Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

On May 16, the 15th year of Jiazhao, there was heavy rain and dark clouds.

The huge city of Shenjing is like a dormant giant beast, majestic and solemn, filled with a suffocating atmosphere.

After two days of fermentation, the imperial examination fraud case finally spread throughout the city and became a hot topic.

Nine candidates who passed the imperial examination and two failed candidates were implicated and imprisoned. No one could predict how many more students would be implicated and how bad the situation would become.
The three hundred imperial examination candidates in the capital city were originally beaming with joy, waiting for their names to be on the list of successful candidates.

In an instant, the wind and rain surged, and their road to glory was suddenly put on hold.

The three hundred tribute scholars had no choice but to stay in the capital as they were waiting for the announcement of the palace examination results, but the fear and trembling in their hearts were beyond words.

Before the imperial examination began, the circulation of the blue booklet in the market led to a trend of officials paying visits to the emperor, and the contacts and interactions between the candidates were also maximized.

Nine tribute scholars have been implicated and imprisoned. Among the three hundred tribute scholars, how many of them knew each other and had contacts with each other? The entanglements and connections among them are even more complicated.

None of the scholars who had passed the imperial examination, who were originally very noble, could say that they had completely stayed out of the matter. No one could be sure whether the Inspector General of the Court of Judicial Affairs would come looking for him.

These scholars who had once entered the Imperial Palace were now restless, as if sitting on pins and needles, and were in a state of panic all day long...

There are still a considerable number of failed candidates in Shenjing City. However, all of them have some wealth. They originally planned to live in Shenjing to study and accumulate connections in preparation for making a comeback in the next spring examination.

Ever since the news of cheating in the imperial examination spread throughout the city, people have been talking about it on the streets, which has put tremendous pressure on those failed candidates.

Logically, they should have stayed out of the major fraud case, but among those implicated and sent to jail this time were two candidates who had failed the imperial examination.

Before the imperial examination, the officials whose names were included in the blue booklet were visited and courted by the examinees, and all the failed candidates participated in it to some extent.

If a person who has entered the Sunshan Mountain is involved in a major fraud case, he will not only be unlucky, but also become a laughing stock of others.

Therefore, before dawn that day, many failed candidates braved the heavy rain and mud to gather at the four gates of the capital, waiting for the city gates to open so that they could escape from this dangerous place as soon as possible.

The Court of Inquiries and the Three Courts were not completely unaware of the unusual phenomenon of failed candidates leaving the capital in large numbers.

However, nothing happened. Even with the arrogance of the Court of Inquiries, they did not dare to stop thousands of failed candidates from leaving the capital, otherwise their expedition would be without reason and would definitely cause a major incident.

After the hour of Chen, the four gates of Shenjing opened, and countless failed candidates filed out of the city in a hurry...

At the same time, in the palace city of Da Zhou, three cannon shots were fired and the night watch drum roared, and the morning court in Fengtian Hall began.

……

In the Fengtian Hall, sitting on the dragon throne, Emperor Jiazhao had a gloomy expression.

At sunset yesterday, Zhou Junxing had already submitted a memorial to the emperor on the progress of the investigation into the fraud case.

It includes the confessions of eleven tribute candidates, as well as the trial records of the Court of Inquisition and the Dali Temple.

Although the suspects' statements were inconsistent, the pattern of their fraudulent practices was clear and difficult to refute.

Ever since Sun Shouzheng, the censor of the Censorate, impeached the emperor for fraud in court, Emperor Jiazhao not only ordered the Court of Judicial Review and the Dali Temple to investigate the case.

At the same time, Guo Lin ordered the Shenjing CRRC Corporation Limited to dispatch capable personnel to secretly gather information related to the fraud case.

Before the morning court session today, Emperor Jia Zhao received a secret letter from the Imperial Chariot Department, which stated:

Zhou Junxing seemed to have known about the fraud for a long time and arrested the criminals extremely quickly.

The reason for this was that it was speculated that Huang Hongcang was poisoned and killed before the Spring Examination, and the Magistrates' Court was in charge of the case. They therefore suspected that there was something fishy about the Spring Examination and began to investigate secretly.

Maybe due to insufficient evidence, the case was kept secret until the 14th day when Sun Shouzheng impeached him and Zhou Yan, a candidate for the imperial examination, reported the case. This led to the court of judges passing the case and the case was handled with lightning speed.

The Magistrates' Court interrogated more than ten suspected scholars and although they used torture to extract confessions, their statements were solid and supported by circumstantial evidence.

Except for the trial of the principal criminal Wu Liang, which was heard by the Magistrates' Court alone, the trial of the remaining ten suspects was heard by Yang Hongbin, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, and he had no objection...

……

This secret letter from the Imperial Chariot Department gave Emperor Jiazhao a clearer understanding of the imperial examination fraud case from another perspective.

He would appoint Zhou Junxing as the director of the Court of Judges, using him as a sharp weapon for the emperor, not for his fairness and impartiality, but for his harshness and cruelty.

Emperor Jiazhao knew very well that Zhou Junxing was sharp and decisive in his actions. He could be called an efficient official, but not a gentleman.

He knew the opportunity in advance, but because there was no concrete evidence, he kept it to himself and waited for the right opportunity to take credit and seek favor.

Emperor Jia Zhao was not surprised that Zhou Junxing would do such a thing.

Since he would employ cruel officials, he would naturally have special considerations and weighing of their sinister behavior. As for whether he would settle accounts later, that is another matter...

The key point of this matter is not Zhou Junxing's method of doing things, but the fact that the chief examiner Xu Liangxiong and the scholars involved did commit fraud.

No matter how sinister and cruel Zhou Junxing's methods were, he definitely did not have the ability to force a third-rank official and more than a dozen palace examination candidates to commit cheating without any prior agreement.

Therefore, after receiving the secret letter from the Imperial Chariot Department, the interrogation memorial submitted by the Court of Inquisition was supplemented with evidence, and Emperor Jiazhao became more and more furious.

Before the morning court session started at noon, he issued an oral order in Qianyang Palace, ordering the Jinyiwei to interrogate Xu Liangxiong, who was confined at home, and immediately send him to the Dali Temple Prison for a joint trial by the three judicial officials.

Ever since Sun Shouzheng impeached Xu Liangxiong for cheating in the imperial examination in court, the main culprit, Xu Liangxiong, has long been under the spotlight of the public inside and outside the court, and countless people have been secretly paying attention to what is happening in the Xu family.

Before dawn today, the Embroidered Uniform Guards swarmed into the Xu Mansion, and the third-rank Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was pushed into a prison van by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

This explosive news spread quickly in the city, and many officials who entered the court today learned about it through different channels.

The fact that Xu Liangxiong was formally imprisoned for trial shows that this major fraud case has become irreversible and is about to be settled.

Although the incident happened not long ago, the main officials of each government office have already clearly grasped the direction of the incident.

Faced with such a situation, officials have to make some responses, whether to please their superiors or for other purposes.

Emperor Jiazhao arrested Xu Liangxiong and put him in prison before the morning court session, which was probably his deep meaning.

When a king acts, he must not only have a legitimate reason, but also have all officials support him...

……

When the officials of the morning court stood in line and shouted "Long live the emperor", the worship ceremony was over.

Emperor Jiazhao said: "Minister of Rites Guo Youchang, I order you to review the questions proposed by Xu Liangxiong and the test questions to see if there is any suspicion of selling the questions. Now you can make a conclusion!"

Guo Youchang walked out of the officials' ranks and said, "Your Majesty, after receiving the imperial edict, I contacted the Magistrates' Court that day and obtained the confession of the candidate involved in the case, and the transcribed Xu Liangxiong proposed the title.

The text is as follows: I have heard that learning is the king’s business, starting from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to this day, and there has been no change. However, there are different times in ancient and modern times, emperors have different governance, and the world has ups and downs.

Each one governs according to the times, and there is no fixed theory. It can be passed down from generation to generation and can be a law that lasts for thousands of years...

The topic of the imperial examination essay written by Xu Liangxiong was: Scholars spend their whole lives studying the classics, pondering deeply in their studies, and finally serve as kings. The beginning of the emperors in ancient times was the unchangeable tradition of sages and wise men.

However, there were changes in the Spring and Autumn Period, some kings were wise and some were foolish, some people were rich and some were poor, some enemy chiefs were numerous and some were few, and some ministers were loyal and treacherous.

The teachings of the saints and sages cannot be changed, but if there is no definite theory for the law of the moment, how can it govern the affairs of the world for a hundred generations?

I have carefully considered it several times, and although the topic that Xu Liangxiong suggested to use for the visit to the candidates is completely different from the topic for the imperial examination, the meaning and context of the topic are the same.

Before the imperial examination, candidates should read Liu Jichuan's "Tuisi Ji" carefully and use the text to guess the meaning of the text when answering the questions proposed by Xu Liangxiong.

The method of answering questions can be applied to answering essay questions in the imperial examinations with only a few minor modifications. "

When Guo Youchang said this, there was a slight uproar among the court officials.

The current emperor is extremely cautious about Xu Liangxiong's suspicion of selling titles, and has specially asked the Minister of Rites Guo Youchang to investigate.

Minister of Rites Guo Youchang is one of the most famous Confucian scholars of his time. What he just said was so logically rigorous and penetrating that it is difficult to question.

All the civil servants who attended the morning court were successful candidates in the imperial examinations and were experts in formulating essays for the imperial examinations.

After listening to Guo You's retelling of the content of the title proposal and composition, they all agreed with his analysis and inference. It was already confirmed that Xu Liangxiong was suspected of selling the title.

There were some sharp-minded officials among them. Thinking of the accident that Huang Hongcang had suddenly encountered the day before the examination, Xu Liangxiong hastily succeeded him as the chief examiner and took over the responsibility of setting the essay questions for Huang Hongcang.

At that time, he only had one night to compile the policy essay questions for the imperial examination. It was quite difficult to compile the best questions in such a short time.

Xu Liangxiong has always been known for being arrogant and conceited because of his talent. He is a person who cares a lot about his reputation. It is probably difficult for him to come up with a perfect topic in a short period of time.

Perhaps the topic he had prepared before was his masterpiece, so he hastily borrowed the theme of the topic and formulated the test questions for the imperial examination. As a result, the topic selling came into being...

……

Emperor Jiazhao, who was sitting on the jade steps and dragon throne, looked even gloomier after hearing what Guo Youchang said.

He said: "The Spring Examination is a great national event. Xu Liangxiong, as the chief examiner, was negligent and careless, which led to the sale of test questions and cheating. I have entrusted the wrong person.

I order the Dali Temple to conduct a strict interrogation of him, to correct any faults, to interrogate his family and servants, and to investigate whether the candidate paid bribes or flattered Xu's family when he visited Xu's residence. If there is solid evidence, all the crimes will be punished severely!"

The stern words of Emperor Jiazhao echoed endlessly in the spacious Fengtian Hall, and all the officials in the court were awed. They all knew in their hearts that the tone of this fraud case had been set, and the main culprit Xu Liangxiong had been guilty, ruined and ruined...

As soon as Emperor Jiazhao finished speaking, the Left Censor-in-Chief Zhou Xianyang stepped forward and reported: "Your Majesty, this major case of cheating in the imperial examinations has shocked the court and the public, frightened the scholars, and is indeed damaging to the national dignity.

The chief examiner, Xu Liangxiong, had been making peace with the candidates before the examination, which led to the rampant cheating in the exam questions and he must be severely punished.

However, the harm is huge, and we should eliminate the remaining poison, take precautions before it happens, and trace the root cause to avoid future worries.

I have heard that before the imperial examination began, a blue booklet was circulated in the streets of Shenjing, which listed in detail the candidates for examiners. Because of this blue booklet, candidates began to pay officials a visit.

Xu Liangxiong was also listed in the blue book, and the fraud was caused by this. I ask the emperor to issue an order to strictly investigate the source of the blue book, and severely punish those who spread rumors to confuse the public. "

When Emperor Jia Zhao heard this, he felt a slight chill in his heart. Before the imperial examination, he learned from the routine secret notes of the Imperial Chariot Department that there was a blue booklet circulating in the market.

However, before every Spring Examination, it was common for people in the market to speculate about the examiners, so it was not surprising.

Now, tracing back to the source, it turns out that this blue booklet was popular in the market, which caused such a stir. It has never been seen in previous spring examinations, and the mystery behind it makes people think...

He said, "What Minister Zhou said makes sense. I order Zhou Junxing of the Court of Inquiry to investigate this matter thoroughly and bring the instigator to justice to order in order to appease the public!"

Zhou Junxing hurried out to receive the order, but he was complaining in his heart.

He had already investigated the matter of the blue booklet in advance, but the other party acted cleanly from beginning to end without leaving any loopholes.

Wang Shien, a retired official of the Ministry of Personnel's Case Office, who was suspected of this, fled before the Court of Inquiry came to arrest him. His whereabouts are still unknown and there is no way to track him down...

Zhou Xianyang continued: "Although there is a blue booklet to trigger the cause and effect, the officials involved are clearly divided into good and bad officials when facing this matter.

For example, the chief examiners of the Spring Examination, Wang Shilun and Chen Mo, held high positions and were listed as candidates for chief examiners. However, faced with a large number of examinees flocking to visit them, they closed the door to visitors and never made friends with them. Their behavior was honest and commendable.

But people like Xu Liangxiong, many of whom were listed as candidates for co-examiners and examiners, were obsessed with seeking fame and were happy to be flattered and paid homage to them by candidates.

They cater to the candidates who come to their doorstep, drinking and chatting with each other, talking at will, not knowing how to avoid suspicion, and like to teach others, drafting questions and giving advice, which flaws their moral conduct and damages the reputation of the court officials who are honest and upright.

With this kind of attitude, how can an examiner be dedicated, impartial, and discerning? "

When Zhou Xianyang said this, many officials in the court changed color and had a bad feeling in their hearts. They were all among the examiners and examiners of this spring examination...

Emperor Jiazhao, sitting on the dragon throne, had a grim expression and focused look as he listened attentively to Zhou Xianyang's words.

When Zhou Xianyang heard a slight commotion among the officials in line, he subconsciously looked up and saw Emperor Jiazhao pondering and concentrating, which made him feel a little excited.

He continued, "The cheating in the Spring Examination here was already suspected by Ni before the examination. The Imperial Censor Sun Shouzheng, as a co-examiner of the examination, was upright before the examination began and never accepted any greetings from the examinees..."

When Zhou Xianyang said this, some officials in the court secretly sneered.

Sun Shouzheng was only a seventh-rank censor. He had no reputation in the court and was just a small official, so he was not among the candidates for the blue book.

If Huang Hongcang had not specially recommended him, he would not have been able to become a co-examiner. Before the examination was over, he would most likely have no candidates visiting him. Zhou Xianyang was just raising the status of his subordinate officials.

Zhou Xianyang continued, "After the examination, Sun Shouzheng discovered clues while reading the papers, but because there was insufficient evidence, he did not report it based on hearsay and acted cautiously.

After marking the papers and leaving the palace, Sun Shouzheng secretly investigated. After confirming the truth, he did not hesitate to report the successful candidate from his own family, in order to ensure that his family would be cleared of all charges in the spring examination.

On the other hand, the dozens of officials who served as examiners and examiners in the 18th Chamber were no less talented and intelligent than Sun Shouzheng.

Before the exam, he must have heard about all the unusual behaviors of the candidates, but during the process of marking the papers, he was completely unaware of the hidden cheating and trickery.

This is because one's moral conduct was lax before the examination, and one's behavior was obscured and abnormal during the examination. One cannot deny the blame for being negligent in the spring examination, which led to the breeding of an unclean atmosphere in the imperial examination ceremony.

I hereby request Your Majesty to conduct a strict investigation into the candidates' behavior of welcoming the examiners before entering the examination hall, and any acts of bribery or collusion should be severely punished.

We must rectify the rules and regulations, set an example for others, and clean up the atmosphere of the imperial examinations to prevent such evil practices from spreading and causing endless harm. "

……

As soon as Zhou Xianyang said this, there was another commotion in the court.

Among the examiners and graders of this joint examination, more than a dozen were officials of the fifth rank and above, and they were all present at the morning court.

Zhou Xianyang's words were obviously directed at them. These people appeared in the blue booklet as candidates for selection before the exam. How many of them had not been visited and flattered by the candidates?

As soon as Zhou Xianyang finished speaking, these people all looked unhappy, and many of them were angry and felt quite aggrieved.

But no one dared to refute in court. To jump out at this juncture and show oneself in public and attract attention would be tantamount to confessing oneself, which would be a clear sign of trying to cover up one's own wrongdoing.

The disciplinary officer of the Ministry of Rites patrolled back and forth to stop the noise, and the noise gradually died down.

In the court, there were many more officials who had never served as officials in the Spring Examination. Although they could stay out of it, they felt a little sympathetic after hearing Zhou Xianyang's words.

This fraud case was triggered by the impeachment of Sun Shouzheng, the censor of the Metropolitan Censorate, in court. Now the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Censorate has made another strong statement, which seems to be making the fraud case more serious...

However, the shrewd and experienced officials guessed that Zhou Xianyang's words were just the superficial position and attitude of the Censorate after observing the situation.

At that time, Sun Shouzheng, the censor of the Censorate, suddenly uncovered a major examination fraud case in court, which caught even his superiors, Zhou Xianyang, the Left Censor-in-Chief, and Liu Yuqing, the Deputy Censor-in-Chief, by surprise.

They all knew that cheating in the imperial examinations involved a wide range of people and was extremely dangerous. Without knowing the underlying circumstances, they did not dare to get involved easily.

Even though Emperor Jiazhao was furious in court and Xu Liangxiong defended himself in court, and the emperor ordered the Court of Judicial Review and the Dali Temple to conduct a thorough investigation, Zhou Xianyang and Liu Yuqing remained silent and did not express their views.

By the time officials had a day off yesterday, the situation in the capital city had changed drastically. More than a dozen candidates for the imperial examinations were put in jail, and the fraud case had become a serious matter.

At the morning court today, Guo Youchang analyzed the whole process of Xu Liangxiong selling questions in court. Emperor Jiazhao ordered the Court of Judicial Review and the Dali Temple to conduct a strict trial of Xu Liangxiong.

Zhou Xianyang and Liu Yuqing knew that the fraud was an established case. As Sun Shouzheng's superior and the chief official of the Censorate, Zhou Xianyang naturally had to make up for what he had not expressed before.

This shows that he reported what he heard, maintained discipline, upheld justice, hated evil, and had a good reputation as a dignified censor. This shows the current emperor that there is more than one Sun Shouzheng in the Censorate...

……

After listening to Zhou Xianyang's words, Emperor Jiazhao's face showed an uncertain expression. He had been in power for more than ten years and had seen many evil spirits in the court and tricks in officialdom.

It would be ridiculous to say that Zhou Xianyang's words were entirely out of public interest.

However, what Zhou Xuanyang said was not groundless, but made a lot of sense.

He glanced at the officials lined up in the hall, those officials who had served as examiners. Some of them looked pale, some looked frightened, and some lowered their heads in thought. They all looked ugly, and he felt a chill in his heart.

The grand Spring Examination is a solemn and solemn national ceremony, but some officials in the Spring Examination behaved carelessly, acted arrogantly and rebelliously, did not know how to restrain themselves and treat state affairs as a child's play!
If this trend is not eradicated, the country will not be at peace; if mistakes are not corrected, laws and discipline will not be enforced...

Emperor Jiazhao looked sharply at the officials on duty in the palace.

He said: "According to the report of the Censorate, I order the Court of Inquiries and the Supreme Court to strictly investigate the officials of the Spring Examination who associate with candidates. If there is any immoral behavior, bribery or fraud, it will not be tolerated.

The Ministry of Personnel will formulate a strategy for handling officials based on the results of the investigation and the performance evaluation of its officials, and submit it to the emperor for judgment.

As soon as Emperor Jia Zhao's oral order came out, all the officials in the hall felt a chill in their hearts. This imperial examination fraud case was gradually spreading like wildfire. Who knew how many officials who took the imperial examination in the spring would be unlucky...

Zhou Junxing, who was among the officials, felt a little uncomfortable after listening to the report made by Zhou Xianyang, the Left Censor-in-Chief.

Sun Shouzheng, the censor of Yongzhou, impeached the emperor in court and uncovered a major case of fraud in the imperial examination.

At that time, Zhou Junxing was still feeling fortunate because Sun Shouzheng had revealed the matter before him, which was able to cover up many of the loopholes in his provoking incident.

However, the advice just given by Left Censor-in-Chief Zhou Xianyang added further turmoil after Sun Shouzheng's, and made the Censorate the vanguard of the Spring Examination fraud case.

Just like the Spring Examination fraud case was uncovered, it was all the work of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Court of Inquiries became their supporting thugs...

Fortunately, the emperor still handed over the matter of the investigation of officials in the Spring Examination to the Court of Inquisition and the Dali Temple. The Dali Temple had already lost the initiative when the incident first occurred.

The career prospects of dozens of officials who passed the Spring Examination were now in the hands of the Court of Inquiries, which made Zhou Junxing feel very proud.

Moreover, the matter of more than a dozen candidates involved in the case is not over yet. Yesterday, the Dali Temple set up an ambush at the city gate and arrested Lin Zhaohe.

Today, Lin Zhaohe will be transferred to the Magistrate's Court, where he will be interrogated against Wu Liang. As long as Lin Zhaohe is found guilty of fraud, the third place on the list will fall.

By then, the power of the Magistrates' Court will be so great that people will shudder at the mention of it.

Even if it was Jia Cong who ranked first on the list, Zhou Junxing believed that as long as he conducted a thorough investigation, he would be able to make no mistakes or omissions...

……

After the morning court was dismissed, Emperor Jiazhao's carriage slowly moved on the way to Qianyang Palace.

At this time, the sun was rising high in the sky, and the early summer sunshine was shining brightly, illuminating the surroundings without any shadows or evil spirits.

However, Emperor Jia Zhao was in a gloomy and heavy mood. Thinking of the ugly aspects of the fraud case revealed at the morning court today, he felt extremely annoyed.

All he had encountered in the past few days were bad things, and the only happy thing that made him happy was Jia Cong's successful creation of a breech-loading rifle.

Emperor Jia Zhao said to Guo Lin, who was beside him, "Today at 3 pm, summon Jia Cong to the palace. I want to ask him about the breech-loading rifle..." (End of this chapter)