When the northern scholars dispersed from the entrance of the Imperial College, Lao Zhu felt relieved. But when he learned that they had actually blocked the gate of the academy, he suddenly became nervous again, even more nervous than when the Imperial College was blocked.
There was no way. Although Lao Zhu also valued the Imperial College, who allowed his sons to be in the academy? Lao Zhu has always protected his shortcomings, so there is nothing wrong with paying more attention to the academy, right?
Lao Zhu couldn't help but frown when he heard that Mao Xiang had brought Han Du to ask for an audience and wanted to reveal all the examination papers.
Before Lao Zhu could clear his mind, a eunuch came to report and Han Du asked to see him.
Lao Zhu originally wanted to send Han Du back first, but after thinking about it, he still said: "Pass."
He wanted to see what Han Du wanted to do.
After Han Du paid his respects, before he could speak, Lao Zhu said, "I already know your purpose of coming. Do you want to show the exam papers to everyone?"
Han Du smiled apologetically, nodded and said, "I do have this idea."
Lao Zhu was not angry, but after pondering for a moment, he sighed and said: "Do you think I didn't think of this method? But if the examination papers are shown to others because some students are making trouble, then where is the majesty of the court?"
"This..." Han Du didn't expect Lao Zhu to be worried about this. To be honest, Han Du didn't expect it.
After hesitating for a moment, Han Du deliberately showed a distressed look, "But the reason is still unclear. Rather than letting these scholars continue to make such a fuss, it is better to give them an ironclad proof. If they are not allowed to see everyone's test papers, let them They see where the gap is, and they will not think that they are inferior to others. Even if the court sends more officials and re-grades the papers several times, they will not agree."
Lao Zhu lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then raised his hand and waved it twice.
The old eunuch understood and waved his hands repeatedly. The palace maids and eunuchs on the left and right saw this and quickly and quietly exited the palace.
Only the old eunuch and Mao Xiang were left beside Lao Zhu.
Lao Zhu put his hands on the armrests on both sides of the dragon chair. Seeing this, the old eunuch quickly took a step forward and helped Lao Zhu up.
Lao Zhu walked down from Danbi step by step with his hands behind his back.
Han Du kept his eyes on Lao Zhu, waiting for his next words.
Lao Zhu sighed and shook his head: "The north has been governed by the Mongolian Yuan for too long, and the people there have close contacts with the Mongolian Yuan. Even though the Ming Dynasty has been established for twenty years, the north has never truly surrendered. Now there are all the northern scholars. Regarding the failure, many northern officials have written letters in recent days criticizing the examination for fraud and requesting me to send people to conduct a thorough investigation again."
Even officials were involved... Han Du's eyes flashed and he realized the seriousness of the matter.
No wonder Lao Zhu was so decisive in his killing that he had to lower his head to ask Liu Sanwu for concession. It turns out that now it is not just a matter of northern scholars, but also northern officials are involved.
Han Du suddenly realized that he could not give in. Once he gave in, he would probably be doomed.
"Has your Majesty ever heard of this?" The stern look on Han Du's face flashed away, and even Lao Zhu didn't notice it.
Lao Zhu turned his back to Han Du, so naturally he couldn't see the change on his face. But Mao Xiang stood on Dan's side from the beginning to the end, and could clearly see the changes in Han Du's expression.
This was not the first time Mao Xiang saw Han Du's current expression, but it still shocked him. Because every time Han Du has this expression, his actions will be different from his usual amiable tone and become extremely vicious.
It was Han Du's viciousness that made Mao Xiang dare not rashly attack Han Du even after he knew that it was Han Du who suggested that the emperor cancel the idea of setting up Jin Yiwei.
Because Mao Xiang was also afraid, he was not sure he could withstand Han Du's vicious attacks.
"What are you talking about?" Lao Zhu turned around and looked at Han Du curiously.
Han Du chuckled twice, and said with a cold voice: "Every time there are people who slaughter dogs for justice, there will always be scholars who betray their hearts."
The words echoed in the hall, as if they resonated with Mao Xiang's heart, making his heart tighten and his face feel cold. You must know that Han Du is also a scholar. He belittles scholars like this, does he not even care about himself? This is crazy!
Mao Xiang swallowed his saliva and quickly lowered his head, determined not to get involved in this bad thing again.
Although Lao Zhu was also shaken, he just looked at Han Du without saying a word, waiting for his next words.
Han Du did not look around, but looked at Lao Zhu calmly, "Your Majesty, scholars are those who bully the weak and fear the strong. If the court gives in easily, it will only make them think that the court is weak and can be bullied. In the future, as long as they are slightly dissatisfied, they will repeat their old tricks. Shi used gatherings of people to cause trouble to intimidate the imperial court. They even dared to cause trouble and force the palace when the Holy Emperor was in court, wouldn't they be even more unscrupulous in the future?"
Han Du just wanted to remind Lao Zhu that these scholars are not even afraid of you, the founding emperor. If you give in now, will the emperor still be looked down upon by the scholars in the future?
If Lao Zhu can not think about himself, how can he not think about his descendants?
Sure enough, after hearing this, Lao Zhu suddenly opened his eyes like bells and was about to say "How dare they do this". But suddenly I felt that Han Du was right. This was not a question of whether those scholars dared or not, but that they had already done so. Just because there is no result yet, they have taken no further action.
Lao Zhu thought for a moment, stared at Han Du and asked: "But if the scholars think that the court is unfair and the northern provinces are alienated from the court, what should we do?"
When Han Du heard Lao Zhu's words, he knew that his heart had begun to favor him. Indeed, no emperor would treat anyone who was a threat to his empire, whether they were scholars or officials.
Lao Zhu was just worried that several northern provinces and the imperial court were at odds with each other, destroying his desire to unify the world. Unifying the world is not a small matter. Since Qin Shihuang unified the world, future emperors will be laughed at by the world if they cannot unify the world.
"It is precisely because of this that I suggest that the examination papers be made public to give the world a fair judgment." Han Du sighed with emotion and persuaded Lao Zhu: "And I think that the court must be tough on this matter and cannot be reconciled with the scholars. There is no compromise at all.”
Han Du had just told Lao Zhu the reason for not being able to compromise.
Lao Zhu stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, then asked: "This will cause turmoil in several northern provinces. If there is an emergency..."
What I mean is that I am worried about rebellion in several northern provinces.
"Your Majesty, there are not many people in this world who want to be farmers. But there are many people who want to be officials in this world. I think that since these scholars and officials do not have their hearts towards the imperial court, there is no need for the imperial court to use them. They." Han Du's meaning was very clear. Since these scholars and officials were still thinking about Meng Yuan's good deeds and were submissive to the great Ming Dynasty, they could only change their people without changing their ideas. If these resentful scholars and officials are not cleared out, sooner or later they will be hidden dangers.
Han Du was so aggressive and decisive that Lao Zhu hesitated. It would be good to depose all these scholars, but in Lao Zhu's opinion, there are only a few scholars with disloyal intentions. Killing them all with one blow, Lao Zhu always feels that it is too drastic.
"What if I want to recruit some northern scholars?"
Han Du felt a sense of loss when he heard this. He didn't expect that Lao Zhu would be indecisive at times. But since Lao Zhu had this idea, Han Du couldn't change anything, so he could only sigh and continue: "The emperor's golden words, of course it is okay."
Lao Zhu saw Han Du's expression in his eyes. After a moment, he suddenly smiled and said, "Don't you want to make the test papers public? I agreed."
Um? Han Du was in a trance for a moment before he came to his senses and quickly bowed his hands in joy: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
As long as Lao Zhu agrees to make the test papers public, then his trip will not be in vain. As for Lao Zhu who wants to take some northern scholars, just take them. Even if the people who are currently passing the exam will be deposed because of this, Han Du doesn't care.
Lao Zhu insisted on this, and there was nothing he could do about it.
"Yes!" Lao Zhu nodded and thought for a moment, then said: "But after all, this examination paper cannot be easily shown to others. Let's just show it in the palace. I will allow all scholars to enter the palace once."
"Your Majesty has thought carefully, I will prepare now."
...
The news that the imperial court was preparing to make all examination papers public was like throwing a huge stone into a pond, causing waves of waves among the scholars and an uproar among the people. For several days in a row, the people were talking about the imperial court's public examination papers. It is obvious that these common people are not even qualified to participate in the examination, but they are more curious about this matter than the scholars.
However, it is a pity that the examination papers were held publicly in the palace, and no one was qualified to see them except the scholars who participated in the examination.
On the day when the examination papers were open to the public, the scholars came to the palace gate early, took the vouchers for their original contributions to the Tribute Academy, and entered one by one.
Before seeing the examination papers, not only the northern scholars were unconvinced, but also the scholars from the Imperial College and even those from other places were unconvinced.
A row of tall wooden boards were placed against the wall, covered with examination papers and articles from left to right. At the top of the list is naturally the article written by Hui Yuan Wang Yuanji, who ranked first in the Hui Yuan test. Next, of course, is the high school's Three Hundred Jinshi article. Moving on, there are articles about people who were deposed.
There is no way to sort these articles, they are just posted one after another at random.
When the scholars came here, the first thing they read was not Huiyuan's articles, but the first thing they looked for was themselves. Only after you find out that it was indeed written by you stroke by stroke, do you have time to read other people's articles.
Scholars who have graduated from high school are not bad. They can maintain their mentality and patiently read the articles of others to see how others are better than themselves and how they are worse than themselves.
But for those scholars who failed the list, what they want to know most is why their articles failed the list, while someone else's article ranked first?
