When you saw him two years ago, you insisted on chopping off his head. Now you have finally got your wish."

Zhu Yunhuan always felt that there was something wrong with this statement. How could chopping off someone's head be what one wishes for?
But think about it, Zhan Hui also "lived" one more year. If it weren't for Zhu Yunwen, Zhan Hui would have been involved in the Lanyu case last year and beheaded by Zhu Yunwen.

Therefore, Zhan Hui's fate was doomed to be chopped off by the Crown Prince.

"Two Shangshu and one Hanlin scholar are enough." Zhu Yunhuan said, "We won't implicate too many people. Others who should be demoted will be demoted. We will divide the next subject into the north and south lists, and decide in the court that southerners will serve as northern officials. That's enough."

Old Zhu glanced at Zhu Yunhuan and said with emotion, "You look cruel, but you are kinder than me!"

(End of this chapter)