The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 376 The Third Iron Law of the Crown Prince's Regentship
Upon hearing someone shout that they were going to the Emperor to seek justice, Shang Rongjun's heart skipped a beat, and his eyes immediately lit up!
Wow, this looks promising!
Now he's completely finished with the Crown Prince; all that's left is to write "This person has been blacklisted" on his resume.

The only lifeline was the Qianxi Emperor.

No matter what, he was the top scholar personally selected by Emperor Qianxi!

Perhaps Emperor Qianxi, taking this into consideration, would show him leniency.

He looked towards the source of the shout with gratitude and almost recognized him as a brother on the spot.

As it turned out, the person shouting was a man in his thirties with an average face, but his expression was spot on—a look of a fervent young man saying, "I'm going to speak up for the people."

The man looked somewhat familiar, but Shang Rongjun couldn't quite place his name.

But it doesn't matter, from today onwards, you are my half-brother!
Just as he was about to respond loudly, he suddenly realized that the atmosphere was a bit off—the older man's expression was also very awkward.

Where's the promised immediate response? Why is the whole place so quiet? It's gotten so awkward!

Everyone looked at each other, their faces clearly asking, "Are you going or not?" "I'm too scared, you go ahead."

What's even more disheartening is that many people are secretly eyeing Shang Rongjun!

Those eyes clearly said: Look, this is what happens when you stick your neck out.

Shang Rongjun was inwardly bitter: I'm already socially dead with the Crown Prince, are you still using me as a cautionary tale, a negative example?
If the Crown Prince doesn't respond to force, will the usually tough Emperor Qianxi respond?
This possibility should be small.

Moreover, the Emperor is currently fasting and praying for the late Emperor, so whether he will be able to see him is another matter entirely.

Judging from how quickly the Crown Prince deals with people, they'll probably be eliminated by him with a single click before they even see Emperor Qianxi.

So that loud shout was like a stone thrown into water—it disappeared with a splash.

Zhou Bao and Erlengtai and the others all stared at the person who had shouted.

The man felt uneasy under their gaze and quickly shrank back into the crowd.

Seeing this, Cheng Youdao felt relieved and his mood improved considerably.

So, I'm not the only coward. That's good!
Faced with the Crown Prince's tough stance, I didn't call it desertion; I was a wise man adapting to circumstances!
"Everyone, you've all seen the Crown Prince's reply. How about we leave first? We can discuss it further when we get back, and then make a more thorough plan?"

Zuo Yindu quickly chimed in:

"Lord Cheng is right! At a time like this, let's discuss it first."

The group felt as if they had been granted a pardon and quickly slipped away in the blink of an eye.

Only the imperial college students were still frantically writing, their eyes filled with sorrow:
We all came together to petition the emperor, so why can they run away and move freely, while we can only stay here and write furiously?
Shang Rongjun felt utterly disheartened.

The small flame of hope that had just been ignited was quickly extinguished by reality.

When they arrived, everyone was all sworn brothers and full of enthusiasm; when they left, they all ran faster than rabbits.

What happened to our promise to stand together through thick and thin? What happened to our loyalty? It was all a lie!

It seems that Shang Rongjun was the only one who lost this attempt to appeal to the emperor.

He lost his official position, lost face, and even his allies pretended not to know him.

Is it because of my own persistence that their despicable behavior is highlighted?

He really wanted to scream, but reason told him: Don't scream, or you might lose your life!
Ultimately, they were too young, unaware of the wickedness of human nature, and hadn't experienced the harsh realities of life...

Shang Rongjun walked away dejectedly, his steps faltering, his back view looking utterly weathered!
Another quarter of an hour passed, and the students finally handed in their papers.

It wasn't voluntary; Crown Prince Shen Ye collected the papers right on time, and even if you didn't finish, you had to hand them in!

Looking at the collected papers, Shen Ye smiled and said to Li Guangdi and Zhang Ying, "Two Grand Secretaries, there are more than a hundred papers here."

"If you include Chen Tingjing and the others, each person will have about twenty portions."

"It's not too late now, so let's give our comments!"

Zhang Ying and Li Guangdi exchanged a glance: The Crown Prince had used both soft and hard tactics to lure away all the young people from the Hanlin Academy, and now he was actually making them grade the papers of the Imperial Academy students.

Fortunately, they weren't anything to be afraid of!

They were all top performers in the imperial examinations, having been tempered and refined on this path. Correcting the papers of the students from the Imperial Academy was a piece of cake for them!

"I will obey your orders!"

Li Guangdi, Zhang Ying, and Chen Tingjing were all highly learned men, so they read the exam papers very quickly.

However, after reading the first article, the three of them could no longer remain calm.

Li Guangdi frowned: "What is this? You call this an article?"

That's utter nonsense!
Zhang Ying rubbed her forehead: "It's one thing that the sentences are incoherent, but there are also a bunch of typos..."

Chen Tingjing silently put down his pen and took a deep breath.

Looking at these articles alone, they are indeed a bit embarrassing.

Chu Minglun, the Imperial Academy Chancellor, stood aside, looking embarrassed. He had rushed over but hadn't had time to persuade the students to leave before he was busy grading papers.

He was fully aware of the situation of these students at the Imperial Academy!
So when he heard that the Crown Prince was going to test their knowledge, he became a little flustered.

However, considering that these students are on good terms with the Hanlin Academy members and have come together to pay their respects to the Crown Prince, they must be good students.

But after looking at a few papers, his face turned completely pale!

It's all utter nonsense!
Not to mention it closely follows the theme set by the Crown Prince.

They don't study normally, but when it really matters, they come out and embarrass themselves! How dare they come and follow along to the palace gates?
"Pfft!"

Li Guangdi, who was grading papers, suddenly burst out laughing.

Zhang Ying and the others all looked at him: "Guangdi, what's wrong?"

Although Zhang Ying and Li Guangdi were secretly at odds, on the surface they still acted like old friends. Li Guangdi put down his pen and laughed so hard he rubbed his stomach: "This genius student has come up with a solution to the problem of the increasing number of officials and gentry while the court's tax revenue is decreasing."

"If you just halve the weight of one tael, one tael of silver becomes two taels of silver."

"This will immediately double the imperial court's revenue!"

"What a talent!"

Hearing this self-deceiving countermeasure, Chen Tingjing suppressed a laugh so hard his lips twitched.

This is so funny!

Shen Ye didn't grade the papers, but instead casually picked up a few graded papers and looked at them.

His actions made it impossible for Zhang Ying and the others to turn a blind eye.

Although the Crown Prince's scholarship was not as good as theirs, he could still tell the quality of a paper.

If they try to fool them, they're just asking for trouble.

Upon hearing Li Guangdi's words, Shen Ye smiled and said, "Master Li, let me see this exam paper. Where did this 'Sleeping Dragon' come from?"

"This person is indeed exceptionally clever, but his ability to deceive himself is truly unacceptable."

Chu Minglun felt a little embarrassed after hearing Shen Ye's words.

He hurriedly came out and respectfully said to Shen Ye, "Your Highness, the students of the Imperial Academy are not well-versed in their studies. It is my fault as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy who has failed to supervise them properly."

"I beg Your Highness to punish me!"

Shen Ye looked at Chu Minglun kneeling on the ground, smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Lord Chu, I will report this matter to my father, and he can handle it."

Given Shen Ye's current power, even if he were to dismiss Chu Minglun from his post, it would be a simple matter of a word.

Even when Emperor Qianxi emerged from seclusion, he couldn't say anything.

After all, the students' studies were a mess, so it was normal for him, as the headmaster, to be punished.

But Shen Ye did not do that.

As an agent, you should absolutely not resort to personnel changes unless absolutely necessary.

No matter how you deal with someone like Shang Rongjun who is so eager to curry favor with the emperor, it's not an excessive measure.

Those who should be dismissed from their posts should be dismissed; those who should be removed from office should be removed from their posts!
The more decisively and efficiently you handle this matter, the more Emperor Qianxi will think you have handled it well.

However, if the Imperial Academy Chancellor, a key figure, were dismissed simply because the students had not been taught well, Emperor Qianxi would have objections.

In his view, the right to dismiss officials belonged to him.

No one should act arbitrarily without special circumstances.

As the Crown Prince who was in charge of the country, Shen Ye was unwilling to make a mistake in this regard.

This is a taboo that cannot be broken!
Hearing Shen Ye say this, Chu Minglun's heart remained uneasy.

Although he had a good relationship with Emperor Qianxi, that did not guarantee that his position would be secure.

For a moment, he felt a surge of hatred towards those imperial students who came to petition the emperor.

Without solid academic knowledge, what's the point of learning from others' kowtows?
How shameful!
In just one hour, these articles were revised.

Only four or five articles were deemed readable by the ministers who were grading the papers.

In reality, these articles were considered readable only because Li Guangdi and others were really concerned about Chu Minglun's feelings, choosing the best among the worst.

As for the others, while they weren't complete nonsense, they still contained various errors.

There are more than twenty articles here that can be described as utter nonsense!
Shen Ye could not dismiss Chu Minglun from his official post, but he had plenty of ways to deal with the students of the Imperial Academy.

Looking at these shameful articles, he said to Chu Minglun, "Although the students of the Imperial Academy also have to take the imperial examinations, the level of these students is truly a disgrace to the Academy!"

What could Chu Minglun say?
At this moment, faced with the answer sheets of the students he had taught, he had no choice but to kneel down and beg for forgiveness from Shen Ye.

Shen Ye waved his hand and said, "Lord Chu, as the saying goes, one must know shame before one can be courageous."

"The students of the Imperial Academy can no longer continue to be so lax and undisciplined."

"Otherwise, the Imperial Academy will only be looked down upon more and more in the future."

"Tomorrow I will have someone copy these twenty articles down and then make them into display boards to exhibit at the main gate of the Imperial Academy."

“I will not allow anyone to write whose work it is, but I will label it as the work of a student of the Imperial Academy.”

"I hope that after seeing these articles, the students of the Imperial Academy will strive to improve themselves and use their academic achievements to get these articles removed."

"For every Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) produced by the Imperial Academy next year, I can withdraw three of their essays."

"If the Imperial Academy can produce five Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), then I will take back these display boards and personally go to the Imperial Academy to offer my congratulations."

Upon hearing this, Chu Minglun immediately knelt on the ground and declared, "Your Highness, the Imperial Academy will be in seclusion for three months. I believe the Imperial Academy will not disappoint Your Highness."

Looking at Chu Minglun kneeling on the ground, Zhang Ying couldn't help but pinch his beard.

Only then did he understand the Crown Prince's purpose in having the students take the exam.

That really kills two birds with one stone!

However, now that the Crown Prince has passed this test, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to get through tomorrow's morning court session smoothly!
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(End of this chapter)