After rebirth, I became a treacherous minister Black Moonlight

Chapter 489: The Second Round, God's Will

"His Majesty!"

Zhang Qufeng, who had just spoken up for Lu Qi, spoke again, holding up his tablet, "The exam is only halfway through, it would be inappropriate to announce the end now, right?"

Although Emperor Liang was a martial emperor, he was not cruel. He would not chop off anyone's head just because his ministers expressed their opinions and angered him.

Emperor Liang did not get angry after hearing Zhang Qufeng's words. Instead, he looked at the crowd of ministers in the Golden Palace and asked, "Do you think my decision is unfair?"

Zhang Qufeng kept winking at his "colleagues", calling on everyone to unite with him and persuade the emperor to revoke his order.

However, everyone seemed to be collectively blind. They lowered their heads and refused to look him in the eye.

If the prince and the eldest grandson of the emperor are evenly matched and it is difficult to tell who is better, they can play to the advantages of their camp and argue based on reason.

However, the emperor's eldest grandson won this round so beautifully that it left all his descendants speechless.

Both of them had lived among the people for many years, but it was obvious that Prince Jian had long since drawn a clear line with his past. As a prince, there was nothing wrong with possessing royal nobility, elegant manners, and good knowledge.

If there is no eldest grandson of the emperor, the prince is good enough.

The emperor's eldest grandson won today because he did not forget his roots and put the people first.

When the late emperor was alive, he said more than once, "If you protect the people and become a king, no one can stop you."

Your Majesty is not testing your knowledge, but your ability to benefit the people.

I shouldn't say this, but if it was the emperor's eldest grandson who was in charge of disaster relief, perhaps those tragedies could have been avoided to a large extent.

"Grand Minister, what do you think?"

Emperor Liang gave the precious veto power to the Minister of Agriculture.

The Minister of Agriculture put the boiled seeds back into the sack, bowed to Emperor Liang, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, Your Highness Changsun has won and deserves it!"

The test is about farming. The Minister of Agriculture has said so, who could have any objection?
Prince Jin frowned and clenched his fists secretly.

Prince Ming patted Prince Fu on the shoulder and said, "We won! That guy won! We got 10,000 taels!"

Prince Fu covered his chest which was about to break, and said with forbearance: "Sixth brother, I know you are very excited, but don't get excited yet."

I think your money is going to be gone...

Concubine Jiang Hui is the most protective of her son. If her son loses even a hair, she will fight to the death...

Prince Ming was immersed in the joy of winning ten thousand taels. The more he looked at Prince Jin's face, which was almost dark, the happier he felt. He wished he could find a painter to copy it on the spot.

Mr. Ziwu was also very proud. He stroked his beard and said to Gongsun Yanming: "My dear nephew, no wonder you didn't dare to fight yesterday. I thought you were being modest, but it turns out you have self-awareness."

Gongsun Yanming said calmly: "It's only the first test, and I just happened to pick the test questions set by my uncle."

What this means is that Lu Yuan relied on luck.

Lu Zhaoyan climbed up the slope as soon as he saw it: "My son is worthy of being a Qilin. Even the heavens are helping him."

Everyone: "..."

The Ming King asked in confusion, "What does it mean to draw the exam questions?"

Lu Zhaoyan said, "The ministers who went to the Imperial Study yesterday all gave the test questions for Your Majesty to draw."

The King of Ming suddenly realized: "No wonder everyone reacted so strongly, it turns out that it was Mr. Ziwu who wrote the question."

Mr. Ziwu: “No.”

Ming Wang asked curiously, "You didn't write it?"

Mr. Ziwu opened his mouth and said, "I wrote it, but it's not this."

The King asked, "What did you write?"

Mr. Ziwu: "A huge stone is broken in my chest."

Prince Ming: "..."

How much do you hate that guy?
King Ming asked Lu Zhaoyan: "Who put the farming test questions in?"

Lu Zhaoyan thought for a moment and said, "Father."

Ming Wang: "...I forgot that he can also come up with questions."

According to the plan, there was to be one test per day, but no one expected that Lu Yuan would finish the farming test by himself in less than half an hour.

Emperor Liang thought about it and decided to continue the competition.

In order to take care of the old minister, we will take a short rest for two quarters of an hour.

"Hey, hey!"

Prince Ming winked and waved at Eunuch Yu.

Emperor Liang was discussing something with two elders at this time. Eunuch Yu pointed at himself and saw Prince Ming nodding wildly, asking with his eyes what was the matter.

Ming Wang pointed to the farming scroll he had closed and said silently, "Take a look."

Eunuch Yu glanced back at Emperor Liang and whispered, "Your Majesty."

Emperor Liang waved his hand, indicating that he could take it.

Eunuch Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately he did not act on his own.

Your Majesty may seem busy with other things, but in fact he is keeping his eyes and ears open and listening carefully.

He took the scroll to the Ming King.

Prince Ming unfolded it and watched it with Lu Zhaoyan and Prince Fu.

I don’t know, I’m scared.

I always thought their father was only good at wielding swords and guns and fighting wars, but it turns out he has some skills as well.

The test questions cover all aspects of farming, even including farmland irrigation and autumn harvest and winter storage.

Ming Wang said with a sigh, "Fortunately it ended early. It would take a whole day to finish all the exams, right?"

The fourth prince, the Prince of Qi, came over and said, "Sixth brother, can you lend it to me to have a look?"

Ming Wang closed the scroll and threw it away without any hesitation.

The King of Qi was nearly hit in the face by the scroll. He quickly took a step back, caught it with his backhand, glared at the King of Ming, and walked away with a cold expression.

Prince Fu asked, "Would you like to be more polite to Fourth Brother?"

Ming Wang snorted, "Even if I'm polite to him, he won't remember my kindness."

Prince Fu glanced at the dragon throne and said, "But at least you will get one less beating."

King Ming suddenly felt a chill on his forehead and when he looked up he was met with his father's deathly gaze.

He shuddered.

His pig face is just right!
-
Two quarters of an hour later, the ministers who had gone out returned to the Golden Palace.

Emperor Liang said, "Just now I discussed with the two elders and decided that the next contest will be for each of you to draw a question. Who will go first?"

Lu Yuan curled his lips and smiled, and said to Lu Qi: "Second brother, you first?"

Lu Qi said seriously: "You are the eldest brother, you go first."

"Then I'm welcome."

Lu Yuan no longer pretended to be humble.

Xiao Dezi and another eunuch brought up a table full of scrolls. Lu Yuan picked one up at random and said, "This is it."

Xiao Dezi took the test paper with both hands, walked up the stairs and handed it to Eunuch Yu.

Eunuch Yu spread out the scroll, and after reading it, he seemed to want to say something but stopped talking.

Emperor Liang asked, "What's wrong?"

The ministers pricked up their ears, curious about what the test questions were.

Eunuch Yu said with an embarrassed look: "Livestock."

King Jin's expression changed again: "Livestock, livestock?"

His eyes fell on the scrolls. What kind of mess was written in these scrolls?

Farming is ridiculous enough, who has taken care of animal husbandry?

They chose Qilin, not pig!

All the officials looked at each other, as if they were trying to find out which sixth son was letting the emperor's grandson raise livestock?
Everyone looked at the Minister of Agriculture.

The Minister of Agriculture said hurriedly, "It's not me."

Prince Fu looked around and asked, "Uncle, did you write this?"

Duke Jiang: "I didn't, don't talk nonsense."

Prince Fu said, "My uncle used to be the chief pastor."

Jiang Guogong was furious: "Didn't I tell you not to mention this?"

When he was young, Duke Jiang stood up for his sister and got the young Emperor Liang drunk and beat him up, which caused the entire Jiang family to be "exiled" for three years, and Duke Jiang was the chief herdsman for three years. Who understands the horses that have been released for more than a thousand days and nights!
He wants Emperor Liang’s grandson to taste his pain!

It is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge!

Emperor Liang said, "Go on."

Eunuch Yu carefully read the test questions, made sure he was not dazzled, and read out the answers in a serious tone: "Release one thousand sheep."

Emperor Liang: "..."

A moment later, Duke Jiang was forked out!

It is impossible to raise livestock, so where does the imperial palace get a thousand sheep?
I was careless back then. I shouldn't have let Duke Jiang go herding sheep. I should have let him die at the border to avoid causing trouble for him all these years.

With Concubine Jiang Huifei in the palace and Duke Jiang Guogong outside the palace, neither the siblings can rest easy.

"This question is invalid."

Emperor Liang said.

At this time, Lord Zhang stepped out again holding the tablet and said, "Your Majesty, since it has been invalidated, it means that Heaven does not want to give the emperor's eldest grandson this opportunity. The county prince should win this question."

The Ming King said angrily, "Hey! Zhang! Do you have any shame? If the question you drew cannot be tested, just change it. You actually want to pick a ready-made one? Are you afraid of losing? Do you know you can't win, so you quickly resort to trickery and prevent the emperor's eldest grandson from taking the stage?"

Zhang Qufeng brushed off his sleeves and said confidently, "There are so many questions, why did His Royal Highness only draw a question that he couldn't do? If this isn't God's will, what is it?"

Ming Wang put his hands on his hips and said, "God damn it!"

The two of them started arguing loudly in the court.

Prince Jin had been observing Prince Fu. He did not think that Duke Jiang asked the question on animal husbandry in order to indiscriminately retaliate against Emperor Liang. He only thought that this was another subject that Lu Yuan was in charge of.

He asked in a low voice: "Grandmaster, Prince Fu and Duke Jiang seem to be on the side of the Crown Prince's Mansion. When did they collude? Is it because of the firefly incident?"

From his words and deeds, he seemed to be blaming Gongsun Liuying for the conflict between Concubine Hu and Concubine Jiang Hui.

That day, Concubine Hu's white cat scratched Nie'er. If Gongsun Liuying could cure Nie'er, everything would be over.

It was Gongsun Liuying who intensified the conflict between the two sides to the point of irreconcilability.

Gongsun Yanming said: "The prince hasn't drawn the topic yet, it's too early to make a conclusion now."

"Prince, please."

Eunuch Yu said.

Compared to Lu Yuan's indifference, Lu Qi was considering it seriously.

After carefully examining it for a while, he pulled out a scroll from the middle: "Eunuch De."

"Don't dare to take it seriously."

Xiao Dezi took it politely, walked the scroll up the steps and handed it to his godfather.

Emperor Liang obviously spent longer looking at this scroll than the previous one.

Prince Jin held his breath nervously.

What did Qi'er draw?
Is it a more difficult question than animal husbandry?

The King of Jin had positioned this competition wrong from the very beginning.

He thought it was an examination for the top scholar, with both civil and military skills. However, he never expected that the questions set by the officials were so varied that even the one about breaking a stone by the chest was considered a serious question if he didn't pick it.

After all, many of the people who set the questions were not very serious military generals, such as Duke Jiang.

Emperor Liang's expression was indescribable: "This question is invalid."

Mr. Ziwu was disappointed.

It's really hard to take revenge on that brat.

Ming Wang laughed: "Oh my, it seems that the Heavenly Dao doesn't care much about my nephew. The so-called Qilin, is it that he doesn't follow the will of Heaven and is not favored by Heavenly Dao?"

From beginning to end, Lu Qi never had the idea of ​​winning without competing.

Everything was done by Zhang Qufeng on his own.

King Jin said, "Sixth brother, be careful with your words."

King Ming was getting a little too angry and was about to say a few more words when he was stopped by Lu Zhaoyan.

After one person failed to answer a question, the next two people took turns to draw questions.

This time it was Lu Qixian.

Lu Qi picked the scroll on the far left of the first layer.

Eunuch Yu read out loud in public: "The Four Books."

Prince Jin heaved a long sigh of relief and laughed happily.

It turned out to be the Four Books.

This is Qi'er's strong point.

That idiot Lu Linyuan is bound to lose!

Next is Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan pulled out the scroll closest to him.

Xiao Dezi gave the scroll to Eunuch Yu.

Eunuch Yu wanted to show it to Emperor Liang, and Emperor Liang said, "Read it."

"Yes."

Eunuch Yu unfolded the scroll and said, "Riding and shooting."

Lu Qi's expression also relaxed.

Be it the Four Books or riding and shooting, they are all his strengths.

Although he lived among the people, he was not raised as a pariah since childhood.

Ever since he could remember, his mother told him: Your father is a very powerful man, he must have a great background, you are his son, you have noble blood in your veins, you are not those lowly people, do not mix with them, and do not associate with them.

One day you will return to your father.

His mother sent him to a private school, to an academy, and to learn the six arts, so that he could be well-educated and abide by the rules like a noble son.

This is also the reason why he lost to Lu Yuan in the farming test.

He already knew about Lu Yuan's past.

Although he came from an extraordinary family, unfortunately he had been living among the people since he was young, worked as a beggar, slept on the streets, and after going to the prime minister's mansion, he worked as a stable boy for several years.

It's not surprising that he beats me in farming.

But from now on, there is absolutely no chance that Lu Yuan will win again.

He lived a life like a slave in the Prime Minister's Residence, either serving as a horse boy or a book boy. Later, he was sent to the Prince's Palace to seduce the crown prince. He only had the means to cause chaos in the court, but did not have the knowledge to govern the world.

He will prove to everyone that he is the real guardian of the country, and that he is qualified to sit on the dragon throne and inherit the royal bloodline of Daliang.

The examination questions on the Four Books are different from those on farming. They are not asked and answered in class. Instead, the examination papers are prepared in advance by the scholars of the Hanlin Academy and the doctors of the Five Classics.

Eunuch Yu arranged for the palace maids to set up two tables and two cushions, and placed writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone on each.

He took out the wax-sealed examination papers and had them carefully examined by several elders. Only after they were confirmed to have not been tampered with were they distributed to the desks of the two princes.

Emperor Liang also gave cushions to his ministers.

Everyone sat on the ground and began to observe the examination on the Four Books.

Among them, some who had been to neighboring countries to take the imperial examinations felt as if they were back in the examination room and had the feeling of being an invigilator in the Imperial Examination Hall.

Lu Qi subconsciously wanted to ask someone to grind the ink, but he swallowed the words when they came to his lips. He ground the ink himself, picked up the brush, dipped it in the ink, and started to do the questions.

Some ministers stood up curiously, stretched their necks and glanced at Lu Qi's words.

"The prince's handwriting is so elegant!"

"Yes, he has the style of a great master. The great master taught me well."

"The prince is gifted, and I am just the icing on the cake."

Everyone started praising Lu Qi.

On the other hand, Lu Yuan.

He kept looking at the test questions and never picked up the pen.

Everyone shook their heads. They thought he was a talented person because he was so good at farming. But it turned out that he only knew how to farm and had never been to school.

How can an illiterate emperor govern the world?

Ming Wang asked nervously, "Second brother, does your son not know how to do it?"

Update completed, monthly ticket, eh?
If you see repeated paragraphs, you can refresh them after a few minutes. Don't forget to vote for me.