Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 307 Chicken Feathers Flying to the Sky
"After all, he is just a young man who has just graduated. He has caused a scandal of cheating in an exam. He has brought shame to the Imperial College!"
"It's ridiculous. Can you blame Dr. Zhang for a student cheating? Every year in the imperial examinations, there are always a few or even dozens of students who bring in cheats or even cheat. The Imperial College exams don't have body searches for cheats, so who knows what will happen! Besides, the suspected cheater, as far as I remember, is from the family of Duke Zhang of Chu, whom you, Prime Minister, admire!"
"He is the son of the Xiangyang Earl family. What does he have to do with the Duke of Chu? Besides, how do we know that someone is not framing him?"
"The student cheated because someone framed him, but you want to blame the teacher for this? I want to know, when you were the local chief judge, did you always confuse right and wrong when trying cases?"
The morning sun has already filled the huge square in front of the Fengtian Palace. It is another morning for the emperor to attend court. The various discussions that were heard while waiting for the court to begin are no longer there. Except for the sound of breathing and footsteps, there is no more noise. However, those who witnessed or heard the dispute in the court room just now knew that it might be brought to the emperor's presence soon.
Just because of such a small matter of the Imperial College's Banshan Hall branch examination, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister could quarrel so much. Who would believe that they were not taking advantage of the issue?
It's a pity that Duke Zhu Jing of Zhao attended court for two or three days after returning, and then he was ordered to stay at home to recuperate. Otherwise, it wouldn't just be Jiang Ge Lao and Kong Daxueshi who were at loggerheads. Believe it or not, the Duke of Zhao, who had killed so many people before, would have thrown a punch! The only strange thing was that Zhang Qiong, the always hot-tempered Earl of Xiangyang, was listening outside, but he didn't get furious because he was involved.
The first half of the morning court session was always plain and unremarkable. Most people just had to be the background board, watching others jumping up and down to pass one topic after another. Even the emperor on the throne couldn't help but take a deep breath and swallowed the yawn that was about to come to his mouth. Although officials in this dynasty were not as arrogant as those in the Song Dynasty, they still made mistakes in both directions.
If an official misbehaves, it is a serious crime. As for if the emperor misbehaves... he will also be ridiculed if it gets out.
However, being polite does not mean not being distracted. Just when the emperor was wondering for the umpteenth time why Emperor Taizu did not abolish the morning court and change it to meetings at different levels to reduce the number of people and time, he suddenly heard a sharp voice: "Doctor Zhang Shou of the Imperial College has been praised by the emperor many times. This time, he went against all odds to hold a separate examination for Banshan Hall, but the result is a mess!"
The emperor came to his senses almost instantly. When he saw that the person who spoke was Zhu Heng, the Left Censor-in-Chief, who was known as a big shot in the Censorate and had the same surname as Zhu Jing and had previously attacked Zhu Jing's core, he understood what was going on. He did not say anything at the moment, but gently stroked the armrest with his right index finger, while glancing at Lord Jiang.
Although the Prime Minister, who had been in the cabinet for fifteen years, remained expressionless, he was still able to conclude in his heart that Zhu Heng, who could be called the Chief Justice, was just a pawn.
"It was just a child who shouted cheating, but Zhu Duxian took it to court seriously. Do you think everyone has too much free time?" Chen Shang, the Minister of Revenue, sneered and then said nonchalantly, "There are so many important things in the world that need to be taken care of, and the false accusation of meritorious officials is pretended to have never happened. Instead, he focuses on the Imperial College. Zhu Duxian is really missing the point."
Chen Shang, the Minister of Revenue, has been determined to protect his junior fellow apprentice Zhang Shou ever since he returned to court after a period of mourning. This situation is now an open secret, so no one was surprised that he was the first to stand up and criticize Zhu Heng.
Zhu Heng himself was not surprised. He just pretended not to hear the words "framing a meritorious official" and said with a sneer, "Minister Chen, you are only concerned about the friendship between fellow students. This is of course selfish, but have you forgotten justice? The emperor once visited the Imperial College and asked for the rectification of the academic atmosphere. Now this so-called cheating scandal has caused a lot of trouble in the city. Isn't this a big enough matter?"
Without waiting for Chen Shang to answer, he said loudly: "However, when I heard about this matter before, I felt that it was strange. Everyone knows that the Duke of Zhao and the Duke of Chu have always had an old grudge. The Imperial College Doctor Zhang Shou is the son-in-law of the Duke of Zhao. When he was presiding over the Banshan Hall test, he caught the nephew of the Duke of Chu, the son of the Earl of Xiangyang, cheating. How do you know that he is not abusing his power to frame him?"
At this point, he looked at Zhang Qiong, the Marquis of Xiangyang, who had an expressionless face in the military officer queue, and asked with a smile: "Marquis of Xiangyang, are you willing to let your son bear the blame for cheating?"
Damn it, he really stepped on my head!
Zhang Qiong, the Earl of Xiangyang, thought of what Zhang Shou had said when he came to see him that night, and the letter that his servant had sent him later. He was immediately furious and shouted, "Bullshit!"
These six words suddenly silenced the hall that was filled with whispers . Everyone was stunned. This was the Fengtian Hall during the morning court session, not a street or a wine shop. How dare this Earl of Xiangyang swear? In such an occasion where the Honglu Temple and the Supervisory Censor would jointly record any slight misconduct, this man was truly an extraordinary warrior!
Zhang Qiong, who was already furious, didn't care how others viewed him. He suddenly stepped forward, pointed at Zhu Heng's nose and cursed: "You are stirring up trouble and spreading rumors about me. Do you think I'm a three-year-old child?"
Zhang Qiong's reaction was beyond many people's expectations, and his furious attitude made many people sweat. However, the Earl of Xiangyang seemed to have completely forgotten the word "disrespectful" and rushed directly to Zhu Heng.
"The guy who yelled about cheating is your grandson Zhu Youning's follower, the fourth child of Wu Taifu's family. He usually ranks last in Banshan Hall, so he's just throwing things out and yelling to confuse people. Do you think I don't know? Your grandson Zhu Youning himself is uneducated and fell out of Guangye Hall. He always complains about the mixed crowd in Banshan Hall... Bah, if he has the guts, he can go to Ruxing Hall to show off his power!"
I didn't expect that Zhang Qiong, the Marquis of Xiangyang, who always dozed off in the court, would actually expose other people's dirty secrets like this. This is going to be a good show to watch!
The drowsy emperor became more alert, and many other court officials who had nothing to do with the matter also became excited. However, the most excited person was Zhu Heng, who thought he had easily captured the enemy but ended up stirring up a hornet's nest.
He was so angry that he was shaking all over. He glared at Zhang Qiong and shouted, "Marquis of Xiangyang, you are totally unreasonable and don't know what's good for you! Do you think you can turn right into wrong by protecting your rebellious son?"
"Haha, I protected him? As soon as I heard the news, I pinned him down on the bench and beat him up. If Zhang Shou hadn't come to my house, I might have beaten him to death!" Zhang Qiong made no secret of his simplicity and brutality. He folded his hands and said contemptuously, "My eldest brother has always been at odds with Zhao Guogong Zhu Jing, but we in the Zhang family have always been clear about our grievances. Zhu Jing is Zhu Jing, and Zhang Shou is Zhang Shou!"
When he said this, he looked arrogant, but also took it for granted: "Although Zhang Shou is young, he is fair and honest. I don't have a daughter, but if I did, I might compete with Zhu Jing for a son-in-law!"
When he heard a loud cough, he turned his head and saw that it was Chen Shang who looked disapproving. Only then did he realize that he had strayed from the topic. He immediately put away his street bully-like attitude and bowed deeply to the emperor in a very standard manner.
"Your Majesty, as soon as the so-called cheating rumor came out, I brought my rebellious son to me and gave him a lesson. But Zhang Shou came to my house and reminded me not to let the child take the blame for nothing, which woke me up. That's when I found out what I said before. Everything I said is true, and it can be verified. I also heard that Zhang Shou invited Xu Heizi from the Imperial College's Shengqian Hall to help mark the papers."
Having said this, Zhang Qiong paused, revealing a row of well-maintained white teeth.
"Just like what Minister Chen said before, if the emperor wants to inquire about this little thing, he can just summon the relevant people to question them. There are so many things to discuss in the morning court in Fengtian Hall, why waste so many people's time? Zhu Duxian only needs to slander people all day long, and he has nothing to do, while the other major government offices are very busy!"
This Earl of Xiangyang is so insidious... No wonder he used to be like a stone Buddha in the court meetings. It turns out that he is so willing to make people angry to death with just a word!
Fortunately, Zhu Heng, who had been working as an imperial censor for many years, had a different psychological quality than most people. Although he was choked to death by Zhang Qiong's words and his face turned red, he was still tenacious enough to stand firm. However, the calmness he forced himself to maintain was destroyed when a voice sounded from outside.
"Your Majesty, Zhang Shou, a doctor of the Imperial College, has come forward to report that during the Banshan Hall branch examination, two papers appeared with the same name but completely different handwriting. The name on both papers was Zhu Youning."
Before most people in the Fengtian Hall thought of Zhu Heng from Zhu Youning, and before the few sober people could figure out how such a small matter could be brought up in the court meeting, Zhang Qiong, the Earl of Xiangyang who had just angrily confronted Zhu Heng, spoke again.
"Excuse me, Zhu Duxian, your grandson did two papers by himself. Shouldn't you explain it to me?"
Zhu Heng's face was originally the color of liver, and now it was even redder than before. Just when he was about to get so angry that his liver and stomach hurt, someone finally stood up and took over Zhang Qiong's increasingly outrageous words.
"Mr. Xiangyang, as a fellow court official, please be more restrained. Since there is no evidence, please do not accuse Zhu Duxian without reason."
However, just as these seemingly righteous words were spoken, the person who stepped out to smooth things over said lightly, "It is not appropriate to discuss this matter at the court meeting. Your Majesty should summon Zhang Shou and others after the court meeting and ask them about it clearly, so as to avoid rumors from the outside world. Not only will Zhu Duxian and Xiangyang Bo be involved, but people will also speculate about who is behind it. People who are not involved should not go."
Staring at the peacemaker Kong, Zhu Heng almost wanted to swallow his life. Sure enough, when Kong said this, he saw Jiang Ge Lao frowning, but he didn't say anything in the end, which was very different from the strong attitude when he confronted Kong in the court room. At this moment, he couldn't help but have a bad feeling.
The emperor, who had had enough of the drama, readily agreed: "Okay, since Mr. Zhu said that the matter is all over the city, and Mr. Zhang insists that his son was plotted against, then I will personally go to the Imperial College to make the judgment. It just so happens that Mr. Lu has just resigned as the Minister of War, and I have just allocated money from the inner treasury to expand the Imperial College. Some students are complaining that the court is not treating scholars well enough, so I should go to the Imperial College to take a look."
After these words were spoken, countless people looked towards the empty seat.
That’s right, to this day, the position of Minister of War is still vacant...
As for Zhao Ying, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, who once thought that he could move up the ladder by removing the heavy mountain from his head, he was just demoted to the governor of Guizhou. As for the situation where both the Shangshu and Zuo Shilang positions were vacant at the same time, although the court officials had made their own recommendations, there was no result so far. For the time being, the affairs of the entire Ministry of War were temporarily managed by Wu Ge Lao, the best and most conscientious minister among the cabinet officials.
So, when the morning court ended that day, Zhu Heng, who had failed to make trouble and was instead beaten up, went straight back to the Censorate in anger. Most of the other officials took a detour when they saw Zhang Qiong, the Earl of Xiangyang - even though this man would definitely be impeached for misbehavior in the court later, most people wanted to stay as far away from a guy who could curse like "bullshit" at the morning court.
Zhang Qiong didn't care about being isolated, and he went back to his house in a swagger after leaving the palace. When he got home, he was thinking about whether to send a letter to Zhang Garden, but then he was greeted by Lü Chan, the attendant of the Imperial Household Department, who came to deliver the message personally - the emperor was going to the Imperial College, and asked him to go with him.
"So fast!" Even though Zhang Qiong knew that the emperor acted swiftly and decisively - in fact, it would be more accurate to say that he acted on impulse - he was still a little unprepared. In such a short time, it would be too late to clean up the streets, deploy defenses... all kinds of things, right?
However, he was the one who caused the trouble, so he couldn't pour cold water on him. He left the house without even changing his official uniform. When he shook off his followers and rode his horse to the archway of the Imperial College, he saw Zhu Heng, the Left Censor-in-Chief, who had also arrived at the same time. When the two met, they were really disgusted with each other, and they both snorted angrily.
Just as Zhang Qiong turned his head away and was about to jump off the horse, he heard the sound of horse hooves behind him. When he turned his head, he saw a scene that made him drop his jaw.
The supreme emperor of the Ming Dynasty came over leisurely on horseback with only a dozen guards accompanying him. He looked as casual as an ordinary nobleman taking his people shopping.
At that moment, Zhang Qiong couldn't help but swallow lightly. For the first time, he felt that it was not appropriate for the emperor to visit the Imperial College in person. Didn't this emperor experience the previous rebellion of King Ye? How could he still be so reckless?
Not only Zhang Qiong, but even Zhang Shou who rushed there upon hearing the news, thought for the first time that this emperor really did whatever he wanted.
However, before the emperor dismounted from his horse, he gently waved his whip, told them not to greet him, and then said calmly: "Since I personally set the questions for the Imperial College's branch examination, I will come here today to make a personal judgment. After the judgment, let Zhou Qing, the Imperial College's chief academic officer, gather everyone. I want to say a few words to all the students in Minglun Hall!"
