Linque

On March [-] there is a routine.

In the Xuanzheng Hall, all the civil and military officials looked dignified and full of thoughts.

The news about the Yan family has spread all over the imperial capital in the past few days.The new news just came out this morning, the person involved, Yan Xiang, closed his door to reflect on himself, and was absent from the court meeting. Duke Yan Yu of the Qing Dynasty also took leave of absence because of his father's sickness.

Like the courtiers in the palace, they are all waiting for a result.

At the beginning of the court meeting, there was a censor who participated in the performance, stating all kinds of unfilial behaviors of Yan Xiang, and asked the emperor to remove him from his post, and immediately handed it over to the Secretary for strict investigation.As soon as this remark came out, the members of the aristocratic family agreed one after another, citing scriptures and criticizing Yan Xiang.

Yan Mao has been away from the family for more than [-] years, and no one said it before.That Qing Guogong Yan Yu used to rely on Yan Xiang to come out of their Danchuan, and took advantage of the order of the Minister, how many benefits did he gain for the Yan family, overtly and secretly?Yan Xiang turned one eye and closed the other, not fussing with them.Fortunately, he presided over the suspension of the papers, and the old people of the Tanchuan Yan family were red-eyed, and then they came up with the sinister trick of "leaving home to be unfilial".

The crime of unfilial piety is the most difficult to refute, and only Mrs. Yan can deny it.If others make an argument, they will be labeled as accomplices immediately. Whoever says that is in favor of disobedience.Yan Xiang is well versed in the means of these aristocratic families, so he sent a message last night to ask his colleagues at Shangshutai not to meddle in this.

Seeing that members of Yan's party were all dumbfounded, the Gongqing's family became more and more critical, and soon pointed their finger at Yan Xiang's leadership on the matter of stopping the roll.

Mentioning this, Hu Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites suddenly had something to say, holding the chao wat, he stepped forward and said: "One yard belongs to one yard. There is no public opinion on Yan Xiang's guilt, but the matter of stopping the book was announced during the fifteenth dynasty. After public discussion, how can you go back on your word and treat major national affairs like a joke? Enke is coming soon, and the Ministry of Rites is still waiting for the imperial edict to make preparations according to the regulations, but nothing has been seen for five days. , is obviously dereliction of duty, please learn from Your Majesty."

The Ministry of Rites is in charge of the imperial examinations. Hu Shangshu was brought up by Yan Xiang, and he is the mainstay of the Yan Party. His opinion is actually the opinion of Yan Xiang who was not present. What he said was for the pure ministers, for the aristocratic family, and for fear of ruthlessness The uneasy emperor listened.

On Majesty Dan, the twelve crowns blocked the sky, and all the officials looked up, but couldn't see the emperor's expression clearly. They saw the silence on the throne—as long as a hundred years—the colorful pendant beads swayed slightly, and the emperor nodded. nod.

The Minister of Rites opened his sweaty palms and heaved a sigh of relief.

Zhongshu Ling Xiao Wencong has not yet returned to the capital, Zhongshu's assistant minister dared not make the draft edict due to the public opinion in the imperial capital these days, and what he was waiting for was the emperor's explicit statement in front of the ministers, so he immediately went out and knelt down, admitting the fault of the delay, It means that the imperial decree has been announced to Kyushu, and the matter is of great importance for fear of making mistakes, so it has been polished several times, and it will be presented to the imperial court as soon as possible after the court is over.

The emperor gave a faint "hmm".

The most important purpose of the family's criticism of Yan Xiang was to prevent the suspension of the test. Seeing that the momentum was not good, they all came forward to express their opinions, saying how the people were talking about it, how the public opinion opposed it, and Yan Xiang, as the chief examiner of Enke, had no personal morality. Xiu, committed a serious offense of unfilial piety, it is difficult to convince the public that he advocated the suspension of the papers.

The Minister of Rites and others immediately objected when they heard the words, and Han Zhuo, the official censor, also said a few words.

The emperor waited for them to debate for a few rounds, raised his hand to call for a stop, and ordered Rong Shan, the deputy commander of the shadow guards of Emperor Xuan, who served before his majesty, to go to the hall.

Ten days ago, news of the suspension of examination papers had just been reported in the court. The sons and brothers who were about to take the exam surrounded the prime minister's mansion to denounce Yan Xiang's chaos, and the poor students also gathered to support the suspension of examinations.There was a serious quarrel between the two parties, and General Pei of the Five Cities Military Division invited the Emperor's Shadow Guard to mediate.So Rong Shan took away a few leaders from both sides of the trouble, saying that he wanted to question him.

It's not bad for a poor student to come to Beijing to take the exam alone. Those young masters who have been taken away have families behind them. They are very anxious these days, but the one holding them back is the Emperor's Shadow Guard. .So this question lasted for eight or nine days, and these people were released back after the Great Court Meeting started today.

However, the patriarchs of various families who had gone to court in the Xuanzheng Palace obviously had not heard the news, seeing Rong Shan entering the palace to see him with a stack of papers on the tray in his hand, he couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

Rong Shan quickly reported.

That day, the Shadow Guards of the Son of Heaven took away five children from the aristocratic family and five students from the poor family from Suzaku Street. They were the leaders of the two parties. They asked them why they were making trouble. It is extremely inappropriate to be inferior, and it is far from the real level if you miss or get lucky.But the poor family said that they just didn't have enough knowledge to dare to take the exam in a dignified way.The sons of the family didn't hear this, and they refuted with certainty.The ten people blushed and their necks were thick, and they were about to make a fuss in front of Rong Shan.

Finally, Rong Shan asked the emperor for instructions.According to the system, each subject of the general examination is only tested for one day, starting at the beginning of the morning and closing at the end of the year.But now, the emperor gave the ten leading students eight days to write two articles each.The time is three times longer than the formal exam. Two articles and two exams are also two chances.

The emperor motioned Rong Shan to pass on the papers, and said: "I have read it once, now all the ministers and workers should read it and comment on it."

This sudden move, simple but real, caught the officials of the family who were present at the scene who were bad-mouthing and stopped the book by surprise.

Ten out of ten students from poor families who can make it to the examination must have some skills, otherwise they would not be able to worship the mountain.On the contrary, they are the descendants of the aristocratic family, who are born with ready-made family connections, and they don't need to work hard at all. Many of them will immediately pale in comparison when they are brought out.

The Shadow Guard thought about everything, and transcribed all the answer sheets of the ten leading students. There was no name written on it, and the identities could not be identified by the handwriting—in fact, even if they did not transcribe, let these masters who are unambiguous in the clan recognize the names of their offspring. Handwriting is also really difficult.They are all busy with their daily affairs, how can they have the time to personally ask about the studies of the collateral nephew?I don't know anything about my style of writing or my habits, and now my eyes are darkened.

His Majesty said that he had already seen it, so he must have known it in his heart. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, no one dared to open their eyes and tell lies, so they could only bite the bullet and evaluate the merits truthfully.

These ten students were not brought back casually, they were the leaders when the two parties took to the streets to cause trouble, and they had huge supporters in their respective camps. To say that their grades are not convincing would be preposterous.

After the article was reviewed, the list was arranged according to the results of the civil and military discussions in the palace. The top three of the ten people were all from poor families.

The Book of the Ministry of Rites: "That's it. During the Shangsi Festival, there is still drinking water and talking about appointing officials?"

All quiet.

The emperor twitched the corners of his lips, and ordered the minister to draw up an edict immediately after the minister left the court, officially stopping the volume.

The family members looked ugly, but they couldn't say anything to refute.But soon, this oppressive depression was transferred to Yan Xiang's guilt.

A family censor came out again, this time not only he was unfilial, but also brought up the crimes of Luo Zhi in the past few days. , the fifth member is a private party and the government is chaotic, the sixth member is dominant in one word, the seventh member is arrogant and extravagant, and the eighth member is unkind and unrighteous.

All the crimes are listed in such a way that they add up not only to put Yan Xiang to death, but also to prevent him from leaving a whole body.As soon as this remark came out, not only Yan Dang couldn't stand it anymore, Han Zhuo, the imperial historian who was most able to attend Yan Mao in the court, stood up and said that this was Luo Zhicheng Prison.Lu Mian, Minister of Dali Temple, came out immediately and refuted with the law of Dayin.

But the aristocratic party came prepared, killing Yan Mao's unfilial piety was enough to pre-empt the attack. Even if Han Zhuo, Lu Mian, Minister of Rites and others had the emperor's secret instruction, no matter how eloquent they were, they could not completely excuse Yan Mao. In the end, he was helplessly defeated, and watched several big families jointly petition to remove Yan Mao from the position of Shang Shuling, thoroughly investigate his crimes, and then elect another Enke chief examiner.

If the prime minister is convicted, he must be arrested by the imperial pen, and the three judicial departments of Yushitai, Dali Temple and the Ministry of Criminal Justice will be tried together.

It is inevitable for Yan Xiang to go to prison, so it is very necessary who is the presiding judge.Han Zhuo, the official censor, and Lu Mian, the minister of Dali Temple, immediately stepped forward to ask for orders.

As soon as the words fell, Zhou Kui, an important figure in the aristocratic party, Ding Guogong, came out and said that it was wrong——When discussing Yan Mao's crime just now, Han Zhuo and Lu Mian both spoke out to defend Yan Mao, which shows that they are biased and can't do it. To be fair, on the other hand, Fang Shangshu of the Ministry of Criminal Justice never spoke from the beginning to the end, so he is the most suitable presiding judge.

Hearing this, Han Zhuo turned his head and glanced in the direction of the Ministry of Punishment. Seeing the calm look of the leader, his heart sank—he and Lu Mian had been tricked.

This Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice was surnamed Fang, and he belonged to the Fang family of Cangwu in the [-]th generation—the largest family in Yunzhou.And Fang Shangshu is the cousin of the female patriarch Fang Jingci, and also a Mahayana warrior, the direct junior brother of Fang Hongzhen, Cangwu Martial Venerable.This is the hardest stubble among the hard stubbles, if Yan Xiang falls into his hands, according to the wishes of the family and party, he will never return, and no one will give him face.

The emperor glanced at Lu Mian, who immediately stepped forward and asked to play in a deep voice. According to the Law of Dayin, no matter which party presides over the three justices, they should be detained in Dali Temple Prison.

……

As soon as the court meeting was over, Lu Mian was afraid that the Ministry of punishment would cut him off, so he didn't dare to delay for a moment, so he immediately went to the Hall of Jingcheng to ask for an order.

It was also a coincidence that he happened to meet his son Lu Ji on the road.Lu Ji was dressed in the emperor's personal guard uniform, and just got off duty to return to the Hall of Martial Arts, when he saw his father's eyes lit up, he ran over erratically.

Before he had time to call his father, Lu Mian grabbed his wrist and solemnly told him: "These days, take care of Yun Fei, don't let him out of the palace! You can't let him out if you are down, understand ?"

As soon as the examination papers stopped, the aristocratic family was furious. One was to attack the newly vacated position of chief examiner, and the other was to do everything possible to take revenge on Yan Xiang. Among them, Yun Fei was the first to use it.

Lu Ji hasn't been out of the palace these days, and he still doesn't know how bad the situation outside has become. Hearing this, he said "ah", "Father, I can't beat Yun Fei!"

Lu Mian was so angry that he slapped him on the head: "Then I will beat you! Remember, let me watch!"

Lu Mian didn't have time to stay, so he went to Yuqian after speaking.

Lu Ji looked at his father's back, touched his head aggrievedly, and suddenly remembered that Yun Fei seemed to be alone in the hall this morning, his complexion changed, and he immediately ran to the Hall of Martial Arts.

……

Jingzhang Palace, Jingcheng Palace.

Ling Ye was still wearing court clothes, and he nodded slowly when he heard the internal attendant tell Lu Mian, Minister of Dali Temple, to see him.

Yan Mao, the official residence of Shang Shuling, is Dayin's prime minister. He committed a crime and had to ask for an imperial edict to arrest him.

The Imperial Attendant Mo was not there, and the Bachelor Attendant who was on duty outside came into the study to serve the pen and ink.

The silk brocade on jade scrolls embroidered with auspicious clouds and weaving golden dragons is spread out, and the apprentices study ink and pick up brushes.

Five days ago, Ling Ye sat here and wrote the imperial edict to confer Yan Xiang as the emperor's teacher.

At that time, he thought that no matter how bad it was, he could save the teacher's life.

The imperial decree failed to be sealed in the end.

And five days later, what was waiting for him to draw up again was an imperial edict to seize officials and send them to prison.

"It's my incompetence." Ling Ye thought.

The young emperor has power, but he can't do whatever he wants.

He has the internal worries of the old clan forming a clique in the court, and the foreign trouble of respecting the king in Jiang Jincheng.

The emperor stopped the reform of the imperial examination system, so that the people of the world saw the power of the emperor.

But the Gongqing family should also let Kyushu and the emperor know that the family is not a soft persimmon, and cannot be rounded and flattened by the emperor.

Although the scrolling has stopped, Yan Mao, the instigator, must die, and he will die tragically.

They will execute him in the cruelest way, and no one can stop him.