Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

"Please answer truthfully! This department is making inquiries on behalf of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. If it is found that you lied, you will be held strictly accountable afterwards!" Wang Yu saw the clues from Zhuang Bochang's reaction and emphasized with a stern face.

Seeing Zhuang Bochang's abnormal reaction, Juzi who was present had a vague answer in his heart.

In fact, many participants knew very well that the real reason why they were so angry this time was to seek justice, but they wanted to define this question as a leaking question.

Only if this question is completely rejected by the court, or even classified as a case of fraud, can they be admitted by the examiner instead of being dismissed because they cannot answer this question.

Zhuang Bochang knew that the Metropolitan Procuratorate could check his test papers afterwards, so he immediately raised his head and said, "The students praised Lu Buwei for his Confucian style, but they didn't know that he was the leader of the miscellaneous family!"

This answer is obviously wrong!

Juzi present sighed sadly. Considering the grievances between Zhuang Bochang and Tang Yin, and the fact that he answered the test question incorrectly, this person's real motives are indeed questionable.

Regarding Tang Yin's fraud case, their biggest reason was that Xu Jing was rich and visited Song Cheng's house. It’s just that a few of the candidates who went to Beijing were really from poor families. Who wouldn’t come to the capital without paying homage to senior officials from their hometown?

Song Cheng was famous for his lack of knowledge. The reason why he was willing to meet Xu Jing and Tang Yin was not necessarily to sell the topic, but maybe just to raise some points. In particular, Tang Yin gave people the impression that "he is a frivolous person and may never succeed." .

"You and Hu Ke, Zhonghua Chang, are both from Changzhou Prefecture! According to our investigation by the Metropolitan Procuratorate, you and he are classmates and good friends, and they were in the same high school in Yingtian Township Examination, but Hua Chang was named on the Hongzhi Nine-year Gold List. This is Ci Huachang Shang Shu was impeached for fraud in the examination room, but was he instigated by you?" Wang Yu asked the last question with a serious look on his face.

Classmates and friends, taking the exam together?

Everyone present opened their mouths and turned to look at Zhuang Bochang in surprise.

If everything is true, then this turmoil is probably not a fraud in the scientific examination, but a rumor and slander caused by this humble Changzhou Prefecture official.

In this examination fraud scandal, it is not that there are no voices questioning this so-called examination fraud case.

Not to mention that Song Cheng was named Song Qingtian, even if Xu Jing, who had some money, did buy the test questions from Song Cheng, then why should he share it with Tang Yin?

You know, the less people know about the test questions, the safer it is. This kind of fraud involving beheading should not be leaked.

If he was willing to share the test questions with Tang Yin, whom he only met on the way to Beijing, then what reason did he have for not sharing it with his classmates and friends, and why didn't Tang Yin share the test questions with his friend Zhu Yunming and others?

Such doubts have caused many rational candidates not to believe that there is fraud in this year's examination, especially because it is impossible for only these two people to get the examination questions.

Now that Uncle Zhuang often had an old grudge with Tang Yin and failed in the exam, he did have enough reasons to spread rumors and slander, and even encouraged his former classmate and friend Hua Chang to impeach him.

At this moment, the truth seemed to be in sight.

"Zhuang Bochang, let me tell you straight! We have just brought Hua Chang back to the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Now it depends on which of you speaks first!" Wang Yu is also a capable and sophisticated prosecutor, and he immediately revealed the secret. .

In the face of the irrefutable facts, Zhuang Bochang's psychological defense completely collapsed.

Zhuang Bochang suddenly knelt down on his knees and begged for mercy with a tearful voice: "Sir, the student only did such stupid things because he was unhappy about failing the exam. Please be merciful and give the student a chance to change his ways."

"Huh? What a lie!"

"After working on it for a long time, it turned out to be this person who caused it!"

"Unfortunately! We were used as a weapon by him. It's a shame that I've been making friends everywhere these days!"

…

When the examinees present saw Zhuang Bochang's confession, they immediately knew that they had indeed believed Zhuang Bochang's words, which is why there was public opinion about the fraud in the examination room today.

Wang Yu looked at Zhuang Bochang who was kneeling on the ground. Although he could understand the loss and despair of those who failed, he hated mediocrity even more who slandered real geniuses out of nothing: "Zhuang Bochang, you not only spread rumors and slander others, but also fabricated fraud in the examination room. He is working with Hu Ke to disrupt the court situation, so please come back to the Metropolitan Procuratorate with me for investigation. "

With that said, with a wave of his hand, two officers from the Inspection Department of the Metropolitan Procuratorate immediately stepped forward to arrest the person.

Zhuang Bochang slumped to the ground, but he knew that his future was really over.

In the past, such rumors and slanders often occurred, but now the Hongzhi Dynasty has already established laws and regulations, and the punishment of Zhuang Bochang this time is also in accordance with the law.

The raging controversy over examination fraud in the capital quickly subsided as the Metropolitan Procuratorate intervened to bring those who spread the rumors to justice.

At this moment, history is slowly deviating from its original direction.

Ten days later, the door of Sunchon Gongyuan slowly opened. The grading of the examination papers was completely completed, and the results will be released on the same day.

Yamen draped in big red flowers ran in the streets and alleys of Beijing, leading a team of bangers to announce the good news, while the people in the capital went to ask for the luck from the new Gongshi master.

Since the number of students admitted to the Ming Dynasty National Examination has been expanded to 600, the admission rate has been greatly improved.

Zhu Yunming was one of the beneficiaries of the expansion of enrollment in the Hongzhi Dynasty. He ranked more than 400 in this examination. Although his results were low, he had broken the shackles of fate and obtained the ticket to participate in the palace examination.

Wang Shouren, who was originally the most promising candidate this time, got the second place in the examination, and the first place was not Tang Yin who kept winning three yuan in a row, but Lun Wenxu, a little-known Guangdong scholar.

If Tang Yin was neither rich nor noble, then Lun Wenxu's situation was actually even worse.

Tang Yin's father at least opened a tavern in Suzhou City, but Lun Wenxu's father, Lun Xian, had worked as a farmer and a domestic worker, and later made a living by ferrying boats. His income could only support the family.

Due to a poor family background, Lun Wenxu had no money to study when he was a child, so his first teacher was his father. In his spare time, Lunxian taught Lun Wenxu, writing, reading the Three-Character Classic, and reciting Tang poetry and Song lyrics, and this was "taught by everyone."

When he was seven years old, because Lun Wenxu often eavesdropped outside the door of a private school in the village, the school teacher was so moved that he accepted him as a student for free.

Because of his intelligence and studiousness, Lun Wenxu was already capable of poetry and prose at the age of eight or nine, and was good at couplets. He always ranked among the best in private schools, and was known as a "child prodigy", "an urgent talent", and a "ghost talent".

When he was ten years old, his private school teacher died of old age and illness, and he lost his place to study for free. Lun Wenxu therefore dropped out of school, but he still sold vegetables to support his life and concentrated on studying classics.

Because he is known as a child prodigy and is good at couplets. When the monks of Xichan Temple saw him coming to sell vegetables, they put forward a condition: the Mianxian Hall in our temple still lacks a couplet, and this couplet must match the number of one hundred.

Lun Wenxu asked the monk to get a pen and paper, and after a moment of meditation, he wrote a couplet: "Seventy-two sages in Xingtan, sages and saints; twenty-eight generals in Yuntai, generals will be made marquises."

Because he often couldn't take care of lunch while selling vegetables, the owner of a porridge shop felt pity for his young age and cherished his talent, so he bought Lun Wenxu a load of vegetables every day and asked him to deliver it to the porridge shop.

When Lun Wenxu delivers the dishes to the porridge shop, the boss will boil the leftover pork balls, pork rice noodles, and pork liver into raw white porridge, and then add some ginger, green onion, etc. and treat him to it for free as lunch.

A few years later, Lun Wenxu ate porridge at the porridge shop every day, so he was very grateful to his boss.

Later, when Wu Chen, the new governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, took office, he also published couplets to examine Lun Wenxu: "A Han Confucian climbs the dragon, climbs the phoenix, and climbs the red osmanthus."

But as soon as Wu Chen finished speaking, Lun Wenxu's second line came out: "Three precious Buddhas, sitting on an aurora, sitting on an elephant, and sitting on a lotus."

Wu Chen was full of praise for Lun Wenxu's eagerness. He was deeply sorry to hear that Lun Wenxu had dropped out of school, and immediately rewarded Lun Wenxu with fifty taels of silver to help Lun Wenxu continue to complete his studies.

If Tang Yin is a typical example of genius, a model who is chased by God to feed him, then Lun Wenxu, who was born in poverty, impressed God with his persistence in his studies.

He first met an enlightening gentleman who refused to accept his studies, and then met Wu Chen, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi who generously supported him, which allowed him to continue his studies.

It's just that life is not always smooth sailing. Although he passed the examination in Guangdong early, he failed twice in the examination. Now is his third time to take the examination.

"Good news for the master of Guangzhou, Guangdong. I am the first in the high school entrance examination and will be honored by the foreman at the Jinluan Hall!" The voice of the newspaper sounded in the city of Beijing, and he shouted with all his strength.

No one expected that this time it would be the unknown Guangdong Juzi Lun Wenxu who had accumulated so much experience that he would win the title of Hui Yuan and become the most dazzling being.

When Lun Wenxu saw that the fame he was pursuing had finally arrived, he couldn't help but burst into tears.

Since Xinke Hui Yuan Lun Wenxu was born in a poor family, and he was not from the same hometown as Song Cheng, the Minister of Punishment, who was the examiner, and the two people had no intersection at all, there was naturally no public opinion about fraud.

Tang Yin has experienced the fraud incident and has obviously matured a lot.

Although he is destined to be unable to fulfill his grand promise of winning three yuan in a row, he got third place in this competition. This result is already very impressive, and he is about to become a man in the officialdom.

Time flies by like a flash, and March is already halfway through.

The Ming Dynasty palace examination was originally set on the first day of March. At the end of the first year of the eighth year of Chenghua, the crown prince Zhu Youji, who had just been canonized for two months, passed away, which affected the time of the joint examination and the palace examination that year.

Since the palace examination time was postponed from the first day of March to March 15th, the imperial court also set the new date for the palace examination, which is still used today.

As the morning light begins to shine, the splendor of the Forbidden City becomes even more majestic under the rising sun.

The Meridian Gate was wide open, and officials, led by Yin Zhi and Wang Yue, were slowly walking into the imperial city.

After checking their identities, the 600 tributes were divided into three columns. Under the leadership of the three tributes before the examination, they followed the officials of the Ministry of Rites and entered the imperial city, which symbolized power.

Entering the imperial city often represents a jump in class. The 600 of them will complete the transition from sergeants to officials.

Lun Wenxu looked calm, Wang Shouren had firm eyes, and Tang Yinze had a smile on his face. They confidently walked through the palace gates and finally arrived at the examination room in front of the Huagai Hall.

Emperor Hongzhi will not appear in the examination room. Six hundred candidates will enter the examination room according to the procedures.

As the cabinet scholar Jia Jun announced the start of the palace examination, the cannon salute sounded and the palace music started again.

Because the palace examination uses strategies to select scholars, the ceremony was imitated in the Tang and Song Dynasties. All the Xinke tributes were sitting on the ground. In front of them was an ancient table, which was divided into the north and south sides of the hall, facing each other far away.

Wang Yue and other invigilators were on both sides of the Huagai Hall. Since this was an open-air examination, all the movements of the candidates could be seen at a glance.

In fact, at this point, it is almost impossible to cheat in the examination room. After all, the imperial examination will not eliminate candidates, but only determine their rankings. If you risk cheating for the sake of ranking, the risks and benefits of doing so are seriously unequal.

Of course, they all aspire to get the top spot in the exams, and many candidates hold back their energy and "make a comeback" by passing the imperial exams.

The paper used in the palace examination is very particular. The paper is as white as jade and framed nine times. Writing on this kind of paper will be immortal even if it is handed down for thousands of years, making the candidates more solemn.

"There is no restriction on the eight-legged style in the imperial examination, let's begin!" Yin Zhi, the Chief Assistant to the Cabinet, presided over the examination and announced a new rule on the spot.

In fact, they are gradually realizing the shortcomings of the eight-part essay. Although the eight-part essay can ensure fairness, too much emphasis on style and format makes talents timid.

He was originally a fierce general who could kill everyone on the battlefield, but he was restricted by the rules. Every move he made could only be "a knife to the left, a knife to the right, and a twist of the butt." In the end, he was not as good as an ordinary soldier.

In view of this, as early as the last session, the palace examination has not been limited to eight-legged literary style, and the effect is obvious, selecting more pragmatic talents.

As the test questions were distributed, everyone was suddenly dumbfounded.

The first question, and the question only has ten words: "What is the pillar of the country?"

Facing this weird question, everyone couldn't help but stare.

After Tang Yin looked at this title, he felt confident and immediately started writing a poem: "Read all the poems of all nine states in the world, and recite the poems of all the five lakes in the sea. In the middle of the moon, the osmanthus is uprooted, and others are not allowed to break half of the branches."

Crazy, naturally has the capital to be crazy, and the most powerful person is naturally the pillar of the country, and he, Tang Yin, is such a person.

It's just that there is no fixed answer to this question. Tang Yin has one opinion and point of view of his, while others have another opinion.

The next second test question made even Tang Yin's face look very exciting.

"This dynasty has added the Governor's Palace of Nanyang, the East China Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Americas. The Australian Governor's Palace is now being prepared. However, each government needs young officials to help guard the oceans. You will be a new scholar. Can you accept to stay away? Do you want to serve overseas thousands of miles away from your homeland? (Note: Those who are able to accept it will be given priority by the Ministry of Personnel)."

this……

When the candidates present saw this question, it was obviously a very simple multiple-choice question, but at this moment the pen tip was unusually heavy, and sweat ran down the cheeks of many candidates.

In fact, everyone knows very well that the examiner naturally hopes to see that their answer sheet indicates that they have accepted overseas posts, and the results of choosing this answer method will help improve their ranking in the palace examination, but... there is a possibility that this answer sheet will be really accepted if they hand it in. The Ministry of Civil Affairs arranges to take a job overseas! (End of chapter)