The Minister of Rites, Wang Yong, bowed and said,""Your Majesty, I've already found out.”
Zhu Houjin looked at Wang Yong and said:
"Minister Wang, as the Minister of Rites, you presided over the exam, but you actually leaked the exam questions. If I didn't go undercover, how many examinees would have been involved in this transaction?”
"One can imagine how chaotic the Ministry of Rites is under your rule. There are people openly peddling exam questions on the streets, looking down on the laws of the imperial court.”
"This humble subject has misjudged, Your Majesty, please punish me!”Wang Yong's whole body went cold, and his neck subconsciously shrank.
If the dragon's face was furious and punished him, then Wang Yong would be beheaded…
However, although Zhu Houjin's eyes were like ice, he did not say how to punish Wang Yong.
Qian Ning, who was at the side, secretly saw the Emperor's face. It was an unfathomable expression of kindness and might.
"Minister Mao, this matter is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice.”
Zhu Houzhi looked at the Minister of Justice, Mao Jinyu.
"Your Majesty, the investigation is almost complete.”
"What do you mean by 'almost'? Don't be ambiguous. What I want is confirmation. What I want is clarity. Now, tell me the details of the investigation.”Zhu Houjin said with a dark expression.
"I…I obey Your Majesty.”
The Minister of Justice, Mao Jinyu, was shocked. He hurriedly took out the official document from the Ministry of Justice and handed it to the eunuch.
The entire process of the case of leaking the imperial examination questions was recorded on it.
The eunuch handed the official document of the Ministry of Justice to Zhu Houyou, who opened it and read it.
According to the official documents, the official Liu in Scholar Yi An's teahouse was a noob.
The real bookkeeper was a man surnamed Hu. Last time, this man surnamed Hu had bet on the right question, and for a time, he was very popular in the underground bookkeeper business.
The business of betting on exam questions had long been established in the capital, and many people were doing it, almost forming an industry chain…
Usually, the innkeeper would act as the middleman to see the financial situation of the examinees. If they looked like rich young masters, the innkeeper would arrange for someone to strike up a conversation.
In the last exam, only this person surnamed Hu had won.
His essay started at 500 taels of silver, and the top scholar essay was asking for 2000 taels of silver. He refused to bargain.
Even so, the people who were looking for him still flocked to him.
Especially this year, after the commercial reform, more rich people emerged in the Ming Empire.
When there was no money, everyone wanted to be a carp leaping over the dragon gate, let alone now that they had money.
The nouveau riche took the risk and spent a high price to buy questions that they might not be able to bet on.
The laws of Ming Dynasty were very strict with regards to cheating in the imperial examinations.
Even if they were ordinary smugglers, they would be punished with a cane and never be able to participate in the imperial examination after twenty years.
And strip him of his status.
However, after the exams, the remaining money he received would disappear. Three years later, he would come again.
This time, all the candidates from all over the empire had prepared a large sum of money to look for this Hu Guanren to test.
As for this Hu Guanren's true identity, no one knew.
When the Ministry of Justice's envoy and the West Chamber's aborigines went to the Yi 'an Teahouse to capture the teahouse owner and Lord Liu…
He had never expected that Hu Guanren's kung fu was so powerful that he had escaped after injuring four of the West Chamber's men…
After interrogating the owner of the teahouse and Official Liu, and even capturing the East Chamber to use the Ten Great Tortures, they didn't know much about this Official Hu.
No one would lie in front of the East Chamber's instruments of torture, so they really didn't know much about this matter. They only wanted to use this Tiger Lord to earn money.
It was useless for them to ask. Hu Guanren didn't tell them his background at all.
Pa!
Zhu Houjin slammed his palm on the Dragon Book table, his face full of anger.
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Wang Yong, Mao Jinyu, and Qian Ning bowed together and broke out in cold sweat.
"Is this what you mean by 'investigated'? Are you trying to fool me? Wang Yong, why did that Hu guy bet on the exam? If it hadn't been leaked, how would he have known?!”
Wang Yong listened to the Emperor's question and said in panic:
"Your Majesty, I really didn't leak the exam questions. I've never told anyone, not even in front of my family.”
"That Hu fellow was challenged by him in the last imperial examination. This person is definitely not simple.”
The Minister of Justice Mao Jinyu looked at Wang Yong and said to the Emperor Zhu Houjie,"
"Your Majesty, this humble subject believes that Lord Wang is not lying because this humble subject has been investigating the entire case and has not discovered that Lord Wang is involved.”
"The owner of the teahouse and Official Liu were also interrogated by my men and brought to the East Chamber for punishment. They did not involve Lord Wang. No one in the world can pass the East Chamber's torture.”
Zhu Houzhen turned to Qian Ning and asked,""What do you think? Is Lord Wang involved in this?"
"Your Majesty, I haven't noticed anything wrong with Lord Wang for the time being," said Qian Ning unwillingly.”
The eunuchs and the steward had always been enemies. Qian Ning did not have to speak up for Wang Yong, but he did not dare to lie.
Zhu Houjin frowned and seemed to be deep in thought. Then, he waved his hand and said,"Alright, all of you can leave."
"We will take our leave." The three of them slowly retreated.
Although they didn't catch the person who bet on the middle school examination questions, the teahouse owner and Official Liu had been arrested.
It could be considered as a small explanation to the Emperor. Then, the three of them left Yangxin Palace Hall with heavy hearts.
"Come back."
Suddenly, Zhu Houyi shouted. The three of them had just reached the door when they heard the Emperor's voice and hurried back to wait for the imperial edict.
"Let me ask you, Mao Jinyu, who was the leader of the capture team?”Zhu Houjin asked.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, this lowly subject and Eunuch Qian brought people over.”
"Alright, then do you remember what that man with the surname Hu looks like? How old was he? What kind of martial arts and weapons will you use?" Zhu Houjin asked.
"Your Majesty, I remember that the person was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He looked like a scholar and was not tall. He had a small beard, but it looked fake.”
"The few bailiffs from the Ministry of Justice were no match for him at all. They were knocked down by him when they went up.”
"He only managed to escape after the experts from the West Hall took out their guns. He used a gun, but we don't know where he took it from.”
Qian Ning added," Your Majesty, I don't know martial arts, so I can't analyze his martial arts. However, when I brought my men over, I heard him talking to someone else. His accent was a southern accent, not a northern Mandarin."”
After Zhu Houyan heard this, he nodded slightly and waved his hand to let them leave.
After the three of them left, Zhu Houyi picked up the teacup on the Dragon Book table and drank it. About fifteen minutes later, he muttered,"Could it be him?"
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The reform of the gentry clan started with the annexation of land, and it could be considered to have hit the most painful spot of the gentry clan.
During the day, the Emperor used both hard and soft tactics on the officials.
At the same time that they attacked the land acquisition of the aristocrats, they also greatly increased the salaries of the officials of the empire.
It was equivalent to giving him a slap and then a piece of candy.
All the officials in the court had a deep understanding of the emperor's skills.
For most of the officials, they would immediately write a letter to their hometown after the court session, telling their old family members to immediately sell the fertile land they had acquired.
Of course, there were also a few officials who did not have much land in their hometown, so they did not have this worry.
For example, Wang Yangming and Hai Rui, as well as Xu Jie, who had already seen through the situation.
Hai Rui was born into a poor family, but Wang Yangming and Xu Jie were not.
In the cabinet, after dealing with a bunch of memorials, Hai Rui said to the two of them,"
"Your Majesty is truly a man of great talent and great strategy. It has been more than a hundred years since the land annexation of the aristocrats in the world. When this lowly official saw the despots annexing the land of the poor in the past, I was simply so angry that my entire body trembled.”
"But at that time, I was a lowly official, and my words were not important.”
"Only His Majesty has the courage to reform the aristocrats. In the past, all the emperors…"
Before he could finish his sentence, Hai Rui saw Wang Yangming winking at him.
Hai Rui quickly stopped what he was about to say. He realized that they were in the cabinet, not a village.
If he spoke ill of the previous Ming Emperor, it was also disrespectful and he would be beheaded.
Xu Jie rolled his eyes and said with a sinister smile,"
"Sir Hai, the current emperor is right in governing the world. I think the previous emperors have contributed a lot. What does Sir Hai want to say?”
"Humph! Lord Xu, what do you mean? This lowly official respects the previous emperors very much. The previous emperors were all wise, but the current emperor is even wiser and more intelligent. Do you think this lowly official is right?”
"No, no, Sir Hai, this official was just joking with you. Why take it so seriously?”
Xu Jie laughed and thought,""Hai Rui doesn't seem to be as easy to fool as I thought.”
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