Since I met you, people are dying every day

Ye Sirui respectfully took out from his bosom Tang Lianggong's memorial to report the facts of the county's floods, "Return to Your Majesty, Tang Lianggong, the magistrate of Jiangbei Prefecture, wrote a letter to His Majesty before his death, and we will have time to report to the court in the future."

The emperor leaned on the throne with a lazy expression. "read."

Ye Sirui picked up the memorial and read it word by word.After reading, he still stood with his hands down, and the warm pavilion was so quiet.After a long time, the emperor changed his sitting position, "Tang Lianggong is an honest man, how did Aiqing fall into his favor and ask him to intercede for you every two days?"

These words contained a dangerous message, and Ye Sirui's expression remained unchanged, "What your majesty said is that Mr. Tang is an honest man, and he does his duty, so he will naturally appreciate him."

"Do things according to your duties, huh?" The emperor tapped the armrest of the throne with his knuckles in a vague way. "How did he die?"

Ye Sirui knelt down and said in a loud voice: "I am proposing punishment and inspecting envoy Si Qian. Ye Sirui dared to impeach Li Xiang, the magistrate of Jiangbei Prefecture, for covering up the corruption of Zuo Erguan, colluding with the remaining party of the Golden Scissors Association to kill Mr. Tang Lianggong, and intending to burn his remains to deceive Your Majesty." Eyes! It's a crime that deserves death!"

He knelt on the ground, but his heart was not as disturbed as before.Finally said it.

"Golden Scissors Club, huh?" The emperor made a dangerous ending sound again, "Li Xiang is also bold..." His voice was intermittent, as if he was thinking about something, and it took him a long time to realize that Ye Sirui was still kneeling, "Get up Ye My lord, you came all the way to Beijing to see me, just to tell me that the whole Jiangbei Prefecture is rotten now?"

"Master Li Xiang used to be the magistrate of Dong'an County. During his tenure as the county magistrate of Dong'an County, he was impeached by Shangshu for covering up the abduction and trafficking of children by the second official. He was guilty of not reporting when he knew about it."

"I see." The emperor said impatiently.

His Majesty's reaction in this impeachment was beyond Ye Sirui's expectations.Is this the end?

"Do you have anything else?"

Ye Sirui took a deep breath, "The flood in the county, the county magistrate Kong Taiping did all sorts of crimes, tormenting the people, I have reported them all, but Master Kong is lawless, but bribed the superiors, I ask you to torture the officials, investigate the root cause, and punish the officials. County Magistrate Shi Ziyukong has the ability to control water, so he can choose another site to build a dam to benefit the people."

After hearing what he said, the emperor said contemptuously: "I know, what is Kong Taiping? But Shi Ziyu is not a good thing. I am afraid that he is more particular about food and clothing than I am! Do all the big families have this virtue?" ?”

Ye Sirui was terrified when he heard that, so the emperor had this idea?

The emperor turned around, and said in a lazy voice: "Master Ye, if the report is finished, I have a matter for you here." He picked out a few official documents that were being corrected on the case, and his tone gradually changed. He sank down, "This year's Zhili Township Examination, the chief examiner was originally Zhao Rong. Before the township test, there was a missing question. I replaced Yao Yi as the chief examiner, ordered them to rewrite the questions, and even postponed the exam." The emperor coughed several times. , Ye Sirui thought of his suspicion when he heard that the imperial examination was postponed, and he was silent.

"However, after the announcement of the list, there was an uproar in the exams. There were 11 candidates in Puxian County, which was unprecedented in history. There was a lot of discussion in the exams in other places, accusing Yao Yi of leaking the questions privately. There were several protests in the capital, and later even the students of Guozijian Get involved and write the letter." The emperor's tone was also very tired. "The last Puxian examiner hanged himself in the Zhuangyuan Building. You live in the Zhuangyuan Building, haven't you heard about it?"

Ye Sirui shook his head, because Zhongju forced people to death, this thing sounds a bit appalling.

"The test has subsided, and this matter is not over yet. Whether Zhao Rong and Yao Yi are guilty, and whether these candidates have real talents and learning, I need to give an explanation to the scholars all over the world."

Ye Sirui knew what he wanted to do by himself, but felt that the burden was too heavy for him to take on. "Your Majesty, it's not that the humble officials are shirking the excuses. It's just that the two adults are both commissioners of the Ministry of Rites. They are high-ranking and powerful, and the humble officials are soft-spoken. How can we investigate this case?" The famous family of the family, the blood of the in-laws is intricate.Zhao Rong is the right servant of the Ministry of Rites, a native of Suzhou, the number one scholar in the reign of the first emperor, and his disciples are everywhere.How could Ye Sirui investigate these two cheating in the scientific examination?

"You have to investigate this matter. It is not appropriate for me to send anyone else." Although the emperor's voice was still very tired, it was full of unquestionable authority.

Ye Sirui knew well that these two were powerful figures in the government and the opposition, the mainstay of the North and South parties, if His Majesty wanted to clarify the case, he had to choose someone who was impartial between the two parties, not to mention that such a person was not Not many, if the investigators are a little careless, they will become the target of public criticism. I am afraid that no one is willing to take this burden except myself.After thinking clearly, he knelt down again, "I accept the order."

The emperor nodded, "You don't have to worry about Li Xiang's affairs, concentrate on finding out this case, and tell me who is sowing discord between the court and the students." He sneered several times. "I have already greeted Mr. Zhu, you just take the documents and go to bring the punishment and report it to the Procuratorate."

Ye Sirui kowtowed to accept the decree, saying long live and resigning.

He quit the Snappers.Eunuch Feng bowed his waist to watch the door outside the Nuan Pavilion, and when he saw him come out, a smile formed on his face, "Master Ye has come out, our family asked someone to take you out."

The eunuch who brought Ye Sirui showed hesitation on his face, and interjected: "Eunuch Feng, he is just a fifth rank..."

"Shut up!" Eunuch Feng stopped him in a sharp voice, "Our family is talking to Master Ye, you don't have the right to intervene!" After drinking the eunuch away, he called another little yellow gate to send Ye Sirui out of the palace.

After Ye Sirui came out of the palace, it was already the time when the lights came on.Although it was not like a sedan chair to pick him up all the way when he entered the palace, Xiao Huangmen still prepared a horse for him respectfully.Ye Sirui rode his horse all the way back to Zhuangyuan Building.The original purpose of entering Beijing this time was not achieved, but caused troubles again.Forget it, it's just to seek justice for the students all over the world.He has also passed the provincial examination and has seen how the children from poor families work hard.It would be nice if the two parties could be dealt a blow through this matter.

Returning to the Zhuangyuan Building where the lights were festooned, Ye Sirui called the waiter, "Where is your shopkeeper?"

The shop waiter didn't dare to neglect him, "The shopkeeper is settling accounts in the house, please wait a moment, the younger one will report it."

The shopkeeper was very impressed with this lavish official, and trotted out from the room, rubbing his hands on his robe, "What advice do you have, sir?"

Ye Sirui saw that there were some ordinary drinkers in the hall, and the students who looked at him maliciously in the morning were all gone, so he asked him directly: "This official is to investigate the case of fraud in the rural examination, and the champion What about the student who hanged himself in the building? Call here quickly."

The shopkeeper's legs were so frightened that his legs went limp, "My lord, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture has already come to ask, but this matter... I really don't blame the little one."

"The official from Shuntian Mansion will naturally intervene, so please tell me what you know first."

The shopkeeper spoke cautiously.It turns out that since there is an allusion from the previous dynasty, Zhuangyuan Building has always been sought after by students who entered Beijing to rush for the exam, and this time is no exception.The student who had the accident was Wan Chengtiao, a native of Pu County with a wealthy family.On the first day he entered Beijing, he stayed in the Zhuangyuan Building, and he also helped his fellow countrymen Wan Chengyu and Li Xinghuan book a room for the exam.Later, the imperial examination was postponed, Wan Chengtiao had a gloomy face all day long, and Wan Chengyu disappeared all day long.But at this time, the students in the whole restaurant were not in a good mood, and the shopkeeper was extra careful in serving them.

After the list came out, Li Xinghuan failed the list, Wan Chengtiao won the No.18, and Wan Chengyu won the No.60 seven.The rest of the students in the Zhuangyuan building, some ranked first, some failed the ranking, and Wan Chengtiao ranked the highest.The shopkeeper specially arranged a banquet for them to celebrate.Unexpectedly, the atmosphere at the banquet that night was not normal.Wan Chengtiao and Wan Chengyu were very happy, while Li Xinghuan was depressed and kept drinking.This is quite normal. Those who fail the exam every three years will inevitably feel depressed.But the rest of the people who won the exam were not happy either.This is a little strange.

But the shopkeeper didn't think so much.After drinking for three rounds, he personally held the wine jar to toast. The first person to be respected was Wan Chengtiao.Wan Chengtiao was in high spirits and agreed immediately, but one of his students named Xie Qing made sarcastic remarks, "Don't act too hastily, the shopkeeper. Some people got lucky this time, and thanks to Master Yao, they will change their hands next year." It's unknown whether the chief examiner will be on the list!"

The shopkeeper's cold sweat came down instantly.Cheating in scientific examinations has always been a taboo, and those who get involved will either die or be injured.Wan Chengtiao's expression also changed, he dropped his wine bowl and asked him, "What do you mean by that?"

The student also rolled up his sleeves with a sneer, "What do I mean, can't you understand?"

The two were about to fight, the shopkeeper hurriedly asked someone to pull them away and send them back to their rooms.But a few days later, rumors began to spread in the streets and alleys that Mr. Yao leaked the exam questions, resulting in eleven candidates from Pu County being on the list.

The students cannot leave Beijing immediately after being elected, but they also have to meet the teacher, attend the Luming Banquet and so on.The rumors became more and more confusing, and Wan Chengtiao's face became more and more ugly.Xie Qing won the No. 20 sixth place, under Wan Chengtiao, this may be the reason for his sarcastic remarks that day, no matter whether he likes it or not, the two of them look up and look down, and there will inevitably be verbal conflicts.Later, Wan Chengtiao simply stayed in the house all day or went out to wander, and asked Xiao Er to bring the meals to the room.Xie Qing ridiculed Wan Chengtiao's cheating incident whenever he met everyone, and he was ashamed to see others.

The news in Beijing became more and more serious, and from time to time, some candidates went to the gate of Shuntian Mansion to protest against the fraud in the imperial examination.Zhao Rong and Yao Yi wrote letters to defend themselves, suspended their duties at home, and thanked guests behind closed doors.

On that day, the waiter delivered lunch to Wan Chengtiao, knocked on the door and entered the house, but screamed: Wan Chengtiao hanged himself in his own room.