The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 435 Volume : The Toad Scholar
Hu Fei was from Handan, Hebei.

In the fifth year of Jian'an, the imperial court suddenly prepared for the imperial examination in advance, which undoubtedly caught many scholars in Hebei and Central Plains off guard.

Hu Fei felt that he was dull and it would be difficult for him to pass the imperial examination.

Coincidentally, at this time he heard that Zhong Gong, who was also from Hebei, had opened a school and put up a sign that read "If you fail the exam, 90% of your fees will be refunded."

"If I can pass the exam, this money will be nothing."

"If you fail the exam, 90% of it will be refunded."

Hu Fei gritted his teeth and spent money to attend Mr. Zhong's school.

But the questions in the imperial examinations focused on law and arithmetic, and how could they be mastered in a rush?
As expected, Hu Fei failed the exam.

When Hu Fei went to find Mr. Zhong to return the money, Mr. Zhong bewitched him and said, "Are you really willing to do this? With your ability, you will definitely be able to pass the exam next time! How about this! I won't charge you more for the tuition for the next two years, but I can deduct it from the money you paid?"

Hu Fei had no choice but to sell his property to continue his studies.

On the eve of the imperial examination in the seventh year of Jian'an, bad news suddenly came from his home in Handan, saying that Hu Fei's mother had passed away.

Hu Fei was in a trance and naturally failed the exam.

Feeling disheartened, he went to find Mr. Zhong to return the money, hoping to return home to mourn for his mother.

"No money! Go home and wait!"

At this moment, Mr. Zhong finally revealed his true colors.

"I'll try to return it to you within three years!"

Hu Fei was exhausted at the moment, and could only beg Mr. Zhong: "My mother passed away, and I need to go back to take care of it urgently. Please have mercy on me, Mr. Zhong, and return the money to me."

"Didn't I tell you that I have no money? And what does your mother's death have to do with me?"

Hu Fei finally saw through Mr. Zhong's nature of cheating people and immediately made a big fuss.

The result was that he was beaten out by Zhong Gong's thugs and humiliated by being forced to urinate on the street.

Hu Fei couldn't bear the humiliation, so he chose to kill himself by hitting his head on the gold list, casting a shadow over this joyous day.

…………

The whole matter was soon investigated.

"Catch him."

The officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Rites who were in charge of the case went to Mr. Zhong's residence.

When Mr. Zhong saw that the matter had become serious, he immediately knelt on the ground and complained to the officials: "My dear superiors, I really have no money left at home! I really can't return it!"

"Get lost! You're wearing the finest silk right now, and you dare say you don't have money?"

The officials from the Ministry of Rites who came with them almost had tears in their eyes!
A scholar died by hitting his head on the gold list!

With this stain, all the officials in the Ministry of Rites will be punished!
Besides, who among the officials nowadays didn’t pass the imperial examination? When they thought that Mr. Zhong had even deceived the scholars who were taking the imperial examination, these officials couldn’t help but want to skin Mr. Zhong alive!

"You old liar, if it weren't for the law, I would kill you right now!"

But strangely, after the officials searched, they found that there was indeed no extra money in Mr. Zhong's account.

After contacting the officials in Anyang, we found that there was no extra money in Mr. Zhong’s hometown, which was really suspicious!
What shocked the government the most was that after Hu Fei hit and killed Jin Bang, a large number of scholars came to report to the authorities, saying that they had all been deceived by Zhong Gong.

The total amount of money was as much as ten thousand taels of gold!
But all this money is now missing?
"Check it for me!"

A few days later, information came from Anyang that the correspondence between Mr. Zhong and Qingzhou had been discovered.

As for the money, Mr. Zhong also used it all to buy fine iron and forge weapons in his own manor. "Oh my god, I thought you, Mr. Zhong, were at most a liar, but you turned out to be a thief?"

Since then, the truth has been revealed.

It took only half a month from the occurrence of the case to its closure.

Defrauding scholars, illegally amassing wealth, beating others, and colluding with Han thieves...

Mr. Zhong was directly sentenced to death. The emperor did not even wait until autumn to execute him.

The "Chang'an roll call" after the imperial examination this year did not continue.

Cao Pi, who came in second, was somewhat dissatisfied at first, but after hearing what had happened, he sighed and donated a lot of money to Hu Fei's family. This move also made Cao Pi famous, and for a time he overshadowed the already low-key number one scholar Lu Xun.

The letters between Mr. Zhong and Yuan Tan were soon sent to Chang'an and placed before the emperor's desk.

"You cheated the Han people out of their money and then gave all the money to the Han thieves?"

After Liu Xie finished reading the letters from Zhong Gong and Qingzhou, he threw them all to the ground.

"The evil spirit will never die!"

From Zhong Gong's letters, Liu Xie clearly saw his dissatisfaction with the court's abandonment of the theory of "Harmony between Heaven and Man", so he wanted to hook up with Yuan Tan to bring "Harmony between Heaven and Man" back!
Liu Xie finally got angry at this moment: "You little Confucian scholar, don't you want to call me the emperor?"

When this sentence was spread, the "toad-like scholars" in Chang'an City, who used to jump around occasionally, became completely silent and dared not jump.

The so-called "toad" refers to Xiamaling, the tomb where Dong Zhongshu, who created the system of "correspondence between heaven and man", was buried.

Later, because "xia ma" sounded like "xia ma", people also used to call Dong Zhongshu's tomb "Xia Ma Mausoleum".

Now the emperor has pointed his finger at Dong Zhongshu, and used the term "toad-like Confucian" to describe the scholars who are still studying the interaction between heaven and man. Without exception, this means that the emperor has been furious to the extreme!
Previously, under the emperor's intentional effort, the current Han court actually intends to separate academia and politics.

No matter what the scholars say, the government will not take any action.

But this time, these insignificant Confucian scholars have even gone so far as to defraud the people of their money to support the Han thieves!
court death!

Many Confucian scholars went to Kong Rong for help, hoping that he could help save the situation.

But Kong Rong refused outright on the grounds that he was not an official.

Then he went to find Cai Yong and Fu Wan, the two current fathers-in-law of the emperor.

But the two of them rejected these people's requests without hesitation.

Fu Wan, who had just graduated from high school, even criticized Dong Zhongshu's "Heaven-Man Induction" in public, saying it was absurd and heretical!

This is the first time that someone has pointed the finger directly at Dong Zhongshu, the founder of "The Correspondence between Heaven and Man"!
The group of small-minded Confucian scholars became terrified!
If Dong Zhongshu was defeated, it can be said that the nearly three hundred years of Confucian classics since Dong Zhongshu would be meaningless!
Just when everyone was terrified, the emperor suddenly summoned Kong Rong into the palace.

Kong Rong stayed in the Weiyang Palace for half a day.

After Kong Rong came out, he finally gave Dong Zhongshu a formal verdict as a descendant of Confucius, and also gave a final verdict on "the connection between heaven and man" -

"It is a waste of knowledge that distorts Confucian classics, deceives the emperor and deceives the people!"

For a moment, countless conservative Confucian scholars almost fainted!
They all beat their chests and stamped their feet, angrily cursing Mr. Zhong, the culprit behind all this.

"Mr. Zhong, you old dog! Why are you messing with the emperor?!"

Everyone knows that although the emperor did not like "Heaven's Correspondence" before, he did not intervene personally and did not sentence "Heaven's Correspondence" to death.

From now on things will be different.

If anyone mentions "the resonance between heaven and man" again in the future, the imperial court will make sure that he knows what the iron fist of the Han Dynasty and the wrath of the emperor are!

(End of this chapter)