Chapter 366 The Ending of Kyoto Variations

Wen Mingli said stubbornly: "Even if someone really promises you that you are a Jinshi, you are not your official!"

Wen Yantao, who was lying on the ground, wailed: "Let the storm come more violently... Anyway, I'm just like that."

Unexpectedly, Uncle Ni came prepared and took out a cowhide bag from his arms, poured it on the ground, and then fell a white note on the ground. He grabbed it and said, "Master Qingtian, I didn't tell any lies. This is the note we two transferred at that time. Look at it, it's his signature on it."

Wen Mingli felt a little shocked, knowing that it was impossible to hide it, so he quickly knelt down and said, "It was the second uncle who asked me to help me, but I don't know anything."

Wen Yantao smiled and said, "Yes, I was too busy at that time, so I asked Mingli to help me accept it. He really didn't know." After saying that, he stuck out his butt and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, the criminal is obsessed with him and owes him a huge gambling debt. Then he wanted to make some money through the competition. But my elder brother and nephew were completely unaware..."

Emperor Zhaowu suddenly slapped the handrail and snorted coldly: "Is it really you who did it alone?"

Wen Yantao kowtowed and said, "It was indeed the crime of a criminal, and it has nothing to do with others."

Emperor Zhaowu naturally wanted to scold him angrily and say something like "the dog is so brave" and "the ghost is obsessed". After a while, he said in a deep voice: "Wei Aiqing, what do you think?"

"As far as I know, what Wen Yantao said is true, and the prime minister should not know it, and it is innocent. Although Senator Wen was deceived, he actually accepted bribes. He was considered an accomplice and should receive certain punishments, otherwise it would not be enough to show the justice of my "Law of the Great Qin". "He knew that Emperor Zhaowu would not be satisfied with just dealing with Wen Yantao, so he dedicated Wen Mingli's butt.

But Emperor Zhaowu obviously wanted more, his narrow eyes flashed and said, "Can Wen Yantao handle such a big thing alone?"

Wen Yanbo felt annoyed. I have offered my younger brother's son. Are you still not satisfied? Do you think I, Lao Wen, are the soft persimmons you can pinch? Just as I was about to have an attack, I heard Emperor Zhaowu say quietly: "I am afraid that the officials of the Ministry of Rites can be blamed, right?"

'So he wanted the Ministry of Rites...' Wen Yanbo forced his anger down. He knew that Emperor Zhaowu had another half-book in his hand. If he had a terrible spell... his old fish would be dead, and Emperor Zhaowu's broken net could still be repaired.

So seeing that Emperor Zhaowu did not kill him, he swallowed his cowardly breath. He suddenly thought in his heart that the night before the accident, what his wife said, "The master and the prime minister can hold a boat in their stomachs." He finally believed that his stomach was not as big as that.

Seeing that although Prime Minister Wen's face was gloomy and as if he was watery, he kept pursing his lips and silent, Wei Zhengyi sighed in his heart: "The Master of Rites cannot be removed from the suspicion. I suggest that he stop his position first, and then the Ministry of Justice and Dali Temple will investigate it as a separate case."

Emperor Zhaowu nodded and said softly: "What do you think about the prime minister?"

Wen Yanbo sneered silently and said lightly: "Yes." Two ministers of the Ministry of Rites knelt on the ground and shouted for injustice, but were dragged out of the hall by the golden-armored warrior... The roaring court was to eat the board. The two poor ministers were so unexplained that they were captured and sent to the jail, and had no future.

After the hall was quiet, Emperor Zhaowu glanced at Qu Yanwu and smiled and said, "Qu Aiqing, I will hand it over to you. I believe that with Wen Yantao's lessons, you will not disappoint me."

Qu Yanwu quickly went out to thank him and said, "I thank you for your kindness, I will definitely take it as a warning, and I will devote myself to it until I die!"

Emperor Zhaowu nodded and smiled, "Get up, seeing that the competition is about to be imminent, the Ministry of Rites has just had such a big mess, and your task is very heavy." He had promised the position of Minister of Rites to Qu Yanwu long ago. Although he had worked hard, he did not break his promise. Emperor Zhaowu's joy was not mentioned, so he said generously: "Your two ministers are still empty. Go back and think about what good candidates there are, and recommend them."

Qu Yanwu thanked him for his gratitude, and Emperor Zhaowu turned his face down and said coldly: "Wei Zhengyi, what should you do with these two uncles and nephews?"

Wei Zhengyi pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Although Wen Mingli participated in this major case, he thought he was the first offender and did not know about it. He was sentenced to forty rods and could only move for two years."

Emperor Zhaowu nodded and asked in a deep voice: "Where is Wen Yantao?"

Looking at Wen Yanbo, Wei Zhengyi swallowed and spitted, "Da Pi." The so-called Da Pi is the death penalty, which is divided into five types according to the degree of blood: hanging, beheading, abandoning the market, killing, and lingchi.

"It's too general..." Emperor Zhaowu said unhappy.

"Hanging." Wei Zhengyi saw that Wen Yantao had fainted from fear, and quickly added: "But Wen Yantao is a third-class marquis. As long as he is not a serious crime of treason, he can repay his life according to the law. It should be changed to be a 80-something stick and exiled for three thousand miles."

Emperor Zhaowu said with a gloomy face: "It's a bargain for his life..." He snorted coldly: "What do you think of the Prime Minister?"

Wen Yanbo seemed to have been ten years old, and after a long time, he nodded slowly and said, "Thank you... Your Majesty, mercy..." Li Hun's face was ugly, but he didn't say a word.

Seeing that Wen's uncle and nephew were taken away, Emperor Zhaowu was very happy, but he still said indifferently: "My ministers should learn from this incident and learn from it as a warning." The ministers responded timidly, and as for whether they could hear it in their hearts, they did not dare to guarantee it.

After teaching the ministers, Emperor Zhaowu turned to the ten scholars who were listening and asked with a smile: "Are you satisfied with such a result?"

The ten people quickly kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, I am very satisfied. I just have a small request, and I don't know whether to speak or not."

Emperor Zhaowu laughed and said, "When you should speak, although you are an audience, how can you not say a word?"

Seeing that the emperor agreed, Shang Dezhong, who was kneeling in the front row, said: "When I go back, I will do my best to convince you of the same year, but I am afraid that someone will make a slight mistake and will ruin your Majesty's major affairs!"

Emperor Zhaowu had long noticed that the scholar with yellow face was vaguely the leader of ten people. He naturally had to look up to him and smiled gently, "So what?"

"I ask Your Majesty to select an adult that we scholars trust to supervise the entire imperial examination process so that the same year outside can rest assured." Shang De kowtowed again.

Emperor Zhaowu pondered for a moment before Zhan Yan smiled and said, "It's reasonable, you have to choose a tester you like," and said, pointing at Qin Lei on the side of the imperial stairs, saying, "How do you think of him?"

When the scholars saw that it was the fifth prince, they couldn't help but feel overjoyed and said, "The prince is benevolent, righteous and fair, and selfless. He is the role model of our scholars, and it is the most suitable one."

Qin Lei said shyly: "Actually, I'm not that good either."

Emperor Zhaowu smiled and said, "Yu Tian is the supervisor of the spring exam." He looked at the officials below and issued an order with great pleasure: "The officials who were promoted will be appointed by the Minister of Rites as the rules." The extensiveness of the Qin Dynasty is also reflected in the imperial examination. The supervisor is the chief examiner, and the supervisor is the chief supervisor of the examination, which is so simple.

If it was placed in the previous dynasty, it would be much more complicated. In the spring exam, a chief examiner, three deputy examiners, two invigilators, and the same examiner in the 18th room were arranged. As for the promotion, supervision, search, paperwork, sealing, transcription, and reading, there were countless officials. And there was also an invigilator independent of the entire system - Qin Lei's current position - who directly represented the emperor to monitor the entire examination process, rather than taking the lead in the examination on his shoulders like now.

Of course, this change from complex to simple is not unrelated to the decline in fairness of the imperial examinations - the fewer invigilators and the simpler the invigilator procedures, the easier it is to cheat.

Seeing that the two of them were about to take up all the good things, Li Hun finally couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, the fifth prince's knowledge seems to be as good as the old minister. Can this be the chief examiner be the chief examiner?" This was arguing, which caused the civil servants to nod.

Emperor Zhaowu gently stroked the armrest of the dragon chair with his right hand and smiled and said, "This exam requires morality as the main examination. As for knowledge, Yutian is a little bit short of it." He smiled and said, "But it doesn't matter. I will find a well-educated scholar as the deputy examiner to make up for this." He obviously thought about today's arrangements, and it is natural that he is prepared to be prepared and not prepared.

Li Hun had nothing to say, so he had to shut up. Seeing that no one came out to report again, Emperor Zhaowu said in a deep voice: "My ministers, I want to tell you something," he swept across everyone in the audience with contemptuous eyes and sneered: "In fact, there are still half of the books submitted by the scholars."

After saying that, he took out the account book from his sleeve, and the thickness was several times that of the previous one. He flipped it casually: "This book has a long time span, from the early years of Zhaowu to the fifteenth year of Zhaowu..." The officials' hearts that had just been relieved suddenly rose. Except for the leaders of the department and the chiefs of the department, most of them were Jinshi at this time. They couldn't help but feel cold in their hearts and shouted: "Do you really want to break the dead?"

Seeing the bleak clouds in the court, Emperor Zhaowu felt very happy, but his face still said coldly: "Many of you may not agree with it, thinking that the law does not blame the masses, and you will not be able to play with it if the Qin Dynasty is separated, so you are still lucky, right?"

This emperor, who has always shown himself as a forbearance, finally took advantage of Qin Lei's painstaking efforts to exude majesty. His heart-killing words were like sharp arrows, which made the officials bow their heads in sweat and kneel on the ground.

With a mocking smile, Emperor Zhaowu stood up and said, "Your abacus is not wrong. My Qin cannot live without you now." Before the officials came to their senses, he changed his mind and said coldly: "But it may be possible in the future!"

With a wave of his hand, the old eunuch Zhuo Yan held an iron box. Emperor Zhaowu threw the half book into the iron box, locked the iron box in front of the ministers, then sealed it with a yellow seal, and finally stroked it with a red pen to complete the sealing ceremony.

All the officials looked at each other, not knowing what the hell was selling in Emperor Zhaowu’s gourd. It was not until the red pen that he heard him say in a deep voice: “I swear to God’s Heavenly Father, the ancestors and ancestors: Today, the minister Yuan Tang will seal the account for three years. As long as I, the officials of the Qin Dynasty, can change my mind, reform themselves, follow the public and the law, and perform their duties. Three years later, this box will be put into the furnace as it is, and will be in vain. You will all be innocent. If you still don’t repent, we will settle it one by one in three years.”

After saying that, he asked sternly, "Did you hear it clearly?" The voice circling and echoing in the hall, making it even louder and louder. After being kneaded and clamped, all officials had long lost their fighting spirit. People are most afraid of no hope. Once they have hope, they can even give up everything they had insisted on and catch it. The officials were sticking their butts high and said sincerely: "Thank you, your Majesty, we will change our hearts and reform, be honest, obey the public and the law, and perform our duties..." He actually recited the sixteen-character mantra of Emperor Zhaowu on the spot.

"Retreat the court." After Baiguanshan shouted long live, the satisfied Emperor Zhaowu left gracefully.

Seeing the emperor leaving, Li Hun let out a fierce anger and said rudely: "Let's go too!" Then he took a group of frustrated subordinates away from the hall. Li Erhe, who had not had a chance to speak until he rode on the horse, finally spoke: "Why do I think we were fooled?"

Li Qing also agreed with a look of agreement: "I found that our family's advantage lies in military strength." This was said in a tactful and implicit manner. In terms of fighting and grinding, the three of us could not beat the emperor, Qin Lei, and Wen Yanbo.

After hearing the two children's comments, Li Hun hummed angrily, scaring the two of them to keep a distance from them, and apologizing with trepidation: "We just said that if we don't like it, you should think we are farting, but don't take it to your heart."

However, Li Hun said dejectedly: "Our Li family's grasp of conspiracy is almost done... especially when Mr. Yin is not present." As he said that, his two black eyes looked down hard: "I regret it. If I listen to Mr. Yin, keep calm and wait until they finish the show, how could they be so empty-handed now?" The last time the incident in Jingshan Camp, coupled with the breaking of the mechanism formation, Mr. Yin's prestige plummeted, and his analysis and planning began to question him.

In fact, whether it was Jingshan Camp that time or the mechanism formation was broken, it was all because of one person - Mr. Guigu Le Buyier, and Mr. Yin was just a disciple of Mr. Shenji who was as famous as Le Buyi, so it was normal to lose to him. But there was no room for reason about this. Although he was very ghostly but his level was actually very high, he had to swallow these two stinky and hard bitter fruits. While he was nauseous, he was still muttering in his heart: "Who is so annoying?"

Seeing that the old man did not hit people as usual, Li Qing and Li Erhe were glad, and they did not forget to comfort him: "Didn't Mr. Yin say that, in front of absolute power, no conspiracy is effective. We will train soldiers well. When the imperial guards are taken down at the beginning of the spring of next year, even if they fart, there will be conspiracy, what's the use?" By the way, the uncle and nephew are completely competing with the "fat".

Li Hun finally laughed out loud, patted the two of them on the back, laughing loudly, "Yes, it's my fault that I didn't listen to Mr. Yin this time," he pointed to the west and said, "Let's go home and apologize to Mr. Yin, and then have an idea." The two of them smiled and squeezed their eyes, thinking: 'Old man is so easy to coax.'

Seeing the three members of the Li family leaving, Wen Yanbo, who was standing in front of the railing, was a little jealous. He could not see the traces of the three people at all, and then he withdrew his eyes. Although there were a group of officials standing beside him, a strong loneliness that he had never experienced before still irresistible.

"I want to be quiet." His eyes swept across everyone without any attention, and he hissed. After the officials expressed their concern and comfort in different expressions, they retreated like a tide... It's already midnight, and everyone hasn't had breakfast yet, so why bother to accompany an old prime minister who will be in the forbidden palace tomorrow for a walk.

Since Your Majesty vowed not to pursue the matter, he would definitely not pursue the matter. This gave all officials a chance to re-take the matter. Under such circumstances, everyone hoped to stay away from this old guy who was in trouble.

On the long Qingyun Road, he was walking alone at the Prime Minister of the Qin Dynasty. His back was a little desolate and his body was a little hunched. He stroked the white marble railings that were carved for years. Wen Yanbo remembered that one day thirty-three years ago, he stepped on this Qingyun Road and entered Xuanzheng Hall for the first time and participated in the palace examination of the late emperor. Then his career really rose to prominence and had a smooth journey. In just fifteen years, he became the prime minister of a country and had a great power in the world.

Eighteen years later, he was going to follow this Qingyun Road again... His honor, status, self-esteem, belief, prestige, and even brothers and sons, everything was left in the hall behind him, and he left alone.
Chapter completed!