I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 805: End of the Road

Late night, Luoyang City.

Candles were always lit in the Audit Office's residence.

At this time, the timid officials who had been there during the day were no longer there, leaving only Guo Jia, who was bending over the desk, flipping through the files that he had already read countless times.

"Du Yushi, please forgive me for being blunt, but I'm afraid you are wasting your time."

The person who spoke was Cheng Zhong, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue. Seeing Guo Jia's anxious look, he couldn't help but shake his head.

"Waste of time?"

Guo Jia raised his head suddenly, his eyes full of bloodshot:
"It has been more than half a month since the general ordered us to supervise the Hongnong Yang case."

"But what about now? Apart from some groundless rumors, there is not even a piece of solid evidence. Tell me, isn't this a waste of time?"

Cheng Zhong paused, his eyes flickering as he asked, "What if Yang Situ is truly upright and has no evidence against him?"

Guo Jia snorted coldly and slammed the file in his hand on the table:
"Incorruptible? Brother Cheng, don't forget that the General's Jinyiwei has already found out that the Hongnong Yang family farm forcibly bought the people's land and interfered with the salt and iron business. These things are not made up out of nothing? Yang Biao is the head of the family and one of the three highest officials. Do you believe that he didn't know anything about this?"

Cheng Zhong sighed and said slowly, "Don't be angry, Chief Censor. To be honest, in my opinion, this matter is difficult to handle for two reasons."

"First, Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang'an and fled in a hurry. In addition, the Luoyang family rebelled later, which led to the burning of many important files. Many key clues were cut off."

"Secondly, most of the officials in your Audit Department are transferred from the old Jiuqing Temple. They have been in office for a long time and are from aristocratic families. Many of them are favored by Yang Biao. There are many who pretend to obey and secretly make trouble. We are restricted in our actions. How can we investigate the case smoothly?"

"How could I not know what you said?" Guo Jia slammed the table angrily and said, "But this is not a reason for us to give up!"

"The general has placed great hopes on us. This case concerns the reform of the Han Dynasty's civil service. If we back down from this, how can we live up to the general's trust and explain ourselves to the people of the world?"

Cheng Zhong nodded slightly after hearing this. He highly recognized the young man's drive.

However, in the past half month, he had visited various places with the authority given to him by the Household Department, and he knew very well that it was impossible to overthrow Yang Biao under the current conditions.

Take the burned files for example. From his perspective, the burning of those materials was really strange.

Dong Zhuo moved the capital in a hurry, so he would not have gone out of his way to burn these potentially useful government files.

However, that's what happened. Not only the files related to the Hongnong Yang family, but almost all the key government documents related to the aristocratic families were burned.

All the sins of the past have been buried in the sea of ​​fire, and re-collecting and investigating them would require a great deal of manpower and time, and might not necessarily be effective.

It was obvious that the general was now reforming the official system, especially the Censorate, and sending them back to Beijing to investigate had already alerted the enemy.

It would be even more difficult to get useful clues.

"No hurry, no hurry."

Cheng Zhong shook his head and smiled bitterly:

“There is no doubt that this is a long battle.”

"In my opinion, we should focus on the upcoming imperial examinations."

"When the time comes, we need to recruit more smart and capable people to join the team and inject fresh blood to break this stagnant situation."

"Imperial examination? Imperial examination?!"

Hearing Cheng Zhong's words, Guo Jia first muttered to himself, then suddenly raised his head, his eyes shining: "Yes, it's the imperial examination!"

This sudden, insane reaction startled Cheng Zhong. He saw Guo Jia's eyes gleaming, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and he came over and patted him on the shoulder:

"What the Secretary said is absolutely right."

"The imperial examination is exactly the godsend opportunity I've been waiting for!"

Cheng Zhong was stunned, and looked at Guo Jia in confusion: "Captain of Justice, what do you mean? What is the connection between this imperial examination and the Yang Biao case?"

"If I remember correctly, the general gave the task of organizing the imperial examination to the chief priest Cai Yong."

Guo Jia nodded and smiled, "That's right."

"But don't forget that Yang Biao is a high-ranking official and a leader of the literati. How could he miss such an important event as the imperial examination?"

"You know, this imperial examination is an important measure taken by the general to reform the civil service and select talents. It is known to the whole court. How could Yang Biao not know the impact it may have on the children of aristocratic families?"

"Now that the general is not in the capital, it can be said that they have been given a great opportunity. If Yang Biao wants to maintain his family's influence in the court, he will definitely make some moves in the next imperial examination."

Cheng Zhong suddenly understood what he meant when he heard this: "What the Chief Censor meant was that Yang Biao might have planted his own people in the imperial examination, or even used cheating to ensure that his students and former officials could enter the officialdom smoothly?"

Guo Jia nodded and sneered: "That's right."

"Although the imperial examination is a new policy promoted by the general, an old fox like Yang Biao will never sit idly by. He will definitely use his influence in the literati to secretly manipulate the imperial examination, and may even bribe examiners, leak test questions, and other means to ensure that his family power can continue to infiltrate the court."

"And if he does it, he will definitely leave a handle. The general has repeatedly stressed that fairness in the imperial examination is the most important thing. If he dares to cross the line..."

Before Guo Jia finished speaking, Cheng Zhong excitedly continued:
"Not only will he lose his position as one of the Three Dukes, but he will also be disgraced among the scholars!"

"That's right!"

“This is the moment when you reach the end of your rope, and suddenly you find yourself in a new world.”

With his mind opened, Guo Jia completely regained his composure. He even took a sip of the wine at his waist and started singing while drinking.

This really scared Cheng Zhong.

This is not because of Guo Jia's dissolute behavior.

After nearly a month of interaction, Cheng Zhong already knew that the boy was a drunkard, lustful, and unruly person.

What really shocked him was the poem that Guo Jia chanted.

"What a poem, what a poem!"

Cheng Zhong exclaimed in amazement:

"Captain of the Imperial Court, this casual recitation actually produced such a wonderful sentence!"

"This verse, 'When you have reached the end of your rope, you will find a way out, but when you turn around, you will find a new village', is just fourteen words, but it vividly describes the state of mind of encountering a turn for the better in a desperate situation. If you have not experienced it yourself, you will never have such an understanding. It is really hard to imagine that it can come from the mouth of a young talent like you."

"The wonderful artistic conception and clever word choice of this poem are simply divine! Those who claim to be literati and scholars in the literati circle will pale in comparison to it!"

"Although I am not talented, I understand that just based on one sentence, I am worthy of being a famous quote that has been passed down through the ages!"

(End of this chapter)