Zhang Zhou originally thought that he would pick out a few key things to talk to Zhu Youtang and then he would be able to leave.
As a result, Zhu Youtang talked to him about the military affairs in the northwest, and it was like pouring out bitter water when he talked about it. From the military affairs in the northwest to the concept of governance, and then from the concept of governance to the prince's education, and then from the prince's education to his own childhood……
Seeing the sky gradually darkening.
Zhang Zhou felt as if he had entered a wolf's den.
The thought of going home to practice gymnastics in the evening seemed to be delayed.
"Hold the lantern." Zhu Youtang noticed that the sky was a little dark, so he said something, and then someone lit the candlesticks in the Qianqing Palace, hung up the lanterns, and the palace was bright.
"Bingkuan, you need to go see the Empress Dowager later. She keeps mentioning that she wants to see you. But after you go, be careful what you say. The Empress Dowager may mention some...not good things to you." Zhu Youtang probably also knew that the Queen Mother Zhou might tell Zhang Zhou about his old sesame seeds and rotten millet, and even ask Zhang Zhou to persuade him to take a concubine.
Therefore, Zhu Youtang felt that it was necessary to make it clear to Zhang Zhou.
"Yes." Zhang Zhou said, "Your Majesty, can I resign?"
Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "Why are you leaving in such a hurry? You have nothing else to talk about?"
Zhang Zhou said: "I do have one."
"Look, if I don't ask you and I won't tell you, why are there so many taboos between monarchs and ministers? Let's talk." Zhu Youtang looked very polite.
Zhang Zhouxin said, if you are an emperor, you can say that to someone in a higher position.
If I, a minister, said this to you, it would be disrespectful.
Zhang Zhou then said seriously: "Your Majesty, since the second game, when I left the Gongyuan, I heard rumors about the vend questions. After the third game of policy questions, these rumors became more and more intense. I thought for a moment, probably The questions in this general examination, especially the questions in the second and third exams, are a bit more difficult. Although this shows the strength of the examiners, from the perspective of talent selection, they may not be the best questions."
"Yes." Zhu Youtang nodded, then looked at Xiao Jing aside and said, "Has Dongchang received any news?"
Xiao Jing hurriedly said: "Yes. There are some... rumors that are not good for Bachelor Cheng. In fact, they have been there since before the exam. They also involve... a candidate named Xu Jing. It is said that this person is from Jiangnan. He is a very wealthy person and always looks great wherever he goes. He once went out to brag about visiting Master Cheng. It is said that he even asked people about questions from the National Examination... But after checking, the so-called vend questions were not from this National Examination. topic."
"Xu Jing?"
Zhu Youtang frowned.
He had no prejudice against these ordinary scholars, but after hearing what Xiao Jing said, Xu Jing was so high-profile, was this stupidity or seeking death?
Didn’t you know that you should avoid this kind of thing before taking the test? You still asked about the question, and you still said it was a question?
It’s true that stupid people appear every year!
Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "I have also heard of this person. It is said that as soon as he arrived in the capital, he and Tang Bohu, Yayuan Tangyin who was taking the Jiangnan Provincial Examination, went to visit Bachelor Cheng."
Zhu Youtang suddenly thought of something and nodded: "I remember, you and that man named Tang Bohu seem to have a bet, saying that if he lags behind you in the examination, he will join the same division as you. Door. Is this the case?"
Zhang Zhou thought to himself, as expected, the emperor is very concerned about my affairs.
From the almost vindictive bet with Xu Han to the emotional dispute with Tang Yin, the emperor was able to detect it, which also shows that Dongchang's work efficiency is not bad.
"That's what happened." Zhang Zhou said.
Zhu Youtang nodded: "Bingkuan, in fact, I have said before that I did not consider the matter of letting Cheng Minzheng be the examiner. Now that you have raised it, what suggestions do you have?"
Zhang Zhou said: "Actually, I just want to mention this matter so that His Majesty can be prepared. Perhaps the Yushi Yanguan will use this matter to challenge Bachelor Cheng recently, and as a candidate for this examination, I may also It will be involved in the topic, so it’s not appropriate to say too much.”
"Haha, how could you be involved in this? Didn't you guess that there might be something like this a long time ago and be so cautious that you haven't even seen Cheng Minzheng?"
Zhu Youtang smiled.
He now realizes Zhang Zhou's cleverness.
At the beginning, Zhu Youtang tried his best to get Cheng Minzheng to cultivate Zhang Zhou's knowledge. After all, in Zhu Youtang's view, looking at the entire court, the most knowledgeable person was Cheng Minzheng.
It was Zhang Zhou who took the initiative to decline, indicating that this move might be criticized, so the matter was dropped.
Now things are starting to become clear... If Cheng Minzheng was really involved in the case, and Zhang Zhou didn't shy away from being Cheng Minzheng's student at that time, with Zhang Zhou's high profile, he would be attacked by a group of people, and it would be difficult to clean himself up. suspicion.
Zhang Zhouyi said with a depressed look on his face: "Your Majesty, I don't want to get involved. I didn't intend to have any personal relationship with Bachelor Cheng from the beginning, but... the previous selection for the Imperial Academy to pay tribute was still chosen by Bachelor Cheng. And then there's the matter. ... As Jiangnan Jieyuan, I have done some high-profile things in the capital before, but I am afraid that... others will not think that I am truly talented and knowledgeable, so... I am embarrassed to say it."
Zhu Youtang just laughed when he heard this.
Dai Yi next to him said: "Mr. Zhang, you are worrying too much. Those scholars can't be unreasonable after all, right?"
Hey.
Zhang Zhou wanted to say, you are really right.
The biggest characteristic of those scholars who have the right to speak is that they are unreasonable in their stance. Strictly speaking, you, Dai Yi, are not considered scholars. With your knowledge, it would be difficult for you to pass the exam to become a scholar. How can you understand the mentality of those scholars?
"Bingkuan, if you have any opinion, just say it."
Zhu Youtang was very sincere and wanted to hear Zhang Zhou's opinion on this matter.
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, that's what I think. Just looking at whether Bachelor Cheng was involved in the vendetta, I think there is no evidence whether he was involved or not."
"Um."
Zhu Youtang nodded.
He agrees with this.
There has been a rumor about Cheng Minzheng's political scandal before. The biggest problem is not that it exists or not, but that it is difficult to prove.
It was said that there was, and the imperial court helped the scholars look for evidence, but they couldn't find it.
Saying no, it would be difficult for Cheng Minzheng to prove his innocence. Others would insist on it and let the court investigate... The court could not help Cheng Minzheng to clear his name.
Zhang Zhou continued: "If there is no evidence, the scholars will attack Scholar Cheng based on his character."
"Character? Is there something wrong with Cheng Minzheng's character?" Zhu Youtang didn't quite understand. "In recent years, Cheng Minzheng has not been in power for much time, and I have had less contact with him. But regardless of his talent or learning, , It’s still a person’s self-cultivation, and his bad deeds should not be easily found out.”
Zhang Zhou wanted to say, Your Majesty, you still have too much confidence in the man named Cheng.
Or.
You are confident now, but when public opinion turns around and three people become tigers, you are afraid that even you will not be so sure that Cheng Minzheng is a good person.
In particular, Cheng Minzheng's final conclusion in the case was that "if you only want to get money, you will not avoid suspicion, you will tarnish the balance of society, and you will discuss everything." This is based on the fact that Xu Jing once bribed Cheng Minzheng with gold coins, but later Xu Jing and Cheng Minzheng also He said that the so-called gold coin asking for essays and questions about questions that might be asked in the exams were because he was "afraid of being tortured, so he falsely accused himself." It means that he surrendered because of severe torture.
Later, the crime that Xu Jing and Tang Yin were convicted of was not bribery or flattery, but "seeking advancement through good luck".
In short, there is no evidence to prove it, and we take advantage of your negligence in doing things. We will hit each other fifty times and close the case.
The purpose is only to calm public opinion as soon as possible.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Your Majesty, it doesn't matter whether there are any bad deeds. The difficulty lies in how to prove that there are no bad deeds!"
Zhu Youtang frowned, as if he didn't understand.
Dai Yi on the side asked for the emperor: "Are there any bad deeds that... need to be proved?"
Zhang Zhou smiled.
In other times, there is really no need to prove whether a person has bad deeds or not, but the problem is that when someone deliberately throws dirty water on you, you have to prove that you are clean... which is difficult.
When being bombarded by public opinion, proving his guilt has become "self-proven innocence", which can be imagined to be difficult.
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, Bachelor Cheng has only been back for a year, but after Ying Chunwei's candidates arrived in Beijing, many people came to visit, and he didn't seem to shy away from meeting him. This alone would make him fall into a whirlpool and be unable to extricate himself. .”
"what is your opinion?"
After all, Zhu Youtang's level is higher than that of Dai Yi and others. His understanding of Cheng Minzheng will naturally have something in common with Zhang Zhou.
Cheng Minzheng did not shy away from meeting candidates, which was also fatal in the eyes of the emperor.
Public opinion is sometimes unprincipled. Even he, the emperor, has to issue edicts to calm public opinion, let alone Cheng Minzheng?
Zhu Youtang felt that it was his eagerness to promote Cheng Minzheng that made him the target of public criticism.
Zhang Zhou cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, is it really okay for me to give you this opinion and treat the examiner who knows how to take the exam?"
"Bingkuan, only I and the others know what your opinion is. Who will tell outsiders?" Zhu Youtang was also anxious.
After talking for so long, why are you still playing riddles?
Zhang Zhou said: "Then your Majesty, why don't you issue a decree to ask Bachelor Cheng to stop grading the papers immediately and let him avoid suspicion first. If the criticism against him from the outside continues, your Majesty has no choice but to... keep him under guard as much as possible. Don’t use torture in your apartment, as your body won’t be able to hold on.”
Zhang Zhou also did not consider the direction of completely exonerating Cheng Minzheng.
Things are about to happen, and public opinion cannot be suppressed just by trying to exonerate Cheng Minzheng.
Cheng Minzheng has too many points that can be attacked, and the most important thing is that he is not a member of the mainstream civil servant faction, and the emperor admires him very much... This will cause even his colleagues to secretly add insult to injury, once the matter is brought to the court Come, everyone will think from the bottom of their hearts that he is "guilty" and want Cheng Minzheng to prove his innocence.
Easier said than done?
Historically, Cheng Minzheng died of paralysis due to being beaten too much.
As long as this guy doesn't get tortured and gives him a way to survive, even if he suffers a little injustice, it's what he deserves to suffer. Who lets him show off his teeth and like to express himself?
Anyway, he has been in power for many years, and he has not been framed once or twice.
This old guy didn't bother to prove his innocence when he was attacked because the weather was cloudy and it didn't rain. He would rather stay at home and idle for many years...
It is more appropriate for him to go back to study than to become an official.
There may be a chance of being employed by the imperial court in the future.
(End of chapter)
