In February of this year, it coincided with the Spring Festival held every three years. According to the system, it was presided over by the Ministry of Rites. The emperor appointed one chief examiner and 18 deputy chief examiners to select students from all over the world. At this time in previous years, in order to help their own people compete for the position of new division master, the crown prince and Yu Wang would all do their best to make trouble openly and secretly. It is because of the interests of their respective masters that the wind of private abuse prevails. Some loyal and upright censors and courtiers have remonstrated countless times. The drawbacks of selecting scholars have basically become a major chronic disease in the government, and anyone with a little knowledge understands it in their hearts.
But what everyone understands more is that the situation will definitely change this year. As for how it will change, many people are waiting to see.
Except for the eldest son of the hereditary noble family, the imperial examination is the only way for most people to open up a civil service career, and all aspects involved are very complicated, such as region, origin, in-laws, old age, division... Many factors can affect the final result, It’s not just about party disputes. If you want to not succumb to these and put an end to all the rumors, you must bear the pressure from all parties, and at the same time, you must ensure absolute integrity and fairness, so as not to be singled out for mistakes.
At this time, the prince was out, and King Yu was claustrophobic. It seemed that only King Jing could influence the emperor to determine the candidate for this year's examiner. If he intends to exercise such influence, no one dares to argue with him at this time.
At the end of January, the Ministry of Rites announced the auspicious date of this year's spring star test. Emperor Liang asked King Jing's opinion on the selection of examiners in the courtroom. days", although there was no clear answer. But it's clear he doesn't intend to stay out of it. But reversing the current situation is by no means an easy task, and it will backfire if you do it wrong, so everyone is waiting for the final list to come out. In fact, he was waiting to see the prince's final decision, not afraid of offending others. Trying hard to recommend the kind of gentlemen he admires, or succumbing to the conventions of the past years, getting a master examiner who is accommodating and understanding things, leaving a gap for some special people to be promoted.
On February 4, the Chinese imperial edict was finally issued. It was read out in public by the chief of ceremonies. If a person's chin could really fall off, he would be able to pick up his chin everywhere in the hall that day. The deputy examiners were all the youngest and most vigorous officials among the six ministers, but the examiner was the 73-year-old former Fengge Pavilion old Cheng Zhiji. Although Mr. Cheng has been favored at home for many years and has not stepped into the court, although the pavilion is always a well-known honorary official position, he still has a high-ranking official position in the system, which belongs to the scope of being selected as the chief examiner.
It's just that no one like him has ever been re-appointed before, and no one thought of him when everyone speculated about the possible candidate.
However, what effect this kind of old and young match suggested by King Jing was to achieve, everyone quickly realized. Cheng Zhiji was not a particularly tough old minister. He is gentle and gentle, never rejecting guests or smearing other people's face. He is very knowledgeable about Shi Wu, but Shi Wu doesn't know him very well. Because he really hadn't been to the court for too many years. I don't know the relationship between the DPRK and China at all, and I only need to mention something that everyone knows. When he came to him, he had to explain the ins and outs, and he was not happy at all. The key is that if a person does not have a special relationship, who would dare to speak so clearly about the selfish sacrifice, especially to an old minister who has been forgotten for many years and cannot understand his depth at all. After all, the risk is still the first thing to consider. You can't be unfamiliar with the way, so you can carry a large box of gold and silver jewelry to your door to ask for help. The newly appointed censors are not vegetarians.
However, there are only ten days from the selection of examiners to the start of the test. Before the door leading to Cheng Zhiji's place could be checked and opened, the old man packed up and entered the examination room. Without external influences and individual selfishness, even arguments and dissent will become simple. In fact, the biggest flaw in the combination of old and young is that the older ones follow the old ways and do not accept new viewpoints, and the younger ones are arrogant and do not respect the experience of their predecessors. When King Jing "thought for a few days" to decide the candidate, the first thing he considered to avoid was this. Although the final list was not entirely what he suggested, and Emperor Liang himself also changed a few, the overall pattern remained the same, and finally achieved the effect that King Jing wanted. This is mainly due to the fact that Cheng Zhiji was indeed the right person to choose. Although he is old, his temperament is not stubborn, and he is willing to listen to debates. At the same time, as a former university scholar, Fengge Pavilion elder, where is his solid foundation, the eighteen deputy examiners scored the papers on the first day. The gentleman is already convinced, and no one dares to disrespect him. Once the chief examiner does not dislike young people's eclectic and reckless advances, and the deputy examiners acknowledge the authoritative judgment of the chief examiner, then mutual restraint can naturally become mutually beneficial and will not cause major conflicts.
In fact, this year's Spring Festival is still far from missing any talents, because it is impossible, but at the very least, this is definitely the cleanest and fairest scientific examination in many years. King Jing's goal is "no merit and no fault". He does not expect to clear up all the accumulated evils at once, nor does he adopt a tougher and colder method that is more likely to lead to dissatisfaction and opposition to ensure integrity. The first thing he wants to change is "" The old concept of "no flaws will not make a field" cut off many so-called conventions that had lasted for many years, thus taking the first step of purging the selection of officials.
The Spring Festival ended smoothly and there was no major disturbance, which made Emperor Liang very happy. Originally, what he was most worried about was that King Jing was ignorant of current affairs and blindly tossed the government into chaos according to his own ideas. Now that he is gradually reconciling, he is naturally happy.
In the blink of an eye, the grass grows and the warbler flies, and when March comes, the Inner Court Division is busy preparing for the royal family's spring hunt and fortunately leaving the palace in Jiu'an Mountain. Among the princes, except for Prince Yu who was still in claustrophobic claustrophobia and could not accompany him, the rest of course had to go, plus the nearly 200 members of the clan and important officials and retinues, each with a group of entourage. The queen was still instructed to stay behind as in previous years, but the concubines who accompanied her were no longer the concubine Yuegui, who once favored the sixth palace, but the concubine Jing.
Two days before the scheduled ceremonial car left Beijing, Mu Qing took his eight-carrying king sedan again to the Su residence, and carried it all the way to the backyard before getting off the sedan. In addition to the little prince himself, other people came out of the sedan chair. There is another young man who seems to be recovering from a serious illness.
Li Gang came over silently and saluted. Turning around and guiding the two of them into the main room of Mei Changsu's land. Mu Qing was cheerful, and as soon as he entered the door, he cupped his hands in the direction of the main seat: "I brought him here, everything is safe on the road. There is nothing to do." After speaking, he turned his body to the side and showed the young man behind him.
"Thank you, Lord Mu." Mei Changsu returned the salute with a smile. At the same time, he glanced at the young man, "Mei Changsu was fortunate enough to see General Wei. May I ask you how your injury is?"
Wei Zheng suppressed the excitement in his heart and said in a trembling voice, "Mr. Su's grace for saving him. I will never forget it..." After speaking, he wanted to bow his knees to pay homage, but was stopped by the other party's gentle gaze, so he had to give a deep bow.
Mu Qing felt that the task was completed, so he shook his hand easily and asked, "Where's Fei Liu?" "He's not here." Mei Changsu understood the meaning of this little prince, but now there are people waiting in the secret room, of course, he must find a way first. The guest was expelled, "I'll take him to the house another day. But I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany him today. I'll put General Wei first."
"Remember to come." Mu Qing was a cheerful person. I didn't feel anything, and after a word of warning, I turned around and simply left. His figure just disappeared. Wei Zheng fell to his knees with a plop and said with tears in his eyes, "Young Commander... I blame Wei Zheng for not paying attention..."
"Okay. Do I need to talk about this between you and me?" Mei Changsu didn't help him either. Instead, he squatted down and held his shoulder. "Just be quiet, don't get too excited, I'm going to take you to see King Jing, don't miss my address in front of him."
"Yes… "
"Get up."
Wei Zheng took a breath and stretched out his hand to support Mei Changsu to stand up together. The two walked side by side into the inner room, opened the secret door, and walked in one after the other.
"His Royal Highness King Jing, General Wei is here." After saying this briefly, Mei Changsu also dodged like Mu Qing and quietly retreated to the corner.
"Wei Zheng... see His Royal Highness King Jing..."
Looking at the old man who thought it was a goodbye, Xiao Jingyan felt that he was more upset than expected, so he hurriedly stabilized his mind and stepped forward to help Wei Zheng. Lie Zhanying, who was standing behind him, couldn't help but take a step forward and stared at Wei Zheng carefully. After seeing it, his eyes turned red.
"His Royal Highness, let's all sit down and talk. I think if we want to talk tonight, it shouldn't be short." Because Meng Zhi had seen Wei Zheng many times before, he was the most stable and came to arrange seats. Lie Zhanying insisted on standing aside according to the rules of the army, while Wei Zheng glanced at Mei Changsu quietly, and obviously wanted to stand behind him, but unfortunately the latter was leaning against the kang table and fiddling with the stove without raising his eyes.
"Wei Zheng, when we meet in the dark room, don't be polite. I have a lot to ask you, so you sit down first." King Jing pointed to the seat closest to him, "I have kept many doubts in my heart for many years. There is no answer anymore, I am blessed by God, I can see the old man again, and I hope you will solve my doubts one by one." "Yes." Wei Zheng gave a deep salute, and then slowly sat down, "Your Highness, please ask, Wei Zheng will definitely There is nothing to say, nothing to say.”
King Jing stared into his eyes and asked in the first sentence, "Are there any other survivors?"
Wei Zheng had prepared for this question, so he immediately replied: "Yes. It's just not many, and even fewer have positions. Because they were declared rebels and had to do hard labor, even soldiers dared not return home. Only in a different place."
"What else do I know?"
"Below the captain, I'm afraid that His Highness is not familiar with it. Going up, there is only Nie Duo..."
King Jing couldn't help but his eyes jumped: "Nie Duo is still alive?"
"Yes. But where he is now, I don't know. Anyway, let's hide anonymously."
"Nie Duo is also the owner of the business... What about North Valley? Did North Valley really not survive?"
Wei Zheng lowered his head, wondering if he couldn't bear to answer, or if he was unwilling to answer.
"How could this be..." King Jing tried his best to stabilize his trembling voice, "No one else knows, I know best that the Chiyu Battalion is the strongest team, with Xie Yu and Xia Jiang alone with the 100,000 troops transferred from the Western Border. , how could it be like this?"
Wei Zheng raised his head suddenly, his eyes burning like fire, "Does even Your Highness think that we are fighting with Xie Yu like this? Is our Chi Yan army really a rebel army, and will fight with the army assigned by the imperial court to make such a tragic situation. ?"
King Jing grabbed Wei Zheng's arm, so hard that he almost crushed his bones, "You mean, you didn't resist, Xie Yu still attacked? Thinking of it, once the butcher knife is raised, he will never sit still!"
"His Royal Highness is right, but..." Wei Zheng's masseter muscles tightened and stretched out iron-like lines, "When the butcher knife was raised, we had just experienced a fierce battle, and we had no strength..."