Infrastructure masters in the red building

This bewildering fraud case in the examination room finally ended with Xia Sheng himself taking full responsibility.

The only person directly responsible for the crime, Gao Shida, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, was already dead and could not be punished anymore, but it was basically confirmed that he took risks because of gambling debts and leaked the test questions.

There are four houses in Beijing that have the opportunity to get in touch with the test questions, namely Dingguo Mansion, Jinxianghou Mansion, Shenwu General Mansion and Rongguo Mansion.Among them, Dingguo Gongfu and Jinxiang Houfu knew the interests and directly prohibited their children from taking the exam to avoid suspicion.

Needless to say, the Shenwu General's Mansion, the son involved in the incident, Feng Yuan, was deprived of all honors, banned from scientific examinations for life, and displayed to the public outside the Shuntian Mansion.General Feng Shi of Shenwu got a reprimand because he didn't discipline his children strictly.

Jia Zheng of Rongguo Duke's House was more fortunate. It was confirmed that although he received the exam questions, he held back and didn't look at them, and stumbled over in the exam. .After the fraud was exposed, Jia Zheng was actually commended.

When Jia Zheng heard the news in the same year, he was really shocked—after all, everyone has been there, and no one thought that Jia Zheng could have such concentration.

Of course, this matter was also "promoted" for a little bit by the No. [-] champion and Tanhua, so that everyone in the same year could hear about Jia Zheng's "high integrity" and have the opportunity to admire Jia Zheng .

But Jia Zheng was involved in the incident, and he didn't report it in time, so it wasn't something glorious. Even Jia Daishan, Duke of Rongguo, was reprimanded once for this, and finally let the matter go away.Later, under the deliberate operation of the Rongguo Mansion, this matter gradually became less discussed in Beijing, except for the close relatives of the Jia Mansion and the same year of Jinke, not many people heard about it.

The Ministry of Rites checked in detail how Gao Shida obtained the test questions, and found that he had copied four more copies of the test questions that he was going to take, and sealed them with wax from the ministry. He slipped through the border, quietly took four copies out of the Rites, and sent them all out.

In the end, the remaining two copies, which could not be found for a while, were returned to Shuntian Mansion by Dingguo Duke's Mansion and Jinxiang Hou Mansion.

All traces can be aligned, and the whole process can be restored.But there is only one thing that makes the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, Shuntian Mansion and other places completely puzzled: who entrusted Gao Shida, who gave him the bank note, and how he selected these four companies.

But with the death of Gao Shida, there was no answer to this matter anymore, so the smart people in various departments shut their mouths and avoided talking about this matter, as if no one had thought of this, so as not to let the case There are still doubts that cannot be closed——

Anyway, Mr. Xia Xingshen, the Crown Prince Taifu, has already submitted a plea, saying that he will take all the responsibilities of the Ministry of Rites for his dereliction of duty in the examination, and resign from the position of the Crown Prince Taifu, begging the emperor to punish him.

During the period when Xia Sheng was at home wearing a crime, countless people pleaded for the boss, and there was manpower Chen Li Ministry officials worked hard even if they had no credit during the examination period. punishment.

In the end, the emperor sent Xia Sheng's body for an interview. After talking for half a day, it was said that the two had a big quarrel.

Originally, when the courtiers were talking to the emperor, they often said "I dare not", "I dare not", but it is said that Xia Xingshen kept yelling, "I dare!", "I dare!"

After that, the royal family announced the punishment for Xia Xingshen: he was not imprisoned, nor was he dismissed from any of his posts, but he was deposed and went to a southern state to serve as magistrate, taking office today.

As soon as the news came out, all officials came forward one after another to plead for Lord Xia Shengshen.Everyone believed that Master Xia was relegated to such a plagued place when he was old, and that place would probably become the burial place of the boss.

But Xia Sheng was very determined to go, saying that he must go to the south and see it with his own eyes - as for what to see, the boss didn't say anything.But because there was a question related to this in the palace examination this year, many officials guessed that Xia Sheng was competing with the emperor, and insisted on going to the south to see the "small county" mentioned in the palace examination question.

Not to mention Xia Xing's age, he will be ready to go on the road immediately.Rongguo Mansion also ushered in two "major events".

The first thing is that Shui Xian, on behalf of Jinke, explores Hua Lin Ruhai, and proposes marriage to Miss Jia, the only legitimate daughter of the Rong Mansion.

The day when Shui Xian proposed marriage happened to be the day after he had just helped Jia Zheng to testify in Shuntian Mansion, helping Jia Zheng get rid of his suspicions and prove his innocence.

Jia Daishan looked at this young man with a higher title than himself, and thought: What reason is there to refuse?

Looking at Lin Ruhai's resume sent by Shuixian, his ancestors were five generations of princes, a prominent family in the south of the Yangtze River, and a scholarly family. Proposals, the families below the list to catch a son-in-law have already lined up.

The only thing that made Jia Daishan a little regretful was that the Lin family was originally from Gusu. If Jia Min left Beijing to marry the Lin family, it would be thousands of miles away, and he would be very reluctant to be a father.

But Shui Xian's rhetoric is: Lin Tanhua has now obtained the position of editor of the Imperial Academy, and he should live in the capital for two or three years. I must live in Gusu.

Jia Daishan had nothing to say, so he silently accepted the statement, and mentioned Jia Min's age, expressing that he wanted to keep his daughter at home for two more years before remarrying.Shui Xian immediately said no problem, we can wait over there.

Jia Daishan: ... What else do I have to say?

So the two parties made an appointment, and Lin Ruhai came to visit Jia Daishan again.At the same time, Jia Daishan also planned to arrange for his wife to meet him.

Unexpectedly, Mrs. Shi was angry with others, and even her husband refused to pay attention.Jia Daishan had no choice but to inquire with the eldest son and daughter-in-law, and only then got the news from Mrs. Zhang: The Wang family is going to regret their marriage!

It turned out that the Wang family of the garrison mansion had already made an agreement. Jia Zheng proposed marriage to the Wang family as soon as he was a Jinshi.

Unexpectedly, the news from the Wang family was very fast. The hairpin flower banquet in Hongxiang Garden had just been interrupted. The Wang family had already heard that Jia Zheng had committed a serious crime and was sent directly to the lobby of Shuntian Mansion.

Involved in the criminal case in the examination room, and then go to the Shuntian Mansion prison, how can he come out with all his needs and tails?Where will the fame come from in the future?How can I have such a son-in-law in the future?

So the Wang family quit.

Mrs. Shi felt another feeling: You knew the news about Wang's family so quickly, how dare you arrange someone in my Jia's family?This is not the in-law's family yet, so they rushed to find out the other party's secrets, the Wang family's calculations are so far away!

Mrs. Shi had a big quarrel with Mrs. Wang's family that day, and it turned out to be quite unbearable.When Jia Daishan went to find her, Mrs. Shi's hair was disheveled, her clothes were disheveled, and there was a little color on her face.

Jia Daishan: This is a good time, the in-laws have not yet been established, and they have become enemies first.

Because of this incident, Jia Zheng's marriage was completely ruined. Even though the twists and turns later, Jia Zheng's fame is still there, his ranking is still there, and even because of his performance in the whole incident, his reputation is still there.

But the marriage that Jia Zheng had promised in advance no longer existed.

In Rongguo Mansion, it was the younger Jia Min who first made a deal for life—the Lin family traveled thousands of miles from Gusu to Beijing. After seeing Jia Min, they were 120% satisfied. Now the two families are engaged and agreed to wait for Jia Min and Ji Afterwards, they began to arrange marriages, but the big families in Beijing were very particular about their marriages, and it was not uncommon for them to arrange their marriages for a year or so.Therefore, if Jia Min wants to marry Lin Ruhai, it is estimated that she will be 16 years old, 16 and a half years old.

Even so, Jia Daishan still feels sorry for his daughter, and plans to delay the matter of getting married until her 17-year-old.

Lin Ruhai still didn't know that his "road to chasing his wife" was a long one, but once the marriage was settled, he would really be like the saying that "people are in good spirits on happy occasions", happy all day long, from ear to ear.

Jia Zheng is at the other extreme.

He was quite proud of his noble character and firm belief, but Jia Zheng was a little hurt when he was so ruthlessly rejected by his fiancée's family.So he wrote a lot of poems in his free time, most of which were sentimental, not understood, and unappreciated.Seeing these things, Jia Min euphemistically commented that the second brother's poems now finally have something to say.

But soon, the Rongguo Mansion took office and Jia Zheng made another marriage.

After Mrs. Shi told Jia Zheng about the daughter of the Wang family earlier, it did not mean that she was hanged on the tree of the Wang family. The marriage of the Wang family was not completed, and Mrs. Shi still had countless "prepared" candidates in her hands.

It has become one of Mrs. Shi's most important tasks at this stage to quickly choose one of these "prepared" candidates—as long as she can make a proper marriage for Jia Zheng, and she will be better than the Wang family. The faster you find your next home, the faster Mrs. Smith will win!

Sure enough, Mrs. Shi took advantage of her extensive contacts in Beijing, the excellent reputation and popularity of the Rongguo Mansion, and hinted that the Jia family was half a royal family, so she used the fastest speed to re-advise Jia Zheng about a marriage: It is also the family of a famous eunuch in the south of the Yangtze River. His surname is Li, and his brother Li Shouzhong is serving as the Imperial Academy for offering wine.Marrying with the Li family can add a lot of help to Jia Zhengping.

When Jia Fang heard about this, his jaw almost dropped: Jia Zheng didn't marry Mrs. Wang, but married Li Wan's aunt in the original book? —Look at the script.

Mrs. Shi talked about marrying the daughter of the Li family for Jia Zheng, but there was no movement from the Wang family, so she thought she had overwhelmed the Wang family, and she was proud from then on.Unexpectedly, news came two days later that the daughter of the Wang family was about to marry into Shihou's mansion, that is... to marry Mrs. Shi's own natal nephew.

She was supposed to be married as a daughter-in-law, but in a blink of an eye she became a niece-in-law.Mrs. Shi still couldn't avoid dealing with this girl.

Mrs. Smith: I...

The relationship between Jia and Wang's family has become more complicated since then, but these are not within the scope of Jia Fang's consideration.

This day he woke up early and changed into the clothes he was going out to meet the guests. Before dawn, he took Zhao Cheng and Li Qingsong, went straight out of the south gate, and waited at the see-off kiosk outside the south gate.

"Who is the third master going to send?" Zhao Cheng was really puzzled, he hadn't heard that Jia Fang's relatives and friends were going to leave Beijing.

Jia Fang smiled and said nothing, just waited in the pavilion.

As the sky became brighter, more and more people gathered in the see-off booth.Many people knew each other and greeted each other.But Jia Fang was too young to look like a man in the officialdom, so no one paid attention.

Finally, a donkey cart creaked out from the south gate, followed by only a long entourage, a little boy.

Jia Fang intuitively felt that this was the person he was waiting for, so he went to wait on the official road.When the donkey cart creaked and creaked, it stopped in front of Jia Fang. The little boy stepped forward, opened the curtain of the cart, Xia Xingshen got out of the cart, and saluted Jia Fang with his fists in his arms: "Third Young Master , I didn’t expect you to come see me off today—”

I saw that Xia Xing was wearing a blue cloth shirt, and his snow-white hair was particularly dazzling in the morning sun.Jia Fang didn't dare to allow him to salute himself like this, so he cupped his fists and bowed solemnly.

The people waiting here were all here to see Xia Shengshen off, and they immediately surrounded him. When they saw the donkey cart, they all sighed and said, "This is really the coldness of human feelings and the coldness of the world. My lord has traveled all the way south, and there is only Such a donkey cart?"

"That's right, Master Xia is the crown prince and grand tutor. The crown prince and several princes have studied with him for so many years. Once they are released from the capital, these few people will not even have anyone to send them off. This is really... heartbreaking. chilly!"

Xia Shengshen immediately said with a smile: "Your Majesty asked me to leave today, but he didn't say when I must arrive. If the horse galloped fast, my old bones would probably be broken like this. Donkey carts can make old people Slowly looking at the scenery..."

Jia Fang then called Li Qingsong over, and handed a package of things to Xia Shengshen: "This is some medicine and prescriptions for Mr. Xia. The miasma in the south may be unacceptable at first sight. Some of these have already been prepared. The pills are all marked with efficacy and usage, and some are prescriptions collected from folks, which may be helpful to adults."

"Your Excellency, there are post stations along the way. I have some subordinates in the south who will arrange for your Excellency in advance. Your Excellency does not need to worry about the difficult road."

Xia Shengshen accepted the burden, and said with a smile, "Mr. Jia, at such a young age, you are even more thoughtful than a wretched old man like me. Speaking of which, I still owe you my love. I took good care of you in your home that day. Haven't thanked you yet."

When the bystanders heard Xia Shengshen addressing him as "Master Jia", they came to their senses immediately and asked in surprise, "Is this the Pingnan Jiedu envoy Jia Fang, the Jiedu envoy who controls southern state officials and Guangnan camp?"

Immediately, officials from the Ministry of Rites who came to see him off recognized Jia Fang, and said one after another, "Yes, we checked the papers together after the palace examination."

"Just because we used to review papers together, I came here to see off my lord right now. This lord Jia can be regarded as kind and righteous!"

"Uh, I can't actually say that. Master Xia's departure from Beijing this time may have something to do with this Master Jia's abduction..."

"But no matter what, since Mr. Jia controls the officials of the southern states and counties, he must be able to arrange manpower to take care of Mr. Xia on the road, right?"

"Your majesty is really heartless. The crown prince, the grand master, the future emperor's teacher... If you say you will be demoted, you will be demoted. What is the difference between this and the first-class three thousand li who committed crimes by others?"

"..."

Hearing these discussions, Jia Fang didn't care too much, but said to Xia Shengshen: "Master Xia, I have something to say to you alone, I don't know if it's inconvenient for you."

Xia Sheng immediately said, "It's convenient!"

He immediately turned around, and said to the former subordinates and students who were seeing him off: "Everyone, please borrow a step, this old man has a few words with Mr. Jia."

Although there were many people who came to see them off, no one dared to stop Xia Shengshen from talking to his "superior", so everyone watched Xia Shengshen and Jia Fang, the old and the young, walk to the side of the see-off booth .

Jia Fang smiled: "I didn't expect that you really accepted His Majesty's invitation and agreed to go to the south to have a look."

Xia Xingshen also smiled and said: "It can't be counted—the old man was also inspired by His Majesty. His Majesty only asked me that day, Xia Xingshen, I would like to ask you, there is a real paradise in the south, where there are all kinds of unexpected governance techniques, Let the people stay away from epidemics, live and work in peace and contentment, never close their homes at night and pick up their belongings. However, those governance techniques all come from theories and theories that Xia Shengshen once dismissed."

It turns out that the old master and His Majesty the Emperor talked about the capital?

"Xia Shengshen, I'm going to ask you, do you dare to go there and have a look with your own eyes!" Xia Shengshen half-closed his eyes, imitating what the emperor said at that time, his tone and articulation were so vivid.

"This old man has never retreated in his life, even in front of the imperial court. His Majesty's question, of course this old man dares." Xia Xingshen opened his eyes again and looked at Jia Fang, "And this old man still wants to ask you, do you dare?" I'm afraid that the old man will expose the big lie you spun, and see through Xiang Fengyi's theory, which has not actually found its foundation in your territory in the south."

Jia Fang also laughed immediately, and said: "Seeing is believing, and hearing is false, and verifying the truth with practice, this is the essence of 'extending knowledge and investigating things'. Why don't I dare?"

He is no longer the just-started Wuxia Amon in the past. Now he is eager to prove to others that his Taoyuan Village will definitely become a development model for the southern states and counties by promoting it to neighboring counties.

Xia Shengshen saw that the challenge he had raised was unexpectedly turned back by the other party so skillfully, and he smiled and said, "Then it's settled—the old man is waiting for Master Jia in the south."

Unexpectedly, Jia Fang smiled: "I'm young, and I walk faster. I'm afraid I will wait there and wait for Master Xia to drive me."

After speaking, the two saluted each other and laughed loudly.

The officials who were waiting to see Xia Shengshen off in the distance were very puzzled when they saw this - it had been a long time since they had seen the boss in such a good mood.This is obviously demotion, why did Master Xia go to his post so happily.Is there really any "surprise" waiting for Master Xia in the south?