Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 46: If you don’t do what is right, you are not brave!

In the Renchen year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, the top scorer was Lin Daqin, the second place was Kong Tianyin, and the third place was Gao Jie.

These three people are not famous in history, but the third place winner Gao Jie was suppressed by Yan Song, the second place winner Kong Tianyin may be Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, the author of "Jin Ping Mei", and the first place winner Lin Daqin won the championship at the age of less than 21, which is extremely rare in all dynasties. He can be said to be a genius among geniuses.

The next year in history, when Lin Daqin took part in the provincial examination, he immediately stood out. Wang Shifang, the governor of Guangdong, was amazed by his essay and recommended it to the inspector Wu Lin. They all sighed and said: This person will surely be the winner of the whole country.

Haiyue didn't remember all this very clearly, but she was already annoyed by the clerk's provocations, so she strode in.

What caught my eye was a student standing in front of a desk with an embarrassed look on his face, and a group of clerks leaning back in their chairs with an arrogant look on their faces.

Haiyue looked at Lin Daqin.

Hai Rui was originally skinny, came from a poor family, and was malnourished, but he had no major health problems. Recently, under Hai Yue's influence, he has added a lot of meat to his diet, and his complexion has obviously improved a lot, and his cheeks have gained weight.

Lin Daqin was thin and wore an old blue shirt, which looked particularly loose on his slender body. Fortunately, he was in good spirits, especially his eyes were clear and bright, giving him a sense of being outstanding.

However, no matter how good-tempered a person is, he can't stand being tormented like this. At this time, Lin Daqin's chest heaved and he glared at the other party angrily.

The middle-aged clerk's lips curled up, admiring the other's helpless anger. His narrow eyes shifted to focus on Hai Yue and Hai Rui. "Are you here to register as a student too? Come on, come on!"

This was clearly ill-intentioned, and he was probably going to show off his power again, but Haiyue ignored it and walked up to Lin Daqin: "Brother, are you okay?"

"Ah? I'm fine!"

Lin Daqin was stunned, and then worry appeared in his eyes.

As expected, the middle-aged clerk's expression changed, and he gritted his teeth, looking even more ferocious: "Come here! Bring out the documents!"

Hai Yue calmly took out the family petition, the petition, the stipend guarantee document, the guarantee document, and the results of the county and imperial examinations and handed them over.

"Seventeen years old, first in the county? First in the prefecture? Tsk! Could it be..."

The middle-aged clerk took a look at the results and was immediately surprised. He muttered something, obviously wanting to think that there might be some shady deal behind this, but he didn't dare to say anything. Instead, he turned to the clerk and said, "This one is unqualified! The guarantee is also not in compliance! Are you from Qiongzhou Prefecture? Hurry back to the prefecture and get another one. There's still time, hey!"

Hai Yue said coldly: "Is the document not in compliance with regulations?"

The middle-aged clerk knocked on the table and said, "It's not unprecedented in Qiongzhou Prefecture to allow a thief with a shady background to impersonate someone else and take the imperial examination. I am acting with caution!"

This is exactly the difficult part about dealing with officials. These people are well-versed in laws and know old news. Even if they want to make things difficult, they can usually find a good reason to do so, making the common people suffer.

But this time it didn't work. Hai Yue's voice became sharper: "Who gave you the courage to deliberately obstruct and make things difficult for the imperial court during its recruitment of scholars?"

The middle-aged clerk's face changed. "What did you say?"

"I say you're making a mountain out of a molehill, ruining the academic atmosphere in the province!"

Haiyue's tone became increasingly high-pitched, and everyone was shocked.

Faced with such a wicked official, keeping silent would only lead to the other party becoming even more aggressive, so he deliberately made the matter worse.

At worst, I can borrow the power of that inspector.

Ever since he refused to be recommended to the Imperial College, Wu Lin was polite but always a little awkward when he met him along the way.

Favors cannot be owed for too long. If you owe them for too long, they will become a debt of gratitude, and then it will inevitably develop into "a bowl of rice to nourish favors, a stone of rice to nourish hatred."

Therefore, it is not a bad thing to let Wu Lin come forward and solve his own problems.

"Presumptuous! Presumptuous!!"

The middle-aged clerk was furious. He stretched out his hand and swept the documents that had been placed on the table away.

Young people are ignorant of the immensity of the world and think that they are great just because they have won the first place in two exams?

That is Qiongzhou Prefecture, the most backward prefecture in Guangdong. This is Guangzhou Prefecture, the provincial capital. How can we generalize?

The other clerks had the same idea and watched coldly from the sidelines. The students outside also peeked in, surprised that a quarrel had actually broken out inside.

Until footsteps were heard.

An old man in his fifties walked in.

This man had a tall and straight figure and eyebrows as sharp as a knife. He was not wearing an official robe, but only a simple old clothes.

However, the many clerks who had been enjoying the show suddenly changed color, stood up in unison, and saluted, saying, "Tai Zhou!"

The middle-aged clerk with a distorted face lowered his head instantly: "Zhou Neitai!"

'what? '

Haiyue was originally waiting for Wu Lin, but she didn't expect that the person who came was this one.

The only official known as Neisi, Neitai, or Lianfang was the Chief of the Censorate, the Third-Rank Censor, and the "Iron-Faced Judge" Zhou Xuan, whom Shao Jing had previously admired. The old man walked in and looked directly at him. "Are you Haiyue, the Thirteenth Son of the Qiongshan Hai Clan?"

Haiyue saluted: "Yes, my student."

The old man glanced at Lin Daqin again and asked, "Do you two know each other?"

Haiyue shook her head: "I don't know her."

The old man said calmly, "If you don't know him, why are you standing up for him?"

Hai Yue said: "If you don't do what is right, you are not brave!"

"Oh?"

The old man's expression remained stern, but a hint of smile flickered in his eyes. "A gentleman's righteousness is paramount. You are indeed a brilliant young detective capable of solving the mission's most important case! I've read the case file three times, and the deductions are as smooth as a gossamer thread through a needle. It's truly impressive. Capturing the culprit yourself demonstrates even greater bravery! Excellent!"

After the praise, the old man looked at the middle-aged clerk and asked, "Are you You Yu?"

The middle-aged clerk said in a trembling voice: "My...my name is..."

The old man said, "I've heard that you're notoriously sarcastic and mean. Whenever you're upset, you take it out on the students taking the exams. I've previously spoken to Wang Tixue about this, but it seems he was too busy with official duties to handle the matter in a timely manner."

"Little... little..."

The middle-aged clerk wanted to argue, but the old man waved his hand and said, "There's no point in fining someone like you. Just demote him! You look down on Qiongzhou Prefecture? Then go and work in Qiongzhou!"

The middle-aged clerk groaned and fell to the ground in an instant.

During the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang in the early Ming Dynasty, law enforcement was harsh. Clerks who embezzled five taels of silver would be executed. However, the actual punishment was weakened thereafter, and was mostly changed to recovering stolen goods and fining salaries, which was actually not very severe.

The only thing they fear most is a downward tone.

These clerks are rooted in the local area, passed down from generation to generation. They will not move even if the officials are transferred. They have already become entrenched in a complex network of relationships. But if they are transferred to another place to take up a position, there will also be a complex network of relationships there. How can they accommodate outsiders?
I don’t know how much money it would cost or how many connections I would need to rely on to be able to take root again. In most cases, even if the local officials happily accepted the money, I still couldn’t integrate into the community.

This is even more difficult to accept than killing them directly!

"Take this as a warning!"

Censor Zhou Xuan made the decision, then glanced coldly at the other clerks, left after saying a few words.

"What a stern judge!"

Haiyue was greatly impressed.

Dealing with a clerk was no big deal, but the Education Commissioner's Office was Wang Shifang's territory. Zhou Xuan's move could be said to be giving him no face at all, which was contrary to the official atmosphere.

Haiyue just hates the atmosphere of harmony and integration. These officials may seem to have done no great evil, but their actions may sometimes really change the life of some poor scholars. There may even be no grudges between the two parties, but they are bullied and tortured for no reason.

Now, the clerks who had smiles on their faces before were silent as a mouse, doing their work swiftly and efficiently, and their attitude had changed drastically.

Maybe they will eventually forget the pain and return to their old ways, but at least they can change for a while.

After completing the formalities and leaving the house, Haiyue and Hai Rui were about to leave when Lin Daqin caught up with them. "My name is Lin Daqin, courtesy name Jingfu, and I'm from Haiyang County, Chaozhou Prefecture. Thank you for your help!"

Hai Yue smiled and said, "My name is Hai Yue, from Qiongshan, the thirteenth in the family. I haven't come of age yet, and I don't have a courtesy name. This is my younger brother Hai Rui, the fourteenth in the family!"

The three young men talked as they walked, and soon began to discuss academic matters.

Compared to the previous embarrassment when he was bullied by the clerks, his true talent as the top scholar was revealed at this time.

Lin Daqin was "well-versed in the writings of hundreds of philosophers and historians" since childhood. His writing was "vigorous and magnificent, closely resembling the style of the Three Su brothers." Crucially, he was not boastful, and his examination essays were full of original insights. "The textual research was meticulous, the words were awe-inspiring, and the readers felt full of life."

Hai Yue was fine knowing the other party's historical achievements, but her brother Hai Rui was shocked.

He was also a "Taoist scholar" in the academy, and his knowledge was enough to teach his peers, but compared with Lin Daqin, the gap was obvious.

Only after leaving Hainan did you realize how vast the world is.

Are the knowledge of the scholars outside so profound?
Being of the same young age, Hai Rui could not help but admire the other party for his eloquent and fluent responses. He was not discouraged at all and actively explored and verified the theories of his teacher Qiu Jun.

Gradually, Haiyue fell silent.

He was so engrossed in reciting model essays that he couldn't get a word in.

However, seeing that Lin Daqin was always answering questions and had a kind personality, Haiyue's eyes moved and she extended an invitation: "We are originally from the same department and now we have experienced this together. It can be said that we have a deep connection. Why don't we live together and discuss literature to increase our knowledge?"

If you want to improve your grades, besides studying hard on your own, studying with top students is also a good way.

come on!

Average students and top students sit at the same table, and their grades improve dramatically!
(End of this chapter)