Do you know that it starts with Meng Tong?

Yang Yuanzhen just wanted to cry without tears.

What kind of sin did he commit in his previous life to end up in such a bad situation?

Yang Yuanzhen's mood was shattered at this time, and he almost wanted to faint again.

But he

He also knew in his heart that when the matter got to this point, pretending to be dead would not help at all.

For now, the only way is to take advantage of Zhao Zhen's patience with him and seize the time to defend himself.

At the thought of this, Yang Yuanzhen's mind began to work rapidly, racking his brains to find a way to escape guilt for himself.

Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind, and he quickly turned to the last page of "Tan Wen Lu" and searched up and down.

really!

At the end of this page, there is a line of small characters written: "The ninth day of the fifth month in the eighth year of the Great Zhou Tianyou". This is the time when Guo Jin completed transcribing the entire book!

"His Majesty!"

As if he had grasped a life-saving straw, Yang Yuanzhen quickly pointed out his findings to Zhao Zhen on the throne.

"This book was copied in May of this year. It was originally written earlier, but it was already August when Wei Chen was asked to draft the title. The time doesn't match up at all!"

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhen hurriedly asked his chamberlain to bring the book up for review, and it turned out to be exactly what Yang Yuanzhen said.

Zhao Zhen frowned slightly and looked at the old chamberlain on the side: "How did the other Yuzhou candidates fare?"

This time the provincial examination was suspected of leaking questions, and it was very important. All the elite members of the Imperial City Department were sent out. In addition to sealing off the Gongyuan, all candidates from Yuzhou were also controlled. Guo Jin was just the first one.

Gu Wan, the head of the Imperial City Sidu, has been leading people back and forth, reporting the latest progress of the interrogation to the old chamberlain.

The old chamberlain glanced at the newly handed note, bowed and reported back: "I found out clearly that this book was written at the beginning of March this year. It is collected by various volunteer schools in Yuzhou because it was written by Wei Chen, the magistrate of Yuzhou. Therefore, scholars in Yuzhou rushed to borrow and copy it, and everyone in Yuzhou knew about it."

"Wei Chen?"

Zhao Zhen was stunned for a moment, then asked again: "After this book is written, are there any deletions or changes?"

"No. On this point, there is no difference between the Yuzhou candidates' confessions."

The old chamberlain bowed and said: "If Your Majesty is not at ease, I will send someone to Yuzhou immediately to get the original copy of this book. After comparing it, we will know whether it is true or false."

"No need."

Zhao Zhen waved his hand.

The old chamberlain in front of him has been with Zhao Zhen for decades and has always been Zhao Zhen's confidant. Zhao Zhen understands the methods of the Imperial City Division under his command.

Even if the dead body sent by the enemy country falls into the hands of the Imperial City Division, the Imperial City Division can still pry the other party's mouth open, let alone some ordinary soldiers who have not experienced hardships?

Moreover, there are a total of 200 candidates from Yuzhou taking part in the provincial examination this time. It is simply impossible for so many people to have their confessions verified in advance and to withstand the professional interrogation of the Imperial City Division without revealing any flaws.

】

Since the confession is correct, judging from the current situation, this whole thing should have been a mistake.

Yang Yuanzhen's examination questions were only chosen in advance by Wei Chen's "Tan Wen Lu" by mistake, and because "Tan Wen Lu" was written by Wei Chen, it was extremely popular among Yuzhou scholars, which led to this. So many candidates from Yuzhou passed the provincial examination.

As for Jieyuan Guo Jin, he was just the luckiest among them.

Coming to this conclusion, Zhao Zhen couldn't laugh or cry for a moment. There was such a big commotion in the middle of the night, but it turned out to be just a misunderstanding?

But if you think about it carefully, there seems to be nothing wrong with it.

According to the rules, in major examinations such as the Provincial Examination, you cannot ask questions from the original text. The questions can only be drawn from the original text of the classics. The four books and the five classics only have a few words in total, so the possibility of success in guessing the questions is not impossible.

In fact, there were occasionally people who got lucky and passed the exam by betting on the questions, but it was not on such a large scale as this time.

"This Wei Chen will really cause trouble for me!"

Zhao Zhen looked at the "Tan Wen Lu" handwritten by Guo Jin and asked with some complaint: "Why did he write this book, but the salary I paid was not enough for him?"

Zhao Zhen thought that Wei Chen wrote this kind of imperial examination guidance material to make money, so he was dissatisfied.

The old servant said respectfully: "It is said that Wei Zhizhou felt the difficulty of poor students in pursuing education, so he founded the Yi Xue in Yuzhou, and wrote this book and hid it in various Yi Xue. He used the book to represent the teacher and taught the students the teachings of the saints. road."

"Is this happening? I underestimated him. This is the result of enlightenment."

Zhao Zhen breathed a sigh of relief and his expression softened a lot, but when he picked up the yellow list for the Henan Provincial Examination, he couldn't help but have a headache.

Even if it has been verified that the fraud is false, as soon as this list is posted, I am afraid it will still cause an uproar in Bianjing City...

Chapter 244

The city of Bianjing was not peaceful the next day.

Last night, the Imperial City Division went out overnight, not only sealed off the Gongyuan, but also ransacked many inns and took away many scholars. The commotion was not small, and it naturally attracted the attention of the whole city.

Based on various signs, people with a little knowledge are guessing whether there is fraud in this provincial examination?

The candidates are also worried, worried that the results of this provincial examination may be invalid, and they will have to take the test again and go through the ordeal of nine days and six nights again.

The one who was most anxious in his heart was Gu Tingye, who was most familiar with the scholars of Yuzhou. After a little careful inquiry, he found out that the scholars who were taken away were all from Yuzhou.

Moreover, the residences of these scholars were turned upside down, and the entrances were guarded by soldiers from the Imperial City Department.

Nowadays, there are rumors in the city that the rural examination was fraudulent, and it also implicated the scholars of Yuzhou. This is not a good sign!

However, even though Gu Tingye was anxious, he did not act rashly until the situation became clear. He only went to Sheng Changbai to inquire about the situation.

It's a pity that although Sheng Changbai is an official in the court, he is not much better informed than Gu Tingye. He is also blind, so the two of them can only worry at home.

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However, people from the Imperial City Division quickly came to the door and not only took Gu Tingye away for questioning, but Qi Heng and Sheng Changfeng were not spared either.

They all have "Tan Wen Lu" in their hands.

For a time, the Sheng family, Qi Duke's Mansion, and Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion were all in a state of uproar. Even Gu Yankai lost his temper and asked people everywhere to find out what his son had committed.

Fortunately, Gu Tingye and the other three returned home that afternoon, and after that, Guo Jin and other Yuzhou scholars were also released one after another.

After surviving the disaster, Guo Jin and others came out and saw the blue sky outside. They felt as if they were in another world. They greedily breathed the fresh air outside, and fell asleep as soon as they returned home.

Although the people of the Imperial City Department did not execute them, just one day and one night of high-pressure interrogation was enough to become a lifelong nightmare for these powerless scholars.

Anyway, they never want to go back to that dark and small cell in their lives.

terrible!

When Gu Tingye and the three returned home, they were inevitably questioned by relatives and friends. Only then did everyone realize that everything started because of the "Tan Wen Lu".

Fortunately, people are back now.

The frightened Princess Pingning and Duke Qi held their precious son Qi Heng in their arms for a while and exchanged greetings. At worst, they would just take the exam again.

Sheng Hong was also relieved and gave Sheng Changfeng some gentle words, telling him not to go out during this period and to rest at home.

As for Gu Tingye, he naturally received another beating from me, ran away in anger again, and returned to his own courtyard to recuperate.

On the day when the results were released, everything went according to plan, and all kinds of rumors finally lost their vitality.

Candidates who had been worried that they might face a re-examination finally put their minds back in their stomachs and went out to look at the results with great expectation.

Early in the morning, outside the Gongyuan, there was a lot of traffic and people. Countless people flocked to the screen wall, waiting for the release of the results.

Guo Jin also arrived at the bottom of the list early. Many Yuzhou scholars recognized Guo Jin and greeted each other, all of them couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Originally there was

With the blessing of "Tanwenlu", they still had great confidence in Jinke. However, since they were taken into the Imperial City Division's cell that night and experienced aggressive interrogation, this confidence was completely shattered.

Even if they escape safely in the end, most people will only be left with depression and confusion after encountering such a change.

The Imperial City Division just released them, but did not mention a word about the results of their treatment. No one knew what impact this incident would have on their provincial examination results.

Or simply have no results?

Guo Jin stood under the ranking list. Countless noisy voices came from around him, which made him feel more and more restless. He couldn't help but secretly sighed: If he fails again this time, he can return to his hometown with peace of mind and become a private school teacher in Shenlong Town. …

He stood there numbly, thinking wildly in his mind, as if he was crazy. He vaguely seemed to see Gu Tingye standing in the distance and arching his hand towards him. When he came back to his senses and wanted to return the gift, Gu Tingye's hand was already gone. silhouette.

At this time, I suddenly heard someone shouting loudly: "The list is coming..."

The gate of Gongyuan was finally opened, and the scribe carefully held the sealed yellow list, opened the first list, and posted it on the screen wall.

"I hit it, I hit it!"

Suddenly someone shouted excitedly.

More people have stopped breathing and are staring at the official list that has not yet been posted.

The first one is the deputy list, which has little practical significance. It is not worth being happy if you win. Being on the main list is the real success.

After the secondary list was posted, it was finally the turn of the main list.

The crowd of heads was like a wave, and countless people moved forward.

Two official lists were posted one after another, and Guo Jin found the names of several acquaintances in them.

Shen Changyu, Zhang Zhijun, Wu Zhang.

These three people were all scholars from Yuzhou. After arriving in Bianjing, they often gathered together as fellow villagers, so Guo Jin recognized them all.

However, I just can't find my name.

Guo Jin gradually became discouraged.

He couldn't help but shook his head with a wry smile.

Maybe this is life.

Even though there was hope, this hope was ruthlessly extinguished.

After half a lifetime of studying hard, it was all in vain. Now, it’s time to accept my fate...

However, when the last three official lists were posted, Guo Jin couldn't help but look up, starting from the bottom of the list.

no, still no...

Guo Jin's vision was gradually filled with tears.

Finally, he saw a familiar name again, Han Ping.