Jiajing Chengming

April 27th, the seventh year of Jiajing.

This morning, the sky was covered with leaden clouds, and it was gloomy and solemn.

Zhu Houcong learned in the Imperial Study that the number of admissions to the provincial examination was similar to that of previous years.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong also asked Yang Yiqing and others: "What's going on?"

Zhao Huang, the minister in charge of the Imperial Library, replied, "Your Majesty, I just learned about this and I don't know the specific reason. I dare to guess that it may be that the examiners selected from the Hanlin Academy were confused. After being locked up in the Imperial Academy for a long time, they forgot about the imperial decree to expand the enrollment and acted according to past experience."

"Then you will convey my order to remind them to make up the number of candidates and select the full 180 candidates! At the same time, have the Ministry of Rites inform the candidates not to leave the capital for the time being and wait for the new list!"

Zhu Houcong gave the order with an unhappy look on his face.

Zhao Huang hurriedly bowed and said yes, then left the imperial study and walked towards the Hanlin Academy.

At this time, Xia Yan, the president of the Hanlin Academy and the right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, was persuading the two chief examiners, Lu Bangpeng and Liu Jun, in the Hanlin Academy:

"You two are reasonable people. Why do you still disobey the emperor's order when you know that he is now ruthless and cruel? Do you want your father to be known as a cruel man?!"

"Even Master Jing'an is not afraid of death, so why should we be afraid of it?"

"We would rather die than participate in the Talent Ceremony!"

Lu Bangpeng said after sneering.

Liu Jun then said resolutely: "We can only select 135 candidates for this examination, not 180!"

"This is what the examiners have determined after careful review. Taking more will allow those who are not qualified to be promoted to be filial and honest officials!"

"This will corrupt the morals of the world, and in turn affect the governance of the country, making future officials even more rampant and unrestrained in competing with the people for profits!"

Although Liu Jun started to live frugally during this period, his past desires were not satisfied, and his inner resentment had already intensified to the point where he would rather die than compromise.

The gap between not caring about money and food expenditures in the past and caring about expenses now has made him lose his mind, and he subjectively hates the current situation more and more.

Xia Yan frowned after hearing this: "You are being irrational. You are forcing His Majesty to completely lose trust in us, the clean officials!"

"Xia Gongjin, it's not us who are forcing Your Majesty, it's the treacherous officials in the court who are forcing us, the upright officials!"

Lu Bangpeng suddenly yelled.

Liu Jun also followed with a cold face and echoed: "That's right! Life is precious, but we have no way out. Instead of watching the morale of scholars gradually decline, we can only fight to the death and strive for Your Majesty to wake up, accept advice, and govern the country with leniency, instead of treating the national talent selection ceremony as a joke!"

At this moment, Zhao Huang also came over.

After knowing that Zhao Huang was coming, Xia Yan also hurried to greet him.

As soon as Zhao Huang saw Xia Yan, he asked, "Where are Lu and Liu?"

"In the History Museum!"

Xia Yan replied.

Zhao Huang said: "Bring them to see me, there is an imperial decree!"

Not long after.

Lu Bangpeng and Liu Jun saw Zhao Huang and knelt down.

"Your Majesty, immediately enroll all the candidates who failed the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination! No mistakes can be made!"

Zhao Huang replied.

Lu Bangpeng and Liu Jun nodded in agreement.

But the next day, Lu Bangpeng and Liu Jun jointly submitted a memorial stating:

"After checking and reviewing the examination papers, there are indeed no more candidates who can be selected. Your Majesty, please be careful in selecting talents and do not show your grace to others indiscriminately!"

After reading the contents of the memorial, Zhu Houcong's face darkened.

This reminded him of the North-South List case in Zhu Yuanzhang’s later years.

When the chief examiner Liu Sanwu and other examiners at that time caused disputes by selecting all southern scholars for the first time, Zhu Yuanzhang endured it and only asked Liu Sanwu and others to re-mark the papers. Zhu Yuanzhang even almost explicitly asked them to symbolically select a few northern scholars to appease the northerners, but Liu Sanwu and others refused. They knew that Zhu Yuanzhang would be a ruthless person who would dare to confiscate property and exterminate clans, so they insisted on the original test paper and refused to compromise.

Zhu Houcong now discovered that the examiners of the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination had become as stubborn as Liu Sanwu and others. In order to defend the right of selecting scholars to be decided only by the upright, they were truly not afraid of death and dared to continue testing the emperor's bottom line.

"very good!"

“Very courageous!”

Zhu Houcong gritted his teeth. "Your Majesty, calm down. They are doing this just to wait for you to kill them, and then let you bear the infamy of killing without restraint!"

Yang Yiqing tried to comfort her at this time.

Zhu Houcong suddenly turned around and asked loudly: "Do you want me to compromise and tolerate?!"

"With tens of thousands of candidates, I don't believe that only 135 candidates with good essays can be admitted as Xiaolian!"

"The key is that these tens of thousands of scholars are either the children of generations of officials and scholars, or the selected candidates from various schools! How could there be only 135 who can be selected as filial and honest people?"

"They are forcing me to admit that they are the ones who decide who is talented and who is not!"

When Zhu Houcong said this, he waved his long sleeves, trembled his lower lip, and ordered Zhao Huang: "Tell them the imperial decree that they must admit 180 people. If they don't obey, they will be charged with defying the imperial decree and deceiving the emperor!"

Zhao Huang was stunned for a moment and looked at Yang Yiqing.

Yang Yiqing clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Lord Zhao only obeyed your orders and dared not disobey your orders. He was not able to disgrace his father and emperor. He is disloyal and should be executed!"

"His Majesty!"

"I am not afraid to obey your order!"

Zhao Huang was even more shocked, and immediately refuted, then bowed and said:

"I will go and convey your order right away!"

Zhu Houcong smiled coldly when he saw this.

Hanlin Academy.

After learning about another decree from Zhao Huang, Lu Bangpeng just smiled coldly.

"If you want me to die, I have to die!"

"Besides, since ancient times, killing scholars and destroying the Tao can be completely unfounded!"

"Please announce to your majesty that I would rather die protecting the ceremony than let the national talent selection ceremony be ruined in my hands!"

Lu Bangpeng looked at Zhao Huang with extremely cold eyes.

Liu Jun suddenly asked: "Your Majesty, if you really want to show your kindness to the world, why don't you let the people benefit, lift the ban on sea trade, allow tribute, and abolish the official merchants? Isn't this better than disrupting the national ceremony to show your kindness?"

"Why do we have to use grace to promote those without talent to become filial and honest officials?"

Liu Jun then asked about Zhao Huang in a frantic manner, then knelt down and bowed his head, saying:

"Please tell Your Majesty that we sincerely hope that Your Majesty will be prudent in selecting talents, cherish the country's reputation, and only show kindness to benefit the people, instead of taking away the people's benefits and treating the gentlemen harshly, while at the same time being indiscriminate and forgiving the treacherous and giving rewards without limit!"

"Do you really have to force His Majesty to be held hostage by Zhang and Guizhi?"

Before Zhao Huang could say anything, Xia Yan, the president of the Hanlin Academy who was here with him, asked in a cold voice.

Liu Junze smiled and said, "That is your Majesty's business. We are the people of integrity and we are only trying to live up to our country and the public opinion!"

……

……

Gongyuan.

The scholars who failed the exam, especially those who only made it to the second-place list, were completely disappointed after reading the list again and again.

"Didn't they say they would make up the list? Why haven't I seen any new entries on the list?"

"Could it be that the upright people like Lu and Liu are still insisting on not recording more, and forcing Your Majesty to compromise?"

"If the imperial court doesn't keep its word anymore, then can the imperial edicts still be trusted in the future?"

"Why hasn't the re-entry been made yet? Does His Majesty still have the final say in the court?"

"The noble men of the Qingliu clan are so stubborn and stubborn that they are so persistent in resisting the will of the Holy Spirit. Can Your Majesty stand it?"

"How about we wait three years before taking the exam? Maybe our craftsmanship is really not good enough, so the talented people among the elite are unwilling to cater to the emperor's will?"

……

The scholars were discussing this, and their disappointment was growing. (End of this chapter)