Chapter 136: Examination Fraud, Removal of Flags

Zhu Yijun sat on the imperial steps, saying nothing, and flipping through the list of successful candidates in the imperial examinations in the fifth year of Longqing's reign brought by Shen Shixing with a gloomy face.

Shen Shixing and Song Ru knelt in the hall and pleaded guilty.

The former is okay, but the latter is almost like losing one's parents.

Being called in for a confrontation was not a good thing, but one could still argue a bit, and in the end, one might just be fined copper coins.

The result was good.

As soon as the emperor entered the room, he started to curse and call him by his name, not giving him a chance to speak! It was obvious that he was disgusted to the extreme!

And he himself knows his age best.

What a disaster! What a disaster! If I had known this earlier, I would have put it away earlier!
Song Ru was kneeling in the front, bearing the brunt of the attack.

A group of Shujishi stood behind him, exchanging glances from time to time.

Obviously, when the emperor saw Song Ru's appearance, Xiong Dunpu's matter was naturally postponed.

Wu Zhongxing even glanced at the emperor obliquely.

Ever since meeting the emperor, she seemed to have no initiative at all and was led by the emperor the whole time.

Everyone has their own thoughts.

The hall was silent for a long while.

Zhu Yijun finally finished reading the list of successful candidates and slowly closed it.

He pointed at Song Ru, looked at Wu Zhongxing, and asked casually, "Mr. Wu, how old is this man from his appearance?"

Wu Zhongxing had no choice but to bow and salute: "Your Majesty, you are about...70 years old."

Zhu Yijun glanced at the group of scholars, and they all nodded in agreement.

Finally, he set his eyes on Shen Shixing and questioned him in a bad tone: "Shen Qing, what do you think?"

The previous generation ruined the pot, and the next generation can only suffer.

Shen Shixing felt bitter. He glanced at Song Ru's full head of hair and reluctantly said, "Your Majesty, he was born in the eighteenth year of Hongzhi and is now sixty-nine years old."

After passing the imperial examination, they were enrolled as students at the Imperial Academy, known as Guozi students.

Naturally, there are archives.

What's more, Song Ru was previously the hereditary Tongzhi of Maha Prefecture. As an official, he naturally had a literary background.

He inherited an official position in his early years, and Guizhou submitted a memorial, so the Ministry of Personnel kept a record of it.

The embarrassing thing is that there is a discrepancy between the age recorded in the imperial examination record and the one in the birth record.

Zhu Yijun casually threw the list of successful candidates on the ground in front of Shen Shixing and said coldly, "Then Mr. Shen, tell me, where did the black and white words '35 years old' come from on the list of successful candidates?"

"What kind of hell is the Hanlin Academy? After only two and a half years of instruction, people become so old!?"

Such an effect would not be achieved in the Hanlin Academy. He would be imprisoned in the Northern Pacification Office for almost two years, and it is possible that he would suffer from kidney failure when he is released.

It is obvious that Zhu Yijun was speaking in a sarcastic way.

Just now after Zhu Yijun got angry, Shen Shixing was unable to answer for a moment how old this old Jinshi was.

I had no choice but to go to the Ministry of Personnel and ask someone to bring me the list of successful candidates and case files.

What happened next was even more ridiculous. According to the list of successful candidates, this old scholar with wrinkles all over his face was only 35 years old in the fifth year of Longqing's reign!

You have fooled the emperor to this extent!

In order to be selected as a Shujishi, age can be discounted by half! ?

The Song Confucian scholars who were being discussed had no room to interrupt at all.

No matter who selected him as a Shujishi or how old he actually is.

Seeing that the emperor was too lazy to even look at him, Song Ru trembled even more.

Shen Shixing was already on the verge of tears, and he fell to the ground and begged for mercy, "Your Majesty, when the list was sent to the Hanlin Academy, this was the age recorded."

Today is the second time I’ve been blamed.

The emperor asked who gave Song Rutong the way, but he really didn't know.

It's hard to guess - the relative of Song Confucianist is Sun Yingao, and because Sun Yingao was born in Guizhou, he had a good relationship with Zhao Zhenji of Sichuan; he was also a great Confucian scholar of the time, and had close relationships with Xu Jie of Nanzhong Wangmen, Jiang Xin of Chuzhong Wangmen, Li Wei of Qianzhong Wangmen, and even the Later Seven Masters; and because of his friendship with Wang Guoguang, Zhang Juzheng planned to re-instate this person during the court discussion at the beginning of the year.

With so many things involved, who knows who at that time gave Song Confucian scholars the way?

What if it was Zhang Juzheng?

Moreover, when he was recruiting people into the Hanlin Academy, the cabinet had already drafted the document and the emperor had approved it.

If someone points out something is wrong at this time, who will be responsible for it?
Is it the Hanlin Academy or the Ministry of Rites?
Or were the three examiners of the imperial examination Yang Bo, Zhang Juzheng and Lu Diaoyang?

Therefore, anyone who understands how to be an official will not rashly reveal this layer.

But now the emperor has found the fault with Shen Shixing, how miserable!

Zhu Yijun heard this but remained silent.

He naturally understood this truth.

Isn't this the way it works that those detained beyond the legal period must be convicted?

But besides Shen Shixing's nature of being a peacemaker, there are other reasons...

Zhu Yijun suddenly looked at Liu Sike, the official in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, who had brought the list of successful candidates, and said, "Liu, I remember that he was also a Jinshi in the fifth year of Longqing."

Liu Sike was just the person who delivered the list. He was caught off guard when the emperor called him and he was unable to react for a while.

After a while, he came back to his senses and replied, "Your Majesty, I am indeed a Jinshi in the fifth year of Longqing, ranked 269th in the third class, and was initially appointed as the magistrate of Changzhi County in Shanxi Province. I was promoted to the director of the Ministry of Personnel just last month."

Zhu Yijun nodded and asked, "When was Liu Qing born?"

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, Liu Sike was shocked.

He subconsciously looked around, looking for help at the group of scholars and his boss Shen Shixing.

At this time, even Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian and others changed their expressions.

When everyone realized something was wrong, the emperor's voice sounded again.

"Excuse me, Liu Qing, please speak frankly."

After hearing this, Liu Sike's expression eased a little. The emperor was quite trustworthy in this regard.

After all, he was a county magistrate and then returned to the Ministry of Personnel, so he was more experienced than his peers.

Liu Sike immediately knelt down and pleaded guilty: "Your Majesty, I was born in August of the 20th year of Jiajing. I am now 33 years old, but my official age is 30."

Zhu Yijun nodded, shook his head, and said in a complicated tone: "Actual age...official age...No wonder your age is 27 on the list of successful candidates, which is different from what is written in your birth name."

A group of scholars watched Liu Sike stumble and fall as he staggered out of the hall, and they wished they could follow him and leave this place of trouble.

Bad thing!
Some things are just window paper.

If we don't expose the truth, it will be good for both of us. But if we expose the truth, it will be difficult to resolve!

If you are talking about Xiong Dunpu, just ask Xiong Dunpu. The little emperor doesn't know the importance of the matter, so why is he asking about other things!
The atmosphere in the hall was eerie and unclear.

Zhu Yijun sighed and looked at Shen Shixing: "Mr. Shen, this is already a common practice for Jinshi, right?"

Liu Sike was afraid of bad influence, so he spoke vaguely.

The so-called real age and official age are the real age and the falsely reported age.

When selecting Shujishi in the fifth year of Longqing, the imperial edict stated that the Shujishi should be selected according to the example of the second year of Longqing, and the age limit was 40 years old or below.

In the same second year, the old precedent of the 44th year of Jiajing was followed and those under 40 were selected.

Therefore, it was clearly stipulated that only those who were Jinshi scholars under the age of 40 could be considered Shujishi.

But Shujishi is the qualification to enter the cabinet, who wouldn't want to be selected? How could one be willing to accept the age limit?
Where there is a policy from the top, there is a countermeasure from the bottom. Since the emperor can limit the age, the people below will immediately falsify their age.

This led to the strange phenomenon that a 69-year-old Song scholar was only 35 years old when he registered for the exam.

The Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty were quite old, and the late emperor was too lazy to preside over the palace examination, so naturally they had no chance to see it.

What about the examiners Zhang Juzheng and Yang Bo?

What about Gao Yi and Lu Diaoyang who taught the Shujishi?
Or what about Shen Shixing, who was in charge of the Hanlin Academy, or Zhu Dashou, the Minister of Rites who was in charge of the imperial examinations?

Even these fellow Shujishi, can't they see that there is a seventy-year-old man among their classmates?

But both the superiors and the subordinates chose to condone this matter!
This is naturally because the affairs of Song Confucian scholars not only involve Song Confucian scholars, but also most of the Jinshi scholars in all dynasties!

The emperor has his own established precedents, and the court has its own established precedents.

Faced with the emperor's questioning, Shen Shixing stammered and was unable to speak.

At this time, he had already realized that he was being scolded for nothing.

Even Liu Sike, who ranked 269th among the Jinshi candidates, had his background document read by the emperor. It was obvious that the current situation in the palace was within the emperor's expectations.

What else can he do?

Just take the scolding honestly.

Thinking of this, Shen Shixing sighed and pleaded guilty: "I am guilty."

Not denying is admitting.

Zhu Yijun was very satisfied with Shen Shixing's reaction. The fact that he was willing to accept the challenge at this time showed that the lesson he had just learned was still of some effect.

He did not continue to press, and only cursed: "No wonder Fu Que impeached you!"

He turned around and looked at the group of scholars.

His expression turned to admiration: "Strong winds reveal strong grass, and turbulent times reveal loyal ministers."

"The Imperial Academy lied to me about my young age, and the Ministry of Personnel lied to me about my ignorance. The upper and lower levels colluded to cover up the truth."

"On the contrary, you, the ministers, have not yet set foot in the officialdom and still have a sincere heart. You have led me step by step to meet the Confucian scholars of Song Dynasty, so that I can expose the matter of the fake years of the officials."

"In ancient times, people gave direct advice and made sarcastic remarks. Today, people give indirect advice and make subtle remarks. You are no less famous than the ministers of ancient times!"

"I'm so relieved!"

At first, the group of Shujishi did not understand what the emperor meant.

The more I listened, the more I felt something was wrong.

Zhao Yongxian and Wu Zhongxing looked at each other, each with a look of horror.

The former seemed unable to bear the emperor's praise and bowed down to evade the charge: "Your Majesty! This was righteously exposed by Liu Sike. Your Majesty is wise and insightful. We dare not take credit for it!"

joke!

Others may not know how common this situation is during the official years, but don’t they know?
In the fifth year of the Longqing reign, there was an imperial examination, and among the thirty or so people with whom Zhao Yongxian had connections, more than ten had falsely reported their ages.

In the second year of the Longqing reign, he met more than 20 people, 18 of whom had lied about their age.

Not to mention people you don’t know!
If everyone reports false information, and you don't, your ranking among Jinshi will naturally be at the back - "After becoming a Jinshi, the 'Record of Successful Examinations' will be engraved, and the age should be announced, but you have given a real number. Some say that if you reduce your age by no more than three years, you can prepare for the selection of the Imperial Academy. Even if you are not selected, but change your age by five years, you can be selected as Jieshi or Yushi, which will not be harmful. You said: How can I deceive my emperor when I have just started my career? So your age will be behind a hundred people." For example, Shen Junfu, before the palace examination, his good friend advised him that if he reported his age as three years lower, he could participate in the selection of Shujishi. Even if he was not selected, he could be selected as Jieshi or Yushi after another five years.

Shen Junfu was ignorant and said with great integrity that he could not deceive the emperor. Afterwards, his ranking dropped and he was out of the top 100.

At first, Yu Shenxing loved to write articles. After the Jinshi Banquet, he secretly wrote, "The resumes of scholars and officials are usually shortened to less than ten years. Even at a banquet with friends, no one tells others their real age. This is vulgar."

The next day, everyone came to Yu Shenxing's house to persuade him that when writing articles, one must follow principles and methods, and not write things that should not be written.

This shows how tacitly this matter is understood.

There are so many people involved, and they are all good friends who see each other every day. Even if the credit of "exposing the official's fake age" was given to Zhao Yongxian, he would not dare to take it!
Not only Zhao Yongxian, but also Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Canlu, Liu Kezhen and other scholars all bowed and declined.

"This matter is entirely due to your Majesty's insight. We dare not accept your praise!"

"Your Majesty, we dare not steal Liu Sike's achievements!"

He refused to accept the credit but instead rushed to give it to his colleagues.

O loyal minister!
Zhu Yijun was even more moved, and shook his head, saying, "The reason why a sinister and cunning person like Song Ru could enter the Hanlin Academy is naturally due to corruption in the imperial examinations."

"You have asked me to see the Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty. You have mentioned that the Ministry of Personnel is unfair in its handling of matters. This is a true example of the wise and gentle character of a minister of remonstrance. How could I not know this?"

Everyone says that Song Ru is bad and wants to expose him.

So why is he bad? Of course there is something wrong with the Hanlin Academy!

Don't worry, I understand the meaning of your subtle advice.

Before the confrontation even began, the Song Confucian scholar, who was accused by the emperor of being insidious and cunning, knelt on the ground, motionless, and had obviously accepted his fate.

Zhu Yijun was heartbroken and said, "Don't worry, I understand your intentions and will not tolerate it."

"I have made up my mind. This matter will be investigated thirty years ago! The crime of deceiving the emperor is the first. If you don't deprive him of his family's writings, it will not be enough to set the record straight!"

"The matter of Song Ru was exposed by you gentlemen. You will take the lead in supervising this case, and work with the Ministry of Personnel and the Imperial Censors to investigate it thoroughly!"

The voice just fell.

Zhao Yongxian fell to his knees with a thud, almost begging, "Your Majesty! Think twice, think twice!"

Going back thirty years, and still depriving the author of his origins! ?

It is still unclear whether he can see the sun tomorrow!
He was planning to promote his reputation as a loyal and upright official, but that would be an act of disobedience to his superiors, and he could not offend his colleagues in this way!
A group of scholars also knelt down and begged for mercy.

At this moment, Shen Shixing suddenly had an idea and stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance and involves a wide range of issues. The records of the imperial examinations, case files, and birth records are voluminous."

"The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Science and Technology are both in charge of the performance review at this time, so it is difficult for them to split up."

Zhu Yijun snorted coldly: "Kaocheng? The ministers all said that your Ministry of Personnel was unfair and wanted to stop Kaocheng. Isn't this a good opportunity to deal with this matter?"

As soon as the emperor said this, Wu Zhongxing, with a grim expression on his face, immediately realized something.

His eyes flickered.

He looked at Zhao Yongxian beside him.

The latter looked dazed, muttering to himself - it's over, it's over, everyone is offended, everyone is offended.

Wu Zhongxing frowned in disgust and immediately gave up cooperating with him.

After thinking about the emperor's thoughts for a long time.

Wu Zhongxing finally made up his mind and stood out from the crowd.

He bowed and said in a clear voice: "Your Majesty, please understand!"

"Song Ru was a man who openly said in the Hanlin Academy that Sun Gong helped him get a connection and changed his age to be selected as a Shujishi."

"The late emperor knew nothing at the time, and now Your Majesty has been deceived by everyone."

"Since then, Song Ru's slander against Xiong Dunpu was also caused by Shen Shixing deceiving Your Majesty, acting on his own initiative, and indulging Song Ru!"

"Whether it was the imperial examination or Xiong Dunpu, they were all caused by someone blocking the way for speech and deceiving the emperor."

"As long as Your Majesty knows the whole story, Shen Shixing's treacherous behavior will naturally be exposed, and Your Majesty will be able to make a sage judgment on what he has deceived."

"We are waiting for this reason."

"Now that Your Majesty knows the whole story, we dare not interfere in how to deal with the corruption in the imperial examinations, whether Minister Shen is fair in his handling of the matter, and whether there are any hidden dangers in handing the examination system over to the Ministry of Personnel."

He finally saw it.

The emperor did it on purpose!

This method has a strong sense of déjà vu. Isn't it the "double it" trick that is often used when disobeying superiors?

They wanted to become famous, so the emperor brought up the Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty and gave them the credit for "exposing the official years' falsehood" and made them famous.

Not only will you offend your superiors, but you will also offend your colleagues!
If they wanted to impeach Shen Shixing, the emperor would have to trace back thirty years of successful candidates and deprive them of their official titles!

This is to force them to submit and understand what it means to put the overall situation first!

What can he do?
There is no way you can get rid of the reputation that the emperor has placed on you.

At worst, he could just be a loyal minister. After all, although he offended some people this time, his reputation was really raised and he was really rewarded with an official position.

It's just a matter of accumulating fame in this way in the future.

The emperor has given us a new path, and we have no choice but to go on with it.

Even though he offended some people, he could always please some loyal ministers - even if he was worse off, he still had a prime minister to support him.

But this catastrophic disaster that happened thirty years ago must not be caused by him!

As soon as this was said, someone immediately echoed: "Your Majesty, since the Ministry of Personnel is too busy to handle the situation, then there is no need to start a war."

"Understand that the past cannot be changed, and know that the future can be pursued."

"We should nip it in the bud in the future."

The group of scholars also reacted quickly, and many of them were slow to agree, making a fuss and asking the emperor to revoke his order.

Shen Shixing turned his head away and glanced at this group of scholars out of the corner of his eye, and couldn't help but find it funny.

He held his breath and bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this makes sense."

"A major war would threaten the foundation of the country. I think it would be better to start from now on."

Everyone looked at Shen Shixing with gratitude.

The emperor heard this and pondered for a while.

After a long while, he sighed and said slowly: "Well, well, the love affair is serious, and scraping the bone to cure the poison is indeed inappropriate."

"Then let's do as you say."

Zhu Yijun turned to look at Zhang Hong and said seriously, "Zhang Daban."

"The Imperial Household Department will issue an order to the Cabinet immediately."

"I believe that as a minister, one should serve the ruler without deceiving him."

"It was only when Zhao Yongxian, Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Canlu, Liu Kezheng and other scholars exposed the Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty that I began to know about the corruption in the government."

"Recently, the records of candidates who have passed the imperial examinations, as well as the provincial, municipal, and palace examination papers, have mostly concealed their ages, with the old being represented as the middle-aged, and the middle-aged being represented as the young."

"The purpose of the state's imperial examinations is to seek virtuous and capable people. If you are hypocritical from the beginning, your future behavior will be revealed."

"There is also a bad habit that continues, which is to neglect the same clan, to rely on distant Chinese descendants, and to publish relatives of different surnames in a mixed manner, all of which are against the right path."

"From now on, all examination papers and lists must be written truthfully. All other bad practices must be corrected!"

"All examiners will observe the results and those who expose the truth will be rewarded according to the rules."

"Don't betray my sincerity and integrity!"

Zhang Hong knelt on the ground and listened to the order.

When the Shujishi heard that "from now on, the imperial examination would not be affected by the past", they breathed a sigh of relief.

Many people looked at Song Ru fiercely. Even if he was only fifty years old, it would be better if he didn't look so obviously old!

Song Ru, who had been ignored throughout the whole process, suddenly became the culprit and felt very sad.

I know that the Shujishi can no longer be saved.

I don’t know if I will be demoted to a lower level.

It's really an unexpected disaster!

Everyone has different thoughts.

Shen Shixing glanced at the emperor inadvertently.

The young emperor spoke out his edict without any revision by the Secretariat. Who would believe him if he said he didn't have a draft in mind?

At least cover it up, put it in plain terms, and let Zheng Zongxue behind you polish it for you.

But... I did see a good show today.

First, he punished Li Shengchun and the other two, then Shi En, Wu Zhongxing and others, and immediately divided and disintegrated the people, and took control of the situation on the spot.

Then he fabricated a story out of thin air, involving official corruption, and suppressed the fact that Shen Shixing was originally in the wrong, and talked about other things.

Then he used the "double" method to roast this group of scholars who wanted to become famous on the fire.

Don't you want to be a loyal minister? Then make the fake play real!

After this incident, he was definitely famous.

But he was not known for speaking out directly against his superiors, but for being willing to offend colleagues and juniors, worrying about current ills, and daring to speak out!

In addition, Wu Zhongxing had already been appointed as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat and served as a close minister to the emperor.

This is a forced amnesty!

The more Shen Shixing thought about it, the more amazed he became.

After the emperor gave his orders, he closed his mouth again.

After listening to the emperor's words, Zhang Hong took his leave.

The group of Shujishi exchanged glances with complicated expressions - from now on, their official personalities would not be decided by them.

Only Song Ru, who was in the vortex, knelt on the ground with a deathly pale face.

The man who had provoked the emperor to kneel down and exposed the corruption among officials had not uttered a word since the emperor entered the palace.

But every time the emperor mentioned him, he would point fingers at him and say that this guy was almost doomed to have a bad end.

One can imagine how tormented he must have been.

Unfortunately, no one paid any attention to him.

At this time, Zhu Yijun looked at Wu Zhongxing and mentioned the original reason why everyone knelt down in front of the palace, as well as the less important business:
"Mr. Wu, Song Ru is here. You two can confront each other in court."

(End of this chapter)