Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 100: The Imperial Court Demotion

The fiery red morning light appeared in the east, and the Zhou Dynasty’s court meeting, which continued day after day, kicked off in the Fengtian Hall.

Emperor Jiazhao can be regarded as the most diligent emperor in the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

When the retired emperor was in power, he held court every three days, which made him a diligent monarch.

But when Emperor Jiazhao ascended the throne, he held court every day and took a day off every five days, and this routine remained unchanged for ten years.

The daily court meeting starts at Chenshi and ends at Sishi.
Officials of the fifth rank and above in Beijing had to wait outside the Meridian Gate at the hour of Mao every day, which meant they had to get up at four in the morning to rush to their work. Being an official for Emperor Jiazhao was truly a hard job.

When the noon hour arrived, the emperor took the throne, dressed in brocade and set out the ceremonial guards, the musicians from the imperial music troupe played drums and music, and all the officials knelt and bowed in obeisance, performing the ceremony as per the etiquette.

There were also censors in the main hall who were responsible for supervising the behavior of all officials. After all, it was common for officials to get up too early, feel listless, and fall asleep. Once discovered, the censors would reprimand them.

In the morning he was Tian Shelang, and in the evening he ascended to the Hall of the Son of Heaven.

But ascending to the throne is never an easy task.

When all the officials took their positions, they saw that Emperor Jiazhao was wearing a black gauze folded-corner winged hat, a yellow robe with a round collar and narrow sleeves, a rhinoceros-shaped white jade belt with nine dragons tied around his waist, and black-bottomed court boots with imperial robes on his feet.

He was in high spirits and looked very majestic. He inspected all officials and took the throne to hear government affairs.

Because Emperor Jiazhao held court every day, many of the official matters reported by the ministers were ongoing, but there were also many new matters.

For example, the Ministry of War reported that a group of several hundred Japanese pirates landed in Shangyu, Shaoxing, raided Kuaiji County, killed 51 civilians, burned countless houses, and then entered Huizhou from Chun'an.

The Ministry of Revenue also reported that due to the abnormal climate in the Great Zhou in recent years, there were severe droughts in the summer and extremely cold winters. The grain production in the six southern provinces had decreased for three consecutive years, and the government warehouses were more scarce than last year.

A large number of farmers were living in increasing poverty due to insufficient harvests, and the wealthy and powerful took advantage of the situation to snap up large amounts of fertile land at low prices. The culture and education in the south of the Yangtze River were developed, and the number of people who went to school and achieved success was several times that of the north.

The wealthy sold their fertile land, and used methods such as donating their wealth to scholars and donating huge sums of money to buy official positions to evade labor and exempt themselves from land taxes, resulting in a significant reduction in land taxes in the national treasury.

In short, there are not many good things that can be discussed in the court. Most of the reasons are complicated and difficult to judge, so they have to be reported to the emperor.

After the court discussion, the corresponding six ministries will formulate practical strategies based on the general direction of the imperial judgment, so that the handling of the incident will be more organized.

With this fixed procedure of submitting memorials, court discussion, and preliminary decision, half an hour of court meeting was over.

Emperor Jia Zhao listened to these difficult state affairs, pondered over countermeasures, and issued various oral instructions in class, feeling physically and mentally exhausted.

At this time, a man walked out from the end of the court procession. Judging from the style of his official uniform, he was a seventh-rank Supervisory Censor.

During the Great Zhou Dynasty, only officials of the fifth rank and above in the capital were eligible to enter the court, except for the thirteen censors of the seventh rank in the Censorate who were exempt from this restriction.

The Great Zhou Dynasty was divided into thirteen regions according to geographical locations and prefectures, and the Censorate had five to ten censors in each region, who were officials of the seventh rank.

These censors were responsible for making suggestions and reporting rumors, and were all from the two lists of successful candidates in the imperial examinations. They had a noble status and were collectively called "censors."

"I am Chen Minyan, the Supervisory Censor of Yongzhou. Yesterday, dozens of Yongzhou candidates gathered at the Ministry of Rites and reported that Jia Cong, the first place winner of the examination, was the son of a prostitute. They wrote to the Ministry of Rites to depose him from the title of first place winner.

When I heard about this incident, I searched through the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

According to the ancestral system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, prostitutes, actors, soldiers, and slaves were considered low-class people and were not allowed to take the imperial examinations within three generations. Jia Cong was the son of Du Jinniang, the most beautiful woman in the capital, and was not among those selected for the imperial examinations within two generations.

The matter has been confirmed to be true. The imperial examination is a grand ceremony for the court to select talents, and its reputation must not be tarnished. Selecting the son of a prostitute as the first place in the exam would make the world laugh and bring shame to the scholar community.

I ask Your Majesty to investigate the crime of negligence in the examination registration of the Yongzhou County Government, and to depose Jia Cong from the title of the first place in the Yongzhou Academy Examination, and to prohibit him from taking the examination within two generations, so as to highlight the reputation of the clean and honest imperial examination system of the dynasty. "As soon as Chen Minyan finished speaking, the whole court was in an uproar!

In recent days, the news that Jia Cong, a descendant of the Rongguo Mansion, was selected as the top candidate in the Yongzhou Academy Examination has spread throughout the capital, and almost all the officials in the court are unaware of it.

After the death of Duke Rong Jia Daishan, there had been no outstanding sons in the Rongguo Mansion. The eldest son was a noble official who did not serve in the court, and the second son was an idle official who was granted a title by inheritance.

In the eyes of everyone, the Jia family is already on the decline. Perhaps they can continue to be rich and prosperous for another decade, but a noble family that loses its voice in the court is destined to fall. It is only a matter of time.

The Jia family, which had always been known for its mediocre and incompetent children, suddenly had a child who won the first place in the Yongzhou Academy Examination, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.

There are even many people who believe that this rising star Jia Cong may become the key to the resurgence of the Rong State Jia family.

But unexpectedly, just a few days later, such a bizarre thing broke out. The son of the Jia family who ranked first in the imperial examination was said to be the son of a prostitute and had no qualifications to take the imperial examination at all.

When Emperor Jiazhao on the throne heard this, his eyes narrowed. He was familiar with the name Jia Cong.

The last time a witchcraft incident occurred in Rongguo Mansion, the Imperial Chariot Department had submitted a related secret report, in which Jia Cong's behavior was quite amazing, which made Emperor Jia Zhao remember this name.

Unexpectedly, this kid had such talent that he could be selected as the first place in the Yongzhou Academy Examination. Emperor Jia Zhao became more and more curious about Jia Cong.

He looked at an official standing in the Ministry of Rites and asked, "Guo Youchang, you are the chief examiner of this Yongzhou Academy Examination. What do you have to say?"

Yesterday, the Ministry of Rites was surrounded and reported by students, which made Guo Youchang alert, and he also did what he could think of to deal with it.

But no one would have expected that today a censor would report this matter at the court meeting and request that the emperor depose Jia Cong from his position as the top candidate and even prohibit him from taking the imperial examinations for two generations. This would ruin a person's life.

The tone was exactly the same as those of the students who wrote to the Ministry of Rites yesterday. However, a scholar who ranked first in the academy examination would certainly attract the attention of the censor of the Censorate.

Guo Youchang didn't believe that there was no connection between the two. He even smelled a hint of conspiracy.

Jia Cong was the top scorer in the imperial examination selected by himself. If he was stripped of his title, he, the chief examiner, would also be held responsible!
Therefore, if he wants to keep Jia Cong as the first place in the case, it is equivalent to keeping his own official career. This time he will not retreat even a single step, and there is no way to retreat.

"Your Majesty, it is clear that Jia Cong is the second son of Jia She, the eldest son of Duke Rong and the first-class general. This is a well-known fact. Although his biological mother was once a courtesan, she became a good woman and was taken as a concubine by Jia She.

Since his biological mother was someone else's concubine, how can he be called the son of a prostitute?
Although Jia Cong was young, he was extremely talented and learned. Even though his name was covered, he was elected as one of the top three candidates by more than 30 examiners and was selected as the top candidate by the lower officials. The procedures were strict and there was no room for criticism.

Jia Cong was able to get the top spot due to his own talent and knowledge, and he really deserves it!

The imperial court selected talents through the imperial examination system and recruited talented people from all over the world to serve the country.

Jia Cong is such a talented person, but he is not worthy of his reputation. Censor Chen heard about it and neglected to report it, ruining his career and future. Wouldn't this make scholars all over the world feel disappointed? I beg Your Majesty to make a wise decision!"

Guo Youchang's words were fierce and every word was like a knife.

Chen Minyan was unmoved, and there was even a barely perceptible hint of sarcasm on his face.

Guo Youchang has a sharp tongue. His official position is much higher than mine, but what should I be afraid of?

I am the Censor-in-Chief, the voice of the imperial court. It is my duty to report on rumors.

Let me see how you, Guo Youchang, will defend yourself later.

(End of this chapter)