Emperor Zhengde of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 136 Who leaked the exam questions?

Zhu Houzhao had only told Yang Tinghe, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, about the title "Navy". If Yang Tinghe was not stupid, he would never have leaked the matter.

In the court, many people had no right to speak, and those officials basically told the report one by one. Zhu Houzhao felt a little upset. In fact, the cabinet can make decisions for him in many matters, and there is no need to be in the court. Hall discussion.

After retiring from the court, Yang Tinghe stayed in the palace alone. He felt that something big might happen today.

Zhu Houzhao first went to the Palace of Compassion and Ning to greet the Empress Dowager, and then returned to the Palace of Mental Cultivation. Today he was specifically targeting the incident of Yang Tinghe leaking the question.

"Minister Yang Tinghe, see Your Majesty!"

"Free of charge! Watch the seats!"

Yang Tinghe was a little uncomfortable, although he was also a veteran, but this was the first time he sat and talked in front of the new emperor, so he couldn't help feeling a little complacent.

The eunuch moved Yang Tinghe a Jindun, and showed him tea according to Zhu Houzhao's instructions.

Yang Tinghe felt that His Majesty was a little too polite, it must be because of the fight in the cabinet yesterday, and thinking about it now makes people feel lingering.

There is no need to quarrel with this matter at all, it is all for the sake of the country of the Ming Empire, it is just two different ideas, and now His Majesty wants to personally admonish and talk.

However, Yang Tinghe is an old man, he knows how to answer His Majesty's question, and he has thought about it countless times in his heart.

"It's not because it's not about it, is it?" Yang Tinghe raised his head and glanced at Zhu Houzhao's face. He found that the emperor was drinking tea, and he looked leisurely, and there was not much ugly expression on his face.

"What's the matter? Why do you need to mobilize people like this?" Yang Tinghe felt more and more uneasy in his heart.

When Zhu Houzhao drank a cup of tea, he put down the tea bowl, glanced at Yang Tinghe in front of him, and asked, "Yang Aiqing, I asked you to be the examiner of the imperial examination for the second year of Zhengde, what do you think?"

"It turned out to be this matter!" Yang Tinghe breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, it turned out that it was not what he had guessed at all, so he relaxed his high vigilance nerves.

"Returning to Your Majesty, what I mean by this minister is that as long as His Majesty can use me, I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

"Well, yes, it is indeed what I want."

"Do you have any experience with this imperial examination?" Zhu Houzhao asked in a very gentle tone.

"Return to Your Majesty, there are only four words for a minister, and you can only use it!"

After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao kept nodding his head in agreement.

Before Zhu Houzhao could speak, the eunuch Xiao Fangzi came in, bowed and said to Zhu Houzhao, "Your Majesty, Cao Zhengchun, the governor of the East Factory, is asking to see you outside the hall."

"Announce him in!"

When Yang Tinghe heard that Cao Zhengchun was going to come in, he immediately showed a cold expression on his face.

The eunuch has always been at odds with the cabinet, and the cabinet has even regarded Dongchang as a thorn in his side and a thorn in his flesh. In Yang Tinghe's view, the most important thing Dongchang did was to destroy loyal and good people, killing good people and pretending to be meritorious.

The two eunuch groups, Dongchang and Xichang, should have been abolished as soon as possible.

However, Yang Tinghe is also very aware of the reality, and what he wants may not be fully realized.

This Emperor Zhengde is good at the art of the emperor. He will neither make things big, nor make the cabinet weak. The civil servants restrain the military generals, and the military generals supervise the civil servants. The three forces are intertwined, and he mostly manages to balance them.

After Cao Zhengchun came in and saluted Zhu Houzhao, he got up and stood aside.

Seeing Yang Tinghe sitting there, he felt a little unhappy.

"I kowtow to the emperor, what the hell do you look like sitting there motionless?" Although he didn't say these words out of his mouth, he always felt unhappy in his heart.

"Master Yang, you happen to be here, and the miscellaneous family happens to have something to ask Mr. Yang."

Of course Yang Tinghe was ashamed to be with eunuchs, for this reason, he turned around deliberately, feeling like he didn't want to see him.

Seeing Yang Tinghe's expression like this, Cao Zhengchun immediately darkened his face, looked at Zhu Houzhao and said, "Your Majesty, I have already interrogated the captured people, and they have all explained everything, and they have all told the truth about the imperial examination. Exam questions!"

Cao Zhengchun made his voice louder on purpose, which made Yang Tinghe tremble a little.

Yang Tinghe suddenly turned around and looked at Cao Zhengchun, his eyes seemed to burst into flames, he glared at Cao Zhengchun and said, "Cao Zhengchun, you are spitting blood!"

"I am the only one who knows the test questions His Majesty asked. How can other people know the test questions? It's impossible!"

Cao Zhengchun looked at Yang Tinghe and said, "Master Yang, please be safe and don't be impatient. The miscellaneous people don't know what the exam questions are. Yesterday, I caught a few champions from upstairs, and a Taoist priest who pretended to be a ghost. They all told me this secret." !"

Yang Tinghe got up suddenly, pointed at Cao Zhengchun and said:
"Cao Zhengchun, don't frame Zhongliang, speak clearly!"

After saying that, Yang Tinghe suppressed the anger in his heart for a while, clasped his fists at Zhu Houzhao and said: "Your Majesty, Cao Zhengchun, the governor of the East Factory, is guilty of cholera and has framed Zhongliang. He should be executed!"

Listening to Yang Tinghe's indignant complaint, Zhu Houzhao was not offended by his words. Instead, he sat calmly on the dragon chair, took a sip of tea from his tea bowl.

"Master Yang, listen to what he has to say first. I asked him to investigate this matter, because yesterday I went out and went to the Zhuangyuan Building, and many things happened. The store also specially sold the test questions to me. !"

Boom!

When Yang Tinghe heard it, his whole mind was like a thunderbolt.

"Who is so stupid to leak the test questions to the emperor? Isn't this tired of work or something?"

But at this moment, Yang Tinghe felt that the whole world was trembling.

Someone leaked the test questions to the emperor in front of the emperor. This is simply ignoring the imperial examination system. How can your majesty not be angry?
Seeing that Yang Tinghe didn't say anything for a long time, Cao Zhengchun clasped his fists and said, "Master Yang, you don't want to know, did the miscellaneous family find out what the test questions are from them?"

"What is it?"

Yang Tinghe asked nervously.

"Only His Majesty and Your Majesty know about this exam question, and no one else knows about it."

Cao Zhengchun took a look at Yang Tinghe, and said slowly, "The test question for this exam is the Navy, Mr. Yang, are the miscellaneous experts right?"

Yang Tinghe felt a roar in his mind again.

This time, he felt like his head was going to explode.

However, when Zhu Houzhao heard the word "Navy" from Cao Zhengchun, he immediately became furious.

Snapped!
He slammed the teacup in his hand on the ground,

"Yang Tinghe, come and tell me what's going on here?"

When Zhu Houzhao asked, Yang Tinghe hurriedly got up from the Jindun in fright, knelt down in front of Zhu Houzhao and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, please check clearly, I really don't know anything about this matter! No one has ever told me!"

"Didn't you tell me? Could it be that I told you? Could it be that I let those wine bags and rice bags in the court hall sell questions?"

When Zhu Houzhao scolded, Yang Tinghe didn't dare to speak at once, only to see bean-sized drops of sweat oozing from his forehead.

Zhu Houzhao looked at Yang Tinghe angrily, his eyes full of killing intent.

After calming down a bit, Zhu Houzhao asked again: "Yang Shangshu, tell me who leaked the exam questions?"

Cold sweat kept breaking out from Yang Tinghe's forehead. At this moment, he really didn't know how to answer Emperor Zhengde's question.

(End of this chapter)