Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 308: Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you
The emperor came so quickly and with such a small entourage that even Zhang Shou, who was prepared, was surprised. Those who were unprepared were at a loss, which was considered a good psychological quality. Most people were panic-stricken and frightened, even Ji Jiu and Zhang Dakuai, who were often domineering and overbearing outside.
You know, they had not been selected when the emperor was selecting a son-in-law before. As for whether they beat their chests and stamped their feet after seeing Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu and the unknown boy surnamed Feng being selected, only they themselves knew. But since they had no experience in facing the emperor alone, it meant that when they came to such an occasion, they were so nervous that their calves were trembling.
Because the emperor is visiting the Imperial College in person today, and he is here to investigate the cheating issue!
Zhang Dakua found that his father, Xiangyang Bo Zhang Qiong, had come, and he immediately became even more trembling. Ji Jiu found that it was his father 's immediate superior, Zuodu Yushi Zhu Heng, who came, but his father did not come, and the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department Chu Kuan was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was Lu Chan, the attendant whom he had met twice, who came with the emperor. He immediately felt uneasy and was a little unsure about the situation.
Compared to the anxious parties involved, Zhang Shou seemed much more relaxed - he was honest and had nothing to hide, so why should he panic? He glanced at the solemn-looking Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye of the Imperial College with interest, and counted the other officials present. In fact, there were no others, only Xiangyang Bo Zhang Qiong and Zuo Du Yushi Zhu Heng.
There were hundreds of civil and military officials in the court, but he had attended court only a handful of times, so he could only recognize a handful of people with the same names and faces. But at least he still recognized the cabinet ministers, the six ministers and other high-ranking officials. It was not known whether this was because the emperor had said that they did not need to come here, or whether they were expressing silent protest by not showing up.
The emperor sitting in the center nodded slightly and said, "I personally set three questions for the Banshan Hall test, but the results were not right. I heard that someone cheated in the test. Today, all the students of Banshan Hall are here, and on the other side, most of the fathers and elders involved in this have also arrived, so I came to ask about this matter in person."
At this moment, except for those who were sent out on official business, asked for leave, or left, all the remaining students in Banshan Hall gathered in Minglun Hall. Even though there were more than a hundred people, this huge place still looked empty. After all, this largest lecture hall in the Imperial College was once the largest lecture hall in the world, with regulations set by Emperor Taizu himself.
Although the emperor was not here to give a lecture, most people could not help but hold their breath. However, to their surprise, the first person to speak was not Zhang Shou or Zhou Jijiu, but Xu Heizi from the Shengqian Hall!
"Your Majesty, I was the invigilator in the Banshan Hall examination, and I was the only one who reviewed the papers afterwards. So I have something to report about the so-called cheating. Wu Qingzu said that Zhang Wuji cheated because Zhang Wuji secretly brought a handwritten notebook with him. I have checked it and found that this handwritten notebook was purchased by Zhang Wuji and five other people from Ji Qingchen beforehand."
Xu Heida's statement was just like his personality, very serious and his voice was flat without any emotion. "Ji Qingchen's notes were compiled from his daily class notes. There are fifteen volumes in total. The three volumes sold to Zhang Wuji and others were the contents of Dr. Zhang's first lecture at the Banshan Hall at the end of last year, which was about ten days of classes."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Heng's eyes suddenly lit up, and he interrupted immediately, "Your Majesty, I heard that Ji Qingchen was personally selected by the Imperial College Doctor Zhang Shou as the acting head of Banshan Hall. Now Xu Jiancheng said that Zhang Wuji and others bought the notes from Ji Qingchen, which shows that it was premeditated! As everyone knows, Zhang Shou's lectures are unrestrained. If there were no one who had secretly colluded with him, how could he have recorded it..."
Before he could finish his words, the emperor suddenly interrupted and asked, "Ji Jiulang, what do you say?"
As soon as Ji Jiu heard Zhu Heng pointed the finger at him, he knew that the Left Censor-in-Chief had ill intentions and was not only trying to prove that he and Zhang Shou had been connected, but he was also trying to drag his father into the water. However, when the emperor asked him in person, his heart skipped a beat and he was very hesitant about whether to reveal what Chu Kuan had entrusted to him.
But in the end, he still suppressed the thought, lowered his head and whispered: "Your Majesty, I am a dull student, but I have some experience in shorthand, so I will try my best to take some course summaries during class every day, and then organize them into notes after returning home for review from time to time. As for selling it to Zhang Wuji and others, it is true, but it is just to make some money."
Ji Jiu was very clear about the principle of choosing the lesser of two evils, so he put the word "making money" on the table, and said in a very calm manner: "I only have one string of money every month, but I like to be extravagant on weekdays. I like to have friends in restaurants and eateries, and I also like exquisite study treasures. But I don't have any other way to make money. I was once deeply in debt."
"So, with the branch examination approaching, I have no choice but to resort to this last resort."
Zhang Dakuo didn't expect Ji Jiu to say that, and he felt relieved. He wanted to explain that he had never read the notes, but just carried them with him for peace of mind - but he didn't dare to speak until the emperor asked him.
"You are so flattering and misleading!" Zhu Heng was furious. "If you have such a heart to study, how could you end up in Banshan Hall! If you have such a heart to study, why would you exchange your notes for money? One thousand literati a month is not enough to cover your expenses. How can you make the scholars in the world feel embarrassed? You are extravagant and shameless, and you are a disgrace to society. You are simply a scum!"
"I agree with what Zhu Duxian said. With one thousand wen a month, a poor scholar can indeed have enough food and clothing." Zhang Shou interrupted Zhu Heng leisurely, "But I want to ask, how much did Zhu Duxian, who was born in a wealthy family in Jiangzuo, spend a month when he was studying? I remember that there are still stories about Zhu Lang going to the capital, surrounded by beautiful maids and concubines, right?"
Seeing that Zhu Heng was so angry that his beard was trembling, the emperor couldn't help laughing.
It would be fine if a big shot from a poor family accused Ji Jiu of being extravagant, but Zhu Heng, a high-ranking official from a wealthy family, said this, which was simply too much for him! I don't know where Zhang Shou heard this trivial story from... If he had to guess, it was most likely from Zhu Ying.
However, before Zhang Shou could finish his words, the big guy Zhang seized the opportunity to deliver the final blow.
"What Dr. Zhang said is exactly right! Zhu Duxian scolded Ji Jiu for being extravagant and shameless. He made Ji Jiu wear different clothes every day when he was in Banshan Hall. He wore the most expensive Sichuan brocade and cloud brocade, as well as Hang silk and Songjiang cotton cloth. Everything was extremely gorgeous. His four treasures of the study were even more expensive. He often boasted to others that they were worth a fortune. Everyone in Banshan Hall knew about this. I wonder what he meant by this?"
Zhang Qiong, the Earl of Xiangyang, blushed when he saw Zhu Youning standing behind Ji Jiu. He rarely liked this son whom he always thought was useless, so he laughed and said, "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. Zhu Duxian has been the censor for too long . He only finds faults with others and has completely forgotten the principle that only by cultivating oneself and managing one's family can one govern the country and bring peace to the world."
Zhu Heng did not expect that Zhang Shou would expose his youthful arrogance, and Zhang Qiong and his son would also attack him. He was immediately furious. He could not help but glare at his eldest grandson, wishing he could kick this useless man to death. However, although he had three sons, his grandsons died one after another, and in the end he only had this one to support. Therefore, his wife and daughter-in-law kept doting on him, and he could only turn a blind eye.
At that moment, he forced himself to be brave and snorted coldly: "Every penny of my Zhu family's money comes from honest sources. Why do you care how my grandparents spend their money? Besides, I don't believe that Ji Qingchen has been organizing these notes day after day for several months just to study hard!"
"Whether I am studying hard or have other purposes, I have painstakingly compiled every word of the fifteen volumes of notes. Zhu Duxian has no need to worry about what I use them for!" Ji Jiu was cheered up by Zhang Shou and Zhang Qiong, the Earl of Xiangyang, and immediately retorted stiffly, "Since I am using this to exchange for money, I am indeed unworthy of being the head of Banshan Hall. I will resign today!"
This time, Ji Jiu did not finish his words, because the emperor suddenly coughed, and then said with a smile: "Ji Qingchen, Zhang Qing, bring this note to me."
Zhang Shou immediately stepped forward and presented the small and exquisite cheat sheet to the emperor. After seeing the emperor flipping through a few pages, a very amused expression appeared on his face, so he glanced at Ji Jiu.
I saw the man's expression change from nervous to extremely tense, and then gradually relaxed. I think this confirmed my previous guess.
Sure enough, after flipping through several pages, the emperor closed the book and nodded slightly to Ji Jiu, saying, "I have always been very curious about who in Banshan Hall could record and compile such detailed notes every day for several months, so that I don't have to go to the Imperial College often, and I can know the progress of Zhang Qing's lectures. Today I finally met the real person."
He seemed not to notice Zhu Heng's shocked expression, and asked with a smile: "Your name is Ji Qingchen... Is the Left Vice-Chief Censor Ji Changrui your father?"
Ji Jiu only hoped that the emperor would be satisfied if he knew his name. He never thought that the emperor would admit that he had sent someone to collect the notes and review them from time to time! He was so excited that he bowed his head and said hurriedly, "It is my father."
"I see. Not bad."
The emperor nodded slightly, and then said calmly, "There is no need to talk about the so-called notes. If you want to talk about instigation, I am the one who instigated it. Since Xu Heizi, who is famous in the Shengqian Hall, said that the content has nothing to do with the test questions, then the third son of the Xiangyang Earl's family did something wrong, but it is a stretch to say that he cheated. Xiangyang Earl has already given him a family punishment, which can be regarded as a lesson."
Zhu Heng was immediately shocked and angry, but at this moment, Xiangyang Earl Zhang Qiong stared at him with a fake smile and said, "Zhu Duxian, shouldn't we find out how your grandson could have completed two papers by himself?"
Zhu Youning was shocked when he heard this. He subconsciously said loudly, "Someone framed me..."
This time, the person who interrupted him was Xu Heida, the Supervisor of the Shengqian Hall. He bowed deeply and solemnly, and then said word by word: "Your Majesty, thanks to Dr. Zhang's trust, all the papers were corrected by me alone. There are two papers of Zhu Youning, this is absolutely true. I checked the list of students in Banshan Hall and finally confirmed that Tang Shi's paper was missing."
Who is Tang Shi? The many students of Banshan Hall felt that they were stunned by the scenes just now. When they heard the name Xu Heida, most of them couldn't help but whisper to each other. At this time, there was a thump at the end of the crowd. Someone looked back and saw a pale-faced student sitting on the ground.
It was only at this time that someone whispered, "What Tang Shi? It turns out to be the famous Tang Laoshi!"
The student, who was known as Tang Laoshi, said with trembling teeth: "Wu Silang forced me to do this... He took me to gamble, and when he saw that I had lost a hundred strings of cash and couldn't pay it out, he forced me to write an IOU, and then threatened me to write Zhu Dalang's name on the paper!"
"Oh, it's Wu Taifu's Silang again?" Xiangyang Earl Zhang Qiong smiled, but that smile looked like a sneer. "It was Wu Taifu's Silang who exposed my good-for-nothing son's cheating. It was Wu Taifu's Silang who blackmailed Tang Shi into writing your grandson's name, Zhu Duxian, on his own paper. Everyone knows that he is your grandson's follower, what are you doing?"
When Zhu Heng heard that there were two copies of the eldest grandson's paper, he had a feeling that something was wrong, and now he felt that he had fallen into a sinister conspiracy. At this time, he heard the emperor ask in a deep voice: "Where is Wu Silang?"
Zhang Shou glanced at Zhang Qiong who was calm and composed, and thought that he had done nothing wrong in pointing out the key person directly to the Earl of Xiangyang. Given Zhang Qiong's character, as long as he knew that his son was taking the blame, he would naturally follow the clues to find the culprit.
Sure enough, the next moment, Zhang Qiong laughed and said, "He has done so many good things, how could he not be afraid? After the test that day, he returned to the Wu family and said he was sick. He never left the house. If the emperor wants to see him, I'm afraid he will have to send someone to the Wu family to invite him!"
“Your Majesty, although Wu Si and I have some friendship, how could I know what he did? It was all because he hated me and cheated me secretly. I was also harmed by him!” Zhu Youning finally panicked. He rushed out directly, his knees softened and he knelt on the ground, saying in tears, “Why would I want to cheat Tang Laoshi? No matter how good his grades are, he is just like me…”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Heida said coldly: "The paper with Tang Laoshi's handwriting scored 88 points, and Banshantang ranked eighth. The other paper signed by you only scored 78 points. The difference is ten points, and the ranking is 16 places apart. How can the difference be so similar?"
Seeing that Xiangyang Earl Zhang Qiong was full of complacency and looked like he had already won, Zhu Heng was no longer able to defend himself, and Zhu Youning was even more speechless. Ji Jiu and Zhang Dakutou looked very happy, while Tang Laoshi was still sitting there with a sad face. Zhang Shou narrowed his eyes slightly, guessing in his heart when a certain important person would appear.
Just when the emperor frowned and was clearly angry, he heard Chu Kuan's familiar voice coming from outside: "Your Majesty, I was ordered to go to the residence of the Deputy Minister Kong to give gifts, but I met a student who was blocked outside the door. I heard that it was Wu Silang from Banshan Hall, so I took the initiative to bring him here."
So that's how it is... No wonder he felt that the whole thing was quite strange, it turned out to be a series of traps from the very beginning!
