Chapter 76: He who knows the current affairs is a hero
The famous Hengqu Four Lines not only had an extraordinary influence in the era when it was created, but also had a profound impact on the people of that world and future generations. Fan Xian would not fail to recognize the meaning of this line of poetry. There must be people like him in this world.
And the person he suspected most was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Li Chengqian!
The latter, however, pretended to be dumbfounded and applauded Fan Xian with admiration:
“Xiao Fan Shixian’s poetic talent is amazing. It is a great honor for the country to have such a masterpiece!”

Li Chengqian’s move to set the tone made all the ministers and officials follow suit.

The ministers who were standing the highest had different expressions. They guessed the emperor’s intention through this poem. Chen Pingping leaned on the wheelchair, silently watching the emperor’s face, as well as Prime Minister Lin, who also opened his eyes slightly at this time, observing all the changes in the court.

Even Lai Mingcheng was shocked, and his hands were shaking with excitement.

This is the second poem that defines one’s destiny after “It is easy to abuse the people but hard to deceive God”!
The person who had the biggest reaction after hearing this poem was Guo Zheng, who had been taught a lesson by the prince. “Establish a mission for the people, and carry on the lost knowledge of the ancient sages,” these words, aren’t they referring to the Spring Examination, which he is in charge of?

The poem that Fan Xian presented to His Majesty is simply a poke in their spine!

Emperor Qing looked at the reactions of his ministers with satisfaction, and slowly spoke: “These four sentences have profound meanings, lofty ambitions, and they are written for me by a minister with great poetic talent. However, I should encourage myself to do my best to live up to these few sentences.”

Chen Pingping came out in a wheelchair to flatter:

“Your Majesty has worked hard to bring peace to Daqing. You value the lives of the people and let students inherit Zhuang Mohan’s legacy. Your Majesty’s actions will surely have an impact for thousands of years and bring eternal peace to Daqing!”

Old man Qin Ye laughed secretly and looked at Chen Pingping jokingly, what a flatterer!
Prime Minister Lin also came forward and congratulated His Majesty on this masterpiece together with Chen Pingping: “Such an amazing talent has presented such a masterpiece to Your Majesty, which shows that Your Majesty is the wise ruler who will bring eternal peace to the world in his heart, and the king who will establish destiny for the people in the hearts of the people of the world!”

Emperor Qing snorted and laughed, then followed the trend and stated the purpose of his convening this court meeting:
“In this case, I will take the Spring Imperial Examination seriously.”

“Guo Zheng, step out!”

“His Majesty.”

Guo Zheng stood up with a pale face, his legs almost weak and he almost knelt down, but he couldn’t kneel down yet. If he gave in without saying anything, wouldn’t that be the same as admitting guilt directly? He couldn’t let the Second Prince down, otherwise no one would protect him!

“Li Chengqian, Fan Xian, what happened to you guys who made Guo Zheng faint in the exam room?”

Emperor Qing was eager to watch the fun and directly dragged the victims out for a confrontation.

These words caused all the officials to burst into laughter. It was rare in history books that a dignified Shangshu could be so angry that he fainted!

As the crown prince, Li Chengqian would lose his status if he criticized his subjects in public.

Fan Xian understood what he meant, so he took the initiative to step forward and answer the question for Li Chengqian:

“Minister Guo neglected his duties, passed off inferior materials as good ones, and engaged in fraud in an attempt to accumulate political achievements for himself. He even planned to label all the poor candidates who went to help the court repair the examination hall as opportunists, which chilled the hearts of scholars all over the world. I ask Your Majesty to punish him and remove him from his position as the chief examiner of the Spring Examination!”

All the ministers and officials were surprised. The prince’s forces were trying to take the enemy’s lives.

If Minister Guo is removed from his position as chief examiner, the result of this spring examination will be one-sided.

The ministers under the Second Prince stood up and spoke out:
“Your Majesty, you absolutely cannot do this! Although Minister Guo was suspected of being greedy for merit and reckless, he did not take any actual action. As the Minister of Rites, he should have the responsibility of being the chief examiner of the Spring Examination. Even if he made some minor mistakes, he should not be dismissed.”

This is a clumsy statement.

But it is precisely because of the stupid words that a small official can say that they have some credibility.

Fan Xian asked in return: “Is it just a small mistake to hurt the feelings of a scholar?”

The official retorted, “They don’t represent all the scholars, but only a small number of poor students. These people have no chance, so they always think of taking chances and finding some crooked ways to get on the list. What Minister Guo said is not completely wrong, they are indeed such people!”

All the ministers and officials looked at each other, and some of them expressed their agreement.

Officials like them naturally looked down on the poor students with no status. They either selected students from wealthy families in order to establish connections with the aristocratic families, or formed cliques for personal gain and selected candidates for the most powerful figures in the court.

If they allow these children from poor families who are not under their control to enter officialdom, how can they expand their power?

Emperor Qing was somewhat unhappy to see the officials’ reactions. He could naturally see that the officials from the outer court wanted to divide power, and the most effective way was to fill the court with people through the Spring Imperial Examination and lay the groundwork from the root.

Li Chengqian knew that Emperor Qing wanted to monopolize power, win the hearts of the people, and unify the country. This was the same as the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, who wanted to unify the cultural differences between northern and southern students and finally killed many people to create the North-South Ranking Case:

Consolidate the imperial power!

Li Chengqian stood up at this time and said loudly: “Everyone has overlooked one point. The key point of Guo Zheng’s mistake is not that he neglected his duties or that he passed inferior products off as good ones, but that he relied on his own selfish desires to eliminate all the helpers and students, cutting off their chances of making the list.”

“This shows that someone is behind the Spring Examination, someone is destroying the imperial examination system that has been passed down by the literary world of Daqing, and someone is taking this opportunity to deceive Your Majesty. This is overstepping the boundaries, this is deceiving the emperor, and someone is trying to form a clique for personal gain!”

boom.

All the officials who interfered in this matter had a grim look on their faces. This was what everyone did in previous years, abusing their power for personal gain, forming cliques for personal gain, and seeing through it but not saying anything. No one expected that the prince would break this layer of window paper. Was he going to make enemies with all the civil and military officials in the court and the vested interests?

Guo Zheng, as the first one to stand out, was sweating profusely and knelt on the ground in fear:

“Your Majesty, I am a loyal minister. I did not do this. I have absolutely no intention of forming a clique for personal gain!”

“I can tell who is loyal and who is treacherous.”

Emperor Qing only spoke up at this time, putting an end to the debate in the court and putting the final conclusion:
“The Spring Imperial Examination is the way for the Qing Dynasty to recruit talented people and win the hearts of scholars from all over the world. Only by opening the door to officialdom for the people and providing scholars with an opportunity to realize their ambitions can we serve the people and carry on the lost knowledge of the ancient sages.”

“If I find that someone wants to use this matter to commit corruption, form a clique for personal gain, or even bribe the examiners, falsify information, or abuse power for personal gain, then that person will be dead.”

“Guo Zheng.”

“I’m here.” Minister Guo trembled.

“You were once a censor, offering good advice to the country. Now that you are the Minister of Rites, you may be a little unfamiliar with presiding over the Spring Examination. I will give you another chance. Guo Zheng will step down as the deputy examiner, and Fan Xian will be the chief examiner.”

Emperor Qing looked at the Crown Prince:

“Li Chengqian, you will supervise the imperial examination for me and administer justice. If anything unexpected happens, I will hold you accountable!”

Li Chengqian, Fan Xian and Guo Zheng received the imperial edict, and all the officials in the hall finally understood that at the beginning of this spring examination, Emperor Qing wanted to take back all the power to select officials in the imperial examination, and sending Li Chengqian to represent the emperor’s will to supervise the examination was his means of doing so.

He wants to take control of the Spring Examination and not let anyone else get involved!
Simultaneously.

It is also telling everyone that it is His Majesty’s intention that Li Chengqian and Fan Xian should restore fairness to the imperial examination in the examination room. Emperor Qing wants to select people who can only be used by him. If you interfere, you will destroy the fairness.

Of course, only His Majesty can operate these doors.
“Your Majesty is wise and wise. The Spring Examination will surely be clear and transparent, without any malpractices!”

“Your Majesty is wise and will surely carry on the legacy of the past sages and bring peace to the world for all eternity!”

“His Majesty.!!!”

The flattery continued in his ears, and Emperor Qing raised the corner of his mouth slightly, then stood up and left.

After the leader’s meeting, the employees will stay to brag and praise each other, especially the one who is appreciated by the leader and entrusted with an important task, or the one who flatters the leader and says nice things to please him:
In the large company of Qing State, Li Chengqian and Fan Xian took on these two roles.

The former is the prince who is entrusted with an important task, and the latter is the little Fan Shixian who offers poems to flatter him.

Li Chengqian and Fan Xian looked at each other, wanting only to squeeze out of the crowd.

It’s not easy to be a popular person in front of His Majesty.
Guo Zheng gave them a hateful look and slipped out of the court gloomily.

In order to avoid being laughed at, the first person in Qing Kingdom fainted from anger!
·······
Normally, after the leaders have a meeting, the policies they implement take some time to ferment before they can be heard by grassroots employees. However, the decision this time to eradicate cheating in the imperial examinations and restore fairness in the imperial examinations spread throughout Kyoto like a virus.

All the students from poor families cried with joy and were overjoyed when they heard the news.

They spread the news among the shabby inns where the candidates lived.

The prince is presiding over the Spring Examination! Master Qingtang is here! Fairness for poor scholars is here!
Upon hearing this, Hou Jichang and Shi Chanli both walked out of the inn and talked with the students who were all delighted. Only then did they learn that today in the court, the prince spoke up for the scholars of the world and made Guo Zheng kneel down and apologize, and the young poet Fan even wrote a poem to liven up the atmosphere.

After all, it was just a rumor, so it spread more and more widely.

Later on, it was said that the Crown Prince tied up Guo Zheng with one hundred palms in the court, and beat him until his face was swollen like a pig. Finally, he gave up the position of chief examiner of the Spring Examination and was replaced by Fan Xian. No one dared to raise any objection, because His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was carrying out the emperor’s will and was slapping on behalf of His Majesty!

“Your Highness the Crown Prince is like a second parent to poor scholars like me!”

Hou Jichang praised from the bottom of his heart.

Shi Chanli also nodded in agreement:
“If it weren’t for the righteous words of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Master Xiao Fan, how could the Spring Examination be fair, and how could we have the possibility of passing the exam.”

Hou Jichang mentioned the news he had just learned to the sage:
“You may not know this, but Master Fan also wrote a poem for Your Majesty to build momentum for the Spring Examination.”

“What poem? Little Fan is a very talented poet, so it must be a good poem, right?”

Under Shi Chanli’s curious questioning, Hou Jichang felt the pleasure of being admired:

“Establish a mind for the heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the living people, carry forward the unique teachings of the past saints, and create peace for all generations.”

Snapped.

Yang Wanli, who was reading nearby, was so shocked that the sage book in his hand fell off: “To carry on the lost knowledge of the ancient sages and to bring peace to the world for all eternity! This! This is exactly what I have been pursuing all my life, and it is the realm that all scholars in the world should pursue!”

Shi Chanli and Hou Jichang did not question the truth of this statement. Yang Wanli was just that kind of person:
“Haha, I thought Brother Yang couldn’t hear the voices of outsiders when he was reading.”

“After hearing about the new work of Little Fan Shixian, aren’t you so excited that you stop reading?”

“Ahem. If you don’t review your lessons, even if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince helps us, it will be difficult for us to pass the exam.”

Yang Wanli put down the book of sages and continued to review it leaning against the wooden stake, reminding them at the same time.

Hou Jichang and Shi Chanli’s old faces turned red, and they immediately rushed into their rooms as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and studied hard day and night!
All the scholars know that they have no connections, and the Spring Examination presided over by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is probably the fairest one, with the highest chance of passing. Everyone is working hard to pass and become an official in the court, so as to repay His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s kindness in the future!

The good news spread from the group of examinees to the streets and alleys of Kyoto. People were talking about it, laughing and praising the righteousness of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Majesty. There were also children singing nursery rhymes praising His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Majesty.

The outer city was bustling with rumors, and the inner city was not deserted either. Even Fan Ruoruo, who was in seclusion in her boudoir, could hear the rumors outside and smiled like a flower: “His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and my brother must have won in the court. I knew they could do it!”

Aunt Liu smiled like an aunt and asked for confirmation from the master who had returned.

Fan Jian nodded calmly, but the suppressed smile on his face could not hide the joy in his heart:
“Fan Xian and the Crown Prince, they did it”

Some people are happy that someone is worried.

There was a loud noise coming from the Second Prince’s Mansion.

“You are so good, Fan Xian. You are willing to be a dog for the prince and even give poems to the prince to buy an opportunity. How despicable.” Li Chengze was furious. It could be seen from the overturned table and the fruits scattered on the ground how angry he was at the moment.

Xie Bian was worried: “Your Highness, what should we do?”

Fan Wujiu was flipping through the books of sages, reviewing for the exam.

He also pricked up his ears and paid attention to the second prince’s next arrangements:

“Let Guo Zheng carry out the plan and arrange the candles, water, and all other factors that can disrupt the examination room in advance. Once the Spring Examination begins, all these wonderful performances will be performed in front of the Crown Prince.”

“Yes!”

Xie Bian followed the order and Li Chengze’s eyes showed jealousy:

“Why can a jerk like Li Chengqian, who is just pretending to be an elephant, be ordered by His Majesty to supervise the imperial examination? Isn’t this meant to show the ministers that he, the crown prince, has the ability to exercise the imperial power on behalf of His Majesty?” Li Chengze was burning with jealousy. If only Li Chengqian won, he would not be so angry, but because of Emperor Qing’s decision, he was completely ignited. He was so angry that he turned to Li Yunrui for help again:
“Aunt, please help me one more time and ruin Li Chengqian’s wishful thinking. I beg you!”

·······
“Your Highness, wait for me.”

Li Chengqian was walking in front, and Fan Xian quickly followed, holding the Crown Prince’s arm.

“what happened?”

Li Chengqian played dumb.

Fan Xian looked at the prince with a scrutinizing eye, ready to ask questions about the doubts in his heart.

Minister Guo Zheng came over at an inopportune moment and handed Fan Xian a booklet of examination room rules and regulations: “Now that you are the chief examiner of the Spring Examination, you must remember the rules carefully and don’t make any mistakes for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”

Minister Guo smiled on the surface, but he was actually cursing inside.

You just wrote a poem for His Majesty, causing His Majesty to feel resentful towards him and demote him. Otherwise, even though Guo Zheng had a brilliant resume before, his position as Minister of Rites would be in jeopardy. This is all thanks to Fan Xian.

Fan Xian put aside his doubts about the prince, took the booklet, and flipped through a few pages at random:
“Minister Guo, there won’t be any problems in this booklet, right?”

“Master Xiao Fan, you are joking. How could I possibly harm you?”

Guo Zheng smiled and bowed to the Crown Prince. “You are working for the Crown Prince, so I will never harm you, right, Crown Prince?”

Fan Xian felt angry. This was no different from beating a dog while looking at its owner.

This bastard, not only served Li Chengze as a dog, but he even slandered me
“I don’t know whether you will hurt me or not.”

Li Chengqian took over the conversation: “But I know that if you dare to collude with the Second Prince and secretly bully me or Fan Xian, your fate will definitely not be good.”

Guo Zheng’s mouth twitched, and his smile was a little forced: “Of course not.”

Then he walked away in disgrace. Fan Xian felt relieved when he saw his defeated look.

He turned around and looked at Li Chengqian: “Your Highness, I have a question.”

Li Chengqian interrupted, not letting him ask whether he was a time traveler:

“I know that you are worried that the manual Guo Zheng left for you might have been deleted or modified. If something goes wrong, we will be the ones to be punished. When we meet Guo Zheng, he can say that his subordinates missed something.”

Fan Xian: “.”

Who asked you this?

Li Chengqian ignored his expression and continued, “Your top priority now is to bring back Fan Sizhe and Guo Baokun, and then take Guo Youzhi to the prison of the Supervisory Council, so that the father and son can meet, so that you can get information.”

Fan Xian’s thoughts were led astray: “You mean, let the former Minister Guo look at the clues left by the current Minister Guo to see if there are any omissions?”

No, I want to see if that weirdo Guo Baokun is really that stupid.
Li Chengqian nodded: “Yes, let’s do it quickly.”

“it is good!”

Fan Xian felt that this matter was of great importance and must be implemented immediately. However, as he was walking, he suddenly remembered something. He had forgotten to ask whether the four lines of Hengqu were written by Li Chengqian. He turned around and saw:
Li Chengqian had already left, holding his two maids, the one in green in his left hand and the one in red in his right hand.

So unhappy.

“Depend on!”

Fan Xian thought that he had never even kissed Wan’er’s mouth, but the prince had to eat it.

So unhappy
The yellow-haired prince!

·······
Fan Mansion.

Fan Xian walked in.

Fan Ruoruo was guarding the door.

Fan Xian smacked his lips speechlessly: “I’m back, are you still guarding?”

Fan Ruoruo was a little disappointed that she didn’t see the prince, but she forced a smile to appease her brother:

“Brother, then we have no choice but to go back.”

“.”

What do you mean you have to go back? Fan Xian felt jealous.

Li Chengqian came up behind her, and Fan Ruoruo’s disappointed face finally brightened up: “Your Highness, you are finally here?”

then.

A good sister to Fan Xian.

She left him and walked towards the prince without looking back.

Fan Ruoruo looked at Li Chengqian with admiration: “Your Highness, I have heard about your advocacy for the students all over the world. The people of the whole street in Kyoto are praising you for your deep understanding of justice and your love for the people like your own children!”

Fan Xian said in a low voice with resentment: “What about me?”

Fan Ruoruo looked back awkwardly and forced out an awkward smile:

“My brother’s poems are also very good!”

Fan Xian: “.”

The only thing I was praised for was not what I did!

Li Chengqian and Fan Ruoruo were having a pleasant conversation. They were walking side by side when they passed by Fan Xian.

Li Chengqian asked Ruoruo in a teasing tone, “Ruoruo, your brother won’t be angry if I chat with you, right?”

Fan Ruoruo didn’t even look at Fan Xian: “No, no.”

Fan Xian: “.”

Li Chengqian was led into the house by Fan Ruoruo. He added:
“Your brother seems to be angry. Unlike me, I only feel sorry for my sister.”

Fan Ruoruo blushed and lowered her head slightly, not caring about her brother’s feelings:

“Never mind him, let’s talk about our own things.”

Fan Xian: Where is my knife?
It doesn’t take a while.

Fan Sizhe and Guo Baokun, two extraordinary geniuses, also returned to the Fan Mansion. They exuded the body odor of not having taken a bath for several days, making the maids unable to avoid them.

When Fan Xian saw his younger brother, he was delighted. He thought his younger brother wouldn’t change his heart like his sister, right?
As a result, Fan Sizhe hugged him and said, “Brother, I’m back.”

“vomit”

Fan Xian retched for a while and immediately pushed Fan Sizhe away: “What’s that smell on you?”

“Is there no dog shit on the soles of your feet?”

Li Chengqian and Fan Ruoruo stood aside. Upon hearing this, the latter pinched her nose in disgust.

She took the prince’s arm and stepped back half a step: “Your Highness, please stand back.”

“Don’t get gassed.”

Fan Sizhe: “You are worthy of being my biological sister.”

Seeing that Fan Xian was also there, Guo Baokun took the opportunity to express himself:

“Fan Xian, you don’t know how hard it was for us, do you? We drove all the way from the capital of Northern Qi to the border, then changed to a horse-drawn carriage and drove all the way back to Kyoto. We didn’t take a shower for several days on the road!”

“what?”

Fan Xian asked in confusion: “You said you came all the way back without changing trains?”

Guo Baokun was secretly delighted. Now Fan Xian would finally understand how hard I had worked, right?
“Fan Xian, I’ve worked so hard for you, please don’t forget your promise.”

Fan Sizhe nodded confidently, like a chick pecking at rice:

“I can prove that we didn’t rest at all along the way!”

Fan Ruoruo complained speechlessly:
“I just think you two are too stupid. I won’t hide my whereabouts when I sneak back to Kyoto as a spy.”

Fan Sizhe and Guo Baokun looked at each other and slapped their heads: “Yes!”

“Why didn’t we think of that at the time?”

“Miss Ruoruo, I think you also have the potential to become the world’s number one spy.”

Li Chengqian stood in front of Guo Baokun and protected Fan Ruoruo behind him: “If she doesn’t become a spy, she will soon be the Crown Princess of Qing Kingdom.”

“really?”

“Um”

Fan Ruoruo nodded shyly, as cute and tempting as a mimosa.

Guo Baokun’s eyes widened. Now the Fan family had the prince by their side.

With overwhelming power, doesn’t Fan Xian become the most powerful official? !

“Brother Fan Xian, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Guo Baokun wants to see my father!”

Li Chengqian saw Guo Baokun bending over and almost kneeling down.

Suddenly I thought of a line: There is an old saying that goes well.

He who knows the current situation is a hero.
　A big chapter of 6,000 words, one chapter is equivalent to three chapters of others. I will resume writing 10,000 words a day after I finish my final exam on July 4th. I will eat my words if I break my promise!

　
(End of this chapter)