Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 547: The Emperor Takes Action and Beats Him to Death (Part )
There was a sudden and eerie silence in the Tai Chi Hall.

Li Chengqian sat on the Danbi, looked sideways at Huangfu Decan, and frowned.

Huangfu Decan is not his man.

Li Chengqian raised his head and squinted his eyes: "Say what you said, my dear Huangfu. Say it again."

"Your Majesty!" Huangfu Decan bowed and said, "I impeach the Minister of Personnel, Yang Shidao, for attempting to cheat in the imperial examinations."

"Intention?" Li Chengqian turned sideways to look at Yang Shidao, then calmly shook his head and said, "The word intention is too idealistic. Who among those who participated in the imperial examinations has not thought about cheating to get a smooth pass? But thoughts are one thing, and if you didn't do it, you didn't do it. You can't punish people based on intention.

Huangfu Aiqing, do you have any evidence?"

Huangfu Decan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, there are five scholars in Chang'an who claim they bribed the family of the Minister of Personnel to guarantee their success in the imperial examinations. I believe a thorough investigation should be conducted."

"Someone!" Li Chengqian suddenly looked up, toward the palace gate, and said, "Send someone to the Ministry of Personnel to fetch all the examination papers for this year's imperial examination. Have Minister Huangfu find the papers of those five people. I want to see their papers."

"Yes!" Outside the hall, the guards responded loudly.

Li Chengqian raised his head, looked at Huangfu Decan, and asked, "My dear Huangfu, let me ask you again. Do you have any evidence of any contact between those five scholars and the Duke of Ande?"

"Yes!" Huangfu Decan bowed and said, "I heard that someone attempted to cheat in the imperial examination, but after they failed, I investigated. I finally found two witnesses who proved that two of the five scholars had told others that they had met the Duke of Ande at a banquet, ten days before the imperial examination."

Since the appointment of the chief examiner for the imperial examination began, Yang Shidao, as the Minister of Personnel, should no longer have any contact with any scholars.

Of course, this is not absolute, and it’s hard to say anything if you encounter it occasionally.

"Two witnesses." Li Chengqian sat on the imperial couch, leaning forward slightly. "From what I understand, those five scholars are not your witnesses?"

"Yes." Huangfu Decan bowed and said, "But after the imperial examination, those five people sent people all over Chang'an to look for Ande County Duke's nephew Yang Sijing. They told everyone they met that Yang Sijing had betrayed them. Your Majesty only needs to find those five people and question them and you will know."

Li Chengqian fell silent.

Everyone in the hall couldn't help but look at Yang Shidao.

There is pity, sympathy, indifference, indifference, ridicule, and also fierceness that stares intently.

A burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.

Three large wooden boxes were carried into the hall.

Li Chengqian looked up at Huangfu Decan and said, "My dear Huangfu, please find the examination papers of the five people you mentioned. I want to see them."

"Yes!" Huangfu Decan vaguely guessed what the emperor was going to do, so he cooperated very well and found the test papers of those five people one by one among thousands of test papers.

……

Li Chengqian sat on the imperial couch, looking at Huangfu Decan who didn't mind the trouble at all, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Huangfu Decan is not his man, so who is the person behind him?
Who has set his sights on the position of Minister of Personnel?
In fact, after the scientific expedition ended, related rumors were already flying everywhere.

All parties sent people to investigate.

If those five people didn't have some background, and if Li Chengqian had Changsun Wuji suppress them deliberately, those five people might have been arrested and interrogated long ago.

The Ministry of Personnel's imperial examination papers, except for the first twenty or so, which are the papers of the Jinshi candidates who passed the examination, the others that did not pass are arranged in order of name.

So it’s not difficult to find them all.

Soon, all five test papers were placed in front of Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian's expression became solemn, and then he opened the five test papers and began to read them one by one.

The hall was suddenly clear.

After a moment, Li Chengqian raised his head, waved his sleeves and said, "Show these five examination papers to Lord Ande."

"Here!" Zhang Ananda bowed, took the test paper from Li Chengqian, then walked down the steps and handed it to Yang Shidao.

Yang Shidao took it calmly and read it carefully.

After Yang Shidao finished reading, Li Chengqian spoke up, "Mr. Yang, you are also a literary master. Your handwriting was messy at the beginning of these exams. Later on, you seemed to have collected your thoughts. But even so, your concentration was insufficient, and you made mistakes in many places where you shouldn't have. Can you tell me why?"

Yang Shidao lowered his head in silence.

The ministers in the hall looked solemn.

They now finally understood exactly what the emperor was doing.

The emperor was analyzing the mentality of the five people during the imperial examination.

These five people were obviously a little flustered because things did not go as expected at the beginning, but they had a solid foundation after all, and they finally gathered their composure and started answering the questions seriously.

However, even so, they were still affected and unable to answer the questions with their whole heart.

Except for experienced copywriters and criminal justice experts, ordinary people simply cannot analyze this kind of details.

The officials in the court had never expected that their emperor had such means.

It’s actually not difficult to imagine.

In today's world, when it comes to the number of documents and memorials processed, even Changsun Wuji may not be able to compare with Li Chengqian.

After all, he was the emperor, and it was his instinct to find problems between the lines.

Li Chengqian sighed softly and looked at Master Yang. "Duke Ande, you are an important official. The evidence for what Huangfu Aiqing just said is still insufficient. Do you need me to call someone to the palace?"

Yang Shidao's face was solemn. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I know nothing about what Censor Huangfu said. Please call him up to the hall. I am willing to confront him."

Yang Shidao's voice was loud and clear, even with a hint of decisiveness.

Li Chengqian looked at him, smiled, and said, "Okay, let's do as Yang Qing said. Come, lock up the five of them and bring them into the palace!"

On the left side of the Danbi, Yin Yuan, the General of the Left Thousand Oxen Guard, dressed in red and golden armor, stood up and bowed, saying, "Yes!"

……

Five scholars in green robes with pale faces were brought into the Taiji Hall.

On both sides of the hall in front of me are all important officials of the court.

Among them are even elders who have a certain relationship with them.

If they were the eldest sons of a family, perhaps they wouldn't have to take the imperial examination to stand among the nobles, but alas, they weren't. "Students greet Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live forever." The five of them kowtowed to the ground in unison.

Li Chengqian raised his head calmly and asked, "Who is Qi Ling?"

A thin but tall scholar stood up and kowtowed tremblingly, saying, "I am Qi Ling."

"You once told someone after drinking that you spent 500 strings of cash to meet the Duke of Ande, and someone also guaranteed that you would be on the list of successful candidates in the imperial examination?" Li Chengqian said in a cold voice.

"I, after drinking, told someone that I spent five hundred strings of cash to meet the Duke of Ande. I didn't say I was on the list, but rather that I had paid to bet on someone who was on the list." Qi Ling kowtowed and said, "But after the imperial examination, I found out that the person I bet on did not perform well, so I wanted to settle the score with the person who introduced me."

The ministers in the hall looked gently at Yang Shidao.

He is indeed an old minister. He has secretly made arrangements in a few days.

"Who is the person you are looking for?" Li Chengqian asked directly.

"It was Yang Sijing, the nephew of Duke Ande. He said he was sure he'd guessed who would win first place. We saw Duke Ande from a distance at the banquet, so we believed him." Qi Ling kowtowed and gritted his teeth as he continued, "Who would have thought it would end up being ruined, so he'd seek revenge? Who would have thought that person would hide and say a few angry words, and they wouldn't have thought they would turn into rumors?"

Talent!
The ministers in the hall couldn't help but look at Qi Ling. He could actually tell such nonsense so sincerely.

"Examination candidates, and even rankings. This grand cultural and educational event can actually be used for gambling." The emperor whispered softly on the steps above the palace steps, and the courtiers in the hall suddenly felt a chill run down their spines. They all bowed and said, "Your Majesty!"

Li Chengqian sat on the Danbi and looked at Qi Ling. He said, "You are also a scholar, and you also studied the Five Classics. Is this how you treat the Tang Dynasty's only cultural and educational event, which only happens once a year?"

"The student is guilty!" Qi Ling felt his scalp tingling, but having said this, he could only kowtow and plead guilty.

"Come here, strip these five of their scholar status and ban them from taking the imperial examinations for life. They will also receive fifty lashes of the cane as punishment for their disrespect for the imperial examination system and its culture." Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes and looked at the ministers around him. "Do you have any objections?"

Everyone in the hall bowed and said, "We dare not, Your Majesty is wise."

Li Chengqian turned around and snorted coldly, "Why don't you drag him out?"

"Yes!" Ten guards dragged Qi Ling and five others directly out of the Taiji Hall.

Li Chengqian raised his head and said in a cold voice, "Duke of Tianshui!"

"I'm here!" Qiu Xinggong stood up and bowed solemnly.

"From Emperor Gaozu to my father, and even myself, we have all advocated for the imperial examination system and revitalized culture and education. Now, someone has opened a gambling parlor in Chang'an City, wantonly gambling on the imperial examination. This not only desecrates culture and education, but also appears to be manipulating the examination system." Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes and said, "I now order you to lead 500 Jinwu Guards to seal off all gambling parlors in Chang'an City that are involved in the imperial examination system."

"I obey your command." Qiu Xinggong bowed seriously.

"The Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Censorate are all involved. All those involved in this matter will be strictly investigated. Those with serious circumstances will be punished for disrespect or even gross disrespect." Li Chengqian's eyes were extremely cold.

Liu Dewei, Yin Jun, and Sun Fujia all bowed and said, "Yes!"

Those who dare to cheat in the imperial examinations all have sufficient support from aristocratic families behind them.

This time, these aristocratic families are likely to be in big trouble.

At this moment, the imperial guards outside the palace entered and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Qi Ling and five others could not bear the caning and have been beaten to death."

Beaten to death.

The ministers turned around in horror. Was he going to be beaten to death directly?

……

"Let them die. There's no point in having such people alive." Li Chengqian looked up and said, "The matter concerning these five people ends with them. Their families will not be held responsible."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed solemnly.

"And Yang Sijing, he is the main culprit, find him and give him 100 strokes of the cane." Li Chengqian turned sideways.

Yin Yuan, the General of the Left Thousand Oxen Guard, bowed and said, "Yes!"

The corners of the ministers' mouths in the hall trembled slightly. Fifty strokes of the cane would have killed a person, so a hundred strokes of the cane would have meant that they had no intention of letting the person live.

Li Chengqian looked at Huangfu Decan and asked, "My dear Huangfu, it seems that there is nothing wrong with my imperial examination this time. Duke Ande did not participate in any cheating in the imperial examination, nor did he even intend to do so."

When Li Chengqian finished speaking, his tone became completely serious.

What could Huangfu Decan say? All the participants who could provide evidence were beaten to death by the emperor. What could he say?

In particular, the emperor pointed out the root of the matter.

This is his imperial examination.

In the second year of Yongwei, no problems were allowed in the emperor's imperial examinations.

And as far as the content of the imperial examination is concerned, there was indeed no problem.

"Your Majesty, what you said is absolutely right!" Huangfu Decan bowed seriously.

"Hmm!" Li Chengqian nodded and said, "But what you say, my dear minister, is also reasonable. I decree that from now on, all examination papers of every Jinshi class must be copied and posted on both sides of the gate of the Imperial College for the scrutiny of the scholars. If there is any problem, you can report it to me."

"Yes!" The ministers bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

"Important order, the Imperial Censor Huangfu Decan's advice is reasonable, and he is awarded thirty pieces of silk as a reward." Li Chengqian raised his head slightly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Huangfu Decan bowed solemnly, but he did not look very excited. This time, he did not achieve his original purpose by impeaching Yang Shidao.

Li Chengqian glanced at Huangfu Decan, then looked at Yang Shidao and said with a smile, "Duke Ande, I heard that you recently had a grandson."

"Yes!" Yang Shidao couldn't help but laugh and bowed.

"In my palace, Concubine Su is also going to give birth this month. It's not easy!" Li Chengqian sighed and looked at Master Yang and said, "Yang Qing, you have been working hard recently. I will give you a half-month vacation. Rest well at home. On March 15th, accompany me to Taiyi Qinghua Temple and Daci'en Temple to offer sacrifices."

"Yes!" Yang Shidao bowed subconsciously, but the next moment, he couldn't help but look up in disbelief.

Does the emperor want him to rest for another half a month?

What does it mean?
Is it...

Huangfu Decan, who was returning to the train, stared at Yang Shidao at this time.

In the second year of Yongwei, the emperor had no problems with the imperial examination.

But before that, the imperial examinations during the Zhenguan period were no longer the emperor's business.

(End of this chapter)