Chapter 137

137. Chapter 136: Malpractice in the Examination Hall, Pulling Down the Flag and Raising a New One

Zhu Zhu Yijun sat on the imperial steps, silent, his face gloomy as he flipped through the list of successful candidates from the fifth year of Emperor Longqing, which Shen Shen Shixing had retrieved.

Shen Shen Shixing and Song Ru knelt in the hall to plead guilty.

The former was fine, but the latter was almost as if he were mourning his own death.

Originally, being summoned for a confrontation, while not a good thing, still allowed for some defense, and in the end, it would likely just result in a fine.

But instead...

The moment the Emperor entered the door and saw Song Ru's appearance, he began cursing, calling him by his name directly, and didn't give him a chance to speak at all! It was clear he was disgusted to the extreme!

And he knew his own age best.

Disaster! Disaster! If only he had been sent to a local post earlier!

Song Ru knelt at the very front, bearing the brunt of it.

A group of junior compilers stood behind, exchanging glances from time to time.

Clearly, the moment the Emperor saw Song Ru's appearance, the matter of Xiong Xiong Dunpu was naturally pushed to the background.

Wu Wu Zhongxing even cast a subtle glance at the Emperor.

Since seeing the Emperor, it seemed they had lost all initiative, being led by the nose by the Emperor the entire time.

Everyone had their own thoughts.

The hall was silent for a long while.

Zhu Zhu Yijun finally finished reading the list of successful candidates. He slowly closed it.

He pointed at Song Ru, looked at Wu Wu Zhongxing, and asked casually: "Official Wu, looking at this person's appearance, how old would you say he is?"

Wu Wu Zhongxing could not avoid it and had to bow: "Your Majesty, approximately... seventy years of age."

Zhu Zhu Yijun scanned the group of junior compilers, and everyone nodded in agreement.

He finally cast his gaze toward Shen Shen Shixing and asked unkindly: "Official Shen, what do you say?"

When the predecessor eats and smashes the pot, the successor has to suffer the consequences.

Shen Shen Shixing felt bitter, looked at Song Ru's full head of gray hair, and said reluctantly: "Your Majesty, he was born in the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, and is now sixty-nine years old."

After passing the provincial examination, one is admitted to the Imperial Academy, known as an Imperial Student. Naturally, there are files.

Moreover, Song Ru previously held the hereditary position of Vice Prefect of Mahazhou, so he had official status and naturally had records of his background.

The embarrassing thing was that there was a discrepancy in age between the list of successful candidates and the background documents.

Zhu Zhu Yijun casually threw the list of successful candidates onto the floor in front of Shen Shen Shixing and said coldly: "Then tell me, Official Shen, how did the black and white words 'thirty-five years old' on this list of successful candidates come about!"

"What kind of devil's den is the Hanlin Academy? After only two and a half years of training, it makes someone look this old!?"

Such an effect is impossible in the Hanlin Academy; two years in the Northern Prison might be enough, and kidney failure upon release wouldn't be impossible.

It was obvious that Zhu Zhu Yijun was speaking sarcastically.

Shen Shen Shixing was unable to answer how old this old Tong Jinshi really was.

He had to go to the Ministry of Personnel to have someone retrieve the list of successful candidates, case files, etc.

The result was even more ridiculous: according to the list of successful candidates, this old Tong Jinshi with a face full of furrows was only thirty-five years old in the fifth year of Emperor Longqing!

To fool the Emperor to this extent!?

To select junior compilers, the age could be cut in half!?

And Song Ru, who was being discussed, had no chance to interject at all.

Regardless of who paved the way for him to be selected as a junior compiler, or how old he really was.

Seeing that the Emperor couldn't even be bothered to look at him, Song Ru trembled even more violently.

Disaster! Disaster!

Everyone had different thoughts.

Shen Shen Shixing felt like crying but had no tears, bowing and pleading: "Your Majesty, when the list was sent to the Hanlin Academy, it was already recorded with this age."

This was the second time he had taken the blame today.

He really didn't know who had paved the way for Song Ru.

It was hard to even guess—Song Ru's relative was Sun Ying'ao, and because Sun Ying'ao was from Guizhou, he had a good relationship with Zhao Zhao Zhenji from Sichuan; he was also a great Confucian of his time, having close relationships with Xu Jie of the Southern Zhong Wang School, Jiang Xin of the Chu Zhong Wang School, Li Wei of the Qian Zhong Wang School, and even the Later Seven Masters; and because of his friendship with Wang Guoguang, Zhang Zhang Juzheng had even planned to restore him to office at the beginning of the year.

With so many people involved, who knew who had paved the way for Song Ru at the time?

What if it was Zhang Zhang Juzheng himself?

Moreover, when he accepted people into the Hanlin Academy at the time, it had already been drafted by the Grand Secretariat and approved by the Emperor.

If he pointed out the error at that time, who would take responsibility for it?

The Hanlin Academy? The Ministry of Rites?

Or the three chief examiners, Yang Bo, Zhang Zhang Juzheng, and Lu Lu Diaoyang?

Therefore, anyone who understood the ways of officialdom would not rashly uncover this layer.

Yet now the Emperor had found his way to Shen Shen Shixing, how bitter!

Zhu Zhu Yijun did not commit himself.

He naturally understood this principle as well.

Isn't the logic of "those who are detained beyond their term must be sentenced" the same?

However, besides Shen Shen Shixing's tendency to smooth things over, there were naturally other reasons...

Zhu Zhu Yijun suddenly looked at Liu Sikou, a director of the Ministry of Personnel who had brought the list, and asked casually: "Director Liu, I remember you were also a Tong Jinshi in the fifth year of Emperor Longqing."

Liu Sikou was just there to deliver the list and was caught off guard by the Emperor, unable to react for a moment.

After a while, he came to his senses and replied: "Your Majesty, I was indeed a Tong Jinshi in the fifth year of Emperor Longqing, ranked 269th in the third class, and was initially appointed as the magistrate of Changzhi, Shanxi, before being promoted to Director of the Ministry of Personnel last month."

Zhu Zhu Yijun nodded and asked: "In what year were you born, Director Liu?"

As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, Liu Sikou was terrified.

He subconsciously looked around, seeking help from the group of junior compilers and his superior, Shen Shen Shixing.

At this moment, even Wu Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Zhao Yongxian, and others changed color.

Just as everyone realized something was wrong, the Emperor's voice sounded again.

"I pardon you, Director Liu, speak the truth."

Liu Sikou's expression eased slightly; the Emperor's credibility on this point was not bad.

After all, he had served as a magistrate before returning to the Ministry of Personnel, and he was more experienced than the junior compilers of the same cohort.

Liu Sikou bowed and pleaded guilty: "Your Majesty, I was born in the eighth month of the twentieth year of Emperor Jiajing, and am now thirty-three years old in reality, and thirty years old in official age."

Zhu Zhu Yijun nodded and shook his head, saying complexly: "Reality... official age... no wonder the list of successful candidates says twenty-seven, which is inconsistent with the background documents."

The group of junior compilers watched Liu Sikou stumble and stagger away from the hall, wishing they could follow him and leave this place of right and wrong.

Disaster!

Some things are just like window paper.

If you don't poke it, it's fine, but once you do, it's hard to clean up!

If you want to talk about Xiong Xiong Dunpu, just talk about Xiong Xiong Dunpu; why did the little Emperor have to ask about other things!

The atmosphere in the hall was strange and difficult to understand.

Zhu Zhu Yijun sighed and looked at Shen Shen Shixing: "Official Shen, has this become a common practice for Tong Jinshi?"

Liu Sikou was afraid of the bad influence and spoke vaguely.

The so-called "real age" and "official age" are the true age and the falsely reported age.

When selecting junior compilers in the fifth year of Emperor Longqing, the edict stated to select junior compilers according to the precedent of the second year of Emperor Longqing, limiting the age to under forty.

Similarly, in the second year, it was also according to the old precedent of the forty-fourth year of Emperor Jiajing, selecting those under forty.

Therefore, junior compilers were explicitly stipulated to be Tong Jinshi under forty.

But junior compilers are the path to entering the Grand Secretariat; who wouldn't want to be selected? Restricted by age, how could they be willing?

There is a policy above, and there is a countermeasure below; since the Emperor restricts age, people below immediately report false ages.

This led to the spectacle of the sixty-nine-year-old Song Ru being only thirty-five when he signed up for the exam.

Song Ru was quite old, and the late Emperor was lazy and didn't preside over the palace examination, so he naturally didn't have the chance to see him.

Then what about the chief examiners Zhang Zhang Juzheng and Yang Bo?

The professors of the junior compilers, Gao Yi and Lu Lu Diaoyang?

Or Shen Shen Shixing, who was in charge of the Hanlin Academy, and Zhu Dazhou, the Vice Minister of Rites in charge of the imperial examinations?

Or even these fellow junior compilers, could they not see that there was a seventy-year-old man among their classmates?

But they all chose to condone this matter!

This is naturally because Song Ru's matter did not just involve Song Ru, but the vast majority of Tong Jinshi from past dynasties and cohorts!

The Emperor has the Emperor's precedents, and the imperial court has the court's precedents.

Facing the Emperor's questioning, Shen Shen Shixing could not speak.

At this point, he had already discovered that he had been scolded in vain.

Even Liu Sikou, ranked 269th, had his background documents checked by the Emperor; it was clear that the situation in the hall today was all within the Emperor's expectations.

What else could he do?

Just honestly take the scolding.

Shen Shen Shixing sighed and pleaded guilty: "I am guilty."

Not denying it means admitting it.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was very satisfied with Shen Shen Shixing's reaction; being willing to take the bait at this moment showed that the previous lesson had some effect.

He no longer continued to pressure him, just cursed: "No wonder you were impeached by the remonstrance!"

He turned to look at the group of junior compilers.

His expression turned to admiration: "Strong grass is known in a gale, and loyal ministers are recognized in troubled times."

"The Hanlin Academy deceived me because I was young, and the Ministry of Personnel deceived me because I was ignorant; they colluded to cover up the truth."

"On the contrary, you gentlemen, not yet having stepped into officialdom, still retain a piece of sincerity, leading the way step by step, enabling me to meet Song Ru and uncover the matter of false official ages."

"In ancient times there were straight remonstrances, and today there are indirect remonstrances; you gentlemen are no less than the famous ministers of ancient times!"

"I am very comforted!"

The group of junior compilers did not understand the Emperor's meaning at first.

But the more they listened, the more they felt something was wrong.

Zhao Zhao Yongxian and Wu Wu Zhongxing looked at each other, both showing horror.

The former seemed unable to bear the Emperor's praise and hurriedly bowed to decline: "Your Majesty! This was Liu Sikou's righteous exposure; Your Majesty is brilliant and wise, we dare not claim credit!"

Just kidding!

Who doesn't know how common this situation is!

In the fifth year of Emperor Longqing, among the thirty or so people Zhao Zhao Yongxian was friends with, more than ten had falsely reported their ages.

In the second year of Emperor Longqing, he also knew more than twenty people, eighteen of whom had falsely reported their ages.

Not to mention those he didn't know!

Everyone reported falsely; if you didn't, your ranking would naturally be lower—"Once a Tong Jinshi, when engraving the 'List of Successful Candidates', one should state their age, but he provided the real number. Some said that reducing it by no more than three years would allow one to be selected for the academy. Even if not selected, reducing it by five years would allow one to be selected as a Supervising Secretary or Hai Yushi, without harm. He said: 'Just started serving and already deceiving my monarch, is that okay?' Thus, his age was ranked after a hundred people."

For example, Shen Shen Junfu; before the palace examination, his friends advised him to report three years younger so he could participate in the selection for junior compilers, and even if he wasn't selected, he could be selected as a Supervising Secretary or Hai Yushi five years later.

Shen Shen Junfu was not sensible and expressed with high integrity that he could not deceive the Emperor, so his ranking dropped, falling behind the hundredth place.

Yu Yu Shenxing loved writing articles, and after the Tong Jinshi banquet, he secretly wrote: "It is an example for scholar-officials' resumes to reduce their age, sometimes by more than ten years; even at gatherings of peers, one cannot tell the truth about their age, which can be called a shallow custom."

The next day, everyone went to persuade Yu Yu Shenxing—writing articles requires principles and methods; don't write about things that shouldn't be written.

It can be seen how tacit this matter is.

With so many people involved, and all of them being friends who see each other every day, he, Zhao Zhao Yongxian, wouldn't dare to take this credit for "uncovering false official ages" even if it were given to him!

Not only Zhao Zhao Yongxian, but Wu Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Zhao Canlu, Liu Liu Kezheng, and a group of other junior compilers all knelt and declined.

"This is entirely due to Your Majesty's brilliant observation; we dare not steal the credit!"

"Your Majesty, we dare not steal Liu Sikou's credit!"

Refusing credit when it's offered, and instead scrambling to push the credit to colleagues.

Loyal ministers indeed!

Zhu Zhu Yijun was even more moved and shook his head: "Song Ru and his ilk are treacherous and cunning; that they could enter the Hanlin Academy is naturally rooted in the malpractice of the examination hall."

"You gentlemen enabled me to see Song Ru personally, and mentioned the unfairness of the Ministry of Personnel; this is truly the style of a wise remonstrating minister, how could I not know?"

Everyone says Song Ru is bad and wants to expose him.

Then why is he bad? Naturally, it's because there's a problem with the Hanlin Academy!

Rest assured, I understand your meaning of indirect remonstrance.

And Song Ru, who had been called treacherous and cunning by the Emperor before the confrontation, knelt on the ground, motionless, clearly having accepted his fate.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was heartbroken: "Rest assured, gentlemen, I understand your meaning and will certainly not condone it."

"I have made up my mind; this matter will be investigated back thirty years! The crime of deceiving the monarch comes first; if the background documents are not stripped, it will not be enough to rectify the public's view!"

"Song Ru's matter was exposed by you gentlemen, so this case will be led and supervised by you, in conjunction with the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate, to investigate and handle it well!"

As soon as the words fell.

Zhao Zhao Yongxian knelt down with a thud, almost begging: "Your Majesty! Think twice, think twice!"

Investigate back thirty years, and strip the background documents!?

Whether he would be able to see tomorrow's sun was a question!

He intended to be a straight and upright minister, but that was about opposing superiors, not offending colleagues like this!

The group of junior compilers also knelt and pleaded.

At this moment, Shen Shen Shixing suddenly had a flash of inspiration and stepped forward: "Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance and involves a wide range of people; the lists of successful candidates, case files, and background documents are voluminous."

"The Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate are currently presiding over the major investigation of the Merit Evaluation Method and are truly unable to spare the manpower."

Zhu Zhu Yijun snorted coldly: "Merit Evaluation? You gentlemen all say that the Ministry of Personnel is unfair and want to stop the Merit Evaluation. Isn't it just the right time to handle this matter?"

As soon as the Emperor spoke, Wu Wu Zhongxing, who had an ugly expression, immediately realized something.

His eyes flickered.

He looked at Zhao Zhao Yongxian beside him.

He only saw the latter in a daze, muttering to himself—it's over, it's over, offended everyone, offended everyone completely.

Wu Wu Zhongxing frowned in disgust and immediately gave up on cooperating with him.

After pondering the Emperor's intentions for a long while.

Wu Wu Zhongxing finally made up his mind and stepped out from the crowd.

He bowed and said loudly: "Your Majesty, please be clear!"

"Song Ru, when he was in the Hanlin Academy, openly said that Sun Gong had paved the way for him and changed his age to be selected as a junior compiler."

"At that time, the late Emperor knew nothing, and now Your Majesty is being deceived by those above and below."

"Song Ru's subsequent slander of Xiong Xiong Dunpu was also caused by Shen Shen Shixing deceiving Your Majesty, acting arbitrarily, and indulging Song Ru!"

"Whether it's the imperial examination matter or Xiong Xiong Dunpu's matter, it all stems from someone blocking the path of remonstrance and deceiving the Sacred Hearing."

"As long as Your Majesty can know the ins and outs, treacherous officials like Shen Shen Shixing will naturally have nowhere to hide, and Your Majesty can make a sacred decision on the matters he has deceived you about."

"Our kneeling at the palace gate was for this."

"Now that Your Majesty understands the ins and outs, we dare not overstep our authority to decide how to handle the malpractice in the examination hall, whether Official Shen's handling of matters is fair, or whether there are hidden dangers in handing over the Merit Evaluation Method to the Ministry of Personnel."

He finally understood.

The Emperor did it on purpose!

This method was too familiar; wasn't it the trick often used when resisting superiors—"doubling it"?

They wanted to make a name for themselves, so the Emperor used Song Ru to talk about it, pinning the credit for "uncovering false official ages" on them, giving them a huge name.

Not only could they offend their superiors, but they also offended their colleagues!

They wanted to impeach Shen Shen Shixing, so the Emperor wanted to investigate Tong Jinshi back thirty years and strip their background documents!

This was forcing them to submit, to understand what it means to prioritize the big picture!

What could he do?

The reputation the Emperor forcefully pressed on their heads couldn't be pushed away.

At worst, they would just be straight ministers; after all, although this trip offended people, the reputation was real, and the official position was also real.

It's just that from now on, they would follow this path to accumulate reputation.

The Emperor gave them a new path, and they could only bite the bullet and walk it.

Although they offended some people, they could always cater to some straight ministers—at worst, they still had a Grand Secretary teacher to cover for them.

But this heaven-sent disaster of investigating back thirty years must not be caused by him!

As soon as these words came out, others immediately echoed: "Your Majesty, since the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate are unable to spare the manpower, let's not make a big fuss."

"Regretting the past is useless, but knowing the future can be remedied."

"Just prevent it in the future."

A group of junior compilers also reacted quickly, many of them echoing half a beat later, clamoring for the Emperor to withdraw his order.

Shen Shen Shixing turned his head and looked at this group of junior compilers, finding it funny.

He held his breath and bowed to the Emperor: "Your Majesty, this makes sense."

"Making a big fuss would endanger the foundation of the country; I think it's better to start from this cohort."

Everyone cast grateful glances at Shen Shen Shixing.

Only then did they see the Emperor pondering for a long while.

After a long while, he sighed and said slowly: "Alas, so be it; the malpractice is deep, and scraping the bone to heal the poison is indeed inappropriate."

"Then follow what you gentlemen said."

Zhu Zhu Yijun turned to look at Zhang Hong and said sternly: "Attendant Zhang."

"The Directorate of Ceremonial will immediately issue an edict to the Grand Secretariat."

"I believe that when a subject serves his monarch, not deceiving is the foundation."

"Because Zhao Zhao Yongxian, Wu Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Zhao Canlu, Liu Liu Kezheng, and other junior compilers exposed Song Ru, I have only now learned of the malpractice of official ages."

"Recently, the lists of successful candidates and the examination papers for provincial, metropolitan, and palace examinations have mostly concealed ages, using the old as the strong, and the strong as the young."

"The country opens examinations to select the virtuous, but if the beginning of one's career is hypocritical, one can imagine how they will act in the future."

"There are also inherited bad habits, lightly connecting with the same clan, distantly entrusting to noble lineages, and mixing different surnames and relatives, all of which violate the right path."

"Starting from this cohort, all examination papers and lists for future cohorts must be filled out truthfully, and all other bad customs must be corrected!"

"The examiners will be judged by their future performance, and those who expose them will be rewarded according to the rules."

"Do not fail my intention to value honesty and integrity!"

Zhang Hong knelt on the ground to receive the edict.

The junior compilers heard "starting from this cohort" and that there would be no involvement of the past, so they breathed a sigh of relief.

Many of them glared at Song Ru; even if he were only fifty, it wouldn't be so obvious!

And Song Ru, who was ignored throughout, suddenly became the culprit, feeling uneasy.

He knew that being a junior compiler was no longer possible.

He didn't know if he would be demoted to a local post.

It was truly an unprovoked disaster!

Everyone had different thoughts.

Shen Shen Shixing inadvertently glanced at the Emperor.

The little Emperor's ability to speak into an edict without needing the Drafter of the Secretariat to polish it—who would believe he didn't have a draft in his mind!

It would be fine to cover it up a bit, speak more colloquially, or let Zheng Zheng Zongxue behind him polish it.

However... today was truly a good show.

First, punishing Li Li Shengchun and the others, and showing favor to Wu Wu Zhongxing and the others, immediately split and disintegrated the group, controlling the situation of this kneeling at the palace gate on the spot.

Then, creating something out of nothing, involving the malpractice of official ages, putting aside his own disadvantageous matter, and talking about other things.

Then using the "doubling" method to roast this group of junior compilers who wanted to make a name for themselves.

Didn't they want to be straight ministers? Then let's make the fake real!

After this matter, the name would definitely be made.

But it wouldn't be the name of a straight remonstrating minister, but the name of someone who didn't hesitate to offend colleagues and juniors, worried about the times, and dared to speak out!

Plus, Wu Wu Zhongxing had already been appointed as a Drafter of the Secretariat, used as a close minister by the Emperor's side.

This was forcibly recruiting them!

The more Shen Shen Shixing pondered, the more he marveled.

The Emperor closed his mouth again.

Zhang Hong finished listening to the Emperor's virtuous words and withdrew to receive the edict.

The group of junior compilers exchanged glances, their expressions complex—from now on, their official personas would no longer be up to them to decide.

Only Song Ru, who was in the vortex, knelt on the ground, his face ashen.

This person who induced the kneeling at the palace gate and exposed the malpractice of official ages had not said two words since the Emperor entered the hall.

Yet every time the Emperor mentioned him, he pointed at him and called him "this fellow," almost certainly destined for a bad end.

The torment of his mood can be imagined.

Unfortunately, no one paid any attention to him.

At this time, Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Wu Wu Zhongxing and finally mentioned the original reason for everyone's kneeling at the palace gate, as well as that not-so-important official business:

"Official Wu, Song Ru is right here; you may confront him in the hall."