Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Seeing Wu Chen's performance, everyone understood in their hearts that Li Wei was trying to help one of his own to rise to power, and they immediately looked at Wu Chen with envy in their eyes.

After Wu Chen sat back, Li Wei continued: "This matter must be resolved as soon as possible. Your Majesty will definitely let people re-mark the exam. If you are selected by His Majesty to participate, remember to make up for the northern scholars!"

Wu Chen quickly nodded in agreement and obeyed Li Wei's words. Others had no objections, but Wu Bozong and others frowned slightly.

"If northern scholars are sure that their diction is not good, do they still need to make up for it?" Wu Bozong asked.

"Yes, you must!" Li Wei said seriously.

Seeing that Wu Bozong and others still didn't seem to agree, Li Wei added: "Think about it, if you were a scholar from the north and saw no one in the north ascending to the throne, would you believe it?"

Wu Bozong and Han Yike both frowned and remained silent.

Daotong was straightforward and asked directly: "Why is this happening?"

Li Wei spoke softly and said: "Actually, it's very simple. The south of the world is rich and the north is poor. What's more, the north has experienced wars for a long time and has few people. The level of scholars is naturally not good. Moreover, the capital is located in the south of the Yangtze River. Northern scholars are in the middle of coming to the capital to take the exam. It’s so far away, maybe some outstanding scholars haven’t had time to arrive yet.”

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but nod their heads.

"Do you have any good ideas, sir?" Wu Chen asked with hope in his eyes, and everyone looked at him.

However, this time Li Wei did not say it directly. Instead, he took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Wu Chen, saying: "All good strategies are here."

Wu Chen was overjoyed and immediately understood that this was what Li Wei had prepared to help him ascend, so he quickly stood up and stepped forward, taking it with respectful hands: "Thank you, Duke Guo!"

Li Wei nodded lightly.

Although everyone also wanted to know the good strategies, seeing Li Wei's arrangement, they couldn't ask any more questions. Anyway, they would know about these good strategies sooner or later after Wu Chen presented them, so they were not in a hurry.

After arranging these things, Li Wei stopped talking and reached for the tea bowl. The main purpose of calling everyone here today was for these things.

Seeing this, everyone was about to leave, but Wu Bozong suddenly spoke:

"I heard that during the imperial examination, the number one scholar, Lin, advised your majesty that the strategy of dividing a small family into an equal household was the work of the Duke. I wonder if that is true?"

Hearing Wu Bozong mention this matter, the expressions of everyone present changed slightly, and Li Wei's movements also froze.

Although everyone took refuge in Li Wei, their interests were opposed to Li Wei in this matter. In order to avoid embarrassment, everyone avoided talking about it, and the same was true for Li Wei.

As long as it doesn't affect working together, some conflicts can be put aside for now. Anyway, he has no intention of really promoting anything.

However, now that Wu Bozong mentioned this matter, he could not avoid it.

Everyone looked at Li Wei and felt a little uneasy.

They very much hope that Li Wei can answer that he has no such intention. After all, they are all Li Wei's subordinates. If Li Wei really wants to push such a policy that harms their interests, they are also confused whether to oppose or agree.

Li Wei pondered for a moment and then said directly: "I have indeed mentioned this idea, but at this stage I have no intention of pursuing this strategy."

When everyone heard this, their hearts sank. Although Li Wei gave a buffer and said that it would not be implemented immediately, as long as he had this idea, the two sides would have irreconcilable conflicts.

However, Wu Bozong, Han Yike and others were exceptions. When they heard this, they not only had no objection but also praised it greatly.

"That's great. The Duke's policy will benefit the country and the people. If it is implemented in the future and is used by lower-ranking officials, just give the Duke's orders!"

Wu Bozong raised his hands and said solemnly.

Han Yike and Daotong also nodded in support.

In fact, everyone with a discerning eye knows that this is a good thing that benefits the country and the people, including those civil servants who keep calling Li Wei a traitor. They are not stupid.

It's just that the butt determines the head, and there are only a very small number of people who can insist on being honest and honest regardless of their own interests.

Seeing their attitude, Li Wei couldn't help but smile knowingly.

In fact, people like Wu Bozong were the allies he wanted most, but it was a pity that these people were deeply imprisoned by Confucian loyalty to the emperor, and it was impossible for them to follow him to do things against the imperial power.

It is a pity that we cannot always follow people's wishes when it comes to gains and losses in this world.

"This matter is not urgent. Let's discuss it later. Of course, it mainly depends on His Majesty's wishes."

Li Wei simply perfunctory.

Wu Bozong and others also agreed.

They are also knowledgeable people, and naturally understand how great the resistance will be. Just look at the deserted scene around Li Wei.

After expressing their attitude, Wu Bozong and the other two said no more, and bowed out together with everyone else.

Everyone left in twos and threes, and the hall suddenly became quiet. Only Li Wei, Wang Jie, Shen Jie and a few of his students were left.

"You go and do your work, don't worry about me."

Li Wei said to Wang Jie and others.

"Yes, that subordinate also resigned."

Wang Jie and others also stood up and handed over their hands, leaving the lobby.

After a few people left, Zheng Zhihua hesitated and asked Li Wei with some guilt: "Teacher, did I get you into trouble?"

Li Wei looked at him with interest: "Why do you say that?"

Zheng Zhihua looked frustrated and said, "If it weren't for the fact that I boldly mentioned to His Majesty in the palace that the gentry and gentry should all receive food together, these officials and gentry would not have treated the teacher like this."

Although he is young, he has seen the changes in the court after these few days.

Because of his reckless comments, Li Wei became the target of public criticism and became known as a traitor again. All of this made him feel very guilty.

"Haha," Li Wei smiled and comforted: "It doesn't matter, you were right anyway."

When Zheng Zhihua heard this, he still lowered his head and felt a little sad.

Although Lu Xiu and Ye Qingyun were not as guilty as him, they still felt frustrated because they could not help the teacher at all.

Li Wei looked at them, thought for a while and said: "These people can leave as long as they don't work together. It's okay to leave. But you are the people I really trust. You don't have to do this." Don’t be discouraged. You can learn these court matters slowly in the future. You will understand them naturally after you have more experience, so don’t worry.”

The three of them cheered up after hearing his words, and their eyes lit up with determination.

"Teacher, don't worry, the students will work hard and won't let the teacher down!"

"Yeah!" Lu Xiu said, Zheng Zhihua and Ye Qingyun also nodded heavily.

Li Wei smiled with satisfaction: "That's good. If nothing happens, you can go back and perform your duties as soon as possible after the appointment from the court."

"Yes."

Lu Xiu and the others respectfully said yes, then turned and left.

After they left, Li Wei was the only one left in the hall, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

In this imperial examination, Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately favored Zheng Zhihua, the most hated person, as the number one candidate. Obviously, he wanted to attack him. The current situation is indeed as Zhu Yuanzhang wished. Now everyone is shouting for him to be beaten. If it weren't for the power of the Duke, If he keeps it tight, I'm afraid the remaining Wang Jie and others will betray him.

But it's fine now, as he told Zheng Zhihua just now, these people are different from him, and even if they temporarily adhere to him, they will betray him sooner or later.

But after this case, it was enough to shut up some guys who called him a traitor!
……

Li Wei's guess was very correct. The day after he finished instructing everyone, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately organized a group of officials to review the papers again.

These officials include Liu Sanwu, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, Zuo Zanshan and Zhou Zijian of the Zhanshi Mansion, Zhao Rui, the chief historian of the palace, Wang Xiaoyou, the minister, and so on. In addition to them, there are also Wu Bozong and Wu Chen who have been demoted to the Hanlin Academy for review.

These officials came from different departments, and their positions were not very high. Liu Sanwu, for example, had just entered the court as an official after being introduced. This combination could avoid fraud to the greatest extent.

Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to this matter. In addition to dispatching these officials, he also personally watched and let these officials review the papers in front of him.

The Fengtian Hall was filled with desks, and many officials who had been transferred nervously reviewed the papers.

These answer sheets were sealed, so they couldn't see the names. However, there were subtle differences in the writing style between the north and the south. If they really wanted to distinguish them carefully, it was not impossible to tell them apart.

Wu Bozong carefully read more than a dozen answer sheets. Among these answer sheets, there were some from the south and some from the north. It was just that those from the northern scholars were really poor in arts and science. Thinking of Li Wei's instructions, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. In the end, it was the northern scholars who I selected one of the answers that was barely qualified and presented it to me.

As for Wu Chen, he benefited the most from this matter. He regarded Li Wei's words as a guide. Of course he would not hesitate when Li Wei asked them to recruit northern scholars. As for the quality of these answer papers, that didn't matter. unimportant!
As time passed, after two days and one night of intense review, the officials finally reviewed the answers and presented the answers they thought were excellent to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang read the answer sheets again, but his expression became even more ugly.

"Why are there so few answers from northern scholars here?" Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at everyone with sharp eyes and asked in a deep voice.

Everyone looked at each other, Zhou Zijian stepped forward and cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, we don't know, but the names on these answer sheets are sealed, and we can't see them."

"Yes, Your Majesty, we don't know either."

Liu Sanwu, Wang Xiaoyou and others also echoed.

The corners of Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth twitched, and his face looked extremely ugly.

What Zhou Zijian said was not unreasonable. They didn't know whose answer sheet it was, so they reviewed it impartially.

"Go, remove the seal, select some outstanding ones from the northern scholars' answer sheets and present them to us."

Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly.

Zhou Zijian and others did not dare to say anything, and they all respectfully claimed that they were right, and then opened and sealed the answer sheets that they had just reviewed today. However, after they selected for a while, the answer sheets they selected and presented to Zhu Yuanzhang were all unreasonable in arts and sciences. The article is substandard at first glance.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this, he was even more angry: "Is this the outstanding one you selected?"

"Your Majesty, this is indeed one of the better ones."

Zhou Zijian replied somewhat uneasily.

The answer sheets of the northern scholars were indeed not very good. Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang was in such a hurry that they had no time to choose carefully. They could only randomly find some that barely passed the test based on their memory. However, Zhu Yuanzhang was obviously not satisfied with this.

Wu Chen's eyes flickered on the side. These civil servants in front of him all criticized Li Wei verbally and writtenly. They were the clear enemies of Li's party. At this time, His Majesty was dissatisfied with these people. If he criticized them, he would probably hit the enemy hard immediately.

In the past, he might have hesitated for a while, but this time Li Wei wanted to help him rise to power, and he had become a more loyal lackey of the Li Party than Wang Jie, so naturally he would not miss this good opportunity.

"Your Majesty, although the names on these answer sheets have been sealed, there are still subtle differences in the writing styles of scholars from the north and the south. If you look carefully, you will not be able to tell. I think that Zhou Zijian and others are partial to the scholars from the south and deliberately use bad words to show their favor. Get involved!"

Wu Chen stepped forward and played loudly.

When Zhou Zijian and others heard this, their expressions suddenly changed, and they quickly said: "You are talking nonsense, Your Majesty, I definitely did not mean this. The answers of the northern scholars are indeed not good. If your Majesty does not believe it, you can read it yourself!"

"Hmph, do you mean to ask His Majesty to read all these hundreds of test papers?"

Wu Chen said sarcastically.

"you!"

Zhou Zijian's eyes widened with anger, Zhao Rui, Wang Xiaoyou and others also glared at Wu Chen, but Wu Chen looked at him without fear.

"Your Majesty, I would never do this. Wu Chen is slandering me!" Zhao Rui then said to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Humph!"

Wu Chen snorted coldly. After Li Wei's suggestion, he now knew the essence of the matter very well, so he dared to slander Zhou Zijian and others so blatantly. However, Zhou Zijian and others had not realized the seriousness of the problem, so they still wanted to Emphasizing the truth made him feel an inexplicable sense of superiority, and at the same time he secretly admired Li Wei.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at everyone with a gloomy face. This time he supervised it personally. He believed that Zhou Zijian and others did not have the courage to practice favoritism in front of him, but if it was true as they said, the northern scholars would never accept it.

After a long silence, Zhu Yuanzhang asked everyone: "Then how do you think this matter should be handled?"

Zhou Zijian immediately replied: "Of course it is fair to deal with it. Northern scholars have poor knowledge and it is natural for them to fail."

Liu Sanwu, Zhao Rui and others also nodded in agreement.

Hearing their words, Wu Bozong frowned slightly and wanted to remind them, but he couldn't explain such a thing.

Wu Chen sneered secretly. They obviously didn't understand His Majesty's intentions.

Sure enough, when Zhu Yuanzhang heard what they said, he became livid and said nothing.

Seeing that the time had come, Wu Chen hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, it is better to divide the imperial examination into northern and southern rankings. This time it will be the southern ranking. The imperial court can open another northern ranking and recruit the same number of northern scholars. Master, only by being fair and just can the court see the north and the south as the same."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his heart moved slightly. This was indeed a solution.

Wu Bozong also looked sideways at Wu Chen, secretly wondering if this was Li Wei's good advice for him?

However, Zhou Zijian and others immediately objected: "How is this possible? The whole world is Ming Dynasty. Why should the imperial examination be divided into north and south? The imperial court should naturally select the best scholars. How can we leave the outstanding scholars in the south and not recruit those in the north? son?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, this is inappropriate. If we recruit scholars like this, I'm afraid it will be of no use to the court." Liu Sanwu also followed suit. (End of chapter)