Promotion Letter for the Chief Executive

The person in charge of this matter is Feng Yutang, who was found and promoted by Ping An and has always been very important.In the end, he did not disappoint Ping An. He led the team members and worked non-stop for several days and nights, and finally found out the ins and outs of this matter.

In fact, the person who resells the test questions is just a small guy, the kind that doesn't matter at all.He didn't even take the exam this year, he's a ghostwriter!Some people get the test questions, and then think that even if they get the questions in advance, they will not pass the test, so they ask him to write for them.There is no problem with this, but the key point is that because of his "excellent reputation", more than one person came to him to write for him!

So the scholar named Huang Jing saw the clues from it, and after testing a few customers, he knew it well.After discovering this huge secret, he was not afraid to hide it. Instead, he took the opportunity to confuse the situation and sell this test question to more people, earning a lot of money!

The Imperial City Division currently does not have the power to arrest people, so it is not known how many people have been sold, but there are always twenty or thirty.And this Huang Jing really has some material, he sold the test questions and also gave an article as a gift.Even if I can't write it by myself, as long as I memorize this article, there will always be no problem in passing this test.

Following his clue, Feng Yutang led people to ambush several people who bought the test questions, conducted an in-depth investigation on them, and found the common intersection of these people: after coming to the capital, they had all participated in Literary meetings organized by the same person.

Moreover, the requirements of this literary club are very strict, not just anyone can join, and someone must be introduced.Finally, it is said that those who participate in the literary meeting may get advice from a mysterious big man.

As for who this big shot is, no one knows.

But for Ping An, the matter is found here, and it is almost the same.As for whether to investigate next, how to investigate, where to investigate...even who will conduct the investigation, that is a matter for the emperor to decide.He just needs to pass on the news.

After praising the small team mercilessly and recording all their grades as excellent, Ping An organized all the news into files, and then entered the palace in person and sent them to the Primordial Palace.

Ping An is not going to meet the emperor.In fact, he is not willing to break the rules casually. His immediate boss is not the emperor, but the current eunuch Zhang Dongyuan, the supervisor of ceremonies.So Ping An first went to the gate of Benchu ​​Hall, and found a little eunuch to inform him.

It was difficult for him to meet the emperor, but it was quite easy for him to meet Zhang Dongyuan.Zhang Dongyuan came out after a while.

Ping An didn't talk nonsense, and directly handed him the document in his hand.He has always felt that there will always be a lot of confusion just by keeping things in his mind and organizing words to describe them temporarily. It is better to form a document and list them one, two, and three, which are clear and clear at a glance, and there is no need to waste words.

In addition, people who read documents can think while reading.After reading it, you can almost come up with an idea.Even if you can't think of it for a while, you can watch it for a while.This avoids the embarrassment when two people stare at each other and can't think of a solution.

Just like now, after Zhang Dongyuan finished reading, his eyes lingered on the last page for a long time before he raised his face seriously and looked at Ping An. "How many people know about this?"

"Except for the people sent to investigate, only my subordinates and Mr. Zhang are in charge of you." Ping An said, "I will enter the palace as soon as I receive the news."

Qiuwei has three exams in total, with three days between each exam.Now the first test has been completed, but the second test has not yet started.And the first exam questions were indeed the ones that were sold.In this way, the problem is very serious.If this news is revealed, then this year's Qiu Wei may not have to take the test, and it may cause other problems.That's why Zhang Dongyuan's face was so serious.

The reason why Ping An asked everyone to hurry up to collect information and evidence was also to hurry up.

Zhang Dongyuan nodded immediately and said, "You wait here, I will show this to His Majesty. Maybe I have something to ask you then."

This is to remind him to prepare early.It can also be regarded as Zhang Dongyuan's favor and win over this subordinate - Ping'an was promoted by Wang Lixin. After taking office, Zhang Dongyuan was busy with the affairs of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and he didn't care about the Secretary of the Imperial City for a while.As a result, when I saw him today, I found out that this person is very safe, and I am afraid he is a general, so naturally I wanted to win him over.

Ping An thanked him and stood at the door.

The entrance of the Primordial Hall is almost comparable to a small square. The big Han general in armor makes the atmosphere here look solemn and solemn, and the surroundings are so quiet that no sound can be heard.

After an unknown amount of time, Ping An heard light footsteps coming from behind.He didn't dare to turn his head, and after a while, he felt someone approaching him and stood still.Ping An paid attention to it from the corner of his eye, and confirmed that the other party was wearing a court dress, he couldn't help but secretly surprised.After all, this is the Primordial Hall, except for a few prime ministers who come to ask for an interview when they are in a hurry, they cannot come here unless they are summoned.

As for the person beside him, of course he couldn't see his face, but he was wearing a green court dress.This is the color of clothing worn by low-ranking officials below the sixth rank.With such a grade, not to mention the fact that Benchu ​​Hall faced the holy performance alone, even the Grand Court Meeting outside the Liangyi Gate once every five days is not eligible to participate.

Of course, in all dynasties, there have been those official positions with humble and powerful positions, such as most of the emperor's close servants, officials in charge of repairing daily notes, and officials of the Imperial Academy who wrote pens for the emperor. In fact, Ping An himself is in a similar position now. .However, he is an internal official, and unlike courtiers, he can see the emperor more often.

Ping An couldn't help but began to wonder about the identity of this person.

He had been in the clerk's office for three years before, and he knew a thing or two about the young talents in the court, but he hadn't figured out which adult had such an honor to come to meet the saint.

What surprised Ping An even more was that after a while, a little eunuch came out and welcomed the person beside him in respectfully!

The emperor usually sees people according to the priority, and occasionally depends on the grace.The incident that Ping An confidently reported was probably the biggest incident in the court today, but the emperor still met the man first, which showed his favor.

So Ping An unobtrusively grabbed the little eunuch who came over and said, "This father-in-law, who was that person just now?"

As he asked, he stuffed money in the past without any trace.The opponent put his hand in his sleeve and weighed it, and said in a low voice, "You don't know him? He is Gu Wenheng (heng), the champion of the last subject, and even several prime ministers praised his poems and prose. I have traveled abroad before, and I am proficient in many foreign languages. I can’t tell the difference. It’s a pity that I didn’t want to enter the Imperial Academy. I was released as a county magistrate. Stayed in the six parts. The emperor likes to discuss things with him very much, so he calls him from time to time to talk about things outside."

After he finished speaking, he hurried away.Ping An originally wanted to ask him where he left it, but he was walking so fast that it was not appropriate to talk about it here, so he had to.

It turned out that it was the person who appeared during the period when he left the capital, no wonder it was before.But now that they know the name, the people from the Imperial City Division will be able to find out in a while.

It's just that the next waiting time is a bit exhausting.

I don't know if the emperor was so interested that he forgot the time, or he just wanted to let Ping An hang out on purpose. In short, Ping An entered the palace early in the morning, and Gu Wenheng didn't come out of the palace until Shen Shichu.

This time he met Ping An face to face, and Ping An finally saw his face.Being able to be selected by the emperor as the number one scholar, this person is indeed not vulgar, with sword eyebrows and star eyes, not much bookishness on his body, on the contrary he looks very powerful.Walking like a dragon and walking like a tiger, with a straight back, he walked past Ping An without looking sideways.

I'm afraid people don't even care about standing here.Ping An had to admit that he was indeed a small character.

I went to the west... I am proficient in several foreign languages...

I always feel that there may be another secret in it.If Ping'an's guess is correct, the emperor may be very quiet and want to fight.

It's no wonder that since he ascended the throne today, in the past 15 years, Haiyan, Heqing, the world is peaceful, there are no natural disasters, let alone human disasters, it is so peaceful that it makes people feel a little depressed.As an emperor, he more or less had the ambition of governing martial arts, wanting to clean up the country and show off his strengths.

But the reality is that the mountains and rivers are clean, and the emperor only needs to be a conservative king and handle the boring and complicated daily affairs.In this way, how much patience can the emperor have to endure day by day?

There is no room for development in terms of culture and governance, so the pursuit of the emperor is to expand the territory and expand the territory.

Over the years, the national treasury has been abundant, supporting a war, so there will be no problem.Now the emperor has shown that he attaches great importance to courtiers like Gu Wenheng who have been to the west, and all the signs are very clear.

Now that Ping An thinks about the marriage that the eldest prince made, he can't help admiring Zheng's family.Being able to deduce the emperor's purpose from all kinds of clues, and decisively marrying the Zhang family in Xinzhou, with this vision and means, it is no wonder that Concubine Zheng is the favorite of the Sixth Palace.

Even if it is a target?The benefits of these ten years are always real.Why didn't someone else do it, but she did it?

Ping An was in a trance when someone came to call him in for an audience.He hurriedly restrained his somewhat dazed thoughts, straightened his expression, and then walked in with a solemn expression.

The emperor was not sitting behind the imperial case at the moment, but moved to the Luohan bed under the west window.He was half leaning on the pillow, holding the materials that Ping An had just sent, with a serious expression on his face.

Pingan knelt down and kowtowed before he raised his head, "Come on, are these things true?"

"Back to the emperor, I dare not lie." Now that he is in charge of the Imperial City Department, he can also call himself a minister.Ping An really didn't want to call himself a slave, it was too weird and awkward.

The emperor lowered his eyes and continued to look, and said after a while, "This matter was discovered by the Secretary of the Imperial City, what are your plans?"

"Qiuwei is a grand ceremony of the country. If there is a slight difference, it will affect the spring of next year." Pingan said, "The two capitals have always been places where talents gather. If something happens to Qiuwei in the capital, the impact may spread to the whole world. To shake the prestige of the imperial court. Moreover, most of the scholars are self-sufficient and study hard only for the scientific examination once every three years. It is clear that all scholars who are suspected of fraud will have their merits revoked, and others can do whatever they want."

"But in this way, isn't it to appease those villains?" the emperor said lightly.

Ping An lowered his head and couldn't see his face, but Zhang Dongyuan, who was standing beside him, could clearly see that the expression on the emperor's face was clearly very happy!

It seems that this safety is very important to the emperor.Although he didn't understand why the emperor deliberately left Gu Wenheng to play chess and let Ping An hang out for nearly three hours, but the holy will is beyond his own comprehension, Zhang Dongyuan only needs to know that the emperor attaches great importance to Ping An.

Ping An tidied up his words, and then said, "Small people will naturally be dealt with by the national law, how can they be tolerated? It's just that there is no need to make things too big, it seems to be a big deal. It is nothing more than moths from several countries. That's all."

The emperor appreciated Ping'an's attitude.Many young people seized the important case and wished they could overthrow the entire imperial city, causing the whole world to turmoil and the city full of storms.In this way, his name is well known, but it is a great blow to the prestige of the court.

After all, the courtiers must be involved here, and it can't be cleared up in a few words.Instead of making a fuss, it's better to deal with it internally.

Anyway, those who should know will always know, and it can also wake up some people.

"Well... since your Imperial City Secretary has investigated this matter, I will leave it to you." The emperor said casually, "Can it be done within two days?"

Pingan knelt down again, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will do my best! It's just that I still have a little doubt..."

Is this beneficial?The emperor smiled slightly, "Say it."

"The Imperial City Secretary is responsible for inquiring about news, but he has no right to arrest and interrogate. This..." To investigate a matter, of course, it is impossible to investigate it tenderly, and some means must be used.Ordinary people are fine, even for those few scholars, Ping An dares to arrest them.But if courtiers are involved, the nature is different.

"This concern is not groundless. In this way, I will give you the right to act arbitrarily. This matter will be handled by you with full authority, and no one can interfere! Zhang Dongyuan."

"The slave is here."

"Have someone write a letter to him."

The goal is achieved, and the mood of peace is very good.This is some power. It is easy to let it out, but it may not be so simple to take it back.

What's more, as long as the emperor thinks that the Imperial City Secretary is capable, easy to use, and comfortable to use, if there is anything to do in the future, he will naturally be handed over to him.In this way, the grand blueprint he designed can be truly developed into reality.

After taking the written order, Ping An left without hesitation.I have to find out about this matter before the exam tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. I'm afraid I won't be able to rest for a day and two nights.But Ping An only felt energetic.

After returning to the Imperial City Division, he immediately called back the previous investigation team, and then assigned them a team to immediately arrest that Huang Jing and interrogate the person who asked him to write the test questions.In addition, it is necessary to visit the ghost writers in the capital to see if there are other fish that have slipped through the net.

Everyone was very excited when they received this order.During the investigation a few days ago, in order not to alarm Huang Jing, everyone was very careful. Although the matter was found out, everyone was holding a sigh of relief.Now that they can arrest people openly, they are naturally eager to try.

Seeing this, Ping An breathed a sigh of relief. After three months of training, the effect is still good.At least now, they will not question their orders. ——The Imperial City Division does not have the power to arrest people. This has been the practice since the establishment of the dynasty. Pingan thought that there would be one or two people who would raise objections.

The result was good. Although some people couldn't hide their astonishment, they didn't ask in the end, but resolutely carried out his order.

This is what Ping An requires of them: order and prohibition.If something goes wrong, the person who issued the task is responsible, so the people below just need to do their part well.

Feng Yutang was born the most gentle, and was assigned the task of investigating other people.He can pretend to be a scholar and ask for articles with test questions.Now that the first test is over, it stands to reason that no one will ask for such an article. If someone has written it, it will definitely reveal some clues.

In the end, I found a few more people.These few people have literary talents, but they are all just scholars.Ping An knew what was going on as soon as he heard it. There are too many people who are underappreciated in this world. It's not that they don't have talent, but sometimes it's the wrong timing, sometimes it's a little bad luck, or they don't know how to cater to the person who made the question... …For various reasons, failure to pass the exam is always a failure.

Scholars are no better than juren. Juren is already an official. If you don't want to seek a better background, you can go directly to the Ministry of Officials to take the exam. After passing the exam, you can be awarded an official.However, for such an official position, reaching the sixth rank is the best.People with great talents may look down on them, but after all, there are not so many great talents in the world, and it is enough to accommodate mediocrity.

Or even if you don’t want to be an official, there will be businessmen, landlords and farmers who voluntarily put their shops and land in his name, and then they don’t have to pay taxes and are protected by the court.Of course, they have to hand over a part of the food and money to the Lord Juren—equivalent to the part that was originally handed over to the state and was handed over to private individuals. The root cause of the good years can only barely make ends meet.

Far away.But scholars are different from Juren. Apart from not kneeling when they see officials, they don't have any other income except Lumi, who can get their share every year.In order to continue studying or support their families, everyone has developed various part-time jobs.Among them, ghost writing is the most popular one.Most of them write family letters for ordinary people, but there are also senior ones like Huang Jing who serve as gunmen for those who have no talent.

Writing an article can earn a lot of money. These people may be forced to do nothing at first, but later they feel like a fish in water.Someone as smart as Huang Jing can even find "business opportunities" from it.

The number of people who spit out from their mouths had bought that article surprised Ping An.

There were actually 17 people.

These 17 people are naturally nothing among the thousands of scholars in the entire Gyeonggi area, but if they unite into a force—or if there is a force behind them that wants to unite them, then it will be terrible.The most important thing is that this is only for those who come out to buy articles. How many people have written the test questions silently?

"My lord, what should we do next?" Qian Cheng stood in front of Ping An and asked in a low voice.

The result of the interrogation was sent by him to Ping An, and that number was equally shocking to him.If the imperial court has become so bad that even a scientific research can be manipulated by others, if this matter is revealed, the whole world will be in an uproar.

"Arrested." Ping An said with a calm expression, "Be careful not to alarm others, and don't miss one. After you get back, continue the interrogation and ask who is the person who gave them the questions."

This is what I am determined to do.Qian Cheng knew that Ping An had entered the palace during the day, and since that was the case, he must have gotten his favor.

Thinking of this, he immediately straightened his back and went out to ask someone to do it.

All night, Ping An didn't sleep, and a small number of people didn't sleep either. New interrogation results kept coming out, so new people were arrested, and the lights of the Imperial City Division didn't go out all night.By daybreak, things will be almost settled.

Qian Cheng handed the list to Ping An, "My lord, do you want to go to the palace and ask for instructions?"

After all, these are all court officials, and the one with the highest official position is even the fifth rank.Although the people in the Imperial City Department are also of high grade, but the gold content is much different from that of others who have been tested seriously.To arrest these people, Qian Cheng had no idea.

Ping An casually took out a letter and threw it on the table, raised his chin, and motioned for him to read it.

Qian Cheng picked it up, and when he saw the words "Sacred Edict", he couldn't help but bend down.When he raised his head, he looked at Ping An with excitement as if he was about to rush over.Pingan quickly said, "Can we arrest people now?"

"Yes, yes." Qian Cheng was so excited that he carefully put the letter away, and then went out with a breeze on his feet.There is a handbook, let alone items, so what if it is a third-rank official?Still catch!

When he found out what Ping An had done, the emperor realized that he was relieved too early.

He thought that Ping An knew it well and wouldn't make a big fuss, so he had nothing to worry about.As a result, Ping An did not make a big fuss. As of now, there is still no rumors about this incident. It can be seen that the Secretary of the Imperial City's neat handling of affairs has indeed reduced the impact to a minimum.

But look who he caught?

Qiu Wenhao, the chief examiner of Qiuwei on Gyeonggi Road this time, is a scholar of Hanlin Academy!A member of the third rank, a close minister of the emperor, with the title of Zhi Zhi!

Who gave him the guts? !