The emperor wanted his own team so much. The more he disliked these old ministers, the more urgent he became.
The appointment of Wei Congxi as Zhongshu was less than ten days before the dismissal of Xie Minhong from the post of right counselor of Zhongshu. Immediately afterwards, Zhao Tuo transferred Xu Baozhong, who was outstanding in calligraphy, to the cabinet as Hanlin's secretary to prepare the imperial edict.
As a result, Wei Congxi, Xu Baozhong, and Li Zhu, the officials who appeared most often around him, all became the new Jinshi of this year.
When his eldest son was in high school, Li Yan set off firecrackers in front of his house for three consecutive days and threw out 40 pounds of wedding money as a congratulation.
The newly appointed magistrate Gao Ju personally went to Li Yan's home to congratulate him and had a banquet.
On the way back, he saw the deserted front door of the long house, and he said: "If Li Yan is seeking personal gain and forgetting the righteousness, her vision is only this."
Li Su Lai refused to come back in Nanchang. In fact, he had no shame to come back.
His brother's high school was both inspiration and pressure for Li Dan. He focused more on his articles and often discussed the scriptures and meanings with Lou Liang until it was time to light the lamp.
Lou Liang smiled and told him that he was good at teaching classics and meanings, but he was not good at laws, policies, and poetry. Especially in poetry, he even considered himself no better than his students. But Li Dan has been unable to find a more suitable gentleman and is very worried about this.
At this moment, Liu Xi came to Li Dan excitedly. This guy refused to leave, so Li Dan had no choice but to let him go. Unexpectedly, he "accidentally met" a learned gentleman in Sihaiju, who specially recommended him to Li Dan for a review.
At first glance, Li Dan recognized him as the old man who came out to persuade Zhao Laosan when Tianxianglou jumped and punched him.
"Where did Mr. Xiang go this time? I can't find you anywhere." After Li Dan saluted, he helped the old man into the house and sat down and asked.
"My friend invited me to go north. When I came back, the story of Yu Gansaburo was spread everywhere. It turned out to be you. It seems that we are really destined!" The old man said with a smile, stroking his beard.
Li Dan told the truth that he was currently preparing for the Qiu Wei exam. The old man asked him a few questions and asked him to answer them. He nodded and said, "Young Master Jingyi is pretty good. It can be seen that he has been taught by famous teachers."
"But I am aiming at the Spring Palace Competition, and strategy analysis and judgment are not what Mr. Lou is good at."
"Haha, it doesn't matter. I have quite a lot of experience in these two items. I just wonder if you would like to learn from me, sir?"
Li Dan was overjoyed at first. He knew from the few words the old man said last time that Zhao Xuan bowed his head and admitted his mistake that he had some ability. But then he became confused and hurriedly clasped his fists and said: "Dan was negligent. You don't know that the elders have high names?"
The old man laughed, and no longer concealed anything, and said: "I am Zeng Qun of Shu County. My name is Guangyan and my name is Qiong Lin. I was originally Zeng Que, the great scholar of Wenxin Pavilion..."
Li Dan stayed there, looking at the old man in front of him with his mouth open. Zeng Que, the imperial master of two generations. One of the auxiliary ministers when Emperor Renzong died.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, he resigned and retired from the world. At the end of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, he came back to serve as a bachelor and the first president after the establishment of Huiwen Academy. After Xuanzong's death, he was designated by the Empress Dowager as Zuo Shuzi of the East Palace. After the emperor ascended the throne, he was promoted to Taifu.
In the sixth year of Jingwu's reign, he retired again. As a gift to the Grand Master, he was given three thousand taels of gold and made the mountain chief of Huainan Academy. He is not at a "knowledgeable" level when it comes to policy analysis and judgments. He is simply proficient!
"The common people have met the Grand Master!" Li Dan had no choice but to bow deeply and bow to him.
"Master, why are you doing this? Please get up!" Zeng Qun supported his elbow and said, "My identity should not be made public. Master, please remember that I am Zeng Qun, not a grand master."
"yes."
"Zeng was entrusted by His Majesty to come to Yuqian to teach you. Master, are you willing?"
What's not to like about this? but……. "The common people are ordinary people. How dare Mr. Lao Dong teach him personally?"
"It is my lifelong wish to educate talents for the country."
After hearing this, Li Dan had no choice but to ask Zeng Qun to come back to his seat, kowtow and serve tea, complete the master's etiquette, and he and the little emperor became junior fellow disciples in the same sect. Zeng Qun gave him one policy review and one judgment every day, and then asked him to write one each.
A month later, when Lou Liang read his article again, he found that he had improved by leaps and bounds. After asking about it, he learned about Zeng Qun's existence. Lou prepared a gift and went to visit. When he left, he was convinced. He went to Li Dan and said:
"With Mr. Zeng here, not to mention the promotion of people, I am afraid that a person with a Jinshi background will not be able to escape.
In the summer, the main examination was on classics and meanings. Li Dan successfully obtained the title of scholar, and his family was very happy. Then they arranged for Mao Zaidi to follow him to Nanchang to take the examination for the civil servants.
In fact, this is not difficult, because according to the rules of this dynasty, those who have received honorary titles can get an extra grade, just like the extra points for outstanding students in the college entrance examination in previous lives. As long as Li Dan gets average grades, he has a high probability of being selected as a Gongsheng student.
There is only no policy theory in this exam. The rest is the same as the provincial exam and can be regarded as a small preliminary exam.
After Jiangxi Gongyuan issued the questions, the exam took three days. But the third session is actually only half a day. In addition to writing poems based on the topic, there will also be tests on rhyme, composition, and comments on the artistic conception of ancient poems.
Li Dan originally thought about whether to visit Shi Hao after the exam, but he felt it was not appropriate, so he held back. Zhao Chongbi was still in charge in Nancheng and was not in Nanchang at the moment. Li Dan only sent Mao Zaidi to his house to deliver the post and some gifts.
The Lou family was greatly weakened by the last internal purge. Many generals left, which led to the smooth recovery of Nancheng by the army. When Lou Shiyong fled to the mountains, only a few thousand people were left with him. It is said that Zhao Chongbi was discussing recruitment matters with him.
Li Dan wanted to stop it. He was a little bit worried about Lou Shiming's tragic death, but he now had no official position and was just waiting to be admitted as a student. Thinking of this, he could only let go of his heart with a sigh.
The most inexplicable thing is that for some reason, Liu Xi was not in a hurry to return to Beijing to resume his duties after Li Dan resigned. He walked around and played quite freely every day, and even followed him to Nanchang.
You said that if Li Dan, a candidate, is found to be always accompanied by a spy, what will happen?
Of course, there are not no eunuchs in his family now. After the siege of Shangrao was relieved, the Fengning County King sent a bodyguard to send two eunuchs and four maids again, saying that they were to serve Ning'er and Huo'er.
But there is no reason why I should be with such a person by my side! "Don't you need to return to Beijing to recover?" Li Dan asked Liu Xi.
"Are you so anxious to send us away?" Liu Xi curled his lips: "We have no relatives in Beijing, and we don't have any important matters to deal with. How can we have fun with Sir Alex when we go back?"
"Yeah, no one cares about you, and there are people who pay for your room, meals, and meals. It's so beautiful!" Li Dan glared, and Liu Xi knew it was a joke, so he wasn't annoyed and chuckled.
He, Li Dan, now lives in the backyard of "Sihaiju". No one knows that this is his property, as if he really pays rent.
Fortunately, there is also King Peng in this city. It is not unusual for a powerful eunuch to appear in the city occasionally. Li Dan asked him to stay quiet. Anyway, there are people from the information office following him. The rest will just take its course.
Unexpectedly, four days after the third exam, Li Dan himself was arrested.
Two low-level officials from the Provincial Department of Punishment came and looked at him with surprise for a long time, then took out a file and asked him to have his fingerprints printed.
Li Dan saw the sneer, but the charges were still the same, with only two new charges: colluding with bandits and abducting palace maids.
Without saying a word, he pressed the button and then asked: "Do you want to be put in shackles? This is not a small crime!"
The two of them smiled bitterly: "Sir, I must say that your martial arts skills are very strong, but you are not considered to be at this level. You have both honors and fame, and there is no reason why you should be tortured without being convicted. Please get on the carriage, and I will follow you." That’s it.”
"There is also a carriage, is it true?" Li Dan went out and saw that there was indeed a carriage with curtains parked. If it weren't for a few government officials nearby, he would have thought it was really used to pick up guests.
"Everyone, please wait a moment. Can I give instructions to the book boy?" Li Dan asked. The officials looked at each other and nodded.
Li Dan called Mao Zaidi: "You wait here for Mr. Liu to come back. Whether you stay in Nanchang or go back to Yugan, please follow his instructions." Mao Zaidi understood and immediately agreed.
Liu Xi came back from the street humming a little tune and was frightened when Mao Zaidi said it.
This is not bad, the emperor asked himself to follow this young man closely, and everything must be recorded and reported. Now that the good man is in the cell, how can he follow him?
"Who can't get along with Li Sanlang? Don't you want us to live a comfortable life for two days?" He jumped up anxiously and told Mao Zaidi to wait and stay still while he hurriedly went to the street to find someone to discuss.
In fact, Mao Zaidi didn't need to move at all. The hidden line of the Information Office Sihaiju and the personnel deployed around the Security Office had already reported the news when Li Dan was taken away. The people who went back to report the news must have been on the passenger ship now. In the cabin, the news will arrive at Baimapo in the evening.
Liu Xi has his own channels. He first found Cai Du, the commander of the Yilong Guard in Nanchang, who was publicly identified as the arrester of the Hongdu County government office, and then learned through him the details of Li Dan's detention, before and after the case, ownership, and informant.
"What, his own uncle reported it?" The news Cai Du brought back made Liu Xi's jaw almost drop to the ground: "Why?"
"Well, his uncle fled to Nanchang before the war, and Li Sanlang confiscated his family property to use as military expenses, so there was a grudge. Before that, Li Su was jumping up and down in Nanchang, shouting about injustice. Everyone in our government knows this."
After Cai Du finished speaking, he comforted him: "Don't worry, Chief Superintendent, there is no danger at the moment. We are just detained awaiting trial. Moreover, he has merit and rank, and he is not locked in a cell. He is now being held in a separate small courtyard behind the government office." "
"Then when will the trial be held?"
"We don't know about this at the moment. We need to continue to learn more about it from the two channels of the inspection department and the government office."
Liu Xi put his hands on his hips and thought fiercely for a while, then said: "This is too sudden. I have to report to Your Majesty immediately. Find paper and pen!" After he finished writing the memorial and sealed it and handed it to Cai Du, he muttered again before leaving the house. : "Weird!"
"What did you say?" Cai Du didn't hear clearly.
"I said it's weird, this is not right." Liu Xi turned around: "Then Li Su didn't sue his nephew's property, but he made such nonsense? If it hadn't been for the previous impeachment case, but now it seems that it is Coherent general.
Some people want to say that the last impeachment was also right, but it just shows that the two events before and after are related! "
"You mean... someone deliberately manipulated Li Su? But... why?" Cai Du frowned:
"It's fair to say that Li Dan was an official before, and someone complained because he was jealous that he was promoted too quickly. But now he is just an official, why should we sue him, and what is the purpose?"
"He is a talent that His Majesty wants to cultivate." Liu Xi replied quietly: "Otherwise, why do you think you would send our family to him? Otherwise, why would you arrange for Grand Master Zeng to accept him as a student?
Oh, by the way, why are there two of your colleagues in Yugan? I guess they'll be here tomorrow if we hurry. "
A layer of sweat broke out on Cai Du's head. He knew that someone in Nanchang City must have touched the dragon scales.
He swallowed hard and decided to seize this golden opportunity no matter what! "I understand, if you need the Winged Dragon Guard to do anything, I'm waiting for the eunuch's instructions at any time!"
Liu Xi hoped that Yilongwei would do something simple and immediately find out who was pushing Li Su to come forward, who was in charge of the case in the Inspectorate Department, and the attitudes of Chief Envoy Shi Hao and Inspector Lin Zhongtai.
At this time, Liu Xi did not know that the lights in the Chief Envoy's Yamen were brightly lit, and all the adults had their own opinions on Li Dan's detention. After Shi Hao vaguely expressed his agreement to the temporary detention measure, everyone left unhappy.
After learning about this situation, Cai Du rushed into Sihaiju early the next morning and went to Liu Xi's door to report. Only then did he learn the details of what happened last night.
Some people died, but not completely...
