"Rixin, you just lost your composure!" After Xu Shilian retreated, Liu Yang looked at Murong Defeng, who was still a little upset, and chuckled.
Hearing this, Murong Defeng said: "Your Highness, this person is so arrogant and rude, it is really unbearable. It is rare for a fallen scholar to be so domineering and bold. Such a person, even if he is really talented, What is the use of it? The imperial court cannot tolerate such crazy people!"
"You are too eager!" Liu Yang shook his head and said, "I think this person is really confident. If he didn't have this unruliness, I'm afraid he wouldn't dare to boldly break into the palace, publish a petition, and poke a hole in the sky.
This kind of courage is really rare among the scholars who write articles. From this point alone, Wu Jichuan is indeed far behind compared with him.
It's a pity that the examiners evaluate the papers and select the candidates. Although they value talent, the judgment of talent still relies on articles and answers to questions. It is difficult to reflect one's personal temperament on the paper. "
Sighing, Liu Yang continued: "Xu Shilian's behavior is really disgusting. However, if you stand in his position, study hard, study hard, and come from afar for reference, but fail, your mentality will inevitably be unbalanced."
"I dare not agree with His Highness's words!" Murong Defeng said: "Which of the scholars who come to Beijing has it easy? And which one is not studying hard and longing for the court? Is he the only one Xu Shilian?
Countless people have failed in the past scientific examinations. If they are like this person and fail to pass, they question the unfairness of the court's selection of scholars, provoke troubles and slander ministers, then where is the majesty of the court system? "
"But this time, it is different from the past!" Liu Yang said: "I have been observing him just now, and the indignation on his face does not seem to be fake. It is obvious that he believes that Master Li is interested in recruiting scholars! In this way, how can he Are you convinced?"
"Your Highness, you are still too lenient!" Obviously, Murong Defeng was not convinced.
Liu Yangze shook his head slightly: "Your Majesty has handed over this matter to me for investigation, and what we want to find out now is what went wrong. Now, what I am confused about is why Xu Shilian is so sure that recruiting officials is fraudulent!"
Hearing what Liu Yang said, Murong Defeng suddenly remembered Liu Yang's last question just now, his expression condensed, and he said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, you think someone is secretly instigating and adding fuel to the flames?"
Liu Yang looked indifferent, the answer was obvious, he pondered for a moment, and replied: "It's just doubts!"
But Murong Defeng was concerned, as if his mind had been opened, and he cautiously reminded: "Your Highness, if this is the case, you should not be careless.
If someone interferes with it, what is the purpose? Is it aimed at Mr. Li, or is it intended for His Highness? "
After saying that, Murong Defeng glanced at Liu Yang, and when he saw that he was silent, he became more and more sure of his idea and continued: "The relationship between Mr. Li and His Highness is known to everyone in the court.
Regardless of whether this matter is successful or not, Li Gong is already in a deep quagmire. At least his reputation will be ruined, and at worst his life will be at risk! But no matter what, His Highness may be missing a helping hand.
What's even more worrying is that now that His Majesty has handed over the case to His Highness, His Highness has been completely involved in this muddy water, which is obviously not good for His Highness.
People's words are terrible. If they are not handled properly, it will be a blow to His Highness's prestige! "
The more Murong Defeng spoke, the more solemn his expression became: "Such a secret attack is really frightening. The person behind this is so vicious! Your Highness, you must be on guard!"
"Rixin!" Seeing that Murong Defeng's conspiracy theory became clearer and clearer, Liu Yang finally couldn't help but stop him, paused, and then said: "You are too suspicious!"
"Your Highness!" Seeing this, Murong Defeng immediately suggested: "There must be something wrong with Xu Shilian. We should interrogate him again and dig out a certain empress's envoy!"
"Rixin, calm him down!" Liu Yang also directly refused: "Xu Shilian is now attracting the attention of the court. If too many measures are taken against him, it will become unreasonable!"
Murong Defeng was also a smart man. After calming down for a moment, he acknowledged: "If you care about me, it will lead to chaos! But -"
Liu Yang said: "Not to mention whether it is as you said, even if there is someone who is making trouble in the dark, how can he easily reveal his flaws if he has such a scheme?
As this matter has developed to this day, it is just a dissatisfied scholar who is dissatisfied, suspects injustice, and files a complaint, causing this dispute.
Even if there is something wrong, I think Xu Shilian is just a pawn being used. It is useless to pursue him too much, and it may even be true and open to criticism.
Xu Shilian, you can’t move! "
"Your Highness, I thought..." Murong Defeng still didn't give up and wanted to persuade him again.
Liu Yang refused to listen. How could Murong Defeng know? How could he not have guesses about these things? It's just that I don't want to think about it too much. Even if I think about it, I shouldn't say it out loud. Fortunately, there are only two of them in this room.
"I have my own opinion on this matter. At the moment, Your Majesty will leave the errand to me. Do it well and find out the facts. That is what you should do. As for other things, don't worry too much!" Liu Yang said in a deep voice.
Murong Defeng opened his mouth, and finally sighed, but his expression was still solemn.
Following this conversation, the atmosphere in the room became a bit strange. Liu Yang pondered deeply and Murong Defeng gradually calmed down. After a while, Murong Defeng broke the silence: "How does Your Highness plan to break the situation! Although His Majesty has not set a time, but between ministers, the matter must be decided immediately. The longer it is delayed, the greater the impact.
At present, both the government and the public, especially the Jinke Reference Scholars, are paying close attention to this matter. If rumors are allowed to spread and people are suspicious, it will be too harmful to the imperial scientific examination! "
"How could I not know!" Liu Yang said in a deep voice: "The impact of Xu Shilian's complaint against the imperial court is really bad. The court also needs to come up with a conclusion and explain it to the world to appease people's hearts!"
"Let's go to Guangzheng Hall!" Liu Yang left as he said, giving people a sense of resolute action. As he walked, he said: "I wonder how the re-examination of the test papers by Mr. Zhao and the others went!
No matter how turbulent the rumors are, to prove Master Li's innocence, the results of the re-examination and ranking of the test papers are the most powerful evidence. I think that Xu Shilian should have some talents. However, since he was abandoned by the reviewer before, there must be a reason, and he needs a reason that can convince everyone! "
Imperial City, Guangzheng Hall.
In the spring of this year, there were more than 3,000 candidates for the scholarship. Among them, the Jinshi subject, which is a popular subject, has the largest number of applicants, accounting for nearly 40% of the total number.
However, this year, the admission quota for Jinshi subjects is only thirty, almost a ratio of one in thirty. It has to be said that this ratio is even more exaggerated than in the past. This is already under the premise that the imperial court has increased the admission quota for other subjects such as classics, history, arithmetic, agriculture, and medicine.
But sometimes, the fiercer the competition and the higher the threshold, the more people actively participate. No matter how much the imperial court promoted the diversification of imperial examination subjects, in the minds of most scholars, the status of the Jinshi subject was always higher than other subjects, and it can be described as outstanding.
In the eyes of most scholars in the world, passing the Jinshi subject means becoming an official. It is the most conducive way to an official career. Even if you pass other subjects and become an official, there is still room for advancement, and you can transfer to an official position with skills. , but as long as there is an opportunity, scholars would still rather join the Jinshi major.
Thirty reviewers selected by Zhao Pu from the Hanlin Academy and various ministries and bureaus finally came to a conclusion after reviewing for a day and night.
When Liu Yang arrived, the crowd had not dispersed yet and they all saluted. Liu Yang returned the gift to Zhao Pu without any hesitation and asked directly: "Mr. Zhao, what's the result?"
As if he could feel the eagerness under the prince's calm face, Zhao Pu calmly took out two lists and presented them to Liu Yang for review: "Your Highness, I and other officials have re-examined all 1134 Jinshi examination papers. After the evaluation, the rankings were re-drawn, and this is the result. Compared with the list previously applied by Academician Li, there are nine differences!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Yang's expression immediately darkened. The 30% error was not a small ratio. It was almost visible to the naked eye, and there was definitely something wrong with it.
"Are you sure it's correct?" Liu Yang frowned in front of Zhao Pu and asked in a deep voice, with doubts in his tone.
Zhao Pu could also understand the prince's mood. He was calm and about to speak when he was interrupted by a "Your Highness".
Lu Duoxun on the side took the initiative to speak: "Compared with the previous review, the staff involved in the review this time are a completely new group of people, and they were in a hurry. It is normal for the results to be different.
On the contrary, I believe that after two groups of people and two reviews, the same twenty-one people are still on the list, which is enough to prove that the selection of scholars is fair.
In addition, I and others also re-examined and judged the erroneous 18-person test papers. In terms of answering ability, there is not a huge gap. It just depends on how the marking officials judge! "
Liu Yang's quality is naturally sufficient. Of course he understood what Lu Duoxun meant. He also committed the problem of caring and caring. In fact, today's scientific examination scores rely too much on the subjective opinions of the test paper review officials. It is common for the same policy paper to have very different scores.
In fact, since Emperor Liu asked Zhao Pu to recruit a new batch of people to review, it was destined that the proposed list would be different from the one submitted by Li Fang.
After understanding this, Liu Yang's condensed expression finally softened, but he did not feel relaxed. The error of nine people cannot prove that Li Fang committed fraud, but it cannot prove his innocence either.
Even if the error of these nine people is spread out, it will strengthen those who believe that there are disadvantages in recruiting scholars.
The tangled brows reflected the contradictory psychology. When Zhao Pu saw this, he temporarily suppressed his displeasure at being snatched away by Lu Duoxun. He slightly cupped his hands and said softly: "Your Highness, the review staff are still resting in the side hall. Do you want me to explain something?" Fan!"
"What does Prime Minister Zhao mean?" Liu Yang turned his head and stared at Zhao Pu. He heard something strange in Zhao Pu's words.
Zhao Pu lowered his voice a little lower: "Your Highness, this matter is related to the face of the imperial court and the fairness of the imperial examination. After review and review by the ministers and others, they unanimously agreed that there was no favoritism. In the opinion of the minister, in order to maintain the dignity of the imperial court, it should be clearly stated Declared, judged twice, the result is the same!”
Obviously, Zhao Pu also thought about Liu Yang's concerns and came up with a solution. Regarding this matter, Zhao Pu also has a firm stance. If there is no conclusive evidence to prove that Li Fang committed fraud, he must firmly support it.
This is not only because of the relationship with the prince, but also because, as the prime minister of the imperial court, he naturally has to maintain the majesty and credibility of the imperial court. It would be of no benefit to him if the reputation of the imperial court was damaged, and if a major fraud case really occurred within the imperial court, even if he was not specifically responsible, how could he, the prime minister, really be aloof from the incident and not take any responsibility.
With such considerations in mind, Zhao Pu’s attitude is understandable!
