Within a few days, students in restaurants and inns of all sizes in the capital were whispering to each other, and the talk was nothing more than Liu Sanwu favoring southerners and Ding Maoke's unfair examination.
If it were in the past, students who failed to pass the exam would have either continued to prepare for the next subject, or simply left the capital and returned home sadly. But this time, none of the students who failed the exam left the capital. Instead, they continued to connect. A storm was brewing under this calm.
"Unfair, unfair..."
"Let's go and file a complaint..."
Countless students who had failed the exam took action upon hearing the news and gathered outside Chengtian Gate.
Lao Zhu is working with Zhu Biao to listen to Zhu Biao's report on government affairs. Lao Zhu is getting older and his energy is not as good as before. Although Lao Zhu still reviews memorials until late at night every day, his response has become slower and his efficiency cannot be compared with that of a few years ago.
Therefore, Lao Zhu not only established a palace with bachelors, but also handed over most of the government affairs to Zhu Biao. Every once in a while, Lao Zhu would call Zhu Biao in front of him, personally ask him how the government affairs were handled, and point out the inappropriateness.
This not only reduced Lao Zhu's burden, but also exercised Zhu Biao.
Mao Xiang walked in from outside the palace gate with a stern expression, and immediately knelt down with his fists clasped in front of the emperor.
"I pay my respects to the Emperor."
"What happened?" Lao Zhu changed his cheerful tone when talking with Zhu Biao just now, and his face suddenly darkened.
Since a series of events happened, Mao Xiang knew that his status in the emperor's heart had declined, so he acted much more low-key and cautiously than before.
Lao Zhu was also quite satisfied with Mao Xiang's cautious words and deeds. He also knew that Mao Xiang would not have been so reckless in asking for permission if something big had not happened.
Seeing that only the emperor and the prince were present, Mao Xiang immediately said without hesitation: "I investigated and learned that the failed scholars have been colluding with each other in the past few days."
"What do they want to do?" Lao Zhu looked cold and stern. He was extremely disgusted with things like gatherings and making trouble.
Mao Xiang paused for two breaths before replying bluntly: "The students who failed the examination all said that the candidates for the examination were all from the south, and there was not a single scholar from the north. They felt that Mr. Liu's admission was unfair, and they were about to go to Chengtianmen Report to the outside world."
"What!" When he heard that the scholar was preparing to go outside the palace to file a petition, Lao Zhu suddenly stood up with his eyes widened. The anger in my heart suddenly surged one after another, like an active volcano that could erupt at any time.
At this time, a eunuch appeared from outside the palace and looked around. When the old eunuch saw it, he went to ask what was going on.
But Lao Zhu shouted directly: "Come in and say, what's the matter?"
The eunuch looked pale and hurriedly ran in and knelt down, "Back to the emperor, there are scholars outside the Chengtian Gate, shouting that Mr. Liu's trial will be unfair, they, they want to file a lawsuit..."
Although the eunuch is not very old, he is able to hang around in this palace and his knowledge is certainly extraordinary. Those who are short-sighted and ignorant will have been ostracized and killed long ago. He knew very well the seriousness of the matter of the scholars joining together to complain, so he was so afraid that he was trembling all over even when he spoke. For fear of being unlucky, the emperor would drag him out and beat him to death now.
Lao Zhu's expression kept changing. As he had guessed, these scholars were really newborn calves not afraid of tigers, and they really came to complain.
More and more failed scholars gathered outside Chengtianmen. In less than half a day, many officials in the capital got the news of such a big movement.
Naturally, the Imperial Academy students did not complain. The overall level of scholars in the south was already higher than that in the north. This was reflected in all previous joint examinations. In every examination in the past, there were more scholars from the south than from high schools, but it was not like the current subject, there was not even a single student from the north.
"Hu Jijiu, will this failed student cause any trouble if he makes such a fuss?" a student asked Hu Yuan.
Hu Yuannai is the director of the Imperial College, a fourth-rank official. Ever since Li Wenzhong passed away, Lao Zhu didn't know why he hadn't arranged for anyone to serve as a wine sacrificer. And Hu Yuan became the person with the highest official position in the Imperial College. Everyone thought that it was only a matter of time before Hu Yuan took over as the imperial minister, and he himself thought so.
Therefore, within the Imperial Academy, scholars all like to call Hu Yuan with sacrificial wine, and he also likes to be called so.
"Let's make a fuss. It might be a good thing to make a fuss." Hu Yuan said meaningfully as he looked at the worried scholars who had just passed the Jinshi examination.
"Sir, there are many people in our Imperial College who have passed the exam. If there are still these failed scholars who make trouble. If the fire comes to the Imperial College, then..." The scholar is still a little worried.
Hu Yuan looked like an old god was present, and took a sip of tea without any panic. This tea was far inferior to what he drank in the East Palace. He frowned after taking a sip of the tea, but the tea in the Imperial Academy was like this, and he had nothing to do about it.
He was in a bad mood, so he naturally spoke with a bit of anger, "What are you afraid of? Most of the people in the high school this time are from the academy. Even if we want to draw fire on ourselves, we must burn them first."
When the academy was mentioned, everyone in the Imperial College looked indignant. The performance of the academy scholar this time really shocked everyone in the Imperial College.
It's just that there are a lot of people in the high school. The key is that the top three are all monopolized by the academy, which makes the scholars of the Imperial College extremely uncomfortable. Even among the top thirty, there are only two people from the Imperial Academy, while the others are all academicians.
"Your Majesty, what you said is very true." After being reminded by Hu Yuan, everyone realized that this time was different from the past.
In the past, the Imperial High School had the largest number of students in each subject, but this time it became an academy. Some people even secretly thought that they wished those failed scholars would make the matter bigger and drag the academy into trouble.
For two consecutive days, the failed scholars gathered outside Chengtian Gate, as if they would not leave until they were given an explanation.
Seeing that things were getting worse, Lao Zhu had no choice but to find Liu Sanwu.
Liu Sanwu, a Hanlin bachelor, is now seventy-five years old. His beard and hair are all white, but his face is upright and his heart is magnanimous.
As soon as he entered the palace, he knelt down to Lao Zhu and said, "Your Majesty, Liu Sanwu, pays homage to the Emperor."
When Lao Zhu was raging, even though Liu Sanwu was old, he didn't let him get up without courtesy, let alone sit down. Instead, he directly asked in a deep voice: "Liu Sanwu, some scholars are now accusing you of favoring the southern scholars and targeting the northern scholars, so much so that all the northern scholars were deposed in the Ding Mao Branch Examination. But if you have this matter, you should take it seriously. "
When Liu Sanwu heard this, he did not panic or be afraid. Instead, he looked up at the emperor with a calm face and said: "I judge the papers based on talent and learning, and there is no partiality. As for why all the northern scholars were deposed... ...I can only say that their talent and learning are indeed not as good as those in high school."
Liu Sanwu has an upright temperament and will never mince words about personal matters, and Lao Zhu also knows that he is open-minded.
Therefore, Lao Zhu did not think about punishing him or anything, but just called him to inquire. Seeing that Liu Sanwu said frankly that he was not partial, Lao Zhu waved Liu Sanwu to leave.
But things didn't end like that, but got worse. The failed northern scholars gathered at Chengtianmen and many scholars complained about their injustices in the street, and even stopped the official's sedan chair to petition for complaint.
Therefore, for a time, various rumors were flying in the streets and alleys of the capital. Some said that Liu Sanwu had received money, and some said that he engaged in "regional discrimination." Liu Sanwu couldn't explain all the theories.
Lao Zhu was so angry that he originally wanted to let the matter cool down over time so that he could just expose it. However, he did not expect that at this moment, more than a dozen supervisory censors would request a thorough investigation into the matter.
When the news spread, the government and the public were shocked.
Even the attendants Wen Guangfeng and others suspected that Ding Maoke seemed to have something hidden this time.
Lao Zhu was immediately angry and immediately issued an order: Wen Guangfeng and other twelve people would re-grade the papers. Among the failed papers, each person would read ten more papers and recruit northerners to become officials.
Lao Zhu's idea was that since the northern scholars were dissatisfied, he could simply increase the number of Jinshi scholars and allocate some places to northern scholars to calm the matter down.
But I don’t know if Wen Guangfeng and others did not understand what Lao Zhu meant, or they were just being smart. After several days of review, they finally came to a conclusion and reported it to Lao Zhu, which once again left Lao Zhu stunned.
Wen Guangfeng and others actually said: After review, the examination papers submitted by northern scholars were poor in arts and science, and contained taboo words. Judging from the candidates' level, the 300 people admitted were all admitted based on their talent and learning, and there were no problems.
When Lao Zhu heard the news, he looked at Wen Guangfeng with murderous eyes. At this time, Lao Zhu didn't know whether Wen Guangfeng really didn't know his holy will, or whether he was deliberately provoking it.
Once the news came out, it once again caused uproar from all parties. The northern scholars who failed the examination could not accept the results of the investigation, and many northern officials in the DPRK and China even criticized it, demanding that capable officials be re-selected, the examination papers be re-examined, and all officials involved were strictly investigated.
Others directly complained: Liu Sanwu secretly ordered Wen Guangfeng and others to deliberately involve themselves in the case.
Things got so out of hand that Lao Zhudu could only put Liu Sanwu in jail first to calm down some of the raging criticism.
But simply putting Liu Sanwu in jail would obviously not resolve the matter. To resolve this matter, efforts from all parties are still needed.
On the one hand, Lao Zhu naturally knew that the matter was not as rumored to the outside world, and Liu Sanwu secretly asked Wen Guangfeng and others to get involved in the case. Lao Zhu has read all the test papers. The test papers of northern scholars are indeed not as good as those of southern scholars, and the gap is still very big. The investigation conclusion of Wen Guangfeng and others is actually not problematic. On the contrary, it has protected the face of northern scholars to a certain extent. It's a pity that the northern scholars didn't appreciate it at all, and in turn got Wen Guangfeng and others involved.
On the other hand, the person who ties the bell must also be able to untie it. As long as Liu Sanwu can stand up and admit that there are errors and omissions in the marking, and is willing to add some northern scholars, then Lao Zhu can smooth over the matter.
