Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

"You fabricated evidence and falsely accused an official of the imperial court. Xue Hai, do you plead guilty?"

"Sir, this booklet, this witness..."

Xue Hai seemed to have never thought that his false accusation would be discovered. He was already panicking and at a loss. He knelt on the ground and tried to continue to argue, but his mind was already in a mess.

Magistrate Lu finally regained his composure and shouted, "Xue Hai, do you know what the crime is for falsely accusing an official of the imperial court?"

Xue Hai had worked as a clerk in the government office for many years, and he knew what the crime would be if the false accusation failed. But at that moment his mind was too confused and the only words in his mind were "false accusation of an imperial official."

Xue Hai was so confused that he didn't care about anything else and his eyes involuntarily looked around in the crowd.

County Magistrate Lu suddenly had an idea and asked, "Xue Hai, are you being instructed by someone?"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but look in the direction of County Magistrate Meng.

County Magistrate Meng, on the other hand, remained calm and composed, with his eyes lowered and no reaction at all.

Soon, the messenger who went to check the time of Zhao Zongyi's death came back to report.

"Your Excellency, Zhao Zongyi died in July of the Jisi year."

Qin Yunhe nodded: "According to Zhou Cheng, Zhao Zongyi died less than a year after he became ill. If it is exactly one year from the time he first fell ill to his death, then the earliest onset of illness is July of the Wuchen year. In other words, Han Yang's earliest time as a police officer could not be earlier than July of the Wuchen year.

Han Fang, what year were you born?

"Your Excellency, I was born in the year of Bingchen, and was adopted in the year of Guihai."

Qin Yunhe nodded and said, "He was born in Bingchen year and adopted in Guihai year, which means he became a police officer five years earlier than Han Yang.

Many people have testified that Han Fang was around seven or eight years old when he was adopted, so he should have been eight years old, and at the latest he was adopted in the Jiazi year. He certainly would not have adopted his children to avoid being from a lowly family.

Han Fang kowtowed and said, "Your Excellency is wise."

Qin Yunhe looked at the gentry on both sides, and they nodded in agreement.

"The witnesses and evidence all show that Han Fang was adopted long before Han Yang became a police official. Liu Mao, do you still have doubts about this?"

Liu Mao's expression changed as if he was still unwilling, but he finally said: "My Lord, I have no doubts anymore."

Qin Yunhe then asked: "Does anyone here still have doubts about Han Fang and Han Lin's backgrounds?"

No one in the hall or outside spoke.

Qin Yunhe said: "Okay, since no one has any doubts, Han Fang and Han Lin have clean backgrounds, so they are allowed to take part in the imperial examination."

Han Fang and his son were so happy that they cried and kowtowed, saying, "Your Excellency is wise. Thank you for making the decision for us."

Qin Yunhe added: "The village elders, village heads, and neighbors did not lie and were released in court. Xue Hai falsely accused the imperial official, but considering that he was not convicted, he was sentenced to 80 strokes of the cane and two years' imprisonment."

"Sir, please spare my life, spare my life!" Xue Hai's face was pale and panicked. Qin Yunhe ordered the officers to drag him away.

County Magistrate Lu was unwilling to accept this and hurriedly said, "Sir, I suspect Xue Hai was instructed by someone."

"We will discuss whether there are any instructions later. Today, we will only decide on matters related to the Han family."

Needless to say, Qin Yunhe also knew that County Magistrate Lu was referring to County Magistrate Meng.

Qin Yunhe ordered someone to invite the teacher over, and then said to Liu Mao: "Liu Mao, do you know your mistake?"

Liu Mao certainly didn't think he was wrong, but he still felt guilty when the inspector asked him this, and his eyes were a little evasive: "Sir, I don't know...where I went wrong..."

"I don't know where you went wrong. I told you last time that as a scholar with a great reputation, you should be a role model for your neighbors.

You knew full well that Han's adoption was a fact, and you also knew that what the village head and neighbors said was true. However, because of an old grudge, you repeatedly made groundless accusations out of personal revenge, just to cut off Han's family's career path.

How can your character be worthy of such honor?"

When Liu Mao heard this, he was horrified, fearing that he would be suddenly told that his official title would be revoked.

"Sir! I, you just have doubts about the Han family's origins. Is that wrong? If that's wrong, who would dare to report a fake exam in the future?"

"If there really is someone cheating in the scientific examination, then you are reporting it out of impartiality, which is understandable. But ask yourself, are you doing it out of impartiality?"

"My Lord, how do you know that the students are not acting out of public interest..."

"You and Han Lin live in the same town, and you even know how Han Fang calls him dad. How could you not know whether he was adopted or not, and whether he wore mourning clothes and performed mourning and sacrifices for Han Tingcheng?"

Liu Mao and several other students were immediately confused.

Qin Yunhe saw that the students were almost frightened, so he asked again: "Do you know who in the county is instigating the students to boycott the exam?"

"I don't know?"

"Are you sure you don't know?"

"I don't know..."

Qin Yunhe knew, even if he knew he would not admit it now.

Qin Yunhe glanced at everyone in the hall and said, "Your Majesty values ​​the integrity of the scholars and the success of the imperial examinations, which is why he sent inspectors to deal with the fraudulent examination twice.

I never thought that your Majesty's painstaking efforts would be used by those with ulterior motives to incite a boycott and disrupt the imperial examination."

Regardless of whether the scholars in the hall had committed any incitement or not, they basically knew that someone was inciting a boycott of the exam, so they all lowered their heads silently, fearing that they would be spotted by the inspector.

"County Magistrate Lu, the boycott of the exam is of great importance. Those who instigated the boycott must be identified. Once identified, they will be stripped of their titles and severely punished."

"Yes, I will take your orders."

Qin Yunhe looked back at Liu Mao and said, "As for you, Liu Mao. You are narrow-minded and cannot be a role model for your fellow villagers. You should be stripped of your honor. I am grateful for your hard work in studying for many years, so I will temporarily keep your honor.

Teacher, as a professor at the county school, you have the responsibility to teach and discipline the county students. Liu Mao and others will let you take them back to the county school to teach. If anyone disobeys the discipline, report the details of this incident to the school administrator and let the school administrator decide. "

Before leaving Beijing, His Majesty's intention was obviously to ensure the integrity of the gentry, but at the same time he did not want to make a too harsh judgment. It was natural for Qin Yunhe to strike the right balance.

Although Liu Mao was highly suspected, it was not certain that he was the one who instigated the boycott of the exam, and it was not easy to punish him too severely, so Qin Yunhe decided to retain his fame for the time being.

The instructor naturally knew the seriousness of the incident, so he quickly took orders and retreated with a few students.

The matter came to a temporary end. Qin Yunhe ordered the court to adjourn and turned to the gentry who came to notarize: "Thanks to you gentlemen for coming to notarize, the matter has come to a smooth conclusion. Now that I have settled down in the office, I wonder if you would be willing to honor me with a chat in the court?"

Although it's just an inquiry, since the Inspector has invited me, how can I not go?

Moreover, these gentry were willing to come simply because they felt it was an honor to be invited by the Inspector General to act as notary.

Now that the Inspector General invited them to his office for a chat, they were naturally proud of it and naturally all agreed.

When the magistrate saw Qin Yunhe inviting the gentry to sit in the hall, he immediately guessed that Qin Yunhe might want to ask them about the people's sentiments in Tongyang and the county's political decrees, and hurriedly asked, "Sir, would you like me to accompany you?"

Qin Yunhe naturally couldn't say it was inconvenient, so he could only order:

"I would like to ask Magistrate Lu to arrange for someone to sort out the case files and ensure that no details are missed.

Then order your men to interrogate Xue Hai to see if he was being instigated by someone. Also, investigate the incitement to boycott the exam in the county, and make arrangements in a timely manner. Once all matters have been arranged, then go to the office to reunite."