Chapter 673: The Storm of the Examination (8)
Although he was skeptical about Zhang Juzheng's arrival, Wanli felt a little relieved. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info even if he didn't want to admit it in his heart, but over the years, he had already developed the habit of listening to Master Zhang's opinions on all major matters, especially something with serious consequences like today, which made it difficult for him to make a decision.
So after being slightly stunned, Wanli nodded without hesitation and said, "Please come in and talk to Master Zhang." ”
Outside the hall, Zhang Juzheng agreed with a slight hoarseness, and then walked in with great strides, first respectfully saluted the emperor, and then glanced at Yang Zhen, and said to Wanli: "Your Majesty, the minister heard that Yang Yan suddenly ran out of the examination room and entered the palace to see the driver, and he was suspicious, so he came to take a look." I don't know, what the hell is going on? Although he seemed to be asking the emperor, he actually said it to Yang Zhen.
Yang Zhen glanced at Wanli and saw that he nodded and motioned for him to reply, so he told the changes that happened inside and outside the examination room in a straight manner, and at the same time carefully observed Zhang Juzheng's expression and actions to see what his reaction was. It's a pity that apart from frowning slightly, Zhang Juzheng hardly saw the slightest change, and his qi cultivation kung fu was so deep that it was elusive after all.
After a pause, Yang Zhen repeated his meaning: "Shicai Xiaguan is suggesting to His Majesty, the matter is very important, and this examination must be stopped as soon as possible, otherwise once the matter is out and the exam is over, it will be even more difficult to clean up." ”
Zhang Juzheng listened to him quietly, and then turned his gaze to the emperor: "I don't know what Your Majesty thinks about this?" ”
"It's hard for me to make a decision for a while. Judging from the current evidence, what Yang Qing said is indeed true, but just stop the meeting...... I don't know what to do with Master Zhang, what do you think should be done? Wanli smiled bitterly and threw the question to Zhang Juzheng.
After only a little silence, Zhang Juzheng nodded solemnly: "This matter is indeed not trivial, in order to prevent further deterioration of the matter, it is imperative to stop the meeting." At the same time, the imperial court must also immediately start a strict investigation and find out the culprit of the leaked exam questions, so as to give justice to the candidates. ”
"I also have this intention, so let's do what you want, Master Zhang. I wonder who Master Zhang thinks these two things should be handed over to deal with? As Wanli spoke, he deliberately glanced at Yang Zhen, he naturally wanted Yang Zhen to do this errand.
But Zhang Juzheng said: "This matter of stopping the meeting and trying, let it be handed over to Yang Yan, after all, he ran out of there, just run again." As for the selection of those who will investigate and deal with this matter, the minister thought that he should choose from among the courtiers who had nothing to do with the imperial examination, so as to be convincing. ”
His suggestion was indeed leaky, even if Yang Zhen suspected that he had another purpose, he couldn't refute it at this time, so he could only acquiesce on the side. And Wanli couldn't disapprove this suggestion, so he nodded and said, "In this way, let's do what Master Zhang wants." As he spoke, he turned to look at Yang Zhen: "Yang Qing, if you work hard again, you take my gold medal to the Tribute Academy, stop this examination, and work with several examiners there to appease the candidates, and after the imperial court finds out the truth, you will arrange another time to retake the exam." ”
"Command!" Yang Zhen hurriedly knelt down again to receive the order, and then took the gold medal handed over by the eunuch on the side representing the majesty of the Son of Heaven, and after glancing at Zhang Juzheng, he hurriedly withdrew from the hall.
And Zhang Juzheng, after Yang Zhen left, under the pretext that the matter was very important, he had to immediately discuss with other cabinet members how to calm down the incident and retired. Looking at his back when he left, Wanli muttered unconsciously in his heart: "Judging from Yang Qing's reaction just now, he is obviously suspecting that Master Zhang is the mastermind of this incident." Moreover, Master Zhang's return is indeed too timely, this ...... Could he be the messenger of the Lord? At the thought of this possibility, the young emperor unconsciously felt a chill hit his heart.
When he returned to the Gongyuan again, Yang Zhenke was no longer alone. Although the emperor did not make a clear arrangement, since he won the gold medal, then Yang Zhen represented the Son of Heaven, and naturally there was enough pomp and circumstance - accompanied by more than 300 soldiers of the forbidden army, he came to the closed gate of the Gongyuan again.
Along the way, their actions have attracted the attention of countless people, especially the residents near the Gongyuan and the scholars and servants who are waiting for their masters, who can already be called masters as long as they are scholars who have passed the examination, and they are even more surprised and worried, wondering what these majestic guys are doing here.
Under the watchful eyes of many people who were probing their heads in the distance, Yang Zhen rode his horse directly to the door, then turned over and dismounted, raised the gold medal in his hand, and shouted loudly to the gatekeepers who had already been alert and wanted to surround him: "Your Majesty has a will, this test will be stopped for the time being, you wait to go in quickly, explain the situation to the chief examiner Zhang Siwei, and ask him to come out to receive the order!" ”
"Ah......" Everyone froze, and they couldn't come back to their senses for a long time. Many of them had the experience of guarding the gate outside the Gongyuan before, but they had never had the experience they had today. The official who was originally inside was suddenly expelled from the door, and before they could discuss the reason, the other party brought the will of the Son of Heaven to stop the meeting.
However, these people have vaguely guessed something, there must be something big in the examination room, and this Jinyi Guard's master will do such a thing. As for what the hell is going on, it obviously has nothing to do with them, the gatekeepers, so they hurriedly called the door and asked the people inside to go in and report to the chief examiner Zhang Siwei.
After another period of waiting, the two doors of the Gongyuan that had to be closed for three days before, but had been opened by an exception earlier today, were completely opened, and then, Zhang Siwei, who was obviously much more relaxed, brought a group of officials from the examination room to greet him.
Seeing the officials kneeling down towards him, Yang Zhen did not delay, and immediately lit up the gold medal and explained his intention: "Today, I will investigate that someone in this Enke examination has secretly cheated, and for the sake of fairness for all candidates, His Majesty specially suspends the examination and leaves it for the re-examination after finding out the truth of the matter." ”
These officials who came out with Zhang Siwei actually knew that such a big thing had happened, and they were also at a loss in their hearts. But now, Yang Zhen went and returned, brought back the will of the Son of Heaven, and also made them feel at ease, and immediately followed Zhang Siwei to say that they obeyed the order, and then focused their eyes on Yang Zhen and the two of them.
Seeing this, Yang Zhen helped Zhang Siwei up: "Lord Zhang, what we have to do now is to calm the emotions of the candidates, please hurry inside." ”
"Yes, yes, let's first convey His Majesty's meaning to the candidates, and then go back to the palace together." Zhang Siwei nodded again and again. At the same time, he also glanced at Yang Zhen in his heart, this young man does have some skills, and he has won the trust of the emperor, it has only been two hours, and he has asked for his will, it seems that this time he is really likely to save the day, and he will have to be closer to him in the future.
After they entered the Gongyuan and instructed their men to pass on the news, the entire Gongyuan exploded......
There is no way, in this era when the fame of the imperial examination is everything, you are writing the exam papers with enthusiasm, thinking that you will be able to win the gold list after today, and from then on high-ranking officials will have to do it, and you will have to ride a horse and walk to the peak of your life, but suddenly there is such a change, saying that this exam is not counted, and no one can accept it.
So, the candidates shouted and scolded one after another, saying that there must be something greasy in this, and someone did something in the middle to prevent them from taking the Jinshi exam. The shouting and scolding were higher and higher, and the sound quickly spread to Minglun Hall, and it was so direct that Zhang Siwei and several other officials were all blue and red. But this is indeed a matter that the officials did not do well, so even if those actions are scolded ugly at the moment, they can only endure it.
But if the lifters scream and scold like this, it is not a way, and in this way, things may get worse and worse, and even cause greater turmoil, after some hesitation, Zhang Siwei still stood up: "Let's go, let's go talk to the candidates first, hoping to appease them." ”
Although the other examiners were reluctant, since they had taken on this errand, they had to sacrifice their lives to accompany them, so they followed behind Zhang Siwei with some friction and walked towards the examination room in front of them.
At this moment, many of the lifters who had been staying in the number room had already walked out of the number room, pointing to the Minglun Hall in front of them in the aisle and scolding. If they didn't have any scruples, they were afraid that they would all rush to Minglun Hall. The other people who stayed inside also looked angry, all kinds of vernacular and official words, and all kinds of insults rushed straight over like a wave, making Zhang Siwei and their footsteps a little hesitant.
Yang Zhen, who was following them, also smiled bitterly when he saw this. He did underestimate the anger of these scholars, and thought that as long as the official explained the matter clearly and promised them to retake the exam, it should not be difficult to calm down. But now it seemed that it was more complicated than he thought.
At this time, Zhang Siwei and the others who came to the examination room had stopped, and several officials did not put up any fights at this time, they all lowered their identities and waved at those candidates again and again: "Everyone, please listen to us." This incident is indeed a negligence on the part of the imperial court, which caused you to suffer, but after all, there is a reason for this. It was someone who cheated in the front, and in order to ensure the fairness of your scientific examination, His Majesty had to stop this examination. I hope you can understand the painstaking efforts of Your Majesty and the imperial court, and relax for the time being, as long as the imperial court finds out the truth of this matter, and will give you a satisfactory explanation! ”
But no matter how hard they tried to persuade them, those candidates just didn't listen, and even worse, some people picked up the inkstone pen and ink and smashed it at several officials......