Chapter 631

Shenjing, Court of Judicial Review office.

Before the Wu hour arrived, Wei Guanyao, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, had already returned to his office; he flipped through the copied impeachment memorial in his hand, his expression quite solemn.

Originally, the morning audience in the palace began every day at the Chen hour and ended at the end of the Si hour.

But today, in the Fengtian Hall, the Censor Sun Shouzhen suddenly impeached the matter of imperial examination fraud, shocking the court and completely disrupting the rhythm of the morning audience.

The current Emperor had no heart to listen to government affairs and dismissed the court early, a full hour earlier than usual.

Wei Guanyao was an old minister of the Emperor Jia Zhao reign and had always been highly regarded by Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao, so he often moved around in front of the Emperor and had a good understanding of his current temperament.

Whenever a major case of imperial examination fraud appeared, for the sake of the scholars' hearts and the stability of the government, monarchs would never be soft-hearted; anyone involved would be severely punished and never forgiven.

He thought of the Emperor's eyes, which were full of gloom and anger when he saw Xu Liangxiong kneeling in court as he left his seat and dismissed the court, which made people shudder.

Wei Guanyao knew very well that the Emperor had developed murderous intent!

Moreover, the Emperor did not follow the usual legal procedures to hand over the imperial examination fraud case to the Three Judicial Offices for filing and handling, but let Zhou Junxing of the Court of Judicature be responsible for the investigation, with the Court of Judicial Review only assisting.

No one inside or outside the court did not know Zhou Junxing's reputation as a cruel official; once he presided over a major imperial examination fraud case, it would surely involve a wide range of people, stir up bloody storms, and the consequences would be unpredictable.

Since the fifteen years of the Emperor Jia Zhao reign, there had never been a major imperial examination fraud case, and today's court incident touched the Emperor's reverse scale.

This was using Zhou Junxing as a blade, establishing prestige with strict laws, deterring evil, and warning others, so that those who came later would never dare to cross the line again when facing the grand ceremony of talent selection!

At this moment, shadows moved at the office door, and a young official in his twenties entered, looking upright and capable.

He saw Wei Guanyao and asked: "My lord, you summoned your subordinate, I don't know what instructions you have."

Wei Guanyao saw the person who came, his expression softened slightly, and he said: "Hongbin, a major event happened at the morning audience today; the Censor Sun Shouzhen submitted a memorial impeaching the chief examiner for the metropolitan examination, Xu Liangxiong, for selling questions and fraud."

The person who came was Yang Hongbin, Director of the Court of Judicial Review; years ago, he assisted Jia Cong in Jinling to solve the major case of the Water Supervision Office, and because of his merit, he was promoted to Grade 6 Director of the Court of Judicial Review.

In the past few years, due to his merit in solving cases and his excellent performance evaluation by the Ministry of Personnel, he was promoted to a Grade 5 official position and was a capable person highly regarded by Wei Guanyao, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

Although Yang Hongbin's promotion speed was not slow, his Grade 5 official rank was just outside the sequence of the morning audience, so he did not know about today's morning audience.

But he was also from a proper imperial examination background and naturally knew that imperial examination fraud was no small matter; hearing Wei Guanyao's words, his expression could not help but change.

Wei Guanyao handed the copied impeachment memorial to Yang Hongbin and said: "The Emperor has already issued an oral decree that this case will be primarily investigated by Zhou Junxing of the Court of Judicature, and the Court of Judicial Review will send personnel to assist.

You are a shrewd person in the office; the major imperial examination fraud case is no small matter. This official wants you to coordinate the assistance for this case. This is Sun Shouzhen's memorial; can you see any clues in it?"

Yang Hongbin took the memorial, flew through it twice, pondered for a moment, and said: "My lord, Sun Shouzhen's impeachment memorial, if what is said is true, rather than speculation based on hearsay.

Although your subordinate cannot determine for a moment whether Xu Liangxiong deliberately committed fraud, according to the words of the old man at the bookstore, Xu Liangxiong and the candidate Wu Liang had visits and interactions before the metropolitan examination.

The so-called proposed questions and the metropolitan examination policy essay questions are all related to that "Tui Si Ji"; just based on this point, Xu Liangxiong cannot escape the suspicion of leaking examination questions!"

Wei Guanyao smiled slightly and said: "Hongbin's vision is sharp; this time Xu Liangxiong will surely find it difficult to extricate himself, and I don't know how many people will be involved.

For this fraud case, the Emperor let Zhou Junxing of the Court of Judicature preside; this person's reputation as a cruel official is known to all in the court and the public. I am worried that in order to win the Emperor's favor, he will stop at nothing and involve a wide range of people.

You and I are both from a scholarly background; imperial examination fraud must be strictly punished, but if someone uses the investigation of fraud to involve the innocent and expand the situation, that would be a great violation of the original intention and would harm the Emperor's virtuous reputation."

Wei Guanyao took out a slip of paper and handed it to Yang Hongbin, saying: "The most urgent matter now is to arrest the candidate Wu Liang of this session as soon as possible and ask for the ins and outs of the matter.

Candidates from other provinces coming to the capital to take the examination live scattered all over Shenjing, and ordinary people find it difficult to know their addresses, but before the candidates take the examination, they register their residence addresses at the Ministry of Rites, which is for the purpose of reporting good news after making the list.

Before I left the palace, I specifically found Minister Guo of the Ministry of Rites to help; he asked his subordinates to urgently check Wu Liang's address, which was just secretly sent to the office.

Moreover, the Director of the Ministry of Rites who manages the candidates' files suddenly fell ill today and is currently resting and receiving treatment; if others want to check Wu Liang's address, I fear it will not be so convenient."

Yang Hongbin's eyes lit up, and he said: "Your subordinate understands, I will take people to arrest Wu Liang and bring him to justice, so as not to let someone steal the show, be blinded by greed, force a confession, and hide the truth."

West of Love Shenjing, Hongxiang Inn.

Yang Hongbin took the Court of Judicial Review runners, carried the arrest warrant, and rushed to the inn to arrest Wu Liang and bring him to justice.

Just now at the Court of Judicial Review office, Wei Guanyao's meaning was clear: imperial examination fraud must be strictly punished, but Zhou Jun cannot be allowed to cover the sky with one hand and act recklessly.

Zhou Junxing of the Court of Judicature had always been arrogant and ruthless; although hindered by Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's imperial majesty, the civil officials of various offices and the Court of Judicature lived in peace on the surface, but inside, they were mostly at odds.

If this time, Zhou Junxing, in order to cater to the Emperor's will, used the investigation of the imperial examination fraud case to involve many people and eliminate dissidents, the Court of Judicature's power would surely rise.

The sharp blade in Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's hand would become sharper and sharper, and the civil officials in the court would inevitably feel insecure.

Whether it was Minister of the Ministry of Rites Guo Youchang or Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Wei Guanyao, when facing the possible unfavorable situation, their hearts were all united against the enemy.

Otherwise, how could the Director of the Ministry of Rites who manages the candidates' files suddenly fall ill?

Just now at the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review's office, Wei Guanyao's words to Yang Hongbin only touched on the point, and some things were not convenient to explain.

But Yang Hongbin, with his ability in investigation and interrogation, had a great reputation in the Court of Judicial Review; how could such a shrewd and capable person not hear the deep meaning in it?

In the officialdom, when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold; the clear and the turbid cannot tolerate each other; it is either the east wind prevailing over the west wind, or the west wind prevailing over the east wind; he knew this truth even better.

Therefore, after he got the address given by Wei Guanyao, he rushed to Hongxiang Inn without stopping to arrest Wu Liang and bring him to justice.

The inn's waiter and the shopkeeper saw the large group of officials rush into the inn, and everyone's face changed greatly.

Yang Hongbin said to the runners under his command: "Guard the front and back doors of the inn, don't let the criminal escape, search all the guest rooms, don't miss any, call the shopkeeper over to answer questions!"

The inn's shopkeeper was brought to Yang Hongbin by the runners, and he asked with trepidation: "My lord, my shop is a long-standing old brand, always doing things according to the rules, and has never done anything illegal.

I don't know what official business you have coming to my shop; your humble servant hasn't done anything bad."

Yang Hongbin asked: "This official came here to arrest a suspect; did a candidate from Hangzhou Prefecture named Wu Liang live in your shop?"

The shopkeeper's face changed greatly when he heard this, and he said tremblingly: "My lord, why do you also want to arrest Candidate Wu..."

Yang Hongbin's eyes widened when he heard this, and he asked with a solemn expression: "What do you mean by this? Could it be that someone else came to arrest him?"

The shopkeeper said: "An hour ago, a large group of lieutenants from the Court of Judicature came, saying that Candidate Wu had committed a crime, and had already taken him away, even the square cap on his head was removed..."

Yang Hongbin's face changed greatly when he heard this, and he asked sternly: "It really was people from the Court of Judicature, they arrested Wu Liang an hour ago; if you are deceiving this official, you will have to face a lawsuit!"

The shopkeeper was so scared that he knelt down with a thud and shouted: "My lord, even if your humble servant had the courage of heaven, I wouldn't dare to deceive a superior official.

The clothing and identity plates of those people were indeed official runners from the Court of Judicature; they often move around in the market, and your humble servant has opened an inn for a lifetime, so I would absolutely not mistake them.

Your humble servant's shop has been open for two generations, for decades, and today is the first time two groups of official runners have come to arrest people; your humble servant is scared to death, where would I have the courage to tell a lie..."

Yang Hongbin, a person good at interrogation, observing words and expressions, and exploring people's hearts, was the best at it; as soon as he saw the shopkeeper's face and expression, he knew he was not lying.

At this time, the runners who searched the guest rooms of the inn returned one after another, all returning empty-handed; at this time, the whole inn was noisy, and many guests gathered in the shop hall to see what was happening. Yang Hongbin found two guests who looked like scholars to ask, and only then did he know that both were candidates who made the list this session.

A scholar in his thirties said: "This official, what the shopkeeper said is not half wrong; just now, Wu Yiwen from Hangzhou Prefecture was indeed taken away by people from the Court of Judicature.

We are all candidates who made the list; the country treats scholars with courtesy, and originally, we fellow candidates would absolutely not let the lackeys of the Court of Judicature be presumptuous.

But today, the person leading the team to make the arrest was Zheng Yingquan, a Grade 6 Director of the Court of Judicature.

He said that Wu Liang was involved in imperial examination fraud and stole academic honors, and was reported to the Court of Judicature this morning, and the chief examiner for the spring examination, Lord Xu Liangxiong, was also involved.

We heard that the incident involved fraud in the examination hall, so we did not stop them; may I ask, my lord, is it true?"

Yang Hongbin shouted "not good" in his heart when he heard this; an hour ago, the morning audience in the palace had not even been dismissed, so according to reason, the Court of Judicature should not have moved so quickly to arrest people.

Why was the matter so coincidental, just today, someone reported it to the Court of Judicature, letting the other party take the lead and arrest the person away.

Yang Hongbin often investigated cases and had seen many dark and gloomy things; he couldn't help but feel suspicious in his heart, feeling that there was something strange about the matter, but he had no evidence at all right now.

Moreover, the Court of Judicature handled things so fiercely; now there were still over a thousand candidates staying in the capital, how did the Court of Judicature receive the report and immediately find Wu Liang's residence...

!

At this time, Yang Hongbin was full of frustration; to the scholar's question, he responded casually: "The matter of imperial examination fraud is no small matter; now the government is still investigating, and it has not been confirmed whether it is true or false.

Since you are candidates of this session, you should take the overall situation into account; before the government has a clear notice, you must not spread rumors at will."

That middle-aged candidate had a strange expression: "My lord, I fear it's too late for these words; the person from the Court of Judicature just now acted with great fanfare and loudly announced Wu Yiwen's crimes to others.

If it weren't for this, we fellow candidates would have had scruples and would not have let them easily take the person away.

This matter is already known to everyone; right now, besides the three hundred candidates in the city, there are over a thousand failed candidates; the matter of fraud has always been a concern for scholars.

I fear that before sunset, this matter will spread throughout the city..."

Yang Hongbin felt a chill all over his body when he heard this; Zhou Junxing of the Court of Judicature was worthy of his reputation as a cruel official; his actions were ruthless and fierce, making people look sideways.

Now that the suspect's confession had not been determined, his subordinates intentionally released the wind, spread public opinion, and stirred up a tide; this fraud case was I fear troublesome...

Yang Hongbin told the runner squad leader who was with him to return to the Court of Judicial Review office immediately and report the situation to the Minister, and he himself took two followers and went directly to the Court of Judicature office.

Shenjing, Court of Judicature office, prison room.

A ladle of cold water was poured over his head, waking Wu Liang from his coma.

Half a month ago, he was in high spirits and made the metropolitan examination list.

A few days ago, he experienced the highest honor of a scholar, standing among the three hundred candidates, and entered the Huangji Hall to participate in the palace examination.

As a student, after more than ten years of devoted study, he finally achieved his wish and possessed all the glory a scholar could obtain.

When the palace examination ended, and he and many fellow candidates walked out of the Huangji Hall, how joyful his mood was at that moment.

The palace examination does not eliminate candidates, and more importantly, he made the top ranks of the metropolitan examination; as long as the palace examination ended, he was destined to be a successful candidate, and perhaps even enter the Hanlin Academy.

His family was well-off, his parents were alive, and now he had become a successful candidate; even if he didn't become an official, this life would be incomparably glorious, with no more regrets.

Although among the candidates for the palace examination, Lin Zhaohe, Jia Cong, and others were more brilliant than him, Wu Liang only admired them and had no jealousy, because he was already satisfied.

Even he himself did not expect that his life could be so perfect.

Since the palace examination ended, in these short two days, he had sunk into a supreme dream, and the comfort and satisfaction in his heart could not be described in words.

Tomorrow is the 15th of May, the day the palace examination results are posted; today he was prepared to invite his fellow student Lin Zhaohe to have a small drink, and tomorrow go to the wall under the east side of the Ministry of Rites to see the list together.

He had also thought about inviting Zhou Yan to drink together, but worried that he and Lin Zhaohe would touch Zhou Yan's heart disease of failing the examination, so he decided to wait until his mood calmed down before inviting him...

Just as he was full of ambition for everything, the lieutenants of the Court of Judicature suddenly rushed into the inn, and all his beautiful dreams instantly turned into a man-eating nightmare.

The official of the Court of Judicature said that someone had reported him for colluding with the chief examiner for this session, Xu Liangxiong, to find out the theme of the metropolitan examination policy essay in advance and engage in the sale of examination questions and fraud.

He asked himself if he had engaged in the sale of examination questions and fraud, but finding out the theme of the metropolitan examination policy essay made him feel guilty...

When the lieutenants of the Court of Judicature dragged him out of the inn, all he could do was shout loudly that he was wronged.

But the lackeys of the Court of Judicature not only did not soften their hearts, but also publicized his crime of fraud to the fellow candidates present, making him lose face and making him feel that disaster was imminent.

He was thrown into the prison of the Court of Judicature, and the official of the Court of Judicature interrogated him; he could only refuse to admit it, otherwise he would be irredeemable.

Moreover, he firmly believed that he had not engaged in the sale of examination questions and fraud, and even less had he bribed or colluded with the chief examiner Xu Liangxiong; he had only taken a shortcut by coincidence...

He was a candidate for this session; without solid evidence to convict him, the law does not apply to scholars.

However, an hour ago, an official of the Court of Judicature appeared in the prison room, and the situation completely lost control.

The other party actually disregarded the regulations of the country's scholars and brazenly used major torture on him.

A whipping left him with torn skin and flesh, blood staining his robe, and he fainted several times, but he gritted his teeth and held on.

However, the red-hot branding iron pressed tightly against his waist and back twice, and the heart-piercing pain completely defeated his will; he confessed everything, only asking for a quick death...

When the prison guard held his hand and pressed his fingerprint on the confession, the huge humiliation and despair made him faint again, until he was awakened by several ladles of cold water.

He woke up and saw a face before him, refined and elegant, which should have been a hypocritical civil official.

But in Wu Liang's eyes, he was no different from a ghost from hell; it was this person who ordered the use of torture, and he was Zhou Junxing, Director of the Court of Judicature.

At this moment, he held the confession with the fingerprint and looked at it carefully several times.

He said gloomily: "Wu Liang, you just confessed that there were seven candidates in total who visited Xu Liangxiong with you and received his guidance on the questions.

But I looked at the names carefully and found that one person was still missing; having reached such a situation, you actually still have something to hide!

The Court of Judicature has the most brilliant interrogation experts in Da Zhou; the methods you just tasted are really not worth mentioning; if you don't tell everything, living will be much harder than dying!"

The heart-piercing pain of several tortures made Wu Liang like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow, and he said hurriedly: "I have nothing to hide; including me, there were these seven people, and no others."

Zhou Junxing said in a deep voice: "Someone reported that Lin Zhaohe from Hangzhou Prefecture is your fellow student and close friend, and you two have a deep friendship.

This person made the third place on the metropolitan examination list; if you hadn't also leaked the examination questions to him, how could he have made the list like this..." (End of chapter)