A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 188 The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea
In solving the case.

Pang Ji is capable.

Han Yi also admitted this.

Otherwise, how could he, a Jinshi in the fifth year of Xianping (1002), have a lower official position than Pang Ji, who was admitted in the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1015)?

Of course, it was also because his career was on the rise.

Someone falsely accused his eldest son Han Gang of accepting bribes, so he personally requested an investigation. Even after the case was fully investigated, he was still demoted.

This is not to say that his eldest son is a white lotus. In fact, Han Gang has a harsh and impatient personality. He even caused a mutiny later, which was really disappointing.

Han Yi was the son-in-law of Prime Minister Wang Dan.

Wang Tai was also in love with his second son Han Zong, so he reported all the news about Song Xuan to him in detail.

Therefore, Han Yi knew Song Xuan much better than Pang Ji.

If Han Yi wants to be promoted, he has to take on this mission and cooperate with Pang Ji to get this done.

Otherwise, only if Pang Ji leaves the Dali Temple can he fill the position of the Temple Secretary.

Pang Ji's words just now that there were loopholes in the case made Han Yi fall into deep thought.

"Perhaps this isn't Song Xuan's problem. First, we need to catch the murderer, Fire-Eyed Suanni. Second, we still need to ask Brother Dou Wen."

Song Xuan was right. Judging from Gu Zimo's words alone, he couldn't even provide any correspondence.

It can be seen that the Dou family had long been prepared for any accidents.

Pang Ji also nodded and sighed about this difficult case.

While the two were talking, they arrived at the Imperial Examination Hall. Instead of going in, they asked Cao Liyong to come out, as they had something to report.

Because of this kind of tribute hall, officials who were not included in the list could not enter at will, so as to avoid any bad reputation.

Cao Liyong came out of the door and looked at Pang Ji and the other two. After they had saluted, he spoke:
"Have you investigated the case?"

"In reply to Minister Cao, we haven't found out yet."

Cao Liyong was not in a good mood when he learned about Song Xuan's test results. He frowned:

"What's not clear?"

"The Dou family's motive for silencing witnesses has not been fully investigated."

Cao Liyong reacted immediately, standing on the steps, staring down at Pang Ji:

"You mean Song Xuan, a victim, also has problems?"

Pang Ji saluted again:

"I just think the case hasn't been thoroughly investigated, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Song Xuan."

But Pang Ji heard it from Cao Liyong's words.

He wants to favor Song Xuan.

Is there any dispute between the Dou family and Cao Liyong?
Or is there a dispute between Song Xuan and Cao Liyong?
Otherwise, when facing his interrogation, Song Xuan was not only not flustered, but was able to talk freely and even boldly retorted.

This is obviously not a situation that an ordinary student can easily deal with.

However, Song Xuan had no family support since he was young. The only one who had some connection with him was the Song brothers, who had "double yolks" in the imperial examination this year.

After all, one is the strongest and the other is the first because the Queen Mother chose him, which can be regarded as a good story.

Those are just old country guys bragging about themselves, but they may not really be relatives.

This kind of family could not cultivate Song Xuan's bold and reckless character.

Therefore, Pang Ji always suspected that Song Xuan had a relationship with Yan Shu, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture.

But Cao Liyong jumped out directly. It was probably not his first business trip to Songcheng.

He came the last time Dou Chou committed suicide.

Did Cao Liyong fall in love with Song Xuan at that time?
This kid's temperament is quite easy to admire.

Especially for a warrior like Cao Liyong, Song Xuan's temperament is more to his liking.

In addition, although Cao Liyong is fair in his dealings, he is extremely biased towards those he considers to be his own people!
Pang Ji thought about it carefully again and found that Song Xuan was handsome and had a good figure.

It is not an exaggeration to say that he looks like a person from the Song Dynasty.

His appearance alone was enough to please Cao Liyong, and since he was quite talented in studying, it was very likely that he would become a Jinshi in the future.

It is very crazy to find a son-in-law under the Song Dynasty list!

Generally speaking, on the day when the Jinshi examination results are announced, 10 out of 9 candidates on the list will be taken.

Because they have been surrounded by fathers-in-law who have come to choose a son-in-law, and the remaining one has either already married or has been reserved by someone else.

Thanks to Huang Chao's operation, Chang'an was filled with swords and killing for three days and three nights, and the clan system was effectively destroyed.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, passing the imperial examination became a path to advancement for many students, and most of the important officials in the court came from the imperial examinations.

Therefore, in order to consolidate their family status and prosper, the bureaucrats, landlords and wealthy businessmen had to place their hopes on these new rich.

But there are only so many newly-appointed Jinshi scholars, and everyone wants to snatch them. As for whether there is a shared son-in-law, the phenomenon of "women chasing men" has appeared on a large scale.

In order to get a rich son-in-law, fathers-in-law usually do not ask for a betrothal gift. Instead, they prepare a generous dowry and use their own connections to pave the way for the new son-in-law, for fear that he will not marry them.

But there are still too many monks and too little meat.

So the drama of choosing a son-in-law based on the list came into being.

This is called seizing the initiative and avoiding the fierce competition below the leaderboard.

But this is also a big risk. If the son-in-law who has been booked in advance fails the exam, it will be a big problem.

Even if she passed the exam, the man still turned against her.

Of course, he married the daughter of a wealthy family, a family that would be more beneficial to his future.

The first sword he swung out after getting ashore was easy.

You can't stop me from running towards someone better, right?
Of course, there are also many successful examples.

The famous prime minister Li Hang took a fancy to Wang Zeng and married his daughter to him without hesitation. After that, Wang Zeng won the top spot in the imperial examination, achieving the achievement of winning three top spots in a row.

There were also Kou Zhun, Yan Shu, Wang Anshi and others, all of whom were good sons-in-law chosen from the list.

Fan Zhongyan and others were also captured as sons-in-law.

Therefore, Pang Ji speculated that Cao used him to consolidate the prosperity of his family, and perhaps wanted to reserve Song Xuan, a potential Jinshi, as his son-in-law in advance, which was why he was so partial to him. Otherwise, it would not make sense.

Because Pang Ji knew that Cao Liyong's sons were indeed not very capable, he wanted to maintain the glory of his family by finding a son-in-law.

This kind of political marriage is a normal operation.

Little did people know that Song Xuan had been extremely daring since he was young, and he was joking and scolding with Pang Ji, a high-ranking official.

Therefore, it was completely useless for Pang Ji to exert any pressure from Song Dynasty officials in front of Song Xuan.

Song Xuan had long witnessed the "awesome power" of the so-called officials of higher ranks. Even Dou Yuanbin, the arrogant Hanlin scholar who did not take him seriously, fell victim to his schemes.

Han Yi didn't realize that Cao Liyong was favoring Song Xuan.

Mainly because he heard from Wang Tai's description that Song Xuan had no fear when he saw the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, Yan Shu, and even dared to threaten the judge of Yingtian Prefecture openly. He also knew how to use the opponent's force to defeat him.

In addition, Wang Tai shouted that day that my father was worthy of being enshrined in the Taimiao, and he also had some connections in the capital, so he could protect you.

Song Xuan is the victim, so he doesn't need to be afraid of anything.

Even if we put ourselves in Song Xuan's shoes, the court was making the decision for him, how could he not be happy?
Of course.

Han Yi did not share this information with Pang Ji.

The two of them went out together on errands.

Could it be that Han Yi, who passed the imperial examination earlier, was willing to pave the way for Pang Ji?
He also wants to show his ability!

Han Yi also told Cao Liyong his opinion that only by interrogating the Dou family and making every effort to catch the murderer can the evidence be verified.

Otherwise, Pang Sicheng's statement that the case was unclear was just speculation and there was no actual evidence.

"As expected of Lord Wang Wenzheng's son-in-law."

Cao Liyong finally nodded and said, "You are a practical person, not like some people who rely on their imagination to solve cases."

Wang Dan's posthumous title was Wenzhen, but in order to avoid the taboo (Zhao Zhen), it was changed to Wenzheng.

Before Emperor Renzong of Song, "Wenzhen" was the highest level of posthumous title.

From Song Renzong to the Ming Dynasty, "Wenzhen" became the posthumous title second only to "Wenzheng".

Pang Ji did not pay too much attention to Han Yi's words. He also understood that this colleague also wanted to make progress!
In any case, Cao Liyong couldn't control the promotion of officials.

I am only investigating the case impartially, and the final result will still be decided by the officials in the court.

Since Cao Liyong had come out of the Imperial Examination Hall, he didn't go back.

Instead, he responded directly to the Tianfu Yamen and carefully read all the conversations they had with Song Xuan and Gu Zimo, so that he could make a judgment in his mind.

In the post station.

Gao Zunfu bowed to Yang Huaimin.

Although the eunuch Gao Jujian is now in charge of the Imperial City Administration, everyone knows that Yang Huaimin is the Empress Dowager's number one confidant.

"Tell me about this. How much do you know about the incident where Judge Gu was stabbed in the street?"

Yang Huaimin held the teacup lid in his hand with his index finger raised.

Gao Zunfu was sweating profusely. If he told the truth, he would offend His Majesty.

If you don’t tell the truth, you will offend the Queen Mother.

If you stretch out your head, it's a knife, if you shrink your head, it's also a knife.

What should I say to save my life?

The key point is that there is no confirmed news from His Majesty.

Gao Zunfu remained hunched over, not daring to speak. Yang Huaimin sipped his tea and slowly placed it on the table.

"You don't know about this?"

"I know very little, but not much."

Gao Zunfu uttered these words with difficulty.

Even if he doesn't say it, will all his subordinates keep their mouths shut?
He can't guarantee it!
"Oh?"

"If that's the case, then tell me what you know. I came here with my ears, having been asked by the Queen Mother."

Yang Huaimin did not lose his temper.

After all, this is also His Majesty's man.

Empress Guo was young after all and didn't know the seriousness of the matter.

The more she made trouble, the less favor she received from the emperor.

"I was out on business and happened to see you."

Gao Zunfu didn't say why he was on business, but he just couldn't say it.

Then he took out the Imperial City Division.

It was entirely because Song Xuan was too defensive that he sent someone to test Gu Zimo, saying that he was a killer sent by the Dou family in order to gain Gu Zimo's trust.

As a result, the Dou family really sent someone to harm Song Xuan, forcing him to take advantage of the situation and infiltrate the killer circle.

In the end, Song Xuan learned of Gu Zimo's assassination plan and killed him in return!
As for the incident of the Fire-Eyed Suanni assassinating Gu Tongpan in the street, Gao Zunfu was not very clear about it because he was also surprised.

"Oh, so that's it!"

Yang Huaimin clicked his tongue twice:
"Song Twelve learned the news in advance and laid a trap, but he still couldn't stop this Fire Eye Suanni. It seems he is very powerful."

"In reply to Eunuch Yang, he is probably quite powerful. I heard that he is quite famous in Tokyo City."

"Oh."

Yang Huaimin didn't ask any more questions, but he understood.

The emperor sent people to keep an eye on Song Xuan. Maybe the emperor really likes watching Journey to the West?

It’s normal to like watching it.

But why would they send people from the Investigation Department here with such great vigour? Otherwise, Gao Zunfu wouldn't know all these things about Song Xuan. He just needed to buy Journey to the West on time.

Yang Huaimin didn't figure out the ins and outs of this.

He was certain that the emperor definitely did not know Song Xuan. Apart from Journey to the West, a book that the child loved to read, what connection could there be between the two?

"The Queen Mother and His Majesty both want to know about this matter. You go and investigate secretly. We are afraid that those two people may not be able to find out clearly, so we can show our ability."

"Here."

Gao Zunfu retreated, and after leaving the house, he realized that he was completely wet.

In any case, I only said what I should say and didn't say what I shouldn't say, so as to live up to the trust of the government.

In the bookstore.

Song Xuan leaned back in the recliner to rest. In the past few days, the soldiers in the city had been patrolling very frequently, after all, a terrible incident of killing an official had occurred.

Zhang Fangping did not relax. This time he knew his own weaknesses thoroughly, so he continued to read the collection of poems.

In fact, he had memorized both volumes long ago, but the requirement of parallelism, allusions, and ornate language was really difficult.

Song Xuan was thinking that if he continued like this, it would be quite difficult to pass the imperial examination.

It would be better to find a way to get the court to change the rules.

If the focus of scoring is on policy essays, then who can beat me in the test?
But he was just thinking about it. If he wanted to put it into practice, he had to wait for Fan Zhongyan to come up with new policies.

How old would I be by then?

Not realistic at all.

Song Xuan squeezed the collection of songs in his hand and threw it on the ground.

It's a rare moment of relaxation after the exam and before the results are released. It would be wonderful if I could hold Mrs. Gu and bask in the sun at this time.

Last time I said goodbye, I said I would come to thank you in person, but there’s no confirmation yet!
Just as Song Xuan was daydreaming, he heard footsteps on the stairs.

So urgent and serious, it must be Lao Cao.

How could he get out of the Imperial Examination Hall before the time came? Did he know his test results in advance?

When he thought of this, Song Xuan became a little excited.

No matter whether it succeeds or not, as long as there is a result, it’s good.

Cao Liyong looked at Song Xuan lying there with a book on the ground, while Zhang Fangping was still studying hard on the other side.

When he thought about the fact that Song Xuan did not pass the imperial examination, he felt a little angry.

"Shi Er Lang, look at how lazy you are."

Cao Liyong roared with thunder, and Zhang Fangping turned around in surprise.

Song Xuan also stood up and turned around and said with a smile: "Old Cao is here."

"Lao Cao, Lao Cao's name."

Cao Liyong went straight forward to grab Song Xuan:

"Today, I will teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents for your cynical, disrespectful, and lazy behavior."

"Hey, hey, hey."

Song Xuan hurriedly ran around the round table: "Old Cao, what's wrong with you today? Why are you so angry?"

"I'm really angry, so I'm going to give you a beating to vent my anger."

Cao Liyong spread his weapons everywhere and said, "You want to be my son-in-law and become a Jinshi in the future? You can't even pass the exam."

"what?"

Song Xuan was stunned for a moment and stood there:

"really?"

Zhang Fangping suddenly turned pale.

If Brother Twelve is not on the list, then I will be in even greater danger.

"I lied to you, Song Twelve, you have to pat your own face to see how thick your skin is. It's not worth it for me to lie to you!"

Cao Liyong pointed at the collection of songs on the ground:
"The poems you wrote don't even have parallelism, and you even dare to make up allusions. You are truly audacious."

"It's over. It happened."

Song Xuan walked back dejectedly and suddenly fell on the recliner in a daze.

Cao Liyong originally wanted to teach Song Xuan a lesson, but when he saw that he didn't dodge or avoid, he lost his courage.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed:
"Shi Er Lang, you've fallen this time."

"Yeah." Song Xuan also sighed:
"I had thought that even if I was sick and didn't get a good night's rest, I could still get a very low score, like Fan Xiang, who got last place. I never thought I would actually fail."

Cao Liyong knew that Song Xuan had not failed the exam, but Yan Shu had great expectations for him, hoping that he could pass the exam and become the provincial champion or the top scorer in the future.

In fact, Cao Liyong himself also hoped that Song Xuan could win the top three places in a row so that his family would not decline too quickly.

His sons and nephews are good at doing evil, but how can he expect them to make progress?
Even Cao Liyong himself would not have such a dream.

Once he passes away, it is still a question whether he can enter the Taimiao. With so many capable ministers in the court, will it be his turn?

Therefore, he didn't want his family to continue to fall out of the circle of nobles in the Northern Song Dynasty, and he also wanted to find support.

Those civil servants all reject me collectively. When I have a son-in-law who wins three top honors in the imperial examinations, will they still dare to give me the cold shoulder?

"Shi Er Lang, you still need to work harder. Too many people have passed the imperial examinations. Don't be so arrogant."

Cao Liyong sighed and said, "We all have great expectations of you."

"I understand. This time, I was careless and lost Jingzhou."

Song Xuan also sighed. To be honest, he felt a little sad when he heard the news that he failed the exam.

Could it be that my previous attitude of "60 points is enough" is really not enough?

This is the imperial examination, and many people are eagerly competing for those rare spots.

"You just understand."

Cao Liyong naturally followed Yan Shu's words and did not tell Song Xuan the truth.

If he can change his bad habit of laziness and work hard in the future, he can strive for the goal of winning the top three prizes in a row!

Song Xuan adjusted his mentality quickly. Anyway, the result was like this and there was no way to change it.

Zhang Fangping, who was pale, asked timidly:
"Lord Prime Minister Cao, my name is Zhang Fangping, have I made any achievements?"

"You didn't win either."

Cao Liyong's straightforward words hit Zhang Fangping right on the head.

Although he had just thought that this would be the result, he still felt very uncomfortable when he heard others admit it.

"You're good in the other three subjects, but your poetry is still not good enough. You two have the same problem."

Cao Liyong tried to explain it.

"Hey, Fang Ping, don't worry too much." Song Xuan laughed heartily. "At worst, there'll always be next time."

Zhang Fangping's mouth twitched a little. His twelfth brother had been depressed just now, but he didn't expect that after hearing that he didn't make the list either, he actually laughed and comforted him.

This move is really, really something!
Cao Liyong glanced at Song Xuan:
"What's so funny about you? We're all failed students. What's there to be proud of when we're ranked last or second to last?"

(End of this chapter)