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

Qin Yunhe quickly calmed down: "Don't worry, just talk slowly and give more details."

Gu Xiucai also tried to calm himself down and began to tell the story slowly.

"Tian has been in Pingyin County for many years. Since he took office, anyone who wants to take the exam in the county needs to pay a lot of money to get the seal. This has discouraged many people who are interested in official careers. The scholars in the county are often miserable, but dare not speak out.

That’s fine, but in order to pass the exam, everyone has to swallow their anger.

What is really outrageous is that the county magistrate does not care about the applicant’s background at all, as long as he can afford the money, he can get the seal.”

"Aren't there a lot of fake examinees in your county?" Qin Yunhe found it hard to imagine how many fake examinees there would be if they could change their appearance by paying money.

Gu Xiucai smiled bitterly and said, "That's not the case. How could the magistrate give a chance to someone with an unclean background? Anyone with even a little flaw in their background will be ripped off by the magistrate. Therefore, those who take the exam for no reason are all wealthy people in the local area."

"Has no one in the county ever thought of reporting this? It was fine before, but this time the court is investigating fake exams, and no one has reported it to the government or the Education Department?"

"Why didn't anyone report it? Last year, Lin Chan, a successful candidate in the provincial examination, and Gao Yu, a student, joined forces with other scholars in the county to protest the magistrate's decision to allow people of shady origin to take the exam. The magistrate turned a deaf ear to it.

Later, helpless, Mr. Lin and others gathered several scholars to go to the provincial capital to report the incident. However, the prefect sent them back and only ordered the county magistrate to investigate the matter thoroughly.

The matter was originally led by the county magistrate, so how could he investigate himself? As soon as the scholars who went with him came back, they were detained by the county magistrate in the name of investigation.

"What? Are you saying that these scholars with honors were directly detained by Tian Zongyao? Then what about them now? Are they still detained?"

"Not only was he detained, he might even be tortured. This matter has been going on for more than half a year. At first, the magistrate perfunctorily held two hearings for him, but later he didn't even hold a hearing and just kept him locked up.

I haven’t seen these people for a long time, and I don’t know how they are doing now.”

Tian Zongyao is so bold! How dare he do that?

And the prefect, knowing full well why these people went to the prefecture to report, yet he sent them back. Can he escape responsibility?

The relevant case files have not been submitted at all, so they simply concealed the matter?

"What are the names of these people? Tell me."

"Lin Chan, Gao Yu, Feng Bin, Fu Linge, Zhou Shiqiang.

Not only were these people detained, Tian Zongyao also suppressed the students and students in the county. He threatened those who sympathized with these people and were dissatisfied with the magistrate's actions, using their seals and family backgrounds as threats.

The overt and covert meaning is that if anyone causes trouble, their origins will be thoroughly investigated..."

"Has anyone been dismissed from his post because he was dissatisfied with this?"

"For now, no one has been dismissed."

Since their titles had not been revoked, Tian Zongyao probably would not have dared to report the matter to the provincial education commissioner. If the provincial education commissioner investigated the reasons why these people had their titles revoked, the truth would inevitably be revealed.

Gu Xiucai continued, "...But now that the college entrance examination is approaching, both the students and scholars are worried and dare not speak out."

Qin Yunhe pondered for a while before continuing, "Go on, what about the harsh laws and oppression of the people in the village? If you think there is anything unfair or unjust in the county, you can speak up without any worries."

"Not only did the county have to pay money to add the seal, but every time the county magistrate received a notice, he would delay and repeatedly question the court, forcing the two departments to make arrangements at all levels.

The case cannot be concluded until everyone in the yamen, including the yamen runners, the chief clerk, and the jailer, is satisfied. And the final conclusion depends entirely on who has more connections.

On ordinary days, the yamen runners would arrest and summon people and demand bribes, and the people suffered terribly. "

Qin Yunhe thought about the case files he had read and found it hard to imagine how true or false those case files that seemed to have no problems at all could be.

Qin Yunhe frowned and thought for a while.

"He Sheng, please take a few scholars to the inner room to sit for a while."

He Sheng invited Gu Xiucai and others into the inner room, and Qin Yunhe ordered: "Wang He, call Tian Zongyao in for questioning."

Tian Zongyao had just returned at this time, and was told to come in immediately.

"Your Excellency, I have summoned all the prestigious gentry in the county. Would you like to see them?"

As Tian Zongyao spoke, he secretly observed Qin Yunhe's expression, guessing how much the inspector knew.

Qin Yunhe had calmed down by now and just asked, "County Magistrate Tian, ​​I heard that there is a scholar named Lin Chan in the county. I wonder where he is now. It would be convenient to call him over for questioning."

The weather was already hot, and Tian Zongyao broke out in a sweat again when he heard this.

It seems that the matter can no longer be concealed.

Tian Zongyao thought of a countermeasure quickly, and was speechless for a long time before he said, "Your Excellency, please allow me to report that this... this Mr. Lin, because he made trouble out of nothing, gathered a crowd to cause trouble, and refused to cooperate with the investigation, he was temporarily detained in the detention center."

"He is temporarily detained in the prison? Is Lin Chan's honor revoked?"

Tian Zongyao raised his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead: "No... Your Excellency, Your Excellency, these scholars have always been cynical and reckless, and they rely on their achievements to speak nonsense. Your Excellency, please do not listen to slanderous words and wrongly accuse me..."

"Oh? Why don't you tell me where you are wronged, County Magistrate Tian? Are you wrongly accused of imprisoning and torturing a scholar with a good reputation, or are you wrongly accused of hiding the case files and concealing the person who pretended to be an examiner?"

Qin Yunhe deliberately only mentioned these two things.

One is to consider the safety of Gu Xiucai and others.

Another thing is that this place is under the rule of Tian Zongyao after all.

If Pingyin County really has problems from top to bottom, then once all the charges are revealed, they will definitely find a way to cover up the matter quickly, and it will be even more difficult to investigate at that time.

Tian Zongyao wiped the sweat off his forehead again. When he heard that the inspector was asking about these two things, he quickly defended himself: "Your Excellency, please allow me to report. I have been investigating those who pretended to take the exam.

But there has been no progress, and I was really afraid that those scholars would see the Inspector and talk nonsense, so I detained them in confusion."

Qin Yunhe said, "Let's not talk about anything else for now. Immediately have someone bring the scholars you detained here. I want to interrogate them in person. Also, bring the people who were reported here immediately."

Tian Zongyao felt a little relieved when he saw that the inspector didn't seem to blame him in any particular way.

Think about it, although he did something a bit too much in this matter, as long as nothing else is involved, maybe he will just be fined a salary, or even pretend to be pitiful, and maybe he will just be reprimanded in the end.

Thinking of this, Tian Zongyao felt relieved.

"Yes, I will have someone bring the relevant people to the inspector for questioning." After that, he said carefully, "Sir, do you still want to see the gentry in the county?"

Qin Yunhe looked at Tian Zongyao and found it a little funny. At this time, he still wanted him to meet those gentry. It seemed that Tian Zongyao trusted these gentry very much.

"Let's talk about it after I meet Lin Chan and others."