[Qing Chuan] Mu Emperor's Grace

"Eunuch Wu, Your Majesty, this is..." Early in the morning, Ji Xiaolan was repairing books in the Fanglue Hall, when she received an urgent call from Qianlong, she had to rush to the Imperial Study Room to meet her.

"Master Ji, the emperor is in a fit of anger." Wu Shulai reminded kindly.

Ji Xiaolan bowed into the room, and seeing Hongli standing behind the throne with his hands behind his back, he quickly knelt down and saluted: "Chen Ji Yun, see the emperor."

After kneeling for a long while, he didn't hear Hongli's cry. He raised his head slightly, and saw Hongli sitting on the throne at some point, playing with an envelope in his hand.

Before he could react, he heard Hongli say in a deep voice: "Ji Xiaolan, according to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, what crime should we have for leaking military aircraft and covering up corrupt officials?"

Ji Xiaolan's heart trembled, and then she realized that the envelope in Hongli's hand was sent to Lu Jianzeng, the envoy of Lianghuai Salt Transport, by his order.

It turned out that Lu Jianzeng and Ji Xiaolan were in-laws, they were generous and generous, and loved to make friends.On weekdays, when friends are in trouble, he is willing to borrow money to help, and sometimes embezzles public funds.These two envoys for transporting salt in the Huaihe River are a fat job, and the government and the public are staring at them with countless eyes.After going back and forth, the case of impeachment came to Lord Qianlong's imperial case.

Hongli ordered the court to discuss the crime, and as a result of the crime, Lu Jianzeng was sentenced to search his home.Seeing that Lu Jianzeng had been severely punished, Ji Xiaolan couldn't help the relatives' pleadings, so she thought of a way: inform Lu Jianzeng so that he could be mentally prepared.

After thinking about it, Ji Xiaolan was afraid that the book would be corrected directly, so she took an empty envelope, sealed it with salted gnocchi, and asked the servant to deliver it to Lu Jianzeng's residence.I thought it was done perfectly, but I don't know how the envelope fell into the hands of the emperor.

Seeing that Ji Xiaolan was silent, Hongli raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "The empty envelope that has been wiped with salt, the salt case is empty, and you can figure it out. This kind of word play can deceive others, and you still want to hide it from me?"

As Ji Xiaolan listened to each sentence, a fine layer of cold sweat formed on her forehead.Knowing that it was impossible to hide the secret information, he kowtowed to Hongli and said in a trembling voice: "The emperor's eyes are like torches, and the humble minister is not thoughtful. He abolishes the public with his own interests. Please punish the crime of the minister."

Hongli said coldly: "Of course I want to punish you, a dignified scholar, for the sake of his own personal interests, he disregarded the king's law. Do you know that if you are in the court today, I can completely exile you."

On weekdays, when the monarch and his ministers discussed poetry and prose, Hongli was always amiable.Ji Xiaolan is a big celebrity in front of the emperor, who has never experienced the emperor's wrath, and there is a battle between the two sides, and she is really panicked.

Seeing that Ji Xiaolan's face was green and her lips were pale with fright, Hongli's tone softened a bit: "Xiaolan, I know that Lu Jian used to be your in-laws, but no matter how great this favor is, it is no more important than common people. If you help him escape After the punishment, who will give an explanation to those Li Shu who were victimized? Once this wind blows, those local officials will smell it, and they will try to find a way to get in touch with you. At that time, what will you do?"

Every time Hongli said a word, Ji Xiaolan's face became more ashamed, and she lowered her head and said: "The emperor taught me that."

Hongli pondered for a moment, then said in a gentle voice: "Ji Xiaolan, downgrade to a second grade and keep her job, and her salary will be fined for half a year."

In the previous life, Hongli brought Lu Jianzeng's case to court.The wall fell and everyone pushed, and some officials tried their best to pull Lu Jianzeng off the horse, enumerating his crimes with more details.Hongli became angry when he heard that, and severely punished Lu Jianzeng, and even sent Ji Xiaolan to Yili to serve as an army.

In this life, Hongli sent someone to intercept the envelope that Ji Xiaolan gave to Lu Jianzeng.He personally helped Ji Xiaolan up and returned the empty envelope to him.Ji Xiaolan looked at the young monarch with red eyes and almost shed tears.

"Xiaolan, is the Shuntian Mansion's provincial examination this year?" Hongli asked suddenly after sitting on the throne again.

Ji Xiaolan didn't expect the emperor to ask this question.After thinking about it carefully, he replied: "Yes, the Wuzike's provincial examination will be this year."

"Wuzike...Heshen..." Hongli read softly, and then asked again: "It has been three years since Liu Lun Dingyou returned home."

"If you return to the emperor, after the three-year period expires, Mr. Liu has returned to the household department."

"The decree is that Liu Lun, in addition to serving as the servant of the household department, also serves as the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, let him come to see me as soon as possible."

This Liu Lun is not a simple character. He was the first name in the erudite CI department in the first year of Qianlong, and he joined the military aircraft department for ten years.

Just as Hongli was thinking, Wu Shulai reported, "Your Majesty, Mr. Liu has arrived."

Liu Lun was dressed in a golden pheasant men's suit, and the python robe on top was not messy. He saluted Hongli respectfully: "My minister Liu Lun kowtows to the emperor."

"Get up." Hongli said with a smile: "It is said that Liu Shilang is clean and simple, and his clothes are slovenly. It seems that the rumors cannot be believed."

Liu Lun replied: "Don't dare to dress casually for the face of the saint, for fear of losing your dignity in front of the king."

Hongli was amused by his serious answer, and said seriously for a while, "What do you think about the examination of Wuzi Branch in Shuntian Prefecture?"

Liu Lun thought for a moment, then calmly replied: "I think there are two most difficult ways to measure the answers of scholars. The first is to pick the better ones from the answers of different levels. Among the equivalent answer sheets, the weaker answer sheets will be screened out."

Hongli nodded, and asked again: "If you are asked to be the chief examiner of the Shuntianfu Township Examination, what will you do?"

Liu Lun bowed and said, "I should do my best."

Hongli looked at Liu Lun with deep eyes, and his voice could not hear any emotion: "Liu Lun, I know that you are loyal and pure. What I want in this Shuntianfu Township Examination is a scholar with real talents and knowledge. No matter you What method to use. If something goes wrong, I will support you."

"The minister respectfully follows the holy will. The emperor loves and cherishes talents, and is eager to seek talents. This is the blessing of scholars all over the world."

While Liu Lun went to Shuntian Mansion to prepare for the provincial examination, He Shen also completed his studies at Xian'an Palace Official School.He inherited the third-class light car captain under the shelter of his ancestors, and he worked as an errand while preparing for the exam.

For this rural examination, He Shen did not have any hope.One is that he knows that in history, He Shen did not pass the examination; the other is that he also understands that the imperial examinations in the feudal era have always been "required for those with high ranks, and more for those with wealth."Small officials like the third-class captain of light vehicles can be found everywhere in the capital.For a scholar like him who has no family blessing, no family wealth, and no knowledge, if he wants to be promoted, it is simply a dream.

On the ninth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, He Shen came to the Gongyuan in the capital.Liu Quan followed behind him, carrying a test basket in his hand. Inside the test basket were a thin quilt, two boxes of non-perishable Manchurian pastries, and brushes and inkstones to be tested.Considering that candles are afraid of the wind, He Shen also prepared porcelain windproof lamps.

The walls of the tribute courtyard are towering, and there are many sheds, which is quite eerie and scary on weekdays, but on the day of autumn, all the scholars in the capital gathered here, and it was crowded with people, so it was very lively.

When the time came, the candidates lined up one by one to enter the arena.He Shen waved goodbye to Liu Quan, straightened his clothes, and followed the team, and stepped into the gate of the Gongyuan.

After entering the gate, candidates have to go through steps such as roll call and body search before they can get the test questions and enter the literary field.An officer in front of Heshen was found with a note hidden in the sole of his shoe, and was escorted away by the officials of the Yamen.

Before Heshen could react, the two search servants had already begun to call their names loudly: "Niu Hulu Heshen."

He Shen was pushed and shoved, stood between the two of them, and was searched one by one from the coat to the coat before he got the test questions.

In the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the capital city is extremely hot at noon, and suddenly turns cold at night.Some weak candidates fainted halfway through the exam, and some people were carried out of the exam booth one after another.He Shen had already prepared for this. When the sun was scorching during the day, he only wore a single shirt with his sleeves rolled up to dissipate heat; at night when the cool breeze blew, he put on a thin quilt.

He Shen is a high-achieving student in modern times, and he has studied in official schools.For him, the eight-legged essay is just a form of exercises.He Shen opened the paper, and as he expected, the test question was the section on Meng Gongchuo in "The Analects of Confucius".

The Master said: Meng Gongchuo is better than the old Zhao Wei, and he cannot be Doctor Tengxue. "

He Shen thought for a moment, then calmly wrote, ate two bites of pastry when he was hungry, and drank some water when he was thirsty. Before he knew it, six days and six nights passed.

When they walked out of the Gongyuan, there were excited cheers from the students, and there was also the sound of desperate cries.He Shen only felt that a rural examination was like a big dream. The only thing he could recall was not black and white words, nor hunger, cold and heat, but flies and insects flying around the windbreak lamp in the silent night.

After six days and nights, the students were relieved, but Liu Lun and others had to prepare to mark the papers.On this day, as soon as Liu Lun stepped into the government office, Shuntian Xuezheng presented a document.Liu Lun opened it and saw that there were two pages of names on it.

"This is?" Liu Lun looked at Xuezheng suspiciously.

"My lord, the first page is for the heirs of officials above the second rank, and the second page is for the heirs of wealthy businessmen who have donated more than 5000 taels of silver. I have made many investigations and statistics in the past few days, and they have been compiled into a book. My lord..."

"It's absurd! Is this how you do things?" Liu Lun was so angry that he slammed Xuezheng into a shudder, and explained in a low voice: "This is the rule of Qiu Wei over the years, my lord..."

"Bastard, I don't care what the rules are. I am the chief examiner of Qiu Wei this time. The emperor entrusted me with all matters, and I will bear all the consequences. Send the test paper of Qiu Wei to the inner room, and I will personally Review." Liu Lun's stubborn temper came up, and the officials in the government office did not dare to go against his will.

Soon, stacks of test papers filled the desk in the inner room, and Liu Lun and five examiners reviewed them together.Most of the students who took part in the provincial examination in Shuntian Prefecture were disciples of the Eight Banners. Relying on the merits of three generations of their ancestors, they were idle and ignorant, and some of them even handed in blank papers directly.

Liu Lun shook his head repeatedly, and was agitated when he was suddenly attracted by a paper.It’s not how penetrating the articles on this scroll are, nor how exquisite the poems are, but the handwriting on this scroll is very similar to a person——Hongli, Emperor Qianlong.

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