After the morning court, Chang Feng followed Li Dongyang to the cabinet duty room to discuss the investigation of the imperial examination fraud case.
Li Dongyang took a sip of tea: "Chang Tongzhi, I know that you Jin Yiwei like to stir up big cases. But this time, I hope you won't do that."
"The matter of the examination is extremely sensitive. If it gets too big, it may hurt the hearts of scholars all over the world. It will involve the foundation of the country."
At the beginning of the Hongzhi Dynasty, when Li Dongyang was still a lecturer, he saw Chang Feng calling him "Chang Ye".
Now that he has become the second assistant, his title has been changed to "Chang Tongzhi".
Naturally, this is the official way of calling them. There is nothing wrong with that.
But this feeling is like some scumbags in later generations who call others Xiaotiantian before getting married and Mrs. Niu after getting married.
Li Dongyang's intention is obviously to make the examination fraud case a major issue and make it a trivial matter.
Chang Feng did not express his position easily. He only said: "I will try my best to investigate with Cifu and find out the truth."
Li Dongyang nodded slightly: "Okay. Let's go to the Hanlin Academy first, gather a group of academic officials, and go to the Ministry of Rites to review the test papers."
Li Dongyang obviously regards himself as the leader of this investigation.
Chang Feng said: "Just follow Cifu's orders."
Let's say that after the morning court, there was a hidden house in the palace clothes bureau.
Eight eunuchs, young eunuchs, and eunuchs sat in a circle.
The windows of the house are sealed, and there is no sunlight. It looks very mysterious.
The eight people are Liu Jin, Zhang Yong, Gu Dayong, Ma Yongcheng, Qiu Ju, Luo Xiang, Wei Bin and Gao Feng.
These eight people will have a notorious but prestigious name "Eight Tigers" in the future.
But today, these eight people are not considered "tiger". The power is not as great as it will be in the future.
The purpose of establishing this small group of eunuchs was to unite against the civil servant group.
Everyone in the official circles of the capital knew that the emperor relied on civilian officials. The power of civil servants is increasing day by day.
Last autumn, the civil servant group even manipulated the censor to abolish the system of guarding eunuchs. This aroused the alarm of the eunuchs in the palace.
If the power of civil servants is allowed to expand, I am afraid that the eunuchs will become powerless and transparent in the court in the future.
So these eight people secretly formed a clique, and whenever major events occurred, they would discuss matters secretly in the Huanyi Bureau.
However, this small group of eunuchs is not monolithic.
For example, Zhang Yong looked down upon Liu Jin and Gu Dayong, thinking that they were only capable of conspiracy; Gu Dayong and Qiu Ju couldn't deal with each other; and Ma Yongcheng felt that Zhang Yongyi was a martial artist with no brains.
They put aside their own conflicts and reluctantly came together for the common interests of eunuchs.
Liu Jin cleared his throat: "As you all know, civil servants are powerful now. Given time, I am afraid that the cabinet will completely take away the power of the Supervisor of Ceremonies."
"The local governor will take away the power to guard and supervise the eunuchs."
"In the past two years, the civil servants have repeatedly launched offensives against us. Because the emperor treats the civil servants too leniently, we can only be beaten and cannot fight back."
"Today, the good opportunity to fight back has finally arrived!"
Zhang Yong took a sip of tea: "Are you talking about cheating in trials?"
Liu Jin nodded: "That's right! Although Cheng Minzheng is only a minister, because of his background, he is one of the core members of the civil service."
"It can be said that the top civil servants of the Ming Dynasty are more or less related to him."
"And this time, the person who impeached Cheng Minzheng was not one of ours. It was Qing Huachang, a foolish man in the civil service who was eager to be promoted."
"This is dog eating dog! They can't blame us."
Gu Dayong answered: "We can take advantage of their dog-eat-dog opportunity to lead ten cases in one case, and fly ten miles away in one case. Uproot the civil power."
Wei Bin smiled and said: "Hey, Eunuch Gu is so smart!"
Gao Feng said: "But the person in charge of this case is Li Dongyang. How can we intervene?"
Luo Xiang said: "Why is Eunuch Gao confused? Mr. Chang from Jinyiwei participated in the investigation. He is from our side. Many of the eight of us have received favors from him."
What Gao Feng said is true.
Chang Feng does have a close relationship with many of the Eight Tigers.
Needless to say, Liu Jin. If it weren't for Chang Feng, he might still be a humble fireman now.
Li Guang framed King Xing for his rebellion, and Zhang Yong was involved. It was Chang Feng who acted vigorously and exonerated Zhang Yong. The two also jointly followed Wang Yue as he carried the coffin during the Western Expedition.
Wei Bin was originally a subordinate of Guo Qilu, the young supervisor of Shandong River Supervision. Chang Feng followed Liu Daxia to Shandong to regulate the river, punish Guo Qilu, and ordered Wei Bin to fight back.
Afterwards, Chang Feng fulfilled his promise and took Wei Bin back to the capital and gave him to Liu Jin to take care of him.
If it weren't for Chang Feng, Wei Bin would still be pretending to be Guo Qi's daughter-in-law on the bed. How can he rise through the ranks and be promoted to the governor of the capital?
Qiu Ju had never been favored by Changfeng. But he has a good relationship with Chang Feng.
He was in charge of the imperial village on the outskirts of the city. Emperor Hongzhi once gave Changfeng one thousand acres of land in Huangzhuang.
Qiu Ju has been helping Chang Feng take care of this thousand acres of land.
Every year Chang Feng takes his family to his own farm for a spring outing and goes to Qiu Ju to drink tea and chat.
In other words, four of the Eight Tigers have a close relationship with Chang Feng.
Liu Jin said: "Eunuch Luo is right. Master Chang is from our side. And he is one of the big bosses of the factory guard."
"Factory guards and civil servants are natural enemies of each other!"
"Tonight I will go to Master Chang and ask him to help turn the imperial examination case into a major case involving ten cases."
Zhang Yongdao: "I'll go too. Mr. Chang and I have just returned from the Western Expedition, and we can be regarded as mates who have lived together through life and death. He has to give me a little favor."
Liu Jin smiled and said: "In addition to Master Chang, there is another person who is willing to help us deal with the civil servants."
Zhang Yong asked: "Who?"
Liu Jin clapped his hands gently.
A man walked into this secret room.
This person is Chang Feng’s stand-in in Jinyiwei, Qian Ning!
Zhang Yong was surprised: "What's the matter with Qian?"
Qian Ning smiled and said, "That's right."
Liu Jin said: "Everyone, Qian Qianshi is Master Chang's right-hand man. This time he is also willing to help us and severely attack the civil servants."
Qian Ning found a chair and sat down: "I can't stand those civil servants sitting on the heads of our factory guards and shitting!"
"The emperor is merciful, and the civil servants are very generous. They don't take the emperor's servants seriously."
"As soon as I return, I will lead my men and arrest Chen Minzheng, his eight examiners, and all 300 undergraduates and send them to prison."
Zhang Yong asked: "Is this what Eunuch Qian means?"
Qian Ning smiled slyly: "I am me, and my godfather is my godfather. My helping you is my own business and has nothing to do with my godfather."
Xiao Jing and Qian Neng, the two giants among the eunuchs, have always been very slippery. He never openly participated in the battle with the civil servant group.
Gu Dayong said with a sinister smile: "If you have money to help us, we will be even more powerful this time!"
In the lobby of the Ministry of Ceremonies.
Chang Feng reread the examination papers with Li Dongyang and the academic officials of the Hanlin Academy.
Chang Feng was surprised to discover something. He turned to his exam paper. This time, according to the five symbols of circles, triangles, slashes, vertical bars, and crosses, he actually ranked 303rd in the test.
There are only three places left to join the apricot list.
But this has nothing to do with this case.
Li Dongyang read more than a dozen test papers and grasped the key to the matter: "If there is a problem in this exam, the problem will be the fourth question of Jingyi."
"The question asked by Mr. Cheng is very tricky and weird. Ordinary candidates, in such a short examination time, may only be able to cobble together an essay."
"Only a great man in the world can grasp the key points of this question."
Chang Feng echoed: "What Cifu said is absolutely true. I am a person who has personally experienced the examination. I don't know how to solve or answer this question at all. I can only write an article randomly to avoid confessing."
"If you give me three or four days to read through ancient books, I might be able to find a way to solve the problem and continue it."
Wang Huadao, a bachelor of Hanlin Academy, said: "I took a rough look at the top twenty papers. For the fourth question on Classics and Meanings, only Tang Yin, who ranked first, and Xu Jing, who ranked second, were relevant. The rest of the candidates were all freshmen."
"Among them, Tang Yin's article can be described as splendid. Xu Jing's article is slightly inferior, but it is just to the point."
"Even so, Xu Jing is still able to rank second with this question."
Everyone reviewed the papers in the Ministry of Rites for a whole day. It didn't end until the evening.
Li Dongyang wanted to draw a conclusion quickly and help Cheng Minzheng escape, lest someone in the capital take the opportunity to start a political trend.
Li Dongyang said: "In my opinion, the articles of the three hundred people who paid tribute meet the standards of tribute scholars."
"The fourth question of Jingyi is extremely tricky. Tang Yin and Xu Jing did it well, and they deserve to be ranked first and second."
"Don't forget, Tang Yin was originally the first of the four great talents in the south of the Yangtze River. He was also the subject of Yingtianxiang's Jieyuan. He is a man of great talent, so what's so strange about becoming a Huiyuan?"
"Xu Jing has a good relationship with Tang Yin. If you are a friend of a great talent, your talent and learning are naturally not much different."
"It's all the jealousy of those who failed to succeed. They have lost their reputation and have nowhere to vent their anger. This is why they take the opportunity to cause trouble."
"Whose protégé is that guy Hua Chang? Are you crazy about wanting to be promoted? You are fooling around with the failed candidate, and actually brought the matter to court in the morning."
Li Dongyang said a lot of things, but in the final analysis, there were only five words: "It's all misunderstandings."
Chang Feng frowned: "Second Assistant, can't we jump to conclusions so easily?"
"When investigating a case, you must think of all possibilities. Is it possible that Cheng Minzheng sold the fourth question of Jingyi to Tang Yin and Xu Jing?"
"If this is the case, the two of them consulted ancient books before the exam and came up with ways to answer and solve the questions. It would be natural for them to rank first and second."
Li Dongyang just wanted to argue. Cabinet member Xie Qian hurried in and whispered a few words beside him.
Li Dongyang frowned: "Chang Tongzhi, your Jin Yiwei Qian Ning captured Cheng Minzheng, eight examiners, and 300 undergraduate scholars. Was it your order?"
Chang Feng was stunned for a moment, then showed a sullen look on his face: "How could this Qian Ning make his own decisions? Even if we want to arrest him, we can just arrest Cheng Minzheng, Tang Yin, and Xu Jing."
"What are you going to do with the remaining eight examiners and the 298 tributes?"
"Cisuke, it's getting late. Let's go here first today. I'll go back to Jinyiwei and let go of all the people who shouldn't be arrested."
Li Dongyang said: "Okay."
Chang Feng rushed back to Jinyiwei. Qian Ning, Shi Wenyi, and Fatty Xu came forward.
Chang Feng asked Qian Ning: "Why did you arrest so many people?"
Qian Ning said: "Mr. Chang, they are all suspected of fraud in the examination room. When we Jin Yiwei handle cases, we would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let one go."
"They are all weak intellectuals. Give them a severe punishment and the truth will naturally come to light."
Qian Ning is just such a person, he is very happy with his achievements, and he can deal with big cases rather than small ones. He wished he could set off a shocking case and kill hundreds of his people to make himself more famous.
Chang Feng cursed: "Confused! You just detain Cheng Minzheng, Tang Yin, and Xu Jing."
"Put them in prison first. They will not be punished without my orders. All other examiners and tributes will be released."
Qian Ning could only hand over his hand: "Yes."
Dusk has arrived. Chang Feng said: "That's it for today. Brothers have dispersed. I'll think about it at home tonight, how to investigate this case of examination fraud."
Fatty Xu said: "My father is obsessed with worshiping Buddha recently. Today the whole family will fast and worship Buddha. I will go to your house to enjoy the autumn breeze."
Chang Feng nodded: "Okay."
On the way home on horseback, Fatty Xu smiled and said, "Qian Ning is eager to start a shocking case again."
Chang Feng said: "If one day he becomes the boss of Jinyiwei, then the capital will really be in turmoil."
Chang Feng had just had dinner at home when a servant informed him: "Eunuch Liu Jin and Eunuch Zhang Yong from the palace would like to see you."
Chang Feng said: "Oh? Let them talk in the living room."
Fatty Xu said: "It's probably not a coincidence that they came to the door just after the big imperial examination case came out."
Chang Feng said: "Well, you come to the living room with me."
The two came to the living room. Chang Feng ordered people to serve tea to Liu Jin and Zhang Yong.
Liu Jin began to make insinuations: "Master Chang, it's not me. The civil servants in Beijing have become lawless these years."
"Your Majesty is merciful and has been forbearing to them over and over again. But his forbearance suddenly worsened, and he only took one step back to make further progress!"
"Less than three months have passed this year. The cabinet has returned the emperor's twelve imperial edicts."
"Taizong's original intention in establishing the cabinet was to allow cabinet members to provide advice and suggestions for the emperor's handling of government affairs."
"Now the cabinet is riding on the emperor's head. Taizong knows well that the coffin boards in Changling may not be able to hold it down!"
Zhang Yong echoed: "It's not just that. Civil servants and local gentry have formed an ironclad interest alliance."
"Land annexation is becoming increasingly rampant, and ordinary people cannot survive. The root cause lies with those greedy civil servants."
"Whenever someone proposes a government policy that is not in their interests, they will raise the banner of 'the ancestral system cannot be violated' to resist."
Chang Feng took a sip of tea: "Let me tell you, the three of us are all old ministers. Don't let the clouds cover your family. If you have anything to say, just say it!"
Liu Jin said with a smile: "My uncle is quick to speak quickly. Our intention in the palace is to use this imperial examination fraud case to severely punish a group of civil servants."
"We must let the civil servants know that this world belongs to the emperor, not their civil servants."
Chang Feng asked: "Who are you referring to in the palace? The emperor? The queen? The empress dowager?"
Liu Jin explained: "It refers to those of us internal officials who have not forgotten our conscience."
"Taizong strictly prohibited internal officials from intervening in politics. However, Taizong boldly enabled internal officials in order to check and balance the power of civil servants."
"But in this dynasty, the civil servants actually regarded the internal officials as slaves and didn't take them seriously."
"If things continue like this, don't civil servants want to dominate the court? The emperor may not be able to control the court situation."
Zhang Yong interrupted: "Let's make it clear. We hope that Mr. Chang will handle the imperial examination fraud case as a blank seal case of the Hongwu Dynasty. Let the civil servants know that the palace and factory guards are not free."
"It's not their family that has the final say in the court."
Chang Feng took a sip of tea and remained silent, without expressing his attitude.
An awkward silence fell in the hall.
Liu Jin was very discerning. He stood up and said, "This is a big deal. It needs to be considered carefully. Let's take our leave first. Mr. Chang, please think about it carefully."
Chang Feng nodded: "Yes. See the guests off."
Just after Liu Jin and Zhang Yong left, another guest came to the Chang family.
The people who came were the three elders of the cabinet, the first assistant Liu Jian, the second assistant Li Dongyang, and the cabinet member Xie Qian.
Changfu is very lively tonight.
(End of chapter)
