The end of the first month.
Xu Zengshou suddenly came to the Changping Marquis Mansion in a hurry.
"Senior brother, little sister, little sister is missing!"
"What's going on?" Yang Xuan asked with a frown.
"I don't know, it just disappeared suddenly." Xu Zengshou replied.
"Can you leave any clues?" Yang Xuan asked.
"Yes, my little sister left a letter." Xu Zengshou said quickly.
"Where?"
"I didn't bring it with me at the house."
"Let's go to the Duke of Wei's mansion."
Yang Xuan took the lead, and Xu Zengshou followed closely behind him.
Soon the two came to the Duke of Wei's mansion.
Yang Xuan also saw the letter left by his junior sister.
The letter was written to the Xu family.
The main thing is that she will go to a place where no one can find her, so that no one can look for her.
"Are there any other clues?" Yang Xuan put down the letter and looked at everyone.
"My little sister's room is missing a golden and jade rocker."
"Oh, by the way, there is also a longevity lock."
"There is also one missing horse in the house." Xu Huizu replied.
"What kind of longevity lock is it?" Yang Xuan looked at Xu Huizu to confirm his guess.
"The gold one, the one I carried with me when I was a kid."
"It seems that you gave it to her, senior brother." Xu Huizu thought for a while and said.
"I understand." Yang Xuan nodded and fell into silence.
He remembered the longevity lock.
In the thirteenth year of Hongwu's reign, when he was looking for someone to make a longevity lock, he met an envoy from the Champa Kingdom in Confucius Temple.
It was also because of this incident that Lao Zhu used the topic to his advantage and set off the ten-year Hu Weiyong case.
At this time, Yang Xuan also understood.
It turns out that the junior sister invited me out for a walk that day to say goodbye to me!
She didn't want to embarrass herself, nor did she want her own marriage to turn into a political marriage.
So I chose to leave without saying goodbye.
She is a strong woman and an independent woman.
Her soul is free.
In this way, she fought against the constraints placed on women in this era.
Yang Xuan left the Duke of Wei's mansion, and he was in a very complicated mood now.
There is bitterness, sadness, and an inexplicable emotion brewing in my heart.
Returning to the Marquis Mansion in Changping, An Qing was worried.
Yang Xuan took the initiative to explain: "Little junior sister ran away from home, no one knows where she went."
"No clues?" An Qing asked.
"I only took away a few souvenirs, and no other clues." Yang Xuan shook his head.
"We have to look for it!" An Qing said.
"I have arranged for people to look for him, and Huizu has also arranged for people to look for him."
"I'm afraid I can't find it!" Yang Xuan sighed.
An Qing didn't answer, she didn't know what to say.
…
Xu Miaojin's departure had been planned for a long time. Yang Xuan and the Xu family searched for her for a month but could not find her.
But many years later, Yang Xuan saw his junior sister again in a nunnery.
…
At the end of February, Yang Xuan had to stop looking for his junior sister.
Because the results of the February exams came out, which was different from the happy endings of previous years.
This year, Lao Zhu went into a rage and sent all the examiners to jail.
The main reason is that all the fifty-one students admitted this year are from the south. (Data source Bai.du.Encyclopedia.ke)
Seeing this, all the northern students ran outside the palace gate, shouting that there was something shady about the imperial examination, and wanted the court to give them justice.
Fengtian Temple.
Lao Zhu sat on the dragon chair and flipped through the examination papers for the imperial examination. The sound of the papers being turned over echoed throughout the hall.
The officials below were frightened and did not dare to express their anger.
The examiners Liu Sanwu, Bai Xintiao and others knelt in the center of the hall, not daring to say a word even if their knees hurt.
It's so quiet that it's scary.
At this time, Lao Zhu stood up from the dragon chair and walked to the imperial steps.
The officials standing at the front could even feel the strong sense of oppression on Lao Zhu at this moment.
Lao Zhu threw all the test papers out and angrily asked Liu Sanwu and Bai Xintuan:
"Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Enke may have recruited scholars many times."
"There have been no problems."
"But this time, you two actually got me to this point."
"Fifty-one students, all from the south."
"There are no students north of the Huaihe River."
"Does it mean that our Ming Dynasty only has half of the world?"
Having said this, Lao Zhu stopped, paused, and then continued:
"There is something we have never wanted to ask."
"But now, we have to ask."
"Liu Sanwu, Bai Xintai."
"I'm here!" The two responded with their hands raised.
Lao Zhu, who was above the royal steps, looked at the two of them, with a murderous intent flashing deep in his eyes.
"You two, one is Director Enke, and the other is the chief examiner of the exam."
"Have you two engaged in any malpractice for personal gain?"
"Your Majesty, we will never practice favoritism or malpractice. This time, we will only select scholars based on their articles."
"The marking officer cannot see the candidate's age, origin, place of origin, etc."
"I beg you, Your Majesty, to appoint important ministers to conduct a strict investigation. If any fraud is discovered."
"I will kill myself immediately to apologize."
Bai Xintiao said solemnly, and then kowtowed.
"I, Liu Sanwu, have never committed any fraud."
"And I am willing to use my own head to vouch for the examiners. The examiners have committed fraud."
"I am also willing to kill myself to apologize!"
After Liu Sanwu finished speaking, he also kowtowed.
Lao Zhu ignored them and said:
"The trouble has already occurred. The top priority is now."
"It's how the court deals with the aftermath."
"Your Majesty, when I entered the palace, I saw many students gathering in taverns, teahouses, and inns on the road."
"It's famous there."
"I criticize Enke for unfair selection of scholars."
"To maintain the dignity of the court."
"I recommend that they be arrested and imprisoned immediately to prevent the situation from escalating."
At this time, Zhang Xin, Lao Zhu's attendant, stood up and said.
"Your Majesty, I think it is absolutely impossible." Seeing this, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel quickly stood up.
"When the imperial court recruits scholars, it is to show kindness to the students in the world."
"If it provokes a murder, it will be detrimental to the dignity of the court!"
"I suggest that we send someone to provide comfort quickly."
"They will be locked up in an inn and will not be allowed to return home for the time being."
"Don't let it come into contact with the people, so as not to spread false rumors!"
Seeing this, Zhang Xin quickly said:
"Your Majesty, for this big test, there are hundreds of people from all over the country, all of whom are talented people from all provinces."
"Why did these fifty-one people become officials and not the other fifty-one people?"
"Why are all those who join the officialdom students from Jiangnan?"
"Chen Wan can't believe this is an accident."
"I think there must be some drawbacks to this."
"Your Majesty, please take a closer look!"
Zhang Xin bowed his hands and bowed.
Subsequently, officials from the Six Ministries, the Supervisory Office, the Hanlin Academy and other officials respectively supported the two views.
Some people even suggested publishing the exam papers so that students can judge for themselves.
However, this proposal was quickly refuted, because the imperial examination was the exclusive power of the imperial court and should not be left to the students.
What's more, a gentleman respects himself and a scholar despises each other. Who would admit that he is inferior to others?
Moreover, the students who failed the exam are now full of grievances, so how can they judge objectively.
Then there was a lot of noise in Fengtian Hall.
Lao Zhu's face turned dark when he heard this.
Stopped in a deep voice: "That's enough!"
In an instant, all the officials fell silent.
"What a noise, you guys!"
"What's wrong?"
"You want to overthrow Fengtian Temple, don't you?"
"We finally figured it out."
"When it comes to fighting a dispute, we must not only make a clear decision, but we must also resolve it quickly."
"Because those students are making a lot of noise outside."
"The common people are also waiting eagerly!"
Speaking of this, Lao Zhu paused.
He put his hands behind his back and continued:
"The ministers of the six ministries and three houses are all here today."
"You are all top scholars!"
"These exam papers are not allowed to be shown to those students, but you can read them."
"Listen!"
"These test papers still have to cover names, ages, and places of origin."
"Bring them all to Fengtian Palace for us!"
"You all take turns reading."
"After watching it, no one is allowed to go to court. I will prepare food for you!"
"According to the order!"
"After reading it, please give us your thoughts after reading it."
"We would like to see it."
"Which are the best papers you have chosen?"
"In this way, we can roughly judge whether the selection of soldiers is fair or not!"
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Later, Lao Zhu ordered Zhang Xin and other twelve people to set up an "investigation team", each of whom selected ten papers from the failed examination papers, and recruited northern students to join the officialdom.
As for Liu Sanwu and others, they were first detained in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.
After arranging these, Lao Zhu turned around and left directly, heading to the side hall to wait.
By the way, he also took Yang Xuan away.
…
