When the newly appointed prefect arrived in Chuanzhou, Chang Zhi's burden was lightened a lot. The prefect sent at this time was definitely the emperor's man. The emperor would only feel at ease if he put his own people in charge of Chuanzhou.
The remaining cases were tried by the prefect. He focused on the results of the autumn examination. He should have stayed in the examination room all the time, but the burden on him was not just that of being the chief examiner. His main task was to clean up Chuanzhou, and being the chief examiner was secondary.
When all the results came out, Changzhi reviewed them again and then remained silent.
Lord Yao was worried. This guy was a tough guy. If it wasn't for the transfer order, he wouldn't be willing to be seconded to Sichuan. "Sir, is there anything wrong with the results?"
Chang-Chi: “That’s it.”
He regretted the simplicity of the test questions, even though he was the one who set the test questions!
Lord Yao's tense heartstrings relaxed, "Then just copy and wait for the announcement of the results."
"Um."
This time, the champion of Sichuan Province was a 15-year-old boy. Some officials wanted to point out that he was too young, but they dared not say a word in front of Lord Zhou's eyes, for fear that they would be thrown into jail.
Changzhi feels that everyone is afraid of him now!
In the evening, Ding Jue came back very late. Ding Jue was borrowed by the prefect. Chang Zhi was looking at the information of the students on the list.
Chang Zhi saw Ding Jue coming back and asked, "Have you had dinner?"
"have eaten."
Changzhi continued to look down and said, "Go to bed early."
Ding Jue didn't leave. The case was almost done. He wasn't actually very busy. The prefect also brought some people over. "What are you looking at, sir?"
Chang Zhi said: "The list has been finalized, let me see the information of the top ten."
Ding Jue also took a look and said, "The fifteenth place winner, this kid has a very calm character."
This time, the big cleanup in Sichuan Province has affected many candidates even if the autumn examination continues. Ding Jue wants to see those who are able to keep their minds steady and get good grades at such a young age.
Changzhi also thought so, "Born in a farmer's family, he is truly a genius."
Ding Jue said: "He is also lucky. He happened to meet the examiner and clean up Chuanzhou. Otherwise, what good is his genius?"
Either their grades were replaced, or they were suppressed because they were too young.
Chang Zhi said: "Luck is also strength, isn't it? Oh, my little brother has an opponent."
He read the child's test paper carefully several times. Although he did not have my resources, the child also had his own unique insights and his words were very sharp. However, my growing environment had a great influence on me. I have edges and corners but also my own smoothness.
Ding Jue rarely heard adults mention brothers, "Master, what about your younger brother?"
"Well, he is also participating in this year's autumn imperial examination. He is the most blessed in the family. When he was born, my father was already an official. When he was older, he was the top scholar. There are also second place and Jinshi in the family. Listen to his resources."
Ding Jue was shocked, then said: "Young Master must be under a lot of pressure."
Chang Zhi nodded, "Yes, the capital says that the Zhouhou Mansion specializes in producing runner-ups, and my father hopes that our family will produce a champion. How many people are eyeing this kid!"
After he finished speaking, he paused and said, "This kid has already won the third place, which is quite impressive."
Ding Jue, "..."
Is this considered a good performance
In a blink of an eye, it was the day for the announcement of the results of the autumn examination. No one from the Zhou family in the capital city participated in the examination. Because of Chang Zhi, Minghui did not go to see the list in person, but instead sent a servant to wait for news.
Zhulan saw Minghui spinning around, which made her feel dizzy, "Please stop spinning."
Minghui was anxious, "Grandma, Grandpa said that the emperor wants to see the book compiled by his grandson. Now it all depends on Shao Xun's results."
Zhulan, "If I had known, I wouldn't have told you in advance."
Minghui: "Grandma."
"Okay, okay, there's no point in worrying, just wait."
Minghui saw his grandmother drinking tea calmly, "Grandma, aren't you worried about little uncle?"
"My hometown is too far away, and I have to wait to know the results. Besides, you know your uncle's ability, so I have nothing to worry about."
Minghui thought so too, "When will Fourth Uncle come back?"
Since his fourth uncle didn't return to Beijing, he didn't dare go out easily.
Zhulan thought for a while and said, "It will take at least a month."
After hearing this, Minghui decided to stay at home.
After a while, the servant came back and said, "Sir, Master Shao has won."
Minghui stood up and asked, "How many?"
The servant coughed and said, "I followed your instructions and counted from the back. I am the tenth from the bottom."
Minghui grinned, "It's good that I won."
The result was better than he expected.
In Pingzhou City, Changzhong had already sent away waves of people who came to congratulate him, but Chengxiang stayed behind and said, "You have to understand Yuan. I haven't seen you smile more often."
Changzhong was actually relieved because the question was simple. "I'm just introverted."
Cheng Xiang didn't believe it, "When will you return to Beijing?"
"Five days later."
Cheng Xiang smiled and said, "I'll go with you. Don't be disgusted by my ride then."
Chang Zhong thought that it seemed that Prefect Cheng would also be transferred back to Beijing, but he didn't know through whose connections he would be transferred.
Afterwards, several more waves of people came to report the good news. This time, three people from the Zhou family passed the imperial examination, Changzhong was one of them, and two of Zhou's sons-in-law passed the imperial examination, which was a very high ratio.
After seeing off the people who came to congratulate them, they all got ready to attend the banquet.
The time has come. Changzhong and his party arrived early. Prefect Cheng and the examiner were very enthusiastic towards Changzhong. Because of the autumn examination, they wanted to see Changzhong but they held back. Now that it was over, they could have a good chat.
Prefect Cheng and others knew more. The news about Chuanzhou spread among the official circles but not among the people.
Changzhong really didn't know that his fourth brother had done something big, and his family in the capital didn't send him any news.
Prefect Cheng tried to probe, "It seems that the Marquis didn't tell you the news."
Chang Zhong, "What's the news?"
The examiner smiled and said, "There is no need to hide it anymore. Your fourth brother, the examiner of Chuanzhou, has captured all the officials in Chuanzhou."
Changzhong, "... "
Although shocked, he was not surprised, as if it was indeed something his fourth brother would do!
Prefect Cheng said quietly, "When you pull out a carrot, you get mud with it. At first, it was only the officials in Chuanzhou City, but later it implicated the entire state."
When he heard the news, he was stunned. Is he so fierce? Or are all the sons of Zhou Hou ruthless? He has studied Zhou Hou's sons. The second son has been an envoy abroad, and the third son is in the south. These two are not simple. Zhou Shizi is honest and thought that Zhou Sigongzi is the most innocent. He never expected that if he didn't take action, it would be fine. But he took action and took down most of the officials in Sichuan Province.
When Prefect Cheng thought of this, he couldn't help but stare at Zhou Changzhong. This guy was also very slippery and he had tried in many ways but failed to get the desired result. Tsk tsk, Marquis Zhou really knew how to teach his son.
Changzhong had been laughing dryly. It would be superfluous to say anything now. Finally, he said dryly, "It all depends on the emperor's trust."
Without the emperor's permission and trust, no matter how brave the fourth brother is, he would not dare to expose the truth. I don't know if the emperor is having a headache now and feels sorry for his father. For some reason, he feels that it is better not to let the fourth brother go.