Chongxi [rebirth]

The scene of Ye Zhili being escorted away from the court hall made many courtiers terrified.

As a result, Yu Jia's personal conquest, which would have been opposed vociferously, unexpectedly few people dared to speak out against it.Li Fengqi glanced at the well-behaved courtiers like quails with satisfaction, thinking that it was not in vain that he deliberately left Ye Zhili until today to deal with them.

It seems that the deterrent effect is quite good.

Since no one opposed him at the court, Li Fengqi's confidantes and subordinates were all generals, so naturally they all supported the imperial conquest.So after spending five days preparing food, grass and supplies, Li Fengqi personally led the troops to Zhongzhou.

Ye Yunting is in charge of Shangjing.

On the day of the expedition, all the civil and military officials went to see him off.Li Fengqi changed out of his dragon robe, wearing black armour, with a long sword on his waist, with awe-inspiring aura.Behind him, the [-] Xuanjia troops were neatly formed and full of pride.

After drinking the practice wine, the army will set off.

Ye Yunting didn't drive back to the palace until the army disappeared.

The civil and military officials who followed behind looked at the figure on the imperial chariot, with different thoughts, but they all breathed a sigh of relief—when the former emperor was there, they seemed to have a cloud hanging over their heads at any time. ? With a knife, the spirit is tense all day long, and I feel anxious.Now that the emperor is gone, they can finally catch their breath.

The atmosphere among the courtiers became obviously loose.

From the corner of his eyes, Ye Yunting caught a glimpse of the officials who were talking and laughing, and had already discussed where they were going to go for a drink and get together, and curled their lips, pretending not to know.

On the second day of the army's expedition, Ye Yunting went to court alone.

The two dragon chairs in the Hall of Supreme Harmony were empty, and the courtiers who came to Dianmao became obviously careless. Some even asked for leave, drinking and having fun at home and did not go to court; the officials who came to court, except for the king And except for the few officials who are leading the way as in the past, the rest are silent, just come to the court, and wait for the court to disperse.

Ye Yunting watched, but still didn't say a word, let alone show any anger.

Seeing that no one was doing anything, he ordered Zhou Ji to blow his whip to disperse the court.

Those officials who were still on the sidelines, seeing his attitude, thought that he was really a show, and became more courageous.After leaving the Hall of Supreme Harmony, they gathered together in twos and threes, chatting and laughing: "I thought how powerful is that one, but it's just a fox pretending to be a tiger. Once this tiger leaves, he has no support, and he doesn't even dare to lose his temper."

"Now that His Majesty is personally on the expedition, and there is nothing wrong with the government, we just happen to be relaxed."

An official suggested, "How about going to Yicui Building for a drink?"

This proposal was echoed by many courtiers, and they immediately went to Yicui Tower in groups of three or four.

Since the new emperor came to the throne, they were forced by the power of the new emperor. They were afraid that they might make a mistake and lose their black clothes. Except for going to court, they would stay behind closed doors on weekdays.

Now it can be regarded as a period of time to be relaxed and happy, and the outside of the Hall of Supreme Harmony is full of cheerful atmosphere for a while.

Wang Qie, who was behind, saw it, frowned, hesitated for a while, and went to the imperial study.

When we arrived at the imperial study room, we saw Zhou Ji was outside—after the imperial court was over on weekdays, the emperor and King Changning would go to the imperial study room to deal with the official business of the memorial. try your luck.

Seeing that the person was really there, his heart was still relaxed.

"Master Wang wants to see King Changning?" Zhou Ji saw him and walked forward with a smile.

"That's right, please ask Zhou Changshi to pass it on for you." Wang Qie bowed his hands to him.

Zhou Ji responded, opened the door and went in to announce, and came out after a while to invite him in.

The king followed him in, and saw Ye Yunting was buried in front of the dragon case to deal with the memorial. Seeing him coming in, he called "Uncle" naturally, and said seriously, "Uncle, do you have something to report?"

Glancing at Zhou Ji, Wang Qie showed hesitation.

Zhou Ji served the tea, and led the rest of the servants back with a wink, and closed the door by the way.

Seeing this, Wang Qie thought about it and said: "Now that His Majesty is not here, some people in the court... have some people's hearts fluttering." His words were already very euphemistic, and he tried not to make his words so harsh: "Now that the new dynasty has just been established, Your Majesty? If the lord does not use tougher tactics when he is going on an expedition, it may be difficult to restrain these courtiers."

Since ancient times, when the ruler is strong, the subjects are weak.On the contrary, if the master is weak and the minister is strong, I am afraid that we will raise evil wolves and plant disasters.

Ye Yunting glanced at him in surprise, but he didn't expect Wang Qie to come looking for him specifically to remind him.

Wang Qie was not close to him before, he thought that after learning the truth, even if he would not resent him, their relationship might not be too close.Even though he actually felt guilty, he always wanted to look for opportunities to make amends.

"I understand what uncle means."

Ye Yunting laughed: "But now is also a good time, why don't you tell them to relax their vigilance, how can they know which ones are vegetarian and which ones are usable?"

After all, under Li Fengqi's high pressure, these courtiers are more honest than quails? They pretend to be conscientious all day long.One? The monarch and the courtiers, the old accounts in the past are not easy to turn over, and it is even more difficult to get rid of them for no reason. Now, just taking advantage of Li Fengqi's absence, let's see what ghosts and monsters can't help but show up.

Wang Qie is a smart man, after hearing a few words from him, he already understood.He cupped his hands and said: "Since the prince knows what he knows, I won't say much."

After speaking, I was ready to say goodbye.

It was Ye Yunting who stopped him and asked, "How is Ye Zhili's trial?"

When it came to this matter, Wang Qie showed a little smile on his cold and hard face: "He has revealed a lot of things, and after sorting them out, I will present them to the lord."

Ye Yunting also just asked casually, and when he saw some progress, he stopped caring and ordered Zhou Ji to send him out.

……

After dealing with the government affairs, Ye Yunting stretched his waist and rubbed his slightly sore eyes.

It just so happened that Zhou Ji brought over minced fish soup and rubbed his temples for him.

"Why are you bringing food at this time?"

Ye Yunting glanced at it. He didn't intend to eat at first, but he heard Zhou Ji say, "Your Majesty specially instructed you before you leave. In case the prince will forget the time when he is dealing with political affairs, he ordered the imperial dining room to bring some food every noon."

"...Then eat some." Ye Yunting picked up the porridge spoon and took a sip. The aroma of minced fish mixed with the aroma of porridge and rice diffused, soothing the slightly uncomfortable stomach.

Ye Yunting rolled his eyes and began to eat in small bites.

After finishing a bowl of porridge, I got up: "Drive to Qiao's Mansion."

Zhou Ji is not much? Ask, go down immediately to prepare chariots and horses.

The matter of Ye Yunting's going to Qiao's residence was not hidden, so the well-informed courtiers should have known about it.

Qiao Hairen, a servant under the door, had offended Li Xing several times because of Zhao's old case, and had long since been dismissed from office.Others originally thought that Ye Yunting was going to invite Qiao Hairen back to sit in the court, but he left within half an hour after he left, and there was no movement in Qiao's mansion after that.

So all the courtiers were completely relieved?

Only a few vigilant courtiers smelled something unusual, and no matter how others persuaded them, they went to court on time as usual and handled their errands honestly.

One turn is half a month past.

Li Fengqi has led his troops to Zhongzhou to appease the refugees fleeing from Yuzhou. He is counting the troops and may start a war with the Dongyi army occupying Yuzhou at any time.

However, the battle in the south is still stalemate. The two sides are fighting back and forth. South Vietnam has taken the lead and still occupies the three states of Runan. Zhenguo Marquis Jiang Shu has been unable to attack for a long time, and has asked the court several times to lead troops. support.But the east side is fighting at the same time, and the troops are tight. How can we mobilize troops in a short while?Can only be pressed.

The situation in the east and south is tense and the atmosphere is solemn.Shangjing is no different from the past.

Under Ye Yunting's silence and connivance, some courtiers became more and more unscrupulous, and the children of the aristocratic families who had restrained a lot in the past also let go of their hands and feet, and only wished that the new emperor would never return to the court.

Ye Yunting sat in the palace, sorted the news from below and placed them one by one. Looking at the thick pile of secret letters, he asked Zhou Ji: "Isn't the palace examination in two days?"

"Yes." Zhou Ji said, "Everything is ready."

"That's good." Ye Yunting lowered his eyes and smiled coldly.

Two days later in the morning, the palace examination was held in Changqing Palace.

After being checked, the candidates who participated in the palace examination entered the examination room in order to salute and take their seats, and then quietly waited for the examiner to order someone to issue a strategy question.

Ye Yunting sat on it in a silver-white five-claw golden dragon robe. Although he was silent, he would not be easily ignored.Some bold movers secretly raised their eyelids to take a look, but they felt awe-inspiring and did not dare to look directly.He could only lower his head hastily again, pretending to study the pattern on the table.

The chief examiner was Qiao Hairen, his sharp eyes swept across the audience, and he ordered people to present the questions in a leisurely manner.

Therefore, this time is the additional Enke, with a large number of references?.The gestures are different.Some people were full of surprises after reading the policy questions, while others turned from joy to surprise after reading the policy questions, and then broke out in cold sweat.

Some people even let out a low cry and fell to the ground: "Why is it different?!"

His voice was not loud, but in the hall where there was only the sound of paper pages, it was very clear.The candidates sitting near him all turned to look at him.

Ye Yunting and Qiao Hairen exchanged glances, and then some guards took the examinee down.

The sudden change caused all the candidates to panic, not knowing what happened.

And just when they were full of doubts, Ye Yunting, who was sitting at the top, took the initiative to solve their doubts.He stepped down the steps, looked around, and comforted him in a soft voice: "Before the exam started, the exam questions were leaked. Therefore, I temporarily changed a set of questions. Don't panic, everyone, just rest assured that the answer is right."

He couldn't speak more lightly, but he caused a storm in the examination room.

Most of the examinees showed indignation. If the exam questions were leaked seriously, how unfair would it be to these candidates who are only fighting for one day in ten years?Fortunately, the king of Changning found out in advance that the policy topic had been changed.Otherwise, those who cheated would probably squeeze out their positions.

The examinee who was dragged down just now probably knew the exam questions in advance.

Thinking of this, when many candidates looked at Ye Yunting again, their eyes were filled with gratitude.Then he calmed down and buried himself in writing.After all, they don't know the exam questions in advance, and it doesn't make any difference to them whether they change the exam questions or not, they just need to answer the questions with all their strength.

But those who bought the exam questions in advance couldn't calm down.

A few days ago, they did? Bought the exam questions from some people, and asked people to memorize the articles in advance, just waiting for the day of the palace exam to show their skills.

How could King Changning know about this?

Will King Changning find out that they bought the test questions?

How should they answer the exam questions?

All kinds of questions were backlogged in their minds. Dozens of cheating candidates were sweating, their eyes wandering, let alone calm down? They couldn't even hold their pens firmly when answering the questions.

Qiao Hairen, who was old and strong, picked out a few trembling moves with piercing eyes, and ordered someone to hold them down.

A palace test lasted from sunrise to sunset.

Originally, Ye Yunting didn't need to sit here, but he deliberately stayed here.With the deliberate pressure from him and Qiao Hairen, 23 candidates who cheated were caught in one exam.As for whether there are any omissions, it must be determined after reviewing the candidates and the officials who sell the test questions.

As for what happened in Changqing Palace, outsiders still don't know.

The original chief examiner and Minister of Rites who leaked the exam questions have been detained for interrogation, and all the guards of Changqing Palace have been replaced by Ye Yunting's personal guards.Those candidates who were picked out were also sent directly to Dali Temple.

The whole process was covered tightly, and no news was leaked.

So when the officers and soldiers of Dali Temple came to pick up people according to the list, the officials who participated in it panicked.

Some people searched for people everywhere to intercede, some people were dying and refused to plead guilty, some people did not shed tears when they saw the coffin, beat them up and accused King Changning of planting and framing them, and avenged their personal revenge.

But no matter how these people yelled, Ye Yunting was the same as before. He didn't hear or ask.

However, Dali Temple moved very quickly, arresting people, interrogating them, arresting people again based on the confessions, and interrogating again... After a whole set of procedures, more than [-] officials were implicated.

Those with high official titles are like the former chief examiner, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, and those with high titles are like Yongyihou. They all participated in it.

The list of criminal officials and cheating candidates is a long list, both in terms of status and number, it is very frightening. If it is compared to a net, then with these people as the point, the relationship network weaved can spread all over the whole world. Go to Beijing.

If it is true? If all these people are dealt with, Ye Yunting will probably offend the entire noble family in Shangjing.

As a result, those criminal officials who were still a little flustered calmed down again.

If the law does not blame the people, the King of Changning might not have the guts to do so. It would probably be just a little bit of thunder and rain.

Yong Yihou even clamored openly, asking his wife to send a message to his father-in-law, Prince Li, to invite Prince Li to enter the palace and talk to Ye Yunting, and release him as soon as possible.Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to participate in the grandson's full moon wine.

The arrogance of the attitude is evident.

When the news spread to the palace, Ye Yunting calmly asked Zhou Ji, "Is Prince Li here?"

Zhou Ji laughed and said, "Prince Li is said to be ill and unable to get up. Now Prince Li's mansion is closed to thank guests."

"There are still smart people." Ye Yunting smiled, and threw down a stack of crimes: "Order the king, don't have to be scruples, and deal with them according to the law. Then order Zhu Lie to transfer five thousand Xuanjia from the camp outside the city. The army entered the city and strengthened the defense of Shangjing."

Zhou Ji took the order and left.

So three days later, a group of offenders who were lucky enough to commit crimes were all taken to the execution ground, and five thousand Xuanjia troops were stationed in the city at the same time, each of them was full of evil spirits, and they passed by the residences of the courtiers with knives in their arms. Very strong.

After that day, the execution ground was stained with blood, and the ruling and opposition parties finally understood from the blood lesson that King Changning was definitely not an embroidered pillow to be manipulated by others.His methods of doing things are as iron-blooded and ruthless as the new emperor.