Jiajing Chengming

Hu Zongxian's question caused all the candidates present to fall silent.

"Yes, we seem to have overlooked this point. We may not believe that the bureaucrats and gentry in the world cannot do a good job of measuring the land, but we cannot but believe that Your Majesty cannot do a good job of measuring the land."

At this time, one of the candidates suddenly sighed and spoke of his thoughts.

The other candidates could only nod in agreement.

Hu Zongxian also said at this time: "So, what we should do is not to wait here for His Majesty to order the suspension of the land survey, but to do our best to promote the national policy of land survey after reporting the problems, so that the problems arising from the implementation of these national policies can be solved in a timely manner, and promptly report the problem of officials and gentry exploiting the people through land survey, and provide financial assistance to those who have lost their families and have to sell their children and daughters and become slaves, and help those who have been sold to redeem and help them return home."

After Hu Zongxian said this, the other candidates did not say anything more, just nodded in agreement, and then left.

"Have all the candidates left?"

Royal study room.

Soon after Zhu Houcong discussed other things with Zhang Cong and Xia Yan, he asked the candidates who came to beat the drum to report their problems.

Huang Jin then stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, they have all left."

Zhu Houcong nodded after hearing this, then looked at Zhang Cong and Xia Yan and said, "The land reclamation in Huizhou Prefecture is in chaos. I think it has something to do with the prefect Nie Bao's eagerness to achieve results. Arrest him and bring him to Beijing immediately, and send someone to Huizhou Prefecture to preside over the land reclamation again!"

"His Majesty!"

Xia Yan stood up and said, "The court just commended Nie Bao for completing the land survey quickly. Now they want to arrest him and bring him to the capital. I am afraid that this will hurt your majesty's reputation and give those who oppose the survey more reason to question it."

"How can my reputation be as important as the country and people of my ancestors? Even less important than the lives of the common people!"

Zhu Houcong replied in a deep voice at this time.

Xia Yan had no choice but to agree.

Zhang Cong also stood up and said, "It was my idea to honor Nie Bao. It is all my fault. It was my haste to achieve success that put Your Majesty in an awkward position. I ask Your Majesty to punish me and set the world right!"

"I am the Son of Heaven, and all decisions should be made by me."

"Whether you win or lose."

"Therefore, I will not punish the Prime Minister for this. Otherwise, people in the world will think that I am not responsible, and even think that the government is really controlled by you, the Prime Minister, and then deceive me. In that case, the trouble will only be greater!"

“When implementing any policy, whoever has greater power has greater responsibility.”

"I am no exception."

"So, don't even mention the matter of punishing Yuan Fu for your crime."

Zhu Houcong smiled and said, "Those in power should only be responsible for the source of their power. My power as the emperor comes from the support of the people. As long as the people of the world do not want to dismiss me because of my mistake, I should continue to be responsible for them! Therefore, regarding the false results of Nie Bao's land survey, we should only arrest Nie Bao and bring him to the capital to re-survey the land. Then, we should severely punish the evil gentry and tyrants who took the opportunity to undermine the national policy of land survey. There is no need to investigate in the court. If you really want to investigate, you can only investigate me!"

"There is no king or father who is not right in the world."

"No one can be held responsible except Your Majesty, otherwise you would be no different from a thief!"

"So, I think that the Prime Minister cannot be punished for this! And we cannot really hold your Majesty responsible for the crime of treason. The truly hateful ones are those who deceive their superiors and deceive their subordinates, such as Nie Bao. They have caused your Majesty and the Prime Minister to lose face, and have caused many people to lose their homes and lives. Their crimes are unforgivable even if they are killed a hundred times!"

Xia Yan continued to agree at this time.

Zhang Cong followed suit with a serious expression and said, "What Elder Xia said is absolutely right. I was confused for a moment and forgot that Your Majesty is the only one who can handle the affairs of the world. Because I felt guilty, I could only apologize. Fortunately, Your Majesty has pointed it out clearly. I take back what I just said."

"It's okay. I know Yuanfu said this out of guilt. Just do as I say."

Zhu Houcong said with a smile at this time.

"Yes!" After Zhang Cong and Xia Yan responded, Zhang Cong took the initiative to say:
"Your Majesty, the discovery of Nie Bao's misdeeds in Huizhou Prefecture was certainly due to the Jinyiwei, but the fact that the candidate Hu Zongxian and others were not afraid of power and actively reported the matter is a rare display of loyalty and righteousness!"

"After all, if only the Imperial Guard reported it, I'm afraid that only those with ulterior motives would say that the Imperial Guard was jealous of the achievements of the civil officials, so they said that Huizhou Prefecture falsely reported the completion of the land survey. Now that Hu Zongxian and other candidates, who are originally from the gentry, have reported it, it will naturally be confirmed, and the people of the world will have to believe it even more."

"Therefore, I ask for merit and reward for Hu Zongxian and other candidates."

Zhu Houcong nodded and said, "What Yuanfu said is very appropriate. I approve your request and issue an edict to commend Hu Zongxian and other candidates."

……

"This Hu Zongxian is really ignorant. Not only did he take the initiative to expose the problem of land reclamation in the local area, but he also refused to resist to the end and spilled blood at the Meridian Gate to gain a good reputation for himself. However, with just a few words from Your Majesty, he was convinced and actually took the initiative to persuade other candidates to leave."

Xia Yan smiled awkwardly at this time, and when Zhai Luan came to the cabinet to get the sermon later, he mentioned Hu Zongxian to Zhai Luan.

After hearing this, Zhai Luan shook his head and said, "Your Majesty is really smart and knows how to guide people. He knows how to control such a simple and daring gentleman."

"People like him can't stay in the officialdom!"

Xia Yan suddenly looked at Zhai Luan with a serious expression and said something in a low voice.

Zhai Luan stared at Xia Yan with wide eyes, then asked, "So what does the elder mean?"

"He came to Beijing to take part in the imperial examination. We are using the opportunity to punish him and make him fail."

Xia Yan said.

Zhai Luan nodded: "This is a brilliant plan. By then, those who are not aware of the situation will only think that it is Zhang Fujing and other powerful officials who are determined to conduct a nationwide survey that are doing something bad to prevent him from passing the imperial examination."

……

……

"Ruzhen!"

"Even if you no longer oppose the land survey, you should still say in front of the emperor and the candidates that it is not that Your Majesty is not qualified to survey the land in the world, but that Zhang Yongjia is not qualified to survey the land in the world!"

"Only in this way can you avoid offending the public opinion of the world! And you can also rely on this to gain a good reputation among the people."

After seeing Hu Zongxian coming back, Luo Longwen told Hu Zongxian about it secretly.

Hu Zongxian smiled and said, "I may not be a loyal minister, but I cannot be a villain. I will deny the Prime Minister of the dynasty, whom I have only met a few times, just to please the Qingliu!"

After hearing this, Luo Longwen just sighed and said nothing more.

In the blink of an eye, it was February of the 14th year of Jiajing, the time for the imperial examination.

After Hu Zongxian entered the examination room, he found that he was assigned to a seat near the toilet. The pungent smell made him uncomfortable.

But Hu Zongxian didn't care much about it. He just frowned slightly and wrote his article seriously.

But what Hu Zongxian didn't expect was that suddenly a handful of yellow earth flew over and landed on the test paper he was copying, contaminating his paper and knocking the brush he was writing with crooked, leaving a long stroke on the paper.

Hu Zongxian was very upset about this.

He knew that the paper rolls for the imperial examination could not be replaced at the last minute, and if the paper on which the text was copied was dirty or had typos, he would be dismissed no matter how well the essay was written.

At this time, a patrol officer not far from the examination room where Hu Zongxian was was wiping his hands stained with yellow soil on his trouser legs, and Hu Zongxian, who was behind him, couldn't help but smile meaningfully. (End of this chapter)