Chapter 107: Imperial Edict Appointing Jia Cong as Fengyi Officer

On the seventh day after the Yongzhou Academy examination results were posted.

The uproar from days earlier, when academy candidates accused the top scorer of cheating, had not yet subsided.

The Ministry of Rites had received the accusers' petition; in court, Censorate officials impeached the Yongzhou Academy examination for fraud, strongly urging the court to strip Jia Cong of his top-scorer title.

Cheating in the imperial examination was neither a civil nor criminal matter, nor political strife, nor treason.

Thus, the Ministry of Justice had no authority to try it, the Court of Judicial Review had no authority to review it, and the Censorate could only observe and supervise.

The only body in the Great Zhou with authority to investigate and adjudicate examination fraud cases was the long-dormant, now-revived Tribunal of Inquiry.

Established during the Emperor Hongxuan era, the Tribunal of Inquiry reached its peak under Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao; in the eyes of the Great Zhou's officials and commoners, its bloody, fearsome reputation could silence crying children at night.

Although the Tribunal of Inquiry had been a beggar for the past five years, its reactivation by Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao now seemed even more formidable than before.

Some even took delight in imagining the Tribunal's hounds storming into Lady Rongguo Prefecture, dragging away the Jia family boy who had seized the top-scorer title like a lowly prisoner.

I, together with the Yongzhou Academy Director and Vice Minister of Rites Guo Guo Youchang, have drafted an imperial edict based on the Tribunal's findings, to clarify the truth.

…

This matter has stirred widespread debate across court and countryside; I ordered the Ministry of Rites to verify Jia Cong's lineage and tasked the Tribunal's Zhou Jun with investigating the origins of the students' accusations—now all facts are in place.

Since the student accusation concerns the imperial examination, a grand ceremony watched by all scholars, it cannot be taken lightly.

It drew the attention of many neighbors and passersby.

The Tribunal's Captain flew into a rage, slapped the scholar across the face, and knocked him to the ground: "You fool, the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate both wish you dead—take him away!"

To these busybodies, this would be an exhilarating scene, one they could recount for years to come.

"You're lawless! Only the Academy Director of one province may revoke a scholar's title—I'll petition the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate against you!"

"A few days ago, academy candidates gathered at the Ministry of Rites, accusing the top scorer Jia Cong—the son of a courtesan—of lacking eligibility for the examination; according to our dynasty's ancestral examination rules, his title must be revoked."

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao sat upon his high throne, looking down upon the assembly of civil and military officials, a fierce resolve burning in his chest.

The seventh day of the eighth month, the twelfth year of Emperor Jia Zhao.

Guo Guo Youchang's face was grave as he unfurled the yellow silk edict and read aloud:

By the Mandate of Heaven,

In the Imperial Palace of the Great Zhou, Hall of Heavenly Mandate.

But such a thing never came to pass.

Minister Guo, read the edict!"

The scholar, seeing the crowd gather, declared sternly: "I am a scholar! Our dynasty honors scholars; scholars may not be subjected to humiliating punishment. You are flouting law and order, disgracing the scholarly class!"

Yet the Tribunal's hounds did move—but not to Lady Rongguo Prefecture to arrest Jia Cong.

A Tribunal Captain, accompanied by several constables, dragged out from a roadside inn a tall, thin scholar like a stray dog.

They went instead to a small inn several streets away from Lady Rongguo Prefecture.

The lead Captain sneered as he tore the scholar's square cap from his head: "Now you're no longer a scholar."

Liu Liu Wenxuan, a scholar from Deqing Prefecture, along with thirty-one Yongzhou Academy candidates, accused the current top scorer Jia Cong of lacking examination eligibility and petitioned to revoke his title.

The Ministry of Rites, acting on imperial decree, verified Jia Cong's lineage: he was born in the first year of Emperor Jia Zhao, in March; his mother was the former courtesan Du Du Jinniang; his father is Jia She, First-Rank General of Lady Rongguo Prefecture.

Raised in the Jia household for thirteen years since birth, his name is recorded in the Lady Rongguo Jia family genealogy, honored in the Jia ancestral shrine, witnessed by ancestral spirits—he is unquestionably a blood descendant of the Jia clan.

The Tribunal of Inquiry confirmed that Liu Liu Wenxuan, incited by others, was jealous of talent and virtue, driven by petty malice, colluding with scholars to swarm government offices, falsely accusing others and attempting to destroy their achievements.

His moral character is corrupt, violating the teachings of the sages and defiling the purity of the scholarly class; upon recommendation by Yongzhou Academy Director Guo Guo Youchang, Liu Liu Wenxuan's scholar title is revoked, and he is permanently barred from office.

The remaining accusers are to be returned to their home prefectures for observation.

Additionally, Censor Chen Min, ignorant of the facts, ignored the root causes, and submitted his report on hearsay, showing negligence and disrespect toward governance; in court, he insulted another's parent and sought to strip their child's title, tarnishing the Censorate's honor.

He is dismissed from his post as Censor and demoted to Assistant Judge of Dezhou Prefecture, to be observed for future conduct.

I am moved by this: our dynasty governs the realm through filial piety; filial piety recognizes no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate, no division of noble and base—only the bond of kinship matters.

Jia Cong, the top scorer of the Yongzhou Academy, is still young, yet his talent and learning are exceptional, his calligraphy refined; he does not despise his lowborn birth mother, nor does he abandon her despite her death; he speaks boldly and acts with sincerity, showing profound filial devotion—this deeply moves me.

I hereby appoint Jia Cong as Eighth-Rank Fengyi Officer, by imperial command, to travel to Jinling's Grand Mercy Temple to transcribe sutras and pray for the Empress Dowager Empress Xianxiao; all arrangements shall be handled by the Ministry of Rites' Sacrificial Division according to protocol. So decreed!

After reading the edict, Guo Guo Youchang bowed deeply to Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao, then returned silently to his place in the Ministry of Rites.

He paid no heed to the uproar that erupted among the civil and military officials after his reading.

This edict carried immense weight!

Nobles such as First-Class Count Niu Jizong and First-Class Viscount Liu Fang felt Jia Cong had astonishing fortune: first falsely accused as a courtesan's son, targeted for revocation of his top-scorer title.

Yet in the end, fortune turned—he gained fortune from misfortune, elevated from scholar to Eighth-Rank Fengyi Officer by imperial decree.

Only after passing the provincial examination and becoming a Provincial Graduate Wu could one normally be granted official rank.

For a scholar to be appointed Eighth-Rank official directly—rare in the seventy-plus years since the founding of the Great Zhou.

But the civil officials in court saw far beyond the surface, unlike Niu Jizong and the other nobles.

They did not care whether the top scorer of the academy was stripped of his title.

Nor did they care whether a boastful, foolish scholar lost his rank.

Even the demotion of Censor Chen Min held little concern for them.

Those Censorate censors constantly reported rumors, spoke without basis; walk too many night paths, you'll inevitably get your shoes wet—being dismissed by the Emperor was common.

Moreover, no official ever liked censors; let them die or live, none cared.

These cunning civil officials, the only phrase in the entire edict that struck them like thunder, was this: "Filial piety recognizes no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate, no division of noble and base—only the bond of kinship matters."

That phrase revealed the Emperor's true intent; that phrase was the edict's real purpose!

The rest—the revocation of a scholar's title, the dismissal of a censor, even the appointment of a scholar to Eighth-Rank—were merely decoys.

The Emperor used Jia Cong's false accusation as a pivot, rewarding him lavishly for his pure filial devotion to his lowborn birth mother.

He was using another's story to pour wine on his own grievances, mocking the civil officials' rigid adherence to ritual as ignorant, false filial piety—obsessed with legitimacy, noble and base, blind to true kinship.

The Emperor further cited Jia Cong's mastery of calligraphy, granting him Eighth-Rank rank by imperial decree, and dispatching him to Jinling's Grand Mercy Temple to transcribe sutras for Empress Dowager Empress Xianxiao, assigning the Ministry of Rites to oversee all ceremonial details.

He made the matter appear grand, noble, and luminous.

In essence, the favor shown to Jia Cong was hollow; the true aim was to elevate Empress Dowager Empress Xianxiao—the Emperor intended to make the act of building a temple and erecting a stele to pray for his birth mother an established fact.

A scholar transcribing sutras for the Empress Dowager, himself a top scorer and Eighth-Rank official—how exalted this made Empress Dowager Empress Xianxiao appear.

The civil officials, who had long prided themselves on upholding ancestral rites and laws, began stirring, their fighting spirit rising, pondering how to petition the court.

Yet all those intending to speak merely exchanged glances—none dared be the first to step forward.

For they now realized the court's situation today was unlike any before—indeed, it carried hidden peril!

(End of Chapter)